Action aplenty

 

Poor showing

 

Missed chances

 

Olympiad begins

 

Still the king

 

Kramnik claws back

 

Crash and burn

 

Class of its own

 

Fide event

 

Title challenge

 

New queen

 

Ratings obsession

 

Time difference

 

At the crossroads

 

Chinese gold

 

Tense tourney

 

Curtain raiser

 

Up against Seirawan

 

Foreign challenge

 

The player to watch

 

Chess fests

 

Past greats

 

Chess gladiators

 

Clearing the air

 

Queen control

 

Hallmark of champs

 

Smooth transition

 

Change of guard

 

Family affair

 

Tourney back in KL

 

Back for more

 

Grand prix

 

Out of limbo

 

Keeping the trophy

 

Allure of Amber

 

Elite club

 

Reunion dinner

 

Smooth show

 

For the love of the game

 

Iconic player

 

Grand quest

 

Board meetings

 

Bright chess future

 

Incomplete calendar

 

Pieces come together

 

Embracing change

 

Chess coaches facing challenges

FRANÇOIS DE LA ROCHEFOUCAULD, a 17th Century French classical author, once remarked that the only constant in life is change. Let me add here that change, too, affects chess.

Through chess history, we know how the face of chess has been changing. For instance, it evolved from a simple game enjoyed by the kings of India and Persia to the complex and demanding one that is played today throughout the world.

Likewise in chess coaching, change is inevitable. 

For far too long, chess coaching in Malaysia has been in the hands of a few independent local chess coaches, each with their different styles of coaching techniques. 

It is a very fragmented market but paradoxically, the fragmentation is the reason why many of the chess coaches continue to make a decent enough living. Somehow, because of the keen competition among themselves, they have managed to create a niche market for themselves.

All this is changing with the coming of a new player in the local coaching scene. The time-tested formula used in Singapore is now available in Malaysia under the guise of the Asean Chess Academy Malaysia.

This chess coaching organization will be duplicating the success of their Singapore counterpart by bringing in qualified foreign chess coaches for short stints here. 

If you have been reading this column for the past month or so, or following the discussions in the chess-malaysia mailing list, you may already released that a few of these foreign coaches had been conducting chess clinics around the Klang Valley and Penang.

Whether this entity will prove to be successful in the long term remains to be seen but from my discussions with various people, our local chess coaches are now threatened with marginalization. Unless they can evolve and change, organizations such as the Asean Chess Academy Malaysia are set to become the dominant player.

I’ll tell you why. 

Fide, the World Chess Federation, has been showing interest in the Asean Chess Academy in Singapore itself and a person no less than the Fide general secretary, Ignatius Leong, has been tasked to look into the possibility of duplicating the Academy’s set-up around the world. 

It’s no wonder then, that the Asean Chess Academy should be looking at its nearest neighbour, Malaysia, as the starting point.

When I spoke to Leong recently, he said that many top officials from Fide had visited the Academy in Singapore to study its organization structure and even a Russian visitor had remarked that Russia could now do no better. The old Soviet School of Chess is practically non-existent.

If the Asean Chess Academy can be duplicated around the world, the one group of people that will benefit most from this will be the qualified chess trainers and instructors who are recognized by Fide

In recent years, Fide had been quietly trying to get chess coaches and trainers to register themselves with the world body. Several designations or titles have been introduced. 

At the most basic level, the Developmental Instructor (DI) must know the rules of chess and have a Fide rating of at least 1400 points. Their scope is to provide simple instructions to beginners and people new to chess.

Then comes the National Instructor (NI) who is required to have a minimum two years of experience as a DI and a minimum Fide rating of 1600. The NI must also have finished within the top 10 in their national-level chess competitions. Nis are eligible to train players with Fide ratings of up to 1600.

The Fide Instructor (FI) title comes next and the person must have a minimum two years of experience as a NI and a minimum Fide rating of 1800. The are allowed to conduct courses for Dis and Nis, as well as train players with Fide ratings up to 1800.

Progressively, Fide has also the titles of Fide Trainer (FT) and Fide Senior Trainer (FST). Qualification to these titles are even more stringent and holders of these titles are required to know at least one Fide language.

So, this is the change that is coming. In the next few years, I foresee parents starting to ask whether the chess coaches will have the necessary qualifications. Playing experience will no longer be enough. There will be a lot of challenges facing the local coaches and they will lose out until they take the most obvious step to gain the proper credentials from Fide. 

UP NEXT

USM (Engineering Campus) open

The Universiti Sains Malaysia’s School of Engineering will organise their first chess tournament at their Engineering Campus in Nibong Tebal tomorrow.

The entry fees are: RM10 for members of the USM (engineering campus) chess club, RM15 for other USM students, RM10 for members of the Penang Chess Association (PCA) aged below 18. RM15 for adult PCA members and non-members below 18 and RM20 for others. 

With entries will close today, anyone interested should immediately contact Chin Chee Boon (tel: 017.4879028), Cheah Wee Keat (tel: 012.4124824), Ong Yee Chien (tel; 017.7521032) or Chan Chee Weng (tel: 012.3640978).

Clearwater Sanctuary open

The Perak International Chess Association (PICA) will organise the Clearwater Sanctuary chess tournament at the Clearwater Sanctuary Golf Resort in Batu Gajah, Perak this Sunday.  

Entry fees are RM10 for players under 12 years old, ladies and PICA members, and RM15 for all other players. For details, contact Yunus (tel: 013.3908129) or Hamisah (tel: 012.4313326).

Friendly games? Are you serious?

HALFWAY THROUGH the first round of the Malaysia-Singapore chess match in Kuala Lumpur two weeks ago, someone mentioned to me casually that we should not be taking the results of the match too seriously.

I could see what he meant. This wasn’t supposed to be a real serious match. Already, in his opening speech, Malaysian Chess Federation president Datuk Tan Chin Nam said he initiated the match 18 years ago to foster closer cooperation between the chess bodies of both countries.

