Chung Ling High School in the lead

With only two rounds remaining in the fifth Penang Bayview Chess League, the domination of Chung Ling High School in both divisions of the competition seems complete.

After nine rounds of the competition, Chung Ling High School A continues to lead in Division One by beating Pessca 3-1. Penang Free School A continued to provide a strong challenge to CLHS A but despite winning 4-0 against Hitachi Semiconductors, they still trailed the leaders by 1.5 points.

In other Division One matches, Old Frees Association beat Penang Development Corporation 4-0, Persatuan Alumni Chung Ling beat Penang Free School B 3-1 and the MSSPP Juniors drew 2-2 with Chung Ling High School B.

In the second division, Chung Ling High School C beat the MSSPP Girls 3-1 to retain their lead while Hewlett-Packard scored a 3.5-0.5 result against Union High School.

In other matches, Bank Bumiputra beat Penang Free School C 3-1, DCI beat National Semiconductors 4-0 and Penang Chinese Girls High School beat Mara Taiping 4-0.

Current standings after nine rounds:

Division One - CLHS A 26 points, PFS A 24.5 points, OFA 22 points, PACL 20.5 points, Pessca 18 points, CLHS B 17.5 points, USM 16.5 points, MSSPP Jrs 11.5 points, PFS B 10.5 points, PDC 8 points and Hitachi 5 points.

Division Two - CLHS C 27.5 points, CLHS D 23.5 points, HP 19.5 points, BBMB 19 points, PFS C 17.5 points, MSSPP Girls 17 points, DCI 16.5 points, Union 14 points, PCGHS 9 points, NS 8 points and Mara Taiping 5.5 points.

The Penang Bayview Chess League is annually sponsored by The City Bayview Hotel and the 10th round will be played this Sunday morning at the hotel's Revolving Restaurant. The final round will be on Aug 6.

FORTHCOMING EVENTS

Bayan Baru Open
---------------
The Residents' Association of Bayan Baru, Penang, will hold its ninth annual open chess championship on Aug 13 at the association's clubhouse.

Entry fees for the one-day tournament are RM5 for players under the age of 18 and members of either the Residents' Association or the Penang Chess Association, and RM8 for all other participants.

Entry forms are available daily from The Times Bookshop at the Penang Plaza, Burmah Road, Penang. They will also be available Mondays to Fridays from the association's clubhouse in Jalan Nibong, Bayan Baru (7pm-9pm).

As in previous years, cash prizes are not offered. Instead, winners will be given prizes in kind donated by various parties. Entries will close on Aug 6.

Merdeka Team Championship

-------------------------

This yearly event will once again be organised by the Persatuan Catur Melayu Malaysia at the Wisma Belia in Kuala Lumpur from Sept 2-4. As usual, this event will be separated into three sections all running at the same time.

The premier attraction is the competition for the Deputy Prime Minister's trophy in the state section. Traditionally, all the various state chess associations in the country make it a point to play, and this event is widely viewed as the national team championship.

For the junior section of the championship, the winner will be awarded the Merdeka Youth challenge trophy. Normally too, many of the state associations will send their teams to play here but the organisers have also been allowing other junior teams to participate.

In recent years though, the popularity of the junior section has diminished a little. This could be attributed to the Majlis Sukan Sekolah-sekolah Malaysia's own national junior championships which are held during the mid- semester break.

Finally, there is the open section of the championship which has never failed to attract teams from near and afar, including a number from Singapore.

More information on this event will be announced later.

Total Chess
-----------
Total Chess, a commercially-run chess club in Petaling Jaya, will be holding two local rating tournaments on August 6 and 13.

On August 6, an open category tournament will be played at the Total Chess premises in the New Town Centre, Petaling Jaya, and 10 cash prizes totalling RM300 will be at stake. There are also prizes for the best under-10, under- 12, under-14 and under-16 players.

A week later, a special tournament for under-12 players will be held. Here, 10 prizes comprising medals, chess books and magazines will be offered.

Both tournaments are six-round events using a time control of 25 minutes per player for each game. The entry fees are RM15 for Total Chess members and RM20 for non-members in the open category event, and RM10 and RM15 respectively for the under-12 event.

