Momentary slowdown

Just last week, I happened to be asking around a few people – they being adult chess players – what they would be doing if they were not playing chess on weekends. 

I thought it was quite a reasonable question to ask because right now, in the fourth quarter of the year, there is a certain lull in local chess activities. I wouldn’t say that chess activities have stopped but certainly, they have slowed down considerably. 

It happens all the time, almost like clockwork, because the main bulk of chess players get too preoccupied with school revision work and examinations until the end of next month.

The responses I received were varied but almost predictable. Watch football on television. Visit the shopping malls. Join the gym. Go for cinema shows. Indulge in photography pursuits. Catch up on reading. “Chess books?” I murmured. “No, just newspapers,” one replied. 

Go web surfing. Yeah, right, I thought, turn to the Internet for some instant chess gratification. “Maybe I’ll catch up with you on one of the Internet chess servers,” I told a friend, adding: “There are some great top-level tournaments going on.” “Erm, no,” he replied, “maybe I’ll see you on facebook instead.”

Like I said, varied but almost predictable responses. To an extent, my own non-chess hobbies may probably overlap with many other people’s too and it is exactly this period that I indulge more in them than at any other time of the year.

There is one person I know who turns himself completely off from chess in a big way at the end of the year. Come every mid-October, he will let go of all his wooden horses and turn his sights to real horses. The chess board at home gets transformed into the race courses of Melbourne’s Spring Racing Carnival. He owns a number of thoroughbred horses in Australia, you see.

Just last Saturday, he watched his horse So You Think thunder down the track at Melbourne’s Moonee Valley race course to lift the Cox Plate for the second time in two years. Come tomorrow, So You Think is again a favourite to win the Mackinnon Stakes at the Victoria Derby.

Just by mentioning the words “horse racing”, I would believe that you already know whom I’m referring to. In Australia, Datuk Tan Chin Nam is regarded as one of the most successful – if not indeed already the most successful – horse owners in recent history. A four-time winner of the Melbourne Cup, raced on the first Tuesday every November.

And come to think of it, that’s just next Tuesday, four days away. 

There are two ways to actually enjoy the Melbourne Cup races in Australia. One, be there yourself at the Flemington race course in Melbourne, or Two, entrench yourself in one of the drinking holes around Australia and cheer on the horses on television with scores of other beer guzzlers. 

Or alternatively, be an audience of one and watch the races on television at home here in Malaysia. The Australia Network says that they’ll be carrying the races live and it so happens that this channel is available on Astro. There’s definitely not the same thrill as One or Two mentioned above, but that’s what I’ll be doing.

In the meantime, I shall leave you this week with a mention that the annual World Youth Chess Championships are currently taking place in Greece. The official website is http://wycc2010.chessdom.com/ 

Among the 814 boys and 573 girls from around the world taking part, 14 of them are our own boys and girls battling in the under-8, under-10, under-12, under-14 and under-16 age group events in the championships. The event ends tomorrow. 

Up next  

Giant Kulai open

The Johor Bahru Chess Association, Rakan Muda Johor Bahru and the Giant Kulai Hypermarket are jointly organizing a Giant Kulai open chess tournament in the hypermarket’s premises in Kulai, Johor this Sunday. Seven rounds, 25-minute time control games. Entry fees are RM12 (players below 12 years old), RM15 (players below 16 years old) and RM30 (other players). Entries close today. More information available from Narayanan Krishnan (013.7717525, jb_chess_association@yahoo.com). 

Kepong junior open

The Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Cina Kepong Dua in Kuala Lumpur will organize their 16th junior open chess tournament for under-18, under-14, under-12, under-10 and under-8 players at the school this Sunday. Six rounds, 30-minute time control games. More details from Mdm Goh (012.9883351) or Lim Tse Pin (012.2984922).

MSSM-Masterskill chess

The Polgar Chess Asia has postponed indefinitely the organizing of the MSSM-Masterskill national scholastics chess championship that was scheduled for Nov 8-12 at the Masterskill University College campus in Ipoh, Perak. For more details, contact Peter Long (peterlong@aol.asia) or Gregory Lau (greglau64@gmail.com). 

