Bad time for chess

THESE days, things are simply not going well for the World Chess Federation. Apart from the problems surrounding their president Kirsan Iljumzhinov who faces questions concerning the death of a critical opposition newspaper editor in the Soviet Kalmyk Republic, there have been calls by various parties to boycott the Chess Olympiad next month in Elista, the republic's capital.

The main call to boycott this event comes from an organisation known as the Glasnost Defense Foundation. Among many things, this little-known body claims that the money for the Chess Olympiad was obtained by violations of Russia's state and human laws, and that money meant for industrial and agricultural development in Kalmykia was diverted to build the many facilities for the Chess Olympiad.

There are also two damning articles written by a woman player from England, Sarah Hurst, in two reputable international chess magazines, Chess and New In Chess. She went to Elista, enjoyed Kalmykian hospitality and then proceeded to proclaim that the Kalmykians are not ready to hold the games.

In her articles, Hurst roundly condemns Iljumzhinov and the organisers, and tears apart their preparations. She then makes an impassioned plea to players to join in a boycott of the Chess Olympiad. So far, it looks like many of the top chess players of the developed nations in Europe and also Australia have been duped by her and will not be going to Elista.

But the World Chess Federation has been fighting back. In a recent circular to all its member national chess federations, Fide says it will continue to rely on the findings of properly constituted competent legal organs in Russia. Fide claims there is no truth that the people of Kalmykia were taxed or extorted by their government to host the Chess Olympiad.

Nevertheless, Fide concedes that things can still go wrong even with the best planned and excellently executed programmes. Unforeseen problems can still emerge to detract from most of the positive aspects of the event, says the federation.

The Elista Chess Olympiad is not the only sticky problem facing Fide in recent weeks. Another potential problem looks set to explode from Shenyang in China where the women's Candidates final match between Alisa Galliamova-Ivanchuk and Xie Jun was supposed to take place.

On Aug 15, the date when the match between the two players was to start, the Chinese organisers were left to twiddle their thumbs when Galliamova failed to turn up in Shenyang.

Subsequently, the International Chess Association of China issued a statement that, due to Galliamova's non-appearance, Xie Jun had qualified to face reigning women's world champion Zsuzsa Polgar for the title.

The association also wants compensation from Fide for the inconvenience and embarassment to the organisers and match sponsors following Galliamova's no-show.

Interestingly, it was reported in Mark Crowther's The Week In Chess website that Galliamova wanted to play half of the match in her home city of Kazan, in Russia, but the city could not raise the US$120,000 (about RM500,000) needed for the second half of the match. She considered the conditions unfair, hence leading to her non-appearance. An appeal against the default looks imminent.

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Sympo98 special

Four simultaneous chess events featuring three of the country's top players are being planned for Sympo98, a showcase event which will be held at the same time as the Commonwealth Games in Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur, next month.

According to the Malaysian Chess Federation, international master Mas Hafizulhelmi is scheduled to give a simultaneous chess display at Sympo98's "The Challenge'' Pavilion on Sept 12 and 13.

On Sept 19, national master Mok Tze Meng will give a similar display. The final simultaneous chess display on Sept 20 will involve international master Jimmy Liew.

These three top Malaysian players have agreed to play against 50 opponents at the same time. On these four days, the simultaneous chess displays will begin at 2pm and the playing sessions are expected to last about five hours.

Visitors to Sympo98 on these days will be eligible to play against Mas, Mok or Liew, subject to the availability of places. No fee will be charged for their participation, except for the entrance fee to Sympo98 itself which is RM10 for adults and RM5 for children. Anyone winning against the MCF players will receive a prize from the organisers.

Sympo98 is a support facility offered to the people who come for the Commonwealth Games. The sprawling site, covering some 7ha of land leased from Technology Park Malaysia, is adjacent to the National Sports Complex in Bukit Jalil. Although the Commonwealth Games begins only on Sept 11, Sympo98 will be open to the public from Sept 3 onwards.

Other attractions at Sympo98 include a Malaysian food fair featuring both local and Western cuisine, an amusement park, an information technology cyber-mall, an education fair pavilion, a bazaar selling made-in-Malaysia products, an arts and culture centre, and a centre for live entertainment.

Merdeka meets

The 17th Merdeka team chess championship starts this afternoon at the Putra World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur. Seven rounds have been scheduled for this event. Today's rounds are at 3pm and 7.45pm; tomorrow's at 9am, 1pm and 4.30pm; Sunday's at 9am and 1.30pm.

Prizes for the state section are RM2,000, RM1,500 and RM1,000. The winner will also receive the Deputy Prime Minister's challenge trophy. The five prizes in the youth section are RM1,000, RM750, RM500, RM300 and RM150. The Merdeka youth challenge trophy will also go to the winner.

In the open section are seven prizes. The winning team will receive RM2,000 and the runner-up RM1,500. The other prizes are RM1,000, RM800, RM600, RM400 and RM200. In addition, there are special prizes for the best government department, women's, school and family teams.

In Johor Baru, the eighth Johor Baru open Merdeka tournament, jointly organised by the Johor Baru District Chess Club and Johor Land Bhd, will take place on Sunday at the Dewan Menara Komtar. Cash prizes will be given to the 10 winners of the open, under-16 and under-12 sections.

The Miri Malay Association and the Shell Lutong Club will jointly organise a two-day Merdeka Day chess open in Miri. Four games will be played tomorrow and the remaining three on Sunday. There are 10 prizes on offer.

Bandaraya Chessmaster 98

Players in the south can look forward to another tournament in Johor Baru next month. This time, the Johor Baru District Chess Club will organise the Bandaraya Chessmaster 98 tournament on Sept 13 together with the Persatuan Perkhidmatan Perbandaran Majlis Bandaraya Johor Baru.

This event will be divided into the open, government body, under-16 and under-12 sections. The open and age-group sections will each offer 10 prizes (cash for the open section and vouchers for the two age-groups) while the government body section will have five cash prizes.