So, the tone for this match has been set. Whatever the outcome, the real winner would be the continuing close ties between the MCF and its southern counterpart, the Singapore Chess Federation.

However, as you may already know, there is really no such thing as a friendly game, especially in chess.

With rivalry so keen, can you ever envision the Malaysians or the Singaporeans say to one another: let’s have a real friendly game of chess, let’s agree to a quick draw so that we can all go to celebrate our friendship with a drink somewhere.

Nooo … on the one hand, the MCF was trying to cling to its slim one-match lead over the SCF while on the other hand, the SCF was looking to level the overall score over 18 years.

Maybe by ‘friendly’, we mean that the players shouldn’t break out in fisticuffs. Okay, we are actually very civilized. We wouldn’t dream of inflicting any physical pain on our friends, would we? But we wouldn’t mind bleeding them mentally, testing them and torturing them. 

Therefore, it wasn’t a surprise that despite the warm words from the MCF president, the match turned into a determined battle of wits between the two countries. Witness for example, the second game between our Mas Hafizulhelmi and their Chan Peng Kong on the top board of the senior side.

In the morning, Mas Hafizul had scored a good win against his opponent. So, in the afternoon, I was not surprised to see that Chan was trying his utmost to even the score. But after about two hours of play, it was the Malaysian international master that was holding a tiny spatial advantage over the Singaporean international master.

Unfortunately, this space advantage was only illusory. It not enough to win. After four hours of mental torture on Chan, Mas Hafizul had to agree that there was nothing more he could do to win. But the fact that both players were willing to play until way past the pre-agreed time for the closing ceremony typically demonstrates how serious a friendly game of chess can turn out to be. 

For the record, the Singaporeans won yet again. The final score was 80.5 points to them and 59.5 points to us. They won and they tied the match at nine-all. Back to square one. Next year, we’ll be down in Singapore to start all over again.

Tomorrow, I shall be at the Penang International Sports Arena (PISA) to celebrate one of the state’s biggest sports event – Starwalk 2006. Though Starwalk itself will be held on Sunday, the actual festivities begin today with a charity concert.

Then, tomorrow will see the Penang Chess Association and Star Publications jointly organizing The Star international chess tournament, a one-day event that will be played over eight rounds. The registration for this event, I hear, has been very good but if you have been delaying entering yourself for it, I’m sorry to say that entries have now closed.

Nevertheless, you may still want to come down to the PISA to watch the event – there are other attractions in a Chinese chess competition, a futsal competition and a 3-on-3 basketball competition – and perhaps meet up with some old friends.

I’ll be seeing you!

UP NEXT

CAS fourth quarter tournament

The Chess Association of Selangor (CAS) will organise their fourth quarter allegro chess tournament at the Wilayah Complex in Kuala Lumpur on Dec 17. This event has two sections: Category One is meant for players with national ratings of above 1400 points while Category Two is for players with ratings below this level.

For the first category, the entry fees are RM15 for CAS members and RM25 for non-members while for the second category, the fees are RM10 and RM20 respectively.

To register, write to selangorchess@gmail.com before Dec 14, stating your name and category. Registrations after this date will incur a late administration fee of RM5.

USM (Engineering Campus) open

The Universiti Sains Malaysia’s School of Engineering will organise their first chess tournament at their Engineering Campus in Nibong Tebal on Dec 23.

The entry fees are: RM10 for members of the USM (engineering campus) chess club, RM15 for other USM students, RM10 for members of the Penang Chess Association (PCA) aged below 18. RM15 for adult PCA members and non-members below 18 and RM20 for others. Entries will close on Dec 22.

For details, contact Chin Chee Boon (tel: 017.4879028), Cheah Wee Keat (tel: 012.4124824), Ong Yee Chien (tel; 017.7521032) or Chan Chee Weng (tel: 012.3640978).

Clearwater Sanctuary open

The Perak International Chess Association (PICA) will organise the Clearwater Sanctuary chess tournament at the Clearwater Sanctuary Golf Resort in Batu Gajah, Perak on Dec 24.  

Entry fees are RM10 for players under 12 years old, ladies and PICA members, and RM15 for all other players. For details, contact Yunus (tel: 013.3908129) or Hamisah (tel: 012.4313326).

Crunch time

ALL RIGHT. It is crunch time this weekend at the Cititel MidValley in Kuala Lumpur. 

Tomorrow, we shall be having the valiant fighters from the Malaysian chess Federation (MCF) facing the might of the Singapore Chess Federation (SCF) at the annual Malaysia-Singapore chess match. This year, we are the hosts.

The Singaporeans have been winning by big margins in this encounter for the past few years but as I mentioned a fortnight ago, I hope we can really close the gap between the two countries.

It is not impossible because in the past, we have won this encounter several times before. There were good years in the 1990s when it was an embarrassment for the Singaporeans to play this match. Although times have changed in the intervening years, I’m sure our players can rise to the occasion again.

Unfortunately, we always go into the match with a handicap. The toughest games are between the two countries’ senior boards and this is always where our players find themselves running against a brick wall. 

It is very puzzling why our men players – who are not short on talent or imagination – have consistently underperformed in this section. It is a problem which I believe the MCF has yet to find a solution. 

Since it is not going to be much different this year (correct me if I’m wrong; I shall love to be wrong about this), the objective for them then, if not to beat the Singaporeans in the section, will be to minimise the damage as much as possible.

If the Malaysian senior players are able to do this, the results will boil down to the side that is able to perform better in the junior sections. At least, in this section, we have a reasonable chance to excel. Many of our junior players do not know anything about glass ceilings and that is good. 

Talent aside, all they need to do is to learn how to approach each game as a new game against a faceless opponent. Forget about reputations and past results or even the fact that they are foreigners. My advice to our junior players is to play the board and not the person sitting in front of them.

During those years when we consistently out-shone the Singaporeans, our junior players never had the opportunity to undergo serious training under qualified trainers. Oh yes, we saw the need for proper chess development but we never knew how or where to begin.  

So, our junior players grew up on natural talent alone. If anyone showed promise, the only support that the MCF could offer was to sign the registration papers for the players to play in some regional events. No fund raising. It all depended on whether their parents could pay for their children to play.

