Top player

 

Notable tournament

 

Nagging question

 

Over Bloody Eighty

ON MARCH 8, many people had opened their copies of The Star to find a very prominent write-up on Datuk Tan Chin Nam in the Star Biz section of the newspaper. 

A retired business tycoon was how The Star had described him, and the write-up went on to relate how, from his humble beginnings, he had grown his riches from property development to eventually join the list of the richest Malaysians.

“Mr Low-Cost Housing” and “Mr Condominium” are just some of the nicknames that he is known for but to chess players in this country, Tan is nothing more than the “Father of Malaysian Chess.”

If not for this man, there will hardly by a chess movement in the country. Though this game is still far from being popular here, there is considerable support at the grassroots, as evidenced from the scores of weekend tournaments held around the country.

If you are addicted to allegro chess, which is chess played with 25 or 30-minute time control, you are already indebted to Tan for it was he who demanded that the World Chess Federation (Fide) in the mid-1980s recognise and popularise this mode of chess.

It would seem strange to any outsider that Tan could make demands on Fide and get his way. But when you come to know that for a four-year period from 1982 to 1986 he was the Fide Deputy President for Asia, you will come to realise the influence he had on world chess.

In Nov 1995, he was even featured on the cover of Chess Life, the official magazine of the United States Chess Federation. It was perhaps the rare but ultimate accolade paid to a man who had contributed much to propagate chess interest throughout the world.

Tan’s first brush with chess in Malaysia began in 1974 when he agreed to take up the post of president of the Malaysian Chess Federation. It was a role that he filled until the late 1980s when he stepped down. 

Though he was made the federation’s first and only honorary life president in recognition of his contributions, he continued to play an active and supportive role in the background. Lately though, Tan had agreed to assume the president’s post again.

But first and foremost, Tan was a businessman. His other commonly known nickname was “Mr Property Grandmaster”, a convenient marriage between his roles as a major property developer and chess enthusiast. There was a third side to him: that of a horse owner.

In the mid-1970s, Think Big was probably the horse that shot Tan to fame in the competitive world of horse racing. In more recent years, Saintly was another of his horses that found fame on the racetracks of Melbourne. But between Think Big and Saintly, there were many others too that found fame or fell from grace. 

Like Gufeld, a horse named after the late Soviet chess grandmaster from Georgia. Edvard Gufeld the chess player was Tan’s friend and a man of rather generous proportions. Tan had chosen to name one of his horses after Gufeld because, well, its gait was rather similar to that of the grandmaster. 

Tomorrow, Tan will be celebrating his 80th birthday. It is certainly a milestone for this man whom I have known for 32 years, spanning the time when he was simply Mr Tan until today when he is Datuk Tan.

Datuk Tan, happy birthday to you from the chess players of Malaysia.

UP NEXT

Klang Parade open

There will be a Klang Parade age-group tournament for under-12 and under-18 players tomorrow and the Klang Parade open tournament on Sunday. Both events are jointly organised by the Malaysian Chess Federation and Klang Parade and will take place at the Concourse area of the shopping centre. 

Entry fees for the age-group event are RM15 for the under-18 players and RM10 for the under-12 players. For the open event, entry fees are RM10 for under-12 players and RM15 for everyone else. More details: Angie (tel: 03.33437889, fax: 03.33437313) or Gregory (tel: 012.9020123).

PICA/YMCA open

The Perak International Chess Association (PICA) and the YMCA are jointly organising a one-day chess tournament at the Dewan YMCA in Jalan Raja Muda Aziz, Ipoh, on Mar 26.

Entry fees are RM10 for PICA and YMCA members, ladies and players below 16 years old, and RM15 for others. Entries received after Mar 24 will be charged an extra RM5. Inquiries: Yunus Sharif (tel: 013.3908129), Hamisah (tel: 012.4313326) or Grace (05.2540809).

PCGHS open

The Penang Chinese Girls’ High School will organise their annual chess tournament at their school hall this Sunday. For members of the Penang Chess Association (PCA), entry fees are RM10 for under-18 students and RM15 for others. Non-PCA members are required to pay RM15 and RM20 respectively. 

Inquiries and registration: Tan Eng Seong (tel: 012.4299517, email: estan64@streamyx.com), Carmen Yuen (tel: 016.4161299, email: vern_cy@hotmail.com), Chuah Suan Eng (tel: 016.4340616, email: joychou_harrypotter@hotmail.com) or Lim Shueh Min (tel: 016.4592984, email: yhpets_2020@hotmail.com). 

Selangor tournament

The Chess Association of Selangor (CAS) will organise their second quarter allegro tournament at The Chess Network in the Wilayah Complex, Kuala Lumpur, on Apr 2. Their Category One event is for unrated adults and players with a national rating of at least 1400 points, while the Category Two event is meant for those with a national rating of less than 1400 and also unrated under-18 players.

Entry fees: Category One event – RM15 for CAS members and RM25 for non-members; Category Two event – RM10 for CAS members and RM20 for non-members. Walk-in entries are charged an additional RM5. To register, email selangorchess@gmail.com, stating your name and category.

Bandaraya chessmaster Johor open

The Johor Bahru District Chess Association and Majlis Bandaraya Johor Bahru are jointly organising a one-day tournament at the Dewan Jublee Intan in Johor Bahru on Apr 9.

Entry fees are RM8 for under-12 players, RM10 for under-16 players and RM30 for others. Inquiries: Narayanan Krishnan (tel: 07.3338215, email: naraa@tm.net.my).

Temerloh open

The Persatuan Catur Temerloh Pahang (PCTP) and the Persatuan Catur Melayu Malaysia are jointly holding a two-day tournament at the Bangunan Umno in Mentakab on Mar 25-26. Total prize money is RM5,000.

Entry fees are RM12 for under-12 players, RM15 for PCMM members and Temerloh residents, and RM25 for all others. Closing date is Mar 23. Inquiries: Fazli (tel: 019.9299767), Bahari (tel: 013.9777084) or Haslindah Ruslan (tel: 019.2069605, email: haslindahr@yahoo.com).

Court clocks

 

Tournaments in March

 

Gearing up for national meet

 

New lease of life

 

We need training

 IT WAS not a very pleasant Christmas for Malaysian chess. Down across the causeway where our southern neighbour was hosting last year’s annual match between the two countries, Malaysia was once again bleeding.

Despite not fielding their best line-ups, our Singapore host proved that they were once again the better of the two sides. 

This year, the score stood at 89.5-50.5. The match was played over two matches with 70 boards per match, encompassing the full spectrum of ages from veterans to under-eight year olds. 

I really cannot recall the last time that Malaysia had beaten Singapore in this annually arranged chess match that is hosted in alternative years by the Malaysian Chess Federation and the Singapore Chess Federation. It must have been at least four or five years ago. 

But I do remember writing here five years ago, when we were still regularly on top of the Singaporeans, that we were getting much too smug with our successes. Based on the results in several junior-level chess events in the Asean region, I could see that we were slowly but surely being overtaken by the Singaporean junior players.

The main reason for the Singaporean success with their juniors is their decision to commercialise their chess training. Treat it like a business and bring in chess trainers to train the young. Not any chess trainer, mind you, but strong competent ones who play chess competitively and professionally.

So that is why you see registered business units like the Singapore Chess Academy who employed and brought into Singapore grandmasters and international masters from neighbouring Philippines, Vietnam and elsewhere. 

Once the parents saw that this business of chess coaching was being done seriously and with the results to show, they did not mind paying to provide their children with the best chess coaches.

Now, my questions for Malaysian chess are: are we prepared to be serious with our training? Are we prepared to bring in the professional trainers from overseas? Are we prepared to pay good money for good results? In short, are we prepared to emulate the Singaporeans? 

It is said that the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Addressing this problem of a slow chess progress among our youths will not be achieved overnight. It is a long-term process and unless we are ready to begin now, it looks very unlikely that we can reverse the trend in the annual chess match within the next five years. They shall continue to show us their hospitality and then wallop us over the board.

If we are prepared to take the first step to commercialise the chess training process and treat it as a business, this must be done outside the Malaysian Chess Federation by people who are full-time into chess training and possess the business acumen and determination to succeed.

By separating chess administration which is voluntary and commercialised chess training, I believe this is the right way to move forward for Malaysian chess. 

As usual, after this latest debacle, there were a lot of soul-searching on our part. A lot was said in the chess-malaysia mailing list but unfortunately, I saw no one grasping the root of the problem. But there was a particular email commenting on the quality of our local coaches that caught my eye and it would seem appropriate to produce it here.

In Anthony Liong’s view, he identified six groups of local chess trainers. Firstly, those rated less than 1975 whom he deemed as amateurs. Secondly, those rated 1976 to 2050 are also not good enough as coaches because some are giving the wrong advice. 

