Stormy election

Actually, long before the World Chess Federation’s (Fide) presidential election was held at the recently concluded Chess Olympiad in Khanty Mansiysk, Russia, the writing was already on the wall that Kirsan Ilyumzhinov was destined to be re-elected as the Fide president. 

Months before the election, both Ilyumzhinov and his rival, the former world chess champion Anatoly Karpov, had been criss-crossing the globe to drum up support for their respective candidacies from among the far-flung national chess federations that make up the global chess family.

Karpov’s strategy was simple enough. Though every nation knew him as the 12th world chess champion, he still needed to visit them and convince the people in those chess federations that he was a viable candidate to lead Fide for the next four years. He campaigned on a platform to bring in reform and make chess more visible to commercial sponsors.

Ilyumzhinov, on the other hand, had little necessity to convince people at all. With the power of incumbency, he could make impromptu decisions on Fide’s behalf. Nevertheless, he still took no chances and he visited the Fide member countries, often almost shadowing Karpov’s movements.

Ilyumzhinov also had a powerful card up his sleeve. Wherever he travelled, he extracted letters of support from the member nations and with these support, he proudly proclaimed them on his campaign website. On the other hand, Karpov preferred to keep his support under wraps right until the end of the campaign, possibly to keep up an Ilyumzhinov guessing game. 

Whether or not Karpov had adopted the right tactic is debatable, but everyone that followed the election intrigues on the two candidates’ campaign websites didn’t need any great skill to see that the number of countries that supported Ilyumzhinov was far out-numbering Karpov’s. 

Nevertheless, Karpov was still hopeful for the numbers to reverse themselves in the run-up to the Fide election. A letter of support, he reasoned, may not necessarily translate into a firm commitment as long as the vote had not been cast. 

Moreover, he was hoping for a miracle decision from the Court of Arbitration for Sports in Lausanne, Switzerland. There, five chess federations had applied to the Court to disqualify Ilyumzhinov’s team because of irregularities.

This, the Court refused to rule on, preferring instead to let the status quo remain. Naturally, this was a big setback for the Karpov team because a lot of optimism had been placed on the Court to agree with them.

When this didn’t materialize, it was already too close to the election date. With just a week to go, the only alternative left for Karpov was to plunge head-on into the election and face Ilyumzhinov in a do-or-die battle. 

It seemed that right until the day of the election, Karpov and his team were still quietly confident enough of winning but like I mentioned earlier, Ilyumzhinov’s power of incumbency meant that he held all the winning cards.

Among them was the power to show that he was in charge when making decisions, and there were decisions made that were reportedly not at all favourable to his rival. Reports from Khanty-Mansiysk suggested that at times when the meeting turned stormy, the microphones were turned off to leave Karpov and his team without a voice. 

There was also the issue of the contentious but important proxy votes from delegates who had passed their casting votes to Ilyumzhinov. In the end, with Ilyumzhinov winning 95 votes compared to Karpov’s 55 votes (and three absentions), it still proved impossible for a challenger to dislodge an incumbent. 

So Ilyumzhinov, who had held the Fide president’s post for the past 15 years, will continue in this position for the next four years. 

In the days following the election, there were attempts to close ranks with Karpov, who was offered a role as the Fide Ambassador for Life, but as Karpov himself said, he was not in any time trouble yet to accept it. The struggle against Ilyumzhinov, it seems, continues.

I leave you this week with two more games from the Chess Olympiad. Do enjoy them. 

White: Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine)

Black: Baadur Jobava (Georgia)

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. f3 Qb6 4. a3 e5 5. exd5 Nf6 6. dxe5 Bc5 7. exf6 Bf2+ 8. Ke2 O-O 9. Qd2 Re8+ 10. Kd1 Re1+ 11. Qxe1 Bxe1 12. Kxe1 Bf5 13. Be2 Nd7 14. dxc6 bxc6 15. Bd1 Re8+ 16. Ne2 Nxf6 17. Nc3 Bc8 18. a4 a5 19. Rf1 Ba6 20. Rf2 h5 21. Ra3 h4 22. g3 h3 23. g4 Rd8 24. Nf4 Nd7 25. Rb3 Qd4 26. Nfe2 Re8 27. Ne4 Qxa4 28. Bd2 Qa1 29. Bc3 Ne5 30. Ra3 Qb1 31. Nd2 Qc1 32. Rxa5 Ng6 33. Rxa6 Nf4 34. Ra8 1-0

White: Michael Adams (England)

Black: Magnus Carlsen (Norway)

1. e4 g6 2. d4 Nf6 3. e5 Nh5 4. Be2 d6 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. exd6 exd6 7. d5 Ne7 8. c4 Bg7 9. Nc3 O-O 10. O-O Bg4 11. Re1 Re8 12. h3 Bxf3 13. Bxf3 Nf6 14. Bf4 Nd7 15. Rc1 Ne5 16. b3 a6 17. g3 Nf5 18. Bg2 g5 19. Bxe5 Bxe5 20. Ne4 Ng7 21. Qd2 h6 22. f4 gxf4 23. gxf4 Bf6 24. Kh2 Nh5 25. Rg1 Kh7 26. Rcf1 Rg8 27. Qe2 Ng7 28. Qd3 Kh8 29. Bf3 b5 30. Bd1 bxc4 31. bxc4 Bh4 32. Bc2 f5 33. Rg6 Kh7 34. Rfg1 Qe7 35. Ng3 Bxg3+ 36. Qxg3 Qf7 37. Bd1 Rae8 38. Rxh6+ 1-0

Up next  

UPSI open

The Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) will organize an open chess tournament at their university campus in Tanjung Malim, Perak his Saturday and Sunday. Seven rounds, one-hour time control games. Entry fees are RM30 (open), RM15 (school children) and RM10 (UPSI students). More details from Mohd Huzairi (013.5959350, mohdhuzairi89@yahoo.com) or Izza Hasrina (012.7412326). 

Giant Kulai open

The Johor Bahru Chess Association, Rakan Muda Johor Bahru and the Giant Kulai Hypermarket are jointly organizing a Giant Kulai open chess tournament in the hypermarket’s premises in Kulai, Johor on Oct 31. Seven rounds, 25-minute time control games. Entry fees are RM12 (players below 12 years old), RM15 (players below 16 years old) and RM30 (other players). Entries close on Oct 29. More information available from Narayanan Krishnan (013.7717525, jb_chess_association@yahoo.com). 

MSSM-Masterskill chess

The Polgar Chess Asia will organise the MSSM-Masterskill national scholastics chess championship at the Masterskill University College campus in Ipoh, Perak on Nov 8-12 in association with the Ministry of Education, Majlis Sukan Sekolah-Sekolah Malaysia and the Malaysian Chess Federation. 

There will be six age group events: under-13 open and girls sections, under-11 open and girls sections, and under-9 open and girls sections, and each state, through their respective schools’ sports councils, may enter one official player for each section. individual non-official entries are also accepted with a RM100 entry fee. 

The respective winners get the right to be the official Malaysian representatives at the Asian schools chess championship in Colombo, Sri Lanka on Dec 16-23. More details available from Peter Long (peterlong@aol.asia) or Gregory Lau (greglau64@gmail.com). 

SJKC Jln Davidson open

The Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Cina Jalan Davidson in Kuala Lumpur will organize an open chess tournament for under-16 players at the school on Nov 14. Six rounds, 30-minute time control games. Entry fees are RM10 (players from SJKC Jalan Davidson) and RM12 (all other players). Entries close on Nov 12. More details from Collin Madhaven (016.2123578) and Bob Yap (012.2878378).

November rating tournament

The Cheras Chess Academy will hold a Fide-rated open tournament, limited to players with Fide ratings of 1950 and below, at the Pusat Kecemerlangan Sukan Cochrane in Jalan Cochrane, Kuala Lumpur on Nov 20-24. Seven rounds, two-hour play-to-finish time control games. Entry fees are RM50 (Fide-rated players) and RM80 (non-Fide-rated players). More details from Collin Madhaven (016.2123578, geodat@yahoo.com).

Chess camp

A fun and informative Kids For Chess camp for beginners, intermediate-level and aspiring tournament players will be held at the Pandan Lake Club in Pandan Perdana, Kuala Lumpur on Dec 1-2. Entry fees are RM90 per participant. Closing date is Nov 30. More details available from http://www.kids4chess.com.

Penang open

The Penang Chess Association (PCA) will organize the Penang Heritage City international open chess championship at the Penang City Hall in George Town, Penang on Dec 8-12. This will be a FIDE-rated event with a RM5,000 first prize. Nine rounds, full time control games. Entry fees for the open tournament are RM50 (Fide-rated player), RM150 (PCA member) and RM180 (others), while for the challengers section, they are RM30 (Fide-rated player), RM50 (PCA member) and RM80 (others). Contact Tan Eng Seong (012.4299517, estan64@streamyx.com) for more details.

