A fight till the end

 

Toiletgate

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

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

“Dear Quah,

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

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

”Regards,

Nigel." 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Penang chess camp

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

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

11th GACC inter-varsity chess

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

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

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

Sarawak open

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

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

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

It’s over even as it began

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

But what happened? 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

UP NEXT

Penang chess camp

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

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

Improving chess in this country

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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RSC blitz

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

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

Terengganu closed

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

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

Stonemaster open

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

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

Najib on chess, Omar Khayyam on life

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

But helpless Pieces of the Game He plays 

Upon this Chequer-board of Nights and Days; 

Hither and thither moves, and checks, and slays, 

And one by one back in the Closet lays.

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

The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ, 

Moves on: nor all your Piety nor Wit 

Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line, 

Nor all your Tears wash out a Word of it.

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

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

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

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JB Merdeka open

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

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

UUM open

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

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

Perak Merdeka open

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

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

Stonemaster open

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

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

On the eve of a great chess festival

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Chess clinic

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

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

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

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

MBS open

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

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

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

JB Merdeka open

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

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

Stonemaster open

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

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

Big influx of players expected

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

UP NEXT

Selangor Merdeka open

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

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

Chess clinic

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

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

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

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

MBS open

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

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

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

JB Merdeka open

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

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

UTP Convofair

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

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

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

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

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

Malaysia chess fest

LAST SUNDAY at the closing ceremony of the four-weekend 16th Penang Chess League at the Han Chiang College in Penang, there was much excitement in the air as discussions inevitably turned to next month’s annual Malaysian chess fest in Kuala Lumpur.

Despite the temporary absence of one of its core events – the Merdeka team open chess tournament – from the chess fest, many state chess associations are just as likely to take part in the Merdeka rapid chess open team chess championship.

That’s true fervour for you. The Malaysia chess fest in general, and the Merdeka team events specifically, has become so ingrained in the minds of chess players that it is simply “not done” if they do not participate in this once-a-year affair.

It is a huge social event, a melting pot where players from every state are thrown in and stewed until they become so satiated with the game. Despite the rivalry, emotions do run the full gamut from exhilaration to glumness. 

It is exhilarating to win the top prize but there can only be one winner. Nevertheless, there are so many other big cash prizes being offered that it makes it worthwhile to finish in 10th position. Okay, you may not even cover all your expenses in 10th position but it is still the satisfaction of winning something, isn’t it?

On the other hand, glumness can of course mean a severe beating in the last round of the Merdeka team event which pushes the losing team way, way down the tournament standings. All your hard work in the earlier rounds will account for nothing because it is the final standing that counts at the end of the tournament.

Glumness can also mean just losing out on a better prize. In any team event, even a half-point difference in the tie-break can mean a big difference in fortune. 

Let me summarise just what are available at the Malaysian chess fest. 

Firstly, there is the ASTRO Merdeka rapid chess team open championship at the MidValley Megamall on Aug 19 and 20. Total prize fund is RM32,350 and the prize for the winning team is RM10,000. Even the best local team will receive RM3,000.

Also, running concurrently on Aug 19 and 20 will be the ASTRO Merdeka junior team open championship. Prize fund is RM2,650 with the winning team getting RM1,000.

Next, we have the showcase event of the chess fest, namely, the IGB Arthur Tan Memorial Malaysia open championship at the Cititel Hotel on Aug 21 to 27. The prize fund is US$18,000 (about RM66,500) and the winner’s purse is US$4,000 (about RM14,800). Big names among the foreign players are expected at this event.

Finally, there is also the AmBANK Group Malaysia chess challenge on Aug 21 to 27. Two weeks ago, I mentioned the prize fund stood at RM5,700 but the good news is that it has been increased to RM10,000. This also means that the first prize has also gone up correspondingly to RM2,000.

I should also mention that there will be a Malaysian blitz open tournament at the end of the chess fest on Aug 27.

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

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

UP NEXT

Royal Selangor grand prix

The third and final leg of the Chess Association of Selangor’s 11th Royal Selangor Grand Prix for under-15 and under-12 players will be played ath the Sunway University College on Jul 30. 

Entry fees for the association’s members are RM15 while it will be RM20 for non-members. To pre-register for this event, email your name and age category to  selangorchess@gmail.com

SMK Ibrahim open

The Sek Men Keb Ibrahim in Sungai Petani, Kedah, will organise an open tournament at their school hall tomorrow.