Thirdly, those rated 2051 to 2299 are able to give lessons but they are still not good enough in terms of coaching experience. Next, those with ratings of above 2300 are qualified to coach players but they charge a fee equivalent to their standard.

Then there are the unrated players who play like rated players. They can coach young children well but that is the extent of their abilities. Some would just give tactical positions for the kids to ponder over for half an hour. “Pity the kid,” he wrote, adding that they could just as easily learn from any chess software with more than 20,000 positions.

Finally, there are the unrated players who play like unrated players and yet are coaching. This group, he said, was just like crabs teaching baby crabs to walk straight. 

I could not help smiling reading about what he wrote but you do get the picture of what he wanted to say. It was close enough.

UP NEXT

Pesta catur USM 

The 12th Universiti Sains Malaysia chess festival kicks off next year with an eight-round individual tournament on Jan 14-15 and a seven-round team tournament on Jan 21-22. 

There will be eight main cash prizes on offer for each event and a long list of consolation prizes. The winner of the individual tournament will get RM250, while the winning team will receive RM500.

Entry fees for the individual event are RM10 for under-12 players, RM12 for under-18 players, RM14 for university and college players and RM20 for others. Members of the Penang Chess Association will be charged RM8, RM10, RM12 and RM15 respectively.

For the team event, entry fees are RM40 for under-12 teams, RM50 for university and school teams, RM65 for family teams and RM80 for all other teams.

Details: Ooi Chee Khoon (012.4287262), Chan Jun Jie (012.6150071), Lam Siew Zi (012.5344202) or Lim Kah Bee (012.4485546).

Loeffler's inspirational play

 

Vietnam is champ

 

To the Philippines

 

Chess cheques

THE SPONSORS of the Penang international open chess championship recently presented their sponsorship cheques to the Penang Chess Association (PCA).

Receiving the cheques on behalf of the PCA was Penang State Executive Councillor Dato Dr Toh Kin Woon, who is also the association’s president.

Representing the Platinum sponsors, who contributed RM20,000 each to the championship, were Ms Chew Suat Teng (Finance Manager of Wah Seong Trading (M) Sdn Bhd) and Ms Hwang Yee Tuan (Senior Vice-President of Hwang-DBS (M) Berhad).

The tournament’s Gold sponsorship of RM3,000 each came from Evergreen Marine Corporation and Tourism Penang. JobStreet Berhad, email sponsor for the event, was also present at the cheque presentation ceremony.

According to Dr Toh, the last time that the PCA had organised its open championship was eight years ago and this year’s event, held in conjunction with the year-end Penang Festival, will be the grandest ever for the association in its 33-year history. Already, enquiries and confirmed entries have been received from many players in this region, including from some grandmasters.

Entry fees are RM100 for players with international ratings as well as junior players, and RM150 for those without ratings. Members of the PCA are eligible for a 10 per cent discount. Titled players such as grandmasters and international masters are given free entries. 

This tournament has a prize fund of RM19500, inclusive of a top prize of RM5,000. Dates for the event are Dec 7-11 and the venue is the Evergreen Laurel Hotel in Gurney Drive, Penang. 

Inquiries, contact: Goh Yoon Wah (tel: 012-4308905, email: gtpile@streamyx.com) or myself (email: ssquah54@yahoo.com). The entry form can be downloaded from the chess-malaysia website at http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/chess-malaysia/files/ (filename: PgOpen2005.doc).

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Perak close

The Perak International Chess Association (PICA) will organise this year’s Perak close chess tournament on Nov 19-20 together with the Jabatan Belia dan Sukan Negeri Perak and the Majlis Sukan Negeri Perak. The venue of the competition will be the Seminar Room of the JBS Negeri Perak.

This is a nine-round contest with cash prizes for the top 10 players and trophies for the best under-12, under-16, woman and veteran players. Entry fees are RM15 for PICA members and players under-16, and RM20 for others. To register, contact Yunus Sharif (tel: 0133908129) or Hamisah (tel: 0124313326)before Nov 17. Entries after this date will be charged RM5 extra.

EZ-Chess junior competition

EZ-Chess will hold the third leg of this year’s Penang junior chess circuit at the Tanjung Bungah Beach Hotel on Dec 4. This seven-round event will have prizes for the best players in the under-16, under-14, under-12, under-10 and under-8 age groups.

Entry fees for members of the Penang Chess Association are RM15 for under-16 players and RM10 for under-12 players. Non-members are charged at RM20 and RM15 respectively. 

Inquiries, contact: Eoh Hook Kim (tel: 04.8260196) or Eoh Thean Keat (tel: 016.4540070). More details are at http://www.ez-chess.50megs.com 

Topalov reigns

 

Back in action

 

Strain of the game

 

New hero

 

Muhibbah spirit in chess

 

Eight more days

 

Grand festival

 

Mind gymnastics

 

Mobile phones in tournaments

 

They were the champions

 

Unbeaten champ

 

Worthy champions

THE NATIONAL closed chess championship which starts at the Wilayah Complex in Kuala Lumpur in eight days’ time has a long history that stretches back to 1974, the year that the Malaysian Chess Federation was founded. 

The first time that the national closed was played, there were only four chess state associations – Penang, Selangor, Penang and Johor – and 18 players were basically playing a small six-round event at the old FAS building in Kuala Lumpur. Choo Min Wang won this inaugural event, with Dr Foo Lum Choon finishing as the runners-up.

But from that modest start, the national closed championship has grown to the stage where it is today: a very competitive event with representations from almost all parts of the country, including Sarawak and Sabah.

Unfortunately, the national closed championship suffers from one drawback: the prize money is really nothing to shout about. The winner gets only a small token sum. If you are not from the Klang Valley, the sum may come useful for your lodging needs but that will be the extent of its usefulness.

Yet, players come from near and far to play in this tournament. It is not so much about the prize but the opportunity to win the title and call himself the national champion with a national master title thrown in as a reward.

In addition, the winner will normally get the opportunity to be called up by the Malaysian Chess Federation to play in selected overseas team tournaments such as the Chess Olympads.

So who are our national champions? Apart from Choo, we have 21 other players who have won this title in the 30 years of the national closed chess championship. Some, obviously, have won the title more than once.

A common thread that runs through this championship series is that the average winner has always been young. There have been players winning this event when they are in their 30s, but by and large, our champions tend to be young, not more than 25 years old. This is perhaps a reflection of the continuing popularity of the game among school-age children. 

In all the years of the national closed championship, there do exist a handful of occasions when ranked outsiders suddenly overcame the odds to become the champions. But apart from these odd occasions, each of the other winners has certainly left their mark permanently on Malaysian chess. By acquitting themselves when playing on the world stage, they have shown themselves to be worthy holders of the title.

This year, the national closed chess championship will be played from May 28 to Jun 1.  The state chess associations are eligible to enter four men and four women players officially to the championships.

Other players are also able to take part but they shall need to pay RM50 to the Malaysian Chess Federation if they have a Fide rating or RM150 if they are not rated. For more information, contact Hamid Majid (tel: 019.3158098).

UP NEXT

Tebrau open

The Johor Bahru District Chess Association will hold their 16th Tebrau open chess tournament at the Plaza Pelangi in Johor Bahru this Sunday. The event will be held in three sections: the open, under-16 and under-12 with 10 prizes on offer in each section. 

Entry fees are RM20 for the open section, RM8 for the under-16 and RM6 for the under-12. Closing date is today. For more information, contact Narayanan Krishnan (tel: 07.3338215, email: naraa@tm.net.my.  

CAS second quarter allegro 

The Chess Association of Selangor (CAS) will organise their second quarter allegro chess competition at The Chess Network, Wilayah Complex, in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday. 

This one-day event is limited to 70 players in two categories. The first category is open to chess players with a national rating of 1400 and above, as well as non-rated adult players. Under-18 players and players with a national rating of below 1400 may join the second category event. 

Entry fees for the first category event are RM15 for CAS members and RM25 for non-members. For the second category event, the entry fees are RM10 for CAS members and RM20 for non-members. To register, email your particulars and choice of category to chessmate@cas.com.kg 

Sri Aman junior chess

The Sek Keb Sri Aman in Penang will hold a junior open tournament at their school on May 30. The seven-round event will constitute the second leg of Penang’s junior chess circuit for this year.

Entry fees for members of the Penang Chess Association are RM10 for under-16 players and RM8 for under-10 players. Non-members are required to pay RM15 and RM13 respectively. According to the organisers, this event will have five age-group categories: under-16, under-14, under-12, under-10 and under-8.

For inquiries, contact Eoh Hook Kim (tel: 04.8260196) or Eoh Thean Keat (tel: 016.4540070).