I suppose it was much the same in Singapore. Anyone wishing in play in regional chess events would have to go through the SCF for the registration. Like us too, the Singaporeans saw the need to improve through proper training. 

But unlike us, there were people in Singapore who saw opportunities and were able to turn them into business activities. They brought in experienced chess players from overseas who became coaches and parents had to pay commercial rates for the coaches to teach their children. 

We always snigger whenever we label the Singaporeans as kiasu but to me, parents are the same everywhere. If they can afford it, they will want the best for their children. When it comes to developing a child’s mind, parents will not mind paying for chess coaching the same way as they pay for tuition. 

But Singapore had some advantages. 

First, it is a small island state with a good public transport system. Commuting from one end of the island to the other end is not a big problem. Malaysia is too diversified even within the Klang Valley and you know how the traffic is when it rains. 

Second, the buying power of the Singapore dollar is so much more than the Ringgit. How many Malaysian parents are able to pay the equivalent of what a qualified chess coach will get in Singapore?

These advantages notwithstanding, I am glad to see some recent serious effort to bring organized chess coaching into the country. It is good that some enterprising people are starting to do this. There will be challenges but if this business endeavour can succeed, perhaps within the next three years we can proudly see the results of the annual Malaysia-Singapore match overturned.

UP NEXT

Penang chess camp

There will be a four-day, not-to-be-missed chess camp at the Wilayah Complex in Kuala Lumpur on Nov 27-30 and at the YMCA in Penang on Dec 4-7.

The organisers of this camp are bringing in some qualified Fide Trainers from the Asean Chess Academy in Singapore, led by Zimbabwean international master Robert Gwaze. These trainers will be conducting intensive chess courses over four days and participants will have a great opportunity to learn from the masters.

The camp concentrates on four levels of chess players from learners with an elementary understanding of the game to advanced players who wish to move themselves up to a new notch.

For details, contact to Gregory Lau in Kuala Lumpur (tel: 012.9020123 email: all4chess@hotmail.com) or Marcus Yeoh in Penang (tel: 012.4723873 email: marcusypl@yahoo.com).

11th GACC inter-varsity chess

The Tuanku Bahiyah Residential College (Second Residential College) of Universiti Malaya will organize the 11th edition of the Rakan Muda GACC world inter-varsity chess championship at the University on Dec 5-13.

This nine-round, Fide-rated annual event is open to all local and international universities, colleges and institutes of higher education. There will be both an individual and a team event. 

For inquiries, contact Jackson Toh (tel: 012.6702294 email: gacc11.director@gmail.com) or Belinda Lau (tel: 012.8812479 email: gacc11@yahoo.com), or you can visit http://www28.brinkster.com/gaccwivcc/

Sarawak open

The Sarawak Chess Association will hold their Sarawak open chess tournament at the Borneo Chess Academy premises in Jalan Song, Kuching, on Dec 8-11. This will be played over nine rounds.

Entry fees are RM10 for women and under-18 players and RM20 for others. A deposit of RM10 is required, which is refunded when you complete the tournament.

To register, contact Lim Kian Hwa (tel: 016.8603180, email: lkhwa@tm.net.my or limkh@sarawaknet.gov.my) before Dec 5

Ye olde chess debate

IT IS this time of the year again that the debate of who is better – Malaysia or Singapore – rages on. I know, I know … the debate over the chessboard is supposedly good-natured and never-ending but for the past few years, we have been at the receiving end of a painful chess lesson. 

Myself ever the optimist, my prediction this year is that we will prove to be very good hosts again and present our visitors with another opportunity to give us a chess lesson.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not being unpatriotic. Nothing hurts like the truth and the truth is, we shall still lose the annual Malaysia-Singapore chess match. However, my hope is that we can narrow the gap between the two countries. 

I believe this is a realistic hope if our team managers and strategy schemers can get their tactics right. 

The biggest challenge is whether our players can rise to the occasion. Can our players forget about past results and concentrate solely on playing? Remember, our Singaporean friends can make mistakes too. But can we make lesser mistakes than them?

Find out later this month at the Cititel MidValley on Nov 25. There will be two rounds in the morning and afternoon, with each round played over 70 boards.

On a related matter, the Malaysian Chess Federation (MCF) is finally making good their promise to hold the finals of this year’s national age group chess championships. 

If you remember, the championships that were organized last April were only the preliminaries and the top 10 in each of the age groups were required to play in the finals later on.

Well, the “later on” is now and the finals will be played at The Chess Network, Wilayah Complex in Kuala Lumpur on Nov 18-20. 

There will be separate events for the under-8, under-10, under-12, under-14, under-16 and under-20 boys and girls. That means a total of 12 events.

According to the MCF, the top three players in each section will be invited to play in the Malaysia-Singapore match. The winner of the preliminary events last April is an automatic qualifier for the match but if the player finishes within the top three positions in the finals, the fourth placed player will be selected for the match.

Moving on, I just want to say that for years, I have been contacted by parents of young children – readers of this chess column – through private email to enquire about people who can provide coaching lessons in chess to their children.

I do have a list of people – mostly in the Klang Valley but there are also a few from Penang – whom I know are chess coaches and if they have been occasionally contacted by these chess parents, they will know that they are in my radar screen.

I have nothing against these chess coaches actually, but I find that the value that each of them imparts to their young charges can be worlds apart. Earlier this year, I had brought up this matter and there was an interesting feedback on the quality of these coaches which you can still read online here: http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2006/1/6/lifeliving/13024147&sec=lifeliving

Despite these misgivings, there is definitely a market for chess coaches in the country. There are parents who are willing to spend good money to teach their children how to think structurally and logically. Chess does help in this process.

Oh, by the way, parents reading this column may be interested to send thier kids to a four-day, not-to-be-missed chess camp at the Wilayah Complex in Kuala Lumpur on Nov 27-30.