Entry fees are RM5 for school students and RM10 for all others. Apart from the open prizes, there are separate prizes for the best under-15 players. To register, contact Yeoh Jia Dong (tel: 012.4247261), Loo Tung Lun (tel: 012.5136583) or Ch’ng Wei Seong (tel: 016.4895197).

Pelangi open

The Johor Bahru District Chess Association will organize the 17th Tebrau open chess tournament at the Pelangi Plaza in Johor Bharu this Sunday.

Entry fees are RM20 for players in the open section, RM8 for under-16 players and RM6 for under-12 players. The entries will close today, so do contact Narayanan Krishnan (tel: 07.3338215, email: naraa@tm.net.my) if you wish to participate.

UTM Convofair

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

The organisers are aiming to attract around 900 players as this will also be an attempt by the university to get into the Malaysia Book of Records.

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

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

Malaysia chess fest

TRADITIONALLY, AUGUST has always been a very busy month for chess. 

More than any other time of the year, chess players look to August with a lot of anticipation because the Malaysian Chess Federation will be rolling out its best organizational capabilities for the annual Malaysian chess fest in Kuala Lumpur.

The showcase event will be the third Arthur Tan Malaysia open chess championship that will be played Aug 21-27 at the Cititel Hotel. As an international event played over 11 rounds with full time control, it is guaranteed to attract strong titled players from around this region.

If you had been been at the Mid-Valley Megamall at this same time last year, you would not have forgotten easily the heroics of Wang Hao, the young Chinese player who destroyed his opposition as he romped home to capture the first prize. International masters and grandmasters held no fear for him as he demolished them one by one.

Will he be here this year to defend his title? It is yet to be seen. But with or without Wang Hao, you can be sure that top players from China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam maybe and even India will be beating a path to Kuala Lumpur as they eye the US$4,000 first prize. That’s a lot of money: a cool RM14,800.

And that is only the first prize. To bait the foreigners further, the second prize is worth US$3,000 while the third prize is still a respectable US$2,000. All in, there are 15 cash prizes worth US14,550 (almost RM54,000) for the open section while US$1,950 has been set aside for the best performing Malaysians.

You can expect competition to be very keen. But this is an event for the top regional players and a few select local players who feel they may have a chance against the foreigners. 

So where does this leave the more ordinary players like you or I? To be sure, we are not even among the few select who can face the big boys. We shall leave this to the likes of players like Mas Hafizul or Wong Zi Jing or Mok Tze Meng. 

For us, there is an alternative. The Arthur Tan Malaysia open is not the only event at this chess fest. There is also the Malaysia chess challenge, a separate tournament which is open to any player with an international chess rating of 2200 and below. 

If you fancy your luck at an international event with rating possibilities and some prize moneys, this 11-round, full time control event will definitely be for you. However, the prize fund stands at only RM5,700 of which the first prize is a modest RM1,500.

The third and fourth events in this year’s Malaysian chess fest are the ASTRO Merdeka rapid chess team open and the ASTRO Merdeka junior team open. Now in its 26th year, the Merdeka team events continue to attract local competitors from far and near. 

Somehow, it is not solely the competition that is attracting players but rather, the opportunity to meet with old pals from around the country once a year. The Merdeka tournaments are fast becoming a competitive yet social event and that is what draws me to KL almost every August.

However, if you are planning to play in the Merdeka events this year, you are well advised to heed the change of dates. For once, this year is not held on Merdeka Day itself. 

Because of some logistics challenges, the Malaysian Chess Federation is required to organize both Merdeka team events on Aug 19-20, just before the Arthur Tan Malaysia open. The venue for the Merdeka is the Mid-Valley Exhibition Centre within the Megamall.

But do not let the new dates put you off. There are very compelling reasons why you should continue to support the Merdeka team event by participating.

One, the prize fund. For a local event, the Merdeka rapid chess team open stands at an astounding RM32,350, making it the richest chess event in Malaysia. The first prize alone is RM10,000. Is this not enough to compel you to play?

Two, the Malaysian teams are all pampered. Not only are there good prizes for the three best Malaysian teams (the best Malaysian team gets RM3,000), there are also prizes for the three best junior teams, the best government team, the best ladies team, the best school team, the best family team, the best team from the institutions of higher learning and the best veteran team.