The biggest prizes are reserved for the open section where the winner will receive RM1,300. The second prize is RM800, third prize RM500, fourth prize RM400, fifth RM300, sixth RM250, seventh RM200, eighth RM150, ninth RM100 and 10th RM50.

Entry fees are RM30 for the open and government body sections, RM7 for the under-16 section and RM5 for the under-12 section. The closing date is Sep 7t and only the first 350 entries will be accepted.

For more information, call Sarwan Sirkam (07-228 2607), Shaan Shah Mohd Nasir (019-751 2010) or Narayanan Krishnan (07-333 8215).

 

Bayview champ again

PENANG Free School 'A' retained the Bayview challenge trophy at the close of the eighth Penang Bayview Chess League last Sunday.

The team, which had already obtained an unassailable lead as it entered the final round of the competition, played leisurely against Chung Ling Old Boys Association but was still able to eke out a comfortable 2 1/2-1 1/2 win.

The tension was highest in the fight to decide the second place in the Premier Division. Going into the last round, Chung Ling High School 'A' held a slim half-point lead over Old Frees Association 'A'.

While OFA struggled to overcome a determined Pessca team by a 3 1/2-1/2 score, the Chung Ling schoolboys completed a 4-0 annihilation of Methodist Boys School. The win ensured that the CLHS team stayed ahead of Old Frees at the end of the tournament.

In other Premier Division matches, Universiti Sains Malaysia defeated MSSPP Juniors 2 1/2-1 1/2, and Old Frees Association 'B' beat Chung Ling High School 'B' also by this margin.

The three-corner race between Chung Ling High School 'C', St Xavier's Institution 'A' and Penang Free School 'C' for the winner's purse in Division One was expected to be close, but CLHS 'C' surprised everybody by trouncing Penang Development Corporation 4-0 to finish as Division One champion. At the same time, SXI's challenge fizzled out with a 2-2 draw with PFS 'B'.

In other Division One matches, Chung Ling High School 'D' dumped Chung Hwa Confucian School 'A' 3-1, Union High School beat Hewlett Packard 2 1/2-1 1/2, while the Penang Chess Association Novices beat Penang Free School 'C' 2-1. This last match was marred by a default in one of the games when both players failed to turn up.

The results of Division Two proved to be very close. At the end of the league, both Police and Penang Free School 'D' finished with equal points but Police was declared winner based on a better tie-break.

Police met Westlands Secondary School and won 3-1, while PFS 'D' discovered that their similar 3-1 result against Chung Hwa Confucian School 'B' was insufficient for them to head the table.

The MSSPP Girls proved to be the revelation of the chess league when they finished third in Division Two. The MSSPP Girls beat Chung Ling High School 'E' 2 1/2-1 1/2 in the final round. Meanwhile, Penang Chinese Girls' High School beat Methodist Boys School 'B' 3 1/2-1/2, and Dynacraft beat St Xavier's Institution 'B' 2 1/2-1 1/2.

The Penang Bayview Chess League is an annual team tournament sponsored by The City Bayview Hotel. This year's matches had been played on Sundays at the hotel's revolving restaurant since June 7. The final standings:

Premier Division: PFS A (30 points); CLHS A (26 1/2); OFA A (25 1/2); CLOBA (22); Pessca (18); USM (15 1/2); MBS A (13 1/2); OFA B (12); MSSPP Jrs (9 1/2); CLHS B (7 1/2).

Division One: CLHS C (29); SXI A (24 1/2); PFS B (24); PDC (22 1/2); HP (20); CLHS D (16 1/2); PCA Novices (12 1/2); Union (12); Chung Hwa A (10); PFS C (8).

Division Two: Police (26); PFS D (26); MSSPP Girls (24); Chung Hwa B (21 1/2); SXI B (20); CLHS E (15); Dynacraft (15); MBS B (14 1/2); PCGHS (12 1/2); Westlands (5 1/2).

 

Top Malaysian players

MAS Hafizulhelmi continues to be ranked as the top Malaysian player in the July 1998 international rating list released recently by the World Chess Federation (FIDE). His rating has increased 25 points over a six-month period and it now stands at 2,400.

Ooi Chern Ee, now pursuing further studies in the United States, is still our No 2 player, rated at 2,340 despite not having played any rateable games for the past year. Jimmy Liew, who is also inactive internationally, is still third at 2,330.

The other Malaysians in the latest FIDE list are Mok Tze Meng at 2,270 (an increase of 10 rating points), Fadli Zakaria at 2,250, Ng Ee Vern at 2,240 (an increase of 30 points), Lim Chuin Hoong at 2,225 (a decrease of 50 points), Mohd Irman Ibrahim at 2,220, Mohd Saprin Sabri at 2,210, Mohd Kamal Abdullah at 2,205, Hussein Jamil at 2,190, Mohd Fairin Zakaria at 2,185, Goh Yoon Wah at 2,180, Tan Hong Ghee at 2,150, Lim Yee-Weng at 2,140 (an increase of 10 points), Azahari Md Nor at 2,140 (an increase of 25 points), Julian Navaratnam at 2,125 (an increase of five points) and Wong Zi Jing, 2,120 (an increase of 30 points).

Lim Chin Lee and Lim Kian Hwa are both rated at 2,110, Tan Wei Sin at 2,090 (an increase of 20 points), Lim Tse-Pin at 2,070, Pang Siew Chong at 2,065, Ismail Ahmad at 2,040 (a decrease of 15 points), Roslina Marmono at 2,035 (a decrease of 30 points), Mohan Raj and Soh Zee Wee at 2,025 each, Huda Nurul Wahiduddin at 2,020 (a decrease of 20 points), Ibrahim Eliza Hanim and Ibrahim Eliza Hanum at 2,015 each, and Khairunnisa Wahiduddin, 2,005. Yeoh Chin Seng and Thomas Lam have been dropped from the FIDE list due to inactivity.

