Carlsen heads live rating

I still stand by my opinion that the Medias King’s tournament that ended in Romania last week wasn’t by far the most exciting chess event that I had been following recently, despite the presence of some heavyweights in Norway’s Magnus Carlsen and Ukraine’s Vasily Ivanchuk.

But for a different reason, this tournament has earned its special position in today’s busy chess world. 

Carlsen, by finishing this event tied for first place with Russia’s Sergey Karyakin, regained his position at the top of the unofficial chess live rating list, jumping over Viswanathan Anand. Anand, who is the world chess champion, had occupied the top live rating spot since October last year.

The Norwegian grandmaster’s live rating now stands at 2820.8 points, which is 3.8 points more than Anand’s current live rating of 2817. Before this Medias King’s event, Anand had held a two-point cushion ahead of Carlsen.

And of course, Karyakin’s fantastic performance in this tournament also ensured that he would improve his live rating position as well. 

In fact, Karyakin’s live rating increased by an impressive 12 points to 2788 points and this raised him from fifth to fourth position on the list, right behind Armenia’s Levon Aronian. This is an all-time high for the 21-year-old player who was once the youngest grandmaster in the world.

Last week, I offered you a game between Ivanchuk and Karyakin, a game where Karyakin’s irresistible attack tore through Ivanchuk’s defence. Today, there is another game from the Medias King’s tournament and this time, it is a game between Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura who is the top-ranked grandmaster in the United States. 

If you are wondering whether I am mixed up about Nakamura’s nationality, no, I’m not. Nakamura’s an American citizen: his mother is American but his father is Japanese. He was born in Japan but at the age of two, the whole family moved to the United States. And, by the way, Nakamura’s number six on the live rating list.

 

So here is game between 20-year-old Carlsen and 23-year-old Nakamura from the very first round of the Medias King’s tournament:

Magnus Carlsen – Hikaru Nakamura

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Be7 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bf4 c6 6. Qc2 Bg4 (At first, this move looked a little strange to me as the bishop lands on a square where it doesn’t even threaten a non-existent knight on f3. Then as the game continued, it struck me that all along Black wanted to move his piece to g6.) 7. e3 Bh5 8. Bd3 Bg6 9. Bxg6 hxg6 10. O-O-O (With this move, White gives up the idea of a minority pawn attack on the queenside. Instead, with the black kingside pawns a little awkwardly positioned, White looks to attacking in that direction should Black chooses to castle kingside.)

10... Nf6 11. f3 Nbd7 12. Nge2 b5 (White gets ready to push with h2-h4-h5 on the kingside, but Black starts the fun first by committing to his own queenside pawn roll.) 13. e4 (However, White’s decision to seize the centre puts Black’s strategy immediately into some doubt.)

13... b4 14. Na4 dxe4 15. fxe4 Qa5 16. Kb1 O-O 17. h4 (Here it comes. After due preparations to safeguard his king, White commences with his own initiative against the black king. Question is, whose attack will prevail first: White or Black?) 17…Rfe8 18. e5 Nd5 19. h5 g5 (Of course, Black does not wish to open up the h-file for White.) 20. h6 g6 21. Bc1 N7b6 22. Nc5 Bxc5 23. dxc5 b3 24. Qxb3 Qxc5 (Black seems to have an attack going as well but he will always have to keep the white pawn on h6 under observation. It can turn dangerous any time.) 25. Nd4 (Temporarily sacrificing a pawn in order to place his knight on a better square.) 25…Rxe5 26. Nf3 Re2 27. Nxg5 

(See diagram. Black looks active but I think it is only illusory. White is better. The h6 pawn will be the key to winning the game. Now, 27…Rxg2 is answered with 28.Nxf7) 27…Qe7 28. Qd3 Rf8 29. Rdf1 (This threatens 30…Rxf7 next.) 29... f5 30. g4 Na4 31. Qd4 Qe5 32. Qxe5 (White mustn’t be too greedy with 32.Qxa4 as the table will turn with 32…Nc3+) 32…Rxe5 33. gxf5 gxf5 34. Nf3 Re7 35.Rfg1+ Kh7 (If 35…Kh8, then 36.Nh4 will win material. Or White can also play 36.Rg7) 36. Rg7+ Kh8 37. Rhg1 Rfe8 38. Nh4 Rxg7 (And here, Black gives up. After 39.Rxg7, Black will have to meet the threat of 40.Ng6+ next.) 1-0

 

Up next

Perak grand prix

The Perak International Chess Association will organize the fifth leg of this year’s Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng chess grand prix tournament at the Syuen Hotel in Ipoh on July 10. 