SJKC Jln Davidson open

The Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Cina Jalan Davidson in Kuala Lumpur will organize an open chess tournament for under-16 players at the school on Nov 14. Six rounds, 30-minute time control games. Entry fees are RM10 (players from SJKC Jalan Davidson) and RM12 (all other players). Entries close on Nov 12. More details from Collin Madhaven (016.2123578) and Bob Yap (012.2878378).

November rating tournament

The Cheras Chess Academy will hold a Fide-rated open tournament, limited to players with Fide ratings of 1950 and below, at the Pusat Kecemerlangan Sukan Cochrane in Jalan Cochrane, Kuala Lumpur on Nov 20-24. Seven rounds, two-hour play-to-finish time control games. Entry fees are RM50 (Fide-rated players) and RM80 (non-Fide-rated players). More details from Collin Madhaven (016.2123578, geodat@yahoo.com).

Chess camp

A fun and informative Kids For Chess camp for beginners, intermediate-level and aspiring tournament players will be held at the Pandan Lake Club in Pandan Perdana, Kuala Lumpur on Dec 1-2. Entry fees are RM90 per participant. Closing date is Nov 30. More details available from http://www.kids4chess.com.

Penang Chess League

The Penang Chess Association (PCA) will organize the annual Penang Chess League at the Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Cina Kheng Thean in Jalan Van Praagh, George Town on Dec 4-5. Seven rounds, one-hour time control games. The event is open to teams from the public sector, business community, factories, institutions of learning and registered societies and clubs. Entry fees per team are RM150 (open category), RM90 (under-18 teams) and RM60 (under-12 teams). Entries close on Dec 1. More information from Tan Eng Seong (012.4299517)

Penang open

The Penang Chess Association (PCA) will organize the Penang Heritage City international open chess championship at the Penang City Hall in George Town, Penang on Dec 8-12. This will be a FIDE-rated event with a RM5,000 first prize. Nine rounds, full time control games. Entry fees for the open tournament are RM50 (Fide-rated player), RM150 (PCA member) and RM180 (others), while for the challengers section, they are RM30 (Fide-rated player), RM50 (PCA member) and RM80 (others). Contact Tan Eng Seong (012.4299517, estan64@streamyx.com) for more details.

Sarawak open

The Lanang Chess Association and Sarawak Chess Association will jointly organize the Universal Chinese Sports Sarawak open chess championship at the Premier Hotel in Jalan Kampung Nyabor, Sibu, Sarawak on Dec 17-19. This will be a FIDE-rated event with a RM2,500 first prize. Eight rounds, full time control. Entry fees are RM50 (adults) and RM25 (ladies and players below 18 years old). Contact Joseph Ting (016.8893185, fax: 084.331451) or Lim Kian Hwa (016.8603180, lkhwa@tm.net.my) for more details.

 

Stormy election

Actually, long before the World Chess Federation’s (Fide) presidential election was held at the recently concluded Chess Olympiad in Khanty Mansiysk, Russia, the writing was already on the wall that Kirsan Ilyumzhinov was destined to be re-elected as the Fide president. 

Months before the election, both Ilyumzhinov and his rival, the former world chess champion Anatoly Karpov, had been criss-crossing the globe to drum up support for their respective candidacies from among the far-flung national chess federations that make up the global chess family.

Karpov’s strategy was simple enough. Though every nation knew him as the 12th world chess champion, he still needed to visit them and convince the people in those chess federations that he was a viable candidate to lead Fide for the next four years. He campaigned on a platform to bring in reform and make chess more visible to commercial sponsors.

Ilyumzhinov, on the other hand, had little necessity to convince people at all. With the power of incumbency, he could make impromptu decisions on Fide’s behalf. Nevertheless, he still took no chances and he visited the Fide member countries, often almost shadowing Karpov’s movements.

Ilyumzhinov also had a powerful card up his sleeve. Wherever he travelled, he extracted letters of support from the member nations and with these support, he proudly proclaimed them on his campaign website. On the other hand, Karpov preferred to keep his support under wraps right until the end of the campaign, possibly to keep up an Ilyumzhinov guessing game. 

Whether or not Karpov had adopted the right tactic is debatable, but everyone that followed the election intrigues on the two candidates’ campaign websites didn’t need any great skill to see that the number of countries that supported Ilyumzhinov was far out-numbering Karpov’s. 

Nevertheless, Karpov was still hopeful for the numbers to reverse themselves in the run-up to the Fide election. A letter of support, he reasoned, may not necessarily translate into a firm commitment as long as the vote had not been cast. 