When the list first came out in July, I noticed that Ahmad Maliki and Ng Tze Han were two names missing from it. According to the results of the last Asian cities team championship at Genting Highlands in April, both Ahmad Maliki and Ng were among the players who had qualified for an initial rating from the World Chess Federation by virtue of their results in the team competition.

This anomaly was brought to the attention of the Malaysian Chess Federation secretary, Abdul Hamid Majid, who said he had already sent an enquiry to FIDE regarding the omission. He hoped that a reply could be received from the world body soon to clarify the matter.

An unprecedented success Last Sunday's Endah Parade open chess tournament at the Endah Parade Bandar Baru Sri Petaling in Kuala Lumpur was an unprecedented success for the players, organisers and sponsors of the two-weekend Endah Parade Chess challenge.

Some 102 participants turned out for this tournament, shrugging off rumours of disturbances in Kuala Lumpur which had been circulating during the weekend.

Lim Chin Lee, unbeaten in this six-round event, took the top prize of RM250. His most memorable scalp was that of Jimmy Liew whom he beat in the sixth round.

The size of the field, coupled with the fact that there were only six rounds, meant that the top seeds managed to avoid each other until the tournament was almost over. Agus Salim, for example, played with Mohd Saprin Sabri whom he beat in the fifth round, but lost to Wong Zi Jing in the sixth round. It was a costly loss for Agus for had he won, he would have tied for the first prize with Lim.

Instead, Agus found himself in an eight-way tie on five points for the second to ninth prizes. But he was in good company, for among those with the same points as him were Mohd Saprin, Wong Ji Zing, Ismail Ahmad, Liew and Ng Ek Teong. Rizal Ahmad Kamal and Effahrin Farid completed this octet.

A day earlier, the Endah Parade computer chess competition was held. This event proved to be a winner for the humans who pushed aside the chess programmes Chessmaster and Fritz with comparative ease.

The winner was Fikrul Saifuddin who scored 5 1/2 points from six games, followed by Abdul Salam with five points, and Ahmad Maliki and Wong Ji Zing who each had 4 1/2 points.

Who will be second?

Although there is one more round to be played in the eighth Penang Bayview Chess League, the championship race in the Premier Division has already been decided. In the eighth round last Sunday, Penang Free School A clinched the Bayview challenge trophy after beating the MSSPP Juniors 4-0.

The PFS team now has an unassailable score of 27 1/2 points which is five points clear of their nearest rival, Chung Ling High School A, which could only manage a narrow 2 1/2-1 1/2 victory over the Chung Ling Old Boys Association. Old Frees Association A is third place in the current standings with a 3-1 win over Universiti Sains Malaysia.

The Old Frees Association B and Methodist Boys School A played to a 2-2 draw, but Chung Ling High School B fell to a 0-4 defeat at the hands of Pessca.

In Division One, Chung Ling High School C has a comfortable lead in the standings despite being held to a 2-2 draw by Union High School. Their closest rival, Penang Free School B, fell to a second shock 1-3 defeat to Hewlett-Packard. The PFS team's defeat enabled both the Penang Development Corporation and St Xavier's Institution to leapfrog it.

SXI crushed Penang Free School C 4-0, while PDC beat Chung Ling High School D 3-1. The final match in this division, between Chung Hwa Confucian A and Penang Chess Association Novices, ended with a 2-2 draw.

Meanwhile, Polis Di Raja Malaysia has joined Penang Free School D at the top of Division Two. Polis carved out a 4-0 win over Chung Ling High School E while PFS D beat the Penang Chinese Girls High School 3-1. The MSSPP Girls kept up the pressure on the two leaders by beating Dynacraft 3-1.

In other matches, St Xavier's Institution B beat Methodist Boys School B 2 1/2-1 1/2, while Chung Hwa Confucian B beat Westlands Secondary School 3-1.

Standings: Premier Division: PFS A 27 1/2 pts; CLHS A 22 1/2 pts; OFA A 22 pts; CLOBA 20 1/2 pts; Pessca 17 1/2 pts; MBS A 13 1/2 pts; USM 13 pts; OFA B 9 1/2 pts; MSSPP Juniors 8 pts; and CLHS B 6 pts.

Division One: CLHS C 25 pts; PDC and SXI A 22 1/2 pts; PFS B 22 pts; Hewlett-Packard 18 1/2 pts; CLHS D 13 1/2 pts; PCA Novices 10 1/2 pts; Union 9 1/2 pts; Chung Hwa Confucian A 9 pts; and PFS C 7 pts.

Division Two: PFS D and Polis 23 pts each; MSSPP Girls 21 1/2 pts; Chung Hwa Confucian B 20 1/2 pts; SXI B 18 1/2 pts; MBS B 14 pts; CLHS E 13 1/2 pts; Dynacraft 12 1/2 pts; PCGHS 9 pts; and Westlands 4 1/2 pts.

The round-by-round results of the Bayview Chess League can be viewed from the Penang Chess Association homepage on the Internet at http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Stadium/2379/.

The final round of the chess league will be played at 12pm this Sunday at The City Bayview Hotel. The hotel is sponsoring the use of its premises for the weekly games.

Get set for the Johor Baru open The Johor Baru District Chess Club will hold its eighth Johor Baru open chess tournament at the Dewan Menara Komtar, Johor Baru on Aug 30 in conjunction with the National Day celebrations.

This event, which is jointly organised with Johor Land Berhad, will be divided into the open, under-16 and under-12 sections. There will be 10 cash prizes in each section, with prizes of RM300, RM100 and RM80 going to the respective winners.

Entry fees for the open section: RM15. Players entering for the under-16 event are required to pay RM7, while RM5 will be charged for those playing in the under-12 section. The games start at 8.30am on Aug 30, and only the first 250 entries will be accepted.

For more information about the tournament, contact Narayanan Krishnan ( 07-333-8215). Entries will close on Aug 28.

