Finest moments

One thing for sure: this year’s Malaysia Chess Festival was a resounding success on all fronts. A slicker organization and yes, more teams and players from home and abroad that registered for the 11-day chess fest than ever before. The chess festival has indeed become a recognized event in the international chess calendar.

 

However, there is some consternation within the chess community that this year’s chess festival may be the last that we would see organized in its present format. In my private conversations with the man at the forefront of the chess festival in recent years, Datuk Tan Chin Nam told me that he would be taking a two-year leave from sponsoring chess.

“I feel that I have become a hindrance to chess development,” he said. “Chess should not solely depend on Tan Chin Nam. I need to stand down so that other big sponsors can come in and help lift the game to its next level in the country. Please help tell the chess community to understand. I shall be on a sabbatical.” 

Curiously piqued, I asked how he would then occupy his time in the mean time. I doubted that he could take a back seat for too long. After all, chess had been in his blood since 1974.

“I want to look at chess from the other side of the chess board,” he replied, “I shall want to play in more chess tournaments in the next two years. It doesn’t matter if it is a slow or fast game, I just want to play.”

Obviously, Tan had been bitten by his foray at the Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng international seniors open tournament. “I’m encouraged with the two points scored in this tournament. In other games, I found that I had reasonable chances too but unfortunately, I spoilt them all. I shall want to play more so that I can learn. I’m not too old to learn how to play better.”

How then will the Malaysia Chess Festival proceed without his financial sponsorship? “There are other sponsors but as long as I’m there, they are reluctant to come forward. This is the time for chess organizers to build their relationships with them,” he said.

So this seventh Datuk Arthur Tan Malaysia open chess tournament may be the last we shall see played in memory of his late son, Arthur Tan, for some time. But in the meantime, this seventh Malaysia open tournament was won fittingly by Vietnam’s 37-year-old grandmaster Cao Sang. 

Cao Sang has been at the game for a very long time. In this event, he was always up there among the title chasers. After the first six rounds, he was among the leaders. Two rounds later, he fell back half a point behind them. However, in the ninth round, a determined win meant that he climbed back to join two other players at the top of the standings. 

Some anxious moments passed as the organizers got down to break the tie but eventually, word leaked out that Cao Sang had indeed pipped Chinese grandmaster Zhou Weiqi and Indian international master SP Sethuraman to the top prize of USD4,000. Here is the game that won him the prize and the Malaysia open challenge trophy:

White: Cao Sang (Vietnam)

Black: Nguyen Anh Dung (Vietnam)

1.e4  c5  2.Nf3  d6  3.Nc3  Nf6  4.d4  cxd4  5.Nxd4  a6  6.Bg5  e6  7.Qf3  Nbd7  8.0-0-0  Qc7  9.Bd3  b5  10.Rhe1  Ne5  11.Qg3  b4  12.Nce2  Bb7  13.Bxf6  gxf6  14.Kb1  0-0-0  15.f4  Nc4  16.Nb3  d5  17.exd5  Bxd5  18.Qf2  Be7  19.Ned4  f5  20.Nf3  Bf6  21.Bxc4  Bxc4  22.Ne5  Bxe5  23.fxe5  a5  24.Nc5  Qb6  25.b3  Rd5  26.Rxd5  Bxd5  27.Rd1  Rg8  28.Rxd5  exd5  29.Qxf5+  Kc7  30.Qxf7+  Kc6  31.Qxg8  Kxc5  32.Qf8+  Kb5  33.Qf1+  Kc5  34.Qf6  Qb5  35.Qf2+  d4  36.Qf8+  Kd5  37.Qf7+  1-0

Up next  

DATCC weekender

The Datuk Arthur Tan Chess Centre will organize the fourth DATCC super supreme rapid chess weekender tournament at their Wilayah Complex premises in Kuala Lumpur on Sep 26. Seven rounds, 25-minute time control. Entry fees are RM15 for players below 12 years old and RM30 for others. Details from Najib Wahab (016.3382542, najib.wahab@chess-malaysia.com) or Justin Kumar (018.3960781, kjustin09@yahoo.com).

Perak grand prix

The Kampar leg of the Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng Perak grand prix chess tournament will be played at the Grand Kampar Hotel in Kampar, Perak on Sep 26. Entry fees are RM25 for the open section, RM15 for under-16 players and RM10 for under-12 players. Members of Perak International Chess Association and players born in Perak pay RM5 less. To register, contact Yunus (013.3908129), Sukumaran (012.5252445) or Kamaruddin (019.4316793). Details from http://perakchess.blogspot.com