Quah Seng Sun on CHESS

13 July 2001

29 June 2001

MORE than 350 players from around the country converged at the Putra World Trade Centre for the very popular national age-group chess championship last month. This annual event is organised by the Malaysian Chess Federation. As in previous years, the championship was divided into six age-groups, with separate events for boys and girls.

The under-eight boys' section attracted 27 players. The top five winners were: Fong Yip Siang (6.5 points), Fong Yit Ho and Sumanth Subramaniam (5.5 points each), and Chia Yoon Wei and Mohd Shafeeqdeen (five points each).

The under-eight girls' section had nine entries. The two joint winners were Alia Anin Azwa Bakri and Adeline Gan Li Ling, both with 6.5 points. Third was Kwan Tszee Yeung with 4.5 points.

There were 42 players in the under-10 boys' section. The winners in this event were Anas Nazreen Bakri and Abdul Kadir Jailani who each scored 6.5 points. In the third to seventh places were: Tan Wei Yang, Ahmad Noordin Mohd Azmi, Nur Ahmad Faiz Mohd Azmi, Chong Geng Cheng and Khoo Sing Wan with five points each.

The under-10 girls' section attracted 17 entries, with Wan Khye Theng emerging as the winner with five points. Behind her was the trio made up of Michele Tai Chee Yann, Chia Yoon Yoong and Shireen Farhana Sirajudeen who obtained 4.5 points each.

The under-12 boys' section drew 75 players. The event was won by Abel Yap Jin Wei with 6.5 points. The other winners were Victor Hong Wee Lian, Muhyiddin Muhammad Isa and Zarul Shazwan Zulkafli who earned six points each.

In the girls' section, Nur Shazwani Zulkafli easily defended the title that she won last year with a clean sweep of seven points. Effaliana Mohd Farid came second with six points, and Chan Wei Qi was third with 4.5 points.

There were 46 players in the boys' under-14 section. The winner was Effazuwan Mohd Farid who scored six points, while there was a three-way tie on 5.5 points among Fariz Shafrussin, Pok Wern Jian and Ernest Chia Chuan Ping. Six players--Wong Zi Chuang, Ahmad Fadzil Nayan, Ragu Ram, Zarul Shafiq Zulkafli, Thaw Chee Hou and Mohd Johan Iskandar--shared the fifth to tenth positions with five points each.

The girls' under-14 title was won by Lim Han Ying with six points. Tied for joint second and third placing were Lee Su Lynn and Hazuin Husain with 5.5 points each.

The boys' under-16 section was hotly contested, and Nicholas Chan emerged as the winner with 6.5 points, half a point ahead of Jonathan Chuah. In third place was Hafiz Shafruddin with 5.5 points. The players with five points each were Au Yoong Yow Loo, Gerald Soh, Effawira Mohd Farid, Aaron Yee Keng Yew, Foo Chee Kin, Hisyam Ismail, Wan Jen Lye, Mohd Nazmi Ahmad and Mohd Musa Alashaari Mohd.

The girls' under-16 section was won jointly by Hazerina Jaffar and Nishaah Rengahathan who both scored 6.5 points. In third place with five points was Norhidayah Azman.

The most keenly-contested event was for the boys' under-20 title. Two players, Lim Chuin Hoong and Wong Zi Jing, were equal firsts with six points each. There was also a five-way tie on five points among Lim Yee Weng, Khor Shihong, Thaw Chee Yin, Lim Beng Tatt and Faiezul Zainal for the third to seventh places. Abdul Haq, Marcus Chan and Ooi Chong Hean scored 4.5 points to take the eighth to 10th places.

Seven players took part in the under-20 girls' section which was won by Lim Jean Nie (six points). Second was Marina Soh (five points) while in third place was Sim Chui Fong (four points).

Dell League

The fourth and fifth rounds of the 11th Dell Penang Chess League will be played this Sunday at the Kolej Damansara Utama premises in Jalan Anson.

Thirty teams divided into three divisions are taking part.

After three rounds, the Penang Free School A is leading in the Premier Division with 10 points. Close on their heels, however, are the Chung Ling Old Boys Association, Old Frees Association and Chung Ling High School A with 9.5 points each.

The Penang Chess Association Novices has six points while Pessca has 5.5 points. Placed further back are Penang Free School B with 4.5 points; Penang Development Corporation, 2.5 points; and both Dell Asia Pacific A and Kolej Damansara Utama with 1.5 points each.

In Division One, St Xavier's Institution A is in the lead with 9.5 points. Next in the standings are the Penang Chess Association Ladies with nine points; Universiti Sains Malaysia, 7.5 points; Chung Ling High School B, 6.5 points; Chung Ling High School C, six points; and Hitachi, 5.5 points. Both Penang Chinese Girls High School and MSSPP Juniors have 4.5 points each, while Penang Free School C has four points and SM Hamid Khan A, three points.

In Division Two, Tunku Abdul Rahman College has collected the maximum 12 points so far, but close at their heels is St Xavier's Institution B with 11 points. Malayan Sugar has eight points, followed by Chung Ling High School D and Penang Free School D with seven points each. SM Hamid Khan B has 6.5 points; Dell Asia Pacific B, six points; St George's Girls School, 1.5 points; and Union High School, one point. Penang Free School Girls has yet to score.

There will be two matches this Sunday. The fourth round begins at 10am while the fifth round starts at 2pm. Dell Asia Pacific is the main sponsor for this annual event while Kolej Damansara Utama is the sponsor for the venue.

UP NEXT

BPM national allegro

THE next two legs of this year's Bank Pertanian Malaysia-sponsored national allegro chess circuit will be played in Penang on July 15 and Perak on July 22.

These events will be held over six rounds with a 30-minute time control for each game. However, if the number of participants exceeds 100, the tournaments will be played over seven rounds, using a 25-minute time control.

Entry fees are RM10 for ladies, Bank Pertanian employees and members of the two chess associations running these legs, RM5 for players below 12 years old, and RM15 for all other participants.

To register, contact Ooi Kiem Boo in Penang (04-226 2209) and Dr Yee Meng Kheong in Ipoh (05-5464 5308). Selangor under-16 grand prix

THE Chess Association of Selangor is now in the midst of organising the under-16 grand prix chess tournament to be held at Sunway College, Petaling Jaya. The second leg will be played this Sunday, followed by the third leg on July 8, and the final leg on July 14 and 15.

Each of these legs will be played over six rounds with a 30-minute time control. Entry fees are RM10 for CAS members and RM15 for non-members.

For more information, contact Lim Tse Pin (012-298 4922), Norhana (03-4108 2590) or Jackie Wong (012-261 3688), or you can e-mail CAS at chessmate@cas.com.kg.

Kepong Baru Open

THE SMK Kepong Baru chess club will organise an open chess tournament at the school this Sunday. Prizes comprise trophies, cash, hampers and certificates. The best girl player and the top five under-12 players will also receive prizes.

Entry fees are RM12 per person inclusive of lunch during the tournament.

For more details, contact Tan Eng Kian (03-6274 0635) or Chin Kai Sin (03-6276 4403).

Insofar Chess

THE Insofar Chess Club in Perak will hold a one-day chess tournament at the Sekolah Tuanku Abdul Rahman in Ipoh this Sunday.

There are 10 cash prizes offered for the open section, ranging from RM300 to RM30, and 27 trophies for the best veteran, ladies, under-10, under-12 and under-16 players.

Members of the chess club will get to play in the tournament for free while non-members are required to pay RM10. Primary schoolchildren are charged RM8 per player. Only the first 60 entries will be accepted.

For more information, contact Mat Zaki Yeop ( 05-312 6696 / 019-540 5677).

15 June 2001

Young talent to the fore

LIKE many of today's young players, Lim Chuin Hoong first burst onto the local chess scene as a small boy in shorts, obsessed with playing blitz chess and never giving up despite losing games against his bigger and older opponents and, to his credit, beating them occasionally.

Many players would feel demoralised after losing some particularly hard games but some like him have the tenacity to persevere. And you could see their elation when they managed to turn the tables on their opponents.

Lim Chuin Hoong ... a young
man with an obvious talent.

Chuin Hoong's talent for the game was obvious. Not only was he playing chess in Penang and at the national level, at events such as the annual national age-group and the national closed chess championships, he had the added advantage of being exposed to adult tournaments in Singapore and Australia in the mid-1990s. The World Youth Chess Festivals in Europe were also frequent playing grounds for him.

I remember a time not so long ago when the Penang Chess Association (PCA) was faced with the dilemma of deciding what to do with the army of little chess players whose abilities were maturing fast. The natural progression was to allow them to invade the territory of the senior chess players in the state at national-level competitions.

It was a good policy which brought the PCA much success, especially at the annual Merdeka team chess championships. Players like Ooi Chern Ee, Chuin Hoong, Lim Tze Han and Jonathan Chuah made the transition from scholastic chess to adult chess well.

Chuah and Tze Han went even one step further by winning the national closed championships in 1999 and 2000 respectively. For Chuin Hoong, however, the national closed championship title would remain out of his reach for many years.

In 1996, for instance, he finished second behind the eventual winner, Lim Yee Weng. One year later, he was placed outside the top two. In 1998, Chuin Hoong again finished second behind the champion, Ng Ee Vern.

The national championship in 1999 was one of the tightest and it saw a three-way tie at the top between Chuah, Chuin Hoong and Teng Wei Khoon. Yet, the coveted title of national champion eluded him once again when Chuah finished ahead of him in the play-off for the title. Again in 2000, a second place behind Tze Han was all that Chuin Hoong could achieve.

However, luck finally smiled on him. This year's national closed championship, held last month in Kuala Lumpur, was finally won by Chuin Hoong who played by far the most consistent chess to pick up eight wins while conceding only a single draw. He had a winning margin of 1.5 points more than his closest rival, Ismail Ahmad, who had collected seven points.

Among some of the better known players who lost to Chuin Hoong were Ismail Ahmad, Wong Zi Jing, Ahmad Maliki and Mohd Saprin Sabri. His only draw was with Chauh in the final game.

Joint third to fifth in the national closed tournament were Lim Yee Weng, Wong Zi Jing and Marcus Chan who each had 6.5 points, while on six points were Jonathan Chuah, Rizal Ahmad Kamal and Ahmad Maliki.

The national women's closed championship was won by Siti Zulaikha for the third year running. She scored 6.5 points from seven games, which was a full 1.5 points more than second-placed Lim Jean Nie. Joint third and fourth in the women's tournament were Lim Han Ying and Nur Shazwani.

UP NEXT

Kepong Baru Open

The SMK Kepong Baru chess club will organise an open chess tournament at the school on July 1. There will be prizes consisting of trophies, cash, hampers and certificates. The best girl player and the top five under-12 players will also receive prizes.

Entry fees are RM12 per person, which will also cover the cost of lunch during the tournament.

