Ilyumzhinov in murder poser

LAST week, I mentioned a news report from Moscow which quoted Kalmyk Republic and World Chess Federation president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov as saying he would be contesting the Russian presidency.

A few days later, there was another news item from Moscow which reported that three people had been detained in Elista, Kalmyk's capital city, in connection with the murder of the editor of Kalmyk's only opposition newspaper.

Larisa Yudina, editor of the Soviet Kalmykia Today newspaper, was found dead on June 8 with multiple knife wounds and a fractured skull. Two of the three detained later confessed to the killing; one was a former aide of Ilyumzhinov while the other was Ilyumzhinov's envoy to a nearby region.

By any standard, murder is alarming enough but when the crime can be linked to a man who is the leader of an international sports organisation, it becomes a very delicate point. Moreover, these reports were making the rounds on the Internet and many people were drawing negative conclusions from them.

It was not surprising that the World Chess Federation (FIDE) soon felt it necessary to comment on these reports. In a statement released on June 24, FIDE executive director Emmanuel Omuku drew attention to the reports, calling them rumours.

According to him, FIDE was in touch with the office of the President of Kalmykia and had access to statements by the relevant officials of both the Kalmyk Republic and the Russian Federation. He said the Russian Interior Ministry had stated that there was no political motive behind this murder.

Omuku said Ilyumzhinov had consistently maintained the need to isolate FIDE from his other activities as a political leader in Russia.

Nevertheless, whether the murder had anything to do with Ilyumzhinov's bid for the Russian presidency or not, FIDE was forced to issue the statement because certain members of the chess fraternity had been circulating and adding to these rumours.

UP NEXT

Klang Valley events

The two-day national age-group chess championship starts tomorrow at the Putra World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur.

There are five categories in this event: under-10, under-12, under-14, under-16, under-18. There will be seven rounds in each category and a time control of one hour per player for each game.

Entry fee is RM10 per player. Although there will be no cash prizes, the winners of the various age-groups stand to be considered for selection to the world age-group championships in Oporesa del Mar Castellon, Spain, this October.

Those interested in playing should be at the foyer of the PWTC by 8am tomorrow. Unless a player has registered earlier for the championship, those registering at the PWTC tomorrow will only be accepted on a first-come basis. For more details, contact Malaysian Chess Federation secretary Hamid Majid (03-421 9576).

This coming Monday, the first leg of the third Royal Selangor under-15 chess grand prix will be held at Sunway College in Petaling Jaya.

The grand prix consists of four legs. According to the Chess Association of Selangor (CAS) calendar, the second leg will be held on July 12, the third leg on July 19 and the final leg on July 25 and 26. Each of the legs will be played over six rounds, with a time control of 30 minutes per game for each player.

Game points won by players in each of these legs will be accumulated and the results of a player's best three legs will be used to determine the overall winner of the grand prix. The top four winners will each receive discount vouchers that can be used to buy a digital chess clock from CAS. The two top winners will also be given free participation in a chess workshop conducted by CAS and free entry to a CAS chess camp in November. Entry fees for each leg are RM10 for junior members of CAS, and RM20 for non-members. For more information, contact Mrs Jackie Wong (03-703 8237) or Lim Tse Pin (03-733 0927).

Bayview League

After a break of one week, the Penang Bayview Chess League resumes this Sunday, beginning 10am at The City Bayview Hotel's revolving restaurant.

The chess league is a round-robin event and the standings in the Premier Division after three rounds are: Penang Free School A (10 1/2 points); Chung Ling High School A (9); Old Frees Association A (9); Chung Ling Old Boys Association (8 1/2); MSSPP Juniors (5 1/2); Methodist Boys School (4 1/2); A Pessca (4 1/2); Universiti Sains Malaysia (3); Old Frees Association B (2 1/2); Chung Ling High School B (2 1/2).

Division One: Penang Free School B (11 1/2); St Xavier's Institution A (10); Chung Ling High School C (9 1/2); Penang Development Corporation (7); Chung Ling High School D (5); Penang Chess Association Novices (4 1/2); Penang Free School C (4); Hewlett-Packard (3 1/2); Chung Hwa Confucian A (3); Union High School (2).

Division Two: MSSPP Girls (11); Police (9); Chung Hwa Confucian B (7 1/2); St Xavier's Institution B (7 1/2); Penang Free School D (7 1/2); Chung Ling High School E (6); Methodist Boys School B (5); Dynacraft (3); Penang Chinese Girls High School (2); Westlands Secondary School (1 1/2).

The results of the Bayview Chess League can also be viewed at the PCA homepage (www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Stadium/2379/).

Tan Chin Nam tourney winners

UKRAINIAN grandmaster Alexander Onischuk won the fourth Tan Chin Nam grandmaster tournament that took place in Beijing from June 8 to 18.

This Category 12 event had a prize fund of US$16,000 and Onischuk took the first prize of US$5,000 with a score of 7 1/2 points from 11 games.

China's international master Zhang Zhong and Russian grandmaster Sergei Tiviakov were half a point behind Onischuk, and they each won US$2,950. It was a satisfying result for Zhang who also obtained a GM norm.

Tying from the fourth to sixth places with 6 1/2 points each were Xie Jun, Estonian grandmaster Jaan Ehlvest and Spanish grandmaster Jorge Magem Badals. China's grandmaster Ye Jiangchuan scored six points while Kudrin, an American grandmaster, obtained five points.

Lin had 4 1/2 points, and below him were international master Tong Yuanming and woman grandmaster Xhu Chen with 3 1/2 points each. Chinese international master Liang Chong had 2 1/2 points.

National events galore

THIS year's annual Malaysia-Singapore match will be played tomorrow at the Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) in Kuala Lumpur. According to Malaysian Chess Federation secretary Hamid Majid, there will be one round in the morning and another in the afternoon.

Previously, the annual match had been contested over four rounds but to reduce costs, the match has been trimmed to only one day. The morning games start at 9.30am and the afternoon games at 2.30pm.

The players who are expected to turn out for the Malaysian team are Mas Hafizulhelmi, Jimmy Liew, Mok Tze Meng, Ismail Ahmad, Ghalam Sani, Azhaari Mohd noor, Julian Navaratnam, Ahmad Maliki, Lim Cheng Teik, Tan Wei Sin, Mak Weng Yee, Ng Tze Han, Ng Ee Vern, Lim Yee Weng, Wong Zi Jing, Lim Chuin Hoong, Gerald Soh, Wong Zi Chuang, Jonathan Chuah and Ooi Ching Chung. The veterans will be represented by Choo Min Wang, Ghazali Che Cob, Foong Chee Leng and Mohd Jamil Yahya.

The women's team is expected to be made up of Nurul Huda Wahiduddin, Eliza Hanum Ibrahim, Eliza Hanim Ibrahim, Roslina Marmono, Samantha Lee, Hasanthy Loganathan, Lee Su Ann, Nor Asikin Mansor, Lim Jeannie, Nor Idani Saranon, Hazuin Hussain, Effalini Farid and Effaliana Farid.

The PWTC will also be the venue for this year's national age-group chess championship on July 4 and 5. There are five categories of play for the two-day event: the under-10, under-12, under-14, under-16 and under-18 age sections. There will be seven rounds in each category, and a time control of one hour per player for each game will be used.

Entry fee is RM10 per player. Although there are no cash prizes, the winners of the various age-groups will get the chance to be considered for selection to the world age-group championships in Oporesa del Mar Castellon, Spain, this October.

Those interested in playing in this event should be in the PWTC foyer by 8am on July 4. Unless a player has registered earlier for the championship, those turning up at the PWTC on this day will only be accepted on a first-come first-served basis. For more details, contact Malaysian Chess Federation secretary Hamid Majid at 03-421 9576.

Meanwhile, the third Royal Selangor under-15 chess grand prix gets under way with the first leg on July 6. This event, organised by the Chess Association of Selangor (CAS), will be played at Sunway College in Petaling Jaya.

The grand prix event consists of four legs. The second leg will be held on July 12, the third leg on July 19 and the final leg on July 25 and 26. Each leg will be played over six rounds and a time control of 30 minutes per game for each player will be adopted.