This year, the organisers are bringing in some qualified Fide Trainers from the Asean Chess Academy in Singapore, led by Zimbabwean international master Robert Gwaze. These trainers will be conducting intensive chess courses over four days and participants will have a great opportunity to learn from the masters.

The camp concentrates on four levels of chess players. Obviously, the first camp is meant for those learners whose understanding of chess is elementary to the beginner stage. 

The second camp is meant for players up to the intermediate stage, while the third camp is applicable to those players who have reached the advanced level. Gwaze himself will be condition the fourth camp which is aimed at advanced players who wish to move themselves up to a new notch.

These trainers will also be making their way to Penang to conduct the Penang chess champ at the YMCA on Dec 4-7. Basically, the same structure as the KL chess camp will be followed.

Details of the two camps can be made to Gregory Lau in Kuala Lumpur (tel: 012.9020123 email: all4chess@hotmail.com) and Marcus Yeoh in Penang (tel: 012.4723873 email: marcusypl@yahoo.com). Take note of the registration deadlines: Nov 18 for both KL and Penang.

UP NEXT

Perak rapid open

The Perak International Chess Association (PICA) will organise their Perak closed tournament over two days at the Kolej Syuen in Jalan Kampar, Ipoh, on Nov 18-19. The event will be played over nine rounds and only players who stay, work or were born in Perak can take part. 

Entry fees are RM15 for players under 16 years old and PICA members, and RM20 for all other players. For details, contact Hamisah (tel: 012.4313326).before Nov 16.

RSC chess festival

The Royal Selangor Club is holding the RSC open chess festival on Nov 19 at the Bukit Kiara Sports Annexe. The event comprises a one-day rapidchess event over seven rounds.

There will be 10 main prizes, junior prizes for the top under-8, under-10, under-12 and under-14 players and special prizes for the top RSC and veteran players and a family prize.

Entry fees are RM35 for adults, RM30 for RSC members and secondary school children, and RM25 for primary school children. 

Sarawak open

The Sarawak Chess Association will hold their Sarawak open chess tournament at the Borneo Chess Academy premises in Jalan Song, Kuching, on Dec 8-11. This will be played over nine rounds.

Entry fees are RM10 for women and under-18 players and RM20 for others. A deposit of RM10 is required, which is refunded when you complete the tournament.

To register, contact Lim Kian Hwa (tel: 016.8603180, email: lkhwa@tm.net.my or limkh@sarawaknet.gov.my) before Dec 5

11th GACC inter-varsity chess

The Tuanku Bahiyah Residential College (Second Residential College) of Universiti Malaya will organize the 11th edition of the Rakan Muda GACC world inter-varsity chess championship at the University on Dec 5-13.

This nine-round, Fide-rated annual event is open to all local and international universities, colleges and institutes of higher education. There will be both an individual and a team event. 

For inquiries, contact Jackson Toh (tel: 012.6702294 email: gacc11.director@gmail.com) or Belinda Lau (tel: 012.8812479 email: gacc11@yahoo.com), or you can visit http://www28.brinkster.com/gaccwivcc/

A fight till the end

 

Toiletgate

I’m still surprised by the speed of the Internet. A fortnight ago, within hours of my article appearing in TheStar Online, I received an email from British grandmaster Nigel Short. 

He disagreed with the one-liner where I had mentioned him. So, we both agreed that I should produce his email this week to set the record straight and put this matter to rest. Here is GM Short’s message:

“Dear Quah,

”I strongly take issue with your comments in "The Star" that Garry Kasparov and myself "committed an unthinkable crime" by taking the World Championship outside Fide. The fact is that Florencio Campomanes abrogated our right to vote on the venue of World Championship. It was this illegal action, totally contrary to the Fide statutes, which prompted the split. If you wish to talk of "the chess crime of the century" then this was it.

”Your comments have damaged my reputation publicly in Malaysia. They are totally unfair and do not give even half the picture. I ask you to print a retraction immediately.

”Regards,

Nigel." 

Thank you, Nigel, for the clarification. Okay, with this out of the way, let us return to the world chess championship in Elista where the unification match had developed as many twists and turns as any journey up our hill resorts. 

I thought Vladimir Kramnik would be able to coast home with his two-point lead over Veselin Topalov but I was wrong. Soon after the fourth game was played, a bizarre series of protest and counter-protest threatened to bring the match to an abrupt halt. 

Toiletgate was how chess journalists everywhere were describing the developments in Elista. 

It all started with the Topalov camp complaining that Kramnik was spending too much time in his relaxation room’s toilet, walking in and out and spending time inside. Each player has his own private toilet and since the toilets were the only places without surveillance cameras, the insinuation was that Kramnik could be accessing some electronic devices there. 

Gasp! Cheating at the world championship match? There was no proof but the Appeals Committee decided to lock both private toilets and requested the two players to share a common, designated toilet.

This time, it was the Kramnik team’s turn to protest and Kramnik refused to play the fifth game until his private toilet was reopened. Well, it wasn’t and so, he forfeited this game.

This prompted a crisis in Elista with the whole unification match threatened with a meltdown. World Chess Federation (Fide) president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov was forced to cut short a meeting with his boss, Russian president Vladimir Putin, to deal with it.

After some protracted negotiations, Kramnik’s right to use his private toilet was reinstated and the original Appeals Committee was replaced. In return, Kramnik had to accept that he had forfeited a point in fifth game.

He agreed to continue with the match but made it clear that he was playing under protest and he reserved the right to pursue this point later in court. 

So, after a dramatic four days, the match resumed. At first, Kramnik held on with two draws. Then disaster struck for him when he lost two consecutive games – the eighth and ninth. For the first time in the match, Topalov was leading 5-4.

However, with only three games remaining, it became Topalov’s turn to buckle under the pressure. He blundered in the 10th game and the score leveled at 5-5.

This is as far as I know as my deadline loomed earlier this week. If you have Internet access and had been following the games nightly, you will know that the match either ended yesterday with a decisive victory to one of the players or it had gone right down to the wire with a critical tie-break today. 

