Pitting skills against a machine

Computer chess is so much in the news these days. Regular readers of this column would have read about the world computer chess championship played in Hongkong recently.

You will remember that the Fritz3 chess programme running on an Intel Pentium 90mhz chip won the championship, humbling Deep Blue in the final round.

Recently too, the Penang Chess Association organised the Penang Vision 2020 tournament and it was an opportunity to test whether Fritz2, the predecessor to Fritz3, could stand up against the local challenge.

A decision was made to enter Fritz2 as a participant in this tournament but, failing to find a Pentium90, the PCA had to settle for a "humble" Intel 486SX machine instead.

The results were nothing less than spectacular. In the first round, Fritz2 beat K Nanis after getting the better of the position in the opening and in the second round, the chess programme beat Teoh Giap Seng.

Before the midday break, Fritz2 had chalked up a third win against up-and- coming junior player Ronnie Lim.

The results after the break were not any different despite Fritz2 being pitted against stronger opposition. In round four, Teng Wei Ping was worn down in a delicate ending and in the fifth round, Ooi Chern Ee fell to the machine.

Wong Kam Loong handled Fritz2 poorly in round six, and the tournament wrapped up with Fritz2 completing a rout of the field by beating Teng Wei Hong.

Oh, before I get too carried away with the success of the Fritz2 programme, here are the results of the Penang Vision 2020 tournament which was sponsored jointly by BHL Bank and the Mar Vista Resort.

The five prizes in the "2100 and above" rating group were won by Ooi Chern Ee 6 points, Teng Wei Ping and Ronnie Lim 5 points each, Wong Kam Loong 4.5 points and Colin Chong 4 points. It had been decided earlier that Fritz2 would not be eligible for any prize.

For the "2000 to 2099" rating group, the winners were Tan Kwang Yi 5.5 points, and Teng Wei Hong and Choo Tze Siang who each obtained five points. In the "1950 to 1999" rating group, the prizes went to Lim Kwang Seng 4 points, and Jonathan Chuah and Teoh Kok Liang who scored 3.5 points each.

The remaining two prizes went to the group of unrated players and those rated below 1950, and these were won by Dr Lim Boon Liang and Tan Fee Meng who obtained four points each.

BAYVIEW NEWS

In the second round of the fifth Penang Bayview Chess League last Sunday, Chung Ling High School A forged ahead in Division One with a 3.5-0.5 win over Hitachi Semiconductor.

Penang Free School A scored a 3-1 win over Universiti Sains Malaysia, while Old Frees Association beat Chung Ling High School B and Pessca beat Chung Ling Old Boys Association by similar 2.5-1.5 margins. The MSSPP Juniors- Penang Free School B match was drawn 2-2.

In Division Two, Chung Ling High School D blanketed Mara Taiping 4-0 and the MSSPP Girls beat Penang Chinese Girls High School by a similar score. Chung Ling High School C beat Hewlett Packard, Union High School beat National Semiconductor, and Bank Bumiputra beat DCI by 3-1 scores.

The standings are as follows: Division One - CLHS A 7.5 points, PFS A 6 points, OFA 5 points, USM and CLOBA 4 points, Pessca and MSSPP Jrs 3.5 points, PFS B 3 points, CLHS B and Penang Development Corporation 1.5 points, and Hitachi 0.5 point; Division Two - MSSPP Girls 7 points, CLHS C, CLHS D and Union 5.5 points, HP and BBMB 5 points, NS 3 points, DCI 2 points,Mara 1.5 points, Penang Free School C and PCGHS zero point.

The Penang Bayview Chess League, sponsored annually by The City Bayview Hotel, is played on a weekly basis and the third round at the hotel's Revolving Restaurant is scheduled for this Sunday at 10am.

GAMES OF THE WEEK

A total of 44 players are taking part in the East Asian/Oceanic zonal tournament organised by the Malaysian Chess Federation at Genting Highlands.

In the men's section, grandmasters Utut Adianto (Indonesia) and Rogelio Antonio (Philippines) and untitled players Barlo Nadera and Chito Garma (both from the Philippines) were leading with four points each after five rounds of play.

Among the four Malaysian players, Mohd Kamal Abdullah, Mas Hafizul Helmi and Darren Yong have 2.5 points each while Mohd Saprin Sabri has two points.

Leading the women's section after five rounds were WIM Hoang Thanh Trang (Vietnam) and WIM Irena Berezina-Feldman (Australia) with four points each.

Among the Malaysians, Ong Hwa Lu and Samantha Lee scored two points each, and Eliza Hanum Ibrahim has obtained one point.

The tournament ends on Monday. Until then, readers visiting Genting Highlands can catch the tournament at the Resort Hotel.

Here are two games from the event.

[Event "East Asian/Oceanic Zonal Tournament"]

[Site "Genting Highland, Malaysia"]

[Date ""]

[Round ""]

[White "Mohd Saprin Sabri"]

[Black "Irwanto"]

[Result "1-0"]

1. Nf3 Nf6, 2. c4 e6, 3. g3 d5, 4. Bg2 Be7, 5. 0-0 0-0, 6. d4 Nbd7, 7. Nbd2 b6, 8. b3 Bb7, 9. Bb2 c5, 10. e3 Qc7, 11. Rc1 Rad8, 12. Rc2 Qb8, 13. Qa1 Rfe8, 14.cxd5 Bxd5, 15. Nc4 Qa8, 16. Qd1 cxd4, 17. Bxd4 Be4, 18. Rc1 e5, 19. Ba1 Nc5, 20.Ncd2 Rxd2, 21. Qxd2 Bxf3, 22. Bxf3 Qxf3, 23. Bxe5 Nce4, 24. Qd1 Ng4 1-0

[Event "East Asian/Oceanic Zonal Tournament"]

[Site "Genting Highland, Malaysia"]

[Date ""]

[Round ""]

[White "Antonio, Rogelio"]

[Black "Nguyen Anh Dung"]

[Result "1-0"]

1.e4 c5, 2. Nf3 d6, 3. Bb5+ Nd7, 4. 0-0 Ngf6, 5. Re1 e6, 6. d4 cxd4, 7. Qxd4 Be7, 8. Bg5 0-0, 9. Nc3 Qc7, 10. Rad1 Rd8, 11. Bxd7 Bxd7, 12. Bxf6 gxf6, 13. Qe3 Kh8, 14. Nd4 Qc5, 15. Rd3 Rac8, 16. Qd2 b5, 17. a3 Rg8, 18. g3 b4, 19. axb4 Qxb4, 20. Nb3 Rc7, 21. Ra1 Rgc8, 22. Ra5 Rg8, 23. Rd4 Qb6, 24. Qd3 Rg5, 25. Ra6 Qb7, 26. h4 Rg8, 27. Raxd6 Bxd6, 28. Rxd6 Be8, 29. Qf3 Kg7, 30. Qf4 Qb4, 31. Nd4 Kf8, 32. e5 Qc4, 33. Qh6+ 1-0

 

Bayview meet begins

The fifth Penang Bayview Chess League squared off last Sunday at The City Bayview Hotel.

Twenty-two teams are taking part in this year's league and they will be locked in an 11-round contest which shall be played on Sundays until Aug 2. The City Bayview Hotel is the sponsor for the event.

A continuing feature of this year's event is the splitting of the league into two divisions. Play in each division is on a round-robin basis and cash prizes total RM2,200 for Division One and RM1,100 for Division Two. Depending on their performances, teams will be promoted or relegated at the end of the tournament.

In the first round last Sunday, Chung Ling High School A is leading in Division One after drubbing their B team 4-0. Penang Free School A and Universiti Sains Malaysia have three points each after beating Penang Free School B and Pessca respectively. Old Frees Association beat the MSSPP Juniors and Chung Ling Old Boys Association beat Penang Development Corporation by similar 2.5-1.5 scores.

In Division Two, Hewlett Packard is in the lead with a 4-0 score against Penang Free School C. The MSSPP Girls beat DCI 3-1, while Chung Ling High School C beat Chung Ling High School "D" 2.5-1.5. Union High School beat Mara Taiping by a similar scoreline, while Bank Bumiputra and National Semiconductor fought to a 2-2 draw.

The second round will be played this Sunday morning beginning 10am at the hotel's Revolving Restaurant.

ASIAN ZONAL MEET BEGINS

The East Asian/Oceanic zonal championship, organised by the Malaysian Chess Federation, began last Tuesday at Genting Highlands. The 11-round competition will be played daily until June 26, except for three free days.

The response from the various countries making up the East Asian/Oceanic zone has been good, gauging from the number of participants at this event.

China, which traditionally had been part of this zone, now constitutes a zone by itself and so they are not represented here. Without the Chinese, a little shine may have been removed from the championship but the result is that competition will become much keener.

There are two qualifying places at stake in the men's section and the qualifiers are likely to come from either Utut Adianto (Indonesia), Edhi Handoko (Indonesia) or Antonio Rogelio (Philippines). All three are very experienced grandmasters.

But they will surely not find the tournament a bed of roses. Already, a host of capable international masters are patiently stalking the trio and ready to pounce on their slightest mistakes.