Game points won by each player in each of these legs will be accumulated and the results of a player's best three legs will be used to determine the overall grand prix winner. The top four winners will each receive discount vouchers for a digital chess clock from the CAS. The two top winners will also be given free participation in a chess workshop conducted by the CAS and free entry to a CAS chess camp in November.

Entry fees for each leg are RM10 for junior CAS members and RM20 for non-members. For more information, contact Jackie Wong at 03-703 8237 or Lim Tse Pin at 03-733 0927.

Bayview Chess League results

IN the third round of the eighth Bayview Chess League last Sunday, Penang Free School A beat the Old Frees Association B 3-1 to retain their lead in the Premier Division.

Of their nearest rivals, Chung Ling High School A beat the MSSPP Juniors 3 1/2-1/2, while the Old Frees Association A beat Methodist Boys School 3 1/2-1/2. The Chung Ling Old Boys Association beat Chung Ling High School B 2 1/2-1 1/2, and Universiti Sains Malaysia drew 2-2 with Pessca.

The Division One results saw Penang Free School B whitewashing Chung Hwa Confucian A 4-0. The Penang Free School C-Union High School, the Penang Development Corporation-Penang Chess Association Novices and the St Xavier's Institution A-Chung Ling High School D matches all ended with similar 3-1 scores, while Chung Ling High School C beat Hewlett-Packard 2 1/2-1 1/2.

In Division Two, the MSSPP Girls set a blazing trail by scoring their second 4-0 win over Penang Chinese Girls High School. On the other hand, Westlands Secondary School suffered their second 0-4 loss, this time at the hands of Penang Free School D. Chung Hwa Confucian School B went down 1 1/2-2 1/2 to St Xavier's Institution B, while the Police beat Dynacraft 3-1. Chung Ling High School E drew 2-2 with Methodist Boys School B.

Premier Division: PFS A (10 1/2 pts); CLHS A, OFA A (9 pts each); CLOBA (8 1/2); MSSPP Juniors (5 1/2); MBS A, Pessca (4 1/2 each); USM (3); OFA B, CLHS B (2 1/2 each).

Division One: PFS B (11 1/2); SXI A (10); CLHS C (9 1/2); PDC (7); CLHS D (5); PCA Novices (4 1/2); PFS C (4); Hewlett-Packard (3 1/2); Chung Hwa A (3); Union (2).

Division Two: MSSPP Girls (11); Police (9); Chung Hwa B, SXI B, PFS D (7 1/2 each); CLHS E (6); MBS B (5); Dynacraft (3); PCGHS (2); Westlands (1 1/2).

The Bayview Chess League takes a week-long break; the fourth round will only be played on July 5 at The City Bayview Hotel's revolving restaurant. The hotel is sponsoring the use of its premises for the weekly games.

The break will be used by the Penang Chess Association (PCA) to organise the first leg of its second Penang grand prix chess circuit. This event will be held this Sunday at the Bayan Baru Residents Association clubhouse. Only paid-up members of the PCA are allowed to take part in this circuit.

The circuit is divided into four preliminary legs and a final. Each of the preliminary legs will be a six-round event using a 30-minute time control.

For these legs, the prizes include RM200 for the winner, RM120 for the runners-up and RM80 for the third-placed. There are five other minor cash prizes, and also prizes for the best junior and woman players. The entry fee is RM10 per player.

Besides the cash prizes, the top players from each leg will be awarded GP points. Ten finalists are selected according to the total GP points accumulated by the players from their best three legs. Entry to the final will be by qualification only. The final will be a round-robin tournament with a one-hour time control. The winner will receive RM400 and a challenge trophy, the second-prize is RM200, third RM100, and fourth and fifth RM50 each.

Further details of this grand prix chess circuit and also the results of the Bayview Chess League can be obtained from the PCA homepage at www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Stadium/2379/

World chess chief eyes Russian presidency

ACCORDING to an Associated Press report from Moscow last week, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, the president of the World Chess Federation and the southern Kalmykia republic in Russia, has said that he will seek the Russian presidency in the year 2000.

Ilyumzhinov made the announcement when interviewed on the Russian television programme Obozrevatel .

The AP report quoted Ilyumzhinov as saying that he would either form his own party, "relying on the regions and young people," or align himself with an existing party such as the Communists or the Agrarians.

One of his first tasks will be to raise his profile outside Kalmykia, a resource-rich region on the steppes of southern Russia.

Russian president Boris Yeltsin has repeatedly said he plans to step down after the end of his current term, but Yeltsin's aides have also been hinting that the 67-year-old leader might run again.

Other potential candidates include former Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin, Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov and former national security chief Alexander Lebed.

Kalmykia played host to the World Chess Federation championships in 1996, and is set to organise the Chess Olympiad in October.

 

New dates for event

THE Malaysian Chess Federation has fixed July 4 and 5 for this year's national age-group chess championship. This event, which was originally supposed to have been held in Shah Alam, Selangor, earlier this month, will now be played at the Putra World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur.

There will be five categories of play for the event: the under-10, under-12, under-14, under-16 and under-18 sections. Each participant will be charged an entry fee of RM10. Although there are no cash prizes, winners will get the opportunity to be selected for the world age-group championships later in the year.

Those interested in playing in this event should be in PWTC's foyer by 8am on July 4. For more details, contact Malaysian Chess Federation secretary Hamid Majid ( 03-421 9576).

Other matches coming up include the first leg of the Penang Chess Association's second Penang grand prix chess circuit . It will be held on June 28 at the clubhouse of the Bayan Baru Residents' Association in Bandar Bayan Baru. Only paid-up members of the PCA are allowed to take part in this circuit.

The circuit is divided into four preliminary legs and a final; each of the preliminary legs will be a six-round event using a 30-minute time control.

For these legs, the prizes include RM200 for the winner, RM120 for the runners-up and RM80 for those placed third. There are five other minor cash prizes, and also prizes for the best junior and woman players. The entry fee is RM10 per player.

Besides the cash prizes, the top players from each leg will be awarded Grand Prix points. Ten finalists will be selected according to the total GP points accummulated from the best three legs. Entry to the final will be by qualification only.

The final will be a round-robin tournament with a one-hour time control. The winner will receive RM400 and a challenge trophy; the second prize is RM200; third RM100; and fourth and fifth RM50 each.

Details of this circuit can also be obtained from the PCA homepage at ( www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Stadium/2379/ ).

Bayview chess league results

In the second round of the eighth Bayview Chess League last Sunday, Penang Free School "A" took a significant lead in the Premier Division after scoring a 3 1/2-1/2 victory over Pessca.

Their two nearest rivals were Chung Ling High School "A" and Chung Ling Old Boys Association. The CLHS team played the Old Frees Association "A" to a 2-2 draw, while the CLOBA beat Universiti Sains Malaysia 3-1.

Two other matches also ended with the same 3-1 scoreline: Methodist Boys School beat Chung Ling High School "B", and the MSSPP (Penang Schools' Sports Council) Juniors pulled off a surprising win against the Old Frees Association "B".

The Division One results saw Penang Free School "B" taking a slim lead after whitewashing their "C" team 4-0. CLHS "C" also scored 4-0 against Chung Hwa Confucian School "A".

The matches between CLHS "D" and Hewlett-Packard, St Xavier's Institution "A" and Penang Development Corporation, and the Penang Chess Association Novices and Union High School all ended in 3-1 results.

In Division Two, the MSSPP Girls scored a thrilling 4-0 win over Westlands Secondary School, Chung Hwa Confucian School "B" handily despatched Dynacraft 4-0, and St Xavier's "B" beat Penang Chinese Girls High School 4-0. Polis Di Raja Malaysia scored a 3-1 win over Methodist Boys School "B" 3-1, while PFS "D" narrowly beat CLHS "E" by 2 1/2-1 1/2.

Standings

Premier Division: PFS "A" 7 1/2 pts; CLHS "A", CLOBA 6 pts each; OFA "A" 5 1/2 pts; MSSPP Juniors 5 pts; MBS "A" 4 pts; Pessca 2 1/2 pts; OFA "B" 1 1/2 pts; USM and CLHS "B" 1 pt each.

Division One: PFS "B" 7 1/2 pts; SXI "A", CLHS "C" 7 pts each; PDC, CLHS "D" 4 pts each; PCA Novices 3 1/2 pts; CHCS "A" 3 pts; HP 2 pts; PFS "C", UHS 1 pt each.