Sarawak open

The Lanang Chess Association and Sarawak Chess Association will jointly organize the Universal Chinese Sports Sarawak open chess championship in Sibu, Sarawak on Dec 17-19. This will be a FIDE-rated event with a RM2,500 first prize. Eight rounds, full time control. Entry fees are RM50 (adults) and RM25 (ladies and players below 18 years old). Contact Joseph Ting (016.8893185, fax: 084.331451) or Lim Kian Hwa (016.8603180, lkhwa@tm.net.my) for more details.

 

Spanner in the works

There are just nine days to go before the start of this year’s Malaysia Chess Festival. Are you ready for it? A highlight of this year’s festival programme will be a second visit to our shores by the 12th world chess champion, Anatoly Karpov.

He won’t be playing in any of the tournaments at the festival. Rather, he will be here for only a few days in early September before jetting off elsewhere to continue with his worldwide campaign to become the next president of the World Chess Federation (Fide).

Nevertheless, spectators and participants alike at the Malaysia Chess Festival can expect to bump into the former world champion. If you need him to autograph any of his chess books, this will be an opportunity for you. Chess enthusiasts can also look forward to attend a special subscription-based Buka Puasa function with him on Sep 5.

When I was speaking to the organizers of the festival earlier this week, I was reminded that they were facing possibly the greatest and gravest challenges to their organizational capabilities in the last seven years. 

For the first time since the inception of the Datuk Arthur Tan Malaysia open chess championship in 2004, the organizers are bracing themselves for a rival competition in nearby Philippines to pull away some of the entries.

Yes, there is also an international chess tournament that’s been planned in Manila at almost the same time. Normally, federations would work together to ensure that international tournaments would not overlap. 

It’s not difficult to understand why. If tournaments do not overlap, players – especially the professional chess players – would be easier to persuade to play in these events one after another. It maximizes their investment of time and money to fly into this region to play in the chess competitions, and all organizers are happy with the quality of players that they can attract.  

Not this time. The National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) has been promised USD100,000 by Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, the current Fide president, to hold a tournament in memory of his predecessor, Florencio Campomanes, who died earlier this year.

Now, with Campomanes being a Filipino and all that, there was no way that the NCFP was going to say no to holding this memorial event. But then for some reason, the dates chosen for their event were pushed from mid-August to the end of August. Naturally, this then overlapped substantially with the dates for the Malaysia Chess Festival. 

Some people say that it had been done with a purpose. It’s not that the NCFP is not aware that the Malaysia Chess Festival is an annual event. The festival is already in its seventh year and is well publicized around the world. In the past, Filipino chess players have always turned up to support both the Datuk Arthur Tan Malaysia open and the Merdeka rapid chess team tournaments. 

But not this year. Word has been going around that the NCFP had advised their players in no uncertain terms that they should be playing in Manila instead of Kuala Lumpur. Worse still, there is unconfirmed news that the top Filipino players have been threatened with bans by their federation should they ignore this “advice”.

In all likelihood, the Filipino players will not be here. Certainly, those players who have already been selected by their federation for the Chess Olympiad in Khanty-Mansiysk will not want to jeopardize their selection status. Those players not in the Filipino team can’t be bothered with the ban but they may be attracted to the larger prize moneys at the Campmanes memorial tournament in Manila.

All this is, of course, very sad because if Campomanes were alive today, the last thing he would want was for his memorial tournament to clash with the Malaysian Chess Festival. Campomanes has always been a very good and supportive friend of Malaysia. It was a friendship that started in 1974 and even until last year, he had been a regular visitor here.

But why, you may ask, is the NCFP risking to upset the other federations in the region? The answer may be simply that it all boils down to relationships and the charged atmosphere that’s presently enveloping chess, an atmosphere created by the Fide election campaign. 

In the world of chess, there is a close bond between Fide and the NCFP. It had all started with Campomanes’ own election as Fide president in 1982. The bond remained after Ilyumzhinov took over the Fide reins. Even Campo’s death has not changed this relationship.

It is publicly known that the NCFP is supporting the Ilyumzhinov ticket at the Fide elections next month while Malaysia’s stand has been to side with Karpov. There are claims by Karpov’s team that the Ilyumzhinov team has been going around the world to promise great rewards to national federations that support them.

Whether or not this claim can be substantiated is not for me to say but in the absence of any other explanation, any observer will be guessing that if this claim is true, then there’s every reason for the NCFP to want their Campomanes memorial tournament to succeed at the expense of the Malaysian Chess Festival.  

Nevertheless, the organizers of the Malaysian Chess Festival are quite confident that the Manila event will have little impact on the success of our local festival. 

“We are still enjoying very good response from the foreign players. They know Malaysian hospitality well and they know that when they play here, they are among old friends. Friendship counts a lot among real friends,” said one of the organizers.

Up next  

Malaysia chess festival

Here is a summary of all the events at this year’s Malaysia Chess Festival. All games will be played at the Cititel Midvalley ballroom:

a)Datuk Arthur Tan Malaysia open: Fide-titled event, nine rounds, Sep 1-13, USD4,000 first prize, entry fees range from USD50 to USD200 depending on player’s rating;

b)AmBank Malaysia chess challenge: Fide-rated event but player’s rating not to exceed 2200 points, nine rounds, Sep 1-13, RM2,000 first prize, entry fees range from RM75 to RM150 depending on player’s rating, 20 percent discount for players below 16 years old;

c)Merdeka national age group rapid open: seven rounds, Sep 5, medals as prizes, RM25 entry fee;

d)Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng international seniors open: Fide-rated event, nine rounds, Sep 1-13, RM4,000 first prize, entry fees range from RM100 to RM400 depending on player’s rating;

e)Merdeka individual rapid open: seven rounds, Aug 28, RM1,000 first prize, entry fees are RM30 (adults) and RM20 (under-16 players);

f)Astro Merdeka team rapid open: nine rounds, Aug 29-31, RM5,000 first prize, entry fees range from RM150 to RM375 depending on number of players in the team;

More details from Hamid Majid (019.3158098, fax 03.40244337, aham@pc.jaring.my or aham4you@gmail.com).

Penang rapid chess

The Penang Chess Association (PCA) is holding a rapid chess tournament on Aug 22 as a warm-up event for players before they participate in the Malaysia Chess Festival. Entry fees are RM10 for  PCA members and RM25 for non-members. To register, contact Tan Eng Seong (012-4299517 after 7pm, estan64@streamyx.com or estan64@gmail.com). Entries close on Aug 20.

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. More information available from Saeksarn Sinnaso (saeksarnskill@gmail.com) or Wan Fatin Izyan (eyanzdaqpe@gmail.com). 

 

On the campaign trail

The message was clear enough. The World Chess Federation (Fide) must change or else it will continue to lose influence and significance in the world at large, said Anatoly Karpov, the 12th world chess champion, who was in Kuala Lumpur last week.

Karpov, 59 years of age, was in the country for three days as part of a whirl-wind visit through several south-eastern and east Asian countries to raise support from national chess federations in his campaign to be elected as the next Fide president. 

According to the Fide presidential candidate, the leadership in Fide has not had much achievement in the past 15 years and the federation has also neglected the interests of many of the chess federations in its fold.

One of the sore points that Karpov raised was that the incumbent Fide president, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, had alienated international sponsors from playing their roles in the world body.

“Chess is one of the most active sports in the world and Fide has 158 member countries. In terms of members, we are among the biggest international sports federations in the world and yet we don’t see long-term ties with sponsors that should benefit us,” Karpov charged.

“For example, world chess championship matches used to offer big prize moneys by the millions of dollars but ever since the present Fide president came on board, we have seen lower prize moneys. In fact, the many changes in the formats for the world championship cycles have caused a lot of confusion in the chess world and is it any wonder that international sponsors have shied away from this mess since 1995?” he asked.

If his team gets elected at the Fide congress this September, one priority would be to bring dignity back into chess. According to him, short 10-game or 12-game matches were hardly reflective of chess struggles at the highest levels. “World championship matches should not be less than 16 or 18 games but Fide presently finds difficulty to bring in quality sponsors who can support matches of this length. Why should this be so?” he said.

Karpov gave another example of the decreasing visibility, saying that significant activities like world championship matches used to be played in the big cities of the world – New York, London, Seville, Paris – but he claimed that since 1995, these events were being moved to lesser cities. 

“Also, it doesn’t say much for chess that this year’s chess Olympiad, which is the traditional biennial gathering for the world-wide chess family of close to 160 countries, is being held in Siberia, a place called Khanty-Mansiysk,” he claimed. 

And in truth, that is correct because I’ve written about Khanty-Mansiysk before. Even getting there is going to be problematic enough, as most connecting flights are only available from Moscow and it’s a journey of several days.

But the chord that struck home was that in recent years, national chess federations have been feeling the pinch of paying increasingly higher fees to Fide for all sorts of activities. The smaller chess federations such as the Malaysian Chess Federation find that annual fees have been growing significantly. 

