Calendar of events

Just in case anyone’s asking, I have to say that to the best of my knowledge, no, the Malaysian Chess Federation have yet to finalise their official chess calendar for this year, which makes it rather tardy of them. Last year, the chess calendar was released in January!

Or, even if they have finalized the calendar, they haven’t released it to the general chess-playing public yet. Everything remains a closely guarded secret within the four walls of the MCF office in Kuala Lumpur.

However, the good news is that I still have an inkling of some of the events that are almost guaranteed to make their way into the calendar.

The immediate tournament is the national age group chess championship that is due to begin at the Olympic Council of Malaysia’s indoor stadium in Kuala Lumpur on Mar 11. You can read more about this in the Up Next section of this column.

This event shall be followed by the national closed championship and the national women’s closed championship. Both these tournaments shall be played concurrently from Mar 28 to Apr 1. 

Come this July, it will be quite possible that the MCF shall be playing host to a visiting contingent from Singapore for this year’s Malaysia-Singapore chess match. You may remember that in the last match in Singapore some 14 months ago, the Malaysian side had managed to beat their southern neighbours.

And then in August we shall again be treated to the next instalment of the Malaysian Chess Festival. Again you may remember that at the end of last year’s edition, the doyen of Malaysian chess, Datuk Tan Chin Nam, had once again declared his commitment to sponsor the festival.

However, there may be changes to the whole chess festival. There are rumours going around that the Arthur Tan Malaysian open may adopt a totally new format that can either make or break the chess festival. So be prepared for the announcements when they are made eventually.

Of course, August is also the time for the Merdeka team chess championships. It has become a tradition for chess players to meet up at this most successful chess event in the country. I don’t see why this year should be an exception.

The national scholastics age group chess championship should be held sometime in September, followed by the national rapid and blitz age group chess championships in October and the national junior chess championship in November. Busy times indeed for the junior chess players in the country!

Among the state chess associations, only the Kuala Lumpur Chess Association have made known their clear intention of organising their Raja Nazrin Shah Kuala Lumpur international chess championship in September.

However, we should expect that the Chess Association of Selangor will organise their annual Selangor open chess tournament in the middle of the year. It is the longest-running chess event in the country, dating back to 1974.

The Sarawak open chess tournament should still be organised in December but before then, there is always the anticipation of the Penang heritage city open chess tournament. In particular, the Penang event should take on an extra significance this year because the organisers, the Penang Chess Association (PCA), shall also be celebrating their 40th anniversary.

Forty years ago at around this time of the year, the inaugural meeting of the Penang Chess Association was held at the Penang Library in George Town. Unfortunately, not many of the original PCA members are around to remember this. 

These are then the main tournaments that chess players can expect from the organisers for the rest of the year. Apart from them, do expect the various state chess organisations and small independent chess organisers to come on board with their own weekend chess events too. 

With such a plethora of activities, the next 10 months will continue to be busy times for chess players, with or without the MCF’s chess calendar. So do enjoy them!

Up Next

National age group

The Malaysian Chess Federation (MCF) will organise this year’s national age group chess championships at the Olympic Council of Malaysia’s indoor stadium in Kuala Lumpur on Mar 11 to 13. Eight rounds with a time control of 45 minutes, plus increment time of 30 seconds per move.

There are six separate categories for both boys and girls – the under-eight, under-10, under-12, under-14, under-16 and under-18 – which will mean that the 12 events will be played simultaneously. Entry fee is RM40 per player if paid before Mar 7. After this date, acceptance of registration shall be at the discretion of the organisers and the entry fee is increased to RM80.

The top four players from each category shall qualify to represent the country at the world, Asian, ASEAN and other age group events subject to the acceptance of the federation’s terms and conditions.

Entry forms can be downloaded from http://malaysianchessfederation.blogspot.com. For inquiries, contact Hamid Majid (019.3158098, aham@pc.jaring.my), Gregory Lau (017.2898215, msianchess2010@gmail.com), Lim Tse Pin (012.2984922, tsepin@gmail.com), Zuraihah Wazir (017.2837808) or Haslindah Ruslan (019.2069605).

Perak grand prix

The Perak International Chess Association (PICA) will organise the second leg of this year’s Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng chess grand prix tournament at the Chinese Recreation Club in Taiping on Mar 4. 

This second leg in Taiping will be played over seven rounds with a 25-minute time control. The four remaining legs will be held in Slim River, Bagan Serai, Kampar and Ipoh. Other than cash prizes, points are awarded to the top 10 winners of each leg and these would accumulate till the final leg. 

