Great Response

It looks like record entries for the KL open chess tournament next month. According to the Kuala Lumpur Chess Association which is organizing this event, there were already more than 120 registrants from 21 countries when entries closed officially earlier this week.

“This is remarkable,” said Peter Long, the man behind the KL open. “In our first two events, we had only a handful of foreign grandmasters playing. We expected the same for this year but it seems that we have exceeded our expectations.”

There will be at least 15 grandmasters in the tournament, led by Georgia’s Mikheil Mchedlishvili who will be the highest rated participant with 2634 rating points. However, all eyes will be on China’s 16-year-old lass, Hou Yifan. 

Two years ago at the age of 14 years and six months, she became the youngest female chess player in history ever to qualify for the Grandmaster (GM) title. The GM title is not to be confused with the Woman Grandmaster (WGM) title that’s given only to woman players. The GM title is mostly awarded to men but once in a while, exceptionally gifted woman players also do qualify for this title. You may already be familiar with these women chess players who hold the GM title: Judit Polgar, Susan Polgar and Xie Jun, among some of them. Well, add Hou Yifan to this list too.

In 2007, Hou became China's youngest ever national women's champion and in 2008, she became the youngest-ever finalist for the women's world chess championship title. Before becoming a GM, she was a Woman FIDE Master (WFM) in 2004, WGM in 2007 and an International Master (IM) in 2008.

She’s a real chess prodigy and I’m excited that she’ll be here to play in a Malaysian tournament. Who knows, if her schedule is not too tight, I may get a chance to catch her for an interview.

There’s also three-time German chess champion Thomas Luther playing in the KL open as well as Bangladesh’s Ziaur Rahman who is staying here in Malaysia for about a year. Seasoned chess enthusiasts may remember the name of Cao Sang. Previously from Vietnam, he now lives in Hungary. He will be in Kuala Lumpur too.

Other GMs in the field will include Indonesia’s Susanto Megaranto, Uzbekistan’s Saidali Yuldashev who is quite a familiar face, Vietnam’s Bui Vinh and Nguyen Anh Dung, and Indonesia’s Barus Cerdas. And at the last count, there will also be about 24 IMs and 20 FMs in the field. 

There will also be about 20 Malaysians in the field and the local charge will be led by IM Mok Tze Meng. Our other local players will include Nicholas Chan, IM Jimmy Liew and Lim Chuin Hoong. Conspicuously absent, though, will be IM Mas Hafizulhelmi.

I should also mention here that English GM Nigel Short, the former finalist of the world chess championship in 1993, will be flying in towards the end of the KL open. No, he’s not playing in the tournament but he has agreed to detour here from Bangkok where he’s going to be at the Bangkok open.

It’s now confirmed that Short will be giving a simultaneous exhibition to a maximum of 20 players on Apr 10 at 4pm. Venue will be the Grand Olympic Hotel in Jalan Hang Jebat, Kuala Lumpur, which is also where the KL open will be played.

The main tournament itself will be held from Apr 6 to Apr 12. There will be a total of nine rounds and on the last day, a blitz tournament is planned for the afternoon before the closing ceremony. 

While entries have closed officially, it is still possible for people to still register themselves. However, their acceptance into the event is at the organizer’s discretion and on top of the normal entry fees, a 50% penalty will also apply.

For registration and more information, check the KLCA blog at http://klchess.blogspot.com or alternatively, contact Peter Long (013.3920920, peterlong@aol.asia)

Up next  

March rapid

The Excel Chess Academy will organize their March rapid chess tournament at their premises in Overseas Union Garden, Kuala Lumpur tomorrow and on Sunday. Entry fee is RM35 per player. To register, contact Jax Tham (013.3232280, jaxtham@hotmail.com).

KL rapid grand prix

The Kuala Lumpur Chess Association (KLCA) and Polgar Chess Asia will jointly organize the third leg of the KL rapid grand prix on Apr 3-4. Entry fees for the open section are RM15 for members of the KLCA and the Royal Selangor Club (RSC) and RM20 for non-members. For the under-12 section, the entry fees are RM5 for children of KLCA and RSC members and RM10 for others. Venue is the RSC’s Card Room at Dataran Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur. More details at  the KLCA website, (http://www.klchess.com/)

Klang Parade open

The Klang Parade and the Datuk Arthur Tan Chess Centre will jointly organize this year’s Klang Parade chess tournament early next month. An age group event for under-12 and under-18 players will be held on Apr 3, while there will be an open event on Apr 4. Entry fees are RM10 for under-12 players and RM15 for all others. To register, contact Hamid Majid (019.3158098) or Siti Nor Faiza (03-33437889).

Perak grand prix

The second leg of the Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng Perak grand prix chess tournament, sponsored by Kuala Lumpur Kepong Berhad, will be played at the Chinese Recreation Club in Jalan Stesen, Taiping on Apr 11. Entry fees are RM25 for the open section, RM15 for under-16 players and RM10 for under-12 players. Members of the Perak International Chess Association (PICA) and players born in Perak pay RM5 less. Entries close on Apr 8. More information is available from http://perakchess.blogspot.com 

 

Mind games

Do you get a kick from looking at an empty chess board? I don’t, not any more. Nowadays, I prefer to play my chess with real pieces in front of me, not with pieces floating around in my mind’s eye. Controlling real chess pieces can be difficult enough; what more with imaginary pieces?

But there are some people who believe that there is a real challenge playing such games. Blindfold chess, it is called. Chess played without sight of the chess board. However, I consider blindfold chess to fall within the realms of novelty chess.

How far can one go in the game? If one is completely blindfolded without seeing the chess board, one’s memory must be good enough to remember all those previous moves and imaginative enough to see positions well ahead.

No no no….it takes more than mere chess mortals to play traditional blindfold chess.

That is why the traditional Amber Blindfold and Rapid tournament, now going on in Nice, France, employs a slightly different version of blindfold chess. Maybe, traditional blindfold chess is also beyond the powers of the new chess gods and they have to try something different. 

What’s happening in this Amber tournament, already in its 19th year, is that for the blindfold games, the chess gods are staring at an empty chess board on their laptops. There are no digital pieces to shift around. Instead, only the text of the last played move will be shown to the players.

But for these players, this is enough help already. Looking at the empty chess boards is enough aid to help them remember moves and visualize games in their minds.

And what great games they are playing! Even though they are engaged in blindfold chess, their creativity has not been stifled. Take, for example, this game which was played in the very first round. Mind you, the two protagonists are world-class players if you still haven’t realized it.

Magnus Carlsen - Vasily Ivanchuk, 19th Amber (blindfold) 

1.a3 (This in itself is a great surprise, as Carlsen steers the game out of opening theory and into a new direction. However, Ivanchuk is equal to the occasion.) 1….Nf6 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 d5 4.e3 Bg4 5.h3 Bh5 6.cxd5 cxd5 7.Nc3 Nc6 8.Bb5 Rc8 9.g4 Bg6 10.Qa4 Nd7 11.b4 e6 12.Bb2 Be7 13.Bxc6 bxc6 14.Qxa7 c5 15.Qa6 0-0 16.Qe2 c4 17.e4 d4 18.Nb5 e5 19.h4 Qb6 20.a4 Qb7 21.Ng5 h6 22.h5 hxg5 23.hxg6 fxg6 (It’s rare to see this type of pawn structure among top players but it’s even rarer to see someone win a game despite having this pawn structure.) 24.f3 Bxb4 25.Ba3 Bxa3 26.Rxa3 Qb6 27.Qh2 Qc5 28.Qh7+ Kf7 29.Ra1 Nf6 30.Qh2 Ra8 31.d3 (Even though Black is better, this move has got to be an oversight.) 31….Qxb5 (Winning the piece and the game) 0-1 

The Amber tournament continues until Apr 25. Apart from Carlsen and Ivanchuk, the other players are Ruslan Ponomariov (a former Fide world champion), Vugar Gashimov, Peter Svidler, Levon Aronian, Alexander Grischuk, Sergey Karjakin, Vladimir Kramnik (the former classical chess world champion), Leinier Dominguez, Jan Smeets and Boris Gelfand. 