For more details, contact Tan Eng Kian ( 03-6274 0635) or Chin Kai Sin ( 03-6276 4403).

Chess League in full swing

The second round of the 11th Dell Penang Chess League will be played this Sunday at the Kolej Damansara Utama premises in Jalan Anson, Penang. Thirty teams divided into three divisions will be taking part.

The Premier Division is made up of teams representing the Penang Development Corporation, Penang Free School A and B, Old Frees Association, Dell Asia Pacific A, Kolej Damansara Utama, Chung Ling Old Boys Association, Penang Chess Association Novices, Chung Ling High School A and Pessca.

The teams in Division One comprise Penang Chinese Girls High School, Penang Chess Association Ladies, Penang Free School C, Chung Ling High School B and C, St Xavier's Institution A, SM Hamid Khan A, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Hitachi and MSSPP Juniors.

In Division Two, the teams taking part are SM Hamid Khan B, St George's Girls School, Malayan Sugar, Penang Free School Girls, Tunku Abdul Rahman College, Union High School, Chung Ling High School D, Dell Asia Pacific B, Penang Free School D and St Xavier's Institution B.

The games are played on most Sundays until Aug 5. Dell Asia Pacific is the main sponsor for this annual event while Kolej Damansara Utama is the sponsor for the venue.

BPM national allegro

The next two legs of this year's Bank Pertanian Malaysia (BPM)-sponsored national allegro chess circuit will be played in Penang on July 15 and Perak on July 22. These two events will be held over six rounds with a 30-minute time control for each game. However, if the number of participants exceeds 100, the tournaments will be played over seven rounds using a 25-minute time control.

Entry fees are RM10 for ladies, Bank Pertanian employees and members of the respective chess associations running these legs, RM5 for players below 12 years old, and RM15 for all other participants.

The prizes for the open section will be RM300 for the winner, RM200 for the second-placed, RM150 for the third, RM100 each for the fourth and fifth, and RM60 each for the sixth to 10th. The best Bank Pertanian player will also win RM60 while the best players in the other categories will get RM50.

To register for the three events, contact Ooi Kiem Boo in Penang ( 04-226 2209 / e-mail: ooilsv@pd.jaring.my) and Dr Yee Meng Keong in Ipoh ( 05-546 4530).

The remaining legs in the series are in Negri Sembilan (call Charles Chan; 06-631 7971) and Sabah on Aug 12 (Sylvester Asai; 088-764 305), Sarawak on Aug 19 (Lim Kian Hwa; 082-427 772) and Labuan on Oct 28 (Sebli Hassan; 087-463 471).

Asean international chess open

The Brunei Chess Federation will host the first Asean international open chess championship at Bandar Seri Begawan from July 29 to Aug 5.

This is an individual event which will be played over nine rounds. Entry fees are US$50 (RM190) per player and, except for grandmasters, international masters and invited players from the Asean countries, participants are required to pay for their own board and lodging.

The organisers are offering 15 main prizes worth a total of US$10,000 (RM38,000) with the top three prizes being US$3,000 (RM11,400), US$2,000 (RM7,600) and US$1,000 (RM3800). In addition, there are smaller supplementary prizes for the top five Bruneian players, top three Asean players and the best under-18 player.

For more information, contact Leong Voon Choon ( 6733-333 157 / fax: 6733-372 182 / e-mail: Voon-Choon.V.C.Leong@shell.com.bn), Awang Zaidi Dollah ( 6733-373 970 / fax: 6733-330 195 / e-mail: bruneichessfederation@hotmail.com) or Yap Choow Tun ( 6733-372 485 / fax: 6733-373 130 / e-mail: Choow-Tun.C.T.Yap@shell.com.bn).

The details of this event can also be obtained from the Brunei Chess Federation website at http://www.geocities.com/bruneichessfed.

01 June 2001

11th edition

ONE of the most enduring events on the Malaysian chess calendar that is organised regularly by the state chess associations is the Penang Chess League. This Penang Chess Association (PCA) event is in its 11th edition this year and has come a long way since its inception in 1991.

At that time, the PCA was slowly emerging from a long period of the doldrums in the second half of the 1980s and the new committee that was elected into the picture had decided that the best way to raise the association's profile again was to have a sustained chess programme over a number of weeks.

Thus was born the concept of the Penang Chess League. It would be open to teams from the commercial, business and government sectors as well as from factories, institutions of learning and bona fide associations and clubs. In an effort to increase participation, all teams were allowed to include guest players who could effectively boost the teams' playing strengths.

By playing games on Sundays, it was envisioned that the participants could enjoy playing serious games with proper time controls over a period of about three months.

When the chess league first started, there were only 12 teams taking part. However, over the years, its popularity meant that the chess league had to be split into different divisions to cater for the wide spectrum of playing abilities. In its latest format, there are three divisions, with the third division comprising teams of mainly novice players.

In 1991, the PCA was lucky in that its proposals for this league was met with a sympathetic ear from the owners of the Bayview Hotel chain who allowed the association to hold the chess league at its two hotels in George Town and Batu Ferringhi in the first two years.

From the third year onwards, sponsorship for the chess league was undertaken wholly by The City Bayview Hotel which even contributed a challenge trophy for the competition.

However, a new challenge confronted the PCA in the late 1990s when a new management took over the running of the hotel. Coupled with the regional economic crisis at that time, the PCA suddenly found that the hotel was only willing to provide the venue for the chess league and the association had to dig deep into its small financial reserves to keep the event running.

There was a search for new sponsors and the PCA found a willing party in Dell Asia Pacific, now the number one manufacturer of personal computers worldwide. Dell Asia Pacific was convinced of the viability of the chess league and the commitment of the PCA to popularise a thinking game in the state, and agreed to sponsor the association for three years.

The Year 2000 edition of the competition, now aptly named Dell Penang Chess League, was held at Dell's impressive factory premises in the Bayan Baru Industrial Zone. This year, however, the venue changes to the Kolej Damansara Utama in Anson Road, Penang.

More information about this year's chess league below.

UP NEXT

11th Dell Penang chess league

Entries are now open for the above which kicks off on June 10. Dell Asia Pacific is the main sponsor while KDU is co-sponsoring the venue.

The championship will be played on consecutive Sundays (except July 8 and 15) and is scheduled to end on Aug 5.

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

Players who are unable to join as guest players in any team are requested to contact the PCA immediately. The PCA will consider grouping them together to play under the association's banner.

The entry fee is RM150 per team and cash prizes are guaranteed for the top teams in each division.

For more details, contact Chan Kim Beng at (012-451 8811 / e-mail: KimBengChan@Dell.com), Goh Yoon Wah ( 04-645 5362 / e-mail: yoon@caissa.pc.my) or Ung Tay Aik ( 017-477 5418 / e-mail: taung@alumni.uwaterloo.ca).

BPM national allegro

The next three legs of this year's Bank Pertanian Malaysia-sponsored national allegro chess circuit will be played in Perlis on June 9 and both Kedah and Pahang on June 10.

Entry fees are RM10 for ladies, Bank Pertanian employees and members of the respective chess associations running these legs, RM5 for players below 12 years old, and RM15 for all other participants.

The prizes for the open section will be RM300 for the winner, RM200 for the runner-up, RM150 for the third-placed and RM100 each for the fourth- and fifth-placed. Players coming in the sixth to 10th place will receive RM60 each. The best Bank Pertanian player will also win RM60 while the best players in the other categories will get RM50 each.

To register for the three events, contact Bahari Baharom in Kangar ( 019-568 6256), Sohaimi in Alor Star ( 04-730 7288) and Wan Abdullah in Kuantan ( 019-916 3824).

The remaining legs in the series are in Penang on July 15 (Ooi Kiem Boo; 04-226 2209), Perak on July 22 (Dr Yee Meng Keong; 05-546 4530), Negri Sembilan on Aug 12 (Charles Chan; 06-631 7971), Sabah on Aug 12 (Sylvester Asai; 088-764 305), Sarawak on Aug 19 (Lim Kian Hwa; 082-427 772) and Labuan on Oct 28 (Sebli Hassan; 087-463 471).

Sri Aman junior tournament

The Sekolah Kebangsaan Sri Aman in Penang will organise a chess tournament for under-12 boys and girls at the school on Sunday. This is a six-round event and there will be seven prizes for the under-12 players and three prizes for those under 10 years old.

Entry fee is RM5 per player. To register, be at the school by 8.30am on the day of the competition or alternatively, contact Eoh Hook Kim ( 04-826 0196 / e-mail: hkeoh@tm.net.my).

Selangor AGM

The Chess Association of Selangor (CAS) will hold their annual general meeting at 1.30pm this Sunday at the Sungai Wang Plaza exhibition hall in Kuala Lumpur. Among the highlights of the meeting will be the official launch of the CAS homepage, known as CASWeb, <http://www.cas.com.kg/>, and changes to their constitution on the types of membership and their fees.

Meanwhile, if you are in KL, do pay a visit to the exhibition hall on the third floor of the Sungai Wang Plaza (next to the IT Centre) this weekend to watch the 28th Royal Selangor open chess tournament which started yesterday. This event is traditionally one of the strongest tournaments held annually in the country.

Sarawak Open

The Sarawak Chess Association (SCA) will hold the Sarawak open tournament at the Dewan Suarah in Jalan Taman Budaya, Kuching, from June 3 to 5.

This event is divided into the open and under-18 sections. The open section will have 10 prizes, which includes RM600 and a trophy for the winner. There are prizes for the top eight winners of the under-18 section and the winner will receive RM180 and a trophy. There are also three special prizes for the best women players from the two sections.

Entry fees are RM10 for the open section and RM5 for women and under-18 players.

The SCA will provide free accommodation at the Telekom Training College in Semariang from June 2 to 6 for the first 30 outstation players who register for this tournament. The best players from Sarawak will be selected to represent the state in the Merdeka state and youth team chess championships in KL from Aug 31 to Sept 2.

Anyone interested in taking part can contact James Brodie in Kuching (082-616 177, 082-451 973 / fax: 082-610 757); Lim Kian Hwa in Kuching (082-203 112, 082-427 772, 011-218 192 / fax: 082-424 544); Bujang Poli in Miri (085-456 176, 085-654 487); Marzuki Hussain in Bintulu ( 086-252 300 ext 226, 086-252 902, 019-814 4369 / fax: 086-253 661); Ong Bee Hua in Sibu (084-336 909, 010-819 1129) or Tiong Chiong Ling in Sibu (084-322 327, 084-323 931).

18 May 2001

Master of the circuit

IT IS that time of the year again for the most important annual event in the Malaysian chess calendar: the national closed championships for men and women.

The Malaysian Chess Federation (MCF) has announced that this year's championships will be held from May 26 to 30 at the Putra World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur. This year, there will be a nine-round for the men's section and the winner will be awarded the Tun Hussein Onn challenge trophy. The women's event will be played over seven rounds and the winner will receive the Tan Sri Sabaruddin Chik trophy.