Getting new players onto the Fide rating list, no matter their rating levels, means getting billed for them. Federations need to pay significant amounts for players to have their chess titles formalized. Then there are the high registration fees for registering even Fide-rated events. All these fees add up and it is not surprising that there are countries that find themselves temporarily out-of-benefit from Fide because fees are in arrears. The MCF, for example, found out painfully that our players were temporarily removed from the Fide rating list because of unsettled fees.

According to Karpov, countries should not be forced to fund Fide. It should be the other way around, that Fide should instead be helping the countries raise their own funds for their internal activities.

“It should make sense,” he argued, “that a happy national chess federation will contribute more towards the progress of chess.”

Apart from Malaysia, Karpov and his small entourage that included his candidate for deputy president, Richard Conn Jr, had moved through China, Japan, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand.

While in Kuala Lumpur, Karpov paid a courtesy call on Olympic Council of Malaysia president Tunku Imran ibni Almarhum Tuanku Ja'afar at the OCM office in Kuala Lumpur and was guest of honour at a function hosted by the Malaysian Chess Federation’s honorary life president, Datuk Tan Chin Nam, who incidentally also sits in Karpov’s Advisory Team.

The former world champion also played two exhibition blitz games with Malaysian international master Mas Hafizulhelmi and up-and-coming youngster Yeoh Li Tian, winning both of them.

Up next  

Tebrau open

The Johor Chess Academy, the Rukun Tetangga Sri Tebrau, Rakan Muda Johor Bahru and the Johor Bahru Chess Association are jointly organizing the 21st Tebrau open chess tournament at the Plaza Pelangi in Johor Bahru on Sunday. 

Entry fees are RM10 for players below 10 years old, RM12 for players below 16 years old and RM30 for all other participants. Closing date is today. For more information, contact Narayanan Krishnan (013.7717525 or jb_chess_association@yahoo.com).

DATCC razzmatazz

The Datuk Arthur Tan Chess Centre (DATCC) will organize their third DATCC razzmatazz rapidchess weekender at their premises in the Wilayah Complex, Jalan Munshi Abdullah, Kuala Lumpur on Sunday. 

Entry fees are RM30 for adults and RM15 for children below 12 years old. For inquiries, contact Najib Wahab (016.3382542, najib.wahab@chess-malaysia.com) or Justin Kumar (018.3960781, kjustin09@yahoo.com). 

Cerdik Catur

The Cerdik Catur chess challenge will be played at the Kompleks Belia dan Kebudayaan Negeri Selangor in Section 7, Shah Alam on Aug 8. For Shah Alam residents, the entry fees are RM20 for adults and RM15 for under-18 players. Non-Shah Alam residents are required to pay RM5 more. For inquiries, contact Mohd Fadli Zakaria (014.2312370, seme_event@yahoo.com). 

Merdeka rapid events

The Merdeka individual rapid open tournament will be played on Aug 28 and the Merdeka team rapid open tournament on Aug 29-31. Venues for both events is the Cititel hotel ballroom at the MidValley Megamall in Kuala Lumpur. Closing date for entries is Aug 10.

For the individual rapid event, entry fees are RM20 for players below 16 years old and RM30 for others. For the team rapid event, entry fees are RM300 for four-player teams and RM375 for five-player teams. Junior teams (all players to be below 16 years old) will be charged at RM150 for four-player teams and RM175 for five-player teams. More details from Hamid Majid (019.3158098, fax 03.40244337, aham@pc.jaring.my or aham4you@gmail.com).

 

Battle lines drawn

Come this September, we shall see what will possibly be the most acrimonious presidential contest for the World Chess Federation (Fide) for a long while. 

Lining up on one side of the contest is the incumbent president of the world body, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, who is seeking re-election since first getting elected to the top post in 1995. On the other side is his very worthy opponent, former world chess champion Anatoly Karpov.

When nominations closed at the end of last month for the submission of electoral tickets, the only two teams that met the deadline were that of Ilyumzhinov and Karpov. This means that they will go head-to-head in a direct clash of wills and personality that will see no compromise from either party.

Lined up on Ilyumzhinov’s team are Georgios Makropoulos, Ignatius Leong, Nigel Freeman, Beatriz Marinello and Lewis Ncube. 

Makropoulos is the president of the Greek Chess Federation but he is also the Fide deputy president since 1996. Leong is the president of the Singapore Chess Federation and also the Fide general secretary since 2005. Freeman, the president of the Bermuda Chess Federation, is the current Fide treasurer, a position held since 2006. Marinello is a former president of the United States Chess. NCube is a former president of the Zambia Chess Federation and presently a Fide vice-president since 2006. 

All of them, except for Marinello, are seeking to be returned to the same positions they are currently holding in the federation while Marinello is seeking to fill a Fide vice-president’s slot.

Karpov’s ticket consists of Richard A Conn Jr of the United States who is the candidate for deputy president, Ukrainian Chess Federation president Viktor Kapustin who is the candidate for treasurer, Malaysia’s own Abdul Hamid Majid who is the candidate for secretary general, and the two candidates for vice-presidents, Angolan Chess Federation president Dr Aguinaldo Jaime and woman grandmaster Alisa Maric who is also the vice-president of the Belgrade Chess Federation.

I did mention at the start that this Fide election may be the most acrimonious in recent years. For the first time in many years, Ilyumzhinov faces a very serious opponent. The credentials of Anatoly Karpov speak for itself. People know him as the 12th world chess champion, having succeeded Bobby Fischer in 1974 and only giving up his world title to Garry Kasparov in 1985. Truly, he is one of the greatest chess players of all time.

However, Karpov’s very attempt at becoming the next Fide president has been full of obstacles, not least from within Russia itself. This is because Fide regulations require all candidates to be nominated by their own chess federations, and only one candidate at any one time. 

And therein lies the problem because both Ilyumzhinov and Karpov are from Russia. The problem became even more complicated after both of them claimed to have their federation’s nod. 

According to reports, the Russian Chess Federation had narrowly nominated Karpov as its candidate at a meeting in May. A few days later at another meeting which was purportedly just shy of a quorum, Ilyumzhinov was nominated. A sticky situation that became more absurd when the Russian government sacked the president of the Russian Chess Federation and installed someone else to look after the federation’s affairs.

Lawsuits have also been flying around from both parties. Earlier, Ilyumzhinov had sued Karpov for libel. The former world champion fought back with a suit to force Fide to disclose the nomination forms of Ilyumzhinov’s team. At the heart of the matter was the status of Marinello because it was claimed that she was not a member of either the Chilean or Brazilian chess federations.

If the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland rules in Karpov’s favour, it could mean the automatic disqualification of the whole of the Ilyumzhinov ticket because there’s also another Fide regulation that stipulates that at least one member of a ticket must be a woman candidate. It would be impossible for Ilyumzhinov to replace Marinello at the last minute.

In the meantime, both candidates are continuing to circle the globe to visit national chess federations and drum up support for their teams at the Fide election in Khanty Mansiysk, Russia. Yes, it’s going to be an intense but interesting fight indeed.

Up next  

Perlis team open

The Perlis Chess Academy, the Majlis Sukan Sekolah-sekolah Perlis and the Persatuan Catur Prestij Perlis will jointly hold the Perlis team open tournament at the Dewan Sek. Men. Putra in Kangar, Perlis on July 24. Entry is limited to the first 70 teams.

Entry fees are RM30 for teams representing schools and institutions of higher learning, RM50 for teams from Perlis and RM70 for all other teams. For more details, contact Syaifulzamani bin Ismail (013.3939838) or visit http://chessperlis.blogspot.com. 

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 NK Chin or (Mdm) LY Yong at the school (03.20782293).

Perak grand prix

The sixth leg of the Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng Perak grand prix chess tournament will be played at the Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan St Anthony in Teluk Intan, Perak on July 25. 

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 (PICA) and players born in Perak pay RM5 less. Closing date for entries is July 22. To register, contact Yunus (013.3908129), Hamisah (012.5008723) or Andrew (016.6295352). More details are available from http://perakchess.blogspot.com 

Tebrau open

The Johor Chess Academy, the Rukun Tetangga Sri Tebrau, Rakan Muda Johor Bahru and the Johor Bahru Chess Association are jointly organizing the 21st Tebrau open chess tournament at the Plaza Pelangi in Johor Bahru on Aug 1.

Entry fees are RM10 for players below 10 years old, RM12 for players below 16 years old and RM30 for all other participants. Closing date is July 30. For more information, contact Narayanan Krishnan (013.7717525 or jb_chess_association@yahoo.com).

 

Russian roulette

Khanty-Mansiysk in the middle of Russian Siberia experiences wide swings in temperature during the course of a year. Historically, summer temperature is highest at 18 degrees Celsius while the lowest temperature in winter is around minus 21 degrees. 

September may be the last best opportunity to visit the Russian town while the average temperature hovers around eight degrees Celsius without dropping below zero. However, it’s still cold enough to threaten visitors from the tropics with some big shivers.

