Three times a winner

Now, don’t start me off. I’m not going to launch myself with superlatives to describe Dr Nicholas Chan’s feat in winning the annual Selangor open chess tournament for the third year in succession.

All that I’m going to say to him is, congratulations. Short and simple.

Really, there are no big words to describe Chan’s hat-trick of Selangor open achievements. He was the champion in 2009, he made a great defence of this title last year and then, earlier this week, he overcame some mid-tournament jitters to become the Selangor open champion again. 

Add in his tournament victory in 2004 and Chan has won this event four times in the past eight years. 

It wasn’t all plain sailing, though. He led until the sixth round and even reeled off five wins in a row which included a win over international master Jimmy Liew. Then Chan hiccupped in the seventh round, losing to Indian international master Srinath Narayanan. Suddenly, he found Liew, Srinath and familiar Filipino player Ian Udani leap-frogging half a point over him.

With two rounds remaining, the tournament now became alive. There were four contenders who could easily be winner of the tournament. However, some of them had still to play one another and so, there would be no easy gallop towards the finish line. The event was wide open. 

In the eighth round, two of the leaders met. Udani and Srinath were paired together, but their game was drawn. Then, Chan beat Mohd Irman Ibrahim to draw level with the Indian and the Filipino. In the meantime, Liew took advantage of their lapse by disposing off his opponent, Abdul Rahim Ramli, to take the sole lead for the first time in the tournament. 

So by the end of the eighth round, the standings were: Liew in front with seven points and followed by Udani, Srinath and Chan just half a point behind. The ninth and final round would be crucial.

To end up as the champion, Liew would need to win his final game. A draw might have been enough too but he could possibly be subjecting himself to a tie-break with two other players. It wasn’t a completely appealing situation but maybe, it would be better than nothing. In any case, his final-round opponent, Udani, refused to follow the same script and in a tensely fought game, the Filipino prevailed over Liew.

Srinath was also in a good position to join Udani at the top of the standings if he could beat his opponent, the newly minted national closed champion Lim Zhuo Ren. But Lim proved to be a tougher nut than expected and he put paid to any idea that the Indian player could have.

These unexpected results presented Chan with a precious lifeline which he seized gladly. Among the top contenders, he had possibly the most comfortable pairing of all. Sitting across from Mark Siew, Chan outplayed his opponent to win the game and thus finish on equal points with Udani. 

But this is not the end of the story. Two players stood at the top of the standings with equal points. Who would be the champion? For Chan, his spurt of five wins in his first five games would now ensure him a much superior tie-break than Udani. And with this better tie-break came the coveted winner’s purse at the conclusion of this 38th Selangor open chess tournament.  

Up next

Perak grand prix

The Perak International Chess Association will organize the third leg of this year’s Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng chess grand prix tournament at the Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Slim River on May 15. Like the two previous tournaments in Taiping and Bagan Serai, this leg in Slim River will be contested over seven rounds with a 25-minute time control. The two remaining legs will be played in Kampar on Jun 19 and the grand final in Ipoh on July 10. Other than cash prizes, points are awarded to the top 10 winners of each leg and these would accumulate till the final leg. 

Entry fees for the Slim River tournament: RM25 (open section), RM15 (under 16 years old), RM10 (under 12 years old). For PICA members and Perak residents: RM20 (open section), RM10 (players under 16 years old). Closing date for entries is May 12. To register, call Yunus (013.3908129), Abu Bakar (014.2510852) or Uztaz Ismail (019.5520391). Alternatively, visit the PICA blog at http://perakchess.blogspot.com for details. 

Ampang chess master

The Ampang Jaya Chess Club and the Office of the Member of Parliament for Ampang are jointly organizing the Ampang chessmaster open tournament at the Medan Selera Ampang Waterfront on May 15. Seven rounds, 25 minutes per game. Entry fees are RM10 (school children) and RM25 (others). For more information, contact Abdul Hakim Nordin (019.3925828). To register, contact Najib Wahab (016.3382542, najib.wahab@chess-malaysia.com). 

Warrior weekend

The Datuk Arthur Tan Chess Centre (DATCC) will organize the Warrior rapid chess weekend tournament at the Wilayah Complex in Kuala Lumpur on May 22. Seven rounds, 25 minutes per game. Closing date for entries is May 20. Entry fees are RM20 (players below 12 years old) and RM30 (others). To register, contact Najib Wahab (016.3382542, najib.wahab@chess-malaysia.com). 