The group of international masters include Alex Wohl (Australia), Mariano Nelson (Philippines), Hsu Li-Yang (Singapore), Nguyen Anh Dong and Tu Hoang Thong (both Vietnam) and Malaysia's own Jimmy Liew.

In the women's section, the favourites for the qualifying spot are Australia's Irena Berezina-Feldman, Maria Lucia Ratne, Tamin Upi Darmay Ana and Lisa Lumongdong (all Indonesians) and Hoang Thanh Tranh (Vietnam).

Playing in this tournament are participants from Australia, Brunei, Fiji, Hongkong, Indonesia, Japan, Macau, Myanmar, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia.

GAME OF THE WEEK

In Novgorod, Russia, another top class tournament in the Professional Chess Association calendar has just ended. The second PCA Classic Lord Novgorod The Great tournament was won by Gary Kasparov with a score of 6.5 points from 10 games.

He started impressively with a score of 4.5 points from five games and then wound down with a row of four drawn games.

In the last round, Vassily Ivanchuk had the best opportunity to catch up with Kasparov but he blew his chance by wrecking a nice position.

The last of the PCA classic tournaments of the year will be played at the Credit Swiss Masters tournament in Zurich this October.

Final standings in Novgorod: Kasparov 6* points; Jaan Ehlvest, Ivanchuk, Nigel Short, Veselin Topalov 5* points each; Vladimir Kramnik 5 points; Jan Timman 4 points; Boris Gulko 3 points; Artur Yusupov 2* points; and Rafael Vaganian 2 points.

Here is a selection of games from this event.

[Event "Classic Lord Novgorod The Great tournament"]

[Site "Novgorod RUS"]

[Date "1995"]

[Round ""]

[White "Topalov,Veselin"]

[Black "Yusupov,Artur"]

[Result "1-0"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 d6 5. c3 Bd7 6. d4 Nge7 7. Be3 Ng6 8. h4 h5 9. g3 Be7 10. d5 Nb8 11. Bxd7+ Nxd7 12. Nfd2 Nf6 13. f3 O-O 14. c4 c5 15. Nc3 Qd7 16. a4 a5 17. Qe2 Kh7 18. O-O-O Rh8 19. Nf1 Kg8 20. Bd2 Ne8 21. Ne3 Nf8 22. b3 g6 23. f4 Bf6 24. Rdf1 Qe7 25. f5 Ng7 26. Nb5 b6 27. fxg6 fxg6 28. g4 Bxh4 29. Nxd6 Qxd6 30. Rxh4 Nd7 31. gxh5 Rxh5 32. Rxh5 Nxh5 33. Nf5 1-0

[Event "Classic Lord Novgorod The Great tournament"]

[Site "Novgorod RUS"]

[Date "1995"]

[Round ""]

[White "Kramnik,Vladimir"]

[Black "Timman,Nigel"]

[Result "1-0"]

1. Nf3 g6 2. d4 Nf6 3. c4 Bg7 4. Nc3 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. e4 Nxc3 7. bxc3 c5 8. Rb1 O-O 9. Be2 cxd4 10. cxd4 Qa5+ 11. Bd2 Qxa2 12. O-O Bg4 13. Bg5 h6 14. Be3 Nc6 15. d5 Na5 16. Bc5 Bf6 17. e5 Bxe5 18. Rb4 Bxf3 19. Bxf3 Bf6 20. Ra4 Qb3 21. Rxa5 Qxd1 22. Rxd1 b6 23. d6 Rac8 24. d7 Rcd8 25. Bxe7 Bxe7 26. Rxa7 Rb8 27. Re1 Bd8 28. Re8 b5 29. Ra8 Rxa8 30. Bxa8 b4 31. Bd5 Kg7 32. Kf1 1-0

[Event "Classic Lord Novgorod The Great tournament"]

[Site "Novgorod RUS"]

[Date "1995"]

[Round ""]

[White "Gulko,Boris"]

[Black "Kramnik,Vladimir"]

[Result "0-1"]

1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 g6 5. d4 exd4 6. Nxd4 Bg7 7. Nxc6 dxc6 8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. e4 Bg4 10. Be2 Bxe2 11. Kxe2 Re8 12. f3 Nd7 13. Bg5+ Kc8 14. Rac1 a5 15. Rhd1 a4 16. Rd2 Nf8 17. Be3 Ra5 18. a3 Ne6 19. Kf2 g5 20. Rcd1 f5 21. exf5 Bxc3 22. bxc3 Rxf5 23. Rd7 h5 24. Rh7 g4 25. f4 Ng5 26. Rg7 Ne4+ 27. Kf1 Nd6 28. Bb6 Rf7 29. Rxf7 Nxf7 30. Bd4 Nd6 31. c5 Nc4 32. Kf2 b5 33. cxb6 cxb6 34. Bf6 b5 35. Rd4 Nxa3 36. Rd6 Kc7 37. Be5 Nc4 38. Re6+ Kd7 0-1

[Event "Classic Lord Novgorod The Great tournament"]

[Site "Novgorod RUS"]

[Date "1995"]

[Round ""]

[White "Yusupov,Artur"]

[Black "Kasparov,Gary"]

[Result "0-1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. Bg5 Bg7 4. c3 c5 5. e3 Qb6 6. Qb3 O-O 7. Nbd2 d6 8. Qxb6 axb6 9. Nc4 Nbd7 10. Be2 d5 11. Nce5 h6 12. Bf4 c4 13. h4 b5 14. g4 Nb6 15. g5 hxg5 16. hxg5 Ne4 17. Nd2 Bf5 18. Bg4 Na4 19. Nxe4 dxe4 20. Bxf5 gxf5 21. Rb1 b4 22. cxb4 Nb6 23. a3 Rfc8 24. g6 Bxe5 25. gxf7+ Kxf7 26. Bxe5 Nd5 27. Kd2 c3+ 28. Kc2 cxb2+ 29. Kxb2 Rc3 30. Ra1 b5 31. Rhc1 Rd3 32. Rc5 Nb6 33. Rxb5 Nc4+ 34. Kc1 Rg8 35. Bg3 f4 36. Rf5+ Kg6 37. Rxf4 Rc8 38. Rg4+ Kh5 39. Rh4+ Kg6 40. Rg4+ Kh5 41. Rh4+ Kg5 42. f4+ Kg6 43. f5+ Kg5 0-1

[Event "Classic Lord Novgorod The Great tournament"]

[Site "Novgorod RUS"]

[Date "1995"]

[Round ""]

[White "Topalov,Veselin"]

[Black "Kasparov,Gary"]

[Result "0-1"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 e6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Be3 Nf6 7. f3 Be7 8. Qd2 O-O 9. g4 a6 10. O-O-O Nxd4 11. Bxd4 b5 12. Kb1 Bb7 13. h4 Rc8 14. g5 Nd7 15. a3 Ne5 16. Qe3 Nc4 17. Bxc4 Rxc4 18. Rhg1 b4 19. axb4 Rxb4 20. Rg2 Ba8 21. b3 a5 22. h5 Qc7 23. Bf6 Rfb8 24. Bxe7 Qxe7 25. Rd4 e5 26. Rxb4 axb4 27. Na2 Qc7 28. Qd3 Kf8 29. g6 fxg6 30. hxg6 h6 31. f4 exf4 32. Rf2 Kg8 33. Rxf4 Qc5 34. Rf1 Qb5 35. Rc1 Qe5 36. Qc4+ Kh8 37. Rh1 Bxe4 38. Qc7 Rf8 39. Rxh6+ Kg8 40. Nc1 Bxc2+ 0-1

[Event "Classic Lord Novgorod The Great tournament"]

[Site "Novgorod RUS"]

[Date "1995"]

[Round "Kasparov,Gary"]

[White "Vaganian,Rafael"]

[Black ""]

[Result "1-0"]

1. d4 e6 2. c4 d5 3. Nc3 Be7 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3 c5 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. Qc2 Nc6 9. a3 Qa5 10. O-O-O Be7 11. h4 dxc4 12. Bxc4 b6 13. Ng5 Ba6 14. Nce4 g6 15. Nxf6+ Bxf6 16. Ne4 Be7 17. Bxa6 Qxa6 18. Kb1 Qb7 19. h5 Rac8 20. hxg6 Nb4 21. gxh7+ Kh8 22. Be5+ f6 23. Nxf6 Bxf6 24. Bxf6+ 1-0

 

Tournament results

Late last month, the national age-group chess championships were held at the Wisma MPSA in Shah Alam.

This event, organised jointly by the Malaysian Chess Federation and the Persatuan Catur Melayu Malaysia with cooperation from the Majlis Perbandaran Shah Alam and the Majlis Sukan Sekolah-sekolah Malaysia, was again sponsored by the Asia Insurance Co Ltd and the Asia Life Assurance Society Ltd.

The boys' under-18 event which attracted 33 players was won by Ooi Chern Ee who scored six points from seven games. Joint second were Teng Wei Ping and Liong Ing Kiat who obtained 5.5 points each.

Joint fourth were Tan Wei Sin, Ahmad Nazri Muhamad and Chow Shye Ma with five points each, while Eric Ooi Boon Kheng, Lau Kar Wooi and Shahrizal Sharil had 4.5 points each.