Remember, if there is a tie-break, you can follow the games live beginning 7pm this evening from the official world championship website http://worldchess2006.com or you can visit Susan Polgar’s excellent blog at http://susanpolgar.blogspot.com/

UP NEXT

Penang chess camp

There will be a chess camp for junior chess players at the Han Chiang College on Dec 4-7. This chess camp, limited to a maximum of 100 participants only, will be conducted for four levels of strengths: elementary, beginner, intermediate and advanced.

For details, contact Marcus Yeoh (tel: 012.4723873, email: marcusypl@yahoo.com

11th GACC inter-varsity chess

The Tuanku Bahiyah Residential College (Second Residential College) of Universiti Malaya will organize the 11th edition of the Rakan Muda GACC world inter-varsity chess championship at the University on Dec 5-13.

This nine-round, Fide-rated annual event is open to all local and international universities, colleges and institutes of higher education. There will be both an individual and a team event. 

For inquiries, contact Jackson Toh (tel: 012.6702294, email: gacc11.director@gmail.com) or Belinda Lau (tel: 012.8812479, email: gacc11@yahoo.com), or you can visit the website at http://www28.brinkster.com/gaccwivcc/

Sarawak open

The Sarawak Chess Association will hold their Sarawak open chess tournament at the Borneo Chess Academy premises in Jalan Song, Kuching, on Dec 8-11. This will be played over nine rounds.

Entry fees are RM10 for women and under-18 players and RM20 for others. A deposit of RM10 is required, which is refunded when you complete the tournament.

To register, contact Lim Kian Hwa (tel: 016.8603180, email: lkhwa@tm.net.my or limkh@sarawaknet.gov.my) before Dec 5

It’s over even as it began

THIRTEEN YEARS ago, the chess crime of the century was committed. Gary Kasparov and Nigel Short committed an unthinkable crime when they hijacked the world championship match and took it outside of the World Chess Federation (Fide).

Since that watershed event in 1993, the world championship crown had gone two separate ways. 

Fide claimed that the world chess title was still theirs to organize legitimately. In response to the split, it sanctioned a match between Anatoly Karpov and Jan Timman, which Karpov won. 

Then, the format of the world chess championships changed and in quick succession, the title passed to Alexander Khalifman, Viswanathan Anand, Ruslan Ponomariov, Rustam Kasimdzhanov and Veselin Topolov.

On the other hand, Kasparov could choose and select whom he wanted to play with and as a result, preserved his hold on his so-called world chess crown until 2000 when he lost it to Vladimir Kramnik. 

During these 13 years, there had been several attempts to reunify the two titles but all were subsequently aborted because the players disagreed over the terms of the unification attempts.

However, the latest attempt to bring the two crowns together has now succeeded. 

Even as you read this, the fifth game will be played today between Kramnik and Topalov in Elista, the capital city of the autonomous Kalmyk Republic in Russia where the Kalmyk president, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, doubles up as Fide’s president.

So it was with a great sense of anticipation last Saturday that I joined thousands of people around the world to watch the games unfold on the Internet. It would be a great match between two great players who are quite evenly matched. Who would prevail?

Common sense tells us that when you have two very experienced and world-class players playing one another, it will be a very tough but even match. In a 12-game match, maybe we’ll see either Topalov or Kramnik scraping through with something like only one or two points difference.

But what happened? 

On Saturday, the first game was evenly matched. Though Kramnik was one pawn ahead, Topalov could have easily forced a draw with his more active pieces. But he chose not to and he lost his way and the game. Score: 1-0 to Kramnik.

The second game on Sunday was full of fireworks. Topalov took the game to Kramnik and went for a kingside attack. At one point, he could have pressed home the advantage after Kramnik blundered but he overlooked it. There was no second chance and Kramnik steered the game into another win. Score; 2-0 to Kramnik.

I fear the unification match is over, even at this early stage. I do not see Topalov recovering from this disastrous start to a world championship match. He is no Bobby Fischer or even a Kasparov. There will be no miraculous recovery.

And Kramnik is no novice in the game. Remember, he beat Kasparov to be where he is today. Having taken Topalov’s measure, he will hunker down and consolidate his play, offering his opponent little chance of recovering lost ground.

Topalov will be forced to take even more risks in his play because every single draw will take Kramnik closer to winning the match. By taking more risks, he will self-destruct and be punished mercilessly by Kramnik.

At the end, this unification match will be a momentous event for chess but it will go down in history too as a big triumph for Kramnik and a better-to-be-forgotten disaster for Topalov.

Before this match began, Kasparov was asked in an interview whom he thought would be the winner. Interestingly, Kasparov hinted that Topalov was not the favourite that many people had assumed him to be. 

He made a very astute observation: “Kramnik has a more profound understanding of the game while Topalov has energy and confidence on his side.”

Another hint of the players’ relative strengths can be gleaned from the fact that prior to this unification match, Kramnik and Topalov had faced one another 39 times between 1994 and 2005, with Kramnik having won 10 times and Topalov five times, with the other games drawn. In their last encounter together, Kramnik had been the victor.

UP NEXT

Penang chess camp

The Penang Chess Association will organise a chess camp for junior chess players at the Han Chiang College on Dec 4-7. This chess camp, limited to a maximum of 100 participants only, will be conducted for four levels of strengths: elementary, beginner, intermediate and advanced.

For details, contact Marcus Yeoh (tel: 012.4723873, email: marcusypl@yahoo.com

Improving chess in this country

I HAVE been in the thick of the chess movement in this country since the early 1970s and yet when it comes to understanding the mind of chess players in this country, I am still perplexed.

For instance, I have been hearing and reading comments from various people asking how we can improve the level of chess in this country. 

Yes, how can we possibly improve the level of chess? To me, the answer is rather simple: there must be a multi-pronged approach. At its most basic, take the game down to the grassroots level. Organize more one-day events. Involve the community. Do away with cash prizes. Instead, offer prizes in kind. 

I know many people will disagree with me, especially the part on doing away with cash prizes. But why should we offer cash prizes when the participants are mere starters in the game? We should be instilling the right expectation in players by not offering cash as prizes to them.

