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.

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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).