Our players should stand proud

ASK ANY serious chess player here what recent chess activity has transfixed the attention of most chess players in the country and he will surely point to the performance of the national men's and women's teams at the Chess Olympiad in Turin, Italy, which concluded just five days ago.

More than at any time previously, the whole of Malaysian chess was solidly behind our two teams. We shared their joys and their despairs during their courageous, often roller-coaster, ride during the Chess Olympiad.

I have never seen so much passion coming from our chess supporters before. All these, of course, thanks to the Internet where we had three things going to generate continuous interest among our chess players.

Firstly, there was live coverage of the games at the Chess Olympiad. It was not the first time that chess games were broadcast live through the Internet and certainly, it will not be the last time either. 

Not only were the games of the leading countries shown in real time, the lesser countries also had their equal time in the sun. Every round, without fail, anyone with a decent, broadband Internet access could tune in to any of the 499 games daily. That's a lot of games to satiate the chess soul, believe me!

It helped further that the matches would start at 9pm Malaysian time daily and continued until about 1am in the morning. By past midnight, maybe 75 per cent of the games would have finished. So it was more or less like prime time viewing in Malaysia for chess players to follow the big games on their computer screens.

Secondly, our senior-most international master, Jimmy Liew, decided to start a chess blog where daily, he would update with the latest adventures by our chess representatives in Turin. 

He created some controversies with his comments when many chess players misconstrued his intentions and thought him over-critical of some of our players but in truth, he was simply giving a matter-of-fact opinion of our teams’ chances. He spoke from a vantage point of knowing the game intimately and the players well.

His chess blog was read far and wide, even within international circles, and you can still access it at http://www.rainswater.com/chess

Thirdly, a lot of heated discussion about our players was also generated on the chess-malaysia mailing list. There were plenty of agreements and disagreements, and at one point, even our players in Turin joined in 

For the first time since chess-malaysia was created in 1998, it became an interactive forum to connect our representatives in Turin with their chess friends back home and I think they appreciated the words of encouragement.

By the way, our men’s team could only finish in 80th position out of 148 teams while our women’s team was a creditable 44th out of 108 teams. Our women, led by Siti Zulaikha Foudzi, played very consistently to score 20.5 points while our men played their hearts out to collect 25.5 points. 

Their highest points during the 13-round competition was a mauling of Canada by 3.5-0.5 and a 2.5-1.5 win against Switzerland which was described in some circles as the biggest upset of the ninth round. In this match, Mas Hafizul delivered a masterly knock-out blow to the veteran super-grandmaster, Viktor Korchnoi, in a mere 21-move game.

There are more to say about our teams’ performances but this shall be left to the next fortnight.

UP NEXT

Sri Aman open

The Sri Aman open tournament for under-16, under-14, under-12, under-10 and under-8 players will be held at the Sek Keb Sri Aman in Bandar Baru Air Itam, Penang, this Sunday.

Entry fees for members of the Penang Chess Association (PCA) are RM10 for under-16 players and RM8 for under-10 players. For non-PCA members, these will be RM15 and RM13 respectively. Entries accepted after Jun 4 are subjected to an additional RM5 as penalty. For details, contact Eoh Thean Keat (tel: 016.4540070, email: t_k_eoh@hotmail.com)

Perak rapid open

The Perak International Chess Association (PICA) will organise a one-day, seven-round tournament at the Kolej Syuen in Jalan Kampar, Ipoh, on Jun 18. The event will be run in two categories. The Category A is an open event for players with a Perak rating of at least 1600, while the Category B event caters to players with a Perak rating of 1599 or less, including all new players. 

Entry fees are RM5 for players under 12 years old, RM8 for PICA members and RM10 for all other players. For details, contact Yunus Sharif (tel: 05.5458453 or 013.3908129) or Hamisah (tel: 012.4313326).

CLB open

The SMJK Chung Ling Butterworth will hold their first open tournament at their school on Jun 18. Entry fees for members of the Penang Chess Association are RM10 for under-18 players and RM15 for others. Non-PCA members are required to play RM15 and RM20 respectively.  

Registration and inquiries: Tan Eng Seong (tel: 012.4299517, email: estan64@streamyx.com) or Teh Wei Li (tel: 019.4161486). Closing date for entries is Jun 17.

Stonemaster open

There will be a Stonemaster allegro open tournament, organised by Stonemaster Event Management Entreprise, at the Wilayah Complex in Kuala Lumpur on Jun 25. This tournament is restricted only to players who do not have a world (Fide) rating. The organisers will also conduct a one-hour chess seminar half-way through the event.

Entry fee is RM20 per player. To register for both the tournament and the seminar, email seme_event@yahoo.com or contact Fadli (016.2092404) before Jun 20. 