Second, at a higher level, involve the schools, colleges and universities. Help them organize events and allow outsiders to take part. Have them run their events but seasoned organizers should be in the background to help them in case of problems.

To achieve these two suggestions, it is imperative that defunct state chess associations must be revived. From what I know, there are a number of deregistered or dormant chess associations in the country. 

The chess-playing residents in those states must take in upon themselves to regroup because unless they do it themselves, I do not see anyone else who will do it for them. Help must come from within

Third, organize state-level chess events and offer incentives to the winners, such as selection to national-level tournaments. There are several national-level events that are held regularly, such as the national age-group tournaments and the national closed championships. I believe many players will be quite proud of the fact that they are selected to represent their states in national events. Take advantage of this.

When organizing state-level tournaments, where possible, do encourage players from other states to play. The interaction between players from other states can only lift the performance of the home players.

Fourth, the state chess associations must be prepared to organize national-level tournaments. 

For example, the Malaysian Chess Federation (MCF) need not run the national closed championship every year. The MCF has been organizing this event year in and year out simply because none of the associations have stepped forth to volunteer running this event. It will be a good learning experience for the state chess associations to take up this challenge.

Fifth, organize international-level chess tournaments. By international-level events, I mean Fide-rated events and even title events. Running international events is not the prerogative of only the MCF. Even the more experienced state associations can run them too.

Last, the players themselves must rise up to meet the challenges. The MCF and the state chess associations can only do so much in chess promotion. Can you imagine if organizers run events and nobody wants to play in them?

So players have a role to play in improving the level of chess in the country too. Chess organizers are mainly volunteers who have given their time to the game they love. Pay them back by supporting the events they hold.

Finally, I would just like to ask one question to set you thinking: do you think there are enough opportunities presently for our chess players to progress in the game at the international level?

I would like to invite readers to think about this and share your thoughts with me at ssquah@gmail.com. We shall return to this topic sometime in the future.

UP NEXT

RSC blitz

Here is something different for a change. The Royal Selangor Club will hold a blitz tournament tomorrow at the Bukit Kiara Sports Annex. Time control for each game is five minutes per player. There will be a total of 22 rounds in this one-day event.

Entry fees are RM15 per player. For details, contact Jax Tham (tel: 013.3232280) or Ajeet (tel: 012.2121372) or email: dawk@streamyx.com

Terengganu closed

The Terengganu Chess Association will organise their two-day Terengganu closed tournament at the Dewan Jabatan Laut in Kuala Terengganu on Sep 22-23. This event is open to only chess players who reside in Terengganu.

For inquiries, contact Muhammad Arshad (tel: 012.9210841, email: terengganu_chess@hotmail.com).

Stonemaster open

There will be a second Stonemaster allegro open tournament, organised by Stonemaster Event Management Enterprise, in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday. Also included in this event is a one-hour chess seminar.

Entry fee is RM20 per player. To register for both the tournament and the seminar, send your email to seme_event@yahoo.com or contact Fadli (017.2880123). Closing date is Sep 12.

Najib on chess, Omar Khayyam on life

IN 1974, I had a first-hand view of our second Prime Minister, Tun Abdul Razak, officiating at the closing ceremony of the first Asian team chess championship in Penang. 

He was already quite frail at that time, yet he insisted on turning up at the closing ceremony so that he could personally hand his challenge trophy to the eventual winner of this inaugural event, the Philippines.

Almost 32 years later, I had another first-hand view. This time, it was of Deputy Prime Minister Dato Sri Mohd Najib who was the special guest of honour at the opening ceremony of the Malaysian Chess Festival.

Najib spoke of many things, including an observation of his father wanting to be a part of chess history, but he made one particular comment that struck a chord in me. 

In his speech, he said: “In tournament chess, you are forced to make decisions under time limits and are then forced to live with those decisions. I can think of no better mental and moral exercise for young people or, in truth, for many of us adults. You think something, you make a move and soon, you experience the consequences.”

When he said those words, immediately I started thinking how his thoughts were so similar to Omar Khayyam’s.

Omar Khayyam, if you do not know, was an Islamic scholar, poet and mathematician who lived in Persia some 900 years ago. That was at a time when Persia was at the centre of Middle Eastern civilization.

He is best known to the English-speaking world as the poet who wrote a series of quatrains or verses that is collectively known as the Rubaiyat. Today, the Rubaiyat is considered as one of the most popular classics of world literature.

The Rubaiyat was originally in the Farsi language and it underwent several translations into various languages. Its most celebrated translation was the English version by Edward J Fitzgerald around 1859. Fitzgerald took many liberties with his translation, sometimes dissecting and combining various quatrains, but there was no doubt that his version of the translated Rubaiyat was the most appealing and popular by far.

As a scholar, Omar Khayyam obviously knew a thing or two about the game of chess. In one of his verses, he wrote:

But helpless Pieces of the Game He plays 

Upon this Chequer-board of Nights and Days; 

Hither and thither moves, and checks, and slays, 

And one by one back in the Closet lays.

However, I have been intrigued by a more famous verse which Omar Khayyam wrote next:

The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ, 

Moves on: nor all your Piety nor Wit 

Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line, 

Nor all your Tears wash out a Word of it.

How similar Omar Khayyam’s thoughts were to Najib’s. Though expressed some 900 years ago, the Persian poet recognized that in life, you cannot turn back the clock. Whatever we do, we have to face the consequences of our actions. 

It is the same with chess. As succinctly observed by our deputy prime minister, when you think of something in chess and you then make a move, soon you will experience the consequences.

This is, in fact, the essence of chess and life. They mirror one another. After all, chess and life are all about planning, decision-making, implementing and taking responsibility for the consequences that follow.

UP NEXT

JB Merdeka open

The Johor Bahru District Chess Association will hold the 16th JB Merdeka open chess tournament at the Giant SouthernCity in Taman Suria, Johor Bharu on Aug 27.