Players can register for the open, the under-16 or the under-12 sections. Grand prix points shall be awarded to the top 10 winners of the open section of each leg and these would accumulate till the final leg in Ipoh. Those that register under the two junior categories will not be eligible for the open prizes or grand prix points. 

Entry fees for the second leg in Taiping: RM25 (open section), RM15 (under 16 years old), RM10 (under 12 years old). For PICA members and Perak residents: RM20 (open section), RM10 (players under 16 years old). For more information, call Yunus (013.3908129), Mrs Chow (05.8076882) or check the PICA blog at http://perakchess.blogspot.com for updates. 

USM chess festival

This year’s 18th Universiti Sains Malaysia chess festival will comprise an eight-round individual event on Mar 10-11 and a seven-round team event on Mar 17-18. Time control for both events will be 45 minutes per game. 

Entry fees for the individual tournament are RM17 (under-12 players), RM19 (under-18 players), RM21 (university and college players) and RM27 (others). Members of the Penang Chess Association will be charged at RM15, RM17, RM19 and RM22 respectively. For the team event, entry fees are RM80 (under-12 teams), RM90 (under-18 teams), RM100 (university, college and school teams) and RM110 (all other teams). 

Details are available from Ng Sok Ling (014.9443919, sokling_9100@hotmail.com), Chung Yao Liang (017.4343182, yaoliang_1228@yahoo.com) or Lee Youn Hock (014.9445491, chessmanlee@hotmail.com). 

Rakan Muda JB

The Johor Chess Academy, Johor Bahru Chess Association and the Giant Tampoi hypermarket are the joint organisers of this year’s third Giant Tampoi junior tournament on Mar 11. Venue will be the hypermarket in Tampoi, Johor Bahru. Seven-round Swiss event with 25 minutes time control.

Entry fees: RM15 (players under 17 years old) and RM13 (players under 12 years old). Closing date for entries is Mar 8. Details available from Narayanan Krishnan (013.7717525, jb_chess_association@yahoo.com).

 

Hou makes history

Despite being the women’s world champion, China’s 17-year-old Hou Yifan never started out as a favourite in the Tradewise Gibraltar chess festival a few weeks ago. 

In the first place, Hou’s international rating was “only” at 2605 points and there were at least 20 high-profile players who were ranked very much higher than her. And actually, 11 of them were players whose ratings placed them in the super-grandmaster class. If anybody were favourites to win this chess festival, well, she wasn’t one of them.

Secondly, there was always Judit Polgar who has been the top ranked woman chess player for as long as anybody could remember. She is a 2700-plus chess grandmaster and all women chess players walk in her shadow. 

But Hou had arrived in Gibraltar with a reputation of her own. She was the women’s world champion and only a few months back, she had demonstrated how easy it was for her to defend her world title against an opponent who was on paper ranked above her. Her rivals would have done well to study her games.

With this as the background, Hou began the Gibraltar masters tournament without making any loud impression. 

In the first round, she quietly dispatched off a Swiss Fide master, Emanuel Schiendorfer, and then easily refuted a rash attack from the English international master Adam Hunt in the second round.

Her first real test was in the third round but she proved that the Hungarian grandmaster Zoltan Almasi was no big obstacle for her. 

The fourth round could be considered as Hou’s first appearance in the Gibraltar limelight. Against the experienced English grandmaster, Michael Adams, she played faultlessly to neutralize Adams’ game plan and both players agreed to split the point.

It was in the fifth round that she received her first and only setback in the tournament. The Indian grandmaster Krishnan Sasikiran, presumably much wiser to Hou’s style of play than the Westerners, never gave her much of a chance in their game and he converted his positional advantage into a full point.

After that loss, Hou retreated back into the crowd. Against the Ukraine international master Mariya Muzychuk in the sixth round, the Chinese ace displayed her usual form to win almost effortlessly.

The seventh round witnessed Hou’s historical game against Judit Polgar which I had written about last week. As the two had never met across the chess board before, this game generated quite a lot of interest around the world. The fact that Hou won this game ensured that this historical moment would be remembered for a long time to come.

After this win, the spotlight returned to Hou and it never left her again until the end of the tournament. The Vietnamese grandmaster Le Quang Liem was the next to feel the power of Hou’s will as he wilted under her persistent tactical pressure on the board.

 

In the ninth round, she was paired against the Latvian grandmaster Alexei Shirov. For a brief moment, it seemed as though Hou’s position was under great pressure but in a quick turn of events, she emerged with real winning chances which she converted into a full point after an interesting endgame.