In addition, the PWTC will award trophies to the most promising under-18 male and female players.

According to rules introduced last year, the winner of the men's event will be awarded the title of national master but he will not be called the national champion.

Instead, this winner, together with the next three players from the national closed championship results, will be invited to play in a Malaysian Masters tournament at the end of the year.

This Malaysian Masters event will also include the top six internationally-rated players in the country. The 10-men event will be Fide-rated, and the ultimate winner will be declared the national champion for the year.

For the national closed championship, each of the MCF-affiliated chess associations can select a maximum of four official representatives for the men's section and two players for the women's section.

This ruling, however, does not mean that the MCF is restricting people from taking part in the championship. Anyone not selected by their respective chess associations can still participate by paying a RM100 fee directly to the MCF before the closing date for entries which is only six days away.

Those who have been selected can contact their state chess association immediately for confirmation.

Some of the contacts are Lim Tse Pin of the Chess Association of Selangor ( 012-298 4922); Ooi Kiem Boo of the Penang Chess Association ( 04-226 2209, office hours); Dr Yee Meng Keong of the Perak International Chess Association ( 05-546 4530, evenings); Stephen Cheong of the Johor Chess Association ( 07-333 9636, evenings), Muhammad Arshad of the Terengganu Chess Association ( 09-631 1312, office hours), Sylvester Asai of the Sabah Chess Association ( 088-764 305) and Lim Kian Hwa of the Sarawak Chess Association ( 082-203 112, 082-427 772, 011-218 192).

The national champions of the past 16 years and local players who are on the Fide rating list are given direct entry into the competition. However, their participation must still be confirmed through their respective chess associations.

Among them are last year's winner Ng Tze Han, Jonathan Chuah (1999), Ng Ee Vern (1998), Lim Yee Weng (1997 and 1996), Mas Hafizulhelmi Rahman (1995 and 1994), Yeoh Chin Seng (1993), Mok Tze Meng (1992), Kamal Ariffin Wahiduddin (1991), Ng Ek Leong (1990), Mohd Kamal Abdullah (1989/88), Christi Hon and Lee Soi Hock (1987), Peter Long and Francis Chin (1986 and 1985), and Jimmy Liew (1984).

The eligible former women champions include Siti Zulaika Foudri (2000 and 1999), Eliza Hanum Ibrahim (1998, 1996 and 1993), Eliza Hanim Ibrahim (1997), Khairunnisa Wahiduddin (1995), Roslina Marmono (1994), Nurul Huda Wahiduddin (1991 and 1992) and Audrey Wong (1990).

Also in the MCF list are players like Ooi Chern Ee, Mohd Saprin Sabri, Fadli Zakaria, Mohd Irman Ibrahim, Ng Ee Vern, Lim Chuin Hoong, Mohd Hussein Jamil, Mohd Fairin Zakaria, Goh Yoon Wah, Tan Hong Ghee, Julian Navaratnam, Azahari Mohd Nor, Wong Zi Jing, Lim Chin Lee, Lim Kian Hwa, Tan Wei Sin, Lim Tze Pin, Pang Siew Chong, Ismail Ahmad, Soh Zee Wee, Mohan Raj, Eric Cheah, Ng Ek Teong and Sabar Mohd Hashim, who are all Fide-rated players.

For more information, contact Hamid Majid at ( 03-402 19576 / fax: 03-402 44337 / e-mail: aham@pc.jaring.my).

UP NEXT

KL Selection tournament

The Persatuan Catur Kuala Lumpur (PCKL) will hold a two-day tournament this weekend to select players who can represent the PCKL at this year's national closed chess championship. Three rounds will be played tomorrow, and four rounds on Sunday.

Entry fees are RM10 for PCKL members and RM15 for non-members. However, all participants must show proof that they were either born or are living, studying or working in KL. Only the first 100 entries will be accepted in the tournament.

For more information, call Hamid Majid at ( 03-4021 9576).

BPM national allegro

The next leg of this year's Bank Pertanian Malaysia-sponsored national allegro chess circuit will be played in Kuantan this Sunday.

This event will be held over six rounds with a 30-minute time control for each game. However, if the number of participants exceeds 100, the tournament will be played over seven rounds using a 25-minute time control.

Entry fees are RM10 for ladies, Bank Pertanian employees and members of the Pahang Chess Association, RM5 for players below 12 years old, and RM15 for all other participants.

To register for the two events, call Wan Abdullah at ( 019-9163824).

The remaining legs in the series are in Perlis on June 9 (Bahari Baharom; 019-568 6256), Kedah on June 10 (Sohaimi; 04-730 7288), Penang on July 15 (Ooi Kiem Boo; 04-226 2209), Perak on July 22 (Dr Yee Meng Keong; 05-546 4530), Negri Sembilan on Aug 12 (Charles Chan; 06-631 7971), Sabah on Aug 12 (Sylvester Asai; 088-764 305), Sarawak on Aug 19 (Lim Kian Hwa; 082-427 772) and Labuan on Oct 28 (Sebli Hassan; 087-463 471).

Sarawak Open

The Sarawak Chess Association (SCA) will hold the Sarawak open tournament at the Dewan Suarah in Jalan Taman Budaya, Kuching, from June 3 to 5.

Entry fees are RM10 for the open section and RM5 for women and under-18 players.

The SCA will provide free accommodation at the Telekom Training College in Semariang from June 2 to 6 for the first 30 outstation players that register for this tournament. The best players from Sarawak will be selected to represent the state in the Merdeka state and youth team chess championships in KL from Aug 31 to Sept 2.

Anyone interested in taking part can contact any of these people before May 24: James Brodie in Kuching at ( 082-616 177, 082-451 973; fax: 082-610 757); Lim Kian Hwa in Kuching ( 082-203 112, 082-427 772, 011-218 192; fax: 082-424 544); Bujang Poli in Miri ( 085-456 176, 085-654 487); Marzuki Hussain in Bintulu ( 086-252 300 ext 226, 086-252 902, 019-814 4369; fax: 086-253 661); Ong Bee Hua in Sibu ( 084-336 909, 010-819 1129) or Tiong Chiong Ling in Sibu ( 084-322 327, 084-323 931).

11th Dell Penang chess league

Entries are now open for the 11th Dell Penang Chess League which kicks off on June 10 at the premises of Kolej Damansara Utama (KDU) in Penang. The tournament, now in its 11th year, is organised by the Penang Chess Association. Dell Asia Pacific is the main sponsor while the KDU is co-sponsoring the venue.

The championship will be played on consecutive Sundays (except July 8 and 15) and is scheduled to end on Aug 5.

Players who are unable to join as guest players in any team are requested to contact the PCA immediately. The PCA will consider grouping them together to play under the association's banner.

There is provision for a maximum participation of 30 teams, and each team is allowed up to eight players. However, only four players from each team will play in any one round.

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

The entry fee is RM150 per team and cash prizes are guaranteed for the top teams in each division.

04 May 2001

Three against the Federation

THE two maverick K's of the chess world have been joined by a third K to speak out against the World Chess Federation (FIDE) on the latter's policy changes to the time controls used in official chess events and their treatment of the history and tradition of the world chess championships.

In an open letter to the global chess community last month, Anatoly Karpov and Gary Kasparov, the 12th and 13th world champions, and Vladimir Kramnik, the self-proclaimed 14th world champion, claimed that the world's top chess players have been denied a voice in FIDE's decision-making processes.

The trio said that any changes to the time-honoured traditions and rules of classical chess should only be made after such plans are studied and debated in an open forum between FIDE, the national federations and the professional players.

The three players also voiced concern over FIDE's claim to the world chess championship. They said that the championship had existed long before FIDE was founded and a century of tradition could not be wiped away. It was unacceptable to them that FIDE were claiming rights to the world championship while at the same time working to destroy the structures upon which the tradition was built.

The letter brought a swift response from FIDE which insisted that they had always welcomed dialogue with members of the world chess fraternity. According to FIDE, policy decisions were often made after consultations with a cross-section of administrators, players and sponsors.

It was in this same spirit that the FIDE presidential board accepted a compromise solution in March on the new time control after it noted the concerns of some European chess federations on the issue.

Last December in Teheran, Iran, the FIDE presidential board had approved a new time control of 40 moves in 75 minutes, 15 minutes for the remainder of the game, with an increment of 30 seconds per move from the first move, which would be mandatory for all chess events effective from January this year. In the compromise solution, this time control would be mandatory for the world championship events which would include the zonal and continental championships, and optional or recommendatory for other FIDE and international rating and title tournaments. For tournaments using analogue chess clocks, the time control of four hours for the duration of the whole game would be recommendatory for title tournaments.

On the issue of the world chess championship, FIDE maintained that they had well-documented historical facts on how FIDE had begun the steady implementation of the qualification systems to the world chess championship titles since 1947.

As such, the Teheran declaration last December had only served to reiterate FIDE's clearly established role as the only custodian of the world chess championship titles.

As custodian, FIDE would have the right to bestow the world championship title on any individual who has participated and won an event solely organised by FIDE for this purpose. This would include a fair and democratic qualification process approved by the FIDE members and not subjected to abuse by any individual or group.

Since 1947, this process had produced world champions in Mikhail Botvinnik, Vassily Smyslov, Mikhail Tal, Tigran Petrosian, Bobby Fischer, Karpov, Kasparov, Alexander Khalifman and Viswanathan Anand.

Interestingly, the independent World Players' Council (WPC) were also quick to voice their opinion. Saying that chess was not the only sport where the official international federation has the rights to organise the official world championship, the WPC stated that it was obvious that FIDE has more rights than any other body.

The WPC singled out Braingames which had invited Kramnik, a loser in a qualification tournament, to play Kasparov in a match last year.

The WPC also reminded the three K's that all the top active chess players, except for themselves, had participated in the last official world championship in New Delhi and Teheran in December.

"We are ready to participate in the search for ways to modify the world championship cycle but to turn the championship into a selection process to play against Kasparov, which will in its turn be the qualification to the match with Kramnik, we think is unacceptable," the WPC declared. "The world championship should finally become an honest sport competition of all the strongest sportsmen without any privileges for whoever."

On the issue of time control, the WPC said each organiser would have a chance to choose whatever appropriate time control suitable for his own tournament. Nobody, according to the WPC, was saying that the classic time control could not be used.

Taking a parting shot at the three K's open letter, the WPC said Karpov's action was really surprising. In early 1998, after having beaten Anand in Lausanne, Switzerland, Karpov had declared himself as the champion and Kasparov as the imposter. Then, in January this year, Karpov, when facing the Commission of Sports Arbitrage in Lausanne, had admitted that the titles of the 14th and 15th world champions belonged legitimately to Khalifman and Anand.