As this tournament is also the final leg of the chess grand prix, the organizers have doubled the value of all the cash prizes. The winner of the open section, for instance, will receive RM600 instead of RM300. In addition, there will be prizes for the top eight players who accumulate the most points in the grand prix standings, with the grand prix champion set to receive RM800. 

Like the four previous legs, this one in Ipoh will be contested over seven rounds with a 25-minute time control. Entry fees: RM25 (open section), RM15 (players under 16 years old), RM10 (under 12 years old). For PICA members and Perak residents: RM20 (open section), RM10 (all players under 16 years old). Closing date for entries is July 7. To register, call Yunus (013.3908129) or visit http://perakchess.blogspot.com for details. 

Hillcrest open

The Sek Men Keb Hillcrest in Taman Seri Gombak, Batu Caves, Kuala Lumpur will organize their first Hillcrest open tournament at the school premises on July 10. Six rounds, 25 minutes per game. Entry fees: RM25 (players below 18 years old), RM30 (others). Closing date for entries is July 1. For more information, contact Wong Yen Lee (017.3577788, yenlee741011_u@hotmail.com), Farah Alwani (013.3336849) or Manivannan (018.3757339).

JB Rakan Muda open

The Johor Bahru Chess Association, Rukun Tetangga Taman Sri Tebrau and Rakan Muda Johor Bahru are jointly organizing the 22nd Rakan Muda Tebrau open chess tournament at the Plaza Pelangi in Johor Bahru on July 10. Seven round Swiss with 25-minute time control. Entry fees: RM30 (open section), RM16 (under-16 section) and RM12 (under-12 section). Closing date is July 6. For more information, contact Narayanan Krishnan (013.7717 525, jb_chess_association@yahoo.com). 

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: 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).

 

On top of the world

 

Carlsen in China

Well, a happy new year to you! By tradition at the start of every new year, the World Chess Federation (Fide) releases its January edition of the Fide rating list. It’s always the case that chess players worldwide – those who are internationally-rated, anyway – look forward to the release of the Fide list to see how their stand.

It is a numbers game and the higher one’s rating gets, the inference is that one has become a stronger player. It works conversely too. A decline in chess ratings means a decline in a player’s chess strength.

However, much interest also centres on the top echelons of chess players. Understandably, people are also very interested to know the rankings of those super-level grandmasters whose ratings are way above the ordinary folks. And any number above 2700 qualifies a player as super-level.

If you have been following the developments in world chess, it will probably not come as a surprise to know that today, there is a new, official Number One chess player in the world. 

Yes, Bulgaria’s Veselin Topalov has been toppled from the Numero Uno spot. His successor? None other than that 18-year-old former Norwegian wunderkind that I had written about last October, Magnus Carlsen.

His new, official rating is 2810, a jump upwards by nine points from his last published rating in November last year. Within a spate of two months, he now stands entrenched at the top of the chess world.

Although this does not mean that he is world champion, surely that target cannot be too far away if Carlsen continues to improve. And he will improve with Garry Kasparov as his trainer.

Last September, the chess world was abuzz with news that the two of them would be working together to take the Norwegian’s chess level to a higher plane. Prior to that announcement, the former world champion had already been working informally with Carlsen for about six months.

I had the opportunity to ask Kasparov recently at Putrajaya how long he hoped to work together with Carlsen.

“I wish I have the luxury of making long term plans,” Kasparov replied. “We live in an ever-changing world. I cannot foresee the consequences of this cooperation. However, I hope that we will have at least one more year and I hope that I will help him to become not only Number One in the unofficial rating list but a solid Number One in the official rating list and eventually the world champion. And he will deserve to win the title if he continues to work hard and if he brings more hard work to his unique talent.”