Entry fees are RM20 for players in the open section, RM8 for under-16 players and RM6 for under-12 players. Closing date for entries is Aug 18. For details, contact Narayanan Krishnan (tel: 07.3338215, email: naraa@tm.net.my).

UUM open

There will be a one-day open event at the Dewan Kolej Bukit Kachi, Universiti Utara Malaysia in Kedah on Sep 2.

Entry fee is RM10 for UUM students and RM20 for all other players. For inquiries, contact Mahirah bt Rafie (tel: 012.5391337, email: era_gorgeous@yahoo.com).

Perak Merdeka open

The Perak International Chess Association (PICA) will organise a one-day, seven-round tournament at the Cosmopoint Metro Campus Ipoh on Sep 10 in conjunction with the state’s Merdeka celebrations. 

Entry fees are RM5 for players under 12 years old, RM10 for under-16 players, women, PICA members and staff and students of Cosmopoint, and RM15 for all other players. For details, contact Yunus Sharif (tel: 013.3908129) or Hamisah (tel: 012.4313326).

Stonemaster open

There will be a second Stonemaster allegro open tournament, organised by Stonemaster Event Management Enterprise, in Kuala Lumpur on Sep 17. Also included in this event is a one-hour chess seminar.

Entry fee is RM20 per player. To register for both the tournament and the seminar, send your email to seme_event@yahoo.com or contact Fadli (017.2880123). Closing date is Sep 12.

On the eve of a great chess festival

WITH THE third IGB Arthur Tan Memorial Malaysia open championship due to start on Monday, the list of titled players that have registered with the Malaysian Chess Federation (MCF) is still growing.

Earlier this week, the MCF said the grandmasters will include Susanto Megaranto (Indonesia), Rogelio Antonio (Philippines), Alexei Barsov (Uzbekistan), Praveen Thipsay (India), Ziaur Rahman (Bangladesh), Reefat Sattar (Bangladesh), Yu Shaoteng (China), Mariano Nelson (Philippines), Mark Paragua (Philippines), Niaz Murshad (Bangladesh) and Ian Rogers (Australia).

Among the international masters will be Irwanto Sadikin (Indonesia), Tirto (Indonesia), Taufik Halay (Indonesia), Wynn Zaw Htun (Myanmar), Nay Oo Kyaw Tun (Myanmar), Myo Naing (Myanmar), Ashot Nadanian (Armenia) and Jimmy Liew (Malaysia). 

Also among them will be woman grandmaster Eesha Karavade (India), woman international master Rani Hamid (Bangladesh) and several Fide Masters.

There will be a handful of local players who will be joining the chase for the cash prizes as well as title norms in the Malaysia open. Apart from Jimmy Liew who is already an international master, leading the Malaysian interest will be Mok Tze Meng who is chasing his final international master title norm. I wish him all the best.

The other local players in the Malaysia open are Sumant Subramaniam, Lim Kian Hwa and Edwin Lam. 

Most of the Malaysians will instead be playing in the AmBank Group Malaysia Chess Challenge.  

Today being the eve of the Astro Merdeka team open championship, I expect many chess players from around the country are already making their way towards Kuala Lumpur. I shall be one of them and I shall be joining four others of my team-mates in this big event. 

I hear from the MCF that the number of team can touch 100. I suppose the pull of this event is too great for many to resist or ignore, despite it not being held at the end of the month. Moreover, it is not even an international rating event.

So what is the lure of the Merdeka? From its humble beginnings at the Wisma Belia some 26 years ago, it has grown to be the biggest and most exciting team event in the regional chess calendar.

Year in and year out, teams converge in Kuala Lumpur to play. Even foreign teams have been known to use the Merdeka championship as an excuse to visit the country. 

More so with the Midvalley Megamall being made the venue of the event in the past three years. If not for chess, the other big excuse that people use to play in the Merdeka is the opportunity to shop, shop and shop.

For me, shopping is not a priority. Playing chess is a greater priority than shopping but I suppose the greatest attraction for me is the once-a-year opportunity to meet up with some old chess friends from across the country. 

It is a reunion of sorts so, I shall be seeing you this weekend in KL!

UP NEXT

Chess clinic

Fide Master Brian Jones from Australia will be at the Sek Men Tengku Ampuan Rahimah in Klang tomorrow to conduct a chess clinic for junior chess players. This four-hour clinic will be held at the school’s library starting 1pm and the fee is RM50 per participant.

Jones will take the participants through three topics aimed at improving chess-playing knowledge and skills: How Good Is Your Chess, Never Give Up, and Tactics And More Tactics.

For more information or to register, contact the school’s chess club at starschool_chessclub@yahoo.com 

The first 10 persons to register will receive an autographed copy of the magazine, Australian Chess, of which Jones is the editor. 

MBS open

The Methodist Boys School in Penang is organising its first open chess tournament this Sunday. 

Entry fees for members of the Penang Chess Association are RM8 for under-12 players, RM10 for under-18 players and RM12 for others. Non-members will be charged RM13 (under-12 players), RM15 (under-18 players) and RM17 (others). 

To register, contact Gerald Goh (tel: 012.4100998), Paul Ma (tel: 016.4693102) or Thomas Chua (tel: 016.4760902). Closing date is Aug 19.

JB Merdeka open

The Johor Bahru District Chess Association will hold the 16th JB Merdeka open chess tournament at the Giant SouthernCity in Taman Suria, Johor Bharu on Aug 27.

Entry fees are RM20 for players in the open section, RM8 for under-16 players and RM6 for under-12 players. Closing date for entries is Aug 18. For details, contact Narayanan Krishnan (tel: 07.3338215, email: naraa@tm.net.my).

Stonemaster open

There will be a second Stonemaster allegro open tournament, organised by Stonemaster Event Management Enterprise, in Kuala Lumpur on Sep 17. Also included in this event is a one-hour chess seminar.

Entry fee is RM20 per player. To register for both the tournament and the seminar, send your email to seme_event@yahoo.com or contact Fadli (017.2880123). Closing date is Sep 12.