Local rating events FCLChess, a new chess outfit in the Klang Valley, will organise a series of local rating events with the first scheduled this Sunday at the Subang Holiday Villa in Selangor. Entry fee: RM15. There will be four sections -- under-8, under-10, under-12 and under-14.

For more information, contact Foong Chee Leng ( 013-360-2316).

 

It's you vs the machines

THE Endah Parade Chess Challenge concludes this weekend at Endah Parade in Bandar Baru Sri Petaling, Kuala Lumpur.

The most intriguing event will take place tomorrow afternoon when the Endah Parade computer chess competition is scheduled. Several computer chess programs like Chessmaster and Fritz will be utilised to compete with human players in the novelty six-round Swiss event.

If a player is paired against a computer program, the player will be allotted 20 minutes on his clock and the computer program only 10 minutes. If two players are matched together, they will each be given 15 minutes.

Personally, I do not harbour much hope for the players to win against computer programs, especially if they are running on today's Pentium or Pentium II personal computers.

Three years ago, I conducted a similar experiment in Penang where the obsolete Fritz2.0 program, running on an equally obsolete 16Mhz 486-computer, was entered as a competitor. None of the human players won, but prizes were given to the best players among them.

Similarly, at Endah Parade, I understand that the organisers will give five non-cash prizes to the best players in the computer chess competition.

Entry fee is RM5 per player, and registration begins at 1pm. The first round is scheduled to start at 2pm.

On Sunday, the Endah Parade open tournament will complete the two-weekend chess challenge. This is a six-round Swiss event, and registration opens at 9am. Entry fee is RM10 for players who are under 12 years old, and RM15 for others.

Ten cash prizes are on offer; first prize is RM250, second prize RM200, and third prize RM150. Fourth and fifth prizes are RM100 each, and those who finish sixth to 10th will get RM50 each. In addition, there are RM50 prizes for the best under-16, under-14, under-12 and girl players.

Entry forms can be obtained from and submitted to the information counter at Endah Parade. However, entry fees will only be collected upon registration. Entries are limited to the first 100 participants. For more details, contact Zac, Yuonne or Soo Kee (03-583 0100).

Meanwhile, last Saturday's Endah Parade blitz tournament proved to be a thriller. Wong Ji Zing had a good start to this tournament and by the 10th round, was the undisputed leader of the 66-player field with nine points.

However, Jimmy Liew caught up with Wong in the 11th round when the latter lost his game. Both players then won their final two games to tie the 13-round event with 11 points each.

A play-off was immediately arranged to decide the winner. The first game of the play-off was drawn, but then Wong outplayed Liew in the second game to take the top prize of RM200. Liew collected RM100 while Azhari Md Nor, who was third with 10 points, won RM50.

Wong Zi Chuang was the best under-12 player, and Noor Hayati picked up a consolation prize for the best girl player.

Fourth in the blitz event was Julian Delos with nine points, while tied at 8 1/2 points each were Lim Chin Lee, Julian Navaratnam, Law Tze Kang, Mok Tze Meng, Wong Zi Chuang and Premnath.

The Endah Parade age-group open tournament was held on Sunday. This tournament ended in a tie at the top between Wong Ji Zing and Deon Moh.

Both players had scored 5 1/2 points from six games but Wong was declared the under-16 winner after a play-off. Wong won another RM200, while Moh's prize was RM100. Lim Ven Gee pipped Hisyam Ismail to the third prize of RM50 although both had obtained five points each.

For the under-12 section, the winner's purse of RM200 went to Effazuan Farid who obtained 4 1/2 points. Wong Zi Chuang, also with 4 1/2 points, won the second prize of RM100, while the third prize went to Effalini Farid who scored four points. The prize for the best girl player was given to Ong Yee San.

 

New venue for Merdeka tourney

THE plush setting of the Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) in Kuala Lumpur shall, for the first time, be the venue of this year's 17th Merdeka team chess championship on Aug 28-30.

How the PWTC came to be chosen as the home for this year's competition is an interesting story. For many years and for many chess players around the country, whenever the Merdeka chess championship was brought up, Wisma Belia in Kuala Lumpur would be mentioned in the same breath. To them, Wisma Belia was synonymous with the event itself.

Then last year, the Terengganu Chess Association proposed to hold the Merdeka chess championship in Kuala Terengganu. It was an offer which the Malaysian Chess Federation (MCF) could not refuse, because the TCA had offered to match the Merdeka celebration committee's budget on a ringgit-for-ringgit basis.

Unfortunately, the proposal fell through and the MCF brought the Merdeka event back to Kuala Lumpur.

Luckily for MCF, the PWTC had been attempting to promote the place as a centre for chess excellence in the capital. For example, among the facilities is a perfectly usable giant chess set which is a guaranteed conversation piece for visitors to the PWTC chess centre.

Since the start of this year, the centre has been the venue for several small local events but in the past months, the two most prominent events to be held there were the Malaysia-Singapore match and the national age-group championship.

It did not take long for MCF to convince the PWTC authorities that the place would be suitable for the Merdeka chess championship. Moreover, a deal was made with the nearby Dynasty Hotel to provide accommodation for the players at a special promotional rate.

Last year's competition was expanded from a seven-round to a nine-round event but it reverts back to seven rounds this year. Consequently, the number of playing days has also been reduced from four to three. One aspect of the championship that is unchanged, however, is the playing categories which remain at three.

The main attraction is the state category where the fight is for the Deputy Prime Minister's trophy. The MCF can expect most of the state chess associations to send their strongest line-ups. For the youth category, the winner will be awarded the Merdeka youth challenge trophy.

The other main feature is the open category which has always attracted teams from far and near. Last year, Bali Jeff, a very strong team from Indonesia came to sweep the first prize.

Bali Jeff is not anticipated to defend their title this year but even without them, the keen competition from the local teams and maybe a few from Singapore will certainly raise the temperature in the playing hall by a few degrees.

Registration for the teams starts at 8.30am on Aug 28. The first round will commence at 3pm and the second round at 7.45pm. On the second day, the rounds begin at 9am, 1pm and 4.30pm, while on the last day of the competition, the final two rounds will start at 9am and 1.30pm. The closing ceremony will be held at 5pm.