The boys' under-16 event had 64 participants. Teng Wei Hong won this section with maximum points while last year's winner Peter Lim Kam Cheen was second with six points.

Joint third were Mak Weng Yee and Lim Cheng Teik who each collected 5.5 points and among those with five points were Mas Harithulfadh, Ian Lee Wen Chun, Saiful Naim Kamsah, Tor Wee Liam and Mohd Salahuddin Mohd Salleh.

Among the 46 participants in the boys' under-14 event, Mas Hafizul Hilmi, Ng Ee Vern, Wong Zi Jing, Abdul Haq Mohamad and Darryl Koh were the top scorers with 5.5 points each. Tied for the sixth to 10th places with five points each were Lim Yee Weng, Eoh Thean Keat, Mohd Azan Savanoh, Ahmad Fakruden Mamat and Ng Kian Seng.

Out of the 44 participants in the boys' under-12 event, Lim Chuin Hoong was the winner with six points while Lim Yew San, Teh Tze Wey, Liong Wei Li and Khor Shihong were joint second with 5.5 points each. On five points were Seto Tien Hoi, Kamarul Ariffin and Raymond Ng.

In the newly created boys' under-10 event, the top three winners were Ali Ajemi, Hisyam Ismail and Jonathan Chuah.

In the girls' section, there were only eight players in the under-18 event. Eliza Hanum Ibrahim and Norfatitah Saranon were the winners, scoring 6.5 points each. Third was Eliza Hanim Ibrahim with 4.5 points and fourth Zuraihan Zakaria with four points. Soo Ai Leen was fifth with three points.

There were 11 players in the girls' under-16 event and 16 in the under-14 event. The under-16 event was won by Nainee Azimi with six points, joint second were Roslina Marmono and Chai Hwei Meen with five points each and joint fourth were Zeti Ajemi and Surehna Devi.

In the under-14 event, Lee Heng Jun was the winner with 6.5 points while Mardiana Marmono was second with 5.5 points. Joint third were Izlawati Kamsah and Zeni Ajemi with 4.5 points each.

Lim Jeannie won the girls' under-12 event with seven points, while Nor Idani was second with 5.5 points and Lee Su Ann third with five points. For the new under-10 event, Norsyafawati Ishak was the winner with 6.5 points and second was Nur Ashikin Mansoor with six points.

PUBLIC VS PRIVATE SECTOR MATCH

In conjunction with the seventh anniversary celebrations of the City of Ipoh, a public versus private sector chess match will be staged in the Perak capital for the second time.

This event will be held at the Town Hall, Jalan Panglima Bukit Gantang Wahab, Ipoh on June 24 afternoon. Participation is free but by invitation only.

An additional blitz tournament will also be held in the morning but participants will have to pay RM5.

FIFTH PENANG BAYVIEW LEAGUE

Twenty-two teams will be taking part in the fifth Penang Bayview Chess League starting this Sunday morning at The City Bayview Hotel.

GAME OF THE WEEK

Here is the sensational win scored by Fritz3 over the IBM Deep Blue programme in the eighth world computer chess championship which was reported in this column last week.

[Event "8th World Computer Chess Championship"]

[Site "Hongkong HKG"]

[Date "1995"]

[Round "5"]

[White "Deep Blue"]

[Black "Fritz3"]

[Result "0-1"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bg5 a6 8. Na3 b5 9. Bxf6 gxf6 10. Nd5 f5 11. Bd3 Be6 12. Qh5 f4 13. O-O Rg8 14. Kh1 Rg6 15.Qd1 Rc8 16. c4 Qh4 17. g3 Qh3 18. Qd2 f3 19. Rg1 Rh6 20. Qxh6 Qxh6 21. cxb5 Bxd5 22. exd5 Nb4 23. Bf5 Rc5 24. bxa6 Nxa6 25. Nc2 Qd2 26. Ne1 Rxd5 27. Nxf3 Qxf2 28. Be4 Ra5 29. Rg2 Qe3 30. Re1 Qh6 31. Bc6+ Kd8 32. a3 f5 33. Rc2 Rc5 34. Rxc5 Nxc5 35. Rf1 Be7 36. a4 f4 37. gxf4 Qxf4 38. Rg1 Nxa4 39. b4 Qxb4 {Theory gives 13. O-O as bad for White since Black's attack becomes very dangerous after that. It was not a good choice to have Deep Blue play an opening as complicated a line as the Sveshnikov without book-knowledge. Possibly, Deep Blue was already out of theory when it played 13 O-O.} 0-1

 

When computers play chess

There was sensation at the International Computer Chess Association's computer chess world championships over the last weekend at the Chinese University of Hongkong.

Fritz 3, the Dutch chess-playing program running on an Intel Pentium 90MHz personal computer, trounced defending champion Deep Blue in the final round of the tournament to propel itself as the new computer chess champion.

Every three years, the ICCA organises the computer chess world championships and the 24 participants in Hongkong this year included some of the world's strongest chess playing computers.

Chess Genius, a British program which created worldwide interest by defeating Kasparov in a two-game contest last year, was also participating. Incidentally, Kasparov had his revenge two weeks ago when he beat the program 1.5-0.5 in a two-game rematch.

All eyes, however, were on IBM's Deep Blue. This program, universally regarded as THE chess program to beat, was also the winner of the ACM international championship in 1994.

Deep Blue was, however, not physically present in Hongkong. Throughout the championship, it was running on an IBM RS/6000 workstation with 14 slave processors back in the United States and its moves were relayed to the Chinese University of Hongkong via the Internet.

Four other programs were also connected to Hongkong in similar style from their home locations in Europe or North America.

Also from the United States, Star Socrates was running on a 1824 node Intel Paragon supercomputer while Hitech was on a Sun 4 workstation with dedicated chess hardware. Frenchess was running on a Cray T3D supercomputer back in France and Zugzwang was using a system with 1023 T800 transputers from Germany.

But the rest of the programs were there in Hongkong using real chessboards and clocks. Three of them - Ulysses (Germany), SOS (Germany) and Cheiron (Germany) - were running on Sun Microsystems Sparc 20 workstations; the Sun Phoenix (Canada) program was on a Sparc 2000 20cpu system; and Dark Thought (Germany) was on a DEC Alphaserver 2100.

The remaining programs - Fritz 3, WChess (USA), Junior (Israel), Rebel (USA), Zeus 3 (Spain), Virtua Chess (France), Schach 3 (Germany), Chess Genius, Pandix (Hungary), Nightmare (Germany), Ferret (USA), LChess (Netherlands), Gandalf (Denmark) and Woodpusher (UK) - were using 90MHz Pentium systems.

The ICCA world championships was primarily sponsored by IBM but the other major sponsors included Sun Microsystems, Compunetics, the ACM (Association of Computing Machinery), Saitek, Varitronix, the Hongkong Chess Federation and the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

PENANG CHESS LEAGUE BEGINS NEXT SUNDAY

Teams intending to play in the fifth Penang Bayview Chess League are reminded that tomorrow is the closing date for the submission of entries. This tournament, the premier event of the Penang Chess Association, starts on June 11 at The City Bayview Hotel.

The hotel is the sponsor for the annual team event. Two years ago, it donated an 45-cm pewter challenge trophy worth RM6,000 towards the championship and at a cheque presentation ceremony earlier this week, the hotel's general manager, Nasihin Ali, reaffirmed the hotel's continued sponsorship. It will also remain the venue for the Chess League.

Only teams legitimately representing the public and business sectors, factories, universities, schools, colleges and registered associations, societies and clubs are allowed to play in the Chess League which will be played over several weekends. Each team is allowed one guest player.

Provision is made for about 24 teams to take part, and each team is allowed to register up to eight players. However, only four players from each team will be playing in every round.

Entry fee is RM150 and attractive cash prizes are guaranteed for the top five teams in each division. Division One will consist of the top teams in the state, including two teams promoted from last year's Division Two.

Teams entering for the first time will be placed in Division Two and their prospects for promotion to the premier division will depend on their performance in the league this year.

For more information, contact Alan Phang or Goh Yoon Wah in the evenings. With the closing date being tomorrow, a meeting of all team managers will be held at the hotel on June 7 at 8pm.

 

On the local front

Finally, here is a chance for me to catch up with the results of some recent tournaments here.

In Kuala Terengganu, the 17th Terengganu closed championship was won by lawyer Ghalam Sani Abdul Rashid who finished the event with six points out of seven games. His only drawn games were with second-placed Mohd Fairin Zakaria and third-placed Nur Ilhamuddin Shaikh Ali who each scored 5.5 points.

This was the fourth time that Ghalam Sani had won the Terengganu closed title; his previous successes were in 1981, 1990 and 1993.

Fourth in the competition was Abdul Rahim Ramli who obtained five points, while those who scored 4.5 points each were Fairul Yusoff, Mohd Sallahuddin Salleh, Chok Kong Wai, Muhammad Arshad and Senu Mohd Nor. Adnan Salleh, last year's champion, was in 10th place. A total of 32 players took part in the three-day tournament which was held at the Astaka MPKT.