This September, however, should see the temperature rise a notch higher in Khanty-Mansiysk because not only will the next Chess Olympiad be held there, but the World Chess Federation (Fide) is set to hold its elections.

Yes, it’s election time In Fide. They are normally held every four years and in the months leading to the elections, candidates would start posturing themselves to the worldwide Fide family. Many times, however, the elections would fizzle out tamely. Why? Because by the election day, either the candidates have opted for a compromise solution or they would have withdrawn from contesting.

This year’s Fide elections may yet turn out tamely but then, there is also a fair chance that it will not. It’s particularly interesting this year because the former world champion, Anatoly Karpov, is making a big play for the Fide president’s position.

He has made his position quite clear by challenging the incumbent president, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. And two developments have made this challenge very interesting. 

The first is that Karpov and Garry Kasparov have put their previous differences aside to work together. I know, there are gasps all around. It’s quite unbelievable, isn’t it? The two of them are now working together with Kasparov actively supporting Karpov’s candidacy for Fide president.

They have been the most bitter of bitter enemies in the 1980s when they were at the pinnacle of their chess careers. Their world chess championship matches were stuff that could inspire comparisons with the Cold War except that the two of them were from the same country, the former Soviet Union.

The second development is that the Russian Chess Federation has been put into a quandary. Who should they support? Karpov Is obviously Russian but so is Ilyumzhinov, and Fide regulations say that a federation can only support one candidate. 

Karpov is their former world champion so he merits their support. But Ilyumzhinov is the incumbent Fide president and also a political figure in Russia, he being the president of the autonomous state of Kalmyk in Russia. He would also be demanding support from the Russian Chess Federation.

About two or three weeks ago, the situation in Russia reached crisis point. One faction within their federation nominated Karpov for Fide presidency while a second faction insisted that that nomination was illegal. Of course, the second faction’s choice was Ilyumzhinov.

To make matters more complicated, soon afterwards, the second faction descended on the office of the Russian Chess Federation, sealed it off and sacked the federation’s sitting board chairman who supported Karpov’s candidacy. The situation is so fluid now that it is impossible to gauge who is in control over there.

In the meantime, it has also emerged that Ilyumzhinov is striking back at Karpov, claiming that the former world champion had libeled him. 

The battle lines are clearly drawn and there does not seem to be any resolution or compromise until the Fide elections in Khanty-Mansiysk this September. That’s why I say that the heat is being turned up in the Russian town despite the dropping temperature. 

It’s still early days where most of the national chess federations are concerned, the Malaysian Chess Federation included. For sure, these three months are very critical months and they will pass by very quickly. The two presidential candidates or their teams have already started campaigning and crisscrossing the globe to convince the national chess federations for their support. 

Up next  

Gula Perlis open

The Kilang Gula Felda Perlis will organize the Gula Perlis open chess challenge at the Dewan Warisan in Kangsar, Perlis tomorrow. The organizers said that the total prize moneys have been increased to RM5,650. Entry fees are RM20 for the open section, RM15 for under-18 players and RM15 for women players.

For more details, contact Syaifulzamani bin Ismail (013.3939838) or visit the tournament website at http://www.kgfp.com.my/kgfp

Chess camp

The seventh Kids for Chess Camp will be held at the Pandan Lake Club in Pandan Perdana, Kuala Lumpur on Jun 14-15. This chess camp should interest beginners, intermediate players and the aspiring tournament players. Those who know absolutely nothing about the game are also encouraged to join the camp.

The coaches and instructors will include resident Bangladeshi grandmaster Ziaur Rahman and our own international master Jimmy Liew. A flat fee of RM90 per player is applicable. For details, contact Collin Madhaven (03.91316474 or 016.2123578) or visit http://www.kids4chess.com

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

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).

 

Two Ks plodding on

 

Epic duels

 

Clash of the old Titans

 

Three against the Federation

THE two maverick K's of the chess world have been joined by a third K to speak out against the World Chess Federation (FIDE) on the latter's policy changes to the time controls used in official chess events and their treatment of the history and tradition of the world chess championships.

In an open letter to the global chess community last month, Anatoly Karpov and Gary Kasparov, the 12th and 13th world champions, and Vladimir Kramnik, the self-proclaimed 14th world champion, claimed that the world's top chess players have been denied a voice in FIDE's decision-making processes.

The trio said that any changes to the time-honoured traditions and rules of classical chess should only be made after such plans are studied and debated in an open forum between FIDE, the national federations and the professional players.

The three players also voiced concern over FIDE's claim to the world chess championship. They said that the championship had existed long before FIDE was founded and a century of tradition could not be wiped away. It was unacceptable to them that FIDE were claiming rights to the world championship while at the same time working to destroy the structures upon which the tradition was built.

The letter brought a swift response from FIDE which insisted that they had always welcomed dialogue with members of the world chess fraternity. According to FIDE, policy decisions were often made after consultations with a cross-section of administrators, players and sponsors.

It was in this same spirit that the FIDE presidential board accepted a compromise solution in March on the new time control after it noted the concerns of some European chess federations on the issue.

Last December in Teheran, Iran, the FIDE presidential board had approved a new time control of 40 moves in 75 minutes, 15 minutes for the remainder of the game, with an increment of 30 seconds per move from the first move, which would be mandatory for all chess events effective from January this year. In the compromise solution, this time control would be mandatory for the world championship events which would include the zonal and continental championships, and optional or recommendatory for other FIDE and international rating and title tournaments. For tournaments using analogue chess clocks, the time control of four hours for the duration of the whole game would be recommendatory for title tournaments.

On the issue of the world chess championship, FIDE maintained that they had well-documented historical facts on how FIDE had begun the steady implementation of the qualification systems to the world chess championship titles since 1947.

As such, the Teheran declaration last December had only served to reiterate FIDE's clearly established role as the only custodian of the world chess championship titles.

As custodian, FIDE would have the right to bestow the world championship title on any individual who has participated and won an event solely organised by FIDE for this purpose. This would include a fair and democratic qualification process approved by the FIDE members and not subjected to abuse by any individual or group.

Since 1947, this process had produced world champions in Mikhail Botvinnik, Vassily Smyslov, Mikhail Tal, Tigran Petrosian, Bobby Fischer, Karpov, Kasparov, Alexander Khalifman and Viswanathan Anand.

Interestingly, the independent World Players' Council (WPC) were also quick to voice their opinion. Saying that chess was not the only sport where the official international federation has the rights to organise the official world championship, the WPC stated that it was obvious that FIDE has more rights than any other body.

The WPC singled out Braingames which had invited Kramnik, a loser in a qualification tournament, to play Kasparov in a match last year.

The WPC also reminded the three K's that all the top active chess players, except for themselves, had participated in the last official world championship in New Delhi and Teheran in December.

"We are ready to participate in the search for ways to modify the world championship cycle but to turn the championship into a selection process to play against Kasparov, which will in its turn be the qualification to the match with Kramnik, we think is unacceptable," the WPC declared. "The world championship should finally become an honest sport competition of all the strongest sportsmen without any privileges for whoever."

On the issue of time control, the WPC said each organiser would have a chance to choose whatever appropriate time control suitable for his own tournament. Nobody, according to the WPC, was saying that the classic time control could not be used.

Taking a parting shot at the three K's open letter, the WPC said Karpov's action was really surprising. In early 1998, after having beaten Anand in Lausanne, Switzerland, Karpov had declared himself as the champion and Kasparov as the imposter. Then, in January this year, Karpov, when facing the Commission of Sports Arbitrage in Lausanne, had admitted that the titles of the 14th and 15th world champions belonged legitimately to Khalifman and Anand.

Quah Seng Sun can be contacted at ssquah@schach.pc.my while his previous columns are archived at http://chesscolumn.20m.com. Join Malaysia's only chess mailing list by sending an empty e-mail to pg-chess-subscribe@egroups.com or alternatively, visit http://http//www.egroups.com/list/pg-chess.

UP NEXT

11th Dell KDU Penang chess league starting soon

THE northern region's biggest chess event, the annual Dell KDU Penang Chess League, kicks off on June 10 at the premises of Kolej Damansara Utama (KDU) in Penang. The tournament, now in its 11th year, is organised by the Penang Chess Association and co-sponsored by both Dell Asia Pacific and KDU.

The championship will be played on consecutive Sundays (except July 8 and 15) and is scheduled to end on Aug 5.

Only teams representing the public and private sectors, institutions of learning and registered associations, societies and clubs are allowed to play in the league. A guest player may be included in each team, but the other players in the team must strictly be employees, students or members of the organisation which they represent.

Players who are unable to join as guest players in any team are requested to contact the PCA immediately. If the response is encouraging enough, the PCA will consider grouping them together to play under the association's banner.

Provision has been made for a maximum participation of 30 teams, and each team is allowed up to eight players. However, only four players from each team will play in any one round.

This year's event will again be split into three divisions. The third division will comprise teams of mainly novice players, while the first and second divisions will be made up of the more regular teams that have been taking part in previous chess leagues.

The entry fee is RM150 per team and cash prizes are guaranteed for the top teams in each division.