Chess camp

The Creative Chess Enterprise will hold a two-day chess champ at the Sekolah Sri Bestari in Bandar Sri Damansara, Kuala Lumpur on Jun 6-7. Entry fees: RM140 (elementary level), RM160 (players with national chess ratings below 1200 points) and RM180 (players with national rating above 1200 points). Discount of RM20 applies to anyone registering before May 15. Closing date: May 22. For inquiries, call Balendran (012.3547011) or Lim Tse Pin (012.2984922).

MBSSKL open

The Methodist Boys’ Secondary School (MBSSKL) in Kuala Lumpur will hold the sixth MBSSKL open tounament at their school on July 23. Six rounds, 25 minutes per game. Entry fees are RM5 (MBSSKL students) and RM15 (others). Closing date for entries is July 9. For more details, visit http://mbsskl.edu.my or contact Sanusi or Madam Yong LY (03.20782293).

 

Long-running tourney

Earlier this month, I made an unplanned private day trip to Kuala Lumpur. One aspect of most of my unplanned trips is that one way or another, I find myself visiting the Datuk Arthur Tan Chess Centre (DATCC) at the Wilayah Complex along Jalan Dang Wangi. 

The place is such a magnet for me. It’s so conveniently located in KL that just about any chess player can visit it with ease. I was mildly surprised when I got there. The place had been expanded. Now occupying about twice the original floor space, the chess centre is now big enough to cater comfortably for any tournament with up to about 120 players.

As just my luck would have it too, the Selangor open chess tournament was going on that day when I visited the chess centre.

Good timing, I noted to myself, here was a perfect opportunity to see how the country’s longest-running chess tournament was being organized. Events may come and events may go but this one seems to go on forever. This tournament has been running non-stop without any interruption since 1974, the same year that the Chess Association of Selangor (CAS) was formed.

That’s an unbroken stretch of 37 years. It’s a local achievement and I think this is mentioned in the Malaysian Book Of Records too. I remember having played in the first two editions of the tournament way back in 1974 at the Royal Selangor Club and in 1975 at a school in Jalan Gasing, Petaling Jaya. That school would be used by the CAS for several more years.

But that was a very long time ago. Today, the organizers are using the DATCC in Kuala Lumpur. I gathered from the playing list that there were 71 participants at this year’s event. 

This was a reasonably big enough number for an event of this stature but I kept feeling that the organizers would have wanted to see more people taking part in their premier chess event. They didn’t have to tell me so but I have known them for so long that I knew that they would gladly accept better numbers.

Another thing that struck me about this tournament was that for the second year running, the Selangor open has been organized without any sponsorship deal. The prize moneys and the money for our expenses are being met mainly from the entry fees and partly from the association’s internal funds, I was told. 

Well, it is a shame that the country’s longest-running chess event hasn’t been able to obtain any sponsor again. The association’s long-term sponsor cried out last year, citing economic problem as the reason. But the tournament still had to go on, and the CAS decided on using its internal funds to carry on.

This year, the sponsor must have pulled out again and left the association carrying their baby for yet another year.

In my opinion, this can’t be continuing. It was quite understandable if the sponsor had been forced to pull out last year. After all, the global problems triggered by the sub-prime crisis in the United States last year had left many companies faced with economic difficulties. 

But if the same sponsor had pulled out again for a second year, my instinct would be to suggest to the CAS – or any other chess association for that matter – that they should come up with a Plan B and search for alternative sources of sponsorship. They shouldn’t allow this situation to spill into the third year.

Chess associations in Malaysia operate almost exclusively on sponsorship funds. Everybody works purely on a voluntary basis for the good of the game. As much as chess players owe it to the chess associations to uplift the level of chess in the community, chess associations also owe it to the chess players for the support. It’s the only survival technique the associations need or otherwise they become irrelevant.

Dependency on one another makes it a symbiotic relationship. One cannot do without the other. But the only way for chess players to support their associations is for the associations to organize quality events for players. No matter how hard a voluntary organization may work, it becomes impossible for it to continue working hard for long without external sponsorship funds coming in.

So definitely, a Plan B is in order for the CAS to move forward. I hope they are already doing this because I shall really be sad if Malaysia’s longest-running tournament gets affected again next year and in the years to come.