Moreover, he was hoping for a miracle decision from the Court of Arbitration for Sports in Lausanne, Switzerland. There, five chess federations had applied to the Court to disqualify Ilyumzhinov’s team because of irregularities.

This, the Court refused to rule on, preferring instead to let the status quo remain. Naturally, this was a big setback for the Karpov team because a lot of optimism had been placed on the Court to agree with them.

When this didn’t materialize, it was already too close to the election date. With just a week to go, the only alternative left for Karpov was to plunge head-on into the election and face Ilyumzhinov in a do-or-die battle. 

It seemed that right until the day of the election, Karpov and his team were still quietly confident enough of winning but like I mentioned earlier, Ilyumzhinov’s power of incumbency meant that he held all the winning cards.

Among them was the power to show that he was in charge when making decisions, and there were decisions made that were reportedly not at all favourable to his rival. Reports from Khanty-Mansiysk suggested that at times when the meeting turned stormy, the microphones were turned off to leave Karpov and his team without a voice. 

There was also the issue of the contentious but important proxy votes from delegates who had passed their casting votes to Ilyumzhinov. In the end, with Ilyumzhinov winning 95 votes compared to Karpov’s 55 votes (and three absentions), it still proved impossible for a challenger to dislodge an incumbent. 

So Ilyumzhinov, who had held the Fide president’s post for the past 15 years, will continue in this position for the next four years. 

In the days following the election, there were attempts to close ranks with Karpov, who was offered a role as the Fide Ambassador for Life, but as Karpov himself said, he was not in any time trouble yet to accept it. The struggle against Ilyumzhinov, it seems, continues.

I leave you this week with two more games from the Chess Olympiad. Do enjoy them. 

White: Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine)

Black: Baadur Jobava (Georgia)

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. f3 Qb6 4. a3 e5 5. exd5 Nf6 6. dxe5 Bc5 7. exf6 Bf2+ 8. Ke2 O-O 9. Qd2 Re8+ 10. Kd1 Re1+ 11. Qxe1 Bxe1 12. Kxe1 Bf5 13. Be2 Nd7 14. dxc6 bxc6 15. Bd1 Re8+ 16. Ne2 Nxf6 17. Nc3 Bc8 18. a4 a5 19. Rf1 Ba6 20. Rf2 h5 21. Ra3 h4 22. g3 h3 23. g4 Rd8 24. Nf4 Nd7 25. Rb3 Qd4 26. Nfe2 Re8 27. Ne4 Qxa4 28. Bd2 Qa1 29. Bc3 Ne5 30. Ra3 Qb1 31. Nd2 Qc1 32. Rxa5 Ng6 33. Rxa6 Nf4 34. Ra8 1-0

White: Michael Adams (England)

Black: Magnus Carlsen (Norway)

1. e4 g6 2. d4 Nf6 3. e5 Nh5 4. Be2 d6 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. exd6 exd6 7. d5 Ne7 8. c4 Bg7 9. Nc3 O-O 10. O-O Bg4 11. Re1 Re8 12. h3 Bxf3 13. Bxf3 Nf6 14. Bf4 Nd7 15. Rc1 Ne5 16. b3 a6 17. g3 Nf5 18. Bg2 g5 19. Bxe5 Bxe5 20. Ne4 Ng7 21. Qd2 h6 22. f4 gxf4 23. gxf4 Bf6 24. Kh2 Nh5 25. Rg1 Kh7 26. Rcf1 Rg8 27. Qe2 Ng7 28. Qd3 Kh8 29. Bf3 b5 30. Bd1 bxc4 31. bxc4 Bh4 32. Bc2 f5 33. Rg6 Kh7 34. Rfg1 Qe7 35. Ng3 Bxg3+ 36. Qxg3 Qf7 37. Bd1 Rae8 38. Rxh6+ 1-0

Up next  

UPSI open

The Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) will organize an open chess tournament at their university campus in Tanjung Malim, Perak his Saturday and Sunday. Seven rounds, one-hour time control games. Entry fees are RM30 (open), RM15 (school children) and RM10 (UPSI students). More details from Mohd Huzairi (013.5959350, mohdhuzairi89@yahoo.com) or Izza Hasrina (012.7412326). 

