Finest moment

It has been an interesting week at the Malaysia Chess Festival in Kuala Lumpur. I'm home in Penang right now but still suffering the dizzying effects of playing in this event. It's been correct what I said last week about it taking more than sandpaper to scrape off the rust.

Still, I've no reason to regret playing in the first Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng international seniors open tournament, one of the three events that made up the festival proper. There is nothing like playing to really create a bond with the other players in the event, especially if the field is compact and well manageable. 

And I like to think that 18 players was a decent and well manageable number for the seniors event. It can only get better next year. Nevertheless, the field this year included a grandmaster from Uzbekistan (Dimitry Kayumov), two international masters from Singapore (Tan Lian Ann and Giam Choo Kwee) and a Fide master from Australia (Brian Jones), plus several other foreign entries from China and India.

The main event was, of course, the seventh Datuk Arthur Tan Malaysia open tournament with 133 entries. Many more than the organisers had expected; 33 players more than last year's tournament. And rather unsurprisingly, since none of the previous champions are here, the trend continues that there is a new champion for each edition of the Malaysia open.

But I shall write more about the Malaysia open and the AmBank chess challenge (52-player field) next week when I have more time over this weekend to sort out and look deeper into the results.

In the meantime, I shall leave you with these three games from the Malaysia Chess Festival. 

The first game saw 11-year-old Yeoh Li Tian hold Uzbek grandmaster Saidali Yuldachev to a gritty draw in the very first round of the Arthur Tan Malaysia open.

White: Saidali Yuldachev (2496) 

Black: Yeoh Li Tian (2112)

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.c4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Nf3 Bg4 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.Qb3 Bxf3 9.gxf3 e6 10.Qxb7 Nxd4 11.Bb5+ Nxb5 12.Qc6+ Ke7 13.Qxb5 Qd7 14.Nxd5+ Qxd5 15.Bg5+ f6 16.Qxd5 exd5 17.Be3 Ke6 18.0-0-0 Bb4 19.a3 Rhc8+ 20.Kb1 Bc5 21.Rhe1 Kd6 22.Bf4+ Kc6 23.Re6+ Kd7 24.Re2 g5 25.Bc1 Kd6 26.Red2 Ke6 27.f4 gxf4 28.Re2+ Kf7 29.Rxd5 f3 30.Red2 Rab8 31.R5d3 Re8 32.Rxf3 Re1 33.Rd7+ Ke6 34.Rdd3 Rf1 35.Rd2 Bd6 36.h3 Be5 37.Rc2 a5 38.b3 Rd8 39.Rc6+ Kd5 40.Rc4 Rg8 41.Rd3+ Ke6 42.f4 Bb8 43.Kc2 Rg2+ 44.Rd2 Rff2 45.b4 axb4 46.axb4 Rxd2+ 47.Bxd2 Kd5 48.Rc5+ Kd4 49.Kc1 Bd6 50.Rc8 Ke4 51.b5 Rg7 52.Rc6 Kd5 53.Rc3 f5 54.Rd3+ Ke6 55.Be3 Rg3 56.b6 Rg7 57.Kc2 Rb7 58.Kc3 Rb8 59.Kc4 Rc8+ 60.Kb5 Rc2 61.b7 Rb2+ 62.Kc6 Rc2+ 63.Kb5 Rb2+ 64.Kc6 Rc2+ ½-½ 

The second game was played in the fourth round of the Arthur Tan Malaysia open. Dr Lim Chuin Hoong, known more popularly in local chess circles as Ronnie Lim, scored a full point off German grandmaster Gerhard Schebler.