Division Two: MSSPP Girls 7 pts; Polis, CHCS "B" 6 pts; SXI "B" 5 pts; CLHS "E" 4 pts; PFS "D" 3 1/2 pts; MBS "B" 3 pts; Dynacraft, PCGHS 2 pts each; Westlands 1 1/2 pts.

The third round of the chess league will be played this Sunday beginning at 10am at The City Bayview Hotel's revolving restaurant on the 15th floor. The hotel is sponsoring the use of its premises for the weekly games.

GAMES OF THE WEEK

ALEXEI Shirov displayed flashes of brilliance in beating Vladimir Kramnik 5 1/2-3 1/2 in a match held in Cazorla, Spain, earlier this month. Events came to an abrupt end after Shirov won the ninth game to take an unassailable lead in a match which had originally been scheduled for 10 games.

The win over Kramnik, whom many people had predicted would prevail in this match, means that Shirov is poised to collect his biggest ever paycheck when he meets Gary Kasparov in a match this October. This match will be organised by the so-called World Chess Council, a body formed by Kasparov and Luis Rentero to provide Kasparov with a channel to play.

We left off two weeks ago when the score was 3 1/2-2 1/2 in Shirov's favour after six games. Shirov, a former world junior champion, had won the fourth game with the other games ended drawn. Two further draws ensued in the seventh and eighth games, then Shirov won again in the ninth game. Here are the remaining three games of the match.

Kramnik - Shirov, Game 7

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 c6 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Nc3 d5 6.Qb3 0-0 7.Bg2 Qb6 8.0-0 Bf5 9.Ne5 e6 10.Bf4 Nbd7 11.Qxb6 axb6 12.f3 Nxe5 13.Bxe5 g5 14.e4 Bg6 15.b3 Rfd8 16.Rfd1 dxe4 17.fxe4 Ng4 18.Bxg7 Kxg7 19.Bf3 h5 20.Rd2 Ne5 21.Bg2 c5 22.d5 Nc6 23.Rad1 Nd4 24.e5 exd5 25.cxd5 Re8 26.Re1 Nc2 27.Ree2 Nd4 28.Re1 Nc2 29.Rxc2 Bxc2 30.d6 Bf5 31.Bxb7 Rad8 32.Bc6 Re6 33.Bd5 Rdxd6 34.Bxe6 1/2-1/2

Shirov - Kramnik, Game 8

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Qe2 Qe7 6.d3 Nf6 7.Nc3 Qxe2+ 8.Bxe2 g6 9.Nd4 a6 10.h3 Bg7 11.g4 Bd7 12.Bf3 Nc6 13.Nxc6 Bxc6 14.Bxc6+ bxc6 15.Bd2 h5 16.g5 Nd5 17.Nxd5 cxd5 18.0-0-0 Kd7 1/2-1/2

Kramnik - Shirov, Game 9

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.f3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nb6 6.Nc3 Bg7 7.Be3 0-0 8.Qd2 e5 9.d5 c6 10.h4 h5 11.Be2 cxd5 12.exd5 N8d7 13.d6 Nf6 14.Bg5 Re8 15.Rd1 Be6 16.Nh3 Nc4 17.Bxc4 Bxc4 18.b3 Ba6 19.Nd5 e4! 20.Nxf6+Bxf6 21.d7 Qb6!! 22.dxe8=Q+ Rxe8 23.Qe3 Bxg5 24.Qxb6 Bxh4+ 25.Kd2 axb6 26.fxe4 Rxe4 27.Kc2 Rg4 28.Rd2 Be7 29.Rg1 Kg7 30.Nf2 Rf4 31.Nd3 Re4 32.Rgd1 Bb5 33.a4 Bc6 34.Re1 Rxe1 35.Nxe1 Bb4 36.Re2 Bxe1 37.Rxe1 Bxg2 38.Kd2 h4 39.Ke3 Bd5 40.b4 h3 41.Re2 f5 42.Rd2 Be4 43.Kf4 Bg2 44.Rd7+ Kf6 45.Rh7 g5+ 46.Kg3 f4+ 47.Kg4 Ke5 48.b5 0-1

 

May's many events

THERE are a number of local events to report on this week, and I shall start with the Royal Selangor Open which was played in Petaling Jaya late last month.

The tournament was taken by local schoolboy Lim Yee Weng who won the nine-round event handily. He had a slow start, suffering a shock second round defeat at the hands of Terengganu's Mohamad Arshad, but as the tournament progressed, Lim showed enough resilience in his games.

He kept pace with the tournament leaders and by the eighth round, had hauled himself within reach of the winner's purse. He defeated Ismail Ahmad in the final round of the tournament to finish with 7 1/2 points. Along the way, he had also defeated Khor Shihong, Agus Salim, Ng Ee Vern and last year's winner, Mok Tze Meng. Lim's only draw was with Kamaluddin Yusof.

Mok had a breezy start, winning his first five games before being held to draws in the sixth and seventh rounds by Julian Navaratnam and Ahmad Maliki. However, a loss to Lim in the eighth round effectively ended his quest for another Royal Selangor chess title. Mok had to settle for a third draw with Jimmy Liew in the final round to take the second prize with 6 1/2 points.

Four other players -- Ng Ee Vern, Ismail Ahmad, Kamaluddin Yusof and Ghalam Sani -- also scored 6 1/2 points while Jimmy Liew, Law Zhe Khang and Mustafa Kamal Huri obtained six points each. This tournament must have been a disappointment for Liew; apart from a loss to Ghalam Sani, he was held to draws in four games.

The Royal Selangor open tournament was just one of several events organised by the Chess Association of Selangor (CAS) to commemorate its silver jubilee. At the start of May, CAS had held its Royal Selangor Juniors Open for the under-10, under-14 and under-18 age groups. The under-12, under-16 and under-20 events have been organised in mid-May.

The under-12 event which attracted 74 entries was won by Jonathan Chuah who swept all his seven games for maximum points. In joint second place were Wong Zi Chuang, Lim Choo Seng and Chan Tze Wei with six points each, while five points went to Effazuwan Farid, Ooi Ching Chung, Ahmad Hafiz, Low Chung Peng, Lim Han Ying, Nishaah, Ungku Iskandar, Kow Wen Fey, Lim Tao Sheng and Mohd Irman.

In the under-16 section, Lim Yee Weng again proved a notch over the rest of the players by winning the event with 6 1/2 points from seven games. Second was Law Zhe Khang with six points, while in joint third to seventh places were Lee Su Ann, Effawira Farid, Soh Hui Siang, Effahrin Farid and Thaw Chee Yin with five points each. There were 41 participants.

There were only 28 players in the under-20 event and this was won by Mak Weng Yee with six points. Joint second to fourth were Chua Lin Kiat, Lim Kweng Seng and Premnanth with five points each.

CAS also held a round-robin team event for institutions of higher learning, and the champion team was the International Islamic Universiti A which scored 24 points. In second place was Universiti Malaya with 22 1/2 points.

Bayview League

THE eighth Penang Bayview Chess League squared off last Sunday at the City Bayview Hotel with a record 30 teams taking part. The teams will be locked in a nine-round contest which is played on Sundays until Aug 16. The City Bayview Hotel is sponsoring the use of their hotel premises for the games.

In the first round of the Premier Division last Sunday, Chung Ling High School A crushed their B team 4-0, while Penang Free School A also won 4-0 against Universiti Sains Malaysia. Old Frees Association A beat their B team by 3 1/2-1/2, while methodist Boys School A defeated Chung Ling Old Boys Association 3-1. The match between MSSPP Juniors and Pessca was drawn 2-2.

The Division One results saw St Xavier's Institution A beating Union High School 4-0, and Penang Free School B winning 3 1/2-1/2 against the Penang Chess Association Novices team.

The other three matches in this division -- Chung Hwa High School A vs Penang Free School C, Penang Development Corporation vs Hewlett Packard, and Chung Ling High School C vs their D team -- all ended in 3-1 scores.

In Division Two, the MSSPP Girls team beat St Xavier's Institution B and the Police beat Penang Free School D by 3-1 results. Chung Ling High School E narrowly beat Westlands Secondary School 2 1/2-1 1/2, while two matches -- Chung Hwa B vs Methodist Boys School B and Penang Chinese Girls High School vs Dynacraft -- were drawn 3-1.