What about his chess ideas, I asked Kasparov. In his decades at the top of world chess, he would have accumulated a wealth of information. How much would he be prepared to reveal to Carlsen?

“It doesn’t make any sense to hide my secrets,” he told me. “Undoubtedly, I have the largest database of opening ideas in chess and I keep working on updating this. Carlsen will always have full access to my library.”

So there you have it. The great man himself obviously sees a lot of himself in Carlsen. Will the Norwegian cement his position at the top of the world chess rankings? The next one year will see how the cooperation between the two of them bears out. 

How Carlsen rose to be Number One:

Soon after news broke of Carlsen training under Kasparov, the Norwegian grandmaster flew to Nanjing, China to participate in the Pearl Spring chess tournament in September together with Topalov, Wang Yue, Dmitry Jakovenko, Teimour Radjabov and Peter Leko.

His results in this double round-robin event made nearly everyone sit up to take notice of this young man. Carlsen scored an astounding eight points. By comparison, second-placed Topalov obtained only 5½ points. This tremendous result against his fellow super-level grandmaster opponents boosted Carlsen’s rating by 28.8 points.

In November, Carlsen was playing in the Mikhail Tal memorial tournament in Moscow. The field included notable chess heavyweights like Vladimir Kramnik, Alexander Morozevich, Levon Aronian and world champion Viswanathan Anand. Though he did not win this event – he came second behind Kramnik – the result was still good enough to add a further 4.7 points to his rating and lift his standing to unofficial world Number One position.

Then in December at the London Chess Classic, he finished ahead of Kramnik and six other players to add a further 3.9  points to his rating.

I should also point out Carlsen has played 28 straight games at the top level without loss. His last defeat was at the hands of Kramnik at the Sparkassen tournament in Dortmund, Germany as long ago as July last year.

Here is an example of Carlsen’s recent form in a game from the Pearl Spring tournament in China:

Magnus Carlsen - Dmitry Jakovenko, Pearl Spring tournament, China

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Be7 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bf4 c6 6.Qc2 Bd6 7.Bxd6 Qxd6 8.e3 Ne7 9.Bd3 b6 10.Nf3 Ba6 11.0-0 Bxd3 12.Qxd3 Nd7 13.e4 0-0 14.e5 Qe6 15.Rae1 Rfe8 16.Nh4 Ng6 17.Nxg6 Qxg6 18.Qd2 Nf8 19.f4 Qf5 20.Nd1 f6 21.Ne3 Qd7 22.Qd3 fxe5 23.dxe5 Ne6 24.f5 Nc5 25.Qd4 Ne4 26.Nxd5 Qxd5 27.Qxe4 Rad8 28.e6 Qxe4 29.Rxe4 Rd6 30.g4 Kf8 31.g5 Ke7 32.Kg2 Rd5 33.Kg3 Kd6 34.h4 c5 35.f6 gxf6 36.gxf6 Rd3+ 37.Kh2 Rd2+ 38.Kh1 1-0.

UP NEXT

First Saturday tournament

The Excel Chess Academy will organize their First Saturday chess tournament at their premises in Overseas Union Garden, Kuala Lumpur for two days starting tomorrow. Entry fee is RM35. For details, contact Jax Tham (013.3232280, jaxtham@hotmail.com) 

Getting listed

 

Ratings obsession

 

Elite club

 

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).

Double trouble

SINCE my last article about the Malaysian players on the Fide rating list, I have uncovered additional information that seems to support my contention that the World Chess Federation is unable to administer its rating system efficiently.

I mentioned that when organisers do not pay much attention to the players' identification numbers, a lot of problems can arise. A player can sometimes find himself with more than one identification number and I cited two such cases among the Malaysian players on the list of Fide, the international chess governing body.

The first was Wong Zi Jing whose two identification tags gave different readings. As "Wong, Zi-Jing", he was credited with a rating of 2220 but as "Zi-Jing, Wong", his rating was 2304. The second case was Ng Tze Han. As "Ng, Tze-Han", he has a 2140 rating but as "Han, Ng Tze", his rating was 2284!

You can easily verify these anomalies on the Internet from the Fide January 1999 ratings homepage at http://www.chess.gr/ratings/default.asp .