Giant Kulai open

The Johor Bahru Chess Association, Rakan Muda Johor Bahru and the Giant Kulai Hypermarket are jointly organizing a Giant Kulai open chess tournament in the hypermarket’s premises in Kulai, Johor on Oct 31. Seven rounds, 25-minute time control games. Entry fees are RM12 (players below 12 years old), RM15 (players below 16 years old) and RM30 (other players). Entries close on Oct 29. More information available from Narayanan Krishnan (013.7717525, jb_chess_association@yahoo.com). 

MSSM-Masterskill chess

The Polgar Chess Asia will organise the MSSM-Masterskill national scholastics chess championship at the Masterskill University College campus in Ipoh, Perak on Nov 8-12 in association with the Ministry of Education, Majlis Sukan Sekolah-Sekolah Malaysia and the Malaysian Chess Federation. 

There will be six age group events: under-13 open and girls sections, under-11 open and girls sections, and under-9 open and girls sections, and each state, through their respective schools’ sports councils, may enter one official player for each section. individual non-official entries are also accepted with a RM100 entry fee. 

The respective winners get the right to be the official Malaysian representatives at the Asian schools chess championship in Colombo, Sri Lanka on Dec 16-23. More details available from Peter Long (peterlong@aol.asia) or Gregory Lau (greglau64@gmail.com). 

SJKC Jln Davidson open

The Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Cina Jalan Davidson in Kuala Lumpur will organize an open chess tournament for under-16 players at the school on Nov 14. Six rounds, 30-minute time control games. Entry fees are RM10 (players from SJKC Jalan Davidson) and RM12 (all other players). Entries close on Nov 12. More details from Collin Madhaven (016.2123578) and Bob Yap (012.2878378).

November rating tournament

The Cheras Chess Academy will hold a Fide-rated open tournament, limited to players with Fide ratings of 1950 and below, at the Pusat Kecemerlangan Sukan Cochrane in Jalan Cochrane, Kuala Lumpur on Nov 20-24. Seven rounds, two-hour play-to-finish time control games. Entry fees are RM50 (Fide-rated players) and RM80 (non-Fide-rated players). More details from Collin Madhaven (016.2123578, geodat@yahoo.com).

Chess camp

A fun and informative Kids For Chess camp for beginners, intermediate-level and aspiring tournament players will be held at the Pandan Lake Club in Pandan Perdana, Kuala Lumpur on Dec 1-2. Entry fees are RM90 per participant. Closing date is Nov 30. More details available from http://www.kids4chess.com.

Penang open

The Penang Chess Association (PCA) will organize the Penang Heritage City international open chess championship at the Penang City Hall in George Town, Penang on Dec 8-12. This will be a FIDE-rated event with a RM5,000 first prize. Nine rounds, full time control games. Entry fees for the open tournament are RM50 (Fide-rated player), RM150 (PCA member) and RM180 (others), while for the challengers section, they are RM30 (Fide-rated player), RM50 (PCA member) and RM80 (others). Contact Tan Eng Seong (012.4299517, estan64@streamyx.com) for more details.

Sarawak open

The Lanang Chess Association and Sarawak Chess Association will jointly organize the Universal Chinese Sports Sarawak open chess championship in Sibu, Sarawak on Dec 17-19. This will be a FIDE-rated event with a RM2,500 first prize. Eight rounds, full time control. Entry fees are RM50 (adults) and RM25 (ladies and players below 18 years old). Contact Joseph Ting (016.8893185, fax: 084.331451) or Lim Kian Hwa (016.8603180, lkhwa@tm.net.my) for more details.

 

Well done!

In the last week or so since the Chess Olympiad ended, I have seen some heated debates going on in the local chess scene about the selection process and the performance of the Malaysian men’s team in Khanty Mansiysk. 

The post-mortem was lively but personally, I believe that while everyone has a right to say whatever he wants about chess in this country, the debates do not matter anymore. It’s moot; the Chess Olympiad’s over. It’s interesting to make comparisons with previous achievements but always, we only live for today’s results.  

It’s important to me that we should always look at the positives in everything. At the Olympiad, what struck me was that our players tried their best. Absolutely. Each and every one of them, in their own way, they gave their best to the Malaysian team. Collectively, it was a team effort from start until the finish. This, I must credit them. 

So let me acknowledge today the contributions of our Malaysian players, both the men’s and women’s teams.