Mas' golden touch

A FORTNIGHT ago, while most of the country was caught up in the excitement of ushering in a new year, there were at least 10 people in Kuala Lumpur who felt they had more important things to do. They were hard at work at a tournament which would decide the ultimate pecking order of chess players in the country.

For this event, which was named the PWTC Malaysian junior masters tournament, the Malaysian Chess Federation (MCF) had gathered together the country's only two international masters, three past and present national champions and five promising junior players who had proven themselves locally and in international chess tournaments.

Needless to say, our two international masters, Mas Hafizulhelmi and Jimmy Liew, proved themselves a cut above the rest.

Mas Hafizul, especially, was rather ruthless in handling his opponents and he only agreed to draws with Deon Moh, Jimmy Liew and Ng Tze Han.

All the other players could not stop the Mas juggernaut from rolling over them. Every slightest misjudgment, apparently, was punished decisively and by the fourth round, Mas Hafizul had opened up a small lead which was widened considerably by the end of the tournament.

Liew, on the other hand, was more laidback in his approach. He was not adverse to drawing his games and in fact, he conceded six draws. However, those draws did not mean that Liew could not bite, for as Wong Zijing, Ng Ee Vern and Ng Tze Han found to their regret, Liew still had a lot of venom in his games.

Tze Han found out the hard way that when the situation required Liew to conjure up a win, he was prepared to dig in for a battle. In the final round of the tournament, Ng had a chance to finish second but he found that Liew, who was his final-round opponent, was in an uncompromising mood. Ng had to concede the game and was not the runner-up.

So with Mas Hafizul and Jimmy Liew finishing one-two in the tournament, it was left to the other eight players to pick up the rest of the spoils. Ng Tze Han's loss to Liew in the final round meant that he was in sole third place, while taking the fourth and fifth places were Lim Chuin Hoong and Deon Moh respectively.

There was also a two-way tie for the sixth and seventh places by Wong Zi Jing and former national champion Lim Yee Weng, in eighth place was another former national champion, Ng Ee Vern, and propping up the standings were present national champion Jonathan Chuah and Aaron Yee in the ninth and 10th spot respectively.

The tournament was organised by the MCF at the Putra World Trade Centre which also sponsored the event.

Latest Fide ratings

THE World Chess Federation has released its latest Fide Rating List which shall be effective for a six-month period beginning this month.

The full list includes more than 33,000 chess players throughout the world whose ratings are at least 2,000 points. Topping the list yet again is Gary Kasparov (Russia) who remains at 2,851 points despite not having played any rateable game during the past six-month rating period.

His closest rivals are still Viswanathan Anand (India) who is rated at 2,769, Vladimir Kramnik (Russia) at 2,758, Alexei Shirov (Spain) at 2,751 and Alexander Morovich (Russia) at 2,748. Also in the Top 10 are Peter Leko (Hungary) at 2,725, Michael Adams (England) at 2,715, Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine) and Evgeny Bareev (Russia) at 2,709, and Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria) at 2,702.

This list also marks the first time in three decades that the former world champion, Anatoly Karpov (Russia), had fallen outside the Top 10. Karpov is presently in 11th spot with a rating of 2,696. It is interesting to note that the present world champion, Alexander Khalifman (Russia), is in the 31st position in the list with a rating of 2,656 while his opponent in the last Fide world championship, Vladimir Akopian (Armenia), is placed higher than him in 27th position with a 2,660 rating.

Eyebrows are already being raised in the western world with the emergence of Myanmar player Zaw Win Lay among the world's Top 50 with a rating of 2,633. Zaw, in 44th position, is supposedly the highest-rated player without a title but I do remember reading from the Fide homepage last November that an International Master title had already been awarded to him. There are five other Myanmar players in the Top 100.

To the westerners, players like Zaw are unknown to them but to Asians who have seen the Myanmar players perform in events such as the Asian team or Asian cities team championships, we know how strong they are. Still, as long as Myanmar remains closed to the world, the capability of their players will continue to be questioned by the west.

There are 58 Malaysians in the Fide Rating List, headed by Mas Hafizulhelmi who is rated at 2,413. Ooi Chern Ee is rated at 2,340, Aaron Yee at 2,337, Jimmy Liew at 2,325, Wong Zijing at 2,324, Jonathan Chuah at 2,271, Ng Ee Vern at 2,240, Ng Tze Han at 2,216, Lim Chuin Hoong at 2,214, Mohd Saprin Sabri at 2,210, Mohd Kamal Abdullah at 2,205, Ahmad Maliki at 2,200, Lim Jean Nie at 2,168, Deon Moh at 2,164, Lim Yee Weng at 2,149, Julian Navaratnam at 2,125, Lim Kian Hwa at 2,110, Azahari Md Nor at 2,108 and Lim Chin Lee at 2,081.