The second round will be played this Sunday morning beginning 10am at the hotel's Revolving Restaurant on the 15th floor.

Klang team event

THERE will be a two-day open team chess tournament for school students starting tomorrow at the SM Tengku Ampuan Rahimah in Klang. This is a six-round event with a time control of 45 minutes per player for each game. Each team can have only four players.

Registration of teams will be from 8am tomorrow and the first round is expected to start at 9.30am. For more details, contact Lee Kok Foong (03-332 1020), Law Zhe Khang (03-331 4160) or Edwin Lam (03-343 4792).

Penang GP

THE Penang Chess Association will organise their second Penang grand prix chess circuit this year, and the first of four legs will be held on June 28 at the Bayan Baru Residents Association clubhouse. Only paid-up members of the PCA can take part in this circuit.

According to organising secretary Goh Yoon Wah, the circuit is to provide playing opportunities and training to PCA members throughout the year, as well as rating and selecting players for representing the state.

The circuit is divided into four preliminary legs and a final. Each of the preliminary legs will be a six-round event using a 30-minute time control.

For these legs, the prizes include RM200 for the winner, RM120 for the runners-up and RM80 for the third-placed. There are five other minor cash prizes, and also prizes for the best junior and woman players. Entry fee is RM10 per player.

Besides cash prizes, the top players from each leg will be awarded GP points. For example, the winner will be given 1,000 GP points, the second-placed 900 GP points, and so on until the 10th-place winner who shall receive 100 GP points.

The 10 finalists are determined by the total GP points accummulated by the players from their best three legs. Entry to the final will be by qualification only. The final will be a round-robin tournament with a one-hour time control. The winner will receive RM400 and a challenge trophy; the second-prize is RM200; third, RM100; and fourth and fifth, RM50 each.

Details of this circuit can also be obtained from the PCA homepage at www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Stadium/2379/

 

Age group event put off

THE national age-group championship, due to be played this weekend, has been postponed to next month, according to Malaysian Chess Federation secretary Hamid Majid.

Hamid, who had just returned from Iran where he accompanied Malaysia's top player, Mas Hafizulhelmi, to the Asian junior championship, apologised for the postponement. He said there was insufficient time to organise the national age-group event effectively.

The new dates for this event will be announced later.

Bayview League starts on Sunday

The eighth Penang Bayview Chess League kicks off at 10am this Sunday at the City Bayview Hotel's Revolving Restaurant. This year's league sees a record of 30 teams participating in the 12-week event which is played every Sunday until mid-August.

Because of the large number of entries, the Penang Chess Association has divided the teams into the Premier, First and Second Divisions.

Entry fees are RM150 per team. There will be cash prizes for the top teams in each of the three divisions.

Meanwhile, State Executive Councillor Dr Toh Kin Woon has been re-elected president of the Penang Chess Association for a two-year term. Wong Mun Hoe was re-elected vice-president, Ooi Kiem Boo as secretary and Goh Yoon Wah as treasurer.

The new assistant secretary is Chan Kim Beng, while Chuah Soon Pheng, Eoh Hook Kim, Khor Bean Hwa, Dr Lim Boon Liang, Quah Seng Sun and Tan Hock Lye have been elected as committee members.

Perak grand prix

The Perak International Chess Association will hold the fifth stage of their nine-leg chess grand prix at Taman Dr Seenivasagam in Ipoh this Sunday.

Six rounds are scheduled for the one-day event, and the time control will be 25 minutes per player for each game. This event is open to all chess enthusiasts in the state.

The overall grand prix standings will be based on the best five tournament performances of each player and the top 24 players at the end of the series will qualify for the Perak state championship in September. The interim grand prix standings will also be used for selecting Perak players to national events like the Merdeka team championship.

Those interested in playing this weekend must register at the playing venue by 8.15am on Sunday. For details, contact W.K. Wong ( 05-366-1692).

Playing sessions in Johor

The Johor Chess Association meets weekly at Level One of the Leisure Mall in Taman Pelangi, Johor Baru. Tournaments and coaching sessions are available for beginners.

Anyone interested can contact Soh Zee Wee ( 07-354-5418 after 8pm) or just turn up at the Chess Corner from 3pm to 5pm every Saturday.

GAMES OF THE WEEK

I find the Internet to be the perfect medium for chess. Not only can I play online chess with someone across the globe, but I can also visit the official tournament websites to find out more about international chess events.

One event, though, has eluded me lately. I would have thought that an event as significant as the Kramnik-Shirov match now taking place in Cazorla, Spain, would be worthy of a web page.

But, no! The unpredictable Luis Rentero, who formed the World Chess Council with Gary Kasparov, had decided that there would be no official coverage of the match on the Internet! According to a report from Spain, this has made the mayor of Cazorla rather unhappy since the town is not getting the worldwide publicity it wanted.

But it is not a total loss. The Spanish newspapers are following the match quite closely and there are sites such as http://www.elpais.es (the online edition of the Spanish newspaper, El Pais) or http://visitweb.com/wcc which give the results and game scores. Pretty good, if you happen to speak or read the Spanish language.

So where does this leave us, who know no Spanish? Luckily, there are two rather dependable websites to visit: firstly, Mark Crowther's This Week In Chess at http://www.chesscenter.com/twic and secondly, the Chess Planet site at http://www.chessweb.com. These two web addresses provide reasonable coverage of the match.

Meanwhile, back in Cazorla, their local hero Alexei Shirov is leading pre-match favourite Vladimir Kramnik by a 3 1/2-2 1/2 score after six games in the 10-game match.

Last week, I gave the first game of the match which was drawn by the players after 25 moves. The second and third games of the match were also drawn. Then, in the fourth game, Shirov drew the first blood when he beat Kramnik. After that, both players settled down to draw their fifth and sixth games.

Alexei Shirov - Vladimir Kramnik, Game 2

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. d4 Nxe4 4. Bd3 d5 5. Nxe5 Nd7 6. Nxd7 Bxd7 7. O-O Bd6 8. Nc3 Nxc3 9. bxc3 O-O 10. Qh5 f5 11. Rb1 b6 12. Re1 c6 13. Bg5 Qc7 14. c4 Be8 15. Qh3 dxc4 16. Bxc4+ Bf7 17. Be6 Bxe6 18. Rxe6 Rae8 19. Qb3 Rxe6 20. Qxe6+ Rf7 21. Qe8+ Rf8 22. Qe6+ Rf7 23. Qe8+ Rf8 1/2-1/2

Vladimir Kramnik - Alexei Shirov, Game 3

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Bc4 O-O 8. Ne2 c5 9. O-O Nc6 10. Be3 Bg4 11. f3 Na5 12. Bxf7+ Rxf7 13. fxg4 Rxf1+ 14. Kxf1 cxd4 15. cxd4 e5 16. d5 Nc4 17. Qd3 Nxe3+ 18. Qxe3 Qh4 19. h3 Bh6 20. Qd3 Rf8+ 21. Kg1 Qf2+ 22. Kh1 Qe3 23. Qxe3 Bxe3 24. Rd1 Rf2 25. Ng1 Kf7 26. Rd3 Bb6 27. Rf3+ Ke7 28. Rxf2 Bxf2 29. Nf3 Kd6 30. g3 Bxg3 31. Kg2 Bf4 32. Kf2 Kc5 33. Ke2 b5 34. Kd3 1/2-1/2

