Merdeka fever

 

Momentous Open

 

Political move

 

New champ

 

World chess championship

IF YOU Internet access, I will wholly recommend you to visit the official site of this year’s World Chess Championship at http://wcc2004.fide.com.

Although this World Chess Federation event started two weeks ago in Tripoli, Libya, it is still not too late to catch up on the championship as it moves into the semi-final stage (Round Six).

There were originally 124 players when the championship began, but with the elimination of half the players at the end of each succeeding round, the field has become increasingly smaller and comparatively stronger. Naturally, for the semi-finals, only four players are left standing.

But who are they? As I write this week’s column, the quarter-final games have only just begun. Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria) was facing Andrei Kharlov (Russia), while Alexander Grischuk (another Russian) was facing Rustam Kasimdzhanov (Uzbekistan). In the second half of the table, Teimour Radjabov (Azerbaijan) was playing Lenier Dominguez (Cuba), and Michael Adams (England) was meeting Vladimir Akopian (Armenia).

Like the earlier rounds, each quarter-final match between two contestants consists of two games played at normal regulation time control. If the result is tied at 1-1, then the players go into tie-break sessions to decide the winner.

The first tie-break will be a pair of rapidchess games and if the players are still even, then they have to play a further two games using blitz rules. It is only if the tie is still inconclusive does the sudden death game comes in.

Up to now, it has been a very exciting championship with many closely contested matches. In Round One, for instance, three of the matches went all the way to sudden death. And in Round Two, despite the field being reduced to 64 players, five of the matches ended in sudden death, while a further three matches required blitz games to break the ties. Round Three also saw two sudden death matches, while Round Four required one.

In events of this nature, it is quite common that upsets do happen in the early rounds when lowly rated players upstage their much higher rated opponents. 

The first round passed without any significant upsets but the greatest surprise of the second round was the departure of Nigel Short. Short had already outplayed Michal Krasenkow and was winning the game when his thoughts wavered and he simply placed his rook on a square where it was captured immediately. The blow was too much for even a 2700-plus Fide-rated player to bear.

Apart from the official website which gives you live coverage of the games through a Java-enabled applet, you can also learn more of the world chess championship from sites such as Chessbase, http://www.chessbase.com.

UP NEXT

CRC Taiping open

It is great to see that smaller towns around the country are getting interested in organising one-day chess events. It was only two weeks ago that Sabak Bernam had organised its first chess tournament and now, it is Taiping’s turn to have its day of fame.

Come July 25, the Chinese Recreation Club in Taiping will hold its CRC Taiping open chess tournament at their club premises, jointly organised with the Perak International Chess Association (PICA).

The one-day event will be played over seven rounds and there will be cash prizes for the 10 best overall players with the winner set to receive RM400 and a trophy. Moreover, there are prizes for the best three women players, the best three veteran players, the best five under-12 players, the best five under-18 players and the best three CRC Taiping players.

Entry fees are RM10 for PICA and CRC Taiping members, under-12, under-18 and women players, and RM15 for others.

For inquiries, contact Yunus Sharif of PICA (05.545.8453 or 016.532.3594) or Mrs Chow of CRC Taiping (05.807.6882).

Selangor open junior championships

The Chess Association of Selangor (CAS) has just announced that their 18th Selangor open junior championships this year will be reclassified into four categories named Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum.

The Bronze category has been created specially for primary and secondary school children who are new to chess but want to have a feel of playing in a national-level chess event. Also, chess players with a national rating of less than 1200 can join this category.

The Silver category will be for new players who want to challenge the stronger seasonal chess players in the Klang Valley. Chess players with a national rating of less than 1400 can play in this event.

Then there is the Gold category which is for the seasonal chess players to pit their chess skills with one another. Only chess players with national ratings of between 1200 and 1799 can take part, except for the top 11 junior players in the country who are not allowed to play in this category.

The main attraction is the Platinum category which is open to only the top 100 junior players in the country. According to the CAS, the association will soon release the names of the players who are eligible to take part, together with the tournament details.