Prizes for the state category are RM2,000, RM1,500 and RM1,000. The winner will also receive custody of the Deputy Prime Minister's challenge trophy. The five prizes in the youth section are RM1,000, RM750, RM500, RM300 and RM150. The Merdeka youth challenge trophy will also go to the winner.

There will be seven prizes for the open category. The winning team will receive RM2,000 and the runner-up RM1,500. The other prizes are RM1,000, RM800, RM600, RM400 and RM200. In addition, there are special prizes for the best government department, women's, school, and family teams.

Entry fees are RM150 for teams playing in the State and open categories, and RM80 for the youth category. The closing date for entries is Aug 23.

For more details, contact Ibrahim Bakar (tel: 03-559-5442) or Ibrahim Yaacob (tel: 03-636-3082) after 7pm.

Make a date at Endah Parade

THE Endah Parade Chess Challenge starts this weekend at the Endah Parade in Bandar Baru Sri Petaling, Kuala Lumpur. The Endah Parade blitz tournament will be played tomorrow afternoon and players can register for this event beginning at 1pm. The first round is scheduled to start at 2pm.

This blitz event is a 13-round Swiss, and the champion will receive a trophy and RM200. The runner-up will get RM100 while the third prize is RM50. Entry fee is RM10 per player.

On Sunday, there will be the Endah Parade Age Group Open. These under-16 and under-12 events will be played as a six-round Swiss. Participants are required to register at 9am. For both age groups, the champion will get a trophy and RM200, and the runner-up RM100. The prizes for third and the best girl player are RM50 each. Entry fee is RM10.

Selection event

THERE will be a selection tournament at the Methodist High School in Malacca on Aug 8 to select players for the Malacca state team which will be participating in the Merdeka team chess championship. This event, organised by FCLChess, will have an open section as well as an under-11 section.

Entry fee is RM10, and the closing date is Aug 5. Entries received after this date will be subjected to availability of places and the payment of a late fee of RM5. Players are required to be at the playing hall by 9am on the date of competition.

Meanwhile, FCLChess also disclosed that it will organise a series of local rating tournaments with the first scheduled for the Holiday Villa Subang in Selangor on Aug 16. Entry fee is RM15 and the closing date is Aug 10. There will be four sections -- under-8, under-10, under-12 and under-14.

For more information on the two events, contact Foong Chee Leng (tel: 013-360-2316).

Penang Chess League

AFTER a week's break, the eighth Penang Bayview Chess League resumes this Sunday beginning 10am at The City Bayview Hotel's revolving restaurant on the 15th floor. The competition, which began on June 7, will end on Aug 16.

The standings in the Premier Division after six rounds are: Penang Free School A 21 pts; Old Frees Association A 17 1/2 pts; Chung Ling High School A 16 pts; Chung Ling Old Boys Association 15 1/2 pts; Methodist Boys School A and Pessca 10 1/2 pts each; Universiti Sains Malaysia 8 pts; MSSPP Juniors and Old Frees Association B 7 1/2 pts each; and Chung Ling High School B 6 pts.

In Division One: Penang Free School B and Chung Ling High School C 20 pts each; St Xavier's Institution A 16 1/2 pts; Penang Development Corporation 16 pts; Chung Ling High School D 13 pts; Hewlett-Packard 12 1/2 pts; Penang Chess Association Novices and Chung Hwa Confucian A 6 1/2 pts each; Penang Free School C and Union High School 6 pts each.

Division Two: MSSPP Girls and Penang Free School D 17 1/2 pts each; Polis Di Raja Malaysia 16 1/2 pts; St Xavier's Institution B 15 pts; Chung Hwa Confucian B 14 pts; Chung Ling High School E 13 pts; Methodist Boys School B 10 1/2 pts; Dynacraft 9 1/2 pts; Penang Chinese Girls High School 5 pts; and Westlands Secondary School 2 1/2 pts.

The round-by-round results of the Bayview Chess League can be viewed from the Penang Chess Association homepage on the Internet at www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Stadium/2379/.

VIP visitors to the PWTC Chess Centre trying out the giant chess set: Singapore High Commissioner K. Kesavapany (right), Malaysian Chess Federation honorary president Datuk Tan Chin Nam (centre), and Malaysian Chess Federation vice-president Datuk Mohd Rosli Abdul Aziz (left).

 

A busy month ahead

JUDGING from the number of chess organisers who have contacted me this past week or so, August is starting to look like one very busy month indeed.

The month begins with some tournaments in Kuala Lumpur, then the action moves south to Johor before switching back to Kuala Lumpur at the end of the month for the traditional Merdeka team championship. Of course, during the month itself, the Penang Bayview Chess League continues, although it will wind down in about three weeks.

All right, let's see what are the tournaments in store for players next month.

Endah Parade Challenge, Kuala Lumpur (Aug 1): For starters, there will be the Endah Parade Chess Challenge in Bandar Baru Sri Petaling, jointly organised by the Endah Parade and the Malaysian Chess Federation. The Endah Parade blitz tournament will start in the afternoon; registration for players will open at 1pm, with the first round scheduled to start at 2pm. This blitz event is a 13-round Swiss, and the champion will receive a trophy and RM200. The runner-up will get RM100 while the third prize is RM50. Entry fee is RM10 per player.

Endah Parade Age Group Open, Kuala Lumpur (Aug 2): These under-16 and under-12 events will be played in a six-round Swiss, and participants are required to register at 9am. For both age groups, the champion will get a trophy and RM200, and the runner-up RM100. The prizes for third and the best girl player are RM50 each. Entry fee is RM10.

Endah Parade Computer Challenge, Kuala Lumpur (Aug 8): The organisers of the Endah Parade events hope to have a competition between human players and computer chess programs like Chessmaster and Fritz. However, the format has not been finalised and the only information released to date is that the event will be played over six rounds beginning 1pm. There are five non-cash prizes. Entry fee is RM5 per player.