Quah Seng Sun can be contacted at ssquah@schach.pc.my while his previous columns are archived at http://chesscolumn.20m.com. Join Malaysia's only chess mailing list by sending an empty e-mail to pg-chess-subscribe@egroups.com or alternatively, visit http://http//www.egroups.com/list/pg-chess.

UP NEXT

11th Dell KDU Penang chess league starting soon

THE northern region's biggest chess event, the annual Dell KDU Penang Chess League, kicks off on June 10 at the premises of Kolej Damansara Utama (KDU) in Penang. The tournament, now in its 11th year, is organised by the Penang Chess Association and co-sponsored by both Dell Asia Pacific and KDU.

The championship will be played on consecutive Sundays (except July 8 and 15) and is scheduled to end on Aug 5.

Players who are unable to join as guest players in any team are requested to contact the PCA immediately. If the response is encouraging enough, the PCA will consider grouping them together to play under the association's banner.

Provision has been made for a maximum participation of 30 teams, and each team is allowed up to eight players. However, only four players from each team will play in any one round.

The entry fee is RM150 per team and cash prizes are guaranteed for the top teams in each division.

For more details, contact Chan Kim Beng ( 012-451 8811 / e-mail: Kim_Beng_Chan@Dell.com), Goh Yoon Wah ( 04-645 5362 / e-mail: yoon@caissa.pc.my) or Ung Tay Aik ( 017-477 5418 / e-mail: taung@alumni.uwaterloo.ca).

BPM national allegro

The next two legs of this year's Bank Pertanian Malaysia-sponsored national allegro chess circuit will be played in Malacca on May 13 and in Kuantan on May 20.

Each of these legs will be held over six rounds with a 30-minute time control for each game. However, if the number of participants is more than 100, the tournaments will be played over seven rounds using a 25-minute time control.

Entry fees are RM10 for ladies, Bank Pertanian employees and members of the state chess association organising their respective legs, RM5 for players below 12 years old, and RM15 for all other participants.

To register for the two events, contact Ishak Ahmad ( 06-283 5878) for the Malacca leg and Wan Abdullah ( 019-916 3824) for the Kuantan leg.

Perak grand prix

The Perak International Chess Association will hold their grand prix event on May 12 and 13 at the Sekolah Tuanku Abdul Rahman in Ipoh.

The two-day Category A event for players with PICA ratings of above 1,700 will be held over two days while the Category B event for players with no PICA ratings or with rating points below 1,700 will be held on May 13. Both events will be conducted over six rounds but with different time controls. For more information, contact W.K Wong ( 05-366 1692).

20 April 2001

It's time for change

JUDGING from the feedback so far, this year's Bank Pertanian Malaysia-sponsored national allegro chess circuit was very well-received by chess players. Better-than-expected entries have been recorded for the first four legs which were held in Selangor, Terengganu, Kuala Lumpur and Kelantan.

The first leg of the chess circuit was held at the Mid-Valley Megamall, KL, at the beginning of March and it attracted a good turnout from chess players in the Klang Valley. Almost 200 entries were received, but only 152 were allowed to play.

The surprise of this tournament was Fikrul Saifuddin's good showing in which he won all his six games. Mas Hafizulhilmi, who had been expected to take the top prize, had to be content with second place after he dropped half-a-point in the fourth round to 15-year-old Siti Zulaika who is the current national women's champion.

Interestingly enough, Fikrul and Mas Hafizul did not play against each other in this event. This was a common enough technical problem, caused by the large number of entries and not having enough rounds to ensure that the top contestants in the tournament would play each other.

Normally, six rounds would be sufficient to decide an undisputed winner in a tournament of not more than 64 players. A seven-round event can cater to a field of up to 128 participants but if you have more than 128 players, an accurate winner can only be obtained if there are eight or more rounds.

If there are fewer rounds than these optimum numbers, the tournament stands a risk of finishing with joint winners or, like in the case of the first leg, winners who had not met one another over the chess board.

Another inherent problem of insufficient rounds is that immediately below the winner and maybe, below the runners-up too, there will usually be a large pool of players bunched together with the same number of points.

In the first leg, there were no less than 11 players who finished with five points after Fikrul and Mas Hafizul. Eight players had 4.5 points, while 25 other players obtained four points!

Again, this is not an ideal result which we can hope for and the long-term solution to this problem is to increase the number of rounds to accommodate the increasing number of players.

But in one-day events like the chess circuit, the time factor will also be a major problem for organisers and players alike. For each additional round slotted into a tournament, the duration of the event increases by an hour. (This is on the assumption that the time control used is 30 minutes per game for each player.)

One way to get around this problem is to reduce the time control for each game to only 25 minutes for each player. This way, an extra round can be introduced into the tournament without lengthening its total duration. In fact, many overseas rapid-play tournaments are organised along this line.

Maybe, local organisers can also think about what the Penang Free School students are doing for their annual PFS open chess tournaments. Within a seven-hour playing period, they managed to fit in eight rounds rather effortlessly.

Their time controls are rather unique. For the first two rounds, all games are played using a 20-minute time control. Then, for the remaining rounds, they revert to 25-minute games.

Whether this solution will catch on remains to be seen but within our local context of trying to strike a balance between time and the number of rounds, perhaps other organisers may want to consider this formula.

Finally, maybe I should also mention here that the problems faced in the first leg did not go unnoticed by the Malaysian Chess Federation (MCF). In the second leg in KL which attracted 139 participants, the MCF agreed to introduce a seventh round into the event.

UP NEXT

King of the castle

For two days starting tomorrow, Kellie's Castle in Batu Gajah, the unfinished monument to William Kellie Smith who was a pioneer rubber planter in Perak at the turn of last century (the Kinta Kellas Rubber Estate was planted by him), will again be the venue of what is arguably the country's most intriguing chess competition.

Trans-Clarity Resort, with help from the Perak International Chess Association, will organise the second Kellie's Castle open tournament within the castle grounds.

The two-day event will be played over eight rounds, with three rounds to be contested on Saturday and the remaining rounds on Sunday. There are at least 20 cash prizes totalling RM5,240, and this includes an attractive RM1,000 and a trophy for the winner.

Beside the top 10 winners of the open section of the tournament, there are also prizes for the best two players in the following categories: women, under-12 boys, under-12 girls, under-16, veteran and PICA members.

Anyone interested in taking part can register at the tournament venue between 1pm and 2pm tomorrow. For more information, call W.K. Wong ( 05-366 1692).

Chess in Historical Malacca

Entries will close today for the Malacca Historical City individual open chess tournament which is organised jointly by Kolej Yayasan Melaka and the Malacca Chess Association on April 28 and 29.

Ten cash prizes are on offer, with the first prize being RM1,200, second prize RM800 and third prize RM500. The fourth to sixth prizes are RM100 each, while RM50 will be given as the seventh to 10th prizes.

Entry fees are RM20 for members of the MCA while other participants will be charged RM25. The venue of the competition is Kolej Yayasan Melaka.

The organisers said that the Hotel Grand Continental( 06-284 0088), St Meridian Apartment (06-284 1166), The City Bayview Hotel (06-283 9888) and Air Keroh DeVillage Resort (06-232 8000) have special reduced rates for outstation players. Alternatively, the college's hostel is available for players on a tight budget.

For more information, contact Noraini Mohd Darus (06-281 7732) or visit the website at http://catur.kym.edu.my/

Penang grand prix

The third leg of this year's Penang grand prix chess circuit will be played at the clubhouse of the Residents' Association of Bayan Baru (RABB) on April 29. This tournament will be played over six rounds and there is a 30-minute time control for each game.

The event is open to members of the Penang Chess Association only and they will be charged a fee of RM10. The top prize is RM200, second prize is RM120 and third prize RM80. The fourth to eighth prizes range from RM50 to RM30. The best junior and lady players will also receive RM30 each.

The top 10 players from each leg of the circuit will receive grand prix points. At the end of the year, the best eight players will qualify for the Penang closed championship where they will be joined by two junior (under-15) players.

For enquiries and registration, contact Ooi Kiem Boo ( 04-226 2209; e-mail ooilsv@pd.jaring.my) or Ung Tay Aik (017-477 5418; e-mail taung@alumni.uwaterloo.ca).

Meanwhile, the PCA will hold its annual general meeting at the RABB clubhouse at 6pm on the same day.

National age-group chess championship

The Malaysian Chess Federation will organise this year's national age-group chess event at the Putra World Trade Centre from May 4 to 6.

There will be separate events for boys and girls in the under-8, under-10, under-12, under-14, under-16 and under-20 age categories.

For more information, contact Norhana (03-4108 2590).

06 April 2001

Bridging the nations

DIPLOMATIC relations between the Americans and the Chinese are at an ebb. Not since the bombing of the Chinese Embassy building in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, two years ago (which Nato insisted was accidental) have tensions run as high in both countries as at present.

Just this week, for example, an American spy plane made an emergency landing in Hainan after it collided with a Chinese fighter jet in airspace off China.

It is in the midst of such political and diplomatic problems between the two giants of the Pacific that I wonder whether, ironically, sparring in chess is perhaps the best balm to soothe all tensions.

The political masters in the United States and China should do well to emulate the chess friendship that has been growing between the top players of the two countries recently. Last month, a very significant event took place on American soil. A team of top chess players from China visited Seattle, in the United States, to play an official four-round match with the best American players.

Datuk Tan Chin Nam
with the Chess Summit
Match jade trophy in Seattle.

Billed as the Chess Summit Match, it was the first of four matches between the United States and China that had been planned to take place over the next few years. The match was contested over 10 boards and it featured the top six players from each country, plus their two top women and two top junior players.

Playing for the US team were Boris Gulko, Yasser Seirawan, Gregory Kaidanov, Alexander Shabalov, Alexander Ivanov, Larry Christiansen, Irina Krush, Camilla Baginskaite, Vinay Bhat and Dmitri Schneider with Joel Benjamin, Elina Groberman and Hikaru Nakamura as the reserves.

The visiting China team comprised Ye Jiangchuan, Xu Jun, Peng Xiaomin, Zhang Zhong, Xie Jun, Yin Hao, Xu Yuhua, Qin Kanying, Bu Xiangzhi and Ni Hua. Their reserve players were Zhu Chen, Wang Lei and Wang Yue.

In the very first round, the United States won with a narrow 5.5 to 4.5 score. This was rather surprising because on paper, the Chinese were a much stronger side. Xie Jun, the women's world champion, was even playing in the senior side as their fifth strongest player, disdaining the fact that she was at the same time their top women's player.

The second round was split evenly between the two sides but, in the third round, the Chinese players scored a ripping 6.5 to 3.5 win against the Americans. The US team tried hard to come back into the match but they failed to produce anything more than a 5 to 5 draw in the fourth round.

This result meant that China took the four-round match by a 21 to 19 score which was a small but nevertheless emphatic two-point winning margin.

Significantly, the US team were stronger on the top six boards where they were more experienced. Here, the Americans achieved a 13.5 to 10.5 victory over the top six Chinese who included Xie Jun and another women's player, Zhu Chen, in the line-up.