According to the Terngganu Chess Association, Ghalam Sani, Mohd Fairin, Nur Ilhamuddin and Abdul Rahim qualified for the state team which shall be playing in this year's Merdeka team championship in Kuala Lumpur in September.

The association's novice tournament attracted 75 players and it was won by Wan Md Zainuddin Abdul Majid. On five points were Nik Rosli Nik Lah, Shahril Anuar Zainuddin, Loo Soon Khai, Tg Norazlan Tg Sulaiman, Razali Yunus and Wan Mohd Fuad Wan Sulaiman.

The under-12 tournament with 60 players was won by Mohd Salami Ibrahim with five points from six games. In joint second place were Ahmad Fasidi and Azan Abu Bakar with 4.5 points each.

ARAB-MALAYSIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS

In Kuala Lumpur, the Petronas chess team won RM1,500 at the first Arab- Malaysian Labour Day chess championship held earlier this month at the Menara Tan & Tan. Petronas scored 20.5 points from the seven-round event.

In second place was the Arab-Malaysian team whose 18 points earned them RM1,000 while Public Bank and Mainstech Knights - joint third prize winners with 16.5 points each - received RM375. EPF and BPM Patriot each scored 16 points and won RM75.

Arab-Malaysian Merchant Bank Berhad was the main sponsor for this event while Tan & Tan Development Berhad sponsored the venue.

VISION 2020 MEET

Here are some updates on the Penang Vision 2020 tournament, jointly sponsored by BHL Bank and Mar Vista Resort, which the Penang Chess Association will be organising next Wednesday.

The tournament will now be held at the Pusat Kecemerlangan Sukan Westlands, Jalan Padang Victoria (formerly Victoria Green Road).

Entry fees for the tournament will be RM8 for members of the PCA and RM15 for non-members. Readers interested in taking part can contact Quah Seng Sun or Goh Yoon Wah after 9pm.

Registration of players at the Pusat Kecermelangan Sukan Westlands hall on May 31 will be between 8am and 8.30am, and only the first 100 entries will be accepted.

GAMES OF THE WEEK

Gary Kasparov had one of his worst tournament performance when he lost to Dutchman Jeroen Piket in the final round of the double round-robin VSB Euwe Memorial tournament in Amsterdam.

This loss, coupled with an earlier defeat at the hands of Frenchman Joel Lautier, pushed Kasparov to second place with 3.5 points in the tournament. Lautier, the winner, was undefeated with four points.

Piket's win was compensation for the loss which he suffered to Kasparov in the second round. Nevertheless, it was insufficient to lift him from the bottom rung of the four-man event. In third place was Bulgarian grandmaster Veselin Topalov.

[Event "VSB Euwe Memorial"]

[Site "Amsterdam NED"]

[Date "1995.05.16"]

[Round "4"]

[White "Kasparov, Gary"]

[Black "Lautier, Joel"]

[Result "0-1"]

[ECO "B48"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. Be3 a6 7. Bd3 Nf6 8. O-O Ne5 9. h3 Bc5 10. Kh1 d6 11. f4 Ned7 12. a3 b5 13. Bxb5 axb5 14. Ndxb5 Qb6 15. Bxc5 dxc5 16. Nd6+ Ke7 17. Nxc8+ Rhxc8 18. e5 Ne8 19. Qh5 h6 20. Rae1 f5 21. Rf3 c4 22. g4 fxg4 23. Qxg4 Ra5 24. Ne4 Qc6 25. Nd6 Nxd6 26. exd6+ Kf8 27. Rg1 g5 28. Rg3 Rf5 29. Qh5 Nf6 30. Qxh6+ Kf7 31. Kg1 Rg8 0-1

[Event "VSB Euwe Memorial"]

[Site "Amsterdam NED"]

[Date "1995.05.18"]

[Round "6"]

[White "Piket, Jeroen"]

[Black "Kasparov, Gary"]

[Result "1-0"]

[ECO "D97"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Qb3 dxc4 6. Qxc4 O-O 7. e4 Na6 8. Be2 c5 9. d5 e6 10. O-O exd5 11. exd5 Re8 12. Rd1 Bf5 13. d6 h6 14. Bf4 Nd7 15. Rd2 Nb4 16. Qb3 Be6 17. Bc4 Nb6 18. Bxe6 Rxe6 19. Na4 Re4 20. Bg3 Nc4 21. Nxc5 Nxd2 22. Nxd2 Re2 23. Qxb4 a5 24. Qxb7 Rxd2 25. d7 Rxb2 26. Qd5 Rb5 27. Rd1 Bf8 28. Bd6 Bxd6 29. Qxd6 Rab8 30. h3 Rb1 31. Rxb1 Rxb1+ 32. Kh2 Rb6 33. Qe5 Kf8 34. Qh8+ Ke7 35. Qe5+ Kf8 36. f4 h5 37. Qd5 h4 38. Qe5 g5 39. Qh8+ Ke7 40. Qe5+ Kf8 41. fxg5 1-0

 

Time for zonal championships

The Malaysian Chess Federation will stage the East Asian/Oceania zonal championships at Genting Highland from June 12 to 27.

The tournament is open to 15 countries in this zone; as host country, Malaysia will field two players in the men's section and three in the women's.

In the men's section, one place has been offered to national player Mas Hafizul Rahman and the other to Jimmy Liew. If Liew declines, then it will be offered to Peter Long or Ooi Chern Ee.

Zonal championships are now being held in various places around the world and the qualifiers will advance to the interzonal stage. Both zonal and interzonal competitions are part of the world chess championship cycle run by the World Chess Federation (FIDE).

BAYVIEW CHESS LEAGUE

On June 11, the Penang Chess Association will organise the fifth Penang Bayview Chess League at The City Bayview Hotel, the sponsors for the annual team championship.

The hotel, which donated an 18-inch pewter challenge trophy worth RM6,000 two years ago, will again sponsor RM5,000 and the use of its premises during the championship which will be played over several weekends.

Only teams legitimately representing the public and business sectors, factories, universities, schools, colleges and registered associations, societies and clubs are allowed to play.

A guest player may be included in each team, but the other players must be employees, students or members of the organisation which they represent.

Provision is made for 24 teams to take part, and each team is allowed to register up to eight players. However, only four players from each team can play in every round.

Entry fees are RM150 and attractive cash prizes are guaranteed for the top five teams in each division. Division One will consist of the top teams in the state, including two teams promoted from last year's Division Two.

Teams taking part for the first time will be placed in Division Two and their prospects for promotion to the premier division will depend on their performance in the league this year.

The organising committee has posted entry forms to all the teams that played in last year's league. New teams that wish to take part can contact Alan Phang or Goh Yoon Wah in the evenings for the entry forms. Entry forms are also available at the reception counter of The City Bayview Hotel.

Closing date for entries is June 3, and a meeting of all team managers will be held at the hotel at 8pm on June 7.

VISION 2020

The Penang Chess Association will organise the Penang Vision 2020 tournament on May 31 at the Mar Vista Resort in Tanjung Bungah. This is a one-day event jointly sponsored by BHL Bank and Desa Mar Vista, and run over seven rounds.

The concept for this tournament will be slightly different from all local tournaments which have been held in the past.

Although the players are grouped in one common category and paired under existing Swiss rules, prizes will be given to winners in four different rating groups - 2100 and above, 2000 to 2099, 1950 to 1999, and 1949 and below. The fourth rating group will also contain the unrated players.

This categorisation of prizes is made possible with the adoption of the PCA's own rating list which contains names and ratings of some 600 local players in Penang.

Players from the other states are also in the PCA rating list and if they choose to play in the Vision 2020 tournament, they must accept the rules of the tournament and the PCA ratings.

Five prizes will be awarded to the best players in the first rating group and these will be RM250, RM200, RM150, RM100 and RM100. For the second and third groups, three prizes worth RM200, RM100 and RM100 will be given for the winners of each group. Finally, the fourth group will have two prizes - RM150 and RM80.

Entry fee is RM8 for members of the PCA and RM15 for non-members. Readers interested in taking part should contact Quah Seng Sun or Goh Yoon Wah after 9pm. Registration of players at the Mar Vista Resort on May 31 will be between 8am and 8.30am, and only the first 100 entries will be accepted.

NATIONAL AGE-GROUP

This is a reminder to readers that this year's national age-group chess championship, sponsored by the Asia Insurance Co Ltd and the Asia Life Assurance Society Ltd, will be played from May 26 to 28 at the Wisma MPSA in Shah Alam.

There will be separate events for boys and girls in the under-10, under-12, under-14, under-16 and under-18 age groups.

Readers who wish to play in this tournament can contact the MPSA and speak to Hassanuddin Ghazali, Sheikh Ahmad Hassan or Asmah Mohd Zin.

GAME OF THE WEEK

A four-man tournament is presently underway in Amsterdam. Known as the VSB tournament, it features Gary Kasparov (Russia), Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria), Joel Lautier (France) and Jeroen Piket (The Netherlands).

In the second round, Kasparov again uncorked the Evans Gambit which he had used to great effect against Viswanathan Anand in Riga several weeks ago. This time, his victim was the Dutch champion, Piket.