To follow the tournament online, go to http://www.amberchess2010.com/index.html. Today is already the sixth round of the competition. There will be five more days to go. 

National age group results

This is just a short note to announce the winners of the national age group chess championship that ended earlier this week at the Dewan Sri Pinang in Penang. This competition, jointly organized by the Malaysian Chess Federation and the Penang Chess Association, attracted almost 300 players to the various age group events.

Boys’ under-18 winner: Tan Ken Wei, boys’ under-16 winner: Evan Timothy Capel, boys’ under-14 winner: Daniel Iskandar Arif, boys’ under-12 winner: Muhd Aziz Farhan Noor Akbar, boys’ under-10 winner: Teh De Juan, boys’ under-8 winner: Wong Yinn Long.

Girls’ under-18 winner: Ong Choon Yong, girls’ under-16 winner: Latifah Kaiyisah Mohd Latib, girls’ under-14 winner: Nur Nabila Azman Hisham, girls’ under-12 winner: Nur Najiha Azman Hisham, girls’ under-10 winner: Puteri Rifqah Fahada Azhar, girls’ under-8 winner: Nur Islamurni Hj Yahaya.

Up next  

DATCC chess league

The third DATCC Kuala Lumpur commercial and recreational chess league at the Datuk Arthur Tan Chess Centre, Wilayah Complex kicks off on Mar 24. The DATCC chess league is a Fide-rated team event over nine rounds played on Wednesdays at the chess centre. 

Entry fee is RM400 per team of a maximum 10 players. Junior teams (all players must be below 20 years old) are charged at RM200. Any entry received after Mar 12 will need to pay an extra RM100. Details are available from Hamid Majid (019.3158098, aham@pc.jaring.my) or Najib Abdul Wahab (016.3382542, najib.wahab@hotmail.com). 

March rapid

The Excel Chess Academy will organize their March rapid chess tournament at their premises in Overseas Union Garden, Kuala Lumpur on Mar 27-28. Entry fee is RM35 per player. To register, contact Jax Tham (013.3232280, jaxtham@hotmail.com).

Johor chess festival

The Johor Chess Academy, Johor Bahru Chess Association and the Majlis Bandaraya Johor Bahru are jointly organising the 14th Bandaraya chessmaster Johor open chess tournament at the JB indoor stadium in Johor Baru on Mar 28. Entry fees are RM10 for players under 12 years old, RM15 for those under 16 years old and RM70 for all others. There will also be the second Bandaraya chessmaster Johor open team chess tournament at the same venue on Mar 27. Entry fees are RM100 per team of three players. Closing date for both events is Mar 24. Details from Narayanan Krishnan (013.7717525).

KL rapid grand prix

The Kuala Lumpur Chess Association (KLCA) and Polgar Chess Asia will jointly organize the third leg of the KL rapid grand prix on Apr 3-4. Entry fees for the open section are RM15 for members of the KLCA and the Royal Selangor Club (RSC) and RM20 for non-members. For the under-12 section, the entry fees are RM5 for children of KLCA and RSC members and RM10 for others. Venue is the RSC’s Card Room at Dataran Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur. More details at  the KLCA website, (http://www.klchess.com/)

Klang Parade open

The Klang Parade and the Datuk Arthur Tan Chess Centre will jointly organize this year’s Klang Parade chess tournament early next month. An age group event for under-12 and under-18 players will be held on Apr 3, while there will be an open event on Apr 4. Entry fees are RM10 for under-12 players and RM15 for all others. To register, contact Hamid Majid (019.3158098) or Siti Nor Faiza (03-33437889).

Perak grand prix

The second leg of the Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng Perak grand prix chess tournament will be played at the CRC Taiping on Apr 11. Entry fees are RM25 for the open section, RM15 for under-16 players and RM10 for under-12 players. Members of the Perak International Chess Association (PICA) and players born in Perak pay RM5 less. More information and details are available from http://perakchess.blogspot.com 

Perak chess kicks off

Last Sunday, I visited Ipoh to drop in at the Kinta leg of the Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng Perak chess grand prix. 

Not only was this the first leg to kick off the grand prix, it was also the first time that the Perak International Chess Association had undertaken such an ambitious project within its borders. I was curious to see the response.

Impressive. Close to 200 participants, according to the proud organizers. And this number wasn’t even counting the tournament officials and helpers, some of the players’ parents and other relatives. 

As I walked along the aisles looking at the serious concentration around me, I realized that save for a handful of familiar faces that I could count with the fingers on both hands, the rest of the participants were total strangers to me.

It shouldn’t be a surprise, really, because after all, this was a Perak event: organized by Perak chess officials and played mainly by Perak residents. I learnt that many of the players had been bussed down from the smaller towns of the state. They had come from all over and although they did know how to play the game, this was probably the first time that many of them were taking part in a real chess tournament. I hope they had enjoyed the experience!

Without a doubt, Bangladesh grandmaster Ziaur Rahman had probably enjoyed the experience too. You would have read two weeks ago that he is now Malaysia’s resident grandmaster. He will be staying here in Malaysia for one year and contributing his expertise to raise the level of Malaysian chess.

No sooner had he landed on our shores that he was whisked up to Ipoh for this tournament. Naturally, he took star billing in this event. He was the player that many of the participants would want to meet. This would be an opportunity to play against a chess grandmaster. Not many people would have this opportunity; only seven would get the chance.

For a long while, it looked as if the fight for the first prize would be close. Because of the large number of entries, there was a real possibility that there could be two joint winners and they might not have played with one another.

But in the end, order was restored and Ziaur Rahman laid claim to his first tournament success in Malaysia. Nevertheless, his success was not without some anxiety. In the last round, the grandmaster suddenly found himself defending a very tricky position with the white pieces.

With very enterprising play, Fong Yit San found himself with an advantageous position against the Bangladesh player. People watching the game thought that he could press home the advantage but somehow, the critical moment passed and Ziaur Rahman forced off the exchange of most of the pieces. In the end, the grandmaster’s experience counted. Still, it was a very creditable game by the Kampar youngster.

The Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng Perak chess grand prix came about because of an inspired meeting that Lee’s son, Datuk Seri Lee Oi Hian, had with Datuk Tan Chin Nam, the honorary life president of the Malaysian Chess Federation. The idea was mooted and Lee was receptive to it. A series of chess tournaments would make their way around Perak, the state where the Tan Sri was born and had made his fortune. Kuala Lumpur Kepong Berhad, with its head office in Ipoh, is the legacy that he had left behind.

From this one idea, the chess grand prix became a reality. With the Kinta leg now successfully concluded, the grand prix will continue in the other districts of Perak and it will culminate with the final in December this year. The CRC Taiping will be the venue of the second leg next month.

Up next  

National age group

This year’s Chiptronics national age group chess championships starts on Sunday. The three-day event is jointly organized by the Malaysian Chess Federation (MCF) and the Penang Chess Association (PCA). The titles contested will be for the under-18, under-16, under-14, under-12, under-10 and under-8 categories for boys and girls. Venue is the Dewan Sri Pinang in Penang.