Chess workshop

The Penang Chess Association (PCA) will organize a one-day workshop at the PCA clubhouse in Bayan Baru on Jun 12 for boys under the age of 12 and girls below 15 years old. 

There will be three local instructors to cater to players of different levels: the starters, beginners and intermediate players.  Fees are RM30 for PCA members and RM40 for non-members, with discounts of RM5 for groups of five children who register together.

For more details or to register, contact Tan Eng Seong (tel: 012.4299517 email: estan64@streamyx.com), Marcus Yeoh (tel: 012.4723873, email: marcusypl@yahoo.com), Khor Bean Hwa (tel: 016.4281096, email: beanhwak@yahoo.co.uk) or Lim Poay Sim (tel: 012.4901822, email: pslim159@hotmail.com). 

Wrong penalty

A FEW days ago, I received a telephone call from a Mr Tony Tan in Ipoh who was pouring out his woes to me regarding one local event that he had played in. 

Apparently, what had happened was that in the second round of this tournament, both he and his opponent had played with the wrong colours on the board. Tan was supposed to have played Black but when he saw his opponent seated on the black side of the chessboard, he did not give it much thought and started playing with the while pieces. 

After the game was over and the results reported to the organizers, he suddenly found himself penalized with a loss while his opponent, who had lost the game, was awarded the win. 

I can imagine his consternation and indignation over this turn of events because he said that the organizers did not display the pairings for the second round and had instead, just shouted out the pairings above the din of the playing hall.

Now, what would you do if you were in the shoes of these organizers? Would you agree with them and reverse the results to favour the player that had lost the game, or would you have some other alternative solution?

To be sure, I am not saying that the organizers’ technical decision was wrong but it was clearly a little overly harsh and inflexible. 

They could have been more Solomon-like and allowed the result to stay. Deducting a point from any player is very serious; organizers would need to be very certain that a gross misconduct, like an intentional breaking of the chess rules, had occurred. Even then, the recommended course of action would be simply to give the players a warning. 

If an infraction occurs again, there are still other lesser penalties, such as deducting one or two minutes from a player’s clock or adding this extra time to his opponent. 

I would not go so far as to penalize the player with a loss immediately. Though not entirely blameless - the player has to bear his part of the blame in not determining the exact colour he was to use - the organizers were also equally at fault, especially since the pairings were not displayed publicly in the first place.

The most acceptable course would have been to leave the result alone. The organizer is well within his power to just switch the affected players’ colours around in the computer program. Even if the pairings had been made manually, changing the colours would not affect the running of the tournament in any great way.

There is another reason why I would discourage this practice: I do not like organizers to suddenly adopt this as a precedence. It should not be the case or else in the future, you will begin seeing players who will deliberately try to abuse this ruling to their advantage.

UP NEXT

PCA AGM

The Penang Chess Association will hold its annual general meeting at the clubhouse of the Residents' Association of Bayan Baru, Penang, this Sunday at 1pm. The meeting will be preceded by a blitz tournament starting at 10am.

Selangor closed

The Chess Association of Selangor (CAS) is organizing a one-day tournament at the Sunway College in Bandar Sunway this Sunday. The event will be played in two categories, with the second category limited to players with a national rating below 1400 and under-18 players without a rating.

Entry fees for the first category event are RM15 for CAS members and RM25 for non-members. For the second category event, CAS members are charged RM10, while it will be RM20 for non-members.

According to the CAS, four men and four women will be picked to represent the state at this year’s national closed championship at the end of the month. To register for this event, contact Shafruddin Arshad (tel: 012.3852420), Lim Tse Pin (tel: 012.2984922, email: chessmate@cas.com.kg) or Balendran (tel: 012.3547011).

Perak event

The Perak International Chess Association (PICA) will organize an open chess event at the Tun Razak Library in Ipoh on May 15. For inquiries on registration or entry fees, contact Pn Hamisah (tel: 012.4313326).

Tebrau open

The Johor Bahru District Chess Association will hold their 16th Tebrau open chess tournament at the Plaza Pelangi in Johor Bahru on May 22. The event will be held in three sections: the open, under-16 and under-12 with 10 prizes on offer in each section. 

Entry fees are RM20 for the open section, RM8 for the under-16 and RM6 for the under-12. Closing date is May 20.

For more information, contact Narayanan Krishnan (tel: 07.3338215, email: naraa@tm.net.my.  

CAS second quarter allegro 

The Chess Association of Selangor (CAS) will organise their second quarter allegro chess competition at The Chess Network, Wilayah Complex, in Kuala Lumpur on May 22. 

This one-day event is limited to 70 players in two categories. The first category is open to chess players with a national rating of 1400 and above, as well as non-rated adult players. Under-18 players and players with a national rating of below 1400 may join the second category event. 

Entry fees for the first category event are RM15 for CAS members and RM25 for non-members. For the second category event, the entry fees are RM10 for CAS members and RM20 for non-members. To register, email your particulars and choice of category to chessmate@cas.com.kg 

National closed championships

The Malaysian Chess Federation (MCF) shall organize this year’s national closed and national women’s closed championships at the Wilayah Complex in Kuala Lumpur from May 28 to Jun 1.The state chess associations are eligible to enter eight players officially to the championships: four men and four women.

Other players are also able to take part but they shall need to pay RM50 if they have a Fide rating or RM150 if they are not rated. For more information, contact Hamid Majid (tel: 019.3158098).

Sri Aman junior chess

The Sek Keb Sri Aman in Penang will hold a junior open tournament at their school on May 30. The seven-round event will constitute the second leg of Penang’s junior chess circuit for this year.

Entry fees for members of the Penang Chess Association are RM10 for under-16 players and RM8 for under-10 players. Non-members are required to pay RM15 and RM13 respectively. According to the organisers, this event will have five age-group categories: under-16, under-14, under-12, under-10 and under-8.

For inquiries, contact Eoh Hook Kim (tel: 04.8260196) or Eoh Thean Keat (tel: 016.4540070).

Royal Selangor open

I HAVE been reading a number of postings recently on the chess-malaysia mailing group on the history of the Royal Selangor open chess tournament that starts next Wednesday at the Wilayah Complex in Kuala Lumpur.

This is certainly the longest running chess tournament in the local chess calendar. It has been held without a break since 1974, which makes it the 32nd edition of a long glorious run that has found its way into the Malaysian Book of Records. That’s persistence and commitment from the Chess Association of Selangor (CAS).

Almost everyone who has played in or been associated with this tournament will have some sort of personal story to tell. I am no different, although there will be some readers among you who will be curious at my association with this event.

It is true. If there are records still maintained by the CAS today, it will show me as a member of the association in 1974, though my membership has certainly lapsed. A lapsed founder member, perhaps. 

But more interestingly, I was playing in its inaugural Selangor open at the Royal Selangor Club in 1974. And it was my first opportunity to meet the illustrious players of yesteryear from the Klang Valley – people like Dr Foo Lum Choon and Chan Mun Fye, among others.

Anyway, it was my first competitive chess event for many years. Out of school and without any tournament to play in during those years in Penang, the Selangor open was a welcome distraction to my studies.

My first game of substance was, I believe, in the second round when I met Husin Sida. But I was totally rusty and made a slip-up as early as the sixth move when I blundered away a piece.

I felt like sinking into the ground then, as I could not believe what I had done. Should I resign the game and go off and lick my wounds? I was about to do so but suddenly froze when I saw an all too familiar figure in Fang Ewe Churh walking about. The first Penang Chess Association president was wandering around to take a look at the Selangor open.

I couldn’t resign, not with Fang around. In those days, Fang was the Mr Chess Authority in Penang. What impression would I convey if I had lost quickly? What stories would he bring back to Penang?

So, I had no choice but to continue playing. Luckily, my opponent was rather amenable to my resolve, though I doubt he had any idea at all about what I was planning to do.

The game quickly became complicated despite me being a piece down, and in the complications, another piece was sacrificed. I was faced with an impending checkmate when suddenly, check, check, check, and Husin instead found himself at the receiving end of a draw through repetition of position.

I made many new chess friends in those days. It was a time of mutual discovery. I uncovered a whole new world of chess players in Selangor and in return, the chess players there learnt that chess was very much alive outside the boundary of Selangor. 

A few months later, following the chess groundswell in Selangor, Penang and other parts of the country, the newly founded Malaysian Chess Federation organised its first national closed chess championship, and the rest is very much history. 

I will not bore you further about my chess adventures in Selangor during the mid-1970s but it was also a time when through chess, I discovered a close relative among my chess-playing friends. But this will be another story.

For now, I can only offer the Chess Association of Selangor my best wishes ahead of their 32nd Royal Selangor open. P.S. Can I get my founder member status back??