I came across another database of the Fide rating list which was compiled by a Jose Alberto Ferreira dos Santos. From this database, I extracted a list of 63 Malaysian names. In most parts, the ratings of the Malaysian players mirrored the official rating list but there were a number of surprises too!

I found that Wong and Ng had been made to suffer multiple personalities. Wong was given three identification numbers with two of them having the same name, "Zi-Jing, Wong."

But Ng's predicament was even worse for he was listed four times. And just like Wong, two of his identification numbers bore the same name, "Han, Ng Tze."

Ng confirmed that he had played in only three rated events last year - the Asian Cities team championship at Genting Highlands, the Chess Olympiad in Russia and the World Under-18 championship in Spain. How then was a fourth event attributed to him?

I think all of us need an explanation on how these anomalies had come about. The Malaysian Chess Federation should make it a point to press Fide for an answer for unless this is done, how can we be confident of the integrity of the Fide rating list?

In the meantime, there were pleasant surprises. On dos Santos' list are Malaysia's two other inactive players: Eric Cheah (2255) and Dr Wahid Karim (2210).

At last year's Asian Cities team event, those unrated players who had played all the nine games and achieved a minimum 50% score were supposed to have gotten a nominal rating. Apart from Ng, the only other Malaysian player who scored at least 50% was Ahmad Maliki, but his name was missing from the official Fide rating list. Nevertheless, he was listed and rated 2200 in the dos Santos database.

And finally, the biggest surprise was finding Mohamed Jamil Yahaya's name in dos Santos' database. Jamil's rating, which was given as 2061, was obtained from a minor tournament in Hungary last year. He had then accompanied his son, Hussein Jamil, to one of the many First Saturday tournaments in Budapest. This was the first time in Malaysian chess that a father and son had made it to the rating list together.

Penang tourneys

April will be a busy month in Penang and chess players can look forward to tournaments on three Sundays. The first tournament on April 4, which is the Penang Free School Open, will double as the first leg of the 1999 Penang Grand Prix chess circuit.

Because a high turnout of participants is anticipated for this event, the tournament will be played over eight rounds. The first two rounds will employ a 20-minute time control while the remaining rounds will use a 25-minute time control.

The main prizes range from RM200 for the winner to RM30 for the eighth place. In addition, consolation prizes will be given to the best two under-10, under-12 and under-15 boys and girls.

The entry fee is RM5 if payment is made before April 3, and RM7 if paid on the day of play. For details, contact Eoh Thean Keat (tel: 04-826-0196) or Tan Khoon Yeow (tel: 04-890-3609).

The Union High School Open will be played on April 18. Incidentally, this event also doubles as the second leg of the Penang Grand Prix chess circuit. It will be played over eight rounds using a 25-minute time control, and the prizes will be similar to the first leg.

Entry fee is RM10 per player, and the closing date is Apr 10. For more information, contact Lim Chu Ai (tel: 04-226-7067) or Lim Swee Tin (tel: 04-262-9824).

On April 25, the sixth leg of the Bank Pertanian Malaysia-sponsored BPM national allegro chess circuit will be held. The venue is the Kolej Damansara Utama in Jalan Anson, Penang.

Each leg of the circuit consists of six rounds and has a total cash prize of RM1,500. The bulk of this prize fund goes to the main winners while RM500 is set aside for the minor winners. The winner of each leg will qualify for the Grand Prix final in Kuala Lumpur.

Entry fees are RM10 for members of the state chess associations organising their respective legs, Bank Pertanian employees, women, under-12 and veteran players, and RM15 for all other participants.

For the Penang leg of the national circuit, the closing date for entries will be April 23. However, the organisers are prepared to receive last-minute entries subject to availability of space and the payment of an additional RM10 as late penalty. For details, contact Ooi Kiem Boo (tel: 04-657-4596 during office hours) or Khor Bean Hwa (tel: 04-658-1662 in the evenings).

UP NEXT

Four-day fest in Klang

The Malaysian Chess Federation and the Klang Parade are jointly organising a four-day chess fest which will be held over two weekends in Klang. All games will be played in the concourse area of Klang Parade. Cash prizes totalling RM2,500, hampers, trophies and other prizes in kind will be given to the winners.