[Event "VSB Euwe Memorial"]

[Site "Amsterdam NED"]

[Date "1995.05.13"]

[Round "2"]

[White "Kasparov, Gary"]

[Black "Piket, Jeroen"]

[Result "1-0"]

[ECO "C51"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bb6 {Piket chose to decline the gambit; Anand played 4...Bxb4} 5. a4 a5 6. b5 Nd4 7. Nxd4 Bxd4 8. c3 Bb6 9. d4 exd4 10. O-O Ne7 11. Bg5 h6 12. Bxe7 Qxe7 13. cxd4 Qd6 14. Nc3 {After the game, Kasparov said: "This must be played, obviously. I was sure I was winning now. Just how, I was going to find out."} Bxd4 {If 14...Qxd4, Kasparov gave this fantastic variation: 15 Nd5!! Qxc4 16 Nxb6 cxb6 17 Qd6 Qe6 18 e5 Qxd6 19 exd6 Kd8 20 Rfe1 Re8 21 Rxe8+ Kxe8 and Black, a bishop and pawn up in an endgame, is totally helpless.}15. Nd5 Bxa1 16. Qxa1 O-O 17. e5 Qc5 18. Rc1 c6 19. Ba2 Qa3 {Kasparov thought for a long time, not entirely sure about the attach after 20 Rc3 Qxa4 21 Ne7+ Kh8 22 Rg3, and settled for the win of a rook} 20. Nb6 d5 21. Nxa8 Kh8 22. Nb6 Be6 23. h3 Rd8 24. bxc6 bxc6 25. Rc3 Qb4 26. Rxc6 Rb8 27. Nxd5 Qxa4 28. Rc1 Qa3 29. Bc4 1-0

 

Farewell to a grandmaster

Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinik, the sixth world chess champion, died last Friday in Moscow at 83.

Born to a Russian couple holidaying in Finland in 1911, he learnt to play chess at 12. Four years later, he was already good enough to qualify for the final league of the Soviet Championships. This clearly marked him out as the potential World Champion that the Soviets were seeking.

In 1946, negotiations were underway with world champion Alexander Alekhine for a world title match but everything halted when Alekhine was found dead.

The World Chess Federation saw this as an opportunity to assume control of the world championship cycle and in 1948, a five-man tournament between Botvinik, Vassily Smyslov, Paul Keres, Samuel Reshevsky and Max Euwe was arranged.

Botvinik's superiority over the others were never in doubt and at 36, he was crowned the sixth world chess champion.

The following three years, Botwinnik did not play any chess. Instead, he pursued his studies as an electrical engineer and was awarded his doctorate in 1951.

He returned to active play the same year when he was required to defend his title against David Bronstein. Botvinik almost lost but somehow he managed to tie the match at 12-12 and retained the crown.

In 1954, he again retained his title after drawing 12-12 with Smyslov. Smyslov was again his challenger in 1957 and this time, Smyslov won with a convincing 12.5-9.5 margin.

But Smyslov's hold on the title was short, for Botvinik exercised his right to a return match and won back his title the following year with a 12.5-10.5 score.

As the 50s were ending, 24-year-old Mikhail Tal was setting the chess world ablaze with his swashbuckling fiery style of play. Tal qualified for the right to meet Botvinik in 1960 and proceeded to rip the older man apart in many complex games. Botvinik lost by 8.5-12.5.

By this time, retirement from world championship play was obvious for Botvinik but he confounded his critics by winning the return match in 1961 with a 13-8 result.

It has often been said that Botvinik had never won a world championship match as a defending champion. He drew in 1951 and 1954, and lost in 1957 and 1960. In 1963, Tigran Petrosjan was Botvinik's challenger; again, Botvinik lost his title by a 12.5-9.5 score.

This time, the loss of the title was permanent for FIDE had decided there would be no more return match for the defeated champion. This ended Botvinik's tenure as world champion.

Botvinik continued to play in tournaments and caused trouble to the younger generation. In 1970, at 59, he finally retired from active play.

In the 37-year period, Botvinik played many matches and 31 hard tournaments where he faced the cream of grandmasters: Emanuel Lasker, Jose Raoul Capablanca and Alekhine in his youth, and Tal, Boris Spassky and Bobby Fischer in his later years.

Botvinik was credited for setting up his Botvinik School of Chess which teaches good basic chess to the very elite of Soviet juniors. The first Botvinik school was started in Leningrad at the end of the 1930s and his most talented pupil then was Mark Taimanov.

The school restarted in 1963 this time in Moscow. It lasted for one and a half years and among the pupils were Anatoly Karpov, Yuri Balashov and Yuri Razuvaev.

The final school was held from 1969 and continues until today, although now it is known as the Kasparov Chess School. Gary Kasparov himself joined in 1973 and players like Artur Yusupov, Lev Psakhis and Sergei Dolmatov were members.

In recent years a large number of the most talented newcomers like Vladimir Kramnik, Vassily Ivanchuk and Alexey Shirov attended the school although Shirov said he hated it and found it rather "useless".

NATIONAL AGE-GROUP CHAMPIONSHIP

The Persatuan Catur Melayu Malaysia, with cooperation from the Majlis Perbandaran Shah Alam and the Majlis Sukan Sekolah-sekolah Malaysia, will organise the national age-group chess championship.

This year's championship, again sponsored by the Asia Insurance Co Ltd and the Asia Life Assurance Society Ltd, will be played from May 26 to 28 at the Wisma MPSA in Shah Alam.

Like in previous years, there will be separate events for boys and girls in the under-12, under-14, under-16 and under-18 age groups. A new category is the under-10 age-group.

For the under-16 and under-18 categories, the male and female champions will each receive RM240 and a challenge trophy. There are four other cash prizes for the top boys and girls.

The winners of the under-14 category will each receive RM200 and a trophy while in the under-12 category, RM150 and a trophy awaits the best players. For the under-10 category, the best players will each get RM100 and a trophy. Cash prizes will also be awarded to the other top boys and girls in the three categories.

In the past, the various winners were later sent to several international junior chess events. For example, the winners of the 1992 championship went to Duisberg for the world age-group championship while in 1993, winners played in the Bratislava world age-group championship. Last year, players were sent to Szeged in Jungary.

To take part, call the MPSA and ask for Hassanuddin Ghazali, Sheikh Ahmad Hassan or Asmah Mohd Zin.

 

A move up for chess

Last month, the Malaysian Schools Sports Council (MSSM) held its annual Milo/MSSM national sportsboy-sportsgirl awards at the Crystal Crown Hotel in Kuala Lumpur.

There were many front runners for the sportsboy award but it finally went to a swimmer from Sabah who beat 13 other contenders for this title. The runner-up was an athlete from Johor but one of the surprises was chessplayer Ooi Chern Ee's third placing in the roll of honour.

It might have been a surprise for most people at the ceremony but for those who knew of Ooi's accomplishments in the past year, the result was not without anticipation.

But question is: Why only third? Why not second or even first?

Apart from Ooi's fine chess achievement at national and international levels, consider too his academic performance. In his PMR examinations, he obtained straight "A"s; as a fourth-former in Penang Free School last year, he was best student in the form. There could not have been a better candidate for the top award, in my opinion.

It was interesting that Ooi was not the only chessplayer nominated for this year's national sportsboy awards. He was, of course, the nominee of the Majlis Sukan Sekolah-sekolah Pulau Pinang, after having garnered the Penang sportsboy award recently.

There was also present national champion Mas Hafizul Hilmi Agus who was the nominee of the Majlis Sukan Sekolah-sekolah Kelantan. Presumably, Mas Hafizul would have won the Kelantan sportsboy award too in order to be at the national awards function.

So in Kuala Lumpur, chess was actually represented by two youngsters from different parts of the country. In previous years, there would hardly be any representative. Chess is certainly becoming more acceptable to students as an alternate to other more popular games or sports.

But there is a problem with the choice of winners of the sports awards, especially at state and national levels. The paradigm of chess is that it is usually recognised as a low category game.

Why should this be? Chess today is not the domain of the fuddy-duddies who indulge in the game when they are past their retirement age. Chess playing is not all sitting at a table; the rigours of a chess tournament demand that a player be both physically fit and mentally alert.

Chess is a youthful game dominated by people in their teens, 20s and 30s. People like Gary Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov were already among the best players in the world when they were only in their teens and in their early 20s, they won the world championship.

In the list of the top 53 players in the world today, four of them are in their teens, 21 are in their 20s, and 18 are in their 30s. There are just nine players who are in their 40s and only one player in his 60s who is still an active professional.

Back to recognition for the game, is it because chess is not an official game at the Summer Olympics and thus is not viewed as a bona fide game by the Olympic Council of Malaysia? I know it is not from lack of trying that the Malaysian Chess Federation is not a full member in the OCM.

But chess has already been given full recognition by the International Olympic Committee. Last December in Moscow, IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch even agreed with World Chess Federation president Florencio Campomanes that there may be a possibility to include the game as a demonstration sport at the Atlanta Olympics.

If this is a possibility coming up, I see no reason why chess should continue to play second fiddle in the country. I say now is the time for the Malaysian Chess Federation to represent its case for full recognition from OCM.