UP NEXT

Klang Parade chess

The Malaysian Chess Federation and Klang Parade will jointly organize this year’s Klang Parade chess tournament in Klang this weekend. 

Tomorrow, the Klang Parade age-group chess tournament for under-12 and under-18 categories will be organized, while on Sunday, the Klang Parade open tournament will be held.

Total cash prize is RM1500, and entry fees are RM15 for the open event and RM10 for under-12 players. Entry forms are available from the Klang Parade information counter or downloaded from http://tcn.sf.net/downloads/klangp05.doc

For inquiries or registration, contact Greg Lau (tel: 012.9020123).

Royal Selangor open

The Chess Association of Selangor (CAS) will organize its 32nd edition of the Royal Selangor open chess tournament at the Wilayah Complex in Kuala Lumpur from Apr 28 to May 2. 

This year’s tournament will be played in three sections: a nine-round Fide-rated open category starting Apr 28, and the under-12 and under-18 seven-round non-Fide-rated events on May 1-2. 

Entry fees for the open event are RM35 for CAS members and Fide-rated players, and RM60 for others. For the two junior events, entry fees are RM15 for CAS members and RM20 for non-members.

For inquiries, call Shafruddin Arshad (tel: 012.3852420), Lim Tse Pin (tel: 012.2984922) or S Balendran (tel: 012.3547011) or email chessmate@cas.com.kg.

Perak tournament

The Perak International Chess Association (PICA) will organize an open chess event at the Tun Razak Library in Ipoh this Sunday. For inquiries on registration or entry fees, contact Yunus Sharif (05.5458453 or 013.3908129).

The anti-hero

IT HAS been two weeks since the release of Bobby Fischer from a Japanese detention centre. 

The former world champion is now ensconced in Reykjavik, safe from the United States’ attempt to bring him back to New York to face federal charges of violating sanctions against Yugoslavia in 1992.

For the present, Fischer is out of bounds to the United States. The respite is temporary. But whether or not it will become permanent is unclear. The United States is still pursuing Fischer, this time for tax evasion, and the long arms of the American law may yet entangle him once again.

The United States and Iceland have an extradition treaty, meaning that one country may request the other country to arrest and deliver a person who is wanted for certain crimes. Already, Interpol is reported to have asked the Icelandic authorities to inform the United States of Fischer’s movements, especially if he should leave Iceland.

But according to the same news report, Iceland will choose to ignore Interpol’s request. As an Icelandic citizen, Fischer enjoys certain privileges or immunities and one of them is that Iceland is not bound to hand over one of their own citizens.

A senior Icelandic government source told Reuters it was "unthinkable" that Reykjavik would agree to the tip-off request. Iceland does not monitor its citizens, the source said.

Foreign Minister David Oddsson said Fischer would not be extradited. "We have always maintained that the decision to grant him Icelandic citizenship is based on humanitarian concerns," he told 

So as long as Fischer leaves out the rest of his days among his Icelandic neighbours, it will truly be a stalemate between him and the United States authorities.

Most Icelanders were rather happy to accept Fischer as their newest citizen although some did express concern about Fischer's continuing sharp barbs thrown at the U.S. government.

"I think he's a little bit crazy," said Runar Berg, an investment banker and recreational chess player. "Everyone has a right to his own opinion but sometimes it's better to say nothing than to say rubbish."

In the week that followed his release, Fischer told reporters that he was finished with a chess world that he regarded as corrupt. 

For a very long time, he has been alleging that the results of many top-level chess games and matches are decided in advance. Because of this, he said that the Icelanders’ enthusiasm for chess "was misplaced, because people don't know how utterly corrupt it is, and has been for many years."

"Just like when you go to watch a wrestling match, right? They are very good wrestlers but anybody with half a brain knows it's almost all prearranged."

"I don't play the old chess anymore," he said. "But obviously if I did, I would still be the best."

He said that he planned to concentrate on perfecting his concept of random chess, in which pieces along the back rank are shuffled at the beginning of each game in a bid to reinvigorate the game.

Fischer is credited with helping to fuel a passion for chess in Iceland through his historic match for the world chess title in 1972. Though Iceland has a population of less than 300,000 people, it has one of the highest per-capita rates of chess playing in the world.

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Klang Parade chess

The Malaysian Chess Federation and Klang Parade will jointly organize this year’s Klang Parade chess tournament in Klang at the end of this month. 

On Apr 23, the Klang Parade age-group chess tournament for under-12 and under-18 categories will be organized, while on Apr 24, the Klang Parade open tournament will be held.

Total cash prize is RM1500, and entry fees are RM15 for the open event and RM10 for under-12 players. Entry forms are available from the Kalng Parade information counter or downloaded from http://tcn.sf.net/downloads/klangp05.doc

For inquiries or registration, contact Greg Lau (tel: 012.9020123).

Royal Selangor open

The Chess Association of Selangor (CAS) will organize its 32nd edition of the Royal Selangor open chess tournament at the Wilayah Complex in Kuala Lumpur from Apr 28 to Jun 2. 

This year’s tournament will be played in three sections: a nine-round Fide-rated open category starting Apr 28, and the under-12 and under-18 seven-round non-Fide-rated events on Jun 1-2. 

Entry fees for the open event are RM35 for CAS members and Fide-rated players, and RM60 for others. For the two junior events, entry fees are RM15 for CAS members and RM20 for non-members.

For inquiries, call Shafruddin Arshad (tel: 012.3852420), Lim Tse Pin (tel: 012.2984922) or S Balendran (tel: 012.3547011) or email chessmate@cas.com.kg.

The Royal Selangor open is the longest running local chess tournament in Malaysia.

Perak tournament

The Perak International Chess Association (PICA) will organize an open chess event at the Tun Razak Library in Ipoh on Apr 24.

For inquiries on registration or entry fees, contact Yunus Sharif (05.5458453 or 013.3908129).

Fischer freed!

FORMER WORLD chess champion Bobby Fischer was finally released from a Japanese detention camp yesterday. He had been detained there for nine months by Japanese immigration officials after the United States had revoked his original American passport.

But while Fischer was bundled into jail as a United States citizen, he claimed his freedom as a citizen of Iceland, the country that granted him citizenship in recognition of his role in putting the Nordic country on the world map 33 years ago.

Twelve minutes were all it took for the Icelandic Althingi, the world’s oldest existing democratic parliament, to approve a special legislation to grant Fischer full Icelandic citizenship.

The legislation, passed on Monday with 40 Icelandic law makers voting in favour with two abstentions, became law immediately.

Fischer’s freedom was met with rejoice from his fans worldwide who had campaigned hard for his release. He had been incarcerated since July last year, awaiting deportation to the United States to face federal charges of violating economic sanctions against the former Yugoslavia when he chose to play a chess match there with Boris Spassky in 1992.

During his nine months in jail, Fischer had mounted successful short-term challenges to the Japanese legal system in order to delay deportation.

However, all these legal battles still could not win him his freedom. According to the Japanese Immigration Bureau, the Japanese government would only consider releasing the former world champion if a country grants him full citizenship.

Thus, even the special foreigner’s passport that Iceland issued Fischer, which would have allowed him to leave Japan and travel freely in most parts of Europe, was not enough to convince the Japanese government to let him go.

Worse, it soon became known that the United States was preparing a more serious charge against Fischer. 

Earlier this month, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service asked a U.S. federal grand jury in Washington to investigate possible tax evasion charges involving Fischer who was reported to have received US$3.5 million (RM13.3 million) from his 1992 chess match with Spassky.

To Fischer’s worldwide supporters, the reluctance of the Japanese government to release him was seen as a delaying tactic to detain Fischer until the American grand jury had made a decision in early April. If Fischer could not be deported on a sanctions-busting charge which was not a crime in Japan, certainly the Japanese was obliged to deport him on tax evasion charges.

But while the United States considers Fischer as a fugitive from justice, Iceland looks at him as a hero because of his celebrated first chess match against Spassky in Reykjavik in 1972. It was at the height of the Cold War and Fischer’s victory symbolized the triumph of democracy over communism.

It is partly for that reason that Iceland made its latest move to make Fischer an Icelandic citizen. 

Last Friday week, an Icelandic parliamentary committee recommended that Fischer be granted citizenship and this was followed on Monday by the Althingi voting in favour of the committee’s recommendation.

Another delegation is due to leave Reykjavik for Tokyo soon to bring home Iceland’s latest grandmaster.

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Union open

The Union High School Chess Club will organise an eight-round open tournament at their school hall this Sunday. Entry fees for members of the Penang Chess Association are RM15 for adults, RM10 for under-18 players and RM7 for under-12 players. For non-members, the entry fees are RM20, RM15 and RM10 respectively.