On April 3, the organisers will hold the Klang Parade under-12 and under-16 tournaments beginning at 9am. There are four prizes for each age-group and the winners of the two categories will each receive RM100 and a trophy. Entry fee is RM10.

On the next day, the Klang Parade junior (under-20) open tournament will start at 9am. The winner will receive RM100 and a trophy, first runner-up RM80 and second runner-up RM70. There are also cash prizes for the best under-12 and under-16 boys and girls. Entry fee is also RM10.

The Klang Parade blitz tournament will begin at 1.30pm on April 10. There are altogether 11 rounds and five cash prizes will be awarded to the winners. The champion will get RM200 and a trophy. The entry fee for this event is also RM10.

The last event will be the Klang Parade open tournament on Apr 11. The winner will receive RM250 and a trophy. The second prize is RM200 and a trophy, the third prize RM150 and a trophy, the four and fifth prizes are RM100 each, and the sixth to 10th prizes are worth RM50 each.

In addition, RM50 prizes await the best under-16, under-14, under-12 and girl players. 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 of the events. For registration or more information, contact Stephanie, Christopher or Ms Kuek (tel: 03-343-7889, fax: 03-343-7313).

Perak circuit continues

THE Perak International Chess Association's (Pica) own state-level Grand Prix chess circuit continues with their second leg on April 3 and 4 at the Sekolah TAR library in Ipoh.

Category A, a six-round event with a time control of 60 minutes per player for each game, will be played on April 3 and 4. It is open to all players with a Fide, MCF, Perak or Penang rating of 1,700 or better. Entry fees are RM10 for PICA members and RM15 for non-members.

Category B is a one-day event on April 4, open to players without a rating or rated below 1,700. Entry fees are RM5 for PICA members and RM8 for non-members.

Registration will start at 2pm on April 3 for the Category A event, and 8.30am on April 4 for the Category B play-off. For details, call W.K. Wong at 05-366-1692.

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.

 

World's top players

 

Kramnik tops in Fide ratings

I have just been looking at the latest Fide rating list which was released by the World Chess Federation late last month and the first thing that struck me was that the K's of chess are still dominating the world rankings.

But surprise, surprise! It is neither Gary Kasparov nor Anatoly Karpov who are at the top of the heap. It is also not Gata Kamsky, who is scheduled to play a world championship match with Karpov later in the year.

Instead, the top honours belong to 20-year-old Vladimir Kramnik who has a rating of 2775, an increase of 45 points over last year's July rating list.

Actually, Kramnik and Kasparov have the same rating points but Kramnik's rating was calculated over 42 games whereas Kasparov's came from only 19 games.

Obviously, Fide had placed Kramnik higher than Kasparov because of the greater number of games that the former had played. This is the same criterion used by Fide throughout the list to rank players with the same rating points. The more active player is always ranked higher.

Kasparov's rating dipped to 2775 from last July's 2795. Karpov is in third position with 2770 as his rating, down from 2775 six months ago.

Also in this list, there are five other players with ratings of at least 2700. Two players - Vassily Ivanchuk and Kamsky - are rated at 2735, Viswanathan Anand is next at 2725, and both Veselin Topalov and Boris Gelfand are at 2700. The 20-year-old Topalov from Bulgaria had the biggest increase in rating points, up from 2640 in July 1995.

Below this elite group are 57 players with ratings of at least 2600. Some of the more prominent names in the 2600-2695 group are Alexei Shirov 2690, Judit Polgar 2675, Valery Salov 2670, Nigel Short 2665 and Viktor Korchnoi 2645.

Judit Polgar holds a record of sorts. Not only is she within the top 10 players in the world, but she is also ranked first among the top 20 junior players. Judit is also the highest ranked in the Fide women's rating list.

The reigning world champion, Xie Jun, is only ranked third, at 2530, among the women. She is behind Judit's eldest sister, Zsuzsa Polgar, who has a 2550 rating. And both Xie and Zsuzsa are going to play for the women's world championship title soon.

Among the highly rated women is Pia Cramling of Sweden. Cramling, with a rating of 2525, has always been among the top women players. Like Judit, Cramling used to play in open tournaments against male opposition in the early part of her chess career and this had benefited her game a lot.