Three, the field looks to favour the local chess teams this year because the change to the earlier playing dates is likely to deter some foreign teams from participating.

Four, the playing field is levelled. According to the regulations, the average rating of a team during play must not exceed 2,250 points. So, if a team were to have a very strong 2,600 player as its first board, the rest of the team members must, by design, be quite lowly rated or not at all.

Five, this event is held over two days only. Some more, they are the weekends – a Saturday and a Sunday. It is just a matter of traveling to KL on a Friday, play two days and then leaving on Sunday night itself. 

Six, it is a short time control: a 25-minute game with 10 seconds added after every move. There is no need for some real hard thinking. Just go and enjoy your games. You get to play five games on Aug 19 and four more on Aug 20.

Seven, you get to meet your old chess friends and lots of new ones. I am surprised that I am able to renew my acquaintance with people that I first met 20 to 25 years ago.

Last, accommodation is so easy for outstation teams. It is just a matter of booking into the Cititel Hotel which is joined directly by a passageway to the playing hall

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

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

UP NEXT

Royal Selangor grand prix

The Chess Association of Selangor will hold its 11th Royal Selangor Grand Prix for under-15 and under-12 players starting from this Sunday. It will be held over three preliminary legs and there will be a grand finale after that.

The first leg this Sunday, as well as the second leg on Jul 16, will be played at the Sunway University College. The venue of the third leg on Jul 30 and the grand finale on Aug 12-13 will be announced later.

For the three preliminary legs, the entry fees for members taking part are RM15 for one leg, RM30 for two legs and RM40 for three legs. The fees for non-members are RM20 per leg. The top 25 players after the conclusion of all three legs will qualify for the grand finale.

To pre-register, send your name and category to  selangorchess@gmail.com

Pelangi open

The Johor Bahru District Chess Association will organize the 17th Tebrau open chess tournament ath the Pelangi Plaza in Johor Bharu on Jul 23.

Entry fees are RM20 for players in the open section, RM8 for under-16 players and RM6 for under-12 players.

The entries will close on Jul 21, so if you harbour ideas of taking part, contact Narayanan Krishnan (tel: 07.3338215, email: naraa@tm.net.my)

UTM Convofair

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

The organisers are aiming to attract around 900 players as this will also be an attempt by the university to get into the Malaysia Book of Records.

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

For more information on the entry fees, prizes and accommodation for outstation players, contact Raja Farah Raja Sariffuddin Shah (tel: 012.7749891), Ku Nor Azmira Mohd Roslim (tel: 012.5951065) or Mazila Mohamad (tel: 012.6573683).

Title at the end of the rating ladder

COME THIS time next week, we shall know for sure whether Malaysia has obtained yet another titled player.

Siti Zulaikha Foudzi is in line to become only our second woman international master if her international rating rises above 2200 points in the World Chess Federation (Fide)’s July rating list.

She is close to this mark, actually, because in the April list, her rating already stood at 2169. 

Part of Siti’s rating gain should come from the national women’s championship as well as the Royal Selangor open this year but until today, it cannot be confirmed whether or not Fide had received the tournament reports from the Malaysian Chess Federation (MCF). 

We shall have to wait until the next international rating list comes out. The good news is, we do not have too long to await as it will be released in about a week’s time.

But the local events aside, our national women’s champion would have picked up additional points from the recently concluded Turin Chess Olympiad. Hopefully, her gains in these events will tip the scale in her favour.

Siti has already obtained her three woman international master title norms. 

Her first was at the Commonwealth chess championship in Mumbai, India, way back in Apr 2003. From nine games, she scored the required four points. At that time, her notable opponents included woman grandmaster Ramaswamy Aarathie, international master Bakre Tejas and woman international master Swati Ghate.

Her second norm was at the world girls’ chess championship, also played in India, in Nov 2004. She played 13 games and achieved 7½ points against players such as woman grandmasters Anna Ushenina and Ekatyerina Korbut, and woman international masters Karavade Eesha, Tania Sachdev and Marties Benadorp.

Siti’s third norm was achieved at the Calvia Chess Olympiad two years ago where she obtained five points from nine games. In this event, she had played against woman grandmaster Eva Repkova, international master Lilit Mkrtchian and four woman international masters.