Among those players listed as inactive by Fide are Peter Long (2,350), Francis Chin (2,275), Mok Tze Meng (2,270), Eric Cheah (2,255), Mohd Fadli Zakaria (2,250), Christi Hon (2,235) and Yeoh Chin Seng (2,195).

The full list of Malaysian players in the Fide Rating List, together with some new collection of games, can be downloaded from my web library at http://www5.mol.com.my/qss/Library/index.html

Selangor chess kicks off

THE Chess Association of Selangor (CAS) is organising its first tournament of the new year this Sunday at the Sunway College. Registration for the six-round allegro event will begin at 9am and the first round is slated for 10am.

Entry fees are RM10 for members of the CAS and RM15 for non-members. Cash prizes and other prizes in kind will be given to the winners of the open, under-12, under-16 and girl sections. In addition, the best CAS members will receive prizes and the best junior players will get certificates of achievement.

Also, to mark the first CAS event in the new millennium, there will be limited edition T-shirts available for sale to chess enthusiasts.

Meanwhile, CAS also said that its chess camp at Genting Highlands last November was a success. The group of six boys and two girls who took part in the camp have started to produce respectable results in tournaments such as the recently concluded national closed chess championshp.

Among the achievements were the good results of two young CAS members, Siti Zulaikha and Lim Han Ying, who emerged as the champion and the third-place winner respectively in the women's section of the national closed.

To strengthen and widen the players' horizon, CAS is starting a three-month chess programme designed for tournament players from tomorrow. The programme is divided into two classes: the core group which comprises participants from the chess camp and the enthusiast group which will be made up of tournament players. Both the programmes will be conducted by Terry van der Veen.

Each class will be conducted over two hours on a weekly basis. For enquiries, contact Mrs Jackie Wong (03-703-8237) or Lim Tse Pin (012-298-4922).

Perak event

The Perak International Chess Association will organise its first competition of the new year at the Sekolah Tuanku Abdul Rahman in Ipoh on Jan 22 and 23. For more information, contact Hamisah (05-313-3809) or Wong (05-366-1692).

Sting of a veteran

IN THESE days when we keep hearing of young players winning local chess tournaments, it comes as a pleasant surprise to see the trend being bucked by our foremost veteran chess player, international master Jimmy Liew. Earlier this month at the Royal Selangor open tournament, Liew demonstrated how senior players like him could still deliver a vicious sting when the occasion warranted it.

In this tournament, which was the Chess Association of Selangor's (CAS) showcase event, Liew emerged as the champion with a score of seven points from nine games. Actually, Liew had tied with two other players, Wong Zi Jing and Fikrul Saifuddin, but he had by far the best tie-break owing to a fantastic start to this tournament.

Among his victims were Ismail Ahmad, Julian Navaratnam, Ng Ee Vern and Khor Shihong, while players like Mok Tze Meng and Wong Zi Jing could get no more than a draw from him. Unfortunately, Liew's good performance in his first eight games was spoilt by a loss to Fikrul Saifuddin in the final round. But then, of course, it did not really matter any more because the first prize of RM1,200 was already his to take.

Wong Zi Jing won the second prize of RM800 as well as the special prize of RM300 for being the best CAS player in the 50-player field. Fikrul Saifuddin won the RM600 third prize.

Four players finished with a score of 6.5 points each. Julian Navaratnam collected RM450 as the fourth prize and RM200 as the second-best CAS player, Mok Tze Meng won the RM350 fifth prize and RM100 as the third-best CAS player, Ng Ee Vern collected RM300 as the sixth prize and RM50 as the fourth-best CAS player, and Gerald Soh took home the RM200 seventh prize and RM50 as the fifth-best CAS player. In addition, Soh also won the best under-16 prize.

Ismail Ahmad and Agus Salim scored six points, and they won RM100 each.

Uzbekistan Fide woman master Angela Khegai, who stopped by in Kuala Lumpur while enroute to Singapore, scored 5.5 points to take the RM100 10th prize and the best women's prize. Five other players - Khor Shihong, Sergey Kaymov of Uzbekistan, Jonathan Chuah, Mustafa Kamal and Cheah Eu Gene - also scored 5.5 points and they were each given RM50. Tan Kiat Tat was the only unlucky 5.5 pointer to miss a prize.

The best veteran's prize was given to Ramli Bahari, and the best under-12 prize went to Wong Zi Chuang.

Chung Ling in the lead

AFTER two rounds of the ninth Bayview Chess League which began two Sundays ago, Chung Ling High School "A" has taken a significant lead in the Premier Division with 6.5 points. In the first round, CLHS "A" whitewashed its "B" team 4-0 while in the second round, CLHS "A" chalked a narrow 2.5-1.5 victory over Penang Free School "B".

