Quah Seng Sun on CHESS: Merdeka team chess championship

Showing posts with label Merdeka team chess championship. Show all posts

11 September 2009

12 September 2008

05 September 2008

22 August 2008

15 August 2008

18 August 2006

On the eve of a great chess festival

WITH THE third IGB Arthur Tan Memorial Malaysia open championship due to start on Monday, the list of titled players that have registered with the Malaysian Chess Federation (MCF) is still growing.

Earlier this week, the MCF said the grandmasters will include Susanto Megaranto (Indonesia), Rogelio Antonio (Philippines), Alexei Barsov (Uzbekistan), Praveen Thipsay (India), Ziaur Rahman (Bangladesh), Reefat Sattar (Bangladesh), Yu Shaoteng (China), Mariano Nelson (Philippines), Mark Paragua (Philippines), Niaz Murshad (Bangladesh) and Ian Rogers (Australia).

Among the international masters will be Irwanto Sadikin (Indonesia), Tirto (Indonesia), Taufik Halay (Indonesia), Wynn Zaw Htun (Myanmar), Nay Oo Kyaw Tun (Myanmar), Myo Naing (Myanmar), Ashot Nadanian (Armenia) and Jimmy Liew (Malaysia).

Also among them will be woman grandmaster Eesha Karavade (India), woman international master Rani Hamid (Bangladesh) and several Fide Masters.

There will be a handful of local players who will be joining the chase for the cash prizes as well as title norms in the Malaysia open. Apart from Jimmy Liew who is already an international master, leading the Malaysian interest will be Mok Tze Meng who is chasing his final international master title norm. I wish him all the best.

The other local players in the Malaysia open are Sumant Subramaniam, Lim Kian Hwa and Edwin Lam.

Most of the Malaysians will instead be playing in the AmBank Group Malaysia Chess Challenge.

Today being the eve of the Astro Merdeka team open championship, I expect many chess players from around the country are already making their way towards Kuala Lumpur. I shall be one of them and I shall be joining four others of my team-mates in this big event.

I hear from the MCF that the number of team can touch 100. I suppose the pull of this event is too great for many to resist or ignore, despite it not being held at the end of the month. Moreover, it is not even an international rating event.

So what is the lure of the Merdeka? From its humble beginnings at the Wisma Belia some 26 years ago, it has grown to be the biggest and most exciting team event in the regional chess calendar.

Year in and year out, teams converge in Kuala Lumpur to play. Even foreign teams have been known to use the Merdeka championship as an excuse to visit the country.

More so with the Midvalley Megamall being made the venue of the event in the past three years. If not for chess, the other big excuse that people use to play in the Merdeka is the opportunity to shop, shop and shop.

For me, shopping is not a priority. Playing chess is a greater priority than shopping but I suppose the greatest attraction for me is the once-a-year opportunity to meet up with some old chess friends from across the country.

It is a reunion of sorts so, I shall be seeing you this weekend in KL!

UP NEXT

Chess clinic

Fide Master Brian Jones from Australia will be at the Sek Men Tengku Ampuan Rahimah in Klang tomorrow to conduct a chess clinic for junior chess players. This four-hour clinic will be held at the school’s library starting 1pm and the fee is RM50 per participant.

Jones will take the participants through three topics aimed at improving chess-playing knowledge and skills: How Good Is Your Chess, Never Give Up, and Tactics And More Tactics.

For more information or to register, contact the school’s chess club at starschool_chessclub@yahoo.com

The first 10 persons to register will receive an autographed copy of the magazine, Australian Chess, of which Jones is the editor.

MBS open

The Methodist Boys School in Penang is organising its first open chess tournament this Sunday.

Entry fees for members of the Penang Chess Association are RM8 for under-12 players, RM10 for under-18 players and RM12 for others. Non-members will be charged RM13 (under-12 players), RM15 (under-18 players) and RM17 (others).

To register, contact Gerald Goh (tel: 012.4100998), Paul Ma (tel: 016.4693102) or Thomas Chua (tel: 016.4760902). Closing date is Aug 19.

JB Merdeka open

The Johor Bahru District Chess Association will hold the 16th JB Merdeka open chess tournament at the Giant SouthernCity in Taman Suria, Johor Bharu on Aug 27.

Entry fees are RM20 for players in the open section, RM8 for under-16 players and RM6 for under-12 players. Closing date for entries is Aug 18. For details, contact Narayanan Krishnan (tel: 07.3338215, email: naraa@tm.net.my).