Until then, junior players are asked to keep the weekends of July 24-25 and July 31-Aug 1 free for these championships.

Penang chess league

The Dato Arthur Tan Memorial 14th Penang Chess League, sponsored by Wah Seong (Malaya) Trading Co Sdn Bhd, has reached the halfway stage after the first four rounds. 

There are 44 teams from the public sector, factories, institutions of learning, businesses and registered societies and clubs taking part in this eight-round tournament which is being played on Sundays at the Kolej Damansara Utama in Jalan Anson, Penang. The last round will be on July 11.

At the halfway point, Old Frees Association (Nuts) – with Lim Chuin Hoong, Ooi Chern Ee, Lim Cheng Teik and Khor Shihong playing - are leading the event with 11½ points. Lying in second spot with 9½ points each are Chung Ling Old Boys Association “B” (Teng Wei Ping, Wong Kam Loong, Eldin Kim and Lau Kar Hoe) and Dell Asia Pacific (Wong Kim Kuan, Chan Kim Chai, Chan Kim Beng and Peh Kim Lye).

Top prizes include RM2,000 for the champion team, RM1,500 for the second place and RM1,000 for the third place. There are seven other cash prizes and numerous other consolation prizes. 

No change at the top

 

Youth brigade in national meets

 

National meets

 

Hire with care

 

A flurry of activities

 

Asean congress

 

Juniors' week

 

A return to schools

 

Chess reunion

TWO WEEKS ago, I had the occasion to attend a reunion of sorts among the chess players in Penang. 

It was an opportunity provided by Eric Cheah, whom many of you will undoubtedly remember or know, who had decided finally to surrender his bachelorhood in favour of wedded bliss.

Cheah was among the last of my generation of chess-playing friends to get married, and it was to Vu Thi Anh Lua that he had met in Hanoi, Vietnam, several years ago.

I will not bore you with the details of the wedding dinner but it is sufficient to say that it brought together many of my contemporary chess friends, some of whom I had not seen for quite a while, at least over the chess board.

When I arrived at the dinner reception, Tan Hong Ghee and Yeoh Chin Seng had already arrived from Kuala Lumpur and being the chess fanatics that they were, they were busily playing blitz chess with Chuah Heng Meng. Playing blitz chess, I tell you, at a wedding dinner! 

And peering anxiously over their shoulders were Goh Yoon Wah and Choong Yit Chuan, who were waiting rather impatiently for the opportunity to be the blitz winner’s next opponent. 

Cheah, though busy with greeting his guests who were arriving for the reception, could not resist coming over to talk with us every now and then but I suspect his motive could be more to keep a watchful eye on the chess games. 

Wong Mun Hoe, vice-president of the Penang Chess Association, provided good company but inevitably, conversations around him always turned to politics and speculation about the dates of the next general election.

Though Ooi Kiem Boo and Chan Lee Pon were the next to appear, our small circle of chess friends was only completed when Ooi Gim Ewe, John Lim and Lee Wei Ming arrived. Ooi, Lim and Lee are not prominent names outside Penang but nevertheless, they are long-standing chess friends. Later, I understood from Cheah that Jimmy Liew too had been invited but he had been unable to attend.

So there we were, 12 of us, gathered at the dinner function to celebrate Cheah’s wedding. These were people that I have known for at least 20 years. Goh and Chuah go back even further, and it must be about 30 years. We had all known Cheah when he was only about seven years old and his father had brought him to the PCA clubhouse in Kimberley Street, Penang, to play.

Cheah eventually grew to become one of the strongest players in the country. His international rating rose above 2250 but sad to say, the Malaysian Chess Federation officials of the day never saw the urgency or need to register him for the Fide Master title. Until today, he is not one.

His profession was law and he was a practising lawyer in Penang until one day in the mid-1990s, he told us that he would be leaving for Vietnam to answer a greater calling. It was a loss for Penang chess as well as Malaysian chess.