It was interesting that on the women's boards where China was expected to do very well, the Chinese only managed to win narrowly with 4.5 to 3.5. However, the biggest revelation was on the bottom junior boards where the two Chinese players contributed heftily to the overall margin. Winning 6 to 2 over four rounds made all the difference between the two teams.

Incidentally, the match would never have happened had it not been for Datuk Tan Chin Nam. Tan's quiet but important role in the development of Malaysian chess is already well-known but on the international scene, he is also known for his fervour in promoting Asian chess.

China made great strides in chess because of Tan's belief that the Asians could one day be equal to the Westerners in this thinking game. So far, more than 25 years since China joined the international chess community, he has not been wrong.

Tan, who was the guest of honour in Seattle during the summit match and the closing ceremony, was justifiably the happiest man around when he presented the elegant teapot-shaped jade trophy to the secretary of the Chinese Chess Federation.

UP NEXT

Chess in historical Malacca

The Kolej Yayasan Melaka and the Malacca Chess Association will jointly organise a grand individual open chess tournament on April 28 and 29 in conjunction with the Malacca Historical City celebrations.

Ten cash prizes are on offer: the first prize is RM1,200; the second prize, RM800; and the third prize, RM500. The fourth to sixth prizes are RM100 each, while RM50 will be given as the seventh to 10th prizes.

Entry fees are RM20 for members of the Malacca Chess Association while other participants will be charged RM25. Entries will close on April 20.

According to the organisers, the Hotel Grand Continential ( 06-284 0088), St Meridian Apartment ( 06-284 1166), The City Bayview Hotel ( 06-283 9888) and Air Keroh DeVillage Resort ( 06-232 8000) have special reduced rates for outstation players. Alternatively, the college's hostel is available for players on a tight budget.

For more information, contact Noraini Mohd Darus ( 06-281 7732) or visit the website at catur.kym.edu.my.

King of the castle

Kellie's Castle, the unfinished monument to William Kellie Smith who was a pioneer rubber planter in Perak at the turn of the last century (the Kinta Kellas Rubber Estate was planted by him), will again be the venue of what is presumably the country's most intriguing chess competition.

On April 21 and 22, Trans-Clarity Resort, with help from the Perak International Chess Association, will organise the second Kellie's Castle open tournament at the castle grounds in Batu Gajah.

The two-day event will be played over eight rounds with three rounds to be contested on the first day and the remaining rounds on the next day. There are at least 20 cash prizes totalling RM5,240 and this includes an attractive RM1,000 and a trophy for the winner.

There are also prizes for the best two players among the women, under-12 boys, under-12 girls, under-16, veteran and members of PICA.

For more details of this competition and enquiries about accommodation, call Steven Ng ( 05-366 8198) or write to Kellie's Castle, Km 5.5 Jalan Gopeng, P.O. Box 11, 31000 Batu Gajah, Perak.

RSC junior event

The Royal Selangor Club will organise the fourth RSC juniors tournament for under-8, under-10 and under-12 players at the club's premises at Dataran Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur, on Sunday. This is a six-round event.

The entry fee of RM15 is inclusive of lunch. For more information or to register, contact the RSC sports office ( 03-253 2277 / e-mail: royselchess@hotmail.com). Entry forms are also available at the club's reception desk.

Places are limited to only 100 participants. Cash prizes and trophies will be given to the winners.

Klang chess fest

Tomorrow sees the start of the four-day Klang Parade chess fest which is jointly organised by the Malaysian Chess Federation and the Klang Parade. All games will be played in the concourse area of the Klang Parade shopping centre. Cash prizes totalling RM2,500, hampers, trophies and other prizes in kind will be given to the winners.

The chess fest starts with the under-12 and under-16 tournaments at 9am tomorrow. There are five prizes for each age group and the winners of the two categories will each receive RM100 and a trophy.

On Sunday, the under-20 open tournament will start at 9am. The prizes are RM100 for the winner, second RM80, third RM70, fourth RM60 and fifth RM50. There are also hampers for the best under-12 and under-16 boys and girls.

The Klang Parade blitz tournament will be played on April 14, with the Klang Parade open tournament held the following day.

For the blitz event, the winner will receive RM150 and a trophy. The second prize is RM80, the third prize RM70, fourth prize RM60 and fifth prize RM50. Hampers are given as the sixth to 10th prizes.

Only a maximum of 100 players will be accepted for each event. For registration or information, contact Rizal or Angie of Klang Parade ( 03-334 37889 / fax: 03-334 37313) or Norhana ( 03-410 82590).

BPM national allegro

The next leg of this year's Bank Pertanian Malaysia-sponsored national allegro chess circuit will be played in Johor Baru on Sunday.

This leg will be held over six rounds with a 30-minute time control for each game. If there are more than 100 participants, the tournaments will be played over seven rounds using a 25-minute time control.

Entry fees are RM10 for members of the Johor Chess Association, Bank Pertanian employees, players above 50 years old and girls below 12 years old, and RM15 for all other participants. To register, call Stephen Cheong (07-333 9636).

26 January 2001

Making the grade

THE Malaysian Chess Federation ended the old millennium by organising a very quiet and largely unpublicised double round-robin masters tournament, comprising six of the country's senior and junior players, at the Putra World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur last month.

Although Mas Hafizulhelmi dominated the event and finished unbeaten with 7.5 points from 10 games, he had a rather slow start to the tournament. After winning from Nicholas Chan in the first round, Mas Hafizul experienced a run of three consecutive draws with Ismail Ahmad, Jonathan Chuah and Ng Tze Han.

In the fifth round, however, Mas Hafizul scored a win against Lim Chuin Hoong who was at that time the tournament leader. This important win caused the lead to change hands and from then on, Mas Hafizul took a firm grip on the event and never allowed anybody to catch up with him.

In the home stretch, Mas Hafizul scored three more wins against Chan, Chuah and Lim, and allowed Ismail and Ng to draw with him.

It was remarkable that Lim, who lost both his games to Mas Hafizul, could finish in joint second position with Ng. In the last round, Lim tried to take the game to his opponent but the more experienced Mas Hafizul had already obtained a firm grip on the game which he refused to relinquish.

Lim's loss could have been heaven-sent for Ng who was playing the last-placed Ismail but fate was unkind to him. All he needed was a draw to take the sole second place in the tournament but somehow, Ng's attack was misplaced and he found himself at the losing end.

Chuah could have had a satisfying tournament, but after an encouraging start of two wins and four draws, he suffered three losses in a row to the three leaders. In the last round, he was glad for the opportunity to take a quick draw with Chan.

By all accounts, Chan is one of the country's most promising young players but he was never expected to finish anywhere higher than the fifth place in this tournament. Nevertheless, the tournament was beneficial to the 14-year-old boy who has managed to obtain his first-ever international rating points here.

By my estimate, Chan's performances against his more experienced rivals have earned him an initial rating of about 2095 points. This should be reflected in the World Chess Federation's July 2001 international rating list.

Ismail found himself out of his depth in this event. But it was a rejuvenated Ismail who managed to turn the tables on Ng in the final round. It was a precious win which ensured that he would not finish the tournament in sole last position.

The final standings in the double round-robin event: Mas Hafizulhelmi 7.5 points, Ng Tze Han and Lim Chuin Hoong 6 points each, Jonathan Chuah 4 points, Nicholas Chan and Ismail Ahmad 3 points each.

Moving up the list

The World Chess Federation (Fide) have just released its latest world rating list of players who have, at one time or another, played in international events which were recognised for rating purposes by the world chess body.

It is a very elite group of about 37,000 people on this list and even if you have been playing in international chess tournaments for some time, the chances are that you may still not find your name on this list unless you have performed up to expectations.

This may change, of course, if the local governing chess body in the country, which in this case is the Malaysian Chess Federation, takes it upon itself to organise more small and closed events like the recently- concluded Malaysian Masters tournament in KL.

There are 60 Malaysians inthe Fide list this January. But sad to say, many of them have not played in international events for a long time and are now classified as inactive. We had such good potential players in Eric Cheah, Christi Hon and Peter Long who have since moved on to other interests in life.

Mas Hafizulhelmi remains our highest rated player. In the January list, his rating is 2456, obtained from the Istanbul Chess Olympiad last year. This is an increase from the 2441 rating points from the July 2000 list. Slowly but surely, Mas Hafizul is inching towards the rarified atmosphere of 2500 rating points and I would like to see him achieve this as soon as possible.

Jimmy Liew, despite not having played any rateable game in the last six months, is still our number two player in the country with 2333 rating points. After Liew is Mok Tze Meng who gained 13 rating points from his games in Istanbul. Ng Tze Han, fourth in the standings, is rated at 2283.

A surprising entry into the Malaysian Top Five is Wong Chee Chung who enters at 2282 rating points. He had played reasonably well last year in the Singapore national championship.

Wong Zi Jing played nine rateable games in Istanbul and is now positioned with 2267 points. Placed below him are Lim Chuin Hoong with 2249 points, Aaron Yee with 2240 points, Ng Ee Vern with 2224 points and Deon Moh with 2215 points.

Among the other local players who have either gained or lost points in the past six months are Jonathan Chuah with 2211 points, Lim Jean Nie with 2165 points, Azahari Md Nor with 2106 points and Ismail Ahmad with 2064 points. All of these players had participated in Istanbul last year.

I should also add that the Fide rating list only shows players who are rated above 2000 rating points. The rating scale is actually open-ended and below this threshold of 2000 points, the unpublished names of players must be very large.

As far as I know, there are two Malaysian players who took part in one of the First Saturday tournaments in Budapest, Hungary, last August. Unfortunately, both did not fare too well to make the cut at 2000 points.

Both Shafruddin Fariz and Shafruddin Hafiz played 25 games each in Budapest and their ratings from this event are the same 1931 points.

Mailing list

Individual e-mails are great when it comes to an almost instant communication with people from around the globe. However, mailing lists are even better when you want to distribute your thoughts to a wider audience. An e-mail message sent to a mailing list will be distributed automatically to reach the electronic mailboxes of the list subscribers.

Two years ago, I set up an e-mail chess mailing list to test the response of local chess players. Unfortunately, it was not very well-received at that time and the utilisation was low.

About two months ago, I decided to widen the coverage of the mailing list by inviting several local chess players from the length and breadth of the country to join. So far, the response has been terrific because these local players have found themselves an outlet through which they can raise several issues on the state of Malaysian chess.

This is an open and largely unmoderated list and anyone can subscribe and contribute to it. To join the list, all you need to do is to send an empty e-mail to pg-chess-subscribe@egroups.com and follow the instructions that come back to you.

However, in order to get the most from this mailing list, I would advise you to visit http://www.egroups.com/list/pg-chess and register yourself online. As a registered subscriber, you can participate in polls and download files which are put there by other members.