GENERAL MEETING

The Penang Chess Association will hold its annual general meeting at 6.30pm tomorrow at the Bayan Baru Residents Association clubhouse. Before the meeting, the association will stage a competition at 4pm over 25 boards between its senior and junior members.

GAMES OF THE WEEK

The Professional Chess Association kicked off its activities this year by organising two top-class events. The first was the Tal memorial tournament in Riga - mentioned in this column last week - which was won by Gary Kasparov.

The second event was the Moscow leg of the PCA world chess Grand Prix which is sponsored by microchip giant Intel. The qualifying rounds were run according to the Swiss system and the six qualifiers then joined 10 seeded players in a knock-out Rapid Chess event.

There were 78 players in the qualifier - 67 grandmasters and 11 international masters - and the lucky ones were Alexander Khalifman, Ilya Smirin, Alexander Morozevich, Vladimir Epishin, Jonathan Speelman and Boris Gulko.

In the first round of the knock-out event, Vassily Ivanchuk beat Predrag Nikolic 2-0, Viktor Korchnoi tied with Zurab Azmaiparashvili 1.5-1.5 (but Korchnoi qualified on tie-break), Artur Yusupov beat Alexey Vyzmanavin 2-0, Vladimir Kramnik beat Smirin 1.5-0.5, Morozevich beat Gulko 1.5-0.5, Viswanathan Anand beat Khalifman 1.5-0.5, Speelman beat Veselin Topalov 2-0 and Kasparov beat Epishin 1.5-0.5.

For the second round, Ivanchuk beat Korchnoi 2-1, Kramnik beat Yusupov 2-1, Anand beat Morozevich 2-1 and Kasparov beat Speelman 1.5-0.5. So those that advanced to the semi-finals were Ivanchuk, Kramnik, Anand and Kasparov.

At this stage, Ivanchuk and Anand qualified for the finals by beating Kramnik and Kasparov respectively. Ivanchuk won 2-1 while Anand went through with a 1.5-0.5 result. Ivanchuk won the final with a 1.5-0.5 score against Anand.

[Event "Intel PCA Rapid Chess Grand Prix"] [Site "Moscow RUS"] [Date "1995.04.28"] [Round "1.3"] [White "Speelman, Jonathan"] [Black "Topalov, Veselin"] [Result "1-0"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. d4 g6 3. Bg5 Bg7 4. Nbd2 O-O 5. c3 h6 6. Bxf6 Bxf6 7. e4 d6 8. Bc4 Bg7 9. Qe2 c5 10. dxc5 dxc5 11. O-O Nc6 12. h3 Qc7 13. Rfe1 Rd8 14. e5 Rb8 15. e6 f5 16. h4 Na5 17. Bd3 Rd6 18. Nc4 Rxe6 19. Qxe6+ Bxe6 20. Rxe6 Kf7 21. Rae1 Nc6 22. h5 g5 23. Bxf5 Bf6 24. Ne3 Rd8 25. Ng4 Kg7 26. Nxf6 exf6 27. b4 cxb4 28. Nd4 Rd6 29. Re8 Ne5 30. Ne6+ Rxe6 31. Bxe6 bxc3 32. Bb3 Qd7 33. Ra8 b6 34. Rd1 Qe7 35. Rdd8 f5 36. Rg8+ Kh7 37. Rh8+ Kg7 38. Rag8+ Kf6 39. Rxh6+ Ng6 40. Rgxg6+ Ke5 1-0

[Event "Intel PCA Rapid Chess Grand Prix"]

[Site "Moscow RUS"]

[Date "1995.04.29"]

[Round "2.1"]

[White "Morozevich, Alexander"]

[Black "Anand, Viswanathan"]

[Result "1-0"]

1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Nc3 c6 5. Bb3 d5 6. exd5 cxd5 7. d4 Bb4 8. Nf3 O-O 9. O-O Bxc3 10. bxc3 Qc7 11. Qe1 Nc6 12. Qh4 Ne7 13. Bxf4 Qxc3 14. Bd2 Qc7 15. Ne5 Nf5 16. Qf4 Be6 17. Bb4 Rfc8 18. g4 Nd6 19. Rae1 Nfe4 20. c4 dxc4 21. Bc2 Nf6 22. g5 Nh5 23. Qf3 g6 24. Nxg6 hxg6 25. Bxg6 fxg6 26. Rxe6 Qf7 27. Qd5 Nf5 28. Rxf5 1-0

[Event "Intel PCA Rapid Chess Grand Prix"] [Site "Moscow RUS"] [Date "1995.04.30"] [Round "semi-final"] [White "Anand, Viswanathan"] [Black "Kasparov, Gary"] [Result "1-0"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Qxd4 Bd7 5. c4 Nc6 6. Qd2 g6 7. Be2 Bg7 8. O-O Nf6 9. Nc3 O-O 10. Rb1 a6 11. b3 Qa5 12. Bb2 Rfc8 13. Rfd1 Bg4 14. Qe3 Nd7 15. Nd5 Bxb2 16. Rxb2 Bxf3 17. Bxf3 e6 18. Nc3 Rd8 19. Rbd2 Nde5 20. Be2 Nb4 21. h4 b5 22. cxb5 axb5 23. Nxb5 Nbc6 24. a3 d5 25. exd5 Rxd5 26. Rxd5 exd5 27. b4 Qa4 28. Rxd5 1-0

[Event "Intel PCA Rapid Chess Grand Prix"]

[Site "Moscow RUS"]

[Date "1995.05.01"]

[Round "final"]

[White "Anand, Viswanathan"]

[Black "Ivanchuk, Vassily"]

[Result "0-1"]

1. e4 c6, 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nf3 e6 5. Be2 c5 6. Be3 Nd7 7. c4 dxc4 8. Nc3 Ne7 9. Bxc4 Nc6 10. d5 Nb6 11. Bb3 exd5 12. Nxd5 Be7 13. O-O O-O 14. Rc1 Nxd5 15. Bxd5 Nb4 16. Bc4 a6 17. e6 fxe6 18. Qb3 Qc8 19. a3 b5 20. axb4 bxc4 21. Rxc4 Rb8 22. Rfc1 Qb7 23. Qa2 Bd3 24. Rf4 c4 25. Ne5 Qd5 26. Nxd3 cxd3 27. Qxd5 exd5 28. Rd4 Rxb4 29. Rxd3 Rxb2 30. Rxd5 Ra8 31. g4 a5 32. Rd7 Bf8 33. Rcc7 a4 34. Ra7 Rbb8 35. Bd4 Rxa7 36. Rxa7 Rb4 37. Be5 Re4 38. Bc3 Rxg4+ 39. Kf1 a3 40. Ke2 Rc4 41. Kd3 Rf4 42. Bd4 h5 43. Ra8 Kh7 44. Ke3 Rf7 45. f4 Bd6 46. Be5 Bc5+ 47. Kd3 Kg6 48. Ra5 Bb4 49. Ra4 Rb7 50. Ke4 Kf7 51. Ra6 Be7 52. f5 Rb4+ 53. Kd5 Rg4 54. Ra7 Rg2 55. Ke4 a2 56. Kf3 Rc2 57. Ke4 Re2+ 58. Kf4 Rxe5 59. Kxe5 a1=Q+ 60. Rxa1 Bf6+ 61. Kf4 Bxa1 62. Kg5 Bb2 63. h4 Bc1+ 64. Kxh5 Kf6 0-1

 

More local events up ahead

I am pleasantly surprised at the sudden flurry of activity on the local chess front. For the past few weeks, I have been doing little more than inform you readers of various tournaments coming up soon.

Not that I am complaining, of course. The more tournaments there are, the more it confirms that chess has a definite place in our society and the various chess associations are doing their bit to keep the game and interest alive.

Shall I summarise the forthcoming chess events in the country? Firstly, I mentioned the first Arab-Malaysian Labour Day team championship in Kuala Lumpur and the Pesta Catur NS/MPS in Seremban. Both events start tomorrow.

Then the Terengganu Chess Association told me they are holding their 17th state closed championship. This event started yesterday and will end tomorrow. And in Johor Bahru, the Johor Chess Club will hold a one-day Labour Day chess tournament this Sunday.

Next month, the Chess Association of Selangor will organise their 22nd annual Royal Selangor open chess tournament. This tournament, sponsored by Royal Selangor, will be played from May 10 to 14 at the Plaza Putra in Kuala Lumpur.

This is a seven-round event which is divided into two sections: an "open" section with an attractive prize fund totalling RM4,300 and a "major" section which caters for less experienced players. Correspondingly, the prize fund in the "major" section is lower at RM1,100.

In the open section, there are altogether 15 cash prizes and the winner will receive RM1,000 and a trophy. The second prize is RM800 and the third prize RM600. For the major section, the top prize is RM250 and a trophy.

Entry fees for the open section are RM30 for CAS members, RM35 for members of associations and clubs affiliated to the CAS, RM25 for women and under-16 players, RM20 for CAS women and under-16 members, and RM40 for players who do not fit into any of these categories. International masters and visually handicapped players are given free entrance to the tournament.

For the major section, the entry fees are RM25 for CAS members, RM28 for CAS-affiliated members, RM20 for women and under-16 players, RM15 for CAS women and under-16 members, and RM30 for others.