Its two nearest rivals are Penang Free School "A" and Chung Ling Old Boys Association which have five points each. Old Frees Association has four points, Chung Ling High School "B" three points, St Xavier's Institution, Pessca and Penang Free School "B" 2.5 points each, and International College one point. International College, led by Ooi Chern Ee who is back on holidays from the United States, has played one match less because of a bye in the first round.

The Division One results saw Penang Free School "C" taking a big lead after it followed up a 3.5-0.5 win over its "D" team in the first round by thrashing Hewlett-Packard 4-0 in last Sunday's games. The Penang Development Corporation has 5.5 points and Dell Computer "A" five points.

Closely bunched together are Hitachi, Chung Ling High School "D", the MSSPP Girls, Penang Chess Association Novices and Chung Ling High School "C" which have four points each. Both Hewlett-Packard and Penang Free School "D" are languishing at the bottom with one point each.

In Division Two, Chung Ling High School "E" is in the lead after handing Penang Free School "E" a 4-0 drubbing in the second round. Union High School is in second place with five points following a 4-0 victory over the Penang Free School "E" team. The Penang Chinese Girls High School and Dell "B" are jointly in third place with 3.5 points, while PFS "E", MSSPP Juniors and Chung Hwa Confucian School have three points each. The Penang Free School "F" has one point.

The third round of the chess league will be played this Sunday at The City Bayview Hotel's revolving restaurant after the official opening ceremony at 9.45am. The hotel is sponsoring the use of its premises for the weekly games.

 

Up Next

National allegro circuit

THE Bank Pertanian Malaysia-sponsored national allegro chess circuit continues with two more legs to be staged early next month. The first will be the Kedah leg which will be played at the Kolej Tenaga Nasional, Universiti Utara Malaysia in Sintok on July 3 while the second will be the Perlis leg which is scheduled to be held at the Sekolah Menegah Putra in Kangar on July 4.

Because the two events will be held on consecutive days, it will enable many outstation players to take part in both tournaments.

Accommodation for the outstation players can be arranged either in Sintok, Changloon or Kangar but the organisers must be informed early.

Entry fees for each event are RM10 for members of the Perlis Chess Association, Kedah Chess Association, Bank Pertanian employees, women, under-12 and veteran players, and RM15 for the others.

The total cash prize for each of the legs is RM1,500. The bulk of this prize fund will go to the main winners while RM500 is set aside for the minor winners. The winner of each leg will qualify automatically for the Grand Prix final in October. To register, contact Abdul Latiff Mohamad ( 013-301 0204) or Aziz Osman ( 04-938 6584).

Perak tournaments

THE Perak International Chess Association will organise the fifth leg of the Perak inter-school team tournament circuit at the Sek Men Kebangsaan St Michael in Ipoh tomorrow. This event is open to all schools in the state. Registration for this event starts at 8am in the school. For enquiries, call Christopher Choong at 05-321 0150.

The final leg of the Perak inter-school series will be held on June 26 at the Sek Men Kebangsaan ACS in Ipoh. For more information on this event, call Chin Kin Wai at 05-242 9592.

Meanwhile, the third leg of the circuit was played on May 22 and it was won by the Sek Men Kebangsaan Sultan Yusoff. The school had emerged second in the first two legs earlier in the year.

Four-day fest

THE Malaysian Chess Federation and the Seremban Parade are jointly organising a four-day chess fest which will be held over two weekends in the Seremban Parade. For those not familiar with the place, the Seremban Parade is located opposite the railway station. All games will be played in the concourse area of the shopping centre. Cash prizes amounting to RM2,000, hampers, trophies and other prizes in kind will be given to the winners.

On July 17, the organisers will hold the Seremban Parade blitz tournament which is an 11-round event. The registration of players will begin at 1pm, and the tournament will run from 2pm to about 7pm. There will be five cash prizes. Entry fee is RM10.

The next day, the six-round Seremban Parade age-group tournament for under-12 and under-16 players will start at 9am. There are three cash prizes for each age-group as well as special prizes for the best girl players. Entry fee is also RM10.

On July 24, the Chess Challenge continues with the Seremban Parade junior (under-20) open tournament beginning at 9am. Cash prizes will be given to the top three winners and the best under-12 and under-16 boys and girls. Entry fee is RM10.

The last event will be the Seremban Parade open tournament on July 25. The top 10 winners and the best under-16, under-14, under-12 and girl players will all receive cash prizes. The entry fee for this final event is RM15 except for under-12 players who need to pay only RM10.

According to the organisers, only a maximum of 100 players will be accepted for each event. For registration or more information, call Jessie or Jay at 06-764 8282 or fax: 06-761 9177.

 

Liew emerges USM champ

 

Jimmy's still the chess king