Stonemaster open

There will be a second Stonemaster allegro open tournament, organised by Stonemaster Event Management Enterprise, in Kuala Lumpur on Sep 17. Also included in this event is a one-hour chess seminar.

Entry fee is RM20 per player. To register for both the tournament and the seminar, send your email to seme_event@yahoo.com or contact Fadli (017.2880123). Closing date is Sep 12.

04 August 2006

Big influx of players expected

EARLIER THIS week, I was looking at the list of foreign players who had either registered or shown an interest in playing in the Arthur Tan Memorial Malaysia open championship in 17 days’ time.

Impressive list by our regional standard, I must say. Although the organizers, the Malaysian Chess Federation (MCF) cannot say for sure that all those foreign players will eventually turn up, the tentative player’s list is still mouth-watering.

But the sad regret that I had to note is the possible absence of the Chinese players and this includes last year’s winner, Wang Hao. What I heard is that the Chinese are involved in their own chess league back home.

This is a pity because Wang Hao was the biggest hit of last year’s event. He was smashing his way through the event and cutting a path through all the resistance that terrified opponents were attempting to put up before him. One of his high-profile victims from last year will also be missing and this will be Ian Rogers.

Nevertheless, we shall still have a good list of grandmasters and international masters. Leading the pack shall be Indonesia’s top grandmaster, Utut Adianto, weighing in with a hefty Fide rating of 2589.

Other familiar names among the grandmasters will be Indonesia’s Susanto Megaranto (rated 2524), Vietnam’s Dao Thien Hai (rated 2560) and Nguyen Anh Dung (rated 2542), the Philippines’ Joey Antonio (rated 2539) and Nelson Mariano (rated 2437).

Then there are also a trio of grandmasters from Uzbekistan (Alexei Barsov, Safin Shukrat and Saidali Yuldashev), possibly two from India (Abhijit Kunte and Praveen Thipsay), Ziaur Rahman and Reefat Sattar from Bangladesh and Yu Shaoteng from China.

Among the international masters, the more familiar among them will be Tirto and Irwanto Sadikin from Indonesia, Ravi Lanka from India, and Wynn Zaw Htun and Myo Niang from Myanmar.

Meanwhile, the MCF also expressed confidence that there will be a big influx of entries between now and next week’s closing date, Aug 10, for the AmBank Group Malaysia Chess Challenge and the Astro Merdeka team chess championship.

There have been numerous enquiries from both local and foreign players. The Chess Challenge, in particular, will provide local players with an opportunity to gain an international rating or improve on their rating points if they already have one, since the event will be played using international time control.

There are only a mere handful of local events that can qualify as a rated event and this is one. If you have always been eyeing to have an international rating, do not waste this opportunity. All you need is to play against three other internationally rated players and score at least a point from them and you are on your way to accumulating your points.

The Merdeka team open championship, however, is not a rating event. But there are good prize moneys which are too attractive to ignore, prompting news that some of the more active state chess associations are planning an assault on this event. This will be good for both the organizers and states as the move will bring quality from around the country to Kuala Lumpur. In addition, the organizers are confident that as the closing date approaches, local non-state teams will also be registering.

You can download all details pertaining to these events, including the entry fees and prizes, from The Chess Network website at http://tcn.sourceforge.net

Alternatively, you can give a call to the Malaysian Chess Federation secretary, Abdul Hamid Majid, on 019.3158098 or email him at aham@pc.jaring.my

UP NEXT

Selangor Merdeka open

The Chess Association of Selangor (CAS) will hold a one-day event at the Sunway University College this Sunday to select players to represent the state at this year’s Merdeka team open championship. There will be two categories of event – an open section and a under-16 section – with each category limited to 60 players only.

Entry fees for the open event are RM15 for the CAS members and RM25 for non-members. For the under-16 event, the entry fees for members and non-members are RM10 and RM20 respectively. To pre-register for this event, email your name and age category to selangorchess@gmail.com

Chess clinic

The chess club of Sek Men Tengku Ampuan Rahimah in Klang has brought in Fide master Brian Jones from Australia to conduct a chess clinic for junior chess players on Aug 19. This four-hour clinic will be held at the school’s library starting 1pm and the fee is RM50 per participant.

Jones will take the participants through three interesting topics aimed at improving chess-playing knowledge and skills: How Good Is Your Chess, Never Give Up, and Tactics And More Tactics.