For more details or to register, contact Beh Sze Ping (tel: 04.2290595), Lee Kar Kheng (tel: 04.2282761) or Lim Jiin Ying (tel: 04.6569478).

PCMM tournament

The Persatuan Catur Melayu Malaysia (PCMM) will hold a six-round open tournament at the Sekolah Kebangsaan Setapak in Kuala Lumpur this Sunday. Entry fees for PCMM members are RM11 for under-12 players and RM16 for others. For non-members, the entry fees are RM15 and RM25 respectively.

For inquiries, contact Mohd Suhairi (tel: 012.3631591), Haslindah (tel: 019.2069605) or Najib (email: alinashab@scicom.com.my). 

Terengganu tournament

The Terengganu Chess Association (TCA) will organize their President’s Trophy chess tournament at the Dewan Jabatan Laut in Kuala Terengganu on Apr 1-2.

This seven-round event is open to TCA members only and will be played in the open and under-12 categories. Fees are RM5 for under-12 players, RM10 for secondary school students and RM15 for others. For details or to register, contact Adnan (tel: 012.9375722, email: ad6sal@gmail.com) 

Selangor junior grand prix

The Chess Association of Selangor (CAS) will hold the third leg of their Royal Selangor junior grand prix tournament on Apr 2-3 at the Sunway College. 

Entry fees are RM15 for CAS members and RM25 for non-members. For inquiries or reservations, contact Lim Tse Pin (tel: 012.2984922) or email chessmate@cas.com.kg. 

 Grand Prix points won from this event will be accumulated with points from the first and second legs and at the end of this junior grand prix, the top 40 players will qualify for the Final on Apr 23-24.

According to the CAS, the top 10 players from the Final will be eligible to take part in the association’s annual chess camp which, this year, will be conducted by Australian grandmaster Ian Rogers in May. This chess camp is also open to chess players born in or after 1987 with a national rating of less than 1600 points or without a national rating.

Floored by an egg

IF YOU do not believe how much trouble a single hard-boiled egg can cause, you just need to ask the former world chess champion, Bobby Fischer, about it. That is, if you can ever get to meet this chess hero in person.

Fischer, however, is still languishing in a Japanese jail, awaiting deportation to the United States where he faces federal charges of violating sanctions against the former Yugoslavia when he chose to play a chess match there with Boris Spassky in 1992.

He was nabbed eight months ago by Japanese immigration officials when he was leaving Japan and his American passport was seized and revoked by the American embassy in Japan.

But Fischer proved to be a tougher nut than the Americans or the Japanese could reckon. 

Firstly, he promptly renounced his American citizenship in an effort to delay the deportation. Secondly, Fischer had the unwavering support of his fiancée Miyoko Watai who had stood steadfastly by him during these eight months. 

And thirdly, his loyal legion of fans worldwide launched a campaign to have him freed. After all, they argued, what could the American government hope to achieve by arresting the apparently harmless but eccentric Fischer?

Fischer certainly had friends in high places around the world and Iceland was one such country that rallied to Fischer’s aid. To the Icelandic people, Fischer was their hero because of his celebrated chess match against Spassky in Reykjavik in 1972. 

But short of offering him Icelandic citizenship, the Icelandic government approved a special foreigner’s passport for Fischer which would have allowed him to leave Japan and travel around freely in most parts of Europe. Iceland even sent two groups of official representatives to escort Fischer out of Japan.

It would have been a satisfying end to this saga but for the fact that the Japanese government still refused to let Fischer go. Instead, he ended up being placed in solitary confinement for four days, all because of a single hard-boiled egg.

Apparently, Fischer had not been given an egg for his breakfast. He grabbed a guard by his shirt to ask him, but the garment ripped.

A group of about 14 or 15 guards then came into Fischer's cell to drag him away. When he resisted their efforts, the guards slapped handcuffs on him with his hands behind his back, holding him that way for two hours.

A middle-aged guard approached Fischer, told him he had to behave himself, then started to free him from his bindings. When the handcuffs were released, another scuffle broke out and a guard was hit in the face, breaking his nose. Fischer was then promptly placed in solitary confinement.

Fischer would have been 62 years’ old two days ago. His supporters had hoped that he would be freed before then, but at this point of writing, it looked very unlikely. 

Rather, it has become clearer that if Fischer is not freed by today, he has instructed his supporters and lawyers to sue the Japanese Ministry of Justice and Immigration Bureau.

According to his lead lawyer, Masako Suzuki, there are no legal grounds to detain Fischer further. However, the Japanese immigration has refused to say anything and their only argument was that Iceland’s invitation to Fischer was irrelevant to his case.

"The attorney for the Ministry of Justice says only that and then she looks down at the table. That's all. They cannot find any justifiable reason to detain him right now, especially with a country that is now willing to accept him. There is no legal ground for the Japanese government to hold him," Suzuki said.

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National age-group 

This year’s national age-group chess championship starts tomorrow at the Wilayah Complex in Kuala Lumpur. 

Organised by the Malaysian Chess Federation (MCF), this three-day championship will see some of the best junior players in the country competing in 12 separate age-group events for boys and girls, namely, the under-20, under-16, under-14, under-12, under-10 and under-8. 

According to the MCF, the winners of the various events will be considered for selection to the Asean and Asian-levels age-group chess events, subject to MCF regulations. 

Sri Aman junior chess

The Sek Keb Sri Aman in Penang will hold a junior open tournament at their school on Mar 19. The seven-round event will constitute the first leg of Penang’s junior chess circuit for this year.

Entry fees for members of the Penang Chess Association are RM10 for under-16 players and RM8 for under-12 players. Non-members are required to pay RM15 and RM13 respectively. According to the organisers, this event will have five age-group categories: under-16, under-14, under-12, under-10 and under-8.

For inquiries, contact Eoh Hook Kim (tel: 04.8260196) or Eoh Thean Keat (tel: 016.4540070).

Seremban Parade chess

The Malaysian Chess Federation and Seremban Parade will jointly organize this year’s Seremban Parade age-group tournament for under-18 and under-12 categories on Mar 19 and the Seremban Parade open tournament on Mar 20. 

For the age-group event, entry fees are RM15 for under-18 and RM10 for under-12. For the open event, all players are charged RM15 except for under-12 players who need to pay only RM10. Only the first 100 players will be accepted in either event.

For inquiries or registration, contact Amy Yap of Seremban Parade (tel: 06.7648282, fax: 06.7619177) or Greg Lau (tel: 012.9020123).

Selangor junior grand prix

The Chess Association of Selangor (CAS) will organize the second leg of their Royal Selangor junior grand prix tournament on Mar 19-20 at the Sunway College. 

Grand Prix points won from this event will be accumulated with points from the first and third legs (to be played on Apr 2-3) and at the end of this junior grand prix, the top 40 players will qualify for the Final on Apr 23-24.

According to the CAS, the top 10 players from the Final will be eligible to take part in the association’s annual chess camp which, this year, will be conducted by Australian grandmaster Ian Rogers in May. This chess camp is also open to chess players born in or after 1987 with a national rating of less than 1600 points or without a national rating.

Entry fees are RM15 for CAS members and RM25 for non-members. For inquiries or reservations in this event and the chess camp, contact Lim Tse Pin (tel: 012.2984922) or email chessmate@cas.com.kg. 

Union open

The Union High School Chess Club in Penang will organise an eight-round open tournament at their school hall on Mar 27. There are eight cash prizes with a first prize of RM200.

Entry fees for members of the Penang Chess Association are RM15 for adults, RM10 for under-18 players and RM7 for under-12 players. For non-members, the entry fees are RM20, RM15 and RM10 respectively.

For more details or to register, contact Beh Sze Ping (tel: 04.2290595), Lee Kar Kheng (tel: 04.2282761) or Lim Jiin Ying (tel: 04.6569478).

Chess etiquette

AS CHESS players, we are generally expected to know the basics of chess etiquette whenever we take part in a chess tournament or even as a spectator at a chess event. But do we? When we go to a chess tournament, how are we expected to behave? 

The first thing to remember is that, with the exception of top-level chess events, most chess activities are held in confined spaces where many times, one player’s elbows may be practically touching his two immediate neighbours. 

This week, I shall cover some of the common inter-related chess etiquette which chess players and spectators are expected to know and follow.

First, it is very important, when watching a game of chess, to keep the noise down. Background ambient noise do add to the tension of a game and there are players who concentrate so much until they actually sweat and come away from the table mentally exhausted. 

The last thing they want is someone in the crowd to make audible comments on their games and disturb their concentration. Whispers should be discreet and out of earshot of players. 

Next, chess clocks are expensive and fragile equipment, and must be handled with care. More so, they are difficult to source locally. If a clock is spoilt, it is usually impossible to repair them. There is one less clock available for use and two less places available to chess players at tournaments. 