For further details, call Joseph Toh (tel: 03-757-4606).

GAMES OF THE WEEK

Joop van Oosterom is a familiar figure in Europe. Noted as an ardent supporter of chess, he is credited with having introduced many new ideas in promoting the game.

A notable example is the Melody Amber blindfold/rapidplay tournament which is an annual event that involves top chess players. Participants are required to engage their opponents in two games, one of which is played without sight of the chess board.

Recently, he sponsored the Polka women versus veterans tournament in Prague. This was a Scheveningen style of tournament in which five top women players were pitted in a double-round contest against five veteran players.

Despite a spirited fightback from the veteran players in the final rounds, the women won this event comfortably with a final score of 26.5-23.5.

Playing for the women's side were world champion Xie Jun (China), Pia Cramling (Sweden), Nana Ioseliani (Georgia) and two of the Polgar sisters from Hungary, Judit and Zsuzsa.

On the veteran's side were Viktor Korchnoi (Switzerland), Vlastimil Hort (Germany), Lajos Portisch (Hungary) and former world champions Vassily Smyslov (Russia) and Boris Spassky (France).

The joint winners of the tournament were Cramling and Judit Polgar who each scored 6.5 points. Third was Korchnoi with 5.5 points, while three players - Xie, Smyslov and Spassky - obtained five points each.

Zsuzsa Polgar and Hort scored 4.5 points each, while Ioseliani had four points and Portisch 3.5.

Here are a few interesting games from the tournament.

Vlastimil Hort - Pia Cramling
-----------------------------
1. c4 g6, 2. d4 Bg7, 3. Nc3 Nf6, 4. e4 d6, 5. Be2 O-O, 6. Bg5 Na6, 7. Bf3 c6, 8. Qd2 e5, 9. Nge2 Qe8, 10. O-O h5, 11. d5 cxd5, 12. Bxf6 Bxf6, 13. Nxd5 Bg7, 14. Nec3 Bd7, 15. Rfd1 Rd8, 16. b4 Be6, 17. Qe3 b6, 18. a4 Rb8, 19. Be2 Bc8, 20. Nb5 Qd7, 21. a5 bxa5, 22. Rxa5 Bb7, 23. Rda1 Bxd5, 24. Rxa6 Bc6, 25. Rxa7 Qd8, 26. Rd1 Bxb5, 27. cxb5 Bf6, 28. Bc4 Kg7, 29. Ra6 Be7, 30. Qa7 Qc8, 31. Rc6 Qg4, 32. Re1 Qg5, 33. Qe3 Qxe3, 34. Rxe3 Bd8, 35. Rd3 Bb6, 36. Rdxd6 Bd4, 37. b6 Ra8, 38. g3 Ra1+, 39. Kg2 Rb1, 40. b5 Rb2, 41. Rf6 Rb4, 42. b7 Ba7, 43. Rfd6 1-0

Xie Jun - Boris Spassky
-----------------------
1. e4 c5, 2. Nf3 Nc6, 3. d4 cxd4, 4. Nxd4 Nf6, 5. Nc3 d6, 6. Be2 g6, 7. Nb3 Bg7, 8. O-O a6, 9. Re1 b5, 10. Bf1 O-O, 11. a4 b4, 12. Nd5 e6, 13. Nxf6+ Bxf6, 14. a5 Bg7, 15. Ra2 Qe7, 16. Be3 Bb7, 17. Qd2 Rfc8, 18. f4 e5, 19. f5 gxf5, 20. exf5 Kh8, 21. Raa1 d5, 22. Bc5 Qf6, 23. Bb6 Ne7, 24. Nc5 Bc6, 25. Nxa6 d4, 26. Nxb4 Bh6, 27. Qd3 Nxf5, 28. Nxc6 Rxc6, 29. Qe4 Be3+, 30. Rxe3 Nxe3, 31. Bd3 Kg7, 32. b4 Rg8, 33. Bc5 Rxc5, 34. bxc5 Kf8, 35. a6 1-0

 

Vietnamese challenge at Sutra Beach

It is not often that the state chess associations outside the Klang Valley manage to attract foreign players but the Terengganu Chess Association managed to get Vietnamese international master Nguyen Anh Dung to play in the Sutra Beach Resort open tournament.