For more information or to register, contact the school’s chess club at starschool_chessclub@yahoo.com

The first 10 persons to register will receive an autographed copy of the magazine, Australian Chess, of which Jones is the editor.

MBS open

The Methodist Boys School in Penang is organising its first open chess tournament on Aug 20.

To register, contact Gerald Goh (tel: 012.4100998), Paul Ma (tel: 016.4693102) or Thomas Chua (tel: 016.4760902). Closing date is Aug 19.

JB Merdeka open

The Johor Bahru District Chess Association will hold the 16th JB Merdeka open chess tournament at the Giant SouthernCity in Taman Suria, Johor Bharu on Aug 27.

UTP Convofair

The Universiti Teknologi Petronas in Tronoh, Perak, will organise a one-day tournament at the Foyer Chancellor Hall in conjunction with the university’s Convofair on Aug 13.

The organisers are aiming to attract around 900 players in an attempt to get into the Malaysia Book of Records. To accommodate this expected number of players, the closing date for entries has been extended to Aug 9.

In addition, the organisers have arranged buses to transport players from the Syuen Hotel in Ipoh at 7am on the day of the competition.

Altogether, there will be 10 categories – the open and institutions of higher learning (men and women), the under-12, under-15 and under-18 (boys and girls).

For more information on the entry fees, prizes, transportation and accommodation, contact Raja Farah (tel: 012.7749891 email: etakarina05@yahoo.com), Ku Nor Azmira (tel: 012.5951065, email: ku_miera@yahoo.com), Mazila (tel: 012.6573683, email: mazilamohamad@yahoo.com), Rosfadilah (tel: 017.6060914) or Mat Nor (tel: 017.9683376).

21 July 2006

Malaysia chess fest

LAST SUNDAY at the closing ceremony of the four-weekend 16th Penang Chess League at the Han Chiang College in Penang, there was much excitement in the air as discussions inevitably turned to next month’s annual Malaysian chess fest in Kuala Lumpur.

Despite the temporary absence of one of its core events – the Merdeka team open chess tournament – from the chess fest, many state chess associations are just as likely to take part in the Merdeka rapid chess open team chess championship.

That’s true fervour for you. The Malaysia chess fest in general, and the Merdeka team events specifically, has become so ingrained in the minds of chess players that it is simply “not done” if they do not participate in this once-a-year affair.

It is a huge social event, a melting pot where players from every state are thrown in and stewed until they become so satiated with the game. Despite the rivalry, emotions do run the full gamut from exhilaration to glumness.

It is exhilarating to win the top prize but there can only be one winner. Nevertheless, there are so many other big cash prizes being offered that it makes it worthwhile to finish in 10th position. Okay, you may not even cover all your expenses in 10th position but it is still the satisfaction of winning something, isn’t it?

On the other hand, glumness can of course mean a severe beating in the last round of the Merdeka team event which pushes the losing team way, way down the tournament standings. All your hard work in the earlier rounds will account for nothing because it is the final standing that counts at the end of the tournament.

Glumness can also mean just losing out on a better prize. In any team event, even a half-point difference in the tie-break can mean a big difference in fortune.

Let me summarise just what are available at the Malaysian chess fest.

Firstly, there is the ASTRO Merdeka rapid chess team open championship at the MidValley Megamall on Aug 19 and 20. Total prize fund is RM32,350 and the prize for the winning team is RM10,000. Even the best local team will receive RM3,000.

Also, running concurrently on Aug 19 and 20 will be the ASTRO Merdeka junior team open championship. Prize fund is RM2,650 with the winning team getting RM1,000.

Next, we have the showcase event of the chess fest, namely, the IGB Arthur Tan Memorial Malaysia open championship at the Cititel Hotel on Aug 21 to 27. The prize fund is US$18,000 (about RM66,500) and the winner’s purse is US$4,000 (about RM14,800). Big names among the foreign players are expected at this event.

Finally, there is also the AmBANK Group Malaysia chess challenge on Aug 21 to 27. Two weeks ago, I mentioned the prize fund stood at RM5,700 but the good news is that it has been increased to RM10,000. This also means that the first prize has also gone up correspondingly to RM2,000.

I should also mention that there will be a Malaysian blitz open tournament at the end of the chess fest on Aug 27.