So spare a thought for the owners of the clocks who are gracious enough to pool their clocks together for use at chess tournaments. 

Third, time trouble may be exciting for spectators but as a player, you should give consideration to your fellow players who are concentrating and struggling under the weight of the flag falling. 

In the rules of the game for most local chess competitions, it is the responsibility of the players themselves to call a flag fall. It is all part of the game. So, under no circumstances should anyone call out to him that the flag has fallen.

Fourth, at a chess tournament, you would want to know where all the best action is going to be taking place. As the event progresses, all the best action is going to be focused on the top few boards. 

The action is the most tense at the top boards as these are players who are chasing for top honours. As these games will eventually gather the majority of the crowd, you may soon have problems in getting close enough to watch them play. Paradoxically, the noise level around these boards is usually lower than the rest of the tournament room despite all the people crowding around the action.

Fifth, photography – especially flash photography – is discouraged once a round has already gotten under way. Organisers normally close an eye if you take photographs within the first 10 to 15 minutes of every round but generally, you will be disturbing and distracting the players if you release the occasional flashes in the room once the games have proceeded in earnest.

Sixth, after a game finishes, some players may sometimes remain behind to analyse critical positions in their game together, or they may go to another room to do this. 

There are always points in a game where a player has to make a choice between two moves of equal outcome in their eyes. It is these key moments that live large in a player's mind as the board develops around them. So chess players quite often will go over this even with the person they have just beaten or lost to. 

For the spectator, it is a great time to stand back and watch the analysis. It is possible to learn a lot from it.

Olimpbase website

It was just my luck that when I was writing about the Olimpbase website two weeks ago, the website’s server struck a technical problem and visitors to it were diverted to a different destination.

However, I am glad to say here that normal service has resumed. The Olimpbase website at http://www.olimpbase.org is now available once more to visitors.

For those readers who do not know what I am referring to, this Olimpbase website is the only website I know that contains all the history on the men’s Chess Olympiads since its inception in 1924. Information on the women’s Chess Olympiads, I hear, will be added much later on.

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National age-group championship

The Malaysian Chess Federation (MCF) will organise this year’s national age-group chess championship at the Wilayah Complex in Kuala Lumpur on Mar 12-14. 

This competition, open to all junior chess players in the country, will be played in separate age-group events for boys and girls, namely, the under-20, under-16, under-14, under-12, under-10 and under-8 categories. 

Entry fees are RM20 for the under-20, under-16 and under-14 events and RM15 for the under-12, under-10 and under-8 events. Anyone registering with the organisers after Mar 11 will need to pay double the normal entry fees.

According to the MCF, the winners of the various categories will be considered for selection to the Asean and Asian-levels age-group chess events, subject to MCF regulations. 

For inquiries about entries, contact Gregory Lau (tel: 012.9020123 email: all4chess@hotmail.com) or Hamid Majid (tel: 019.3158098 email: aham@pc.jaring.my). 

Chess Network February allegro

The Chess Network at the Wilayah Complex in Kuala Lumpur is holding a one-day tournament of its own this Sunday beginning 8am. There is a prize fund of RM850 which will be increased to RM1000 if the number of entries exceed 100.

Entry fees for the six-round event are RM25 and RM15 for the open and under-12 sections. Cash prizes are offered to the top six players in the open section and the top four under-12 players. 

For inquiries and registration, contact Gregory Lau (012.9020123) or Hamid Majid (tel: 019.3158098 email: aham@pc.jaring.my).

Perak age-group

The Perak International Chess Association (PICA) will organise a seven-round age-group event at the Cosmopoint, Metro Campus Ipoh this Sunday. This event will have separate categories for under-10, under-12, under-14 and under16 players. 

Entry fee is RM3 per player. For more details or to register, contact Yunus Sharif (tel: 05.5458453 or 013.3908129) or Norli of Cosmopoint (tel: 05.2411515).

According to PICA, the winners of the four categories will represent Perak at the national age-group championships.

PICA/YMCA open

The Perak International Chess Association (PICA) and the YMCA are jointly organising an open chess event at the YMCA hall in Ipoh on Mar 6. This six-round event begins at 10am.

Entry fees are RM10 for PICA and YMCA members, ladies and players under 16 years old, and RM15 for all others. For inquiries, contact Yunus Sharif (05.5458453 or 013.3908129) or Margaret of YMCA Ipoh (tel: 05.2540809).

Meanwhile, the PICA has announced that it will hold its annual general meeting at the YMCA on the same day. The AGM will start at 9am.

Sri Aman junior chess

The Sek Keb Sri Aman in Penang will hold a junior open tournament at their school on Mar 19. This seven-round event will constitute the first leg of Penang’s junior chess circuit.

Entry fees for members of the Penang Chess Association are RM10 for under-16 players and RM8 for under-12 players. Non-members are required to pay RM15 and RM13 respectively. According to the organisers, this event will have five age-group categories.

For inquiries, contact Eoh Hook Kim (tel: 04.8260196) or Eoh Thean Keat (tel: 016.4540070).

Chess goldmine

ONCE IN a while, an interesting chess website would pop up momentarily on the Internet and come to my notice. It had been far inbetween since I have been so taken in by a chess website, but I must say that the Olimpbase website, while it was still accessible at www.olimpbase.org, held great promise.

It was the only website I know that contained all the history on the men’s Chess Olympiads since its inception in 1924. Although there was no information on the women’s Chess Olympiads, this website was still a goldmine of information.

For example, we all know that the Soviet Union/Russia are the all-time most successful country in chess but would you know that in all the Chess Olympiads they had taken part in since 1952, they have never settled for less than a second position? 

It has been a series of firsts all the way, interrupted only in 1978 when the Soviet Union finished second behind Hungary and in 2004 when Ukraine finished above Russia.

Another way of looking at it, the Soviet Union had played in the Chess Olympiad 19 times, achieved 981 points from 1300 games and finished with a 76.2% score. Russia, after the Soviet Union broke up in 1991, played seven times in the Chess Olympiad and scored 263½ points from 388 games with a 67.9% success.

The dominance of the Soviet Union and Russian chess machinery meant that very few living chess players today remembers that there was a time when the United States of America were once the power in the chess world. 

In the early years of this biennial chess event, the American chess team had won the event four times in a row from 1931 to 1937.  

The Americans won the title a fifth time – in 1976 – but this was because the Soviets refused to play the Chess Olympiad in Israel. Incidentally too, this Chess Olympiad in Haifa was the same reason that prevented Malaysia from participating in that year too.

Although the Malaysian Chess Federation was only founded in 1974, Malaysia had begun taking part in the Chess Olympiad two years earlier in Skopje, Yugoslavia. Our pioneering and experimental Chess Olympians were Chan Mun Fye, Dr Foo Lum Choon, Loh Chee Hoong, Kao Yin Keat, A Ariff and Fang Ewe Churh. In 1972, the team had finished in 59th position out of 62 teams.

Last year marked the 16th time that Malaysia have been represented at a Chess Olympiad. Again, from the Olimpbase website, there were some remarkable statistics.

For instance, from our 16 Chess Olympiads, we have played against 103 countries. Against some of them, we have played several times. The Faroe Islands featured eight times and interestingly, we have played seven times time against Hongkong, Singapore and Belgium.

Our scores against our southern neighbours have never been encouraging. Out of these seven encounters, we have only managed a 37.5% success against them, or 10½ points from 28 games. We have never beaten them, and the best we have achieved are two drawn matches.

Since 1972, we have had 57 players who have represented the country. The list reads like a Who’s Who of Malaysian chess and among them, Jimmy Liew has played in six Chess Olympiads for Malaysia – an unbroken string from 1978 to 1986, and then in 1996, for a total of 76 games and a 57.2% score.

Mok Tze Meng and Christi Hon have appeared five times at the Chess Olympiad. Mok has played 52 games and Hon 59 games, with a score of 49% and 48.3% respectively. Dr Foo, one of the pioneers of Malaysian chess played in four Chess Olympiads between 1972 and 1980, with 58 games played.

Those who have turned out three times for the country are Mas Hafizulhelmi, Ng Ek Teong, Eric Cheah, Lim Yee Weng, Wong Zi Jing, Mohd Kamal Abdullah and Ismail Ahmad. The players who have played twice in the Chess Olympiad are Ooi Chern Ee, Goh Yoon Wah, Jonathan Chuah, Francis Chin, Chan Mun Fye, Azahari Md Nor, Peter Long and Fang Ewe Churh.