For Mas Hafizulhelmi, playing on the first board on the men’s team was never going to be easy. The final round was very unfortunate for him (you need to read last week’s column to know what happened) but to his credit, he scored 5½ points from 10 games. That’s a 55% score.

Neither was it supposed to be easy for Alia Anin Bakri who played on the first board of the women’s team. However, she turned in the most memorable result for the whole Malaysian contingent. Seven points from 11 games for a 63.6% score. It’s uncertain whether her results would merit her the title of woman international master (WIM) immediately but at the very least, it should be good enough for a WIM norm. I’m just crossing my fingers that FIDE, the World Chess Federation, will award her the title.

In the men’s team, Mok Tze Meng’s uncompromising style on the second board netted him six points from 11 games (a 54.4% result). Peter Long was a very steady player on the fourth board and he turned in 5½ points from 11 games (a 50% score). Both Mok and Long were the only players in the men’s team to play every round of the Olympiad.

Current national champion Tan Khai Boon was probably overwhelmed by his first international duty but he still contributed three points from nine games (a 33.3% result). I believe the tension got to him towards the end of the event and he was replaced by Gregory Lau. Despite playing only three games (winning two of them with a 66.7% result), Lau will be best remembered for delivering that vital final point for the Malaysian men’s team. 

On the second board in the women’s team was Nur Nabila Azman Hisham. Like Alia on the first board, Nabila played in all 11 rounds and she scored five points for a 45.4% result. Although Nurul Huda Wahiduddin brought in only one point from six games on the third board, she achieved a most important draw against a woman international master from the Netherlands in the ninth round. 

Roslina Marmono had a 50% result as our fourth board player, collecting 3½ points from seven games while our debutant reserve board player, Fong Mi Yen who is also the current national women’s champion, had the tournament of her life with 5½ points from nine games (a 61.1% result). I’m still waiting word from the Malaysian Chess Federation whether this would warrant her a woman candidate master title from FIDE.

Finally, the games this week feature exclusively some of the best efforts from our women players:

 

White: Alia Anin Bakri (Malaysia)

Black: IM Baquero Martha Fierro (Ecuador)

1. d4 g6 2. Nf3 Bg7 3. e4 d6 4. c4 Nf6 5. Nc3 O-O 6. Be2 Nbd7 7. O-O e5 8. Be3 Ng4 9. Bg5 f6 10. Bd2 c6 11. Ne1 Nh6 12. d5 f5 13. dxc6 bxc6 14. Bxh6 Bxh6 15. Qxd6 Rf6 16. Qd1 Qe7 17. Qc2 Nc5 18. Rd1 a5 19. Bf3 Ne6 20. Ne2 Ng5 21. Ng3 f4 22. Ne2 Nxf3+ 23. Nxf3 g5 24. Qd3 Bg4 25. h3 Bh5 26. Qd7 Re8 27. Qxe7 Rxe7 28. Rd8+ Bf8 29. Ra8 g4 30. hxg4 Bxg4 31. Rd1 Rg7 32. Kf1 Rh6 33. Neg1 Bxf3 34. Nxf3 Rh1+ 35. Ke2 Rxd1 36. Kxd1 Rxg2 37. Ke2 Kg7 38. Rxa5 Kf6 39. Rxe5 Bd6 40. Rf5+ Ke7 41. Rh5 Rg7 42. Nd4 Kd7 43. Kf3 Re7 44. Ne2 Ke8 45. Nxf4 Rf7 46. Rf5 Ra7 47. a3 Ra4 48. c5 Bxf4 49. Kxf4 Rc4 50. f3 Rc2 51. b4 Rc3 52. Rh5 1-0

White: Damaris Abarca Gonzalez (Chile)

Black: Alia Anin Bakri (Malaysia)