Endah Parade Open, Kuala Lumpur (Aug 9): This open chess tournament will complete the Endah Parade chess challenge. This is a six-round Swiss, and registration begins at 9am. Entry fee is RM10 for players who are under 12 years old, and RM15 for others. Ten cash prizes are on offer, including a RM250 first prize, a RM200 second prize and a RM150 third prize. Fourth and fifth will receive RM100 each, and those who finish sixth to 10th will get RM50 each. In addition, there are RM50 prizes for the best under-16, under-14, under-12 and girl players.

Entry forms for the events can be obtained from, and submitted to, the information counter at Endah Parade. However, entry fees will only be collected on the day of registration. Would-be participants should submit their entry forms early because each of the events would be limited to the first 100 participants. For more details, contact Zac, Yuonne or Soo Kee (03-583 0100).

MSE Silver Jubilee, Johor (Aug 9): This year is the 50th anniversary of Malaysia Shipyard and Engineering Sdn Bhd, and to mark the occasion, the company will organise a silver jubilee open chess tournament at their training centre in Pasir Gudang. This event will be played in two sections -- open and under-16 -- and there will be a total of RM3,000 in prizes.

For the open section, the entry fee will be RM20 while RM10 will be collected from the players of the under-16 section. The winner of the open section will receive RM300, and the second-placed player will get RM250. Other main prizes include RM200 for third, RM150 for fourth and RM100 for fifth. The sixth to 10th prizes range from RM80 to RM40.

As for the under-16 section, the winner will get RM150 and the runner-up RM120. There are also prizes for the third to 10th-placed winners, including a RM100 third prize and a RM80 fourth prize. For registration or information, call M. Said Husin (07-259 3784) or Shamsuddin Taimain (07-259 2332).

Merdeka Team Chess Championship, Kuala Lumpur (Aug 28-30): The highlight of the month will be the Merdeka team chess championship. Instead of Wisma Belia, the venue of this year's Merdeka championship will be the Putra World Trade Centre.

Like in previous years, cash prizes and trophies will be awarded to the winners of the State, youth and open sections. Entry fees are RM150 for teams playing in the State and open sections, and RM80 for the youth section. The closing date for entries is Aug 23.

The organiser Malaysian Chess Federation will provide accommodation for only the official State and youth teams. They will be housed at the nearby Dynasty Hotel, the official hotel for the event, which is about five minutes' walk from the PWTC. There will be more details on the championship next week. In the meantime, readers can also contact Ibrahim Bakar (03-559 5442) or Ibrahim Yaacob (03-636 3082) after 7pm if they have enquiries.

PERAK GRAND PRIX

The Perak International Chess Association will hold the seventh stage of their nine-leg chess grand prix at the Tun Razak Library 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. This event is open to all chess enthusiasts in the State. Three rounds will be played tomorrow and the remaining rounds will be on Sunday.

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 1pm tomorrow. For more details, contact W.K. Wong (05-366 1692).

BAYVIEW LEAGUE RESULTS

In the sixth round of the eighth Bayview Chess League last Sunday, Penang Free School 'A' whitewashed Chung Ling High School 'B' 4-0 to take a commanding lead in the Premier Division. Their nearest rival, Old Frees Association 'A', beat MSSPP Juniors 3 1/2-1/2, while Chung Ling High School 'A' could score only 2 1/2-1 1/2 against Pessca.

In other matches, Chung Ling Old Boys Association beat Old Frees Association 'B' 3-1, and Universiti Sains Malaysia beat Methodist Boys School 3-1.

The Division One results saw Penang Free School 'B' beating Chung Ling High School 'D' 3 1/2-1/2, Hewlett-Packard beating Penang Chess Association Novices also by the same score line, and Chung Ling High School 'C' thrashing Penang Free School 'C' 4-0. Penang Development Corporation beat Union High School 3-1, while St Xavier's Institution 'A' beat Chung Hwa Confucian 'A' 2 1/2-1 1/2.

In Division Two, MSSPP Girls beat Methodist Boys School 'B' 3-1, Penang Free School 'D' beat Dynacraft 3-1, St Xavier's Institution 'B' beat Westlands Secondary School 3-1, and Police beat Chung Hwa Confucian 'B' 3-1. Chung Ling High School 'E' scored a narrow 2 1/2-1 1/2 win over Penang Chinese Girls High School. Standings:

Premier Division: PFS A (21 points); OFA A (17 1/2); CLHS A (16); CLOBA (15 1/2); MBS A (10 1/2); Pessca (10 1/2); USM (8); MSSPP Juniors (7 1/2); OFA B (7 1/2); CLHS B (6).

Division One: PFS B (20); CLHS C (20); SXI A (16 1/2); PDC (16); CLHS D (13); Hewlett-Packard (12 1/2); PCA Novices (6 1/2); Chung Hwa Confucian A (6 1/2); PFS C (6); Union (6).

Division Two: MSSPP Girls (17); PFS D (17); Police (16 1/2); SXI B (15); Chung Hwa Confucian B (14); CLHS E (13); MBS B (10 1/2); Dynacraft (9 1/2); PCGHS (5); Westlands (2 1/2).

The round-by-round results of the Bayview Chess League can be viewed at the Penang Chess Association homepage

( www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Stadium/2379/ ).

Meanwhile, there are no games this Sunday and the seventh round will only be played on Aug 2 at The City Bayview Hotel. The hotel is sponsoring the use of their premises for the weekly games.

 

Our golden boy shines again

ALL right, let's come clean. What have you been doing during your nights in the past month? Seated in front of the television set, I suppose.

Well, I have to admit that that was what I did, to a reasonable extent, of course. After all, who can avoid the lure of the year's greatest sports spectacle? The magic and skills of strikers like Ronaldo, Zidane, Suker and others, crudely counterbalanced by the overpowering bombardment of Ricky Martin's overhyped soccer anthem!