Oh, by the way, just for the record, Dr Nicholas Chan bounced back from his disappointing display at the Kuala Lumpur Masters event to bag the first prize at the Selangor open tournament. A convincing performance here which saw Chan finish half-a-point ahead of Jimmy Liew and Kamal Ariffin Wahiduddin who ended in joint second place.

However, the most impressive result was scored by 11-year-old Yeoh Li Tian who finished in joint fourth place with Loo Swee Leong, Muhd Syazwan Zulkifli and Tan Ken Wei.

Up next  

Chess workshops

With the school holidays just around the corner, Polgar Chess Asia is organizing several holiday chess workshops at Desa Sri Hartamas in Kuala Lumpur. Complete beginners with very little idea about playing chess can attend the beginners-level workshops on Jun 7-10 or Jun 14-15. Fees are RM280 per student.

For slightly more advanced players, there are workshops on learning strategies of attack and endgame fundamentals. The “strategies of attack” workshop is on Jun 7-8 while the “endgame fundamentals” workshop is on Jun 9-10. Fees are RM300 per student.

For more information, contact Louisa Yip of Polgar Chess Asia (03.23001680 or 019.2586355).

MBS chess

The Methodist Boys’ Secondary School in Jalan Hang Jebat, Kuala Lumpur will hold the 5th MBSSKL chess open tournament at the school premises on July 24. There will be three categories of events: under-20, under-17 and under-14 for boys and girls. Entry fees are RM5 for MBS students and RM15 for non-MBS students. More details are available from Mr NK Chin or Mdm LY Yong at the school (03.20782293).

 

Royal Selangor open

I HAVE been reading a number of postings recently on the chess-malaysia mailing group on the history of the Royal Selangor open chess tournament that starts next Wednesday at the Wilayah Complex in Kuala Lumpur.

This is certainly the longest running chess tournament in the local chess calendar. It has been held without a break since 1974, which makes it the 32nd edition of a long glorious run that has found its way into the Malaysian Book of Records. That’s persistence and commitment from the Chess Association of Selangor (CAS).

Almost everyone who has played in or been associated with this tournament will have some sort of personal story to tell. I am no different, although there will be some readers among you who will be curious at my association with this event.

It is true. If there are records still maintained by the CAS today, it will show me as a member of the association in 1974, though my membership has certainly lapsed. A lapsed founder member, perhaps. 

But more interestingly, I was playing in its inaugural Selangor open at the Royal Selangor Club in 1974. And it was my first opportunity to meet the illustrious players of yesteryear from the Klang Valley – people like Dr Foo Lum Choon and Chan Mun Fye, among others.

Anyway, it was my first competitive chess event for many years. Out of school and without any tournament to play in during those years in Penang, the Selangor open was a welcome distraction to my studies.

My first game of substance was, I believe, in the second round when I met Husin Sida. But I was totally rusty and made a slip-up as early as the sixth move when I blundered away a piece.

I felt like sinking into the ground then, as I could not believe what I had done. Should I resign the game and go off and lick my wounds? I was about to do so but suddenly froze when I saw an all too familiar figure in Fang Ewe Churh walking about. The first Penang Chess Association president was wandering around to take a look at the Selangor open.

I couldn’t resign, not with Fang around. In those days, Fang was the Mr Chess Authority in Penang. What impression would I convey if I had lost quickly? What stories would he bring back to Penang?

So, I had no choice but to continue playing. Luckily, my opponent was rather amenable to my resolve, though I doubt he had any idea at all about what I was planning to do.

The game quickly became complicated despite me being a piece down, and in the complications, another piece was sacrificed. I was faced with an impending checkmate when suddenly, check, check, check, and Husin instead found himself at the receiving end of a draw through repetition of position.

I made many new chess friends in those days. It was a time of mutual discovery. I uncovered a whole new world of chess players in Selangor and in return, the chess players there learnt that chess was very much alive outside the boundary of Selangor. 

A few months later, following the chess groundswell in Selangor, Penang and other parts of the country, the newly founded Malaysian Chess Federation organised its first national closed chess championship, and the rest is very much history. 

I will not bore you further about my chess adventures in Selangor during the mid-1970s but it was also a time when through chess, I discovered a close relative among my chess-playing friends. But this will be another story.

For now, I can only offer the Chess Association of Selangor my best wishes ahead of their 32nd Royal Selangor open. P.S. Can I get my founder member status back??

UP NEXT

Klang Parade chess

The Malaysian Chess Federation and Klang Parade will jointly organize this year’s Klang Parade chess tournament in Klang this weekend. 