Entry fees are RM25 for the under-12, under-10 and under-8 events and RM35 for the under-18, under-16 and under-14 sections. Entry fees for entries received after Mar 10 will be doubled and accepted only at the organizer’s discretion. To register, contact Tan Eng Seong (012.4299517, estan64@streamyx.com) or Tan Eu Hong (012.4882133, euhong@euhong.net) 

Scholar Base chess camp

Scholar Base will be organizing an intensive chess camp in Ulu Kelang, Selangor during the school holidays next week aimed at jumpstarting school children into the world of chess and providing them with a launch pad to develop and progress in the game. Participants can join either the Starter, Foundation or Proficient camps under IM Mok Tze Meng and his team of trainers. For more information, contact Scholar Base (03.41062213). 

Cheras challengers

The Cheras Chess Academy and Percawi will jointly organize the Cheras challengers chess tournament on Mar 17-20. This is a Fide-rated event over seven rounds, limited to unrated players and those with a Fide rating of 1950 or less. Venue is the Pusat  Kecemerlangan Sukan Cochrane in Jalan Cochrane, Kuala Lumpur. Entry fees are RM50 for a Fide-rated player and RM80 for those unrated. More details from Collin Madhaven (016.2123578, geodat@yahoo.com).

Chess camp

There’ll be a KL chess camp on Mar 17-20 with GM Ziaur Rahman, IM Mas Hafizulhelmi, IM Lim Yee Weng, Gregory Lau and Najib Wahab. More information from Gregory Lau (012.9020123, greglau64@gmail.com).

DATCC chess league

The third DATCC Kuala Lumpur commercial and recreational chess league at the Datuk Arthur Tan Chess Centre, Wilayah Complex kicks off on Mar 24. The DATCC chess league is a Fide-rated team event over nine rounds played on Wednesdays at the chess centre. 

Entry fee is RM400 per team of a maximum 10 players. Junior teams (all players must be below 20 years old) are charged at RM200. Any entry received after Mar 12 will need to pay an extra RM100. Details are available from Hamid Majid (019.3158098, aham@pc.jaring.my) or Najib Abdul Wahab (016.3382542, najib.wahab@hotmail.com). 

March rapid

The Excel Chess Academy will organize their March rapid chess tournament at their premises in Overseas Union Garden, Kuala Lumpur on Mar 27-28. Entry fee is RM35 per player. To register, contact Jax Tham (013.3232280, jaxtham@hotmail.com).

Johor chess festival

The Johor Chess Academy, Johor Bahru Chess Association and the Majlis Bandaraya Johor Bahru are jointly organising the 14th Bandaraya chessmaster Johor open chess tournament at the JB indoor stadium in Johor Baru on Mar 28. Entry fees are RM10 for players under 12 years old, RM15 for those under 16 years old and RM70 for all others. There will also be the second Bandaraya chessmaster Johor open team chess tournament at the same venue on Mar 27. Entry fees are RM100 per team of three players. Closing date for both events is Mar 24. Details from Narayanan Krishnan (013.7717525).

KL rapid grand prix

The Kuala Lumpur Chess Association (KLCA) and Polgar Chess Asia will jointly organize the third leg of the KL rapid grand prix on Apr 3-4. Entry fees for the open section are RM15 for members of the KLCA and the Royal Selangor Club (RSC) and RM20 for non-members. For the under-12 section, the entry fees are RM5 for children of KLCA and RSC members and RM10 for others. Venue is the RSC’s Card Room at Dataran Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur. More details at  the KLCA website, (http://www.klchess.com/)

Perak grand prix

The second leg of the Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng Perak grand prix chess tournament will be held at the CRC Taiping on Apr 11. Entry fees are RM25 for the open section, RM15 for under-16 players and RM10 for under-12 players. Members of the Perak International Chess Association (PICA) and players born in Perak pay RM5 less. More information and details are available from http://perakchess.blogspot.com 

 

Game for the KL open?

Chess activities continue to heat up in Malaysia. 

Come this April, we’ll be seeing the Kuala Lumpur Chess Association organize their third KL open chess tournament and it is going to be quite an affair. 

Why do I say this? It’s because of the number of foreign players who have more or less committed themselves to take part. The grandmasters expected here will be Mikheil Mchedlishvili (Georgia), Hou Yifan (China), Ziaur Rahman (Bangladesh), Saidali Yuldashev (Uzbekistan), Nguyen Anh Dung (Vietnam), Niaz Murshed (Bangladesh), Wong Meng Kong (Singapore), Barus Cerdas (Indonesia) and Susanto Megaranto (Indonesia).

In addition, familiar names among the international masters will include Richard Bitoon (Philippines), Oliver Dimakiling (Philippines), Alexander Wohl (Australia), Irwanto Saidikin (Indonesia), Liu Dede (Indonesia) and Tirto (Indonesia).

Did I also mention that Mok Tze Meng will be leading the local challenge? He’ll be playing this event together with our other top players, Jimmy Liew, Nicholas Chan and Lim Chuin Hoong. Altogether, there should be about 15 local representatives among the 90-odd registrants.

In addition to all these players, the organizers expect a special guest from England to turn up towards the end of the tournament. He’ll be arriving from Bangkok and staying for the weekend. His name: Nigel Short. 

Of course, Short shouldn’t need any introduction at all but just in case anyone needs to have their memory jogged today, it should suffice for me to mention “former world championship contender and many times Commonwealth chess champion” as among his credentials? 

Whilst in Kuala Lumpur, he will give a simultaneous exhibition to a maximum of 20 players on Apr 10 afternoon.

In the meantime, the dates for the KL open are from Apr 6 to Apr 12. There will be a total of nine rounds and on the last day, a blitz tournament is planned for the afternoon before the closing ceremony. Venue is the Grand Olympic Hotel in Jalan Hang Jebat, Kuala Lumpur.

Entry fees for the KL open are staggered. Grandmasters, woman grandmasters, international masters, woman international masters and players with Fide ratings of above 2400 get free entry into the tournament. Fide masters, woman Fide masters and players whose Fide ratings are between 2300 and 2399 are charged at RM100. Thereafter, the entry fees go up to RM150, RM200, RM250, RM300 until RM350 for unrated players. Entry fees are to be paid fully to the organizers by Mar 16 or otherwise, a 50% penalty will apply.

They may seem a bit steep but that’s the normal price if players wish for the experience of competing in a quality event against quality players. For registration and more information, visit the KLCA blog at http://klchess.blogspot.com or contact Peter Long (013.3920920, peterlong@aol.asia)

Up next  

KL rapid grand prix

The Kuala Lumpur Chess Association (KLCA) and Polgar Chess Asia will jointly organize the second leg of the KL rapid grand prix tomorrow and on Sunday. The grand prix. Entry fees for the open section are RM15 for members of the KLCA and the Royal Selangor Club (RSC) and RM20 for non-members. For the under-12 section, the entry fees are RM5 for children of KLCA and RSC members and RM10 for others. Venue is the RSC’s Card Room at Dataran Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur. More details at  the KLCA website, (http://www.klchess.com/)

Perak grand prix

The first leg of the Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng Perak grand prix chess tournament kicks off this Sunday at the Wisma Belia in Jalan Ghazali Jawi, Ipoh. Entry fees are RM25 for the open section, RM15 for under-16 players and RM10 for under-12 players. Members of the Perak International Chess Association (PICA) and players born in Perak pay RM5 less. More information and details are available from http://perakchess.blogspot.com 

National age group

The Malaysian Chess Federation (MCF) and the Penang Chess Association (PCA) will jointly organize this year’s Chiptronics national age group chess championships for the under-18, under-16, under-14, under-12, under-10 and under-8 categories for boys and girls at the Dewan Sri Pinang in Penang on Mar 14-16.