For more details, contact Chan Kim Beng ( 012-451 8811 / e-mail: Kim_Beng_Chan@Dell.com), Goh Yoon Wah ( 04-645 5362 / e-mail: yoon@caissa.pc.my) or Ung Tay Aik ( 017-477 5418 / e-mail: taung@alumni.uwaterloo.ca).

BPM national allegro

The next two legs of this year's Bank Pertanian Malaysia-sponsored national allegro chess circuit will be played in Malacca on May 13 and in Kuantan on May 20.

Each of these legs will be held over six rounds with a 30-minute time control for each game. However, if the number of participants is more than 100, the tournaments will be played over seven rounds using a 25-minute time control.

Entry fees are RM10 for ladies, Bank Pertanian employees and members of the state chess association organising their respective legs, RM5 for players below 12 years old, and RM15 for all other participants.

The prizes for the open section will be RM300 for the winner, RM200 for the second-placed, RM150 for the third, RM100 each for the fourth and fifth, and RM60 each for the sixth to 10th. The best Bank Pertanian player will also win RM60 while the best players in the other categories will get RM50.

To register for the two events, contact Ishak Ahmad ( 06-283 5878) for the Malacca leg and Wan Abdullah ( 019-916 3824) for the Kuantan leg.

The remaining legs in the series are in Perlis on June 9 (Bahari Baharom; 019-568 6256), Kedah on June 10 (Sohaimi; 04-730 7288), Penang on July 15 (Ooi Kiem Boo; 04-226 2209), Perak on July 22 (Dr Yee Meng Keong; 05-546 4530), Negri Sembilan on Aug 12 (Charles Chan; 06-631 7971), Sabah on Aug 12 (Sylvester Asai; 088-764 305), Sarawak on Aug 19 (Lim Kian Hwa; 082-427 772) and Labuan on Oct 28 (Sebli Hassan; 087-463 471).

Perak grand prix

The Perak International Chess Association will hold their grand prix event on May 12 and 13 at the Sekolah Tuanku Abdul Rahman in Ipoh.

The two-day Category A event for players with PICA ratings of above 1,700 will be held over two days while the Category B event for players with no PICA ratings or with rating points below 1,700 will be held on May 13. Both events will be conducted over six rounds but with different time controls. For more information, contact W.K Wong ( 05-366 1692).

Karpov barred from Linares tournament

When the organisers of the annual Linares Super-grandmaster tournament were finalising their list of invited players last year, Anatoly Karpov ran into a storm when he declined to take part in it.

Karpov's reason was simple: he was busy campaigning for a seat in the Russian parliament.

But this did not go down well with the volatile Luis Rentero who, for many years, had been involved with the Linares tournament in many capacity but notably as its main sponsor.

He charged that Karpov had known of the dates for the Linares tournament as far back as the middle of 1996, and despite several reminders in January 1997, Karpov did not have the courtesy to inform the organisers of his plans.

Obviously, the organisers have not forgotten this incident for when they were preparing for this year's Linares tournament, Karpov was not given an invitation to play.

The ones who will be playing, however, are Peter Svidler (Russia), Alexei Shirov (Spain), Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria), Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine), Viswanathan Anand (India), Vladimir Kramnik (Russia) and Gary Kasparov (Russia).

They are currently seven of the world's strongest players, and they will play in the double round-robin tournament, a Category 21 event with an average rating of 2752, which starts tomorrow and will go on until Mar 10.

Speaking of Kasparov, we know the man is today the strongest player in the world. He has, by far, the highest rating in the latest international rating list released by the World Chess Federation (Fide) recently.

But would you consider Kasparov the world champion, or the Anatoly Karpov who won the Fide world chess championship in Lausanne last month?

Kasparov, in my opinion, can no longer call himself the world champion. Remember that it was Kasparov who in 1993 created turmoil by refusing to defend his world champion's title under the auspices of the World Chess Federation.

Remember too that it was Kasparov who was instrumental to founding the Professional Chess Association to serve his own interest by organising a rival match with Nigel Short in 1993 and Viswanathan Anand in 1995, and then let the association fade into obscurity.

The World Chess Federation is today still the only legitimate world chess body with an active chess programme, despite its own shortcomings. And Karpov, although only the sixth-ranked player in the world today, must still be regarded as the winner of the federation's world championship cycle.

Kasparov was interviewed last month by Sport Express, a Moscow magazine.

In the magazine article, Kasparov was asked when his own "world championship match" would take place. Some people, according to the interviewer, Y Vasiliev, were already call Kasparov the person who nominated himself Champion.

Kasparov was asked when he would agree to play a match against his strongest challengers. It seemed that there have been some interest shown by sponsors to finance a match between Anand and Kramnik, and the winner would be playing against Kasparov.

Kasparov's reply was non-committal other than to say that he planned to play such a match in October this year, but the announcements would only be made before the start of the Linares tournament. Well, the Linares tournament will start tomorrow, and I am sure we shall have the details in these pages next week.

There is another interesting development concerning Kasparov. It has just been announced that Kasparov and Topalov will play a highly unusual six-game match in Leon, Spain, from June 9 to 13.

What is so unusual about this match is that both the players will have access to a computer each. Both computers will be identical in their hardware configuration, but the players will load in their private database of chess games.

Very few sports in this world can claim to have such a close affinity with computers. Chess is one of them. Personal computers have become a boon for chessplayers. There are many chess database programmes, and the top players such as Kasparov and Topalov keep detail databases of games played by their comtemporaries.

The Internet has also given chess a boost in a way that would be almost inconcievable five years ago. Today, chess events are relayed through the Internet almost as soon as they happen and the obscure chess game can also very quickly gain the attention of the top players.

So, what will happen in this highly unusual chess match between Kasparov and Topalov is that both players will be using their private databases where they keep their secret research and analyses.

They will be helped by an analytic programme which will be like a tactical mistakes detector.

However, the six games will be played using a time control of one hour per player for each game. With only this limited time allotted for each player, they will have to judge how much time they can afford to spend in consulting their computers.

Although this match will be highly unusual, it is not surprising seeing that Kasparov is heavily involved with it. Soon after he lost the second match to Deep Blue last May, he had been going round with this suggestion that players should be allowed to consult chess computers during games.

There is even a name given to this form of chess. The organisers of the match have called it Advanced Chess, in which humans and computers join forces and compete as a team against each other.

They claim that Advanced Chess represents a very high-tech approach to the game and it increases the level of play to heights never before achieved. It would also give the viewing public a unique insight into the thought processes of chessplayers and computers.

Computers calculate at prodigious speeds. On a fast computer, the strongest chess programs generate and evaluate about 150,000 positions per second. In tactically complex positions they are superior to any human player.

In the opening, computers can access unlimited knowledge from their database of chess games - literally millions of tried and tested moves. In the endgame, the computers use hash tables to search very deeply, and in certain restricted endings (for instance, with just five pieces on the board) computers do play absolutely perfect chess.

Human chessplayers, on the other hand, look at only a very limited number of positions. However, they are able to sort out the relevant from the irrelevant, and look at meaningful moves instead of every nonsensical variation.

Humans are able to judge the quality of a move in the very long-term, and formulate plans that go a long way beyond the horizons of even the fastest computers. If a human chess master can survive the tactical onslaught of the machine, his strategical superiority will triumph.  

In Advanced Chess, claimed the organisers, there is symbiosis between man and machine. Each human player is equipped with a personal computer which he can consult at will during the game.

The human player enters moves for the computer to analyse, and spends time pondering the position himself while the computer checks the crucial variations. The human player is always in charge and has the final decision on which move to make.

Does all these seem interesting? I rather think so and I just can't wait for June to come around.

No champ to Anand

"I might have lost the match," said Indian grandmaster Viswanathan Anand, "but I don't recognise Anatoly Karpov as the world champion. The title of World Champion is vacant."

This comment by Anand came in the wake of his loss at the hands of Karpov in the finals of the world chess championship which took place in Lausanne, Switzerland, earlier this month. Clearly, Anand believed that having come out tops in the elimination contests in the Groningen, Netherlands, half of the championship, he had won one of the strongest events in chess history.

Anand said his match against Karpov was conducted under strongly unfavourable conditions (he played 31 elimination games in Groningen in order to qualify for a shot against Karpov) and so, the result of that final match could not be taken seriously.

Although generally he praised the knockout system in Groningen, Anand condemned Karpov's advantage of being seeded directly to the final. He was justifiably proud of his victory in Groningen but he pointed to the 31 games he played compared to Karpov's eight.

The world chess championship had begun in Groningen on Dec 8 and it ended in Lausanne on Jan 9. It was organised by the World Chess Federation and during the championship, International Olympic Council president Juan Antonio Samaranch was a special guest of the Fide president, Kirsan Iljumzhinov.

At the closing ceremony, Samaranch said the way was clear for chess to appear in the Olympics provided there was unity. This remark was clearly aimed at the non-participation of Gary Kasparov in the championship. Kasparov had refused to take part because he wanted to know the source of funds for the prize monies, which Fide felt was not their obligation to reveal to him.