Tomorrow, the Klang Parade age-group chess tournament for under-12 and under-18 categories will be organized, while on Sunday, the Klang Parade open tournament will be held.

Total cash prize is RM1500, and entry fees are RM15 for the open event and RM10 for under-12 players. Entry forms are available from the Klang Parade information counter or downloaded from http://tcn.sf.net/downloads/klangp05.doc

For inquiries or registration, contact Greg Lau (tel: 012.9020123).

Royal Selangor open

The Chess Association of Selangor (CAS) will organize its 32nd edition of the Royal Selangor open chess tournament at the Wilayah Complex in Kuala Lumpur from Apr 28 to May 2. 

This year’s tournament will be played in three sections: a nine-round Fide-rated open category starting Apr 28, and the under-12 and under-18 seven-round non-Fide-rated events on May 1-2. 

Entry fees for the open event are RM35 for CAS members and Fide-rated players, and RM60 for others. For the two junior events, entry fees are RM15 for CAS members and RM20 for non-members.

For inquiries, call Shafruddin Arshad (tel: 012.3852420), Lim Tse Pin (tel: 012.2984922) or S Balendran (tel: 012.3547011) or email chessmate@cas.com.kg.

Perak tournament

The Perak International Chess Association (PICA) will organize an open chess event at the Tun Razak Library in Ipoh this Sunday. For inquiries on registration or entry fees, contact Yunus Sharif (05.5458453 or 013.3908129).

Awaiting foreign flavours

CHESS enthusiasts in the country can expect some fascinating clashes between our local junior players and several veteran foreign players when they compete in an international chess tournament in Penang towards the end of next month. 

This round-robin event, which will be known as the Wah Seong Penang international master chess tournament, is organised by the Penang Chess Association and will be played at the CitiTel Penang from Feb 26 to Mar 5. The sponsor is Wah Seong (M) Trading Co Sdn Bhd. 

The list of invited foreign players has not been finalised but tentatively, grandmasters Herman Ardiansyah and Edhi Handoko from Indonesia, international master Liu Wenzhe of China and Fide master Maung Maung Lwin of Myanmar have been identified. 

The other six participants in the tournament will be our local players led by international masters Mas Hafizulhelmi and Jimmy Liew, Fide master Wong Zijing and national champion Jonathan Chuah. Ng Tze Han and Lim Chuin Hoong, both nominated by the Penang Chess Association to play in this event, complete the line-up. 

There will not be any prize money for the winners but the champion is given custody of the Dato Tan Kim Yeow trophy. 

However, since the tournament is expected to qualify as a Category Four event, there is an added incentive for the two Fide masters and three non-titled players who can aspire to gain an international master title norm if they can score at least six points from the nine games. 

Although this shall only be the fifth time in 28 years that the Penang Chess Association is organising an international-level event, the association is confident that the Wah Seong Penang IM tournament can be the first of several more that will be held in the state. 

Selangor chess kicks off the new year 

The Chess Association of Selangor (CAS) will organise a six-round CAS closed under-20 tournament for its members on Sunday. Registration for this event starts at 9am and the games will be played from 10am to 6pm. 

Cash prizes, millennium T-shirts and complimentary entries to future CAS tournaments will be given to 10 winners in the under-20 section and three winners in the under-12 section. Non-CAS members who wish to play in this event can contact Mrs Jackie Wong ( 03-7038237) or Lim Tse Pin ( 012-2984922) for more details. 

In the meantime, the CAS first quarter allegro tournament on Jan 16 attracted 70 participants. The open section was won by Ng Ee Vern who scored 5.5 points from six games. The players who scored five points were Law Zhe Kang, Fikrul, Rizal, Chin Ching Shiung and Terry Van Der Veen, while a further half point behind were Thaw Chee Yin, Cheah Eu Gene, Ismail Ahmad and Foong Chee Leng. 

The CAS members section was also won by Ng Ee Vern with Law Zhe Kang placed second, Chin Ching Shiung placed third, Thaw Chee Yin fourth and Cheah Eu Gene sixth. Lim Han Ying won the Best Girls section, Gerald Soh took the under-16 prize with Nicholas Chan and Marcus Chan placing second and third respectively, while the under-12 prize was won by Zarul Shazwan with Fang Chin Yao in second place and Abel Yap third. 