Alexei Shirov - Vladimir Kramnik, Game 4

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. d4 Nxe4 4. Bd3 d5 5. Nxe5 Nd7 6. Nxd7 Bxd7 7. O-O Bd6 8. c4 c6 9. cxd5 cxd5 10. Qh5 O-O 11. Qxd5 Bc6 12. Qh5 g6 13. Qh3 Ng5 14. Bxg5 Qxg5 15. Nc3 Rfe8 16. d5 Bxd5 17. f4 Qd8 18. Nxd5 Bc5+ 19. Kh1 Qxd5 20. Rac1 Be3 21. Bc4 Qf5 22. Qxf5 gxf5 23. Rcd1 Rad8 24. g3 Bd4 25. b3 Bf6 26. Bb5 Rxd1 27. Rxd1 Rd8 28. Rc1 Rd5 29. a4 Bd8 30. Rc8 Kg7 31. Rb8 Bb6 32. Rxb7 Rd1+ 33. Kg2 Rd2+ 34. Kh3 Bg1 35. g4 Bxh2 36. gxf5 h5 37. Kh4 Bxf4 38. Kxh5 Kf6 39. Bc4 Kxf5 40. Rxf7+ Ke4 41. Rxa7 Be5 42. Bf1 Rf2 43. Bh3 Rf8 44. Be6 Rf1 45. Rd7 Rh1+ 46. Kg6 Rg1+ 47. Kf7 Rg7+ 48. Ke8 Rxd7 49. Kxd7 Bc3 50. Kc6 Ke5 51. Bg8 Be1 52. Kb6!! Bf2+ 53. Ka6 Kd6 54. a5 Kc7 55. b4 Kc6 56. b5+ Kc5 57. b6 Kb4 58. b7 Bg3 59. Kb6 Bf2+ 60. Kc6 Ba7 61. a6 Ka5 62. Bc4 Bb8 63. Bf1 1-0

Vladimir Kramnik - Alexei Shirov, Game 5

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Bc4 c5 8. Ne2 Nc6 9. Be3 O-O 10. O-O Bg4 11. f3 Na5 12. Bd3 cxd4 13. cxd4 Be6 14. Rc1 Bxa2 15. Qa4 Bb3 16. Qb4 b6 17. Bg5 f6 18. Bh4 Qd6 19. Qxd6 exd6 20. d5 f5 21. exf5 gxf5 22. Ng3 Bb2 23. Nxf5 Bc4 24. Ne7+ Kh8 25. Bxc4 Rf4 26. Bg5 Rxc4 27. Rce1 Rc2 28. Nf5 Nc4 29. Re6 Rf8 30. Nxd6 Nxd6 31. Rxd6 Re8 32. Rd1 Ree2 33. Kh1 Rxg2 34. Rd8+ Kg7 35. Bf4 Bf6 36. Ra8 Bg5 37. Be5+ Bf6 38. Bf4 Bg5 39. Rxa7+ Kg6 40. Ra8 Kf7 41. Ra7+ Kg6 42. Bb8 h5 43. Rb7 Be3 44. Re7 Bc5 45. Re6+ Kg5 46. Re4 Kf5 47. Bf4 Rge2 48. Rxe2 Rxe2 49. Bg3 Re8 50. Kg2 Rd8 51. Kh3 Rd7 52. d6 h4 53. Rd5+ Ke6 54. Re5+ Kf6 55. Kxh4 Rh7+ 56. Rh5 Rxh5+ 57. Kxh5 b5 58. d7 Ke7 59. Be5 Kxd7 60. Bb2 Ke6 61. Kg6 Bd6 62. h4 b4 63. h5 Bf4 64. h6 Bxh6 65. Kxh6 Kf5 1/2-1/2

Alexei Shirov - Vladimir Kramnik, Game 6

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. Bb5 Nd4 5. Bc4 Bc5 6. Nxe5 d5 7. Bxd5 Nxd5 8. Nxd5 O-O 9. c3 Re8 10. cxd4 Bxd4 11. O-O Rxe5 12. d3 c6 13. Nf4 b6 14. Qc2 Rc5 15. Qe2 Ba6 16. Be3 Qd6 17. Rac1 Rxc1 18. Rxc1 Be5 1/2-1/2

World finals in December

THE executive council of the World Chess Federation (FIDE), which met earlier this month in Bled, Slovenia, has unanimously approved the staging of the World Chess Championship finals this December. The event will be played in Las Vegas and carry a prize fund of US$3mil (about RM11.4mil).

This resolution is seen as further endorsement of the decision by FIDE president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov to change the two-year world championship cycle to an annual event.

Ilyumzhinov, who chaired the executive council meeting, said his action was motivated by the need to seize the initiative after the success of the last world championship in Groningen and Lausanne, which was held under the patronage of the International Olympic Committee.

The council lauded Ilyumzhinov's offer to increase the prize fund from US$5mil (RM19mil) to US$6mil (RM22.8mil) over two years, and noted that the rules and regulations used in last year's event provided an adequate legal framework for the change.

The regulations will be finalised by a committee which will set November as the deadline for the world championship cycle qualifiers to sign their player's contracts with FIDE.

The council re-emphasised the decision adopted at last year's general assembly in Kishinev that top players would not be granted any special privilege that could be seen as giving them an unfair sporting advantage over other participants.

At the last world championship cycle, FIDE was heavily criticised for allowing Anatoly Karpov direct entry into the final match against Viswanathan Anand. It was felt at that time that Anand, after having survived an exhausting knock-out series of games in Groningen, would be too tired to play against a fresh Karpov.

From this year's event, the world champion will be required to join the knock-out series from the second round. A number of other top players like Gary Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik will also enter the world championship from the second round.

According to FIDE, these players will be chosen based on their best average ratings from the January and July rating lists this year.

Also approved at the executive council meeting was a proposal to increase the number of zonal qualifiers. It was hoped that this move would encourage the top players to participate in their respective national championships and zonal events.

Meanwhile, in another discussion by the FIDE executive council, Ilyumzhinov insisted that the national chess federations must get their national Olympic committees to support the move to recognise chess as a sport.

So far, FIDE has received 49 letters signed by various national Olympic committees. He wanted another 50 letters before officially asking the International Olympic Committee's secretariat to put the matter into its agenda.

Up next

Johor open: Organised by the Johor Chess Association with assistance from Pelangi Berhad, this event will be staged at the Menara Pelangi on June 7. It will be played over six Swiss rounds and divided into the open, under-16 and under-12 sections. Winners will get cash prizes.

Entry fees for the open section are RM10 for men and RM6 for women. Players have to pay RM6 to join the under-16 event, and RM5 for the under-12. For entry forms or more details, call Sumathy ( 07-332 4366), Wong ( 07-333 0931), Lim ( 07-861 5951) or Cheong ( 016-720 2272). Entries will close next Friday at 4pm.

National age-group: The Malaysian Chess Federation will hold the national age-group championship in Shah Alam from June 5 to 7. Although medals will only be given to the winners this year, the MCF will continue to select players from this event to play in the world age-group championship later in the year.

Malaysia-Singapore: The annual Malaysia-Singapore match will be played at the Putra World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur on June 27 and 28.

Royal Selangor open: The Royal Selangor silver jubilee open chess tournament is now on at the Sunway College in Subang Jaya, Selangor (final on Sunday).

Sakura Selangor girls junior: This two-day event starts tomorrow at the Sunway College.

Penang Bayview League: The eighth Penang Bayview Chess League will kick off on June 7 at The City Bayview Hotel. The games will be played every Sunday until mid-August. Entry fees are RM150 per team and there will be cash prizes for the top teams in each of the three divisions.

Closing date for entries is tomorrow, and a managers' meeting will take place at the hotel next Wednesday at 8pm. For more details, call Goh Yoon Wah ( 04-644 5687), Ooi Kiem Boo ( 04-826 3764) or Eoh Hook Kim ( 04-826 0196) in the evenings.

Penang AGM: The Penang Chess Association will hold its annual general meeting on Sunday at the Bayan Baru Residents Association clubhouse. The meeting at 6pm will be preceded by a blitz tournament one hour earlier. Members of the association who wish to play in the blitz event are required to be at the clubhouse by 4pm. There will be dinner for the members after the meeting.

Game of the week

REMEMBER the World Chess Council which was formed by Gary Kasparov and Luis Rentero last March to look into staging a match between Kasparov and the winner of another match between Vladimir Kramnik and Viswanathan Anand?

When Anand refused to be associated with this World Chess Council, Rentero decided that Alexei Shirov would take Anand's place in the match. Two months down the road, the match between Kramnik and Shirov finally began last Sunday in Cazorla, Spain.