1. e4 e6 2. d3 d5 3. Nd2 Nf6 4. g3 Bc5 5. Bg2 dxe4 6. dxe4 e5 7. Ngf3 Nc6 8. O-O O-O 9. Qe2 Qe7 10. c3 a6 11. b4 Bd6 12. a4 Be6 13. Nc4 Rfd8 14. Bg5 h6 15. Bxf6 Qxf6 16. Ne3 Ne7 17. Rab1 c6 18. c4 b6 19. Qc2 Bc7 20. Rfd1 Ng6 21. b5 cxb5 22. axb5 axb5 23. Nd5 Bxd5 24. cxd5 Bd6 25. Rxb5 Bc5 26. Qe2 Ra7 27. h4 Rda8 28. Rdb1 Qd6 29. h5 Ne7 30. R5b2 Qf6 31. Qd3 Ra3 32. Rb3 Ra2 33. R1b2 Ra1+ 34. Bf1 R8a3 35. Rxa3 Rxa3 36. Rb3 Ra2 37. Be2 Nc8 38. Rc3 Nd6 39. Rc2 Ra4 40. Qb3 Ra1+ 41. Kg2 Nxe4 42. Qb2 Ra8 43. Qxe5 Qxe5 44. Nxe5 Rd8 45. f4 Nf6 46. Bc4 Bd6 47. Rb2 Bxe5 48. fxe5 Nxd5 49. Kf3 Nc7 50. Rxb6 Re8 51. Rc6 Re7 52. Kf4 Kf8 53. Rd6 Ne8 54. Rd8 Rb7 55. Bd5 Rc7 56. Bb3 Rb7 57. Bd5 Rc7 58. Kf5 Ke7 59. Rb8 Rc1 60. Bb3 Rc3 61. g4 Nc7 62. Rb7 Rf3+ 63. Ke4 Rc3 64. Kd4 Rc1 65. Bc4 Rd1+ 66. Bd3 Kd8 67. Ke4 Ne6 68. Rb5? Re1+ 69. Kf5 Nd4+ 70. Kf4 Nxb5 71. Bxb5 Ke7 72. Bc4 Rc1 73. Bd5 Rf1+ 74. Ke4 Re1+ 75. Kf4 f6 76. e6 Re5 77. Bc4 Kd6 78. Ba2 Rb5 79. Kf3 f5 80. Kf4 fxg4 81. Kxg4 Rg5+ 82. Kh4 Ke7 83. Bc4 Kf6 84. Ba2 Rb5 85. Kg4 Rb2 86. Bd5 Rb4+ 87. Kg3 Rb5 88. Bf3 Kxe6 89. Bg4+ Kf6 90. Be2 Rb4 0-1

White: Roslina Marmono (Malaysia)

Black: Sohair Basta (Eqypt)

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 c5 5. e3 cxd4 6. exd4 Nc6 7. Nf3 O-O 8. Bd3 h6 9. O-O d5 10. c5 Bxc3 11. bxc3 Qc7 12. Re1 a6 13. h3 Bd7 14. Ne5 Ne7 15. Bf4 Qa5 16. Nxd7 Nxd7 17. Rab1 Ra7 18. Bd6 Re8 19. f4 Qd8 20. f5 exf5 21. Bxf5 Nxf5 22. Qxf5 Nf6 23. Rxe8+ Qxe8 24. Qe5 Qxe5 25. dxe5 Ne4 26. Rb3 Nxd6 27. exd6 Kf8 28. c4 dxc4 29. Re3 Ra8 30. Rc3 Ke8 31. Rxc4 Kd7 32. Kf2 Re8 33. Rc2 Re5 34. Kf3 g5 35. g4 Kc6 36. Kf2 Re4 37. Rd2 Kd7 38. Re2 Rc4 39. Re7+ Kd8 40. Rxb7 Rxc5 ½-½ 

White: Fayrouz Elgohary (Eqypt)

Black: Fong Mi Yen (Malaysia)

1. d4 g6 2. Nf3 Bg7 3. e4 d6 4. Nbd2 Nc6 5. c3 Nf6 6. Bd3 e5 7. O-O O-O 8. h3 Nh5 9. Nb3 h6 10. Be3 Qf6 11. Nc1 Kh7 12. Ne2 Bxh3 13. Ng3 Bg4 14. Nxh5 gxh5 15. Be2 Rg8 16. dxe5 dxe5 17. Nh2 Rad8 18. Qc2 Qg6 19. Nxg4 hxg4 20. Rad1 Bf6 21. Rxd8 Bxd8 22. g3 h5 23. Kg2 Rh8 24. Rh1 Kg7 25. Bd2 Ne7 26. Bd3 Qf6 27. Qd1 Ng6 28. Be3 a6 29. Bc2 Be7 30. Qe2 b5 31. a3 c5 32. Bd1 Nf4+ 33. gxf4 exf4 34. Bxf4 Qxf4 35. Qd3 Rd8 36. Qg3 Qxe4+ 0-1

Up next  

UPSI open

The Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) will organize an open chess tournament at their university campus in Tanjung Malim, Perak on Oct 23-24. Seven rounds, one-hour time control games. Entry fees are RM30 (open), RM15 (school children) and RM10 (UPSI students). More details from Mohd Huzairi (013.5959350, mohdhuzairi89@yahoo.com) or Izza Hasrina (012.7412326). 