Samaranch congratulated Karpov on winning the world title but, turning to Anand and speaking in Spanish, the IOC president also said: "Anand, I know you speak Spanish very well. You will be a future world champion."

Earlier, Samaranch was interviewed by Chess Planet which owns and operates the very popular Chess Planet website (http://www.chessweb.com). Part of the interview is reproduced here with permission.

Chess Planet: The world championship is running in the Olympic Museum in Lausanne and you recently said Fide has been recognised by the IOC. What more should be done to see chess fully accepted as a sport?

Samaranch: As I said during the opening ceremony, the IOC recognises Fide but it is much different with the Olympic program. We have Olympic committees in 200 countries, but half of them recognise chess as a sport and the other half as a cultural activity. To solve this problem, one should be precise about what is a sport. Chess definitely fulfills the purpose of the IOC on a competition point of view, but sport also demands physical activity and this is not blatant in chess. However it is clear that chess players have to be fit to play at the highest level.

CP: Why is the final of the world chess championship taking place in the Olympic Museum of Lausanne?

Samaranch: I have a great respect for chess, and one should not forget that the Fide headquarters is in Lausanne. We are very happy to welcome Fide here, in the Olympic Museum.

CP: What do you think about the final between Karpov and Anand ?

Samaranch: It is a fascinating final, and a balanced one up to now. This shows that Fide did the right choice when changing the championship's formula. The fact that the matches do not last as long as before is a path in the right direction for chess to be recognised as an Olympic sport."

RATING LIST FOR 1998

The World Chess Federation (FIDE) has finally released its January 1998 international rating list. According to sources, the release of the list was delayed to enable some national chess federations to pay FIDE their overdue annual fees.

Again, the top player among the Malaysians is FIDE master Mas Hafizulhelmi who has a rating of 2375. Ooi Chern Ee is rated at 2340, while international master Jimmy Liew is third in the rating standings at 2330.

Lim Chuin Hoong is a newcomer to the latest list and he is rated at 2275. Next in line are Mok Tze-Meng at 2260, Zakaria Fadli at 2250, Mohd Irman Ibrahim at 2220, Mohd Saprin Sabri at 2210, Ng Ee-Vern at 2210, Mohd Kamal Abdullah at 2205, Yeoh Chin-Seng at 2195, Mohd Fairin Zakaria at 2185, Tan Hong Ghee at 2150, Lim Yee-Weng at 2130, Julian Navaratnam at 2120, and Azahari Md Nor at 2115.

Also new to the rating list is Lim Kian Hwa at 2110. The remaining rated Malaysian players are Thomas Lam 2105, Wong Zi-Jing 2090, Lim Tse-Pin 2070, Tan Wei Sin 2070, Pang Siew Chong 2065, Roslina Marmono 2065, Ismail Ahmad 2055, Nurul Huda Wahiduddin 2040, Mohan Raj 2025, Soh Zee Wee 2025, Eliza Hanim Ibrahim 2015, Eliza Hanum Ibrahim 2015, and Khairunnisa Wahiduddin 2005.

UNION MEET

The Union High School in Penang will organise their first Union open tournament next month. This will be played over seven rounds.

The entry fee for the one-day tournament is RM7 per player, and participants are required to register themselves at the school hall at 7.30am on Feb 15. Six cash prizes ranging from RM150 to RM20 will be offered. In addition, trophies will be given to the best under-12, under-18, women's and Union High School players.

For more details, contact Lim Chu Ai (tel: 04-226-7067), Lim Swee TIn (tel: 04-262-9824) or Wong Wai Quan (e-mail: waiquan@tm.net.my).

CHESS CLASSES

The Royal Selangor Club will hold chess classes for beginners every Sunday morning in the Card Room. Readers interested in attending the classes can contact Dr Wahid Karim (tel: 03-251-2961) or drop by the club on Sundays to register.

 

Karpov retains crown

India's Viswanathan Anand came within a hare's whisker of wresting the world chess championship crown from title holder Anatoly Karpov at the finals of the World Chess Championship in Lausanne, Switzerland, last week.

In my column last week, I wrote that at the halfway point of the six-game match between Karpov and Anand, both players were tied with 1.5 points each. Karpov had won the first game but Anand equalised the score with a win in the second game. The third game was drawn.

Continuing from where I left off, the fourth game between the two players was won by Karpov after Anand had played badly. After 12 h4, Karpov thought for about half an hour before he played a novelty move, 12...Nf5. Anand thought for some time and rejected Bxf5 which could have given him a small advantage.

Soon afterwards, Anand found a bad plan which wrecked his pawn structure and left himself with weak pawns and a bad bishop. At first, Karpov failed to capitalise on this advantage. However, as the game was heading towards a draw, Anand again chose a wrong plan in the opposite-colour bishop ending. This time, Karpov successfully seized on Anand's mistake and he went on to realise the full point.

Karpov took a step closer towards retaining his title when he and Anand drew the fifth game. Anand's 16...exd4 was a controversial decision which led to Karpov obtaining a small but clear edge. Anand then played the sharp 19...g5, forcing Karpov to trade off the queens. Anand defended accurately in the ensuing endgame to earn the draw.

By this time, almost everybody was ready to write off the Indian player. However, Anand's faith in himself never wavered. In the sixth game, he uncorked a marvelous opening idea which rattled Karpov enough to force the match into a play-off.

Anand essayed the rarely-played Trompovsky Opening which lead to a complex position. Karpov appeared very nervous during the game and his 28...Qd8 was the losing move. Better was 28...Rxg6 29. Rf8+ Rxf8 30. Qxf8+ Nc8 when the position was probably level or at most, a little better for Karpov.

When the resignation came on the 42nd move, Karpov left the playing hall almost instantly, leaving his entourage to try and catch him up.

With the result tied 3-3 at the end of the six-game match, the world championship now moved into extra time with a series of play-off games planned for the two players. These games would be played using Active Chess time control, that is, 25 minutes per player for each game.

At this stage, public opinion was running high that the chess world could soon have a new world champion as it was generally held that Anand was a better speed player than Karpov. Only the most optimistic bystander would dare give Karpov, at 46 years old, any chance of beating his 28-year-old opponent in the play-offs.

But Karpov proved everyone wrong. He showed the crowd why he was still one of the greatest sportsmen in chess history. In the first game of the play-off, Karpov, playing white, chose a closed opening system so that he could avoid having to think long and hard in the limited time alloted to each game.

However, he did not obtain his goal. As expected, Anand played extremely fast and well. Karpov could not follow that pace and he soon was left with only 10 minutes until the end of the game.

The turning point in the game came on Anand's 40th move. Karpov had about two minutes remaining on his clock and grandmaster Mikhail Gurevich, commenting on the game to spectators, said: "Anand has an overwhelming advantage, but he shouldn't move 40...a4 because he'll be lost."

But by some weird reason, or maybe it was just fatigue, Anand made the most terrible mistake in his career. After 40...a4, Karpov brilliantly smashed up his opponent. He exchanged the queens from the board and emded up with a huge advantage which he converted to a full point.

Ubilava, Anand's trainer, tried to revive his pupil's spirit during the break but it was already too late. Anand's resistance was broken and it showed in his down-heartened approach to the second game. In this game, the Indian grandmaster could only put in a poor resemblance of his usual self and he was wiped out by Karpov.

After the match, Anand said: "I had the first game almost won, but I suddenly felt panic. Don't ask me why, I don't know."

PENANG GRAND PRIX EVENT

Members of the Penang Chess Association can look forward to play in a one-day tournament at the Residents Association of Bayan Baru clubhouse on Sunday.

This event is the fourth and final leg of the Penang grand prix chess circuit. Each leg consists of a six-round event played to Active-30 rules, and the prizes include RM200 for the winner, RM150 for the runner-up, RM100 for third and five other minor cash prizes. Entry fee is RM20 per player.

Readers wishing to take part in the tournament can contact Goh Yoon Wah (tel: 04-644-5687 in the evenings) or Ooi Kiem Boo (tel: 04-657-4596 during office hours).