Of course, the fact that the Vietnamese player happened to stay behind in the country after the zonal championship at Genting Highlands helped considerably. It did not take much to persuade Nguyen to try his luck for the first prize of RM1,000.

So Nguyen turned up in Kuala Terengganu very much the pre-tournament favourite. He reeled off four wins in a row, including a third round victory against the national champion, Mas Hafizulhelmi.

Unfortunately, the Vietnamese lost his touch in the fifth round and the local crowd was especially estatic when their homegrown player, lawyer Ghalam Sani, produced an inspired game to take a point off Nguyen.

Ghalam was in a good form. A round earlier, he had despatched off former national champion Mok Tze Meng and before that, former national schoolboy champion Ahmad Maliki. A draw against Mas Hafizulhelmi in the final round was sufficient for Ghalam to win the tournament.

After his loss to Ghalam, Nguyen was no longer in the running for the top prize despite winning in the sixth round against Maliki. He drew against Mok in the final round to place joint second/third with Mas Hafizulhelmi.

The three-day tournament was played at the Sutra Beach Resort in Kuala Terengganu. Sponsored by the hotel, the event attracted 40 participants including seven current or former national players. The local field was limited to only six players with the rest, excluding Nguyen, coming from various parts of the country.

The prize winners: Ghalam Sani 6 points, IM Nguyen Anh Dung and Mas Hafizulhelmi 5.5 points each, Ahmad Maliki, Mok Tze Meng, Rosli Mohd Nor and Agus Salim 5 points each, John Chay, Mohd Fadli Zakaria and Ismail Ahmad 4.5 points each.

THE BAYVIEW UPDATE

With eight rounds completed in the fifth Penang Bayview Chess League, Chung Ling High School A is in the lead in Division One after a 4-0 win over Penang Development Corporation.

Penang Free School A suffered a slight setback when they lost to Chung Ling High School B by a 1.5-2.5 score. Old Frees Association beat Persatuan Alumni Chung Ling 3-1, while Universiti Sains Malaysia scored a 3-1 win against Penang Free School B and Pessca beat Hitachi Semiconductors 4-0.

In Division Two, Chung Ling High School C beat Penang Chinese Girls High Schol 4-0, while their D team won 3-1 against Union High School. Penang Free School C beat the MSSPP Girls 3-1 and Bank Bumiputra beat Hewlett-Packard 2.5-1.5. DCI beat Mara Taiping 3-0.

The current standings after eight rounds:

Division One - CLHS A 23 points, PFS A 20.5 points, OFA 18 points, PACL 17.5 points, Pessca 17 points, USM 16.5 points, CLHS B 15.5 points, MSSPP Jrs and PFS B 9.5 points, PDC 8 points, and Hitachi 5 points.

Division Two - CLHS C 24.5 points, CLHS D 23.5 points, PFS C 16.5 points, MSSPP Girls, HP and BBMB 16 points, Union 13.5 points, DCI 12.5 points, NS 8 points, Mara Taiping 5.5 points and PCGHS 5 points.

The Penang Bayview Chess League is annually sponsored by The City Bayview Hotel. The ninth round will be played this Sunday morning at the hotel's Revolving Restaurant.

TWO TOTAL TOURNAMENTS

Total Chess, a commercially-run chess club in Petaling Jaya, will stage two local rating tournaments on Aug 6 and 13.

On Aug 6, an open category tournament will be played at the Total Chess premises in the New Town Centre, Petaling Jaya; 10 cash prizes totalling RM300 will be at stake. There are also prizes for the best under-10, under- 12, under-14 and under-16 players.

On Aug 13, a special tournament for under-12 players will be held.

Both tournaments are six-round events using a time control of 25 minutes per player for each game. The entry fees are RM15 for Total Chess members and RM20 for non-members in the open category event, and RM10 and RM15 respectively for the under-12 event. For further enquiries or registration, call Joseph Toh (tel: 03-757-4606).