The first game of the match was drawn after 25 moves. For most of the game, the players followed chess opening theory. The match will be played over 10 games. Here is the first game:

Kramnik vs Shirov

1. d4 Nf6, 2. c4 g6, 3. Nc3 d5, 4. cxd5 Nxd5, 5. e4 Nxc3, 6. bxc3 Bg7, 7. Bc4 0-0, 8. Ne2 c5, 9. 0-0 Nc6, 10. Be3 Bg4, 11. f3 Na5, 12. Bd3 cxd4, 13. cxd4 Be6, 14. Rc1 Bxa2, 15. Qa4 Bb3 16. Qb4 b6, 17. Bg5 f6, 18. Bf4 e5, 19. Be3 exd4, 20. Nxd4 Bf7, 21. Ba6 Re8, 22. Rfd1 Qe7, 23. Qxe7 Rxe7, 24. Nc6 Nxc6, 25. Rxc6 (1/2-1/2)

 

Gearing up for local tournaments

THERE are a number of local chess events organised by various chess organisations around the country during the next one month or so.

For starters, the Malaysian Chess Federation will organise the national age-group championship at the Majlis Perbandaran Shah Alam building from June 5 to 7.

According to the Federation's secretary, Hamid Majid, this year's championship will be held on a smaller scale because sponsorship has not been forthcoming. As a result, there will not be any cash prizes for the winners. Instead, the various age-group winners will be given medals.

Hamid also said that the winners will be selected to play in the world age-group championship later in the year.

The Federation has also slotted in the annual Malaysia-Singapore match on June 27 and 28. This match will be played at the Putra World Trade Centre, and the visitors housed at the Stamford Hotel in Kuala Lumpur.

Meanwhile, it is learnt that the Labour Day team tournament in Kuala Lumpur has been postponed indefinitely.

Bera Chess Open

In Pahang, The Persatuan Catur Daerah Bera will organise a three-day open chess tournament starting today at the Dewan Majlis Daerah Bera. This is a seven-round event with a time-control of 1 1/2 hours per player for each game.

The prize fund is quite attractive, with a RM700 first prize, a RM500 second prize and a RM400 third prize. There are seven other prizes ranging from RM300 to RM100. Entry fees are RM15 for members of the Persatuan Catur and RM50 for non-members.

As the first round will start at 2.30pm today, readers planning to take part should contact Zakaria Saleh ( 09-255 6103), Mohd Fadzal Hamid ( 09-255 7823) or Ghazali Mamat ( 09-255 5370) immediately.

Accommodation is not provided for outstation players but, according to the organisers, there are a number of hotels nearby which offer reasonable room rates.

Royal Selangor Open

The Royal Selangor silver jubilee open chess tournament — which is the highlight of the month-long silver jubilee activities of the Chess Association of Selangor — will be played at the Sunway College in Subang Jaya from May 27 to 31.

Several top players from around the country are expected to play in this nine-round Swiss event. There will be 20 cash prizes, including a first prize of RM1,500, a second prize of RM1,000 and a third prize of RM700.

The minor prizes range from RM500 for the fourth-placed winner, to RM60 each for those who finish 11th to 20th in the tournament. Trophies are also awarded to the top three winners.

In addition, there are cash prizes of RM50 each for the best woman and the best under-16 players if they score at least 50% in the tournament. Those who do not qualify for any of the cash prizes will be eligible to take part in five lucky draws during the closing ceremony.

Entry fees for the Royal Selangor silver jubilee open tournament are RM35 for Chess Association of Selangor members, RM50 for members of clubs that are affiliated to the CAS, and RM60 for other players. International masters and the visually handicapped players are given free entry to this tournament.

Readers are reminded that, apart from this event, the CAS's silver jubilee blitz tournament will be held tomorrow and on Sunday, and the Sakura Selangor junior girls tournament will be played on May 30 and 31.

Anyone interested in taking part should contact either Jackie Wong ( 03-703 8237) or Lim Tse Pin ( 03-733 0927) for more details or registration.

Eighth Penang Chess League

The Penang Chess Association's eighth Penang Bayview Chess League will start on June 7 at the City Bayview Hotel. The hotel, which donated a 45cm pewter challenge trophy worth RM6,000 in 1993, will sponsor the use of its premises for the championship which will be played on Sundays until mid-August.

Only teams legitimately representing the public and private sectors, institutions of learning and registered associations, societies and clubs are allowed to play in the league. A guest player may be included in each team, but the other players must strictly be employees, students or members of the organisation they represent.

In the past, the organisers recognised the fact that there were several players who were interested in playing in the league but could not do so because they were not accepted as guest players on any of the teams. For this year's event, the organisers are requesting that these players contact the Penang Chess Association immediately. If the response is encouraging enough, the association will consider grouping them together to play under its banner.

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

This year's event will again be split into three divisions. The third division will comprise teams of mainly novice players, while the first and second divisions will be made up of the teams that have been taking part regularly in previous chess leagues.

Entry fees are RM150 per team and cash prizes are guaranteed for the top teams in each of the three divisions. Closing date for entries is May 30, and a managers' meeting will take place at the hotel on June 3 at 8pm.

For more details, contact Goh Yoon Wah ( 04-644 5687), Ooi Kiem Boo ( 04-826 3764) or Eoh Hook Kim ( 04-826 0196) in the evenings.

Meanwhile, the Penang Chess Association will hold its annual general meeting on May 31 at the Bayan Baru Resident's Association clubhouse. The 6pm meeting be preceded by a blitz tournament one hour earlier.

Members who wish to play in the blitz event are required to be at the clubhouse by 4.30pm. There will be dinner for the members after the meeting.

Batu Gajah events

There will be two tournaments this Sunday at SK Toh Indera Wangsa Ahmad in Batu Gajah, Perak. The first is the Batu Gajah open tournament and the second, the Batu Gajah under-12 closed tournament.

Both are six-round events. Registration for the tournaments will be from 8am and the first round is expected to start at 9.10am. For details, call Azmi Ishak ( 05-365 1848) or W.K. Wong ( 05-366 1692).

Kalmyk tournament winding down

THE strong knock-out tournament in Elista, in the Russian republic of Kalmykia, which I wrote about last week, has reached the semi-final stage. Of the original 32 players in the field, only four are left.

In the first of the two semi-final encounters, Evgeny Bareev (of Russia) will play the Ukraine's Vassily Ivanchuk. The second semi-final match is between Alexander Khalifman and Alexei Dreev, both Russians. So far, their first games have ended drawn.

Earlier, in the quarter-final stage of the knock-out event, Ivanchuk had triumphed easily over Armenia's Rafael Vaganian. Bareev, Khalifman and Dreev had taken slightly longer to dispose of their respective opponents, Konstantin Sakeav, Sergei Tiviakov and Valery Salov.

The knock-out event began in Elista, the Kalmyk capital, on May 6. At stake is a US$100,000 prize fund raised by the Kalmyk president, Kirsan ljumzhinov, who is also the president of the World Chess Federation.

The official tournament web site is located at http://www.ruschess.com. When I visited the site, what struck me was that the official flag of the Kalmyk Republic is an open lotus flower. Furthermore, the President's Cup is adorned with an etched picture of the Buddha — all this from a land that was formerly Communist, under the old Soviet Union's regime!

But it seems that there is good reason for these symbols: the people of Kalmykia are predominantly Buddhists. The republic was settled by Chinese migrants in the 17th century who managed to retain their beliefs and culture even under Communist rule.

 

Mishap upsets event

LAST week in the Russian republic of Kalmykia, its president Kirsan Iljumzhinov — who is also president of the World Chess Federation — was about to stage a strong knock-out tournament when news of an accident on the outskirts of the nation's capital Elista came through.

Former women's world champion Maia Chiburdanidze, Georgian Chess Federation president Zurab Azmaiparashvili and Kiril Georgiev were in a car travelling from Volvograd to Elista when their driver tried to overtake another vehicle along the narrow road but met a third one coming from the opposite direction.

According to reports from Elista, the driver avoided a head-on collision but he lost control of the car, causing it to roll down a hill.

Chiburdanidze, who was beside the driver, was thrown from the car; she suffered severe knocks on her head and multiple contusions on the chest and liver regions.

Luckily for her, the accident occurred near a village hospital about 15km from Elista. She was taken to the hospital and her condition is reportedly stable and not critical.

Azmaiparashvili and Georgiev, who were in the backseat, suffered minor head injuries and scratches.

Iljumzhinov later postponed the tournament by one day, with the agreement of the other players who were all upset by the bad news.