Maya Chiburdanidze and Nona Gaprindashvili, two former women's world champions, are rated at 2515 and 2380. These six are the only women players ever awarded the men's grandmaster (GM) title by the World Chess Federation. The strength of the woman's grandmaster title (WGM) is perhaps equivalent to only that of the men's international master title.

Among the juniors, Zoltan Almasi (2650) is next in line after Judit Polgar and he is followed by Peter Svidler (2630). Both Peter Leko and Alexander Morozevich are rated at 2625 each. Vietnam's Dao Thien Hai is ranked eighth in the junior list with a 2560 rating.

Malaysians also feature in the rating list but our players are still a long way down the pecking order. Peter Long (2350) and Jimmy Liew (2335) remain our highest rated players although both have not appeared in an international tournament for a long time.

Below them, we have the current national champion, Mas Hafizul, who is rated at 2290 and after that is another inactive player, Eric Cheah, at 2255.

The rest of the Malaysians in the Fide list are: Mohd Fadli Zakaria (2250), Lim Yee Weng (2240), Mok Tze Meng (2240), Goh Yoon Wah (2230), Mohd Fairin Zakaria (2220), Mohd Irman Ibrahim (2220), Ng Ee Vern (2220), Ooi Chern Ee (2220), Mohd Kamal Abdullah (2205), Ng Ek Teong (2200), Sabar Md Hashim (2195), Yeoh Chin Seng (2195), Ahmad Muzzafar (2185), Mohd Saprin Sabri (2150), Tan Hong Ghee (2150), Wong Zi Jing (2130), Azahari Md Nor (2110), Thomas Lam (2105), Julian Navaratnam (2090), Ismail Ahmad (2070), Lim Tse Pin (2070), Audrey Wong (2070), Eliza Hanim Ibrahim (2050), Eliza Hanum Ibrahim (2050), Nurul Huda Wahiduddin (2040) and Mohan Raj (2025).

ST JOHN'S TEAM TOURNAMENT

The St John's Institution in Kuala Lumpur will organise its seventh annual team championship on Feb 3 and 4. This event is open to all school teams in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, and will be played according to Rapid-30 chess rules.

Each team shall comprise five players, inclusive of a reserve. Students presently waiting for their examination results are allowed to turn out for their schools but they must be in their school uniforms.

Teams interested in taking part in this event, sponsored by Pure products, can register at the SJI by 8.30am on March 25. Entry fee is RM25 per team and trophies will be awarded to the best five teams. The best girl team shall also receive a trophy.

For more information, contact Lim Teik Hun or Wong Nai Chien.

WEEKEND CHESS

The Sek Ren Jenis Kebangsaan (China) Kepong in Kuala Lumpur will be the venue for a one-day junior open tournament this Sunday.

This event, organised by Total Chess, is divided into three sections - under-10, under-12 and under-16 - and prizes will be given away for each section.

The six-round event starts at 9.30am and participants are required to register either with Joseph Toh of Total Chess (tel: 03-757-4606) or be at the school by 9am on the tournament day. Entry fee is RM6 for students of the school and RM9 for others.

 

Dwindling in numbers

We do not seem to be getting many new Malaysian players on the international rating list that is maintained every six months by the World Chess Federation. On the contrary, we are slowing losing our numbers.

In the latest list released by FIDE last month, we lost Jimmy Liew, Christi Hon, Francis Chin and V Gregory due to their inactivity. I really cannot remember the last time that these four players had played in an internationally-rateble tournament.

It must be due to the pressures of working life. International tournaments can stretch over two weeks so it is simply not possible for a responsible breadwinner or family person to spend too much time away from work or their family.

But at least where Liew is concerned, we do see him occasionally in local tournaments where he is still a force to be reckoned with. But the others, where are they?

A second reason must be that of opportunity. Although there are many foreign tournaments, not many foreign organisers will think about inviting us as we do not have players of high calibre.

Our players cannot achieve higher ratings because they do not get much exposure. It is clearly a catch-22 situation which the Malaysian Chess Federation must rectify. It is good that a lot of encouragement is given to school children but it is equally good if some thought is given to the senior players.