By then, Hou had surged ahead to become the sole leader in the tournament. All she required in the final round was at least a draw with the Azeri grandmaster Shakhriyar Mamedyarov to take a share of the first prize. She took it instead of risking everything to beat her opponent.

This draw, however, enabled the English grandmaster Nigel Short the chance to creep up on her and finish with equal points. Technically on tie-break, Hou was the winner of the Gibraltar masters tournament but the rules of the chess festival required the two players to play two quick games to determine the overall winner.

Unfortunately for Hou, she was no match for the wily Short in this department. Short had honed his chess skills playing just this type of chess on the Internet chess servers and his experience quickly told on Hou as he won the first game of the tie-break before he offered her a draw in the second game.

For all her efforts, she received STG12,000 as the second prize but she also received STG10,000 as the best woman player and STG600 as the best junior player. Short came away with the STG20,000 first prize and a further STG5,000 special prize set up to honour Queen Elizabeth’s diamond jubilee.

Up Next

Perak grand prix

The Perak International Chess Association (PICA) will organise the second leg of this year’s Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng chess grand prix tournament at the Chinese Recreation Club in Taiping on Mar 4. After the success of the first leg in Kuala Kangsar on Sunday which attracted 313 participants from around the peninsula, PICA is hopeful of an equally good response in Taiping. 

This second leg in Taiping will be played over seven rounds with a 25-minute time control. The four remaining legs will be held in Slim River, Bagan Serai, Kampar and Ipoh. Other than cash prizes, points are awarded to the top 10 winners of each leg and these would accumulate till the final leg. 

Players can register for the open, the under-16 or the under-12 sections. Grand prix points shall be awarded to the top 10 winners of the open section of each leg and these would accumulate till the final leg in Ipoh. Those that register under the two junior categories will not be eligible for the open prizes or grand prix points. 

Entry fees for the second leg in Taiping: RM25 (open section), RM15 (under 16 years old), RM10 (under 12 years old). For PICA members and Perak residents: RM20 (open section), RM10 (players under 16 years old). For more information, call Yunus (013.3908129), Abu Bakar Martin (019.4007663), Azhar (013.4570443) or check the PICA blog at http://perakchess.blogspot.com for updates. 

Rakan Muda JB

The Rakan Muda Johor Bahru, Johor Chess Academy, Johor Bahru Chess Association and the Southerncity Giant hypermarket are the joint organisers of this year’s seventh Johor Bahru junior tournament on Sunday. Venue will be the concourse area of the hypermarket in Johor Bahru. Seven-round Swiss event with 25 minutes time control.

Entry fees: RM15 (players under 17 years old) and RM13 (players under 12 years old). Closing date for entries is today. Details available from Narayanan Krishnan (013.7717525, jb_chess_association@yahoo.com).

USM chess festival

This year’s 18th Universiti Sains Malaysia chess festival will comprise an eight-round individual event on Mar 10-11 and a seven-round team event on Mar 17-18. Time control for both events will be 45 minutes per game. 

Entry fees for the individual tournament are RM17 (under-12 players), RM19 (under-18 players), RM21 (university and college players) and RM27 (others). Members of the Penang Chess Association will be charged at RM15, RM17, RM19 and RM22 respectively. For the team event, entry fees are RM80 (under-12 teams), RM90 (under-18 teams), RM100 (university, college and school teams) and RM110 (all other teams). 

Details are available from Ng Sok Ling (014.9443919, sokling_9100@hotmail.com), Chung Yao Liang (017.4343182, yaoliang_1228@yahoo.com) or Lee Youn Hock (014.9445491, chessmanlee@hotmail.com). 

National age group

The Malaysian Chess Federation (MCF) will organise this year’s national age group chess championships at the Olympic Council of Malaysia’s indoor stadium in Kuala Lumpur on Mar 11 to 13. Eight rounds with a time control of 45 minutes, plus increment time of 30 seconds per move.

There are six separate categories for both boys and girls – the under-eight, under-10, under-12, under-14, under-16 and under-18 – which will mean that the 12 events will be played simultaneously. Entry fee is RM40 per player if paid before Mar 7. After this date, acceptance of registration shall be at the discretion of the organisers and the entry fee is increased to RM80.

The top four players from each category shall qualify to represent the country at the world, Asian, ASEAN and other age group events subject to the acceptance of the federation’s terms and conditions.