Entry fees are RM25 for the under-12, under-10 and under-8 events and RM35 for the under-18, under-16 and under-14 sections. Entry fees for entries received after Mar 10 will be doubled and accepted only at the organizer’s discretion. To register, contact Tan Eng Seong (012.4299517, estan64@streamyx.com) or Tan Eu Hong (012.4882133, euhong@euhong.net) 

Cheras challengers

The Cheras Chess Academy and Percawi will jointly organize the Cheras challengers chess tournament on Mar 17-20. This is a Fide-rated event over seven rounds, limited to unrated players and those with a Fide rating of 1950 or less. Venue is the Excel Chess Academy at the Overseas Union Garden, Old Klang Road, Kuala Lumpur. Entry fees are RM50 for a Fide-rated player and RM80 for those unrated. More details from Collin Madhaven (016.2123578, geodat@yahoo.com).

Chess camp

There’ll be a KL chess camp on Mar 17-20 with GM Ziaur Rahman, IM Mas Hafizulhelmi, IM Lim Yee Weng, Gregory Lau and Najib Wahab. More information from Gregory Lau (012.9020123, greglau64@gmail.com).

DATCC chess league

The third DATCC Kuala Lumpur commercial and recreational chess league at the Datuk Arthur Tan Chess Centre, Wilayah Complex kicks off on Mar 24. The DATCC chess league is a Fide-rated team event over nine rounds played on Wednesdays at the chess centre. 

Entry fee is RM400 per team of a maximum 10 players. Junior teams (all players must be below 20 years old) are charged at RM200. Any entry received after Mar 12 will need to pay an extra RM100. Details are available from Hamid Majid (019.3158098, aham@pc.jaring.my) or Najib Abdul Wahab (016.3382542, najib.wahab@hotmail.com). 

Johor chess festival

The Johor Chess Academy, Johor Bahru Chess Association and the Majlis Bandaraya Johor Bahru are jointly organising the 14th Bandaraya chessmaster Johor open chess tournament at the JB indoor stadium in Johor Baru on Mar 28. Entry fees are RM10 for players under 12 years old, RM15 for those under 16 years old and RM70 for all others. There will also be the second Bandaraya chessmaster Johor open team chess tournament at the same venue on Mar 27. Entry fees are RM100 per team of three players. Closing date for both events is Mar 24. Details from Narayanan Krishnan (013.7717525).

 

Resident grandmaster

There are a number of significant and interesting chess activities coming up in the next two or three weeks which makes it imperative that they be highlighted specially.

First up is the news that we shall have Bangladeshi grandmaster Ziaur Rahman stationed here in Malaysia for the next one year. Ziaur is Bangladesh’s second grandmaster but presently, he is the leading player in his country. He is expected to arrive on our shores sometime next week and will be based at the Datuk Arthur Tan Chess Centre (DATCC) in Kuala Lumpur. 

Why would we need a foreign grandmaster here in Malaysia? Well, it is to boost chess development in the country. We need someone who is experienced enough to be a catalyst to raise our game to a higher level. Ziaur Rahman happened to be available and he was interested in the challenge.

Moreover, he comes with good credentials. 

Number One, he is an active player in the regional chess circuit and that’s good because for sure, you know he’s not one to rest on his laurels. He led Bangladesh at the most recent Asian team chess championship in Kolkata last December, he took part in an international chess event in Delhi in January and only this month, made an impressive second-place finish in the Chennai open chess tournament. 

Number Two, his international rating of 2548 is high enough to suit Malaysia’s needs. We don’t need a super-GM here but we do need a chess professional who needs to make a living and is strong enough to impart their knowledge and experience to our players. 

Number Three, he must be deeply involved with chess training. He is a trainer at the Garry Kasparov School of Chess in Bangladesh and was the coach of the Bangladesh national women’s chess team. He has trained many junior players in his homeland and neighbouring India, and counts Sayantan Das, the current under-12 world chess champion and who has recently secured his first international master norm, as a notable student.

During this one year that Ziaur is here, a comprehensive programme has been prepared to make full use of him and to keep him occupied. There will be various events and tournaments featuring Ziaur Rahman as the main man, with chess seminars and classes including trips to reach out to all corners of the country.

Some of the activities planned during Ziaur’s presence here will be individual chess sessions for serious players who want to improve their personal chess understanding and playing skills, and group classes covering specific topics such as preparations for tournaments, opening, middle game and endgame techniques. 

He’ll be giving chess seminars and training to suit all manner of chess enthusiasts including parents, supporters, officials and organizers. Basically, this would cover almost anyone who wants to know more about chess.

Ziaur will be available to take part in local chess tournaments and I hear that there’ll be monthly rapid chess events and quarterly Fide-rated tournaments. He will also be available for outstation trips and so the state chess associations and clubs can arrange for him to visit them and conduct chess activities there too.

For enquiries into Ziaur’s programme, contact Najib Wahab (016.338 2542, najib.wahab@hotmail.com).

In the meantime, there’ll be hardly time for Ziaur to settle down into his routine upon arrival before he is whisked to Ipoh to take part in the first leg of the Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng Perak grand prix chess tournament, which is sponsored by Kuala Lumpur Kepong Berhad.

Ten legs are scheduled for this grand prix tournament which will visit various towns in Perak such as Taiping (April), Parit Buntar (April), Lumut (May), Parit (June), Teluk Intan (July), Kampar (August), Grik (September) and Kuala Kangsar (October), with the grand final set for Ipoh (December). The Perak International Chess Association (PICA) will be organizing the events together with the DATCC.

The first leg will kick off at the Wisma Belia in Jalan Ghazali Jawi, Ipoh on Mar 7 and at least 150 players – including Ziaur – are expected to take part. Total prize money is RM1,720 with the bulk going to the open section (including a first prize of RM250 and a second prize of RM200) with consolation prizes for the under-16, girls’ under-16, under-12 and girls’ under-12 sections.

Entry fees are RM25 for the open section, RM15 for under-16 players and RM10 for under-12 players. PICA members and players born in Perak pay RM5 less. Payment must be made to PICA by Mar 4. For more information and details, visit the PICA website at http://perakchess.blogspot.com 

Up next  

Rookie tornado chess

The Dato' Arthur Tan Chess Centre in Kuala Lumpur will organise a chess tournament tomorrow for beginners, first-time tournament players and all other players who are below the national rating of 1400 points. For more information, call Hamid Majid (019.3158098) or Najib Wahab (016.3382542).

KL rapid grand prix

The Kuala Lumpur Chess Association (KLCA) and Polgar Chess Asia will jointly organize the second leg of the KL rapid grand prix on Mar 6-7. The grand prix, sponsored by the Malaysian Intellectual Development Foundation and the Royal Selangor Club (RSC), will feature four legs from February to May and followed by the grand final in June. 

Entry fees for the open section are RM15 for members of the KLCA and the RSC and RM20 for non-members. For the under-12 section, the entry fees are RM5 for children of KLCA and RSC members and RM10 for others. All legs will be played at the RSC’s Card Room at Dataran Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur. More details at  the KLCA website, (http://www.klchess.com/)

Cheras challengers

The Cheras Chess Academy and Percawi will jointly organize the Cheras challengers chess tournament on Mar 17-20. This is a Fide-rated event over seven rounds, limited to unrated players and those with a Fide rating of 1950 or less. Venue is the Excel Chess Academy at the Overseas Union Garden, Old Klang Road, Kuala Lumpur. Entry fees are RM50 for a Fide-rated player and RM80 for those unrated. More details from Collin Madhaven (016.2123578, geodat@yahoo.com).

Chess camp

There’ll be a KL chess camp on Mar 17-20 with GM Ziaur Rahman, IM Mas Hafizulhelmi, IM Lim Yee Weng, Gregory Lau and Najib Wahab. More information from Gregory Lau (012.9020123, greglau64@gmail.com).