More importantly, as a registered subscriber, you become a member of Malaysia's first and only online chess forum and you can participate by contributing your views on issues very close and dear to all of us. I hope to meet more of you soon in our own cyberspace community soon.

12 January 2001

Asians gain the upper hand

WHO would have thought that it would take more than 600 years before chess is championed by Asians? It has finally happened, through the efforts of India's Viswanathan Anand and China's Xie Jun at the world chess championships that were held in New Delhi and Teheran late last month.

For the first time in the long history of the ancient game, both the men's and women's chess crowns are held simultaneously by Asian chess players. And from the way that they achieved these successes, you would have believed that it had come so easy to them.

In fact, the way I see it, it was way too easy for the top seeds in their respective championships. For most of the earlier rounds, Anand and Xie had marched through their opponents like a knife cutting through butter.

Anand's first real test came in the quarter-final stage where he disposed off the defending world champion, Alexander Khalifman. This was an exciting match. The first and second games were drawn and so, the match headed into the play-offs.

The first two games of the play-offs were also drawn, then Anand struck in the third game. In the fourth play-off game, Khalifman held a very slight edge in the position but it was not enough to win. With this game drawn, Anand advanced to the semi-finals where he was to play Michael Adams.

The first game between Anand and Adams was drawn, but the Indian outplayed the Englishman in the second game. Two more draws followed and suddenly, Anand found himself in the final. For the final match between Anand and Alexei Shirov, the venue shifted from New Delhi to Teheran.

The organisers had expected this match to go the full distance of six games but to everyone's surprise, all it took to decide the new men's world champion were four thrilling games! Viewers following the games through the Internet were kept enthralled throughout the short battle.

The first game was a draw but then, Shirov decided that if he wanted to win the match, he would have to take a lot of chances and risks. So, in the second game, despite playing with the black pieces, Shirov served up a most complicated game. However, Anand kept his cool and adroitly converted the endgame into a full point.

Disaster again struck for Shirov in the third game. He gave up one of his rooks to wreck the position around Anand's king, but this enterprising sacrifice was not enough to force a win. Through accurate play, Anand managed to cover his weaknesses and then, after having done so, he used his material advantage to force a resignation from Shirov.

The fourth game saw Shirov throwing caution to the wind as it would be a make-or-break game for him. With all his guns blazing, Shirov launched into a kamikaze attack.

Anand declined to castle and Shirov responded by ripping open the centre. A terrific attack followed during which Shirov's mass of centre pawns threatened to weave a mating net around Anand's king. But suddenly, the queens were off the board. Without the queens, Shirov's initiative petered out and Anand had no trouble realising his material advantage.

Xie also had no problem in winning the final match against her compatriot, Qin Kanying, but there was one difference. Xie was already the defending champion and she fully justified her top ranking by breaking through the dense rows of European players to reach the final. With Xie in such intimidating form, it would have been very naive to expect Qin to perform miracles in this match.

In the first game, Xie played an interesting novelty and won. It took only one mistake on Qin's part and her position became practically hopeless. Xie edged closer to victory by drawing the second game.

Qin managed to strike up a fight but nothing came out of it. The final position in this game was so sterile. Similarly in the third game, Qin tried her best but could only reach an equal rook endgame.

The fourth game presented Qin with the final chance to draw level in the match. However, she failed to put her plans into practice and simply flowed with the tide. Her only salvation was that Xie only needed to draw the game and once she saw a perpetual check, she was no longer interested to find a simple way to win.

So, after a gruelling month of chess in India and Iran, the 2000 edition of the world chess championship came to a close.

With the start of the new millennium, Asia suddenly finds itself with two worthy chess champions. Will this herald a new age for chess in Asia, or will we find that Anand's win is only a slight aberration in the world chess order? Only time will tell.

Perak chess calendar

The Perak International Chess Association (PICA) has released its calendar of activities for this year and between now and July, chess players in the state can expect to play in five local chess tournaments.

The most immediate activity takes place this weekend at the Sekolah Tuanku Abdul Rahman library in Ipoh. There is a two-day Category A event starting tomorrow at 2pm for Perak players with internal ratings of at least 1,700 points. This tournament is played over six rounds with a time control of one hour on each player's clock for each game.

On Sunday, a six-round Category B tournament with a 30-minute time control will also be organised from 8.30am. To play in this tournament, players must have no internal Perak rating or have a rating of more than 1,699 points.

Three other similar events will be held on the weekends of March 10 and 11, May 12 and 13, and July 7 and 8. According to the PICA, players who perform well in the Category A tournaments will be short-listed for the Perak team which will be sent to this year's Merdeka team championship in Kuala Lumpur at the end of August.

The other main tournament that the association will be holding will be the second Kellie's Castle open tournament in Batu Gajah on April 21 and 22. The PICA is also holding its annual general meeting in Ipoh on March 11.

Readers interested in taking part in these tournaments should call W.K. Wong ( 05-366 1692).

CAS clarification

Last month, the Chess Association of Selangor (CAS) organised the Metro Hundred Chess Carnival at the Mines exhibition hall in Seri Kembangan on behalf of Metro Hundred Sdn Bhd. Apparently, the winners of the tournament have not received their prizes.

In a short statement released earlier this week, CAS said that the event was not funded by them. However, according to CAS, the prize money for the winners would be paid by Metro Hundred on Feb 15.

29 December 2000

Much room for improvement

MOST readers know that we have an annual match with our Singapore friends every year. It is either the Malaysians going south to Singapore, or the Singaporeans coming north to Kuala Lumpur.

Either way, our players always cherish playing this match because in the last few years, we normally come out big winners. Even though our senior players lose on the top boards, our juniors always carry the day. We feel good about the success of our junior players because they are the future of Malaysian chess.

As our juniors mature into senior players, perhaps the day is near when Malaysia will finally beat Singapore at senior level.

Well, I have news for you. The writing is there that we are wrong, very wrong and getting complacent about it. In one very recent regional event, the cream of our junior players, except for a few exceptions, were shown to be as ordinary as our average adult club players.

When the Malaysian Chess Federation decided to send a group of 22 boys and girls to the first Asean age-group chess championship in Vungtau, Vietnam, hopes were rather high that our players could give a good account of themselves.

In a field that consisted of an even bigger group of 44 players from Singapore and 76 juniors playing in front of their home audience, the feeling was that most of our players could end up in the top half or even the top third of the standings. Perhaps with some hard work and good luck, a Malaysian player could even top an age-group event or two.

However, the results proved otherwise. In almost all the age-groups, our players were placed badly. The main beneficiaries were the Vietnamese themselves but generally, the Malaysian juniors had rather uninspiring results.

Just consider these points:

The best Malaysian in the boys' under-12 event finished 13th, behind 10 Vietnamese players and two Singaporeans. The event was won by a Vietnamese player but the best Singaporean went home with the third prize. Near the bottom of the table languished two other Malaysians.

A Singaporean won the boys' under-18 event. Then, there was a long list of names of players from Myanmar, Vietnam and Singapore before our the name of our sole representative was reached.

In the boys' under-10 event, Vietnam took the top eight spots and our player only managed to slip into the ninth place. After him was another Malaysian boy, but it was basically the Singapore players that dominated the middle standings.

This trend was repeated in many of the girls' events. In the girls' under-10 event, the Vietnam girls shut everyone else from the top half of the standings. Our local girl was 10th in a field of 14.

Similarly, in the girls' under-12 and under-16 events, Vietnam ruled the top half of the tournament. For the under-12 event, Malaysia's current national women's champion, Siti Zulaika Foudzi, could only place eighth while another girl was even further back. In the under-16 event, the Malaysian was ninth among 12 players.

It was only in the boys' under-14 and under-16 events that there were some redeeming factors.

Singapore's Luke Leong played with such confidence to grasp the first prize of the under-14 event that even our former national champion, Jonathan Chuah, could only give chase, while failing to catch up with him. The most pleasant surprise was the good show of young Nicholas Chan who finished joint second with Chuah. But apart from these two players, the other four Malaysians finished poorly in the second half of the 23-player field.

Also in the under-16 event, Deoh Moh and Marcus Chan played reasonably well to finish third and fourth respectively among 14 players. We had two other players in this event but they could only end up in sixth and 10 positions.

As a final summary of the Asean age-group tournament, Vietnam's girls made a complete sweep of the five girls' events while of the five boys' events, Vietnam won the under-10 and under-12, Singapore won the under-14 and under-18, and the Philippines took the under-16 prize.

My opinion of the Malaysian juniors' performances may seem rather harsh but the stark reality is that our junior players, save for a handful, are really going nowhere. Even when they play among their peers, it seems that other countries are progressing faster than us.

So what can be the solution to this problem? Various suggestions have been made, including the traditional solution of training on one's own, learning from chess books and using the modern approach of using computer chess and chess database programmes, and then taking part in competitions within one's own geographical sphere.

This, however, has its limitations because the player is not exposed to the wider practical challenges of playing with enough human opponents of varied playing styles and skills.

There has been talk of organising centralised training sessions in Kuala Lumpur for selected junior players. But while this is a plausible solution, it cannot be sustained over a long period of time due to various reasons.

Outstation junior players, for example, cannot be expected to invest too much time away from their homes and normal studies. Then there is the aspect of getting suitably qualified local coaches. While there are a few local players who are attempting to make a living from coaching and organising some chess activities, they do not have the necessary experience to take their students far. They are competent, yes, but up to a certain standard only, after which the students are on their own again.

Perhaps we can do what the Singaporeans are doing: employ foreign grandmasters and other titled players as coaches. For the past years, Chinese grandmaster Wu Shaobin and Vietnamese grandmaster Tu Hoang Thong have been among other foreign chess professionals coaching the Singapore boys and girls regularly, and their efforts are starting to show good results.

I am told that their professional fees are not cheap. Wu, for example, charges between S$60 to S$70 (about RM135 to RM160) for a two-hour private tutorial.

Perhaps the Malaysian Chess Federation could have instituted a similar programme years ago when the Georgian grandmaster, Eduard Gufeld, was such a regular figure darting in and out of the country. At that time, the MCF's honorary life-president, Datuk Tan Chin Nam, had offered Gufeld's services to the federation but sadly, this offer was never taken up.

It was a missed golden opportunity because the MCF will not be able to afford paying for Gufeld now. Gufeld has already set himself up in the United States where he runs a popular and successful coaching service. Needless to say, he now "talks'' in US dollars.

Perhaps where we are going wrong is in the types of tournaments we organise. Rapid chess events may be cool and popular but they do not train our players to play and pace themselves correctly. We certainly need more local tournaments at longer time controls so that our players can learn what it is like to think more deeply.

And finally too, it is about time that the MCF gets down to the urgent task of persuading the Education Department to reinstate the MSSM chess programmes. It has been a few years since chess disappeared from the schools' activity calendar; it is time for the game to reappear if we want to rejuvenate scholastic chess interests nationwide.