Big influx of players expected

EARLIER THIS week, I was looking at the list of foreign players who had either registered or shown an interest in playing in the Arthur Tan Memorial Malaysia open championship in 17 days’ time.

Impressive list by our regional standard, I must say. Although the organizers, the Malaysian Chess Federation (MCF) cannot say for sure that all those foreign players will eventually turn up, the tentative player’s list is still mouth-watering. 

But the sad regret that I had to note is the possible absence of the Chinese players and this includes last year’s winner, Wang Hao. What I heard is that the Chinese are involved in their own chess league back home.

This is a pity because Wang Hao was the biggest hit of last year’s event. He was smashing his way through the event and cutting a path through all the resistance that terrified opponents were attempting to put up before him. One of his high-profile victims from last year will also be missing and this will be Ian Rogers.

Nevertheless, we shall still have a good list of grandmasters and international masters. Leading the pack shall be Indonesia’s top grandmaster, Utut Adianto, weighing in with a hefty Fide rating of 2589. 

Other familiar names among the grandmasters will be Indonesia’s Susanto Megaranto (rated 2524), Vietnam’s Dao Thien Hai (rated 2560) and Nguyen Anh Dung (rated 2542), the Philippines’ Joey Antonio (rated 2539) and Nelson Mariano (rated 2437).

Then there are also a trio of grandmasters from Uzbekistan (Alexei Barsov, Safin Shukrat and Saidali Yuldashev), possibly two from India (Abhijit Kunte and Praveen Thipsay), Ziaur Rahman and Reefat Sattar from Bangladesh and Yu Shaoteng from China.

Among the international masters, the more familiar among them will be Tirto and Irwanto Sadikin from Indonesia, Ravi Lanka from India, and Wynn Zaw Htun and Myo Niang from Myanmar.

Meanwhile, the MCF also expressed confidence that there will be a big influx of entries between now and next week’s closing date, Aug 10, for the AmBank Group Malaysia Chess Challenge and the Astro Merdeka team chess championship.

There have been numerous enquiries from both local and foreign players. The Chess Challenge, in particular, will provide local players with an opportunity to gain an international rating or improve on their rating points if they already have one, since the event will be played using international time control.

There are only a mere handful of local events that can qualify as a rated event and this is one. If you have always been eyeing to have an international rating, do not waste this opportunity. All you need is to play against three other internationally rated players and score at least a point from them and you are on your way to accumulating your points.

The Merdeka team open championship, however, is not a rating event. But there are good prize moneys which are too attractive to ignore, prompting news that some of the more active state chess associations are planning an assault on this event. This will be good for both the organizers and states as the move will bring quality from around the country to Kuala Lumpur. In addition, the organizers are confident that as the closing date approaches, local non-state teams will also be registering.

You can download all details pertaining to these events, including the entry fees and prizes, from The Chess Network website at http://tcn.sourceforge.net

 Alternatively, you can give a call to the Malaysian Chess Federation secretary, Abdul Hamid Majid, on 019.3158098 or email him at aham@pc.jaring.my 

UP NEXT

Selangor Merdeka open

The Chess Association of Selangor (CAS) will hold a one-day event at the Sunway University College this Sunday to select players to represent the state at this year’s Merdeka team open championship. There will be two categories of event – an open section and a under-16 section – with each category limited to 60 players only. 

Entry fees for the open event are RM15 for the CAS members and RM25 for non-members. For the under-16 event, the entry fees for members and non-members are RM10 and RM20 respectively. To pre-register for this event, email your name and age category to selangorchess@gmail.com

Chess clinic

The chess club of Sek Men Tengku Ampuan Rahimah in Klang has brought in Fide master Brian Jones from Australia to conduct a chess clinic for junior chess players on Aug 19. This four-hour clinic will be held at the school’s library starting 1pm and the fee is RM50 per participant.

Jones will take the participants through three interesting topics aimed at improving chess-playing knowledge and skills: How Good Is Your Chess, Never Give Up, and Tactics And More Tactics.

For more information or to register, contact the school’s chess club at starschool_chessclub@yahoo.com 

The first 10 persons to register will receive an autographed copy of the magazine, Australian Chess, of which Jones is the editor. 

MBS open

The Methodist Boys School in Penang is organising its first open chess tournament on Aug 20. 

Entry fees for members of the Penang Chess Association are RM8 for under-12 players, RM10 for under-18 players and RM12 for others. Non-members will be charged RM13 (under-12 players), RM15 (under-18 players) and RM17 (others). 

To register, contact Gerald Goh (tel: 012.4100998), Paul Ma (tel: 016.4693102) or Thomas Chua (tel: 016.4760902). Closing date is Aug 19.

JB Merdeka open

The Johor Bahru District Chess Association will hold the 16th JB Merdeka open chess tournament at the Giant SouthernCity in Taman Suria, Johor Bharu on Aug 27.

Entry fees are RM20 for players in the open section, RM8 for under-16 players and RM6 for under-12 players. Closing date for entries is Aug 18. For details, contact Narayanan Krishnan (tel: 07.3338215, email: naraa@tm.net.my).

UTP Convofair

The Universiti Teknologi Petronas in Tronoh, Perak, will organise a one-day tournament at the Foyer Chancellor Hall in conjunction with the university’s Convofair on Aug 13. 

The organisers are aiming to attract around 900 players in an attempt to get into the Malaysia Book of Records. To accommodate this expected number of players, the closing date for entries has been extended to Aug 9. 

In addition, the organisers have arranged buses to transport players from the Syuen Hotel in Ipoh at 7am on the day of the competition.

Altogether, there will be 10 categories – the open and institutions of higher learning (men and women), the under-12, under-15 and under-18 (boys and girls).

For more information on the entry fees, prizes, transportation and accommodation, contact Raja Farah (tel: 012.7749891 email: etakarina05@yahoo.com), Ku Nor Azmira (tel: 012.5951065, email: ku_miera@yahoo.com), Mazila (tel: 012.6573683, email: mazilamohamad@yahoo.com), Rosfadilah (tel: 017.6060914) or Mat Nor (tel: 017.9683376).