He had been back to Penang sporadically through the years but it was last year that we knew for sure that he had decided to come home. For the next few years, at least, he will remain in Penang and resume his law practice.

CAS chess calendar

As a supplement to the Malaysian Chess Federation chess calendar which was released two weeks ago, here is the Chess Association of Selangor’s own calendar, applicable from now until the end of the year.

The CAS will organise their second, third and fourth quarter allegro chess tournaments on Apr 4 at the Wilayah Complex, Aug 15 at the South City Plaza and Oct 10 again at the Wilayah Complex. The final will be played on Dec 11-12.

The Royal Selangor open tournament is the CAS’ biggest event and this year’s tournament, 31st in an uninterrupted series, will be from Apr 30 to May 4 (which includes an open event for the under-18 category on May 1 and 2). The venue will be announced later.

Also in May, there is the Selangor closed tournament on May 16 and 23 at the Sunway College. This will be followed by the Royal Selangor CTEP junior camp from Jun 9 to 12 at the Wilayah Complex and the Selangor leg of the BPM national allegro on Jun 13 at the Summit USJ.

The 18th Royal Selangor 1200 and 1800 junior open tournaments will be played on Jul 17-18, and the 1400 and 2000 junior open tournaments on Jul 24-25. These four events will be held at the Sunway College. Finally, on Aug 7-8, the CAS will organise their Selangor Merdeka open tournament also at the Sunway College.

UP NEXT

CAS junior grand prix events

The Chess Association of Selangor (CAS) will hold the third leg of this year’s ninth Royal Selangor 1600 junior grand prix chess tournament at the Sunway College on Mar 6-7. 

This tournament is the third of four junior events that CAS will organise for players born in 1986 or later, and with a Selangor rating of 1600 points or lower. Players without rating points are also eligible to take part.

The remaining leg is on Mar 20-21. Last week, the CAS had concluded its second leg. Players earn GP points from these legs and the top 40 players with the highest accumulated GP points will qualify for the grand prix final on Apr 18 and 25. 

Entry fees are RM10 for CAS members and RM20 for non-members. Entries and enquiries should be forwarded to chessmate@cas.com.kg. For more information, contact Lim Tse Pin (012-298-4922).

SouthernCity chess

The Johor Bahru District Chess Association will organise the 4th SouthernCity chess tournament at the SouthernCity Hypermarket in Taman Suria, Johor Bahru, this Sunday.

Entry fees are RM20 for the open event, RM7 for the under-16 event and RM5 for the under-12 event. There will be attractive cash prizes for the top 10 winners in each event.

Closing date is today. For more information, contact Narayanan Krishnan (tel: 07-333-8215 or email naraa@tm.net.my). 

Busy calendar

 

MSSM chess: feedback from Sarawak

THANK YOU for your article dated Jan 16 in The Star. I write to you to put the record straight and to give credit where it is due. 

You have stated that it was Mr Henry Chai of Sarawak that had convinced the MSSM to bring chess back to the fold this year. I wish to inform you that Mr Henry Chai was the senior assistant director in charge of the sport section for the Sarawak Education Department from June to December 2003. And it had been agreed upon in principle by MSSM earlier that chess would be rescheduled in the MSSM Calendar in 2004. 

At that time, Mr Liong Chou Chuan was the senior assistant director in charge for this matter. It was he who had managed to convince his counterparts on the importance of chess in developing thinking skills in the students. The inclusion of chess in the Vietnam SEA Games had also helped our cause. 

As one of those involved in inter-school chess competition in Sarawak, I have followed the chess competition closely. Initially, the MSSM chess tournament was struck out of their calendar based on the fact that chess was not a sports event. The economic crisis had been used as a basis for the removal of the event. 

But on our side, we had written in an appeal based on the fact that many countries have adopted the chess game as a curricular activity to enhance students’ thinking abilities. Studies have proven that students involved in chess programmes showed an increase of as much as 20% and 15% in Mathematics and language scores respectively. Besides, those students are found to be more disciplined and self-controlled. 

Please search for ‘scholastic chess’ for further details on the research done. 