For good measure, Siti had also scored a norm at Turin where she scored 5½ points from nine games. Her opponents included woman grandmaster Zhao Xue, international master Svetlena Petrenko and six woman international masters.

Another piece of good news to announce here is that Lim Yee Weng, who played third board for Malaysia in Turin had also secured his third and final international master norm at the Chess Olympiad. 

However, he will need to raise his international rating from his present 2330 to the required 2400 points before Fide can confer him the title. This will be his next goal which, unfortunately, he is unlikely to achieve in the July rating list.

He will have other opportunities to climb up the rating ladder but he will not be the first to agree that making the forward surge to top the 2400 rating mark will be a big challenge.

Lim’s first norm was obtained at the SEA Games in Ho Chi Minh City in Dec 2003, scoring five points from nine games. His opponents included grandmasters Wong Meng Kong, Wu Shaobin, Zaw Win Lay and Rogelio Antonio, and international masters Wynn Zaw Htun, Mark Paragua and Bui Vinh.

His second norm was achieved at the Dato Arthur Tan Malaysia Open in Aug 2005 where he scored six points from 11 games. Among his opponents were grandmasters Wu Shaobin, Abihjie Kunte, Dao Thien Hai and Edhi Handoko, and international masters Sriram Jha, Jayson Gonzales and Wynn Zaw Htun.

In Turin, Lim’s third norm was obtained from nine games where he scored five points. Among his opponents were grandmasters Pablo Segundo, Christopher Lutz, Joseph Gallagher and Eugene Torre, and international masters Jure Borisek and Igor Zugic.

In the meantime, it is reliably learnt that Wong Zi Jing has had his international master title ratified during the Fide Chess Congress in Turin, thus making him officially our country’s third international master.

UP NEXT

Stonemaster open

There will be a Stonemaster allegro open tournament, organised by Stonemaster Event Management Enterprise, at the Wilayah Complex in Kuala Lumpur this Sunday. This tournament is restricted only to players who do not have a world (Fide) rating. The organisers will also conduct a one-hour chess seminar half-way through the event.

Entry fee is RM20 per player. To register for both the tournament and the seminar, email seme_event@yahoo.com or contact Fadli (016.2092404). 

UTM Convofair

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

The organisers are aiming to attract around 900 players as this will also be an attempt by the university to get into the Malaysia Book of Records.

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

For more information on the entry fees, prizes and accommodation for outstation players, contact Raja Farah Raja Sariffuddin Shah (tel: 012.7749891), Ku Nor Azmira Mohd Roslim (tel: 012.5951065) or Mazila Mohamad (tel: 012.6573683).

Our players should stand proud

ASK ANY serious chess player here what recent chess activity has transfixed the attention of most chess players in the country and he will surely point to the performance of the national men's and women's teams at the Chess Olympiad in Turin, Italy, which concluded just five days ago.

More than at any time previously, the whole of Malaysian chess was solidly behind our two teams. We shared their joys and their despairs during their courageous, often roller-coaster, ride during the Chess Olympiad.

I have never seen so much passion coming from our chess supporters before. All these, of course, thanks to the Internet where we had three things going to generate continuous interest among our chess players.

Firstly, there was live coverage of the games at the Chess Olympiad. It was not the first time that chess games were broadcast live through the Internet and certainly, it will not be the last time either. 

Not only were the games of the leading countries shown in real time, the lesser countries also had their equal time in the sun. Every round, without fail, anyone with a decent, broadband Internet access could tune in to any of the 499 games daily. That's a lot of games to satiate the chess soul, believe me!

It helped further that the matches would start at 9pm Malaysian time daily and continued until about 1am in the morning. By past midnight, maybe 75 per cent of the games would have finished. So it was more or less like prime time viewing in Malaysia for chess players to follow the big games on their computer screens.

Secondly, our senior-most international master, Jimmy Liew, decided to start a chess blog where daily, he would update with the latest adventures by our chess representatives in Turin. 

He created some controversies with his comments when many chess players misconstrued his intentions and thought him over-critical of some of our players but in truth, he was simply giving a matter-of-fact opinion of our teams’ chances. He spoke from a vantage point of knowing the game intimately and the players well.

His chess blog was read far and wide, even within international circles, and you can still access it at http://www.rainswater.com/chess

Thirdly, a lot of heated discussion about our players was also generated on the chess-malaysia mailing list. There were plenty of agreements and disagreements, and at one point, even our players in Turin joined in 

For the first time since chess-malaysia was created in 1998, it became an interactive forum to connect our representatives in Turin with their chess friends back home and I think they appreciated the words of encouragement.