GAMES OF THE WEEK

Here are two games from the local chess circuit this week. The first was played at the Terengganu Sutra Beach Resort championship in Kuala Terengganu and features Nguyen Anh Dung's loss to Ghalam Sani, while the second game is from the Penang Bayview Chess League.

White: Ghalam Sani

Black: Nguyen Anh Dung

----------------------

1. e4 c5, 2. Nc3 Nc6, 3. g3 g6, 4. Bg2 Bg7, 5. d3 e6, 6. f4 Nge7, 7. Nf3 d5, 8. 0-0 0-0, 9. h3 Rb8, 10. a4 dxe4, 11. dxe4 b6, 12. Qe2 Nd4, 13. Nxd4 cxd4, 14. Rd1 Qc7, 15. Nb5 Ba6, 16. Nxc7 Bxe2, 17. Rd2 Bc4, 18. e5 Nf5, 19. g4 Ne3, 20. Be4 f5, 21. Rxd4 Rbc8, 22. Bxe3 Rxc7, 23. gxf5 gxf5, 24. Bf3 Ba6, 25. c3 Bb7, 26. Bxb7 Rxb7, 27. Rad1 Rff7, 28.Rd6 Rfe7, 29. c4 Bf8, 30. Rd8 Kf7, 31. Kf2 Rec7, 32. b3 Be7, 33. R8d3 Ke8, 34. Rg1 Kf7, 35. Ke2 Rc8, 36. Bd2 a6, 37. Be1 b5, 38. axb5 axb5, 39. cxb5 Rxb5, 40. Bd2 Rc2, 41. Rc1 Rbc5, 42. Rxc2 Rxc2, 43. Kd1 Ra2, 44. Kc1 Ba3+, 45. Kb1 Rb2+, 46. Ka1 Rc2, 47. b4 Bc1, 48. Bxc1 Rxc1+, 49. Kb2 Rc4, 50. Kb3 Rxf4, 51. b5 Rf1, 52. Kc4 Re1, 53. b6 Rxe5, 54.Rb3 1-0

White: Tan Eng Seong

Black: Ooi Chern Ee

--------------------

1. e4 c5, 2. Nc3 Nc6, 3. d3 g6, 4. Be3 d6, 5. f4 Bg7, 6. Nf3 Nd4, 7. Be2 b5, 8. Qd2 b4, 9.Nd1 Nxe2, 10. Qxe2 Nf6, 11. h3 a5, 12. 0-0 0-0, 13. c4 bxc3, 14. bxc3 Ba6, 15. Qc2 Qd7, 16. Rb1 Bb5, 17. c4 Ba4, 18. Qd2 Qc6, 19. Nc3 Rfb8, 20. e5 Ne8, 21. Nd5 Rb7, 22. exd6 exd6, 23. f5 Nf6, 24. Bh6 Bh8, 25. Qg5 Nxd5, 26. fxg6 fxg6, 27. cxd5 Qd7, 28. Rxb7 Qxb7, 29. Qf4 Qb4, 30. Qxd6 Re8, 31. Kh1 Bb5, 32. Ng5 c4, 33.Rf8+ 1-0

 

Change of venue

 

Utut wins the day

Indonesian grandmaster Utut Adianto played to form and justified his seeding when he won the men's East Asian/Oceanic zonal championship at the Genting Highlands last month.

He finished the tournament with nine points, ahead of grandmaster Rogelio Antonio from the Philippines who obtained 7.5 points.

In joint third-fifth places were Vietnamese international master Nguyen Anh Dung, Indonesian international master Nasib Ginting and untitled Filipino player Fernie Donguines. The three players scored seven points each.

Edhi Handoko, another Indonesian grandmaster, was a disappointment as the second seed could only manage to score 6.5 points and tie for the sixth to ninth placings with Indonesian Irwanto, Filipino Barlo Nadera and Hiroyuki Nishimura from Japan.