The knock-out event was originally due to begin on May 5 in Elista with a US$100,000 prize money. This tournament for the President's Cup was supposed to have been the Russian Championship which has since been postponed to July in St Petersburg (formerly Leningrad) but Iljumzhinov decided that his event should still proceed as planned.

And since it was no longer an internal Russian event, Iljumzhinov was able to attract a much stronger field with some players from outside Russia also taking part.

To get an idea of the strength of this tournament, the grandmasters in this 32-player field are Valery Salov, Evgeny Bareev, Sergei Rublevsky, Alexander Khalifman, Vadim Zvjaginsev, Sergei Tiviakov, Alexey Dreev, Konstantin Sakeav, Evgeny Sveshnikov, Ildar Ibragimov, Alexander Galkin, Marat Makarov, Alexander Fominyh and Alisa Galliamova (all from Russia), Vassily Ivanchuk, Alexander Onischuk, Vladimir Tukmakov and Vladimir Malaniuk (all from Ukraine), Boris Gelfand and Aleksej Aleksandrov (both from Belarus), Vladimir Akopian and Rafael Vaganian (both from Armenia), Kiril Georgiev (Bulgaria), Mikhail Gurevich (Belgium), Jaan Ehlvest (Estonia), Viktor Bologan (Moldavia), and Georgi Giorgadze (Georgia).

When I looked at this list of players, it struck me that if the Soviet Union had not disintegrated in 1991, this tournament in Elista would just about qualify as the Soviet championship itself.

Ukraine, Belarus, Armenia, Estonia, Moldavia and Georgia were all formerly a part of the Soviet Union, and Mikhail Gurevich, now playing for Belgium, was a former Soviet player.

Only Georgiev stood out differently from the rest of the players.

In the first stage of the knock-out event over last weekend, Ivanchuk beat Ehlvest 2-0, Zvjaginsev beat Makarov 2 1/2-1 1/2, Georgiev beat Sveshnikov 1 1/2-1/2, Vaganian beat Shovunov 2-0, Bologan beat Akopian 1 1/2-1/2, Sakaev beat Erendzhenov 2-0, Bareev beat Tukmakov 2-0, Gurevich beat Poddubny 1 1/2-1/2, Gelfand beat Malaniuk 2-0, Tiviakov beat Galliamova 4 1/2-3 1/2, Khalifman beat Galkin 1 1/2-1/2, Aleksandrov beat Lusto 2-0, Rublevsky beat Ibragimov 2-0, Dreev beat Kozak 1 1/2-1/2, Salov beat Onischuk 1 1/2-1/2 and Giorgadze beat Fominyh 4-3.

I shall have more news for you next week but in the meantime, readers with Internet access can visit the official tournament web site at http://www.ruschess.com .

Mak is Selangor junior champion

THE 12th Royal Selangor juniors open tournament on May 1 and 2 was the first of several activities organised by the Chess Association of Selangor in conjunction with its silver jubilee celebrations.

Despite losing to Lim Yee Weng in the sixth round, Mak Weng Yee was declared winner of the 29-player under-18 section of the tournament due to a better tiebreak. Both players had scored 5 1/2 points from the seven-round event.

Given the tie-break system which is commonly used in such events, it would be almost impossible for players who lose in the early rounds of a tournament to score highly on tie-breaks. In Lim's case, the title slipped from his hands after a surprising loss to Samantha Lee in the third round.

In joint third and fourth places were Wong Ziwei and Premnaath with five points each. Samantha Lee, Wong Kat Fooi, Choo Voo Koon, Chua Lin Kiat, Marina Soh and Law Zhe Kang scored four points each.

The under-14 section of the tournament was won by Perak schoolboy Aaron Yee who obtained 6 1/2 points from seven games. The second place went to Gerald Soh with six points, while sharing the third to sixth prizes with 5 1/2 points each were Effahrin Farid, Wong Zi Chuan, Choi Wai Yew and Ragu Ram.

This was the most popular age-group event of the junior tournament with 60 players taking part. The third age-group category was the under-10 section which attracted 28 players.

Effaliana Farid was the winner with 6 1/2 points and second was Ooi Ching Chung with six points. Hemnaath scored five points to take the third prize while the fourth to ninth places were shared by Thaw Chee How, Chan Tze Chen, Eric Ng Keng Gee, Mo Kim Hung, Gavin Ng Khai Wei and Lee Su Lynn who obtained 4 1/2 points each.

On May 3, the Chess Association of Selangor organised a six-round Allegro tournament that attracted 40 participants. Mohd Saprin Sabri was the winner with 5 1/2 points, followed by Lim Yee Weng and Azhari Mohd Nor with five points each, and Chay Joon Hoong and Lau Tze Thong with 4 1/2 points each.

This weekend, the second half of the Royal Selangor juniors open tournament will take place at the Sunway College in Subang Jaya. This will be for the under-12, under-16 and under-20 age-groups.

On May 23 and 24, the CAS silver jubilee blitz tournament will be organised and this event will be followed by the Royal Selangor silver jubilee open chess tournament from May 27 to 31.

The Sakura Selangor junior girls tournament will be played on May 30 and 31.

For all these events, intending participants can call Mrs Jackie Wong (03-703 8237) or Lim Tse Pin (03-733 0927) for registration details.

Perak Grand Prix

The Perak International Chess Association will hold the next stage of their nine-leg chess grand prix at the Perpustakaan Tun Razak in Ipoh this weekend.

Six rounds are scheduled for the two-day event, and the time control will be 60 minutes per player for each game. Only players who are born, residing, working or studying in Perak are eligible to take part.

The overall grand prix standings will be based on the best five tournament performances of each player and the top 24 players at the end of the series will qualify for the state championship in September. The interim grand prix standings will also be used for selecting Perak players to national events like the Merdeka team championship.

Those interested in playing this weekend must register at the playing venue by 1.15pm tomorrow. For details, call W.K. Wong (05-366 1692).

 

Solo strike for Lim

I CAN safely say that in all the 25 years of the Malaysian Chess Federation's existence, the handful of local players in the World Chess Federation's international rating list had the MCF to be thankful for.

If not for the MCF having organised international rating tournaments on our shores or sent our players to play in international events, they would surely not have obtained their international ratings on their own accord.

Take, for example, the recently concluded Asian cities team chess championship in Genting Highland, Pahang. Ahmad Maliki and Ng Tze Han were the two local players to meet the minimum criterion for obtaining their first international ratings. Could they have done so without the MCF giving them the opportunity to play in this event? I very much doubt it.

In the wake of what I have just written, the feat of Lim Chin Lee is, therefore, of great significance to Malaysian chess. Lim, on his own initiative, took part in a rating tournament at the second New Hampstead chess festival in England last March and came away a joint winner of the event.

The New Hampstead chess festival comprised three tournaments: a grandmaster event, an international master event and a rating event. Lim approached the organisers of the chess festival and was accepted into the rating tournament. This was a 10-player round-robin event with four rated players in the field.

According to Lim, he was surprised to win the tournament. He admitted to being very lucky. Lim played with unrated opponents in the first five rounds and his score of 4 1/2 points gave him confidence.

"I beat the lowest rated player (Angus James) in the sixth round, then drew with Adam Raoof in the seventh round. I am quite happy with that because I had lost to him in last year's British Rapid Play tournament," Lim said.

"My loss to Ben Savage, who is from Oxford University, frustrated me because if I had beaten him I would have secured my sole first placing.

"However, I managed to beat Marcus Osbourne in the last round. He was the highest rated player in the event.... I never expected to get first place. My initial target was just to get a rating," he said.

So who is this Lim Chin Lee?

He is a first-year mechanical engineering student at the Britain's University of Leeds. He claims to be a "chess maniac" and has just been appointed captain of his university's chess team. Some readers will have recognised him as one of Klang's home-grown players.

In 1994, he was the under-18 winner of the national age-group tournament in Shah Alam. This earned him a trip to Szeged in Hungary later in the year, where he took part in the under-18 section of the World Age-Group tournament.

Lim had also played in the Malaysian Schools Sports Council's chess championship in 1994, where he helped Selangor to win the under-20 team title.

His last event in Malaysia, before he left for England, was last year's Merdeka team chess championship in which his team, Independent Star, took the fourth prize.

Lim's future chess-playing plans will depend greatly on how he can juggle chess with his studies.