Finally, the Malaysians who have represented Malaysia, although in only one Chess Olympiad, are Ng Tze Han, Choong Yit Chuan, Ng Ee Vern, Fairin Zakaria, Leong Mun Wan, Tan Wei Sin, AM Mustapha, Mohd Nor Norazmi, Choo Min Wang, Wahid Karim, Yahya Mohd Salleh, Chang Hing Wah, Gregory Vijendran, Mohd Noor Yahaya, Nicholas Chan, Tan Bian Huat, Ignatius Si, Loh Chee Hoong, Hafiz Shafruddin, Zarul Shazwan Zulkafli, Lau Beng Hock, Lee Soi Hock, Jamaluddin, Abdul Rahman Ahmad, Bernard Ng, Yeoh Chin Seng, Woo Beng Keong, Ng Ek Leong, Kao Yin Keat, Kamal Ariffin Wahiduddin, Quah Seng Sun, Tan Vooi Giap, Sabar Md Hashim, Laurence How, Hamid Majid, Chew Soon Keong, A Ariff and Anuar Zainal Abidin.

One of the most appealing features of this site was the ability to call up the individual performances of each player. It was also possible to list all their games at the Chess Olympiad and play through them interactively. There was also a link for you to download all the Chess Olympiad games to your desktop. 

All these, unfortunately, had disappeared from the Internet. We can only hope that the server hosting this site would be active again soon.

UP NEXT

UM 9th college open

The Tun Syed Zahiruddin residential college (ninth college) of University of Malaya will hold an open team chess competition at the college hall on Feb 19. The event is held over six rounds and each team can comprise only four players. Entry fee is RM60 per team, and the first prize is RM800.

For inquiries, contact Pang Yew Tom (tel: 016.6249018) or Geetha (tel: 016.7388557). Closing date for entries is Feb 12.

Penang Free School open

The Penang Free School Chess Club in Penang will organise an eight-round open tournament at their school hall on Feb 20. There are 12 cash prizes with a first prize of RM200.

Entry fees for members of the Penang Chess Association are RM15 for adults, ladies and veteran players, RM10 for under-18 players and RM7 for under-12 players. For non-members, the entry fees are RM20, RM15 and RM10 respectively.

For more details or to register, contact Jonathan Choo (tel: 016.4012748), Chan Kim Kooi (tel: 016.4384890) or Koay Zi Hao (tel: 04.8264241).

Top chess nations

ACCORDING TO to the World Chess Federation (Fide), Russia is the strongest chess-playing nation in the world today. Actually, we do not need Fide to tell us this, because all of us do know for a fact that Russia is untouchable as a chess-playing nation.

But how strong is Russia? And how do we measure the comparative chess strengths among countries? According to Fide (again), their definition of a country’s chess strength is the average rating of the country’s top 10 active Fide-rated players.

In this respect, Russia is way, way ahead of all the other countries. Their top 10 players have an average chess rating of 2717. This comes as no surprise as Gary Kasparov himself is already rated at 2804 while Vladimir Kramnik comes next at 2754. The other players in the Russian Top 10 are Alexander Morozevich 2741, Peter Svidler 2735, Alexander Grischuk 2710, Evgeny Bareev 2709, Alexey Dreev 2704, Konstantin Sakaev 2677, Anatoly Karpov 2674 and Alexander Motylev 2665.

Ukraine lies in an undisputed second place with an average rating of 2639 for their top 10 players. Vassily Ivanchuk at 2711 remains as Ukraine’s top player. Their other top 10 players are Ruslan Ponomariov 2700, Andrei Volokitin 2685, Alexander Moiseenko 2669, Pavel Eljanov 2643, Evgenij Miroshnichenko 2620, Zahar Efimenko 2601, Sergey Karjakin 2599, Vladislav Borovikov 2595 and Vereslav Eingorn 2587.

But after Russia and Ukraine, the chess strengths of the other Top 10 countries become rather debatable as their average ratings are often separated by only a mere point. 

For instance, third-placed Hungary has an average rating of 2618 while France has an average rating of 2617 and the United States, an average rating of 2614. The distinction between countries is equally blur as Armenia has an average rating of 2612, Israel 2608, Germany 2607 and England 2602.

Interestingly, there is a huge gap between ninth-placed England and the 10th-placed country, China.

Yes, despite having an average rating of 2589, China is regarded as the 10th strongest chess-playing country today. This makes them, of course, the strongest chess country in Asia, far ahead of the next chess-playing nation, India, which is in 14th place.

China owes its strong position to Ye Jiangchuan 2648, Ni Hua 2625, Bu Xiangzhi 2607, Xu Jun 2596, Zhang Zhong 2591, Peng Xiaomin 2590, Yin Hao 2583, Xie Jun 2573, Zhang Pengxiang 2560 and Wang Yue 2549.

By comparison, India is propped up by Viswanathan Anand who has a tremendously high rating of 2786, way ahead of their other players Krishnan Sasikiran 2657, P Harikrishna 2632, Surya Shekhar Ganguly 2585, Abhijit Kunte 2568, Chanda Sandipan 2554, Dibyendu Barua 2520, Humpy Koneru 2512, Praveen Thipsay 2488 and Tejas Bakre 2484.

Other Asian countries that feature in Fide’s Top 50 list include Kazakhstan in 23rd position with an average rating of 2542, Myanmar in 28th position with a 2523 average rating, Uzbekistan in 30th position with a 2521 average, the Philippines in 40th position with an average of 2489, Vietnam in 46th position with a 2476 average and Indonesia in 49th position with a 2456 average.

Malaysia lies in 82nd position among 143 chess-playing countries. Our average rating of 2302 comes from our Top 10 active players Mas Hafizulhelmi 2413, Lim Yee Weng 2354, Wong Zi Jing 2348, Mok Tze Meng 2337, Jimmy Liew 2320, Nicholas Chan 2313, Ahmad Maliki 2244, Lim Chuin Hoong 2239, Leong Mun Wan 2237 and Christi Hon 2236.

Fide does not consider inactive players in their calculations or otherwise, we could have included players like Peter Long 2350, Ooi Chern Ee 2325. Ng Tze Han 2283 and Francis Chin 2275 within our Top 10.

The total number of Malaysians, including the inactive ones, who have achieved rating points from Fide has now arisen to 111.

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Southern City chess

The Johor Bahru District Chess Association will hold their fifth Southern City Chess Tournament at the XTRA Hypermarket in Johor Bahru this Sunday. This is a six-round event with a 30-minute time control.

Entry fees are RM20 for the open section, RM8 for the under-16 section and RM6 for the under-12 section. There are 10 cash prizes for each section. For more information, contact Narayanan Krishnan (tel: 07-3338215, email: naraa@tm.net.my

Chung Ling open

The Chung Ling High School Chess Club in Penang will organise an eight-round open tournament at their school hall this Sunday. First prize is RM300.

Entry fees for members of the Penang Chess Association are RM15 for adults, ladies and veteran players, RM10 for under-18 players and RM7 for under-12 players. For non-members, the entry fees are RM20, RM15 and RM10 respectively.

For more details or to register, contact Tan Eng Seong (tel: 012.4299517, email: estan64@streamyx.com), Koay Wen Hoong (tel: 04.2826840, email: kwh1989@gmail.com) or Lim Wei Yang (tel: 04.6598199, email: wylim1990@yahoo.com).

Tsunami open 

The St Michael's Institution and the Jalan Pasir Putih school are jointly organising the Tsunami open team chess tournament at the St Michael’s school hall in Ipoh this Sunday. The aim of this tournament is to collect funds for the local victims of the tsunami. 

Entry fees are RM30 for a team of four players. To register or for inquiries, contact Gary Tan Kah Meng (tel: 016.5688745) or Andy Yeoh Aun Phin (tel: 019.5609221).

CAS first quarter allegro 

The Chess Association of Selangor (CAS) will organise their first quarter allegro chess competition at The Chess Network, Wilayah Complex in Kuala Lumpur on Feb 6. 

This one-day event is played in two categories of 50 players each. The first category, with a top prize of RM250, is open to chess players with a national rating of 1400 and above, as well as non-rated adult players. Under-18 players and players with a national rating of below 1400 may join the second category event. 

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

To register, email your particulars and choice of category to chessmate@cas.com.kg 

Malay open

The Persatuan Catur Melayu Malaysia (PCMM) will kick off its activities for this year with the PCMM Malay open 2005 at The Chess Network, Wilayah Complex in Kuala Lumpur on Feb 10-12. This seven-round event is open to only Malay chess players.

Prize fund is RM2,200 with RM700 going to the winner. Entry fee is RM25 for PCMM members whilst non-members will be charged an extra RM13 as PCMM membership. For inquiries, contact Haslindah Ruslan (tel: 019-2069605) or Najib Wahab (email: alinashab@scicom.com.my). 

UM 9th college open

The Tun Syed Zahiruddin residential college (ninth college) of University of Malaya will hold an open team chess competition at the college hall on Feb 19. The event is held over six rounds and each team can comprise only four players. Entry fee is RM60 per team, and the first prize is RM800.