The CAS will also hold their 10th Sakura Selangor women's open chess tournament at the same time and venue. This is a five-round event and it offers a first prize of RM200 and a trophy. There are four other cash prizes.

This tournament is sponsored by Sakura Cafe & Cuisine and the entry fees are RM10 for CAS members and RM15 for non-members.

For more information on both events, contact CAS secretary Mrs Jackie Wong.

On May 7, Total Chess will again organise a tournament in Petaling Jaya and this time, the emphasis is solely on under-10 players. Children who were born in or after 1985 are eligible to play in this six-round event. The top 10 winners will each receive medals and/or book prizes.

Entry fees are RM10 for Total Chess members and RM15 for non-members. Enquiries, call Joseph Toh.

Total Chess had earlier this month held its first tournament at its club premises in Petaling Jaya's New Town Centre. This tournament attracted 46 participants.

The winner was a Dutch FIDE Master, Michael Wind, who obtained 5.5 points from six games. There were four players who tied with five points each, but on tiebreak the second prize was given to another Dutch player, Johan Booij.

Third was Mok Tze Meng who drew with both Wind and Booij, fourth was Che Lah Buchin and fifth Yip Wai Leong. Lim Yee Weng scored 4.5 points. The best under-10 player was Wong Zi Chuang and the best under-12 player was Hisyam Ismail.

Mohd Nuruddin and Lee Wei Kwang were the best under-14 and under-16 players respectively. Azmi Ahmad was the best Total Chess member in the competition.

GAME OF THE WEEK

The Professional Chess Association have just concluded a super-grandmaster tournament in Riga, Latvia. This tournament was organised in memory of Latvia's most famous chessplayer, Mikhail Tal, who was world champion briefly in 1960/1 when he was 24 years old.

Originally, this was supposed to have been a 12-man tournament but Alexey Shirov, a Latvian, pulled out after some disagreements with his national federation.

The 11 players in this event were Gary Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik (both Russia), Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine), Viswanathan Anand (India), Nigel Short (England), Boris Gulko (USA), Jaan Ehlvest (Estonia), Artur Yusupov (Germany), Edvins Kengis (Latvia), Jan Timman (Netherlands) and Rafael Vaganian (Armenia).

The talk of this event was the fourth-round demolition of Anand by Kasparov. As a dress rehearsal for the finals of the PCA world championship match in September, much interest was focussed on this game.

It was a thrilling game, all right. Kasparov pulled off a surprise by uncorking the Evans Gambit, a very old opening which is seldom seen nowadays.

To his credit, Anand accepted the proffered pawn but Kasparov gave up a second pawn to keep his opponent's pieces undeveloped. In the end, after a mere 25 moves, Anand resigned the game when huge material losses could no longer be avoided.

[[Event "Tal Memorial Tournament"]

[Site "Riga LAT"]

[Date "1995.04.16"]

[Round "4"]

[White "Kasparov, Gary"]

[Black "Anand, Viswanathan"]

[Result "1-0"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4 5. c3 Be7 6. d4 Na5 7. Be2 exd4 8. Qxd4 Nf6 9. e5 Nc6 10. Qh4 Nd5 11. Qg3 g6 12. O-O Nb6 13. c4 d6 14. Rd1 Nd7 15. Bh6 Ncxe5 16. Nxe5 Nxe5 17. Nc3 f6 18. c5 Nf7 19. cxd6 cxd6 20. Qe3 Nxh6 21. Qxh6 Bf8 22. Qe3+ Kf7 23. Nd5 Be6 24. Nf4 Qe7 25. Re1 {1.26/1.35} 1-0 {There are many ways of finishing the game but Anand was not interested in being shown. The point is that the e6-bishop has no squares along the a2-g8 diagonal, and if 25...Bf5 (or 25...Bd7 or 25...Bc8), White wins with 26. Bc4+. After 25...Re8, White has 26 Nxe6 Qxe6 27 Bc4! Qxc4 28 Qxe8+ and he should win because of the bad position of all of Black's pieces. The classical rule is that you do not move your queen out early in a game because your opponent can harass the queen while developing, but in this game, every time that Kasparov moved his queen it threatened something that forced a concession from Black; but every time that Anand attacked Kasparov's queen it was with a piece that had already moved so that instead of gaining time, he lost many tempi.}

 

Busy month ahead

The next few weeks will be busy times indeed for local chess players. Last week, I mentioned two forthcoming events at the end of the month - the first Arab-Malaysian Labour Day team championship in Kuala Lumpur and the Pesta Catur NS/MPS in Seremban.

The Chess Association of Selangor has informed me of its ninth Royal Selangor juniors open tournament for the under-12, under-16 and under-20 age-groups at the Plaza Putra in Kuala Lumpur this weekend.

The tournament will be played over seven rounds using the time control of one hour per person for each game. The first round tomorrow starts at 2pm and the second and third rounds will begin at 4.30pm and 7pm. On Sunday, the first of four games has been scheduled for 9am.

There will be 10 prizes for each of the three sections. The top prize consists of RM150 and a trophy, the second prize RM120 and a trophy, and the third prize RM90 and a trophy. Cash prizes and medals will be given to the fourth to seventh placed winners while the eighth, ninth and 10th places will receive medals. Prize monies are not be shared.

The first prize winners of each of the age-groups will be invited to play in this year's Royal Selangor open championship which is scheduled for May 10 to 14.

Entry fees are RM10 for CAS members and RM13 for members of the Klang Chess Association and the Kajang Chess Club. All other participants are required to pay RM15.

Schools that field five or more students in the tournament will be given a 20 per cent discount on entry fees. However, this rebate is only applicable to non-CAS members from the schools.

Because the tournament will start tomorrow, readers intending to play in the event but have yet to register themselves can call Mrs Jackie Wong.

From April 27 to 29, the Terengganu Chess Association will organise its 17th Terengganu closed championship at the Astaka MPKT, Jalan Sultan Ismail, Kuala Terengganu.

This being a closed event, only players residing in Terengganu are eligible to take part. This event will be played in three sections - the senior, the novice and the under-12 age-group.

The senior section will be held over the three days with two rounds on April 27, three rounds on April 28 and the final two rounds on April 29. For the novice section, play will be on April 28 and 29 only, and three rounds have been scheduled for each day. The under-12 section will be played on April 29 only.

Entry fees for members of the TCA are RM5 for the senior section, RM3 for the novice section and RM1 for the under-12 section. Non-members are required to pay RM10, RM4 and RM2 respectively.

The top 10 winners in each section will receive prizes. For the senior section, the top prize is RM200 and a night's stay at the Sutra Beach Resort, the second prize is RM150 and the third prize RM100. The other prizes are in the form of books and trophies.

Closing date for all entries is April 24 and these can be submitted to Mohd Lazim Abdul Ghani, Sekolah Kebangsaan Beladau Kolam, 21200 Kuala Terengganu. For enquiries about the tournament, contact Mohd Zainuddin Ngah.

In Johor Bahru, the Johor Chess Club will hold its one-day Labour Day chess tournament on April 30 at the fifth floor of the Plaza Pelangi in Taman Pelangi.

The open section features attractive cash prizes including RM300 for the winner, RM200 for the runners-up and RM100 for third-place. There are other prizes for the fourth to sixth placed players, as well as for the five best players from the state. The top three women's players will be given prizes too.

For the under-16 section, there are also six cash prizes with the winner getting RM100, five cash prizes for the top five Johor players and four cash prizes for the best girl players. In the under-12 category, cash prizes will be given to the top six players, the top two Johor players and the top four girl players.

Entry fees are RM10 and RM5 for the men and women respectively in the open section, RM5 for all players in the under-16 section and RM4 for players in the under-12 section.

Closing date for entries is April 25 and only the first 100 entries will be accepted for each category. For more information, contact Sumathy or Andrew Tan or Cheong Kok Love.

GAMES OF THE WEEK

The Melody Amber chess tournament in Monaco ended last week. The format was similar to last year's, that is, against each of their opponents, the participants were required to play first a regular game using rapidplay rules and then a blindfold game.

In the blindfold session, each player was seated at a personal computer which was linked through a network to a similar setup for his opponent. With both players staring at a blank chessboard on their computer screens, they were required to type in their moves on the keyboard.

The winner was Anatoly Karpov whose expertise in the rapidplay games more than compensated for his poor performance in the blindfold games. He scored 16 points, followed by Viswanathan Anand with 14.5 points. Third was Vassily Ivanchuk with 14 points and fourth was Vladimir Kramnik with 13 points.

The other standings: Gata Kamsky 12 points; Judit Polgar and Jeroen Piket 11 points each, Alexei Shirov 10.5 points; Joel Lautier and Predrag Nikolic 9.5 points each, Ljubomir Ljubojevic 7 points; and John Nunn 4 points.

The following are games from the tournament.