By the way, our men’s team could only finish in 80th position out of 148 teams while our women’s team was a creditable 44th out of 108 teams. Our women, led by Siti Zulaikha Foudzi, played very consistently to score 20.5 points while our men played their hearts out to collect 25.5 points. 

Their highest points during the 13-round competition was a mauling of Canada by 3.5-0.5 and a 2.5-1.5 win against Switzerland which was described in some circles as the biggest upset of the ninth round. In this match, Mas Hafizul delivered a masterly knock-out blow to the veteran super-grandmaster, Viktor Korchnoi, in a mere 21-move game.

There are more to say about our teams’ performances but this shall be left to the next fortnight.

UP NEXT

Sri Aman open

The Sri Aman open tournament for under-16, under-14, under-12, under-10 and under-8 players will be held at the Sek Keb Sri Aman in Bandar Baru Air Itam, Penang, this Sunday.

Entry fees for members of the Penang Chess Association (PCA) are RM10 for under-16 players and RM8 for under-10 players. For non-PCA members, these will be RM15 and RM13 respectively. Entries accepted after Jun 4 are subjected to an additional RM5 as penalty. For details, contact Eoh Thean Keat (tel: 016.4540070, email: t_k_eoh@hotmail.com)

Perak rapid open

The Perak International Chess Association (PICA) will organise a one-day, seven-round tournament at the Kolej Syuen in Jalan Kampar, Ipoh, on Jun 18. The event will be run in two categories. The Category A is an open event for players with a Perak rating of at least 1600, while the Category B event caters to players with a Perak rating of 1599 or less, including all new players. 

Entry fees are RM5 for players under 12 years old, RM8 for PICA members and RM10 for all other players. For details, contact Yunus Sharif (tel: 05.5458453 or 013.3908129) or Hamisah (tel: 012.4313326).

CLB open

The SMJK Chung Ling Butterworth will hold their first open tournament at their school on Jun 18. Entry fees for members of the Penang Chess Association are RM10 for under-18 players and RM15 for others. Non-PCA members are required to play RM15 and RM20 respectively.  

Registration and inquiries: Tan Eng Seong (tel: 012.4299517, email: estan64@streamyx.com) or Teh Wei Li (tel: 019.4161486). Closing date for entries is Jun 17.

Stonemaster open

There will be a Stonemaster allegro open tournament, organised by Stonemaster Event Management Entreprise, at the Wilayah Complex in Kuala Lumpur on Jun 25. This tournament is restricted only to players who do not have a world (Fide) rating. The organisers will also conduct a one-hour chess seminar half-way through the event.

Entry fee is RM20 per player. To register for both the tournament and the seminar, email seme_event@yahoo.com or contact Fadli (016.2092404) before Jun 20. 

FIDE elections: no solution yet

WITH THE World Chess Federation (Fide)’s Congress starting tomorrow in Turin, Italy, the countdown has already begun for the Fide elections.

It will be an electrically-charged occasion at the Chess Congress with emotions running high. A fortnight ago, I had mentioned that for the first time in more than two decades, there is a serious challenger to the incumbent Fide president, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov.

Bessel Kok, a highly respected corporate figure in Europe, is heading the Right Move team which is challenging Ilyumzhinov’s Chess Fidelity team in the elections. 

Earlier this week, an update from the Right Move website, http://www.rightmove06.org, mentioned that there are 41 national chess federations that have openly declared their support for Kok’s team but the Chess Fidelity website, http://www.chessfidelity.com, claimed that the Ilyumzhinov ticket has the public support of 78 national federations. 

Anything can still happen between now and the actual elections but going by the numbers so far, the Chess Fidelity team is expected to romp home easily.

Readers will remember that about two weeks ago, Malaysian Chess Federation president Dato Tan Chin Nam had issued an open letter on the Internet urging both sides to put aside their differences and form a joint presidency in the interest of chess unity.

After Tan’s letter appeared, Fide general secretary Ignatius Leong, in his capacity as delegate from Singapore, also issued an open letter to urge both Ilyumzhinov and Kok to work together. 