GAMES OF THE WEEK

Viswanathan Anand - Anatoly Karpov, Game 4

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. c4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e6 6. Nf3 Be7 7. cxd5 Nxd5 8. Bd3 Nc6 9. O-O O-O 10. Re1 Bf6 11. Be4 Nce7 12. h4 Nf5 13. Qd3 Nxc3 14. bxc3 h6 15. h5 Nd6 16. Ne5 Nxe4 17. Qxe4 Bxe5 18. dxe5 f5 19. Qe2 Bd7 20. Rd1 Bb5 21. Qf3 Qe8 22. Bf4 Rc8 23. Rd4 Rc4 24. Rad1 Qf7 25. Rxc4 Bxc4 26. a3 Rc8 27. Rd4 Kh7 28. Bd2 Bd5 29. Qh3 b5 30. a4 bxa4 31. Rxa4 Rc4 32. Rxc4 Bxc4 33. Qh4 Bb5 34. c4 Be8 35. c5 Qd7 36. Bc3 Qd3 37. Qd4 Qxd4 38. Bxd4 a5 39. c6 Bxc6 40. f3 f4 41. Bb2 Be8 42. Bc1 a4 43. Bxf4 a3 44. Be3 Bxh5 45. Kf2 Be8 46. Bd4 Bc6 47. Bc3 a2 48. g3 h5 49. g4 h4 0-1

Anatoly Karpov - Viswanathan Anand, Game 5

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. Nf3 Nbd7 6. Qc2 Bd6 7. Bd3 O-O 8. O-O dxc4 9. Bxc4 a6 10. Rd1 b5 11. Be2 Qc7 12. Ne4 Nxe4 13. Qxe4 e5 14. Qh4 Re8 15. Bd3 h6 16. Bc2 exd4 17. Qxd4 Bf8 18. b3 Nf6 19. Qh4 g5 20. Qg3 Qxg3 21. hxg3 c5 22. Bb2 Bg7 23. Rd6 Be6 24. Rad1 Rec8 25. Bxf6 Bxf6 26. Be4 Ra7 27. Bd5 Bxd5 28. R1xd5 Kg7 29. Rd2 Be7 30. Rb6 Bd8 31. Rbd6 Be7 32. R6d5 a5 33. Kf1 a4 34. Ke2 axb3 35. axb3 Ra3 36. b4 Rc3 37. bxc5 R3xc5 38. Rxc5 Rxc5 39. Nd4 Bf6 40. g4 b4 41. Rb2 Rc4 42. Kd3 Rc3+ 43. Kd2 Bxd4 44. exd4 Rc4 45. Kd3 Rc3+ 46. Kd2 Rc4 47. Kd3 Rc3+ 48. Ke4 b3 49. f3 Kf6 50. d5 Rc4+ 51. Kd3 Rf4 52. Rxb3 Ke5 53. Rb6 Kxd5 54. Rxh6 Ke5 55. Ke3 Ra4 1/2-1/2

Viswanathan Anand - Anatoly Karpov, Game 6

1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 e6 3. e4 h6 4. Bxf6 Qxf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Qd2 g5 7. Bc4 Nc6 8. Nge2 Bg7 9. Rd1 Bd7 10. O-O O-O-O 11. Nb5 a6 12. Na3 g4 13. f4 gxf3 14. Rxf3 Qe7 15. c3 h5 16. Rdf1 Rdf8 17. b4 Na7 18. Nc2 Bh6 19. Qe1 Kb8 20. Bd3 Bc6 21. Nf4 Rfg8 22. d5 Be8 23. Qf2 Bg7 24. Nd4 Bd7 25. dxe6 Bxd4 26. cxd4 fxe6 27. e5 Bc6 28. Ng6 Qd8 29. Nxh8 Bxf3 30. Nf7 Qh4 31. Qxf3 Qxd4+ 32. Kh1 d5 33. Rd1 Qxb4 34. Rb1 Qa4 35. Qxh5 Nc6 36. Qe2 Ka7 37. Qf2+ b6 38. Rc1 Kb7 39. h3 Rc8 40. Qf6 Nd4 41. Nd8+ Kb8 42. Nxe6 1-0

Anatoly Karpov - Viswanathan Anand, Play-off Game 1

1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 c6 4. O-O Bg4 5. d3 Nbd7 6. Nbd2 e6 7. e4 Be7 8. Qe2 O-O 9. h3 Bh5 10. Re1 dxe4 11. dxe4 e5 12. b3 Qc7 13. Bb2 Rfe8 14. Qf1 Rad8 15. a3 b5 16. Bc3 Bf8 17. Nh4 Nc5 18. Bf3 Bg6 19. Nxg6 hxg6 20. Bg2 a6 21. Qe2 Ne6 22. Nf3 Nd7 23. a4 b4 24. Bb2 a5 25. c3 bxc3 26. Bxc3 Rb8 27. Rab1 Bb4 28. Rec1 Bxc3 29. Rxc3 c5 30. Qe3 Qd6 31. h4 Nd4 32. Bh3 Nb6 33. Rbc1 c4 34. bxc4 Nxa4 35. c5 Qe7 36. Ra3 Nxc5 37. Rac3 Ncb3 38. Rc7 Qf6 39. R1c3 Nxf3+ 40. Qxf3 a4 41. Qxf6 gxf6 42. Bd7 Nd4 43. Bxe8 Ne2+ 44. Kg2 Nxc3 45. Bxf7+ Kf8 46. Bxg6 Nb5 47. Rf7+ Kg8 48. Rxf6 Ra8 49. h5 a3 50. h6 a2 51. Bf7+ Kh7 52. Bxa2 Rxa2 53. g4 Nc3 54. g5 Nxe4 55. Rf7+ Kg6 56. Rg7+ Kf5 57. h7 Rxf2+ 58. Kg1 Kg4 59. h8=Q Kg3 60. Re7 Rg2+ 61. Kf1 Nd2+ 62. Ke1 1-0

Viswanathan Anand - Anatoly Karpov, Play-off Game 2

1. d4 d5 2. Bg5 h6 3. Bh4 c6 4. Nf3 Qb6 5. b3 Bf5 6. e3 Nd7 7. Bd3 Bxd3 8. Qxd3 e6 9. c4 Ne7 10. c5 Qa5+ 11. Nc3 b6 12. b4 Qxb4 13. O-O Nf5 14. Rfc1 bxc5 15. Rab1 c4 16. Qc2 Qa5 17. Rb7 Qa6 18. Rcb1 Bd6 19. e4 Nxh4 20. Nxh4 Rb8 21. Rxb8+ Bxb8 22. exd5 cxd5 23. Ng6 fxg6 24. Qxg6+ Kd8 25. Qxg7 Re8 26. Qxh6 Qa5 27. Qg5+ Kc8 28. Qg6 Rf8 29. Rc1 Qb6 30. Ne2 e5 31. Qh5 Qf6 32. Rf1 Rh8 0-1

 

Focus on world chess meet

On the international front, one recent chess event that has been in the news recently was the FIDE world chess championships that begun in Groningen, Netherlands, on Dec 8 last year and which will end today in Lausanne, Switzerland.

The first part of the championships in Groningen involved 96 players meeting in seven rounds of elimination matches with the winner qualifying to play Anatoly Karpov in a six-game match in Lausanne.

For only the first time since the World Chess Federation (FIDE) was founded in 1924, the knockout formula was employed to settle the world championship title. The main reason for this decision was the decline of interest among sponsors to foot the bills for the old match format after Gary Kasparov started to organise his own world championship events.

Although most of the world's best players took part, the two most notable absentees were Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik. Kasparov poured scorn on the championships, saying that FIDE "totally ignored the fact that I have held this title continuously since 1985." However, Kasparov himself conveniently forgot to add that he had given up his claim on the title when he chose to play Nigel Short in a match outside FIDE's jurisdiction in 1991.

On the other hand, Kramnik had opted out from the championships because the seeding of Karpov directly to the final was unacceptable to him.

But even if the world championships were without the presence of Kasparov and Kramnik, it was not any less competitive or without any tension. Amidst all the competition, eyes were now focussed on India's Viswanathan Anand who was suddenly propelled as the new top seed after Kramnik's withdrawal.

The first elimination round weeded out a lot of the no-hoper players who had qualified from the various zonal tournaments around the world last year. However, there were also a number of well-known casualties such as Peter Leko, Miguel Illescas, Alex Yermolinsky, Joel Benjamin.

The second round saw the elimination of two of the most highly regarded players in the event: Vasily Ivanchuk lost to Yasser Seirawan while Veselin Topalov was shocked by Jeroen Piket. Among the other players to be eliminated were Predrag Nikolic, Utut Adianto, Ivan Sokolov, Ulf Andersson, Viktor Korchnoi and Jaan Ehlvest.

The high point of the third round was the match between Alexander Khalifman and Anand. Khalifman dominated the whole match only to see the Indian seizing his one and only chance to go through to the next round. Seirawan missed many chances and was eliminated by Zvjaginsev.

The battle between the two Dutchmen, Loek Van Wely and Jeroen Piket, was messy but Van Wely made it through to the fourth round. Nigel Short made short work of Andre Sokolov while his compatriot, Michael Adams, also won impressively against Sergei Tiviakov.

The field was effectively whittled down to only 16 players for the fourth round. Anand was one of the earliest qualifiers for the fifth round when he beat Zoltan Almasi. Van Wely also moved through easily with a win against Kiril Georgiev.

The most interesting match of this round was that between Short and Alexander Beliavsky, in which the Englishman advanced to the next stage of the championships after a play-off. In other matches, Adams won against Peter Svidler, Mikhail Krasenkow went through after a struggle against Zurab Azmaiparashvili, Zvjaginsev was outlasted by Dreev, and Tkachiev fell to Boris Gelfand.