DATCC chess league

The third DATCC Kuala Lumpur commercial and recreational chess league at the Datuk Arthur Tan Chess Centre, Wilayah Complex kicks off on Mar 24. The DATCC chess league is a Fide-rated team event over nine rounds played on Wednesdays at the chess centre. 

Entry fee is RM400 per team of a maximum 10 players. Junior teams (all players must be below 20 years old) are charged at RM200. Any entry received after Mar 12 will need to pay an extra RM100. Details are available from Hamid Majid (019.3158098, aham@pc.jaring.my) or Najib Abdul Wahab (016.3382542, najib.wahab@hotmail.com). 

Johor chess festival

The Johor Chess Academy, Johor Bahru Chess Association and the Majlis Bandaraya Johor Bahru are jointly organising the 14th Bandaraya chessmaster Johor open chess tournament at the JB indoor stadium in Johor Baru on Mar 28. Entry fees are RM10 for players under 12 years old, RM15 for those under 16 years old and RM70 for all others. There will also be the second Bandaraya chessmaster Johor open team chess tournament at the same venue on Mar 27. Entry fees are RM100 per team of three players. Closing date for both events is Mar 24. Details from Narayanan Krishnan (013.7717525).

 

Spotlight on Topalov

This week, we are caught in the midst of the Linares tournament. The Linares super-grandmaster tournament, like the Corus event three weeks ago, is considered one of the elite tournaments making up the so-called chess version of a Grand Slam. Only some of the best in the chess world gets invited to Linares and this year, the invitation list grew shorter. 

Where previously there used to be as many as 14 players in the annual tournament, the 2010 edition of Linares is reduced to just six participants. The last time that the field had been so small was in 2001. However, despite the reduced field, the participants are of world-class standard, all currently placed within the top 30 players in the world.

So, imagine a field headed by Veselin Topalov: a previous Fide world champion from Bulgaria and currently, the second highest ranked player in the world. (He was ranked as Number One in the world from April 2006 to January 2007 and again from October 2008 to January 2010). 

He is an enterprising player that creates energy on the chessboard. He sees resources where others may well get bogged down in complications. From what I’ve seen so far from his games in Linares, they are stuff to excite any onlooker’s blood. 

Topalov is the favourite to win the tournament in Linares this year. The last time he did so was in 2005 when he was co-winner with Garry Kasparov. (Incidentally, it was at the end of this very event that Kasparov announced his retirement from competitive chess to concentrate on his writing and political career.) 

However, it remains to be seen how far Topalov is willing to push himself in this tournament. In just two months’ time, he will be challenging Viswanathan Anand for the world chess championship crown. 

The Linares tournament fits well into his preparations and is obviously a gauge of his readiness to face the world champion from India but how much of his preparations is he willing to reveal to his Indian rival? Topalov knows that Anand and his team are sure to be watching his performance very keenly.

But I’m sure that is only a small worry for Topalov. A professional like him will always be concentrating on the task at hand and not anything else. In Linares, this means the stiff challenges from the other competitors. Any of his five rivals are also close contenders for the first prize but none will be closer than Levon Aronian, the grandmaster from Armenia.

Like Topalov, Aronian is also a previous winner at Linares but unlike Topalov, Aronian was the undisputed winner in 2006. That year, Topalov could finish in only third place. Since then, the Armenian grandmaster has been a regular face in this Spanish town. Obviously, he is looking forward to winning the event for a second time. 

Aronian is also a fiercely competitive player with many chess tournament titles under his belt. It remains to be seen how close the competition will be between him and Topalov.

The other players in Linares are Vugar Gashimov from Azerbaijan, Boris Gelfand from Israel, Alexander Grischuk from Russia and Spain’s own Francisco Vallejo Pons.

As a measure of the close competition between the two main contenders, here is their third round game from Linares.

White: Levon Aronian 

Black: Veselin Topalov 

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 c5 4.d5 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.Nc3 g6 7.Bg2 Bg7 8.Nf3 0-0 9.0-0 Re8 10.Nd2 a6 11.a4 Nbd7 12.h3 Rb8 13.Nc4 Nb6 14.Na3 Bd7 15.e4 Nc8 16.Qd3 Re7 (The sign of an imaginative mind. The rook will be heading to the c7 square) 17.Rb1 Be8 18.b4 cxb4 19.Rxb4 Rc7 20.Bd2 Nd7 21.Rc1 Nc5 22.Qb1 b5 23.axb5 a5 24.Rb2 Nb6 25.Ra2 a4 26.Ne2 Rcb7 (Black has given up a pawn to reach this interesting position. However, White is not without resources)

27.Bf4 Nc8 28.Rxc5 dxc5 29.Bxb8 Rxb8 30.f4 (Will White’s occupation of the centre prove decisive? Will Black be able to neutralize those dangerous pawns in the centre?) 30...g5 31.e5 gxf4 32.gxf4 f6 33.Qe4 fxe5 34.fxe5 Qg5 35.Nc4 Bxb5 36.h4 Qg6 37.Qxg6 hxg6 38.Rb2 Nd6 (That’s a brilliant move. Obviously, White cannot capture the knight with his pawn and so, his only reply is….) 39.Nxd6 a3 40.Ra2 Bxe2 41.Rxe2 Bxe5 (Black’s final resource. The bishop on e5 is immune to capture because 42.Rxe5 will lose to 42…a2 and 43…Rb1) 42.Nc4 Bb2 43.Nxa3 Bxa3 44.Re6 c4 45.Rxg6+ (Winning a pawn but the game is heading to a draw) 45…Kf7 46.Rc6 Rh8 47.Rc7+ Kf8 48.Rxc4 Be7 49.Rc8+ Kg7 50.Rxh8 Kxh8 51.h5 ½-½ (Despite the two pawns, White can never make any headway in the remainder of this game)

Note: You can follow the games live from the official website for the Linares tournament at http://www.ajedrez.ciudaddelinares.es/index.htm but just be warned that everything is in Spanish. 

Up next  

Pearl Point age group

The Excel Chess Academy will organize the Pearl Point age group chess tournament for under-11 and under-9 players at the Pearl Point shopping mall, Old Klang Road, Kuala Lumpur this Sunday. Entry fees are RM18 per player (RM15 if registered through a school.) More details from Jax Tham (jaxtham@hotmail.com)

UTP open

The Universiti Teknologi Petronas will organize their UTP chess open tournament at their campus in Bandar Seri Iskandar, Tronoh, Perak this Sunday. There will be an open section as well as an under-18 and under-12 sections. Entry fees are RM20 for the open, RM15 for under-18 and RM10 for under-12. UTP students and staff need pay only RM15 upon presentation of their matrix cards. More details from Hussein (017.6410194, husseinnordin@gmail.com), Faizal (017.3934291, faizalakram91@gmail.com) or Qistina (019.2602094).

Rookie tornado chess

The Dato' Arthur Tan Chess Centre in Kuala Lumpur will organise a chess tournament on Feb 27 for beginners, first-time tournament players and all other players who are below the national rating of 1400 points. If there is sufficient response, the event will be separated into different tournaments for the Under-15 and Under 11 sections. For more information, call Hamid Majid (019.3158098) or Najib Wahab (016.3382542).

KL rapid grand prix

The Kuala Lumpur Chess Association (KLCA) and Polgar Chess Asia will jointly organize the second leg of the KL rapid grand prix on Mar 6-7. The grand prix, sponsored by the Malaysian Intellectual Development Foundation and the Royal Selangor Club (RSC), will feature four legs from February to May and followed by the grand final in June. 