[Event "Melody Amber, Blindfold"]

[Site "Monaco"]

[Date "1995.04.10"]

[Round "11"]

[White "Karpov, Anatoly"]

[Black "Shirov, Alexey"]

[Result "1-0"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. Nbd2 Nbd7 6. Bd3 Bd6 7. O-O O-O 8. e4 e5 9. cxd5 cxd5 10. exd5 exd4 11. Ne4 Nxe4 12. Bxe4 Nc5 13. Bc2 Bg4 14. Qxd4 Bxf3 15. gxf3 Re8 16. Be3 Re5 17. Qg4 Nd7 18. f4 Nf6 19. Qf3 Rxd5 20. Bb3 Rf5 21. Qxb7 Bxf4 22. Bxf7+ Kh8 23. Rad1 Qf8 24. Be6 Rb8 25. Qxa7 Rg5+ 26. Kh1 Ne4 27. Qf7 Qxf7 28. Bxf7 Bxe3 29. fxe3 h5 30. b3 Nc3 31. Rd2 Re5 32. a4 Rxe3 33. a5 Ne4 34. Ra2 Nd6 35. Bxh5 Rexb3 36. a6 Ra8 37. Bg6 Rb6 38. a7 Kg8 39. Rfa1 Kf8 40. Bh5 Ke7 41. Bf3 Nb7 42. Rg2 g6 43. Be4 Kf7 44. Rc2 1-0

[Event "Melody Amber, Rapidplay"]

[Site "Monaco"]

[Date "1995.04.10"]

[Round "11"]

[White "Shirov, Alexey"]

[Black "Karpov, Anatoly"]

[Result "0-1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. a3 Bb7 5. Nc3 d5 6. cxd5 Nxd5 7. e3 g6 8. Nxd5 exd5 9. b4 Bg7 10. Bb2 c6 11. Be2 O-O 12. O-O Nd7 13. Qb3 Re8 14. Rfc1 a5 15. bxa5 Rxa5 16. a4 c5 17. Bb5 c4 18. Qc2 Re6 19. Bc3 Ra7 20. Rcb1 Nb8 21. Ra2 Nc6 22. Rab2 Na5 23. Ne5 Qc7 24. Rf1 Bc8 25. f4 f6 26. e4 fxe5 27. exd5 exd4 28. Bxa5 bxa5 29. dxe6 Bxe6 30. Qe4 Qd6 31. Re2 Bf7 32. f5 d3 33. fxg6 hxg6 34. Ree1 d2 35. Rd1 Qd4+ 36. Qxd4 Bxd4+ 37. Kh1 c3 38. Bd3 Re7 39. Rb1 Ba2 0-1 [Event "Melody Amber, Blindfold"]

[Site "Monaco"]

[Date "1995.04.10"]

[Round "11"]

[White "Ivanchuk, Vassily"]

[Black "Lautier, Joel"]

[Result "1-0"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. Bg5 Nbd7 6. cxd5 exd5 7. Qc2 c5 8. dxc5 h6 9. Bd2 O-O 10. e3 Re8 11. Be2 Bxc5 12. O-O a6 13. Qb3 Nb6 14. Rfd1 Be6 15. Be1 Qe7 16. Nd4 Rac8 17. Rac1 Rc7 18. Na4 Nxa4 19. Qxa4 Rec8 20. Ba5 Bd7 21. Qb3 b6 22. Be1 Ra8 23. a3 Qe8 24. Qd3 a5 25. Nb5 Rcc8 26. b4 axb4 27. axb4 Bxb5 28. Qxb5 Qxb5 29. Bxb5 Be7 30. Bc6 Ra2 31. h3 Rd8 32. Kf1 Rb2 33. Bc3 Rb3 34. b5 Kf8 35. Bd4 Rb8 36. Be5 Rc8 37. Bxd5 Rxc1 38. Rxc1 Rd3 39. Rc8+ Ne8 40. Bd4 1-0

[Event "Melody Amber, Rapidplay"]

[Site "Monaco"]

[Date "1995.04.10"]

[Round "11"]

[White "Lautier, Joel"]

[Black "Ivanchuk, Vassily"]

[Result "0-1"]

1. d4 e6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 exd5 4. cxd5 g6 5. e4 Bg7 6. Nc3 d6 7. f4 Nf6 8. Bb5+ Nbd7 9. e5 dxe5 10. fxe5 Nh5 11. e6 Qh4+ 12. g3 Nxg3 13. hxg3 Qxh1 14. Be3 Bxc3+ 15. bxc3 Qe4 16. Qf3 Qxf3 17. Nxf3 fxe6 18. dxe6 O-O 19. Ke2 Nf6 20. e7 Rf7 21. Bxc5 Bg4 22. Rd1 Nd5 23. Rd3 Nxe7 24. Bc4 Nc6 25. Kf2 Re8 26. Bxf7+ Kxf7 27. Nd4 Ne5 28. Re3 a6 29. Bd6 Nc4 30. Rxe8 Kxe8 31. Bf4 Ke7 32. Nb3 Be6 33. Nc5 Bd5 34. Ke2 Na3 35. Ke3 Bc6 36. Kd4 Nb5+ 37. Kd3 h5 38. a4 Nd6 39. a5 Nf7 40. Bc7 Nd6 41. Bb8 g5 42. Kd4 h4 43. gxh4 gxh4 44. Nxa6 bxa6 45. Kc5 Nb7+ 46. Kxc6 Nxa5+ 47. Kb6 Nc4+ 48. Kxa6 Ke6 49. Bh2 Ne5 50. c4 Nxc4 51. Kb5 Kd5 52. Kb4 Kd4 53. Bg1+ Ne3 54. Kb5 h3 55. Kb4 Ke4 56. Kc3 Nf1 57. Kc2 Ke5 0-1

[Event "Melody Amber, Blindfold"]

[Site "Monaco"]

[Date "1995.04.10"]

[Round "11"]

[White "Nikolic, Predrag"]

[Black "Piket, Jeroen"]

[Result "1-0"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. g3 b5 4. Bg2 Bb7 5. O-O Be7 6. Qd3 a6 7. a4 b4 8. c4 O-O 9. Nbd2 d5 10. cxd5 exd5 11. a5 Nbd7 12. Nb3 Ne4 13. Be3 Bc6 14. Rfc1 Bb5 15. Qd1 Rc8 16. Ne1 Ndf6 17. f3 Nd6 18. Nd3 Re8 19. Bf2 Bf8 20. Nbc5 Rb8 21. b3 Nd7 22. Bh3 f5 23. Ra2 c6 24. Nxb4 Nxc5 25. dxc5 Nb7 26. Bxf5 Nxa5 27. Bd3 Qc7 28. Nxa6 Bxa6 29. Bxa6 Nxb3 30. Rc3 Na5 31. Qa4 Rb1+ 32. Kg2 Nb7 33. Bd3 Qe5 34. Bd4 Nxc5 35. Bxe5 Nxa4 36. Rxa4 Rb2 37. Bd4 c5 38. Bxc5 Bxc5 39. Rxc5 Rd2 40. Kf2 g6 41. Ra7 d4 42. Rcc7 1-0

[Event "Melody Amber, Blindfold"]

[Site "Monaco"]

[Date "1995.04.10"]

[Round "11"]

[White "Piket, Jeroen"]

[Black "Nikolic, Predrag"]

[Result "1-0"]

Jeroen Piket - Predrag Nikolic, rapidplay

1. d4 f5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 e6 4. c4 c6 5. Nh3 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 Bxd2+ 7. Nxd2 d6 8. O-O O-O 9. c5 dxc5 10. dxc5 Na6 11. Rc1 Qe7 12. Qc2 e5 13. a3 h6 14. b4 Be6 15. Nc4 Nd7 16. Nd6 Rab8 17. Rfd1 Nc7 18. Qa4 g5 19. Kh1 e4 20. Rd4 a6 21. f3 Nb5 22. Rdd1 Nf6 23. Qc2 Nxd6 24. Rxd6 Bd5 25. Nf2 Rbd8 26. fxe4 fxe4 27. Rxd8 Rxd8 28. e3 Qe5 29. Rd1 Kg7 30. Kg1 Re8 31. Rf1 h5 32. Nd1 Bf7 33. Qc3 Bg6 34. h3 Nd5 35. Qxe5+ Rxe5 36. Rf2 Re8 37. Rd2 Kf6 38. Bf1 Bf5 39. Bc4 Rd8 40. Nc3 Ke5 41. Kh2 Rd7 42. Bxd5 cxd5 43. Ne2 Rf7 44. Nd4 Bd7 45. Kg2 Rf6 46. Rc2 Rf8 47. Ra2 h4 48. g4 Ba4 49. Rd2 Rf6 50. Nf5 Bb5 51. Rf2 Bc6 52. Rd2 Bb5 53. Kg1 Bd3 54. Rf2 a5 55. Nd6 Rxf2 56. Kxf2 axb4 57. axb4 d4 58. Nxb7 dxe3+ 59. Ke1 Ke6 60. Nd6 Kd5 61. Nf7 Kc4 62. c6 Kxb4 63. c7 Ba6 64. Nd6 Kc3 65. c8=Q+ Bxc8 66. Nxc8 Kd3 67. Nd6 Kd4 68. Nf7 Kd3 69. Nxg5 e2 70. Ne6 Ke3 71. g5 1-0

 

Passing of the checkers king

 

Penang league to begin