Therefore, I believe that chess is an excellent tool to train our students to think creatively. I would sincerely hope that the Malaysian Chess Federation would help in promoting chess playing in schools in the future. 

While I agree with you that qualified persons be trained and appointed to run the MSSM chess competition, I disagree with the rapidchess style of competition as you have suggested. No doubt it is more entertaining and suitable for the quickie style of play preferred by youngsters, but it could impede the impact of the chess game upon the students – cultivating thinking skill, discipline and so on. Maybe reducing the time frame is acceptable, but please do not turn school-level chess tournaments into spectator sports. 

Thank you for your fortnightly contribution. I appreciate that. 

Wong Tok Hua, Sarawak

Mr Wong, thank you for your clarification. Your letter is one of the “missing links” which helps to complete the whole picture of how chess was removed from the MSSM calendar in 1998 and only now, due for reinstatement this year.

When I was in Vietnam last year for the SEA Games, I saw for myself how chess can be a great spectator sport. In the final of the rapidchess events, especially during the play-off sessions, the thrill of the kill on the chessboard kept the audience very much on edge. 

All the high drama told not only on the players’ faces but the audience as well. It was tension felt by everyone as the players strained to squeeze a win from their games. We could see that rapidchess is THE future for chess; that this is the direction that chess must take to popularise itself to a wider audience locally. 

Even at international level, the World Chess Federation has already seen it fit to move away from the longer time controls to the shorter Shirov time control of one hour 30 minutes with a 30-second increment per move.

But having said this, I do agree with you that the MSSM chess should not be turned into a full-fledged rapidchess event. 

We certainly need a time control that is longer than 30-minute games so that we can give enough time to the players to think reasonably well through their games. The objective should still be to train the players to think critically and creatively, and not turn the games into a clock-bashing lottery. 

I would believe that the one-hour time control is reasonably long enough for games at the MSSM level. However, the greater concern to me is not the time control but the pressure put on the players to play too many games in too few days. Chess competitions should not be turned into extreme tests of endurance.

GAME OF THE WEEK

This game from the fifth round of the men’s Standard chess competition at the SEA Games in Ho Chi Minh City last month was an interesting struggle. Villamayor emerged from the opening with a greater spatial advantage but he was unable to capitalise on it. A few ill-considered moves soon allowed Mas Hafizul to slowly turn the table on his opponent.

On the 52nd move, Villamayor thought that he had a chance to claim for a draw through a three-fold repetition of position. The arbiters were called in to settle the claim but after some deliberation, the claim was rightly rejected. In the play that followed, Mas Hafizul closed down the position to prevent further spurious claims and then converted the game into a patient win.

White: Mas Hafizulhelmi (2397) - Black: Buenaventura Villamayor (2477) 

1.g3 d5 2.Bg2 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.b3 Bg4 5.Bb2 Nbd7 6.0–0 e6 7.d3 Bd6 8.h3 Bxf3 9.Bxf3 0–0 10.Nd2 a5 11.a3 Qe7 12.Bg2 e5 13.c4 Rfe8 14.Re1 Rad8 15.e3 Nc5 16.Qc2 e4 17.Bxf6 gxf6 18.dxe4 dxe4 19.Reb1 Be5 20.Ra2 f5 21.b4 axb4 22.axb4 Nd3 23.c5 Ra8 24.Rxa8 Rxa8 25.g4 Qh4 26.Nc4 Bc7 27.gxf5 Kh8 28.Kf1 Rg8 29.Nb2 Qg5 30.Bxe4 Ne5 31.Nc4 Qh5 32.Nxe5 Qxh3+ 33.Ke2 Bxe5 34.Bf3 Rg5 35.Rd1 Rxf5 36.Qe4 Rg5 37.Rh1 Qf5 38.Qxf5 Rxf5 39.Be4 Rf6 40.Bxh7 Kg7 41.Be4 Re6 42.Rb1 Kf8 43.Kd3 Ke8 44.b5 Kd8 45.f4 Bf6 46.Bf5 Re7 47.bxc6 bxc6 48.Rb8+ Kc7 49.Rb6 Bh4 50.Ra6 Kb7 51.Rb6+ Kc7 52.Ra6 Kb7 53.Ra2 Re8 54.Ra4 Rh8 55.Kc4 Kc7 56.Ra2 Kb7 57.Rb2+ Kc7 58.Rg2 Kb7 59.Rb2+ Kc7 60.Be4 Re8 61.Kd3 Rd8+ 62.Ke2 Re8 63.Kf3 Re6 64.Bf5 Re8 65.Rh2 Be7 66.Rh7 Bxc5 67.Rxf7+ Re7 68.Rxe7+ Bxe7 69.e4 Kd6 70.e5+ Kd5 71.Be4+ Kd4 72.Bxc6 Bb4 73.Kg4 Ba5 74.Kf5 Bc7 1–0