White: Lim Chuin Hoong (2302)

Black: Gerhard Schebler (2474)

1.d4 e6 2.c4 Bb4+ 3.Bd2 Bxd2+ 4.Qxd2 Nf6 5.g3 0-0 6.Bg2 d5 7.Nf3 Nbd7 8.0-0 dxc4 9.a4 Rb8 10.Qc2 b6 11.Rd1 Bb7 12.Qxc4 Bxf3 13.exf3 c5 14.Nc3 cxd4 15.Qxd4 Nc5 16.Qe3 Qe7 17.Nb5 Rfd8 18.Nd4 Qe8 19.b4 Nd5 20.Qa3 Nb7 21.Rac1 Rbc8 22.f4 Rxc1 23.Rxc1 Rc8 24.b5 Na5 25.Rxc8 Qxc8 26.Bxd5 exd5 27.Qd6 h6 28.Qxd5 Qc4 29.Qxc4 Nxc4 30.Nc6 Nb2 31.a5 bxa5 32.Nxa5 Kf8 33.Nc6 Ke8 34.Nxa7 Na4 35.Nc6 Kd7 36.Ne5+ Ke6 37.Kg2 f6 38.Nc6 Kd5 39.Kf3 Nc5 40.g4 Nd7 41.Ne7+ 1-0

The third game is from the Lee Loy Seng international seniors open. Now, many people know that Dato Tan Chin Nam is an octogenarian. His knees may be weak and his hands may be shaky but his mind is still as razor sharp as ever. And he loves the game of chess very much.

Given half a chance, he can figuratively run rings around any opponent. If anyone happens to let their guard down, Tan is capable of building up an attack that sucks them off the chess board. India's Ummer Koya happened to be the one to get caught in the murky whirlpool in the fifth round of the seniors open tournament.

White: Dato Tan Chin Nam (Malaysia)

Black: Ummer Koya PT (India)

1. e4 b6 2. Nf3 c5 3. Bc4 d6 4. Nc3 Nc6 5. d3 e6 6. Bb5 Bd7 7. O-O a6 8. Bxc6 Bxc6 9. a4 Nf6 10. Bg5 Be7 11. Qd2 Qc7 12. b3 0-0 13. h3 h6 14. Bh4 Rfe8 15. Ne2 d5 16. Bg3 Qb7 17. e5 Nh5 18. d4 f5 19. exf6 Bxf6 20. Be5 Bxe5 21. Nxe5 Rf8 22. c3 Rae8 23. f4 Qc7 24. Rf3 Nf6 25. Qc2 Ba8 26. Rg3 Ne4 27. Rf3 Rc8 28. Raf1 Bb7 29. Ng3 cxd4 30. Ng6 Rf6 31. Ne5 dxc3 32. Nh5 Rff8 33. Ng6 Rfd8 34. f5 Nd2 35. f6 Nxf3+ 36. Rxf3 gxf6 (At this stage, the spectators were getting somewhat restless. What a turnaround in the game. From a worse position, he now had a lot of chances to win. But the problem was, would he blow it? Could he win the game?) 37. Nxf6+ Kg7 38. Nh5+ Kg8 39. Nf6+ Kg7 40. Nh5+ Kg8 (Well, we thought, was he going for the draw or was he trying to win?) 41. Rg3 (No, there was no doubt in our minds that he was going for the win! No splitting of point. The forced win would be 41. Ne7+ Qxe7 42. Qg6+ Kh8 43. Qxh6+ Qh7 44. Qf6+ Kg8 45. Rg3+ Qg6 46. Rxg6+ Kh7 47. Qg7# but okay, under such circumstances, his game continuation was good enough) 41...Qxg3 42. Nxg3 d4 43. Ne7+ Kf7 44. Nxc8 Bxc8 45. Qh7+ Ke8 46. Qg6+ Ke7 47. Qg7+ Ke8 48. Nh5 Rd6 49. Nf6+ Kd8 50. Qf8+ Kc7 51. Ne8+ 1-0

I've never seen the man so happy after a chess game!

Up next  

UTP rapid chess

As part of Universiti Teknologi Petronas’ convocation programme this year, there will be a national rapid chess open tournament at the main hall of the university’s campus in Tronoh, Perak on Oct 9-10. The Malaysian Chess Federation and the Perak International Chess Association are the co-organisers with the University. Entry fees are RM35 for adults and players below 18 years old, RM30 for players below 16 years old and RM25 for players below 12 years old. Closing date for entries is Oct 2. More information available from Saeksarn Sinnaso (017.5514682, saeksarnskill@gmail.com), Zulaizat (013.4666195) or visit http://nationalrapidchess.blogspot.com.