Entry forms can be downloaded from http://malaysianchessfederation.blogspot.com. For inquiries, contact Hamid Majid (019.3158098, aham@pc.jaring.my), Gregory Lau (017.2898215, msianchess2010@gmail.com), Lim Tse Pin (012.2984922, tsepin@gmail.com), Zuraihah Wazir (017.2837808) or Haslindah Ruslan (019.2069605).

 

Titans clash

It is not often that the chess world really gets excited over a chess game but at the Gibraltar masters tournament last week, there was little else being discussed except for the first-ever encounter between Judit Polgar and Hou Yifan.

In case you don’t already know, Judit Polgar is just about the most talented of the three Polgar sisters that emerged from Hungary in the 1980s and 1990s. She was never the women’s world champion but this was because she had always refused to play in the women’s world championship cycles.

If she had agreed to play, there would be without any doubt that she would have become one sometime in the last 20 years or so. Instead, she had played almost exclusively in tournaments against the best male chess grandmasters.

Even today, everyone regards Judit Polgar as the most talented woman chess grandmaster in the history of the game. At her strongest, which was just seven years ago, she was ranked eighth in the international rating list. Her ratings have consistently stayed above the 2700 points level.

With this as the background, when it became known that Judit Polgar had been paired against 18-year-old Hou Yifan in the seventh round of the Gibraltar masters tournament, it resulted in very strong interest around the world.

This would be an historical game between the highest ranked woman chess player in the world and the current women’s world champion. Never before had these two women met across the chess board. Polgar’s shadow loomed large over Hou. There was a 105 rating points difference between the two. But would Polgar be able to teach her young opponent a lesson or would Hou show her older opponent that there is now a worthy challenger to her eminent position?

While the world tuned in to their game through the Internet, logged into chess servers everywhere, the two women sat down to play. At first the game was rather equal but then, Polgar became impatient and made a hasty move.

This was just the opportunity that Hou was waiting for. The Chinese lass pounced on the Hungarian grandmaster. Hou sacrificed a pawn but she quickly won it back and obtained a lingering pressure on Polgar’s position. Then, after a second inaccurate play from Polgar, Hou netted a pawn herself.

After that, the rest of the game was all Hou. She neutralized everything else that Polgar tried. In the final position, Hou had pushed Polgar into a corner. A check would be coming next and Hou was threatening to win a piece. Polgar saw it and decided that enough was enough as she threw in the towel.

Here is the game.

White: Hou Yifan

Black: Judit Polgar

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 Nge7 7. Bf4 Ng6 8. Nxc6 bxc6 9. Bd6 Bxd6 10. Qxd6 Qe7 11. O-O-O Qxd6 12. Rxd6 Ke7 13. Rhd1 Nf4 14. Bf3 Rb8 15. R6d2 g5 16. Na4 d5 17. g3 Ng6 18. Re1 Kf6 19. Bh5 Rb4 20. Nc3 d4 21. e5+ Nxe5 22. Ne4+ Ke7 23. Nxg5 h6 24. Nxe6 Bxe6 25. Rxe5 Rd8 26. f4 Rb5 27. Rde2 Kf6 28. Bf3 c5 29. a4 Rb4 30. Rxc5 Rxa4 31. b3 Rb4 32. Be4 Bg4 33. Re1 Rd6 34. Bd3 Bd7 35. Ree5 Be6 36. Kd2 Rbb6 37. Ra5 Rbc6 38. Ra4 Rb6 39. Re4 Bf5 40. Rexd4 Re6 41. Bc4 Rec6 42. Ra5 Bc8 43. Bd3 Be6 44. Rd8 Bc8 45. Rad5 Be6 46. Rh5 Kg7 47. f5 1-0 (See diagram. After 47….Bc8, White will win a piece with 48. f6+ Kxf6 49. Rxc8 Rxc8 50. Rxh6+ Ke7 51. Rxb6)

Next week: the story of how the women’s world champion finished first at the Gibraltar masters.

Up Next

Perak grand prix

The Perak International Chess Association (PICA) will kick off this year’s Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng grand prix chess circuit with the first leg at the Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Clifford in Kuala Kangsar this Sunday. 

This is the third series of the local grand prix which will see six legs held in Kuala Kangsar, Taiping, Slim River, Bagan Serai, Kampar and Ipoh until July. Last year’s second series attracted widespread interest from players around the country and were held at five different districts in the state. PICA is confident that this year’s series would attract even greater response. 