You can download all details pertaining to these events, including the entry fees and prizes, from The Chess Network website at http://tcn.sourceforge.net

Alternatively, you can give the Malaysian Chess Federation secretary, Abdul Hamid Majid, a call on 019.3158098 or email him at aham@pc.jaring.my

UP NEXT

Royal Selangor grand prix

The third and final leg of the Chess Association of Selangor’s 11th Royal Selangor Grand Prix for under-15 and under-12 players will be played ath the Sunway University College on Jul 30.

Entry fees for the association’s members are RM15 while it will be RM20 for non-members. To pre-register for this event, email your name and age category to selangorchess@gmail.com

SMK Ibrahim open

The Sek Men Keb Ibrahim in Sungai Petani, Kedah, will organise an open tournament at their school hall tomorrow.

Entry fees are RM5 for school students and RM10 for all others. Apart from the open prizes, there are separate prizes for the best under-15 players. To register, contact Yeoh Jia Dong (tel: 012.4247261), Loo Tung Lun (tel: 012.5136583) or Ch’ng Wei Seong (tel: 016.4895197).

Pelangi open

The Johor Bahru District Chess Association will organize the 17th Tebrau open chess tournament at the Pelangi Plaza in Johor Bharu this Sunday.

Entry fees are RM20 for players in the open section, RM8 for under-16 players and RM6 for under-12 players. The entries will close today, so do contact Narayanan Krishnan (tel: 07.3338215, email: naraa@tm.net.my) if you wish to participate.

UTM Convofair

The Universiti Teknologi Petronas in Tronoh, Perak, will organise a one-day tournament at the Foyer Chancellor Hall in conjunction with the university’s Convofair on Aug 13.

The organisers are aiming to attract around 900 players as this will also be an attempt by the university to get into the Malaysia Book of Records.

Altogether, there will be 10 categories – the open and institutions of higher learning (men and women), the under-12, under-15 and under-18 (boys and girls).

For more information on the entry fees, prizes and accommodation for outstation players, contact Raja Farah (tel: 012.7749891 email: etakarina05@yahoo.com), Ku Nor Azmira (tel: 012.5951065, email: ku_miera@yahoo.com) or Mazila (tel: 012.6573683, email: mazilamohamad@yahoo.com).

07 July 2006

Malaysia chess fest

TRADITIONALLY, AUGUST has always been a very busy month for chess.

More than any other time of the year, chess players look to August with a lot of anticipation because the Malaysian Chess Federation will be rolling out its best organizational capabilities for the annual Malaysian chess fest in Kuala Lumpur.

The showcase event will be the third Arthur Tan Malaysia open chess championship that will be played Aug 21-27 at the Cititel Hotel. As an international event played over 11 rounds with full time control, it is guaranteed to attract strong titled players from around this region.

If you had been been at the Mid-Valley Megamall at this same time last year, you would not have forgotten easily the heroics of Wang Hao, the young Chinese player who destroyed his opposition as he romped home to capture the first prize. International masters and grandmasters held no fear for him as he demolished them one by one.

Will he be here this year to defend his title? It is yet to be seen. But with or without Wang Hao, you can be sure that top players from China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam maybe and even India will be beating a path to Kuala Lumpur as they eye the US$4,000 first prize. That’s a lot of money: a cool RM14,800.

And that is only the first prize. To bait the foreigners further, the second prize is worth US$3,000 while the third prize is still a respectable US$2,000. All in, there are 15 cash prizes worth US14,550 (almost RM54,000) for the open section while US$1,950 has been set aside for the best performing Malaysians.

You can expect competition to be very keen. But this is an event for the top regional players and a few select local players who feel they may have a chance against the foreigners.

So where does this leave the more ordinary players like you or I? To be sure, we are not even among the few select who can face the big boys. We shall leave this to the likes of players like Mas Hafizul or Wong Zi Jing or Mok Tze Meng.

For us, there is an alternative. The Arthur Tan Malaysia open is not the only event at this chess fest. There is also the Malaysia chess challenge, a separate tournament which is open to any player with an international chess rating of 2200 and below.

If you fancy your luck at an international event with rating possibilities and some prize moneys, this 11-round, full time control event will definitely be for you. However, the prize fund stands at only RM5,700 of which the first prize is a modest RM1,500.

The third and fourth events in this year’s Malaysian chess fest are the ASTRO Merdeka rapid chess team open and the ASTRO Merdeka junior team open. Now in its 26th year, the Merdeka team events continue to attract local competitors from far and near.