Each leg will have six rounds with a 45-minute rate of play per player for each round. The top 10 winners of the open and under-12 sections will be given free entry to their respective sections in the final. Total prize fund for the grand prix is RM6,600.

Entry fees for the open section are RM15 for members of the KLCA and the RSC and RM20 for non-members. For the under-12 section, the entry fees are RM5 for children of KLCA and RSC members and RM10 for others. All legs will be played at the RSC’s Card Room at Dataran Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur. More details at  the KLCA website, (http://www.klchess.com/)

3rd DATCC chess league

The third DATCC Kuala Lumpur commercial and recreational chess league at the Datuk Arthur Tan Chess Centre, Wilayah Complex kicks off on Mar 24. The DATCC chess league is a Fide-rated team tournament played over nine rounds with long time controls. Each round will be played on Wednesdays at the chess centre. 

Entry fee is RM400 per team of a maximum 10 players. Junior teams (players below 20 years old) are charged at RM200. Any entry received after Mar 12 will need to pay an extra RM100. Details are available from Hamid Majid (019.3158098, aham@pc.jaring.my) or Najib Abdul Wahab (016.3382542, najib.wahab@hotmail.com). 

 

Packed schedule

The biggest story last week was the welcome news that chess, together with 10 other sports, have been reinstated into the calendar of the Malaysian Schools Sports Council (MSSM).

Well, I really don’t know how long this reinstatement is going to last but at least for one year – this year – the schools and the State Schools Sports Councils can continue running their annual school chess competitions. There’ll also be a national-level MSSM chess championship that players can look forward to.

The removal of the 11 sports from the MSSM programme was a very sore point and parents had been voicing their unhappiness over the whole matter in the newspapers as well as through the Internet. 

For once though, parents’ opinions have been heard rather quickly and the policy about-turn was made equally quick by Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin who is also the Education Minister. 

He acknowledged that many quarters had been disappointed with the MSSM decision to reduce the number of sports from its calendar.

“However, I have issued a directive for all the sports to be reinstated,” he said and added that there would be an additional allocation of RM89 million under the 10th Malaysia Plan for schools to construct their sports infrastructure.

Of course, the reinstatement of chess in the school calendar will not affect or derail all other age group chess programmes run independently by other chess bodies. 

Come this Mar 14, the national age group chess championship shall still proceed as planned. This is an established Malaysian Chess Federation event and has been going on for donkey’s years. It’s part of the MCF’s chess calendar for 2010. This time, however, this tournament will be played outside the Klang Valley. The venue has yet to be ascertained but the MCF and the Penang Chess Association will be joint organisers.

On May 28-30, the MCF will also be organizing a national scholastics age group championship while on Sep 5, the national rapid age group tournament has been scheduled. 

Talking about the MCF calendar, I see that this year’s calendar of chess activities looks decently full. Chess enthusiasts shouldn’t have any grounds to complain. There’s no shortage of chess activities to keep players of all levels occupied.

The calendar kicks off with a two-day chess event during Chinese New Year week: the resumption of the annual Malaysia-Singapore match. The last time this event was held was in 2008 and somehow, the 2009 edition didn’t feature at all. But now, it’s the turn for the MCF to play hosts again to our Singapore friends on Feb 16-17. 

This double round chess match will be played over 40 boards and will take place at the Cititel Express in Kuala Lumpur. This Tuesday, the players shall fight over two games played with long time controls while on Wednesday, there’ll be two games with rapid time controls. 

If all our top players can set some time off from their Chinese New Year celebrations, this will be a very keenly contested match. And if all you can spare some time off from your own celebration, come and watch and support your Malaysian team in action. 

Also in the chess calendar this month is the Malaysian Women’s Master tournament slated for five days which starts on Feb 26 with 16 players playing knock-out matches. 

Looking forward, April will see two big local events. At the beginning of the month, from Apr 6 until Apr 12, the Kuala Lumpur Chess Association will hold their KL Open event. Then from Apr 29 to May 2, it will be the turn of the Chess Association of Selangor to organize their Selangor Open tournament. 

June’s events will include the Penang Open from Jun 10 to 14, the national closed championship and the national women’s closed championship from Jun 16 to Jun 20. In July, expect the second Malaysian Masters tournament to take place.

Traditionally, August is the month of the Malaysian Chess Festival which includes the Arthur Tan Malaysian Open tournament, the AmBank Chess Challenge and the Merdeka team championship. However for this year, both the Malaysian Open and the Chess Challenge have been pushed to Sep 1-8, which leaves the Merdeka team tournament as the only big item slotted into August.

As part of the Malaysian Chess Festival, there may be a new event introduced this year: the Seniors Open chess championship. I know that this event has been long discussed in private at MCF level since last year. Personally, I believe that if this tournament becomes a reality, it will generate a lot of interest among the older chess players in this region. 

In November there will be the 15th GACC Chess Challenge organized by the Universiti Malaya and in December, both the Malaysian inter-state team chess championship and the third national junior chess championship.

Getting excited over these interesting tournaments? Well, start your chess training from today!

Up next  

Rookie tornado chess

The Dato' Arthur Tan Chess Centre in Kuala Lumpur will organise a chess tournament for beginners, first-time tournament players and all other players who are below the national rating of 1400 points. If there is sufficient response, the event will be separated into different tournaments for the Under-15 and Under 11 sections. For more information, call Hamid Majid (019.3158098) or Najib Wahab (016.3382542).

KL rapid grand prix

The Kuala Lumpur Chess Association (KLCA) and Polgar Chess Asia will jointly organize the second leg of the KL rapid grand prix on Mar 6-7. The grand prix, sponsored by the Malaysian Intellectual Development Foundation and the Royal Selangor Club (RSC), will feature four legs from February to May and followed by the grand final in June. 

Each leg will have six rounds with a 45-minute rate of play per player for each round. The top 10 winners of the open and under-12 sections will be given free entry to their respective sections in the final. Total prize fund for the grand prix is RM6,600.

Entry fees for the open section are RM15 for members of the KLCA and the RSC and RM20 for non-members. For the under-12 section, the entry fees are RM5 for children of KLCA and RSC members and RM10 for others. All legs will be played at the RSC’s Card Room at Dataran Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur. More details at  the KLCA website, (http://www.klchess.com/)

Pearl Point age group

The Excel Chess Academy will organize the Pearl Point age group chess tournament for under-11 and under-9 players at the Pearl Point shopping mall , Old Klang Road, Kuala Lumpur on Feb 21. 

Entry fees are RM18 per player but it will cost only RM15 to register through a school. Closing date is Feb 19. More details from Jax Tham (jaxtham@hotmail.com)

UTP open

The Universiti Teknologi Petronas will organize their UTP chess open tournament at their campus in Bandar Seri Iskandar, Tronoh, Perak on Feb 21. There will be an open section as well as an under-18 and under-12 sections. 

Entry fees are RM20 for the open, RM15 for under-18 and RM10 for under-12. UTP students and staff need pay only RM15 upon presentation of their matrix cards.  Closing date is Feb 7. More details, contact Hussein (017.6410194, husseinnordin@gmail.com), Faizal (017.3934291, faizalakram91@gmail.com) or Qistina (019.2602094).

3rd DATCC chess league

The third DATCC Kuala Lumpur commercial and recreational chess league at the Datuk Arthur Tan Chess Centre, Wilayah Complex will kick off on Mar 24. The DATCC chess league is a Fide-rated team tournament played over nine rounds with long time controls. Each round will be played on Wednesdays at the chess centre. 

Entry fee is RM400 per team of a maximum 10 players. Junior teams (players below 20 years old) are charged at RM200. Any entry received after Mar 12 will need to pay an extra RM100. Details are available from Hamid Majid (019.3158098, aham@pc.jaring.my) or Najib Abdul Wahab (016.3382542, najib.wahab@hotmail.com). 