Recognising that both men have their respective strengths and weaknesses, Leong proposed a solution where Ilyumzhinov, who is also the Head of State of the Russian republic of Kalmyk, would become the Fide chairman and Kok the Fide president.

“They are eminent persons – the incumbent president is charismatic and controversial while the challenger is a professional corporate leader with impeccable credentials,” Leong said.

In urging both presidential candidates to consider Fide’s overriding needs, Leong said a unification ticket would provide Fide with a unique opportunity to morph into a modern, professional, dynamic, transparent and sustainable organization.

In a reply from Ilyumzhinov, the Fide president declared that he would be prepared to discuss Leong’s proposal and he was always ready to work towards chess unity.

However, the suggestion was rejected outright by Kok who said that such a solution would be illegal and contrary to the Fide statutes. More importantly, said Kok, he would not misplace the trust placed in his team by the chess federations who had supported him.

Subsequently, Leong declared that since his overture to Kok has been rebuffed, he had no choice but to throw his whole unreserved support behind the Ilyumzhinov ticket.

The outcome of the Fide elections will be keenly awaited around the chess world but until it takes place, there are still opportunities that both tickets may yet accept a compromise solution. Let us wait and see.

In the meantime, with a record 146 teams in the open division and 108 teams in the Women’s Olympiad, you can watch games live at the Chess Olympiad’s official site at http://www.chessolympiad-torino2006.org/

A Google search on Turin Chess Olympiad will also uncover many other chess websites around the world that are also reporting daily on the results.

UP NEXT

MBSSKL open

The Methodist Boys’ Secondary School in Kuala Lumpur will hold their first open chess tournament at the school tomorrow. This event will be played in six age groups, from under-8 to under-17, with attractive prizes that include a two-day, one-night stay at the First World Hotel, Genting.

Entry fees are RM10 for students of the Methodist Boy’s Secondary School and the Methodist Boys’ Primary School and RM15 for all other students. 

Registration and inquiries: Mdm GK Saw (tel: 016.2008797 between 3pm and 7pm), Mdm S Selvarani (tel: 016.2008796 between 8am and 12pm) or NK Chin and Mdm SP Gan (tel: 03.20782293 between 8.30am and 1pm). Alternatively, visit http://www.mbsskl.com for the details.

Penang age-group

The first leg of the Penang age-group chess tournament for under-8, under-10, under-12 and under-14 boys and girls, sponsored by the Penang state government and organised jointly by the Socio-Economic & Environmental Research Institute (SERI) and the Penang Chess Association, will be held at the Kompleks Penyayang Masyarakat, Penang on Sunday.

To register, contact Tan Eng Seong (tel: 012.4299517, email: estan64@streamyx.com). Only a maximum 200 entries will be accepted with no more than 30 players in each category. A second leg will be held at Seberang Jaya or Kepala Batas in September. 

Sri Aman open

The Sri Aman open tournament for under-16, under-14, under-12, under-10 and under-8 players will be held at the Sek Keb Sri Aman in Bandar Baru Air Itam, Penang, on Jun 11.

Entry fees for members of the Penang Chess Association (PCA) are RM10 for under-16 players and RM8 for under-10 players. For non-PCA members, these will be RM15 and RM13 respectively. Entries accepted after Jun 4 are subjected to an additional RM5 as penalty. For details, contact Eoh Thean Keat (tel: 016.4540070, email: t_k_eoh@hotmail.com)

CLB open

The SMJK Chung Ling Butterworth will hold their first open tournament at their school on Jun 18. Entry fees for members of the Penang Chess Association are RM10 for under-18 players and RM15 for others. Non-PCA members are required to play RM15 and RM20 respectively.  

Registration and inquiries: Tan Eng Seong (tel: 012.4299517, email: estan64@streamyx.com) or Teh Wei Li (tel: 019.4161486). Closing date for entries is Jun 17.

Stonemaster open

There will be a Stonemaster allegro open tournament, organised by Stonemaster Event Management Entreprise, at the Wilayah Complex in Kuala Lumpur on Jun 25. This tournament is restricted only to players who do not have a world (Fide) rating. The organisers will also conduct a one-hour chess seminar half-way through the event.

Entry fee is RM20 per player. To register for both the tournament and the seminar, email seme_event@yahoo.com or contact Fadli (016.2092404) before Jun 20. 

Unity or schism?

 

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).

UP NEXT

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).