UP NEXT

THE Penang Chess Association will organise the fourth leg of this year's Penang Chess Grand Prix circuit at the Bayan Baru Residents' Association clubhouse on Dec 31 at 8.30am.

This tournament will comprise six rounds and the entry fee is RM10 for PCA members. Anyone interested can contact Ooi Kiem Boo ( 04-226 2209, office; 04-658 0809, residence / e-mail: ooilsv@pd.jaring.my).

15 December 2000

Fiery quest for the finals

THE world chess championship in New Delhi, India, has reached a most interesting stage. The field in the men's championship has now been reduced to only four players in the semi-finals stage, thus making it easier to focus our attention on the event. As for the women's championship, the finals are now in progress.

When the event kicked off some 2 1/2 weeks ago, there were 72 players entering the first knockout stage of the championship. Even when half of this field was eliminated, they were joined by another 28 players who, by virtue of being higher seeded, had the right of entry into the second round.

But by the fifth round, the number of contenders had been whittled down to only eight. Along the way, many fancied players had seen their aspirations dashed for at least another year.

For example, in the first round, the biggest casualty was France's Joel Lautier who lost at the hands of Rafael Leitao of Brazil. But there were also a lucky few who survived this stage, like Vietnam's Dao Thien Hai who eliminated Ukrainian wonderboy Ruslan Ponomariov, and Poland's Bartlomiej Macieja who beat England's Jonathan Speelman.

Dao's run ended in the second round when he lost to England's Michael Adams while Macieja found the inspiration to progress further when he beat his compatriot, Mikhail Krasenkow. However, there were no bigger upsets in this round other than Jann Ehlvest beating Vassily Ivanchuk, and Nigel Short losing to the virtually unknown Igor Nataf of France.

Armenia's Vladimir Akopian, who had played so wonderfully in Las Vegas last year when he advanced until the final stage, hit a wall this time when he was beaten by Aleksei Aleksandrov of Bulgaria. In the meantime, Russia's youngster Alexander Grischuk who was a key member of the Russian team at the Istanbul Chess Olympiad, got the better of his higher rated opponent, Ilya Smirin of Israel.

The fancied names that made it through this round included top-seeded Viswanathan Anand, Alexander Morozevich, Adams, Alexei Shirov, Peter Leko, Veselin Topalov, Evgeny Bareev, Peter Svidler, Boris Gelfand and Alexander Khalifman. In addition, the dark horses who managed to sneak into the third round were Vladimir Tkachiev, Loek van Wely and Jeroen Piket.

For van Wely and Piket, however, this was as far as they could go, for they were now eliminated by Alexei Dreev and Gelfand respectively. Macieja again surprised everyone by beating Alexander Beliavsky but, apart from this rather unexpected result, the more fancied players who survived this round included Anand, Khalifman, Adams, Shirov, Svidler, Topalov and Morozevich.

Tkachiev and Grischuk also found their way through to the next round. Tkachiev beat Uzbekistan's Rustam Kasimdzhanov while Grischuk beat Grigory Serper.

By the fourth round, the world championship had become decidedly tighter and, consequently, more interesting. Basically, there weren't any more easy pushovers except for maybe three pairings. Anand, as expected, ended Macieja's fine run. Khalifman also ended Leitao's fine run, while Bareev stopped the unassuming Boris Gulko in his tracks.

Of the other line-ups, Adams beat Svidler, Topalov took care of Dreev, Grischuk eliminated Ehlvest, and Shirov disposed of Gelfand.

Meanwhile, Tkachiev continued to surprise by beating the fancied Morozevich.

The highlight of the fifth round, the quarter-finals of the world championship, was the anticipated clash between Anand and Khalifman. It was rather disappointing that the match between the aspirant and the incumbent had to occur at this stage of the championship as many would have preferred that they meet in the final.

But such was the pairing and, according to reports from Delhi, the playing hall was jam-packed with Indian spectators for this match. This year alone, Khalifman had already lost to Anand thrice with the black pieces, so the biggest question mark was how he would play against Anand in the first game.

To Khalifman's credit, he chose the aggressive Marshall Attack against Anand's Spanish Opening and he held the initiative for a long time. But although the play was exciting, the advantage never tipped significantly either way and, before long, both players had agreed to a draw.

The second game was drawn, so the match headed into the play-offs.

The first two games were drawn, then Anand struck in the third game, forcing Khalifman's resignation. In the fourth play-off game, Khalifman held a very slight edge in the position but it was not enough to win. With this game drawn, Anand thus advanced to the semi-finals. We shall see a new world champion.

In the other quarter-final matches, Adams won comfortably against Topalov while the Grischuk-Tkachiev and Bareev-Shirov games went into the play-offs. Grischuk and Shirov won their respective play-off games and are now meeting each other in the semi-finals. Adams is presently playing Anand in the other semi-finals.

The winners of the two semi-final matches will then travel to Teheran for the final match of this world championship series from Dec 20 to 26. There will not be any Christmas break for the players and they may still be playing chess as Ramadan ends and Syawal begins in Islamic Iran.

The women's world championship will be spared the potential problems of women playing chess in Iran because the cycle will end this week in Delhi itself. Because there were fewer players to begin with, the World Chess Federation could arrange for the women's cycle to be completed in six rounds instead of seven.

For the women's final, Xie Jun is defending her title against another Chinese player, Qin Kanying. For Xie, it has been a casual stroll since she entered the championship in the second round as the top seed. The only time that she had to stretch herself was in the semi-finals in which she secured her place in the finals with a win against Ekaterina Kovalevskaya during the play-off.

By comparison, Qin had to battle her way from the first round. But in beating Alisa Maric in the semi-finals, Qin is halfway to realising her ambition of winning the world championship.

It will not be an easy match for Qin. Xie, a two-time world champion, is a very experienced opponent. She would not be where she is today if she is not a formidable player. Even as you read this, the women's finals may well be over!

The official homepage for the world chess championship which is run by Fide Commerce in conjunction with the Indian and Iranian organisers is http://wcc2000.fide.com but an equally interesting coverage is offered by http://www.kasparovchess.com.

Chess mailing list

More in my next column about Malaysia's first and only chess e-mail discussion list to enable members to talk about the state of Malaysian chess. However, if you can't wait until then, you could join immediately by sending an empty e-mail to pg-chess-subscribe@egroups.com.

Selangor 'Fun Karnival' events

THE Chess Association of Selangor (CAS) will organise a series of tournaments from tomorrow until Dec 22 at the Mines Exhibition Hall, Sungei Besi, Kuala Lumpur, in conjunction with the "100 Fun Karnival 2000''.

This weekend will feature four individual events. Apart from an open tournament, there will be separate events for the under-eight, under-10 and under-12 age groups. Each event will be a six-round Swiss with a time control of 30 minutes per player.

Three rounds will be played tomorrow and another three on Sunday. Players who have already registered with the CAS must confirm their entries at the playing venue at 9.30am tomorrow.

The entry fee for the open section is RM15 while the three age-group events are free of charge for the players. Only the first 100 entries will be accepted, and participants will receive gifts from the organisers.

The total cash prize is RM2,200, of which RM500 will go to the winner of the open section. The winners of the three age-group events will receive RM150 each.

Apart from these individual events, the CAS will organise the under-15 and under-18 competition for school teams at the same venue on Dec 21 and 22. Each team shall comprise at most four players, of whom one is a reserve.

Again, these shall be six-round Swiss events with the same time control. Teams must confirm their entries at the Mines Exhibition Hall at 9.30am on Dec 21. The entry fee depends on the number of players in each team and is calculated at RM15 per player. Participants will be given a "100 Fun Karnival'' T-shirt each.

Only the first 20 teams will be accepted for each category, and there is a total cash prize of RM1,000 to be won.

01 December 2000

The seven chessmen

LAST year's world chess championship in Las Vegas, the United States, brought an unlikely duo to the forefront of chess: Armenia's Vladimir Akopian and Russia's Alexander Khalifman.

Unless you are very familiar with the international chess scene, you will be forgiven if you were to ask: Akopian who? Khalifman who? These two players, although they are chess grandmasters, do not feature as prominently as their higher profile contemporaries such as Vladimir Kramnik or Alexei Shirov or Michael Adams who were eliminated on their way to the finals.

But it was to Akopian's and Khalifman's credit that, against the odds, they had battled their way through almost a month of knock-out mini-matches to earn a shot at the championship title which was eventually won by the latter.

This year's World Chess Championship, now being played in New Delhi, follows the same format as last year's edition. There are the same series of short, knock-out matches to determine two players who will then contest for the title.

This type of short, knock-out matches makes it rather difficult for anyone to predict the winner accurately. Will the top contenders assert themselves this time, or will the title again go to someone relatively unknown?

If you are betting that someone relatively unknown will pull it off again, then there is no shortage of potential candidates to think about: some 90 names ranging from Indonesian grandmaster Adianto to Poland's international master Zaja.

But if you are putting your money on one of the top contenders, then there is a shorter list of candidates to consider and choose from. After all, all the top stars of the chess world are participating except for Gary Kasparov, Kramnik, Judit Polgar and Anatoly Karpov.

Kasparov's absence is predictable since he remains at odds with the World Chess Federation (Fide); Kramnik is probably still enjoying his new status as Kasparov's successor to a debatable and unrecognised world championship title; and Karpov is a fading star with his own set of Fide-related problems.

Meanwhile, Polgar was somehow not invited. She was denied a "wild card'' entry into the championship despite good results in the Istanbul Chess Olympiad last month.

In their absence, there are seven players who are most likely to make an impact in Delhi: Viswanathan Anand, Adams, Alexander Morozevich, Peter Leko, Shirov, Vassily Ivanchuk and Khalifman.

The 31-year-old Anand is the firm favourite, being the top-rated participant. Besides, he is also on home turf. The World Chess Championship is not unfamiliar to him. In the 1997 series, he had advanced as far as the finals, only to meet his match in Karpov. Anand's tournament victories so far this year have included winning the World Blitz Championship and the Fide World Cup in Shenyang, China.

Adams, two years younger than Anand, is also a top contender. His successes this year have included winning the Redbus tournament and two rapid chess events in Bordeaux, France, and Frankfurt, Germany. He reached the semi-finals in last year's World Chess Championship where he was eliminated by Akopian.

Morozevich, 31, is an immensely talented player. He put in a brilliant performance on the second board for the Russian team at the Istanbul Chess Olympiad. He is hopeful that the momentum from Istanbul will carry him through in New Delhi.

Leko, 22, is among the youngest championship hopefuls. Earlier this year, he beat Khalifman in a short match and this has given him the self-confidence to do well in the World Chess Championship.

Shirov, 29, is a former world junior champion. His games are often exciting but he walks on a tightrope in his games. Everybody expected him to survive until the final in Las Vegas last year but his devil-may-care attitude in his games saw him crash out at the quarter-final stage.