Giant Kulai open

The Johor Bahru Chess Association, Rakan Muda Johor Bahru and the Giant Kulai Hypermarket are jointly organizing a Giant Kulai open chess tournament in the hypermarket’s premises in Kulai, Johor on Oct 31. Seven rounds, 25-minute time control games. Entry fees are RM12 (players below 12 years old), RM15 (players below 16 years old) and RM30 (other players). Entries close on Oct 29. More information available from Narayanan Krishnan (013.7717525, jb_chess_association@yahoo.com). 

MSSM-Masterskill chess

The Polgar Chess Asia will organise the MSSM-Masterskill national scholastics chess championship at the Masterskill University College campus in Ipoh, Perak on Nov 8-12 in association with the Ministry of Education, Majlis Sukan Sekolah-Sekolah Malaysia and the Malaysian Chess Federation. 

There will be six age group events: under-13 open and girls sections, under-11 open and girls sections, and under-9 open and girls sections, and each state, through their respective schools’ sports councils, may enter one official player for each section. individual non-official entries are also accepted with a RM100 entry fee. 

The respective winners get the right to be the official Malaysian representatives at the Asian schools chess championship in Colombo, Sri Lanka on Dec 16-23. More details available from Peter Long (peterlong@aol.asia) or Gregory Lau (greglau64@gmail.com). 

Penang open

The Penang Chess Association (PCA) will organize the Penang Heritage City international open chess championship at the Penang City Hall in George Town, Penang on Dec 8-12. This will be a FIDE-rated event with a RM5,000 first prize. Nine rounds, full time control games. Entry fees for the open tournament are RM50 (Fide-rated player), RM150 (PCA member) and RM180 (others), while for the challengers section, they are RM30 (Fide-rated player), RM50 (PCA member) and RM80 (others). Contact Tan Eng Seong (012.4299517, estan64@streamyx.com) for more details.

Sarawak open

The Lanang Chess Association and Sarawak Chess Association will jointly organize the Universal Chinese Sports Sarawak open chess championship in Sibu, Sarawak on Dec 17-19. This will be a FIDE-rated event with a RM2,500 first prize. Eight rounds, full time control. Entry fees are RM50 (adults) and RM25 (ladies and players below 18 years old). Contact Joseph Ting (016.8893185, fax: 084.331451) or Lim Kian Hwa (016.8603180, lkhwa@tm.net.my) for more details.

 

Death by ringtone

If you had been watching the final round of the Chess Olympiad games live via the Internet from Khanty Mansiysk on Sunday, surely you would have noticed something amiss in the match between Malaysia and Bahrain. 

I was greatly puzzled while watching Mas Hafizulhelmi’s game. Although he was playing with the black pieces, he had already obtained a very comfortable position after 80 minutes of play . The game was transitioning from the opening stage to the middle game and it was starting to get exciting when abruptly it ended and a loss appeared against our player’s name. 

Of course, I couldn’t see what was happening in Khanty Mansisyk. All of us who were logged into the Chess Olympiad web server could only see this terminated chess board position with a terrible 1-0 score (see Diagram One). With no live video feed and no way to reach our players, we were all kept in deep suspense.

To make matters worse, I could see that Mok Tze Meng, Peter Long and Gregory Lau were all still playing as normal. Was there something wrong in Khanty Mansiysk? I was hoping that perhaps there was a problem with the organiser’s chess display software. But what if there was no problem and Mas Hafizul had indeed lost his game? If it was so, it would now need a big effort from the rest of our boys to overcome Bahrain.

To cut a long strong short, yes, our team managed to beat Bahrain but it was by the slimmest of margin. Long played out his game to a draw and then Lau uncorked a tactical surprise to bring in a whole point and keep the match level. Then, Mok settled matters with a win as well.