Somehow, it is not solely the competition that is attracting players but rather, the opportunity to meet with old pals from around the country once a year. The Merdeka tournaments are fast becoming a competitive yet social event and that is what draws me to KL almost every August.

However, if you are planning to play in the Merdeka events this year, you are well advised to heed the change of dates. For once, this year is not held on Merdeka Day itself.

Because of some logistics challenges, the Malaysian Chess Federation is required to organize both Merdeka team events on Aug 19-20, just before the Arthur Tan Malaysia open. The venue for the Merdeka is the Mid-Valley Exhibition Centre within the Megamall.

But do not let the new dates put you off. There are very compelling reasons why you should continue to support the Merdeka team event by participating.

One, the prize fund. For a local event, the Merdeka rapid chess team open stands at an astounding RM32,350, making it the richest chess event in Malaysia. The first prize alone is RM10,000. Is this not enough to compel you to play?

Two, the Malaysian teams are all pampered. Not only are there good prizes for the three best Malaysian teams (the best Malaysian team gets RM3,000), there are also prizes for the three best junior teams, the best government team, the best ladies team, the best school team, the best family team, the best team from the institutions of higher learning and the best veteran team.

Three, the field looks to favour the local chess teams this year because the change to the earlier playing dates is likely to deter some foreign teams from participating.

Four, the playing field is levelled. According to the regulations, the average rating of a team during play must not exceed 2,250 points. So, if a team were to have a very strong 2,600 player as its first board, the rest of the team members must, by design, be quite lowly rated or not at all.

Five, this event is held over two days only. Some more, they are the weekends – a Saturday and a Sunday. It is just a matter of traveling to KL on a Friday, play two days and then leaving on Sunday night itself.

Six, it is a short time control: a 25-minute game with 10 seconds added after every move. There is no need for some real hard thinking. Just go and enjoy your games. You get to play five games on Aug 19 and four more on Aug 20.

Seven, you get to meet your old chess friends and lots of new ones. I am surprised that I am able to renew my acquaintance with people that I first met 20 to 25 years ago.

Last, accommodation is so easy for outstation teams. It is just a matter of booking into the Cititel Hotel which is joined directly by a passageway to the playing hall

You can download all details pertaining to the four events, including the entry fees and prizes, from The Chess Network website at http://tcn.sourceforge.net

Alternatively, you can give the Malaysian Chess Federation secretary, Abdul Hamid Majid, a call on 019.3158098 or email him at aham@pc.jaring.my

UP NEXT

Royal Selangor grand prix

The Chess Association of Selangor will hold its 11th Royal Selangor Grand Prix for under-15 and under-12 players starting from this Sunday. It will be held over three preliminary legs and there will be a grand finale after that.

The first leg this Sunday, as well as the second leg on Jul 16, will be played at the Sunway University College. The venue of the third leg on Jul 30 and the grand finale on Aug 12-13 will be announced later.

For the three preliminary legs, the entry fees for members taking part are RM15 for one leg, RM30 for two legs and RM40 for three legs. The fees for non-members are RM20 per leg. The top 25 players after the conclusion of all three legs will qualify for the grand finale.

To pre-register, send your name and category to selangorchess@gmail.com

Pelangi open

The Johor Bahru District Chess Association will organize the 17th Tebrau open chess tournament ath the Pelangi Plaza in Johor Bharu on Jul 23.

Entry fees are RM20 for players in the open section, RM8 for under-16 players and RM6 for under-12 players.

The entries will close on Jul 21, so if you harbour ideas of taking part, contact Narayanan Krishnan (tel: 07.3338215, email: naraa@tm.net.my)

UTM Convofair

The Universiti Teknologi Petronas in Tronoh, Perak, will organise a one-day tournament at the Foyer Chancellor Hall in conjunction with the university’s Convofair on Aug 13.

The organisers are aiming to attract around 900 players as this will also be an attempt by the university to get into the Malaysia Book of Records.

Altogether, there will be 10 categories – the open and institutions of higher learning (men and women), the under-12, under-15 and under-18 (boys and girls).

For more information on the entry fees, prizes and accommodation for outstation players, contact Raja Farah Raja Sariffuddin Shah (tel: 012.7749891), Ku Nor Azmira Mohd Roslim (tel: 012.5951065) or Mazila Mohamad (tel: 012.6573683).