Ivanchuk, 32, is often described as highly-strung, displaying mood swings in matches. He can win brilliantly but is also susceptible to spectacular losses. Yet, he remains a contender for the World Chess Championship this year. His successes this year have included the Keres Memorial tournament, the Stein Memorial tournament and the Montecatini-Terme tournament. He was a quarter-finalist in last year's world championship.

Then there is the 35-year-old Khalifman who is defending the title that he won last year. This time, he is no longer a relative unknown. His greatest triumph this year was in the Hoogeveen tournament in which he scored 5.5 points from six games against difficult opponents. Will he be able to emerge the winner again for the second year? Time will tell.

According to the tournament schedule, the second round started yesterday and the second game of the mini-match will be played today. If it is a 1-1 tie, tomorrow will be used for the play-off games.

The third round knock-out matches will be played from Dec 3 to 5, and the fourth round will be from Dec 6 to 8. The quarter-final matches are scheduled from Dec 9 to 11 and the semi-finals, from Dec 12 to 16. For the finals of this world championship, the venue will be Teheran, Iran, where the games will be contested from Dec 20 to 26.

Together with the men's championship, a women's world championship is also being held at the same time. However, unlike the men's championship, the women's championship will last until Dec 16 and all the games will be played in New Delhi. In a way, this will avert any potential problem with the Iranian authorities regarding women playing chess in public.

For the women's championship, defending champion Xie Jun, Alisa Galliamova and Maya Chiburdanidze have been seeded directly into the second round.

There is a homepage for the World Chess Championship which is run by Fide Commerce in conjunction with the Indian and Iranian organisers.

The URL for this event is http://wcc2000.fide.com/ and you can follow the games daily from 4pm (Malaysian time) onwards.

Up next

The Chess Association of Selangor will organise their fourth quarter open allegro tournament on Dec 10 at the Sunway College in Petaling Jaya. For more information, call Jackie Wong ( 03-703 8237) or Lim Tse Pin ( 012-298 4922).

17 November 2000

An enjoyable Olympiad

ONE aspect of Istanbul hosting the world's biggest chess event is that, unlike the previous hosts Elista or Erevan which are underdeveloped by comparison, the good infrastructure in the Turkish city makes communication with the rest of the world seem so effortless. Accessing the Chess Olympiad's homepage through the Internet was so easy and fast.

There I was, early Sunday evening, in front of my computer and already logged onto the Internet. With a few clicks of the mouse, I was ready to follow the fortunes of our Malaysian team which were playing a rather weak Zambia in the final round. This was to be an important match because the team needed a really good result to boost their position in the tournament's final standings.

Actually, our team's progress through the first 13 rounds of the Olympiad was very typical of most teams in the competition: a good win against a weaker team would be immediately followed by a thrashing at the hands of a stronger team.

This would push down the standing of the team whereby it would then be paired with another weak team which it would beat. This cycle normally repeats itself unless there is some extraordinary change to break the pattern.

For example, in the first 10 rounds, the Malaysian team alternated between losing and winning. They lost 0.5-3.5 to Poland, beat Jersey 4-0, lost 1-3 to Argentina, beat Palestine 3.5-0.5, lost 1-3 to Singapore, beat Qatar 2.5-1.5, lost 0-4 to Italy, beat Uganda 3.5-0.5, lost 1-3 to Turkey 'A' and beat Paraguay 3.5-0.5.

In the 11th round, Malaysia drew 2-2 with Colombia, then lost 0.5-3.5 to Lithuania in the 12th round, and drew 2-2 with Syria in the 13th round. These fluctuating fortunes set the Malaysians up against Zambia in the final round of the competition. I was quite hopeful that the Malaysian players could walk through the Zambians.

Mas Hafizulhilmi, our first board player, had been a pillar of strength for Malaysia. Except for a loss to the Italian grandmaster Igor Efimov, Mas Hafizul had either won or drew his other games. His results included draws against Lithuanian grandmaster Aloyzas Kveinys, Singapore's imported Chinese grandmaster Wu Shaobin, Polish grandmaster Bartlomiej Macieja and Argentine international master Alfredo Giaccio.

The Zambian first board proved no match for Mas Hafizul whose patient handling of a slightly defensive position from the opening gradually turned the tables on his opponent. By the end of the game, the Zambian player was staring at an impending checkmate.

But on the second board, Mok Tze Meng was very lucky to have gotten away with a draw. Unless the game score was wrong, I could have sworn that his opponent, having sacrificed a rook and gotten a pawn to the seventh rank, had a won game. There was no way that Mok could defend himself against checkmate or huge material loss. Anyway, it was still a precious half-a-point.

Wong Zi Jing, our third board player, grounded out a win in a tedious rook endgame. Earlier, the position with the rooks and minor pieces on the board had looked rather level but Wong's dogged probing of the weaknesses in his opponent's position led him to gain an important passed pawn in the centre of the board.

By the end of the game, Wong's advantage had increased to two passed pawns, and his opponent gave up soon afterwards.

This Chess Olympiad could almost have been a dream tournament for Jonathan Chuah. Until the 12th round, Chuah had played six games and obtained five points, putting him as the top contender for the gold medal as the second reserve player. Unfortunately, the Syrian player in the 13th round spoilt Chuah's plans and suddenly, he found himself out of contention.

When I watched Chuah's play at the start of the final game last Sunday, I had a feeling that he had perhaps not fully recovered from his disappointment as the opening play was erratic, leading to the loss of the exchange material. But Chuah woke up after that and he not only won back his material but later on, managed to go a piece up. The full point from this game was never in doubt after that.

Chuah finished the Chess Olympiad with a 75% score from eight games, the best achieved among the six Malaysian players in the team.

However, it was not enough even for the bronze medal which was awarded to the Russian grandmaster Alexander Grischuk who had also obtained a 75% score from 10 games.

The other two Malaysian players were Ismail Ahmad and Azahari Mohd Nor. Fourth-board Ismail played six games but scored only one point, while first reserve player Azahari lost the only game that he played.

Many readers reading this report on the Chess Olympiad may be wondering what was exactly Azahari's role in the team. Assuming that the team had gone to Istanbul on sponsored funds, the Malaysian Chess Federation will have to justify their selection of Azahari instead of some other player who could have contributed more.

The 28.5 points scored by the Malaysian players enabled the team to finish in joint 59th-65th position among the 126 teams in the open event. Malaysia had also fielded another team for the women's event and this team, comprising Lim Jean Nie, Samantha Lee, Eliza Hanum Ibrahim and Siti Zulaika Foudzi, finished in joint 56th-61st position among 84 teams.

The winners of the open and women's events were Russia and China respectively.

Russia won the Russell Hamilton trophy with 38 points, narrowly edging out Germany which had collected 37 points. For the Germans, it was their best-ever performance in the history of the Chess Olympiad which goes as far back as 1927.

In the women's event, the Vera Menchik trophy was won by China after the team had brushed aside a challenge from Georgia and 83 other teams. China accumulated 32 points which was also one point ahead of their closest rivals.

Although the Russian men carried the day in Istanbul, things did not go exactly the way they would have preferred. In the third round, the Russians fell to the Hungarian team after their world champion Alexander Khalifman lost to Peter Leko and the other three games were drawn.

Then there were two drawn matches with Germany and Israel in the sixth and seventh rounds, and this was followed in the ninth round with a Russian loss to Bulgaria. This time, Khalifman lost to Veselin Topalov and Peter Svidler to Kiril Georgiev.

But just as spectacular as Hungary beating Russia in the third round, the Hungarians themselves fell to the German side one round later. So, from the fourth round onwards, Germany assumed the leadership of the pack. It was a lead that the Germans would hold for the next five rounds.

By the ninth round, however, the Germans were forced to give up their sole lead in the competition when they allowed Armenia to catch up with them. Armenia had defeated Spain by 3.5-0.5 which was a big margin considering that the Spanish number one player, Alexei Shirov, was playing on the top board. By the end of this round too, Ukraine had crept up to third place in the standings while Russia and Bulgaria were placed just next in line.

The 10th round saw the final turning point in the Chess Olympiad. Russia stepped up a groove by beating Romania and suddenly, the other teams were lined up behind them. Russia built on this lead by beating Ukraine and Armenia, and then with the trophy already theirs, they eased up by drawing with England and Georgia in the final two rounds.

The women's event turned out to be a two-horse race between China and Georgia after the Russian women's challenge fizzled out. The early rounds saw an interesting tussle between the two teams but by the seventh round, China had claimed a firm lead in the competition.

The past two months have been quite filled with high-level chess activities worldwide which began with the 16-game match between Gary Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik.

It took Kramnik just 15 games to eke out an historic 8.5-6.5 victory. At the tail-end of this match, the Chess Olympiad began in Istanbul and even as the world's biggest chess event has ended, the chess world is gearing up towards the next big event which is the World Chess Federation's annual world chess championship.

This event starts on Nov 25 in New Delhi and it will end in Tehran, Iran, on Dec 27. This is a whole month of chess-playing activities for the world's top chess players as they seek to be crowned as the next world chess champion. The URL for this event is http://wcc2000.fide.com/ and I am sure the timezone in India will make this website quite popular among local chess enthusiasts.

UP NEXT

Seremban Parade chess challenge

THE two-day Seremban Parade Chess Challenge, organised by the Seremban Parade with help from the Malaysian Chess Federation, starts next weekend in Seremban.

On Nov 25, the Seremban Parade age-group tournament will be played beginning at 10am while the Seremban Parade open tournament will be held a day later. The total prize fund for both events is RM1,500.

As only the first 100 entries will be accepted for each event, anyone interested in playing should call either Amy Yap ( 06-761 8282) or Norhana ( 03-4108 2590) as soon as possible.

Selangor events

The Chess Association of Selangor will organise their closed Rapid-60 tournament for the under-12, under-16 and under-20 age groups tomorrow and Sunday at the Sunway College in Petaling Jaya. This is a six-round event. Although it is open to CAS members only, non-members who wish to play can call Lim Tse Pin ( 012-298 4922) for consideration.

The CAS will also hold their fourth quarter open allegro tournament on Dec 10 at the Sunway College. Originally meant for Nov 26, the change of date is to prevent a clash with the Seremban Parade tournament. For more information, Jackie Wong ( 03-703 8237) or Lim.

Quah Seng Sun on CHESS

13 July 2001

Anand trumps Kramnik

29 June 2001

Game for a challenge

15 June 2001

Young talent to the fore

01 June 2001

11th edition

18 May 2001

Master of the circuit

04 May 2001

Three against the Federation

20 April 2001

It's time for change

06 April 2001

Bridging the nations

26 January 2001

Making the grade

12 January 2001

Asians gain the upper hand

29 December 2000

Much room for improvement

15 December 2000

Fiery quest for the finals

01 December 2000

The seven chessmen

17 November 2000

An enjoyable Olympiad

Introduction

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