Will history repeat itself?

I’ve got a feeling in my bones that we may see a youngster as national chess champion this year. I know, I know, some of you will say that we have always had young national champions before, and you are not wrong.

For instance, in the last three national championships alone, the titles had gone to youngsters like Evan Capel (2009), Edward Lee (2008) and Zarul Shazwan (2007) and indeed, the list of national champions is peppered with names of other players who were till in their teenaged years when they won their titles.

I’ve this feeling that the trend will continue. I may be wrong but when I look at the list of participants in this year’s national championship, I believe the future of Malaysian chess rests with the likes of Edward Lee (good, that’s a former champion coming back to play), Sumant Subramaniam, Lim Zhuo Ren and of course, Yeoh Li Tian.

In the women’s national championship, Alia Anin Bakri is the current torch-bearer among the youngsters but two names to look out for are Fong Mi Yen and Tan Li Ting.

Interestingly, this year’s events are remarkably strong and there is a rather long list of players. Maybe it’s because of the prize moneys which have been increased from previous years. 

I still remember how the national champions were “rewarded” with a RM300 first prize that came from toiling hard for five or six days at the chess board. In my opinion, a rather bad return on investments (the entry fees).

This year though, the first prize is a more reasonable RM1,000 for the open championship and RM600 for the women’s championship, and these have certainly attracted more players to the event. Never mind that the national championships are being held at the more remote Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia campus in Bangi, the numbers are there and this should make the Malaysian Chess Federation (MCF) a happier organisation. 

Now, the next big task for the federation next year is to convince more of the top players to take part. Nevertheless for this year, there are many experienced names to count on: players like Loo Swee Leong, Tan Khai Boon, Kamal Ariffin Wahiduddin, Kamaluddin Yusof, Nik Ahmad Farouqi, Ismail Ahmad and Lim Kian Hwa. On their good days they are quite capable of upsetting the form books. 

We shall see how they prevail in this year’s tournament. Today is already the third day of the event and with four rounds have already been played since Wednesday, there are five more rounds to go.

All are very critical rounds because I know that as the championship progresses, the tension takes a great toll on the players. And the surprising revelation is that tension strikes hardest during a national championship than in any other tournament.

I’ve seen players almost collapsing from exhaustion towards the end of a national championship. Once, for example, I noticed a player close his eyes to snatch forty winks in between moves and he kept nodding off thereafter until the time limit. 

Many times, I’ve seen winning games ending up lost because the players could no longer think straight. Thoughts get muddled up or they become too tired to think. Either way, their games collapse. What matters is how well they can pace themselves and at the same time out-pace their rivals. 

If you want to follow the progress of national chess championships, visit the MCF national championship blog at http://nc-2010.blogspot.com/

Up next  

Perak grand prix

The Slim River leg of the Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng Perak grand prix chess tournament will be played at the Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Agama Slim River on Jun 27.

Entry fees are RM25 for the open section, RM15 for under-16 players and RM10 for under-12 players. Members of the Perak International Chess Association and players born in Perak pay RM5 less. Closing date for entries is this Jun 23. To register, contact Yunus (013.3908129), Hamisah (012.5008723) or Ustaz Ismail (019.5520391). More details are available from http://perakchess.blogspot.com

Stonemaster chess

The third Stonemaster amateur chess tournament, organized by Cerdik Catur Enterprise, will be played at the Datuk Arthur Tan Chess Centre, Wilayah Complex in Jalan Munshi Abdullah, Kuala Lumpur on Jun 27.

Entry fees are RM30 for adults and RM20 for students. For enquiries, contact Mohd Fadli Zakaria (014.2312370, email: seme_event@yahoo.com). 

Telok Gong pro-am

The Persatuan Penduduk Telok Gong will hold their pro-am tournament at the Dewan Kampung Hamid Tuah in Telok Gong, Port Klang on July 4. For a one-day event, the total cash prizes on offer is more than RM5,000.

Entry fees are RM30 (for players in the Pro category, that is, with national ratings above 1701), RM25 (for payers in the Am category, rated below 1700) and RM20 (for Telok Gong residents and players below 12 years old). Entries close on Jun 26. To register, contact Zamri Sajari (016.2775005) or Azhar Mohd Said (012.6796193).

MBS chess

The Methodist Boys’ Secondary School in Jalan Hang Jebat, Kuala Lumpur will hold the fifth MBSSKL chess open tournament at the school premises on July 24. Entry fees are RM5 for MBS students and RM15 for non-MBS students. For enquiries, contact teachers Mr NK Chin or Mdm LY Yong at the school (03.20782293).