Youths rule!

If I’m tasked with drawing up a wish list of the top three chess events to follow through the Internet this year, I wouldn’t have any problem in identifying the world chess championship match this April between Viswanathan Anand and Veselin Topalov and the end-of-year Chess Olympiad in Khanty-Mansiysk as among them.

The third? This has got to be a no-brainer choice for me. It can only be the annual tournament at Wijk aan Zee in the Netherlands. Chess people know it better as the Corus chess tournament.

The Corus chess tournament actually goes back a very long time but in those old days, the event wasn’t known as Corus. That came much later in year 2000. When the event began in 1938, it was known simply as the Hoogovens tournament, named after the Dutch steel and aluminium producer, Koninklijke Hoogovens. In 1999, this company merged with British Steel and the new entity became the Corus Group.

So this tournament is well steeped in history. Earlier this week, the latest in the long line of Corus chess tournaments ended in Wijk aan Zee. Its main attraction was the 14-man Group A event that featured some of the world’s top players including Viswanathan Anand (the current world chess champion), Vladimir Kramnik (a previous classical chess world champion) and Magnus Carlsen (currently the highest ranked player in the world).

Then, as if this trio just wasn’t enough, the other participants included some of the most well-known veterans in international chess: Alexei Shirov, Vassily Ivanchuk, Peter Leko and the evergreen Nigel Short. 

Now, many of you reading this column will know that occasionally I’d enthuse about how chess today is dominated by players who are getting younger in their years. This is, of course, a worldwide phenomenon and in fact, not even restricted to chess alone. We find that youths are dominating all areas of sport.

Much so at the Corus chess tournament too. Apart from the 19-year-old Carlsen, the other “babies” of the Group A tournament were Sergey Karjakin (20 years old), Hikaru Nakamura (22 years old) and Fabiano Caruana (17 years old).

But of course, how can I term this young man a baby when he is presently the highest ranked player in the world and was a co-winner at Corus two years ago? I can hardly term him as a baby, can I? 

And in all seriousness, Karjakin is no baby chess player either, because he has impeccable chess credentials too. He started off in Corus this year as the defending champion but his crown was snatched away by one of the other “baby” players, Carlsen.

So there we have it, in the last three years the most significant feature of the Corus chess tournaments was the domination of teenaged chess grandmasters. Carlsen was only 17 years old when he became a joint winner in 2008. Karjakin was 19 years old when he won the event in 2009. And now in 2010, Carlsen has won the tournament out-right at 19 years of age.

By the way, Carlsen wasn’t the only teenager making a great splash at this year’s Corus event. In the Group B tournament, another teenager was creating a lot of interest: 15-year-old Anish Giri of the Netherlands. Giri, whose father is Nepalese, was born and raised in Russia. In February 2009, he qualified as a chess grandmaster and at that time, he was also the world’s youngest.

Giri won the Group B event ahead of many of his contemporaries and rivals that included 16-year-old Wesley So of the Philippines, 16-year-old Parimarjan Negi of India and 19-year-old David Howell of England. 

For good measure, I also want to mention that the Corus Group C tournament was won by 20-year-old Li Chao from China. Li will get his chance to play in the Group B tournament next year just as Giri will also get him chance in next year’s Group A tournament. 

With so many youthful chess talents from around the world making names for themselves, I think chess is in for a very interesting and exciting future. I just can’t wait for more of them to take over the world.

This week, I’d like to feature an exciting game that was played in the final round of the Corus Group A tournament between Shirov and Leinier Dominguez. At the critical point in the game when the two players agreed to a draw, Shirov was actually winning. However, chess is not played on position alone. There’s also the time factor to contend with and both players were tremendously short on time at that stage of the game. After the game, Shirov discovered that had he pressed on to win the game, he would have won the tournament too, overtaking Carlsen at the top of the standings.

White: Alexei Shirov

Black: Leinier Dominguez

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 Nbd7 7.Bc4 Qb6 8.Bb3 e6 9.Qd2 Be7 10.0–0–0 Nc5 11.f3 Qc7 12.Kb1 0–0 13.g4 b5 14.a3 Rb8 15.h4 Bd7 16.Bxf6 Bxf6 17.g5 Bd8 18.h5 a5 19.g6 Nxb3 20.Nxb3 fxg6 21.hxg6 h6 22.Nxa5 (The start of all the complications. White could have chosen the straight-forward 22.Qxd6 and won a pawn) 22….Rxf3  23.e5 Be8 24.exd6 Qxa5 25.Rxh6 gxh6 26.Qxh6 Bf6 27.d7 Bxc3 28.dxe8Q+ Rxe8 (White needs to be very careful because a careless 29.Rd7 loses to 29….Rf1+ 30.Ka2 Ra1+ and he will be checkmated) 29.Qh1 (This could easily have been the Move Of The Game, a quiet sort of move that protects the back rank and now really threatening 30.Rd7 next) 29….Re7 30.Qxf3 Bg7 ½-½ (White should be winning after 31.b4 Qc7 22.Qa8+ Bf8 33.Rf1 etc)

Up next  

Seri Putra chess

The Perak International Chess Association will organize the Seri Putra chess tournament (open, under-15, under-12 and under-10 events) at the Sekolah Menengah Seri Putra hall on Sunday. 

Entry fees are RM5 for the under-12 and under-10 events and RM10 for the under-15 and open events. The closing date for entries is Feb 4. To register, contact Abu Bakar Abdullah (014.2510852 or 014.2510952) or visit http://perakchess.blogspot.com 

KL rapid grand prix

The Kuala Lumpur Chess Association (KLCA) and Polgar Chess Asia will jointly organize a KL rapid grand prix beginning next month. The grand prix, sponsored by the Malaysian Intellectual Development Foundation and the Royal Selangor Club (RSC), will feature four legs from February to May and followed by the grand final in June. The first leg will be held this weekend.

Each leg will have six rounds with a 45-minute rate of play per player for each round. The top 10 winners of the open and under-12 sections will be given free entry to their respective sections in the final. Total prize fund for the grand prix is RM6,600.

Entry fees for the open section are RM15 for members of the KLCA and the RSC and RM20 for non-members. For the under-12 section, the entry fees are RM5 for children of KLCA and RSC members and RM10 for others. All legs will be played at the RSC’s Card Room at Dataran Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur. More details at  the KLCA website, (http://www.klchess.com/)

Malaysia-Singapore match

Get set for the resumption of the Malaysia versus Singapore chess duel 2010 on Feb 16-17. This double round chess match over 40 boards will take place at the Cititel Express in Kuala Lumpur. On Feb 16, the players shall fight over two games played with long time controls while on the following day, there’ll be two games with rapid time controls. If all our top players can set some time off from their Chinese New Year celebrations, this will be a very keenly contested match. And if all you can spare some time off from your own celebration, come and watch and support your team in action.

Pearl Point age group

The Excel Chess Academy will organize the Pearl Point age group chess tournament for under-11 and under-9 players at the Pearl Point shopping mall , Old Klang Road, Kuala Lumpur on Feb 21. 

Entry fees are RM18 per player but it will cost only RM15 to register through a school. Closing date is Feb 19. More details from Jax Tham (jaxtham@hotmail.com)

UTP open

The Universiti Teknologi Petronas will organize their UTP chess open tournament at their campus in Bandar Seri Iskandar, Tronoh, Perak on Feb 21. There will be an open section as well as an under-18 and under-12 sections. 