Four Malaysians were among the field of 28 players. Mas Hafizulhelmi, the current national champion, was the best local player with a score of 5.5 points which automatically qualified him for a FIDE Master title. Darren Yong and Mohd Saprin Sabri obtained 4.5 points each, while Mohd Kamal Abdullah scored 3.5 points.

The other players who also automatically qualified as FIDE Masters were Aung Thant Zin (Myanmar), Donguines, Chito Garma (Philippines), Irwanto, Nadera, Nishimura and Terry Toh (Singapore). Nishimura, Garma and FM Anthony Ker (New Zealand) obtained international master norms.

The women's zonal championship was held at the same time. Australian international master Irina Berezina-Feldman won the event with a score of 8.5 points. Half a point behind her was Vietnamese international master Hoang Thanh Trang.

Third was another Vietnamese player, unheralded Nguyen Thi Tuong Van, who obtained 7.5 points. Three players - Tamin Upi Darmayana (Indonesia), Ngan Phan-Koshnitsky (Australia) and Mai Thi Thanh Houng (Vietnam) - tied for the fourth-sixth places with seven points each.

The three Malaysian players fared poorly. The best resistance was put up by Ong Hwa Lu who scored four points, while Eliza Hanum Ibrahim and Samantha Lee each obtained 2.5 points.

Nguyen Thi Tuong Van was automatically conferred the international master title by virtue of her 66.7 per cent score in the tournament, while Veronica Klimenko (Australia), Mai Thi Thanh Houng and Ngan Phan-Koshnitsky were made FIDE Masters.

The zonal tournaments were hosted by the Malaysian Chess Federation and played at the Genting Highlands. Adianto, Berezina-Feldman and Hoang qualified for the Interzonal which is the next stage of the World Chess Federation's current world chess championship cycle.

BAYVIEW CHESS UPDATE

Two rounds were played at the fifth Penang Bayview Chess League last Sunday after the tournament was opened officially by State Executive Councillor Dr Sak Cheng Lum.

In the morning, Penang Free School A whitewashed Penang Development Corporation 4-0 while Persatuan Alumni Chung Ling beat MSSPP Juniors by a narrow 2.5-1.5 score.

Old Frees Association fell to a shock 1-3 defeat at the hands of Chung Ling High School A, while the other results in Division One were Penang Free School B beating Hitachi Semiconductor 3-1, and Chung Ling High School B winning 3-1 against Universiti Sains Malaysia.

In Division Two, National Semiconductor beat Hewlett-Packard 3-1, while Chung Ling High School D beat DCI 2.5-1.5. Penang Free School C scored their first points by beating Mara Taiping 2.5-1.5, Union High School beat Penang Chinese Girls High School 2.5-1.5, and Bank Bumiputra beat MSSPP Girls 2.5-1.5.

In the afternoon session, Chung Ling High School A beat Penang Free School B 3-1, Persatuan Alumni Chung Ling beat Chung Ling High School B 3-1, and Penang Free School A beat Pessca 3-1. Two other matches were drawn 2-2: Universiti Sains Malaysia against Hitachi Semiconductor, and Penang Development Corporation against MSSPP Juniors.

Among the Division Two teams, Penang Free School C continued their winning streak by beating National Semiconductor 4-0, while MSSPP Girls beat Union High School 3-1 and Chung Ling High School D beat Penang Chinese Girls High School 3-1. DCI beat Hewlett-Packard 3-1, and Chung Ling High School beat Mara Taiping by a similar score.

The current standings after five rounds: Division One - PFS A 15 points, CLHSA 13.5 points, CLOBA 11.5 points, OFA and USM 10 points, CLHS B 8.5 points,Pessca, MSSPP Jrs and PFS B 8 points, PDC 4 points, and Hitachi 3.5 points.

Division Two - CLHS D 15 points, CLHS C 12.5 points, MSSPP Girls 11.5 points, Union and BBMB 10 points, HP and DCI 9.5 points, PFS C 6.5 points, NS 6 points, Mara Taiping 5.5 points, and PCGHS 4 points.

The Penang Bayview Chess League is annually sponsored by The City Bayview Hotel. The sixth and seventh rounds will be played tomorrow at the hotel's Sri Mas Room.