UP NEXT

CAS junior grand prix events

The Chess Association of Selangor (CAS) will hold the first leg of this year’s ninth Royal Selangor 1600 junior grand prix chess tournament at the Sunway College on Feb 8-9. 

This tournament is one of four junior events that CAS will organise in the next two months for players born in 1986 or later, and with a Selangor rating of 1600 points or lower. Players without rating points are also eligible to take part.

The other legs will be played on Feb 21-22, Mar 6-7 and Mar 20-21. Players will earn GP points from these legs and the top 40 players with the highest accumulated GP points will qualify for the grand prix final in April. 

Entry fees are RM10 for CAS members and RM20 for non-members. Entries and enquiries should be forwarded to chessmate@cas.com.kg. For more information, contact Lim Tse Pin (012-298-4922).

Back in the good ol' MSSM

 

Bringing home the medals

 

Medals and milestone

 

Turing test

 

Champion comes to town

 

Onward to the Games

 

Pressure on India

 

Collapse from a strong position

 

Deep end

 

Up in smoke

 

Merdeka damper

 

Merdeka excitement

 

Killer solutions

 

New champion

 

How good are your moves?

 

Profile of champions

 

National events

 

Face-lift for Penang chess league

 

Siti's first WIM norm

 

Spot that move

 

How not to cheat at chess

 

King of the game

 

Don't confuse us, please!

 

Intelligent machine

 

Kasparov wins the first game

As the continuation page of the newspaper is missing from my collection, I shall supplement the remaining portion of the article in text form below:

But Deep Junior saw more with 32…Nxd4. After 33.Ng6+ Kg8 34.Ne7+, it looked to Kasparov that Deep Junior would have to accept a repetition but he had missed 34...Kf8 35.Rxh7 Nb3+ with checkmate to follow: 36.Kc2 (if 36.axb3, then 36…Qd1 is checkmate) 36...Na1+ 37.Kc3 Qd2+ 38.Kc4 b5+ 39.Kc5 Qd6 checkmate)

Gary Kasparov – Deep Junior, Game Three 

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. Nf3 Nbd7 6. Qc2 b6 7. cxd5 exd5 8. Bd3 Be7 9. Bd2 O-O 10. g4 Nxg4 11. Rg1 Ndf6 12. h3 Nh6 13. e4 dxe4 14. Bxh6 exd3 15. Rxg7+ Kh8 16. Qxd3 Rg8 17. Rxg8+ Nxg8 18. Bf4 f6 19. O-O-O Bd6 20. Qe3 Bxf4 21. Qxf4 Bxh3 22. Rg1 Qb8 23. Qe3 Qd6 24. Nh4 Be6 25. Rh1 Rd8 26. Ng6+ Kg7 27. Nf4 Bf5 28. Nce2 Ne7 29. Ng3 Kh8 30. Nxf5 Nxf5 31. Qe4 Qd7 32. Rh5 Nxd4 33. Ng6+ Kg8 34. Ne7+ Kf8 35. Nd5 Qg7 36. Qxd4 Rxd5 0-1

The fourth game was probably one of the most difficult to understand. There was none of the tactical cut-and-thrust complications that we had seen in the first half of the match and instead, we were treated to a game full of strategical manouevrings.