In the quarter-final fifth round, Anand stamped his authority by eliminating Alexei Shirov in a short match. Short also advanced to the sixth round when he grounded down Krasenkow in their match.

The other two matches went to playoffs. Van Wely against Adams was one of the most hard fought matches in Groningen with the latter eventually emerging as the winner when Van Wely lost one of his games on time. Gelfand dominated Dreev in the playoff to qualify.

In the sixth round elimination matches, Anand began to look like justifying his seeding when he eliminated Gelfand from the contest. Short and Adams were tied after their two normal time control games and this was followed by four fluctuating draws in the play-off games. Adams then won the first sudden death game to go through to a meeting with Anand.

The seventh round was the highlight in Groningen and it featured an interesting match between Adams and Anand. The four normal regulation games were drawn, but then Adams suddenly cracked in the play-off to put Anand through to challenge Karpov.

A day's respite for travelling was all that Anand received after going through the gruelling eight qualifying rounds in Groningen. On Jan 2, the eighth round began in Laussane. Effectively, this was to be the world championship finals between a tired Anand and a fresh Karpov who did not have to endure the pressure of the Groningen rounds.

The first game between the two players ended badly for Anand. Karpov and his team found a powerful knight sacrifice on the 17th move which Anand found difficult to handle. The key moment was Anand's 19...Qd6 which brought about a long forcing line in which Anand probably overlooked 31. Qxg7. The ending was slightly tricky but winning, and Karpov took 108 moves to convert the double rook versus queen ending into the full point.

In the second game, Karpov tried to surprise Anand by adopting the 5...Bc5 line in an open Spanish game. Anand played a novelty with his 14 Qe2. 18 d4 introduced complications and Karpov answered with 19...Rxf3, giving up the exchange. Anand looked in a better position but then he seemed to lose the thread of the game.

In mutual time trouble, Karpov missed a chance to effectively finish off Anand in the six-game match. His 34. ...h6?? was a mistake as 34. ...Ne2+ 35. Kf1 Qe8 was winning. As it turned out, Karpov was forced to resign some time later.

Karpov sprang a novelty (14 Bb2) in the third game but then he went into a 35-minute think before playing his next move. It was probable that Karpov had discovered something wrong with his intended continuation and after that, he steered the game firmly to a draw.

The conclusion of the world chess championship will be covered next week. In the meantime, readers with Internet access may want to check out the world championship web page at http://www.chessweb.com for more information.

PENANG EVENTS

Members of the Penang Chess Association can look forward to play in a one-day tournament at the Residents Association of Bayan Baru clubhouse on Jan 18.

This event is the fourth and final leg of the Penang grand prix chess circuit. Each leg consists of a six-round event played to Active-30 rules, and the prizes include RM200 for the winner, RM150 for the runner-up, RM100 for third and five other minor cash prizes. Entry fee is RM20 per player.

Readers wishing to take part in the tournament can contact Goh Yoon Wah (tel: 04-644-5687 in the evenings) or Ooi Kiem Boo (tel: 04-657-4596 during office hours).

Meanwhile, the Universiti Sains Malaysia's Bridge and Chess Club will hold their annual USM open team tournament this weekend at their Lecture Hall "U". Entry fees are RM40 for school and university teams, and RM60 for others.

For more details, contact the Bridge and Chess Club, Pusat Mahasiswa, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Glugor, Penang (tel: 04-657-7888 ext 3491, 3497 or 3499).

GAMES OF THE WEEK

Anatoly Karpov - Viswanathan Anand, Game 1

1. d4 d5, 2. c4 c6, 3. Nc3 Nf6, 4. e3 e6, 5. Nf3 Nbd7, 6. Bd3 dxc4, 7. Bxc4 b5, 8. Bd3 Bb7, 9. O-O a6, 10. e4 c5, 11. d5 Qc7, 12. dxe6 fxe6, 13. Bc2 c4, 14. Qe2 Bd6, 15. Nd4 Nc5, 16. f4 e5, 17. Ndxb5 axb5, 18. Nxb5 Qb6, 19. Nxd6+ Qxd6, 20. fxe5 Qxe5, 21. Rf5 Qe7, 22. Qxc4 Rc8, 23. Qb5+ Ncd7, 24. Qxb7 Rxc2, 25. Bg5 Qd6, 26. Qa8+ Kf7, 27. Qxh8 Qd4+, 28. Kh1 Qxe4, 29. Rf3 Rxg2, 30. Kxg2 Ne5, 31. Qxg7+ Kxg7, 32. Bxf6+ Kg6, 33. Bxe5 Qxe5, 34. Rg1 h5, 35. b3 Qe2+, 36. Rf2 Qe4+, 37. Kf1+ Kh6, 38. Rg3 Qb1+, 39. Kg2 Qe4+, 40. Rgf3 Qg6+, 41. Kf1 Qb1+, 42. Kg2 Qg6+, 43. Kh1 Qb1+, 44. Rf1 Qxa2, 45. Rf6+ Kg7, 46. Rf7+ Kh8, 47. Rf8+ Kg7, 48. R8f7+ Kg8, 49. R7f3 Kg7, 50. h3 Qc2, 51. R1f2 Qe4, 52. Kg2 Qb4, 53. Re2 Qd4, 54. Re7+ Kg6, 55. Re6+ Kg7, 56. Rg3+ Kf7, 57. Rge3 Qd5+, 58. Kg3 Qg5+, 59. Kf2 Qh4+, 60. Ke2 Qd4, 61. R6e4 Qa1, 62. Kd3 Kf6, 63. Re6+ Kf5, 64. b4 Qc1, 65. Kd4 Qc8, 66. b5 Qd8+, 67. Kc5 Qc7+, 68. Kb4 Qf4+, 69. Kb3 Qc7, 70. b6 Qd7, 71. R3e5+ Kf4, 72. Re4+ Kg3, 73. Re3+ Kh2, 74. Kc4 h4, 75. Kc5 Qc8+, 76. Kd5 Qd8+, 77. Ke4 Qd7, 78. Kf5 Kg2, 79. Kg5 Qg7+, 80. Kxh4 Kf2, 81. R3e5 Qh8+, 82. Kg4 Qg7+, 83. Kf5 Qh7+, 84. Kf6 Qh4+, 85. Kf7 Qh7+, 86. Ke8 Qb7, 87. h4 Qb8+, 88. Kf7 Qb7+, 89. Kg6 Qb8, 90. h5 Qg8+, 91. Kf5 Qh7+, 92. Kf6 Kf3, 93. Re3+ Kf2, 94. Re2+ Kf3, 95. R2e3+ Kf2, 96. Kg5 Qg8+, 97. Kh4 Qd8+, 98. Kh3 Qd1, 99. Re2+ Kf3, 100. Kh2 Qd8, 101. R6e3+ Kf4, 102. b7 Qb6, 103. Re4+ Kf3, 104. R2e3+ Kf2, 105. Re7 Qd6+, 106. Kh3 Qb8, 107. R3e5 Kg1, 108. Rg7+ 1-0

Viswanathan Anand - Anatoly Karpov, Game 2

1. e4 e5, 2. Nf3 Nc6, 3. Bb5 a6, 4. Ba4 Nf6, 5. O-O Bc5, 6. c3 b5, 7. Bb3 d6, 8. a4 Bg4, 9. d3 O-O, 10. h3 Bxf3, 11. Qxf3 Na5, 12. Bc2 b4, 13. Nd2 Rb8, 14. Qe2 Re8, 15. Nf3 bxc3, 16. bxc3 Nb3, 17. Bxb3 Rxb3, 18. d4 exd4, 19. cxd4 Rxf3, 20. Qxf3 Bxd4, 21. Ra2 Nxe4, 22. Qd3 c5, 23. Qxa6 d5, 24. a5 c4, 25. Be3 Be5, 26. Bb6 Qd7, 27. Qa7 Qc6, 28. Bd4 Bc7, 29. Rb2 c3, 30. Rb7 Rc8, 31. Bb6 Be5, 32. Rxf7 c2, 33. Rc1 Nc3, 34. Rf3 h6, 35. Qf7+ Kh8, 36. Re3 d4, 37. Rxe5 d3, 38. Bd4 Rg8, 39. Re6 d2, 40. Rxc6 dxc1=Q+, 41. Kh2 Qd2, 42. Rc8 1-0

Anatoly Karpov - Viswanathan Anand, Game 3

1. d4 d5, 2. c4 c6, 3. Nc3 Nf6, 4. e3 e6, 5. Nf3 Nbd7, 6. Bd3 dxc4, 7. Bxc4 b5, 8. Bd3 Bb7, 9. a3 b4, 10. Ne4 Nxe4, 11. Bxe4 bxa3, 12. bxa3 Bd6, 13. O-O O-O, 14. Bb2 Rb8, 15. Qc2 c5, 16. Bxb7 Rxb7, 17. dxc5 Bxc5, 18. Rfd1 Qe7, 19. a4 1/2-1/2