GAMES OF THE WEEK

In New York last month where the American leg of the Intel Rapidplay Grand Prix was held under the auspices of the Professional Chess Association, Gary Kasparov took the first prize with a 2-0 score over Vassily Ivanchuk in the final.

Earlier during the semi-finals, Ivanchuk had eliminated Alexander Morozevich (Russia) with a 2-0 result, while Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik (Russia) played to a 1.5-1.5 draw. The blitz tie-break game was also drawn but Kasparov advanced to the final by invoking the draw odds rule.

[Event "Intel Rapidplay Grand Prix"]
[Site "New York"]
[Date ""]
[Round ""]
[White "Ivanchuk, Vassily"]
[Black "Kasparov, Gary"]
[Result "0-1"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 e5 7. Nf3 Be7 8. Bc4 O-O 9. O-O Be6 10. Bb3 Nc6 11. Bg5 Na5 12. Bxf6 Bxf6 13. Nd5 Nxb3 14. axb3 Bg5 15. Qd3 Bh6 16. Rad1 Rc8 17. Nd2 b5 18. c3 Kh8 19. b4 Ra8 20. Nb3 f5 21. Na5 Rc8 22. Qh3 Rf7 23. Rfe1 Qe8 24. Qh4 Qf8 25. exf5 Bxf5 26. f3 Bc2 27. Ra1 Bf5 28. h3 Qe8 29. Qf2 Qe6 30. Rad1 Qg6 31. Kh1 Rcf8 32. h4 Bc2 33. Rd2 Bxd2 34. Qxd2 Qg3 35. Nb7 Rxb7 0-1

[Event "Intel Rapidplay Grand Prix"]
[Site "New York"]
[Date ""]
[Round ""]
[White "Kasparov, Gary"]
[Black "Ivanchuk, Vassily"]
[Result "1-0"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 Nc6 3. cxd5 Qxd5 4. e3 e5 5. Nc3 Bb4 6. Bd2 Bxc3 7. bxc3 Qd6 8. Bd3 Nf6 9. f3 O-O 10. Ne2 Be6 11. O-O Rad8 12. Qc1 Nd7 13. Be1 Qe7 14. Qb1 Nb6 15. Bxh7+ Kh8 16. Bd3 Na5 17. e4 Nac4 18. f4 f6 19. f5 Bf7 20. Rf3 Kg8 21. Rh3 exd4 22. cxd4 c5 23. d5 Ne5 24. Bc2 Nbc4 25. Nf4 b5 26. Qb3 Ng4 27. Qg3 Nce5 28. Bd1 1-0

[Event "Intel Rapidplay Grand Prix"]
[Site "New York"]
[Date ""]
[Round ""]
[White "Ivanchuk, Vassily"]
[Black "Morozevich, Alexander"]
[Result "1-0"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 Nc6 3. Nc3 dxc4 4. d5 Ne5 5. f4 Nd7 6. e4 Nb6 7. a4 a5 8. Be3 e6 9. Bxb6 cxb6 10. Bxc4 Bb4 11. Nf3 Nf6 12. O-O O-O 13. dxe6 Bxe6 14. Bxe6 fxe6 15. Qb3 Kh8 16. Ng5 Ng4 17. Nxe6 Qh4 18. h3 Rae8 19. Ne2 Rxe6 20. Qxe6 Bc5+ 21. Kh1 h5 22. Rad1 Rd8, 23. Rxd8+ Qxd8 24. Qd5 Qh4 25. Qg5 Nf2+ 26. Rxf2 Qxg5 27. fxg5 Bxf2 28. g6 Kg8 29. g4 hxg4 30. hxg4 Kf8 31. Kg2 Bc5 32. e5 Ke7 33. Kf3 Kd7 34. Ke4 Kc6 35. Nd4+ Bxd4 36. Kxd4 Kd7 37. Kd5 Ke7 38. e6 Ke8 39. Kd6 Kd8 40. b3 Ke8 41. e7 1-0

 

Kasparov holds on tight

 

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