Each leg of the grand prix will be played over seven rounds with a 25-minute time control. Players can register for the open, the under-16 or the under-12 sections. Grand prix points shall be awarded to the top 10 winners of the open section of each leg and these would accumulate till the final leg in Ipoh. Those that register under the two junior categories will not be eligible for the open prizes or grand prix points. 

Entry fees for the first leg in Kuala Kangsar: RM25 (open section), RM15 (under 16 years old), RM10 (under 12 years old). For PICA members and Perak residents: RM20 (open section), RM10 (players under 16 years old). For more information, call Yunus (013.3908129), Abu Bakar Martin (019.4007663), Azhar (013.4570443) or check the PICA blog at http://perakchess.blogspot.com for updates. 

Rakan Muda JB

The Rakan Muda Johor Bahru, Johor Chess Academy, Johor Bahru Chess Association and the Southerncity Giant hypermarket  are the joint organisers of this year’s seventh Johor Bahru junior tournament on Feb 19. Venue will be the concourse area of the hypermarket in Johor Bahru. Seven-round Swiss event with 25 minutes time control.

Entry fees: RM15 (players under 17 years old) and RM13 (players under 12 years old). Closing date is Feb 17. Details available from Narayanan Krishnan (013.7717525, jb_chess_association@yahoo.com).

USM chess festival

Chess players who have been waiting for the 18th Universiti Sains Malaysia chess festival should take note that it has been rescheduled to the middle of March because of the early Chinese New Year festivities. This year’s chess festival will comprise an eight-round individual event on Mar 10-11 and a seven-round team event on Mar 17-18. Time control for both events will be 45 minutes per game. 

Entry fees for the individual tournament are RM17 (under-12 players), RM19 (under-18 players), RM21 (university and college players) and RM27 (others). Members of the Penang Chess Association will be charged at RM15, RM17, RM19 and RM22 respectively. For the team event, entry fees are RM80 (under-12 teams), RM90 (under-18 teams), RM100 (university, college and school teams) and RM110 (all other teams). 

Details are available from Ng Sok Ling (014.9443919, sokling_9100@hotmail.com), Chung Yao Liang (017.4343182, yaoliang_1228@yahoo.com) or Lee Youn Hock (014.9445491, chessmanlee@hotmail.com). 

 

Clear winner

Levon Aronian ended up comfortable winner of the latest edition of the Tata Steel tournament at Wijk aan Zee earlier this week.

He achieved this despite a late scare when he lost unexpectedly to David Navara. But then, none of Aronian’s closest rivals could take advantage of this lapse and he preserved his lead.

At the end of the tournament, Aronian finished with a clear one-point lead over three players – Magnus Carlsen, Teimour Radjabov and Fabiano Caruana – who tied for the second to fourth places.  

Here is one of the more interesting games from the tournament. 

White: Anish Giri

Black: Levon Aronian

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Be7 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Bf4 (It strikes me that 5.Bf4 is getting more popular as players move away from the more traditional 5.Bg5. Let’s see how this game develops here) 5….0-0 6. e3 Nbd7 7. Be2 dxc4 8. O-O Nb6 9. Qc2 Nh5 10. Be5 f6 11. Ng5 fxg5 12. Bxh5 Bd7 (Black is one pawn to the good but the position is very unbalanced.) 

13. Bf3 (A logical move but it is a clear invitation for Black to sacrifice the exchange) 13...Rxf3 Rxf3 14. gxf3 Bd6 15. Qe4 Bc6 16. Qg4 Qe7 (Black’s position is solid and there is compensation for the sacrificed material. Especially, the white pawn on f3 is weak and can be attacked by the black bishop on c6 and a lack rook on f8 later. If White were to play e3-e4, then the f4 square becomes a weakness for him.) 17. Bxd6 cxd6 18. Ne4 h6 19. Qg3 d5 20. Nc3 Rf8 21. Ne2 Rf5 (In the last few moves, Black has straightened out his centre pawns, fortified his kingside position and took control of the fifle. The bishop seems hemmed in by the black pawns but it can be re-deployed quickly to the e8 square and then the h5 square to keep the pressure on the f3 pawn.) 

22. Kg2 Nd7 23. Rh1 Nf8 (The knight looks headed for the h4 square. Same idea to attack the f3 pawn but a much harder idea to meet.) 24. h4 Ng6 25. f4 (This move doesn’t mean that the weakness on f3 has been eliminated. It’s still there) 25….Nxh4+ (Winning a second pawn. I think by now, White is probably lost. His queen and rook are in very poor positions. In fact, White’s queen has become very passive. And once the king is forced onto the f1 square, the rooks become disconnected.) 