We shall not be witnessing the World Cup again until the year 2002, but four years can be considered a relatively short wait for football.

Unlike chess.

I have been waiting patiently for the past 14 years for it to happen, and I am glad to announce to readers that it has happened at last! After 14 years, Malaysia has her second international master!

There are no prizes for guessing who this player is. It can only be Mas Hafizulhelmi who is currently our strongest player. While your eyes and mine were on France, Mas Hafizul had quietly drifted into Singapore to take part in an international tournament there.

This was a double round-robin event with a six-player field, and Mas Hafizul was one of three players chasing for a title norm. He had earlier obtained two international master norms at the First Saturday tournaments in Hungary last year and hungered for a third one to fulfil the requirements.

Mas Hafizul has had various other attempts at his third norm, including the Asian junior chess championship in Iran last month, but the results had not been encouraging. In Singapore, he finally made sure that the norm would not elude him this time.

Our player had a rather inauspicious start to this tournament. In his first game, he could only manage a draw against Singapore's Mooi Kok Onn and he followed this with another draw in his second game, against Singaporean international master Hsu Li Yang. Disaster struck in the third game which he lost to Singaporean Fide master Terry Toh.

Two draws then followed, against Vietnam's international master Tu Hoang Thong and Chinese international master Wu Shaobin, and so, at the midway point of the tournament, Mas Hafizul was lying in fifth place with only two points from five games.

For Mas Hafizul to achieve an IM norm, he would need to score a total of six points from the 10 games. After the first half of the event, it looked like a tall order for him as he would now require four points from the remaining five games.

Luckily for him, his indifferent start to the title chase seemed to awaken him. For in the second half of the tournament, Mas Hafizul was a changed player. Firstly, he accounted for both Mooi and Hsu in the sixth and seventh games and then he agreed to a draw with Toh in the eighth game.

He fought to overcome Tu in the ninth game, which left him needing only half a point to realise his dream. In the final round of the tournament, the dream became a reality when Wu agreed to split the point with Mas Hafizul.

Final standings: Wu Shaobin (6 1/2); Hsu Li Yang (6 1/2); each, Mas Hafizul (6); Terry Toh (6); Tu Hoang Thong (4 1/2); Mooi Kok Onn (1/2).

Incidentally, it was also in Singapore way back in 1984 when Malaysia obtained her first international master. Fourteen years ago, Jimmy Liew was a joint winner of the second leg of the Asian IM chess circuit in Singapore, and this result gave him the necessary norm for the international master title. Liew was rewarded RM5,000 by the Malaysian Chess Federation for his success; Mas Hafizul should receive a similar sum too.

With this IM title now, it is expected that Mas Hafizul will now allow chess to take a back seat for the rest of the year. Already, there are indications that he is not interested to play in the Elista Chess Olympiad as he will be sitting for the SPM examinations this November.

Bayview so far

IN the fifth round of the eighth Bayview Chess League last Sunday, Penang Free School 'A' further extended their lead in the Premier Division after beating Methodist Boys School 3-1.

Old Frees Association 'A' drew 2-2 with Chung Ling Old Boys Association while Chung Ling High School 'A' beat Universiti Sains Malaysia 3 1/2-1/2.

In other matches, Chung Ling High School 'B' beat MSSPP Juniors 2 1/2-1 1/2, and Pessca beat Old Frees Association 'B' 2 1/2-1 1/2.

Division One saw three drawn matches: Penang Free School 'B' with Penang Development Corporation, Union High School with Chung Hwa Confucian 'A', and Chung Ling High School 'D' with Penang Free School 'C'. St Xavier's Institution 'A' beat Hewlett-Packard 2 1/2-1 1/2, while Chung Ling High School 'C' beat Penang Chess Association Novices 4-0.

In Division Two, MSSPP Girls drew with Chung Hwa Confucian 'B'. Their lead is now shared with Penang Free School 'D' which beat Methodist Boys School 'B' 3 1/2-1/2. The Police scored a 3-1 win over Penang Chinese Girls High School, while Dynacraft beat Westlands Secondary School 4-0. The encounter between St Xavier's Institution 'B' and Chung Ling High School 'E' was drawn. Standings:

Premier Division: PFS A (17); OFA A (14); CLHS A (13 1/2); CLOBA (12 1/2); MBS A (9 1/2); Pessca (9); MSSPP Jrs (7); OFA B (6 1/2); CLHS B (6); USM (5).

Division One: PFS B (16 1/2); CLHS C (16); SXI A (14); PDC (13); CLHS D (9 1/2); Hewlett-Packard (9); PCA Novices (6); PFS C (6); Chung Hwa A (5); Union (5).

Division Two: MSSPP Girls (14); PFS D (14); Police (13 1/2); Chung Hwa B (13); SXI B (12); CLHS E (10 1/2); MBS B (9 1/2); Dynacraft (8 1/2); PCGHS (3 1/2); Westlands (1 1/2).

The round-by-round results of the Bayview Chess League can be viewed on the Penang Chess Association homepage (www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Stadium/2379/).

Meanwhile, the sixth round of the chess league will be played this Sunday beginning 10am at The City Bayview Hotel's revolving restaurant. The hotel is sponsoring the use of their premises for the weekly games.

Malaysia tops Singapore

ONE popular fixture in the local chess calendar is certainly the annual match between Malaysia and Singapore. This social gathering of chess players from the two countries dated back to 1985 when the first match was hosted in Kuala Lumpur by the Malaysian Chess Federation.

At that time, the match was played over only 20 boards. The victor was the Singaporean team which notched a 21 1/2-18 1/2 win over their Malaysian counterpart. In the second match two years later in Singapore, it was the Malaysian team's win with a 9 1/2-6 1/2 score over the Singaporeans.

In 1990, the third match was again played in Singapore, this time over 26 boards and four rounds, and the score was a flattering 62 1/2-41 1/2 in the Singaporeans' favour.