The gist of this game was Deep Junior’s plan to get its pawn to b6 where the computer program had hoped that it would cut a wedge into Kasparov’s position. But Kasparov always had his defensive resources available to keep the game on an even keel.

Deep Junior’s 32nd and 34th moves were so typical of computer programs. Knowing that the position was going nowhere, it resorted to abide its time by moving its king to h1 and then back to g1. Of course, in this particular game, the time wastage was not a very important factor.

Kasparov was obviously not going to trying anything adventurous and he would be contented with a draw. And once the queens went off the board on the 48th move, the draw was already inevitable.

The problem, however, was with Deep Junior. Being a pawn up, it assessed the position as being better for itself but there was absolutely no way that Kasparov was going to commit the biggest blunder of his life. Deep Junior’s operator soon got the hint and agreed to a draw with Kasparov.

Deep Junior – Gary Kasparov, Game Four 

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e6 5.Nb5 d6 6.c4 Nf6 7.N1c3 a6 8.Na3 Nd7 9.Nc2 Be7 10.Be2 b6 11.0-0 Bb7 12.h3 0-0 13.Be3 Rc8 14.Qd2 Nce5 15.b3 Nf6 16.f3 Qc7 17.Rac1 Rfe8 18.a3 Ned7 19.Rfd1 Qb8 20.Bf2 Rcd8 21.b4 Ba8 22.a4 Rc8 23.Rb1 Qc7 24.a5 bxa5 25.b5 Bb7 26.b6 Qb8 27.Ne3 Nc5 28.Qa2 29.Na4 Ne5 30.Nc2 Ncd7 31.Nd4 Red8 32.Kh1 Nc6 33.Nxc6 Rxc6 34.Kg1 h6 35. Qa3 Rdc8 36.Bg3 Bf8 37.Qc3 Ne5 38.c5 Nd7 39.Qxa5 Nxc5 40.Nxc5 Rxc5 41. Qa4 R5c6 42.Bf2 d5 43.Bxa6 Bc5 44.Bxc5 Rxc5 45.Bxb7 Qxb7 46. exd5 exd5 47.Qa7 R5c7 48.Qxb7 Rxb7 49.Rxd5 Rc6 50.Rdb5 h5 51.Kf2 Re6 52.f4 g6 53.Kg3 Kg7 54.Kh4 Kh6 55.R1b4 Rd6 56.g3 f6 57.g4 hxg4 58.hxg4 Kg7 59.Rb3 Rc6 60.g5 f5 61.Rb1 ½-½

UP NEXT 

Royal Selangor grand prix 

The Chess Association of Selangor kicks off the Royal Selangor Grand Prix - a tournament created to improve the chess-playing skill of Malaysian junior players - on Feb 15-16 at the Sunway College, Bandar Sunway.

All Under-18 players with CAS ratings of 1600 or less, including those without a rating, are eligible to take part. There will be 12 prizes in each of the four preliminary legs, and every player who takes part in them will accumulate grand prix points. The top 40 players with the highest GP points will qualify for the Grand Final, and the top 10 players will be eligible for the year-end chess camp.

For more information, contact Lim Tse Pin (tel: 012-2984922, email: tsepin@maxis.net.my)

SouthernCity chess tournament 

The Johor Bahru District Chess Association will hold the third SouthernCity open chess tournament at the XTRA Hypermarket in Taman Suria, Johor Bahru on Feb 23 beginning 8am.

Entry fees are RM30 for the open section (first prize is RM300), RM7 for the under-16 section (first prize is RM100) and RM5 for the under-12 section (first prize RM80).

Closing date is Feb 21. For more information, contact Narayanan Krishnan (tel: 07-3338215, email: naraa@tm.net.my)

Man vs machine

 

Painful loss for us

 

Clash of the old Titans

 

Lords of the Ring

 

Ratings to rise

 

Better than expected

 

Deep whimper