26. Kf1 Qb4 (A good move which keeps White’s king in the centre and at the same time, attacking White’s weak queenside pawns) 27.Rb1 Be8 (Black’s last piece springs into life.) 28. Nc3 Qe7 29. b4 Rf8 (Why the rook retreat? So that the bishop can move to g6 and then d3 next.) 30. Rb2 Bg6 31. Ke1 Bd3 32. fxg5 Nf3+ 33. Kd1 hxg5 (The black bishop and knight completely dominate the game.) 34. Qh3 Qf6 35. Kc1 Bg6 36. a4 Rd8 (After this move to guard the d5 pawn, Black prepares to force open the centre with a e6-e5 pawn push. Hardly preventable.) 

37. Ne2 e5 38. Qg4 exd4 39. exd4 Re8 40. Qd7 c3 (This move weaves a mating net around the white king. If now 41. Nxc3, then 41….Qf4+ wins. And if 41. Rc2, then 41….Rd8 followed by 42….Bxc2 wins.) 41. Ra2 Ne1 (See diagram. This move is the icing on top of the cake. It’s a beautiful move which forces the white rook to capture. If White doesn’t capture, then 42….Nd3+ follows next.) 42. Rxe1 Qf4+ (The queen cannot be captured because 42. Nxf4 Rxe1 is checkmate.) 43. Kd1 Qe4 0-1 (It is checkmate next with the queen on the b1 or c2 square.) 

The Grandmaster Group B was won by Pentala Harikrishna with Alexander Motylev and Lazaro Bruzon sharing the second and third prizes. In the Group C tournament, Maxim Turov was the clear winner ahead of Hans Tikkanen. 

Up Next

Perak grand prix

The Perak International Chess Association (PICA) will kick off this year’s Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng grand prix chess circuit with the first leg at the Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Clifford in Kuala Kangsar on Feb 12. 

This is the third series of the local grand prix which will see six legs held in Kuala Kangsar, Taiping, Slim River, Bagan Serai, Kampar and Ipoh until July. Last year’s second series attracted widespread interest from players around the country and were held at five different districts in the state. PICA is confident that this year’s series would attract even greater response. 

Each leg of the grand prix will be played over seven rounds with a 25-minute time control. Players can register for the open, the under-16 or the under-12 sections. Grand prix points shall be awarded to the top 10 winners of the open section of each leg and these would accumulate till the final leg in Ipoh. Those that register under the two junior categories will not be eligible for the open prizes or grand prix points. 

Entry fees for the first leg in Kuala Kangsar: RM25 (open section), RM15 (under 16 years old), RM10 (under 12 years old). For PICA members and Perak residents: RM20 (open section), RM10 (players under 16 years old). Closing date: Feb 9. For more information, call Yunus (013.3908129), Abu Bakar Martin (019.4007663), Azhar (013.4570443) or check the PICA blog at http://perakchess.blogspot.com for updates. 

Rakan Muda JB

The Rakan Muda Johor Bahru, Johor Chess Academy, Johor Bahru Chess Association and the Southerncity Giant hypermarket  are the joint organisers of this year’s seventh Johor Bahru junior tournament on Feb 19. Venue will be the concourse area of the hypermarket in Johor Bahru. Seven-round Swiss event with 25 minutes time control.

Entry fees: RM15 (players under 17 years old) and RM13 (players under 12 years old). Closing date is Feb 17. Details available from Narayanan Krishnan (013.7717525, jb_chess_association@yahoo.com).

USM chess festival

Chess players who have been waiting for the 18th Universiti Sains Malaysia chess festival should take note that it has been rescheduled to the middle of March because of the early Chinese New Year festivities. This year’s chess festival will comprise an eight-round individual event on Mar 10-11 and a seven-round team event on Mar 17-18. Time control for both events will be 45 minutes per game. 

Entry fees for the individual tournament are RM17 (under-12 players), RM19 (under-18 players), RM21 (university and college players) and RM27 (others). Members of the Penang Chess Association will be charged at RM15, RM17, RM19 and RM22 respectively. For the team event, entry fees are RM80 (under-12 teams), RM90 (under-18 teams), RM100 (university, college and school teams) and RM110 (all other teams). 

Details are available from Ng Sok Ling (014.9443919, sokling_9100@hotmail.com), Chung Yao Liang (017.4343182, yaoliang_1228@yahoo.com) or Lee Youn Hock (014.9445491, chessmanlee@hotmail.com).