Entry fees are RM20 for the open, RM15 for under-18 and RM10 for under-12. UTP students and staff need pay only RM15 upon presentation of their matrix cards.  Closing date is Feb 7. More details, contact Hussein (017.6410194, husseinnordin@gmail.com), Faizal (017.3934291, faizalakram91@gmail.com) or Qistina (019.2602094).

Malaysian women’s masters

After the success of last year’s Malaysian Masters tournament at the DATCC, next comes the Malaysian Women’s Masters tournament starting Feb 26. There will be 16 players who will play knock-out matches. More information is available from MCF secretary Gregory Lau (012.9020123, greglau64@gmail.com or malaysianchessfederation@gmail.com) or Najib Abdul Wahab (016.3382542, najib.wahab@hotmail.com).

3rd DATCC chess league

The third DATCC Kuala Lumpur commercial and recreational chess league at the Datuk Arthur Tan Chess Centre, Wilayah Complex will kick off on Mar 24. The DATCC chess league is a Fide-rated team tournament played over nine rounds with long time controls. Each round will be played on Wednesdays at the chess centre. 

Entry fee is RM400 per team of a maximum 10 players. Junior teams (players below 20 years old) are charged at RM200. Any entry received after Mar 12 will need to pay an extra RM100. Details are available from Hamid Majid (019.3158098, aham@pc.jaring.my) or Najib Abdul Wahab (016.3382542, najib.wahab@hotmail.com).

 

Beyond envy

“Hey, Greg,” I asked the Malaysian Chess Federation’s secretary when I bumped into him in Kuala Lumpur recently, “what’s become of our standing with the World Chess Federation (Fide)?”

In case you are not aware, Malaysia’s name had been missing from Fide’s list of member countries since the beginning of the year. Our Fide-rated players suddenly found themselves delisted from the Fide rating list. Gregory Lau, the MCF secretary, would be the best person to bring me up to date on this matter.

“Oh, don’t you know,” he replied almost casually, “we are back on board Fide since last Friday at about 9pm. If you check the Fide website, all our players are back in the rating list.”

That was quite a relief to hear. We are again a member in benefit. At first, I wanted to say that the MCF should shoulder the full blame for letting our membership lapse but on second thoughts, was it really all the fault of the MCF? 

I don’t think so. In fact, the MCF’s position is beyond envy. The federation receives so little or no funding from the government and whatever little financial resources it has goes back to cover its administrative costs. 

From what I know, Fide was owed in excess of Euro2,000. At today’s exchange rates, that’s at least RM10,000. While a chunk of it went towards settling the membership dues, there are also other obligations towards Fide.

For example, it costs Euro270 to register a team for the Chess Olympiad. If we send both the men’s and women’s teams, the cost is doubled. Then there are also the rating fees for our players. As long as a player is registered with Fide and he is in their “active” list, the federation is required to pay one Euro for that player.

Getting a chess title confirmed is also not cheap. For instance, an application for an international master title will cost the federation Euro165 and in the past year, we had two new international masters. Fide has the right to increase the fee by 50 percent to 100 percent if title applications are made after their deadline for submission. 

And finally, if you want to organize a Fide-rated round-robin tournament, be prepared to pay the registration fee too. It’s calculated based on the strength of the tournament. For Swiss tournaments, the fee is one Euro per player. On top of that, if the organizer fails to submit the results to Fide, a penalty fee kicks in.

All in all, these fees simply add up to a lot of money. For voluntary organizations like the MCF, it digs a deep hole in the pockets. And this is just fees due to Fide alone. What about participation in regional events? They cost money too but only this time, the Asian Chess Federation is the beneficiary of the fees. 

So don’t think that chess is a cheap game. If a federation is not careful, one fine day it will find itself temporarily excluded from Fide until the arrears are settled. That’s what happened to the MCF. The big fear is this: okay, so our arrears have been settled for now but what will happen in the next one or two years? Nobody knows….

Finally still on the topic of ratings, I have some quick statistics here based on the latest January 2010 list. We, that is Malaysia, have three players rated above 2400 in Mas Hafizulhelmi (2420), Mok Tze Meng (2414) and Wong Zijing (2410). We have also four players above 2300: Nicholas Chan (2398), Ooi Chern Ee (2336), Peter Long (2331) and Jimmy Liew (2315).

Then comes 26 players with ratings of above 2200, followed by 37 players rated above 2100. The rest are below 2100. 

Up next  

City Day fun

Come celebrate City Day in Kuala Lumpur this Monday with a fun blitz event at the Datuk Arthur Tan Chess Centre, Wilayah Complex. This will be an 11-round event with only five minutes on the chess clock. Entry fee is RM25 per player. For registration and details, contact Hamid Majid (019.3158098 or aham@pc.jaring.my) or Najib Wahab (016.3382542 or najib.wahab@hotmail.com)

Seri Putra chess

The Perak International Chess Association will organize the Seri Putra chess tournament at the Sekolah Menengah Seri Putra hall on Feb 7. Note that the organizers are now holding the under-10, under-12, under-15 and open events on the same day.

Entry fees are RM5 for the under-12 and under-10 events and RM10 for the under-15 and open events. The closing date for entries is Feb 4. To register, contact Abu Bakar Abdullah (014.2510852 or 014.2510952) or visit http://perakchess.blogspot.com 

KL rapid grand prix

The Kuala Lumpur Chess Association (KLCA) and Polgar Chess Asia will jointly organize a KL rapid grand prix beginning next month. The grand prix, sponsored by the Malaysian Intellectual Development Foundation and the Royal Selangor Club (RSC), will feature four legs from February to May and followed by the grand final in June. The first leg will be on Feb 6-7.

Each leg will have six rounds with a 45-minute rate of play per player for each round. The top 10 winners of the open and under-12 sections will be given free entry to their respective sections in the final. Total prize fund for the grand prix is RM6,600.

Entry fees for the open section are RM15 for members of the KLCA and the RSC and RM20 for non-members. For the under-12 section, the entry fees are RM5 for children of KLCA and RSC members and RM10 for others. All legs will be played at the RSC’s Card Room at Dataran Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur. More details at  the KLCA website, http://www.klchess.com/ 

UTP open

The Universiti Teknologi Petronas will organize their UTP chess open tournament at their campus in Bandar Seri Iskandar, Tronoh, Perak on Feb 21. There will be an open section as well as an under-18 and under-12 sections. 

Entry fees are RM20 for the open, RM15 for under-18 and RM10 for under-12. UTP students and staff need pay only RM15 upon presentation of their matrix cards.  Closing date is Feb 7. More details, contact Hussein (017.6410194, husseinnordin@gmail.com), Faizal (017.3934291, faizalakram91@gmail.com) or Qistina (019.2602094).

Malaysian women’s masters

After the success of last year’s Malaysian Masters tournament at the DATCC, next comes the Malaysian Women’s Masters tournament starting Feb 26. There will be 16 players who will play knock-out matches. More information is available from MCF secretary Gregory Lau (012.9020123, greglau64@gmail.com or malaysianchessfederation@gmail.com) or Najib Abdul Wahab (016.3382542, najib.wahab@hotmail.com).

3rd DATCC chess league

The third DATCC Kuala Lumpur commercial and recreational chess league at the Datuk Arthur Tan Chess Centre, Wilayah Complex will kick off on Mar 24. The DATCC chess league is a Fide-rated team tournament played over nine rounds with long time controls. Each round will be played on Wednesdays at the chess centre. 

Entry fee is RM400 per team of a maximum 10 players. Junior teams (players below 20 years old) are charged at RM200. Any entry received after Mar 12 will need to pay an extra RM100. Details are available from Hamid Majid (019.3158098, aham@pc.jaring.my) or Najib Abdul Wahab (016.3382542, najib.wahab@hotmail.com).