For inquiries, contact Pang Yew Tom (tel: 016.6249018) or Geetha (tel: 016.7388557). Closing date for entries is Feb 12.

Malaysian chess calendar

IT IS a brand new year and with it, comes a brand new chess calendar from the Malaysian Chess Federation (MCF).

But firstly, I have to caution you that the events in the chess calendar are all subject to change and it is best left to the organisers to confirm during the course of the year of whether there would be changes to their events or not.

Secondly, if readers are still looking forward to the resumption of a national allegro chess circuit this year, you will remain disappointed because there is no company to fill the void left by Bank Rakyat after the previous MCF president, Dato Rosli, had retired from the bank.

First up on the MCF calendar is the national age-group chess championship which is scheduled for Mar 12-15. This event takes advantage of the schools’ mid-semester break. 

The Chess Association of Selangor (CAS) will then organise its annual Royal Selangor open chess tournament from Apr 28 to May 2. As usual, this event – the 32nd in a long unbroken series – will be sponsored by Royal Selangor.

Then, as the schools take a semester break towards the middle of the year, the MCF comes back with the national closed chess championship for men and women from May 28 until Jun 1. The CAS will hold their Selangor juniors open tournaments over two weekends on Jul 16-17 and Jul 23-24.

In August, we shall see the MCF organise the second Dato Arthur Tan memorial Malaysia open chess tournament. This tournament, with a huge prize fund that is set to lure many strong foreign chess masters to our shores, will be played from Aug 20 to 26. Immediately after its conclusion, the MCF will hold the Merdeka team chess championship on Aug 27-31.

If you are a university student, the tournament that should interest you greatly is the annual GACC inter-university tournament, organised by the Second College of Universiti Malaya. Normally, you will find foreign university teams playing too, with many titled players in their midst. This event will be held in October.

And December shall see the return of the annual Malaysia-Singapore chess match but this time, it will be hosted in Singapore by the Singapore Chess Federation. The dates are Dec 24-26.

In the meantime, the Penang Chess Association has also released its calendar of activities for the year. First off the block is the Chung Ling open chess tournament at the Chung Ling High School on Jan 30, and this will be followed by the Sri Aman junior (age-group) open tournament on Feb 20. 

A week later on Feb 27, the Penang Free School open chess tournament will be played. The Penang Free School will also organise the MSSPP chess championship on Apr 5-7 and Apr 12-14.

In May, there will be two tournaments organised by the Penang Chinese Girls’ High School and the Union High School. However, dates have not been fixed yet.

Further down the road, the PCA will hold its annual Penang Chess League at the Kolej Damansara Utama premises spanning July and August, and thereafter, there will be a long interlude until November when it is the turn of the Union Primary School to hold their Union Primary age-group chess tournament.

And finally, chess players will be interested in the PCA’s plans to organise their Penang open chess tournament in December. The dates are not confirmed but most probably it will straddle the end of the SEA Games and the start of the Malaysia-Singapore match.

Readers should note that these are plans by the MCF, CAS and PCA. The other main chess bodies in the country, such as the Perak International Chess Association, Terengganu Chess Association, Johor Bahru District Chess Club and Sarawak Chess Association, will also be announcing events during the course of this year and you should check this column regularly for announcements and updates.

UP NEXT

Brunei open

The Brunei open chess tournament starts today and will continue until Jan 20. According to the Brunei Chess Federation, the total cash prizes stands at more than US$5000. More information is available from the BCF website at http://www.bruneichess.org.bn. 

Southern City chess

The Johor Bahru District Chess Association will hold their fifth Southern City Chess Tournament at the XTRA Hypermarket in Johor Bahru on Jan 30. This is a six-round event with a 30-minute time control.

Entry fees are RM20 for the open section, RM8 for the under-16 section and RM6 for the under-12 section. There are 10 cash prizes for each section. For more information, contact Narayanan Krishnan (tel: 07-3338215, email: naraa@tm.net.my

Chung Ling open

The Chung Ling High School Chess Club in Penang will organise an eight-round open tournament at their school hall on Jan 30. First prize is RM300.

Entry fees for members of the Penang Chess Association are RM15 for adults, ladies and veteran players, RM10 for under-18 players and RM7 for under-12 players. For non-members, the entry fees are RM20, RM15 and RM10 respectively.

For more details or to register, contact Tan Eng Seong (tel: 012.4299517, email: estan64@streamyx.com), Koay Wen Hoong (tel: 04.2826840, email: kwh1989@gmail.com) or Lim Wei Yang (tel: 04.6598199, email: wylim1990@yahoo.com).

No answers

WHEN I was down in Kuala Lumpur last weekend for this year’s annual Malaysia-Singapore chess challenge, I was reminded of a book that I read in the late 1970s. 

It was a relatively thin book by William Hartston, one of Britain’s celebrated international masters. But unlike most of his other chess books, this one, with a tongue-in-cheek title of How to Cheat at Chess, took a light-hearted and irreverent look at this ageless game.

For example, the fourth chapter of this 95-page book was the shortest you would ever find written: just a page long. And its contents were even shorter. This chapter was called Friendly Games, and its single paragraph – single sentence, actually – simply read: There is no such thing as a friendly game of chess.

How apt a description for the chess match between South-east Asia’s two closest neighbours! Though both sides went to great pains to emphasise on this friendly tradition and de-emphasise the results, what went on on the chess board was anything but friendly.

Everybody knew that the Singaporean players were here for our blood. Though Malaysia held a comfortable 9-to-6 lead going into this year’s match, the Malaysian grip had been loosening in the past three years. 

There was a time when the Malaysian youngsters, boys and girls, were consistently far ahead of their Singaporean counterparts in all the age groups contested in the annual matches. We could depend on our youths to score the points and bring home the bacon for Malaysia. But we became complacent in the process. 

In those few short years, what did Singapore do? They knew that if they needed to improve on the results, not only in this annual match but also when their players play on the regional and world stage, they had to begin a coaching programme to train their players from young.

Bringing in the foreign masters and grandmasters and having a structured training programme in place were, however, only part of their game plan. The other game plan which was not so obvious was a decision to commercialise the training and coaching, which had to be self-sustaining to succeed in the medium term. 

Of course, commercialisation can only be successful if there is enough buying power and parents are ready to pay for their children’s training. But as we have seen thus far from the Singapore experience, parents there are willing to fork out princely sums to ensure their kids would get the best training. (I am sure Malaysian parents will also do the same.)

Put this down to their perceived kiasu attitude if you like, but it is very clear that they are reaping good dividends. Singapore’s young players are now generally out-performing Malaysians on the regional stage at youth tournaments. Both our countries have our young stars but when it comes to the ability to draw on a wider talent pool of resources, this is where we have fallen behind.

As far as I can see, only the Klang Valley has a sustained annual programme to nurture players from young. Penang used to be successful in this several years ago, but I do not see new emerging talents that are impressionable enough. Perak are starting to create more playing opportunities for their youths, which is good for the long term, but I do not hear of any similar programme elsewhere in the country.

The other day, right after the end of the first day’s play which saw Singapore winning the 70-board match by a lop-sided 42-28 margin (note: the Singaporeans also won the second day’s match by this same score), the Malaysian officials were already openly in post-mortem mode, talking about how to arrest this slide.

Despite all the “what if’s” and “what should be done”, we are unfortunately no closer to an answer.

Should we also emulate Singapore and bring in foreign coaches? Would they be effective? What if they do not perform and are here only to enjoy themselves? And the most ludicrous question of all: would they not threaten the livelihood of our own local coaches? Questions were obviously aplenty.

In the midst of the impromptu post-mortem, unfortunately, we tend to forget that the Malaysian Chess Federation has a development sub-committee that can play a big role here. This sub-committee is supposed to draw up development plans but to be honest, I do not know absolutely what is developing or at what stage their proposals may have reached.

But what I do know is that we cannot afford to wait for long. I started this week’s column with a quotation from a book. Let me end with another quotation, this time from one of my favourite authors, Professor C Northcote Parkinson. 

I will not bore you with the details but he suggested with remarkable accuracy in one of his books that: Delay is the deadliest form of denial.

What this simply means is that the more we delay in doing anything, be it starting a project or making a decision, it is as good as denying the opportunity to do it at all.

UP NEXT

Brunei open

The Brunei Chess Federation (BCF) will be organising an open chess tournament on Jan 14-20. According to the federation, the total cash prizes have been increased to more than US$5000. 

In addition, the first 10 grandmasters or woman grandmasters to register before the end of this year will be provided with full board and lodging. The first 10 international master or woman international master will be given twin room sharing and breakfast.

More information is available from the BCF website at http://www.bruneichess.org.bn.