"If there are tournaments during my holidays, then most probably I won't miss the opportunity to play," he said. "My next target is to increase my rating so that I can participate in the IM tournament."

Selangor Events

May 9-11: Chess Association of Selangor (CAS) inter-team tournament for institutions of higher learning in the Klang Valley

May 16-17: Royal Selangor juniors open tournament (under-12, under-16 and under-20 age categories)

May 23-24: CAS silver jubilee blitz tournament

May 27-31: Royal Selangor silver jubilee open chess tournament

May 30-31: Sakura Selangor junior girls tournament

Contact persons: Mrs Jackie Wong (03-703 8237) or Lim Tse Pin (03-733 0927). Sponsors are Royal Selangor, Sakura Cafe and Cuisine, and Sunway College.

Northern exposure

THE Penang Chess Association will organise the eighth Penang Bayview Chess League starting June 7 at The City Bayview Hotel.

The hotel, which donated an 18in pewter challenge trophy worth RM6,000 in 1993, will sponsor the use of their premises for the championship which shall be played on Sundays until mid-August.

Only teams which legitimately represent the public and private sectors, institutions of learning and registered associations, societies and clubs are allowed to play in the league.

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

In the past, the organisers have recognised that there were several players who were interested to play in the league but could not do so because they were not accepted as guest players in any of the teams.

For this year's event, the organisers are requesting that these players contact the PCA immediately. If the response is encouraging enough, the PCA will consider grouping them together to play under the association's banner.

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

This year's event will again be split into three divisions. The third division will comprise teams of mainly novice players, while the first and second divisions will be made up of the more regular teams that have been taking part in previous chess leagues.

Entry fees are RM150 per team and cash prizes are guaranteed for the top teams in each of the three divisions. Closing date for entries is May 30, and a managers' meeting will take place at the hotel on June 3 at 8pm.

For more details, contact Goh Yoon Wah (04-644 5687), Ooi Kiem Boo (04-826 3764) or Eoh Hook Kim (04-826 0196) in the evenings. Chess enthusiasts can contact Quah Seng Sun via e-mail (ssquah@schach.pc.my). His chess articles are archived at Malaysia On-Line which readers can visit at http://www.mol.com.my

 

Selangor's silver jubilee celebration

TODAY signals the start of the month-long silver jubilee activities of the Chess Association Of Selangor, one of the oldest and most active chess associations in the country.

I remember attending the inaugural general meeting of the CAS way back in 1974. My name should be there as a founder member of the association, although, admittedly, my membership lapsed a long time ago after I returned to Penang.

There was a big group of chess enthusiasts gathered at the La Salle Secondary School in Petaling Jaya, and a very colourful and vocal figure, K.C. Lee, was elected as the association's first president. J.J. Singam, if I remember correctly, was the first secretary of the CAS.

Although there were already some chess activities in Kuala Lumpur in those days, particularly the weekly games sessions at the Royal Selangor Club, every chess player in the area looked forward to the CAS' first chess tournament.

This was the Selangor open chess tournament, which was held at the Royal Selangor Club. At that time I was a student in Petaling Jaya, fully dependent on public transportation, but I made it a point to be at the RSC to take part in this tournament. I have stories to tell of my chess adventures in Selangor, but they are better left to another occasion.

Coming back to the CAS silver jubilee, the first item on their calendar is the two-day 12th Royal Selangor juniors open tournament, for the under-10, under-14 and under-18 age groups, which begins today at Sunway College in Subang Jaya.

Malaysian Chess Federation president Datuk Sabbaruddin Chik will launch the month-long CAS chess festival at 10am today.

The two-day event this weekend is actually only the first half of the Royal Selangor juniors open tournament. The second half of this tournament, which caters for the under-12, under-16 and under-20 age categories, is scheduled for May 16 and 17 at the same venue.

Next week, from May 9 to 11, an inter-team tournament for institutions of higher learning in the Klang Valley will be organised, and on May 30 and 31, the Sakura Selangor junior girls tournament will be held. Both events will be held at Sunway College.

If these events seem to convey the impression that the CAS is giving a lot of emphasis to youth, rest assured that the association has also planned several tournaments for the adult chess players in the community.

For starters, there will be a silver jubilee allegro tournament this Sunday, and on May 23 and 24, the CAS silver jubilee blitz tournament will be held. The venue for both these events is yet to be finalised. Those interested can contact CAS secretary Jackie Wong (03-703 8237) or Lim Tse Pin (03-733 0927).

The expected highlight of the month-long chess festival is, of course, the Royal Selangor silver jubilee open chess tournament. This tournament, a nine-round Swiss event, is scheduled to start from May 27 to 31 at Sunway College.

There will be 20 cash prizes, including a first prize of RM1,500, a second prize of RM1,000 and a third prize of RM700.

The minor prizes range from RM500 for the fourth-placed winner to RM60 each for those who finish 11th to 20th in the tournament. Trophies will also be given to the top three winners.

In addition, there are cash prizes of RM50 each for the best woman and the best under-16 players if they score at least 50% in the tournament.

Those who do not qualify for any of the cash prizes will be eligible to take part in five lucky draws at the closing ceremony.

Entry fees for the Royal Selangor silver jubilee open tournament are RM35 for CAS members, RM50 for members of clubs that are affiliated to the CAS, and RM60 for other players.

International masters and visually-handicapped players are given free entry to this tournament.

The main partners who are making this silver jubilee chess festival possible for the CAS are Royal Selangor (which has been sponsoring chess events in Selangor for the past 16 years), Sakura Cafe And Cuisine (which sponsors the junior girls' tournament annually) and Sunway College (which is providing the venue for most of the events this month).

IIUM tournament results

RIGHT after the Asian cities team championship had ended at the Awana Genting Highland Golf And Country Resort last month, the International Islamic University Chess Club organised an open team tournament at Wenworth Hotel in Kuala Lumpur.

This event was won by the Royal Selangor Club team which comprised Jimmy Liew, Wong Zi Jing, Ng Ee Vern and Mak Weng Yee.

Second was the Keramat Wangsa team in which Kamal Ariffin Wahiduddin, Hashim Jusoh, Mohd Zamri Mohd Sharif and Annuar Idhuan Yusoff played; and third in the tournament was the Muhibbah team which consisted of Agus Salim, Julian Navaratnam, Ismail Ahmad, Fikrul Saifuddin and Chay Joon Hong.

Also participating in this event was the Beirut team, comprising Ahmed Najjar, Antoine Kassis, Nassim Sakr, Maan Ftouni, Mouhamad Ben Archad and Elias Khairallah.

Initially, I had expected this team to be placed among the top three, but it failed to do so. The team eventually finished fifth in the standings.

The first inkling that the situation was not going well for the Beirut team was when I suddenly found Kassis and Ftouni back at the Awana late on the evening of May 17.

The previous day, MCF secretary Hamid Majid had arranged to send off the Beirut team but like a bad penny, the two Beirut players suddenly turned up at the Awana without any plans to return to Kuala Lumpur.

It seemed like a bad dream, but Hamid was forced to put them up for the night and made hasty arrangements to send them to Wenworth Hotel the next morning.

If Hamid and I had thought that this would be the end of the matter, imagine our surprise again when we saw Ftouni at the Awana on the morning of May 19, chatting to one of the Uzbekistan players!

Anyway, the six board prizes at the IIUM team tournament were awarded to Aziz Jaafar, Law Zhe Kang, Ng Ee Vern, Mak Weng Yee, Abdul Aziz Shoukor and Mohd Azizul Mat Daud.

The Best Junior prize was won by Wong Zi Jing, and the Best Woman prize went to Effalini Mohd Farid.

Amcorp blitz tournament

HERE are the results of the Amcorp Mall national blitz open chess tournament, organised jointly by the Malaysian Chess Federation and the Chess Association Of Selangor on April 12.

The winner of the knock-out event was China's Zhang Pengxiang who won RM500. Second was Zaw Win Lay of Myanmar, who won RM300.

The winners of the RM200 prizes were Wang Rui of China and Aung Myo Hlaing of Myanmar.

The Myanmar players dominated the field of 58 players when Myint Han and Naing Lim Aung both won RM100 each, while Maung Maung Lwin and Zaw Oo each took back RM50.

Local players Darren Yong and Law Zhe Kang were the other winners of RM100 each.