If we do not provide the seniors with opportunities, sooner or later they will end up in the same company as Liew, Hon, Chin and the rest. It is possible to organise some serious internationally-rateable tournaments in the country with shorter periods of play to keep our players active but the seniors must play their part too.

Unfortunately, most of them tend to give MCF tournaments, including the national closed championship, a wide berth which is most regretable as this is a key tournament where the MCF is concerned. From this event, players are chosen to represent the country in events like the Chess Olympiad, the Asian team chess championship or the zonal tournaments. These events provide the best possible chances for our players to remain active in FIDE's eyes.

Consequently, we end up with senior players who are internationally rated but because they do not play further in FIDE events and are inactive, FIDE remove them from the rating list eventually.

As a result, the MCF is forced to depend on the new junior players to make their mark in the Chess Olympiad or Asian team championship.

Coming back to the latest FIDE list, Peter Long continues to be our top- placed player with an unchanged rating of 2350 while a newcomer to the list is Mas Hafizulhelmi who is rated at 2275.

Players with unchanged ratings are Eric Cheah (2255), Mok Tze Meng (2240), Goh Yoon Wah (2230), Collin Madhaven (2220), Mohd Kamal Abdullah (2210), Ng Ek Teong (2200), Mohd Sabar Hashim (2195), Ahmad Muzaffar (2185) and Thomas Lam (2105).

Apart from Mas, another new addition to the FIDE list is Mohd Fairin Zakaria who has a 2220 rating. Ooi Chern Ee is also rated 2220, an increase by 35 points over the January 1995 list. However, Yeoh Chin Seng's rating plunged from 2250 to 2195.

Among our women players, Audrey Wong is rated 2070 and Nurul Huda Wahiduddin is 2040.

TIME FOR ANOTHER AGM

The Malaysian Chess Federation annual general meeting scheduled on Aug 6 has been postponed due to lack of quorum.

The AGM has been fixed on Sept 1 (3pm) at the Wisma Belia in Kuala Lumpur. The federation can be assured of quorum this time as the AGM coincides with the Merdeka team chess championship in Kuala Lumpur.

The agenda of this year's AGM is rather straightforward: just a review of the previous year's programme and the adoption of the annual accounts. It is not an election year and there is no indication of any proposal to change the constitution.

Meanwhile, the 14th Merdeka team chess championship starts on next Friday and will continue until Sep 3. The Persatuan Catur Melayu Malaysia are the organisers and the three sections - state, youth (under-18) and open - will all be staged concurrently.

Entry fees are RM150 for teams taking part in the state and open sections, and RM80 in the youth section. Entries received after the closing date on Aug 31 will be charged an additional RM30 as late fees.

MERDEKA EVENTS

Here is a reminder to readers in Johor that the one-day Merdeka open tournament organised by the Johor Bahru District Chess Club will be played on Aug 31 at the Holiday Inn in Taman Century, Johor Bahru.

The open section features a top prize of RM300; the under-18 section has a first prize of RM100; and the winner of the under-12 section will get RM80.

Entry fees are RM15 for the open section, RM5 for the under-18 section and RM4 for the under-12 section. Those interested should register with the organisers by today since only the first 200 entries will be accepted. For details, contact Narayanan Krishnan (tel: 07-331-7604 or 07-333-8215).

In Perak, the state-level Merdeka celebrations committee will hold a similar tournament on Aug 31 at the Dewan Bandaran DBI in Ipoh. There will be 10 cash prizes, and the entry fee is RM8 per person.

This open event will double as a selection for players to represent the state at the Merdeka team championship in Kuala Lumpur. For details, contact Mrs Teh or Mr Chan of the organising committee during office hours (tel: 05-253-7924, 05-253-7926 or 05-253-7928) or Mohd Jamil Yahya in the evening (tel: 05-526-7091).

Meanwhile, the Perak Merdeka youth tournament in Ipoh on Aug 9 was won by Mohd Hussein Mohd Jamil. Second was Ooi Chong Chye, third was Hafizul Razali and fourth was Mohd Johan Mohd Jamil.

These four players will turn out for the Perak youth squad at the Merdeka team championship in Kuala Lumpur.

 

Fide's latest rating list

 

New ranking list for players, Let the fest begin

 

Kasparov reigns

 

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