Also, in the first CAS closed blitz tournament held recently, there were 28 players. The winner of the CAS members section was again Ng Ee Vern who scored 6.5 points from seven games. Jointly second and third were Mok Tze Meng and Nicholas Chan with 5.5 points each, while fourth was Julian Navaratnam with five points. The other winners were Navin Pillay, Chin Ching Shiung and Marcus Chan with 4.5 points each, and Thaw Chee Yin, Cheah Eu Gene and Wong Zi Chuang with four points each. 

The under-16 winner was Nicholas Chan, with Marcus Chan second and Wong Zi Chuang third. The best under-12 player was Thaw Chee Hou, while second and third were Anas Nazreen Bakri and Mohd Kamal Firdaus respectively. 

In a Deep Blue funk over Kasparov 

FOR two years after Gary Kasparov lost to IBM's Deep Blue in the historical match between man and machine three years ago, he kept challenging IBM and the Deep Blue development team to a rematch. 

Until earlier this month, computer scientists and chess players worldwide were salivating on the anticipation that a third match would prove once and for all whether Deep Blue's defeat of Kasparov in 1997 was indeed a fluke. The only question was when the match would be played. 

These scientists and chess players do not have to wait anymore. There will not be any third match. 

According to Hsu Feng-hsiung, one of the three main programmers of Deep Blue, the rematch is unlikely to take place because Kasparov has effectively backed down from his challenge. 

About two weeks ago, Hsu released an open letter on the Internet to relate the developments after Deep Blue had beaten Kasparov in 1997. 

Hsu said that he had done everything within his power to make the new match happen, but Kasparov had not responded positively, and added that he doubted Kasparov would change his mind. 

In his open letter, Hsu said that when Kasparov challenged the Deep Blue team for a rematch at the end of the 1997 match, he believed that the Deep Blue team had a personal obligation to honour Kasparov's request. 

When Hsu left IBM a few months ago, he spent a small personal fortune to get the right to the chess chip. Officially, he was getting the right to commercialise the chess chip but his real purpose was to answer Kasparov's challenge. If Kasparov was serious about his challenge, Hsu would see to it that Kasparov got his match. 

Towards the end of last year, Hsu contacted Owen Williams who was Kasparov's agent. In his first e-mail, Hsu asked Owen directly whether Kasparov was serious about the match and whether Kasparov was indeed willing to play the match as a world title match. According to Hsu, the initial response was not encouraging as Owen ruled out the possibility of a title match immediately and was noncommittal about the new match. 

"In reality, I was not unhappy that Owen ruled out the possibility of a title match. I don't believe that a computer should be the World Champion. Personally, I believe that the title should be for humans only. Some of the potential sponsors did indicate that a match with the title on the line was certainly more desirable, although I believed that it might be okay if Kasparov was willing to state that he would treat the match as seriously as if it were a title match," Hsu wrote. 

After a long sequence of e-mail exchanges, Owen sent a message vaguely suggesting that Kasparov was not interested. Hsu now said that he then asked Owen point blank: "Can I safely assume that Gary is not interested in a match any more?" and received Owen's reply that "Gary does not want to be involved in any way." 

Hsu mentioned that throughout the entire sequence of e-mail exchanges, Owen never said a straight yes or no to his question of whether Kasparov was interested in a match. But, Hsu added, the last e-mail has only one reasonable interpretation and that was, after over two years of issuing public challenges, Kasparov was no longer interested in playing a new match. 

"I don't know the reason behind Kasparov's decision. Maybe his priority changed; maybe he felt offended somehow in my dealings with Owen. (But) it is no longer of concern to me. Even if Kasparov somehow changes his mind, the chance of a new match is now very slim," he said. 

"Given what has happened so far, it would be very hard to convince match sponsors or funding sources that the match will happen. Kasparov could change his mind yet again or come up with match conditions that are unacceptable. Anyway, I give up. I have now done everything possible to make the match happen," Hsu added. 

Hsu said that there were people who were interested in seeing the chess chip commercialised. However, he said it was unlikely to happen as the Deep Blue chess chip was not commercially viable. 

To be commercially viable, he would have to redesign a new chip but without a new match, it was difficult for him to muster the energy to create it. He said that the only chance that anyone would ever see the chess chip commercialised would be if he decided to build a Shogi (a Japanese chess game) chip someday. "Then you may see a new chess chip designed as a by-product," he added. 

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).

Selangor chess team on visit