While the early matches were conducted on a biennial or triennial basis, it was then decided by the MCF and the Singapore Chess Federation that beginning with the 1993 match, it should be contested annually to cement the close ties between the two countries.

The 1993 annual match was played in Kuala Lumpur and the homesters chalked an impressive 33-19 win over the visitors. This marked the first of three consecutive wins by the Malaysians as they also won the 1994 and 1995 matches. In 1994, the Malaysians won by 71-33 in Singapore and in 1995, while playing on home turf, the score was 36-24.

The popularity of this match was such that in 1995, there were even two matches played. The second such match in 1995 was played in Singapore and it was won by the Singaporeans with a very close 30 1/2-29 1/2 result. This herculean effort by the Singaporeans, however, marked the last time that they would win the annual match.

In 1996, the match went Malaysia's way by a 40-20 result. The next year, Malaysia won the match with a 74-46 drubbing of their southern neighbours.

This brings us to the present where the 1998 annual match was played two weeks ago at the Putra World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur. The match was contested over 34 boards and it covered a wide spectrum of players of all ages.

The Malaysians scored a 20-14 win in the first round with crucial ties like Foong Chee Leng against Chan Tat Wong (veterans), Ismail Ahmad against Chia Chee Seng, Ng Ee Vern against Mark Chan, and Ng Tse Han against Tan Chor Chuan (men's), Dion Moh against Ang Jia Jun (boy's under-16), Wong Tze Chuang against Luke Leong, and Jonathan Chuah against Jerald Tan (boy's under-12), Ooi Ching Chung against Bryan Hooi and Eric Ng against Amos Chan (boy's under-10) all going Malaysia's way.

In the women's section, valuable points were contributed by Eliza Hanum against Charlotte Ng, and Chai Hwei Meen against Zerlinda Tan (women's), Ng Ee Laine against Ng Yuk Ching (girl's under-20), Marina Soh against Sangeeta Vadev (girl's under-16), Effalini Farid against Janice Ong (girl's under-14), Hazuin Husin against Dawn Hui (girl's under-12), and Effaliana Farid against Lin Ailin (girl's under-10).

In the second round, the Malaysians' won with a wide 24 1/2-9 1/2 result. Jimmy Liew won against Malcolm Tan, Ismail Ahmad against Chia Chee Seng again, and Julian Navaratnam against Ignatius Leong (men's), Ng Ee Vern against Lau Keng Boon, and Lim Cheng Teik against Chua Han Wei (boy's under-20), Ng Tze Han against Goh Wei Ming, and Wong Zi Jing against Navin Sawalani (boy's under-18), Law Tze Kang against Mark Kay, and Aaron Yee against Clement Chia (boy's under-16), Hasrul Hussain against Desmond Oh, and Gerald Soh against B. Sriram (boy's under-14), Jonathan Chuah against Jerald Tan (boy's under-12), and Eric Ng against Bryan Hooi (boy's under-10).

The women players also fared well. Nurul Huda shrugged off a loss in the first round to beat Charlottee Ng, Nor Fatitah won against Ng Yuk Ching, and Haslinda beat Tan Ming Ju (women's). Other wins included Chai Hwei Meen against Zerlinda Tan (girl's under-20), Mardiana against Sangeetha Vadev (girl's under-16), Hsyamira Ismail against Felicia Tan (girl's under-14), Hazuin Hussain against Janice Ong, and Effaliani Farid against Lin Ailin (firl's under-12), and Effaliana Farid against Liu Yang (girl's under-10).

Bayview League

In the fourth round of the eighth Bayview Chess League last Sunday, Penang Free School 'A' extended their lead in the Premier Division after beating Chung Ling High School 'A' 3 1/2-1/2.

Of their nearest rivals, the Old Frees Association 'A' beat Chung Ling High School 'B' 3-1 while the Chung Ling Old Boys Association drew 2-2 with Pessca. In other matches, Methodist Boys School 'A' beat the MSSPP Juniors 4-0, and Universiti Sains Malaysia drew 2-2 with the Old Frees Association 'B'.

The Division One results saw Penang Free School 'B' beating Union High School 3-1 to retain their overall lead. Chung Ling High School 'C' beat St Xavier's Institution 'A' 2 1/2-1 1/2, Penang Development Corporation were inspired in their 4-0 win over Penang Free School 'C', Chung Ling High School 'D' beat the Penang Chess Association Novices 2 1/2-1 1/2, and Chung Hwa Confucian 'A' went down 0-4 to Hewlett-Packard.

In Division Two, the MSSPP Girls lead has been whittled down following a 1-3 loss to Penang Free School 'D'. Chung Hwa Confucian School 'B' scored a 3 1/2-1/2 win over Penang Chinese Girls High School. The Police suffered their first loss of the tournament to St Xavier's Institution 'B' with a 1 1/2-2 1/2 result, while Chung Ling High School 'E' narrowly beat Dynacraft 2 1/2-1 1/2. Westlands Secondary School suffered their third 0-4 loss to Methodist Boys School 'B'.

The final standings are:

Premier Division: PFS A (14 points); OFA A (12); CLOBA (10 1/2); CLHS A (10); MBS A (8 1/2); Pessca (6 1/2); MSSPP Juniors (5 1/2); OFA B (5); USM (4 1/2); CLHS B (3 1/2).

Division One: PFS B (14 1/2); CLHS C (12); SXI A (11 1/2); PDC (11); CLHS D (7 1/2); Hewlett-Packard (7 1/2); PCA Novices (6); PFS C (4); Chung Hwa A (3); Union (3).

Division Two: MSSPP Girls (12); Chung Hwa B (11); Police (10 1/2); PFS D (10 1/2); SXI B (10); MBS B (9); CLHS E (8 1/2); Dynacraft (4 1/2); PCGHS (2 1/2); Westlands (1 1/2).

The fifth round of the chess league will be played this Sunday beginning 10am at The City Bayview Hotel's revolving restaurant. The hotel is sponsoring the use of their premises for the weekly games.

 

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