But what actually happened in Mas Hafizul’s game? It was not until about two days later that word filtered back from Khanty Mansiysk that he had fallen victim to what many chess players loosely call the dreaded Nokia Gambit: a mobile phone going off during a chess tournament.

According to rules of chess, all mobile devices are banned from chess tournaments. If any mobile device – and this includes a mobile phone – were to sound during play, the offending player would lose the game immediately. 

Since 2003, many chess players have found out to their deepest regret that the ringing mobile phone would bring about instant death. No two ways about it. In that year, the former Fide world champion, Ruslan Ponomariov, was the high profile offender when his mobile rang during a game. It was his 20th birthday and someone had called him to wish him Happy Birthday without knowing that his game was going on. An immediate loss.

Two years ago in another tournament, Nigel Short suffered the same fate when his new mobile phone tootled when it ran out of battery juice. Another immediate loss, another victim.

And in between those two celebrated cases, countless other players – both known and unknown – have also lost their games to a ringing mobile. Several years ago in Penang, I remember that there was this one same player who lost two games in two separate tournaments because his mobile phone went off. He never learnt his lesson the first time.

But by and large, chess players are getting smarter. They now remember to turn their mobile to the silent mode before they sit down at the chess board. Mas Hafizul, it seemed, had also done so. He confirmed having put his mobile into the silent mode. 

However, he did not reckon with his mobile phone’s alarm going off. Apparently, it doesn’t matter whether or not a mobile phone is in silent mode. When it’s time for the alarm to go off, it will. Mas Hafizul had set his alarm to go off daily at 12.20p.m. because he wanted to be reminded of lunch time. Unfortunately, the final round of the Chess Olympiad had started earlier at 11a.m. instead of the usual 3p.m. 

So, after 80 minutes into his game, amidst all the silence in the vast tournament hall, Mas Hafizul’s mobile suddenly woke up at 12.20p.m. I’m sure everyone in the Malaysian team were equally alarmed but none more alarmed than the unlucky mobile phone’s owner himself. No way could he extricate himself from this mess. And there was no other result than an immediate loss.

That explained everything. That explained why, after only 23 moves into the game and in an otherwise interesting position, the Malaysian team suddenly found themselves one game down. It wasn’t that our player was outplayed. No, he just became the latest victim of the dreaded mobile phone.

White: Mok Tze Meng (Malaysia)

Black: Khalil Bukhalaf (Bahrain)

1. e4 c6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Nf3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nf6 5. Nxf6+ gxf6 6. g3 Bf5 7. Bg2 e6 8. O-O Bg7 9. Re1 O-O 10. d4 Nd7 11. c4 Nb6 12. Qb3 Qd7 13. a4 Rfd8 14. a5 Nc8 15. Bf4 Ne7 16. Ra4 Ng6 17. Bd2 Rab8 18. Bc3 e5 19. Raa1 exd4 20. Bxd4 b6 21. Qc3 Qd6 22. c5 bxc5 23. Bxc5 Qc7 24. Nd4 Bd7 25. a6 Bf8 26. Bxf8 Kxf8 27. Bxc6 Rdc8 28. Rac1 Bxc6 29. Qa3+ Kg7 30. Rxc6 Qd7 31. Rd6 Qc7 32. Qf3 Rb6 33. Qxf6+ 1-0 (After 33…Kh6 34. Qh4+ Kg7 35. Nf5+ Kg8 36. Qf6, checkmate follows.)

White: Gregory Lay (Malaysia)

Black: Husain Ayyad (Bahrain)

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. d4 d6 3. g3 Nbd7 4. Bg2 e5 5. c4 g6 6. Nc3 Bg7 7. dxe5 dxe5 8. O-O O-O 9. Qc2 c6 10. Rd1 Qc7 11. b3 Re8 12. Ba3 e4 13. Nd2 e3 14. fxe3 Ng4 15. Nf1 Qa5 16. Bb2 Nc5 (See Diagram Two. The start of an unfortunate adventure) 17. h3 Nxe3 18. Nxe3 Rxe3 19. b4 (An absolute spiffy tactical shot which Black did not see coming) 19…Qxb4 20. Rd8+ Bf8 21. Qd2 Re7 22. Nd5 Rxe2 23. Nf6+ Kg7 24. Nh5+ Kg8 25. Rxf8+ 1-0 (It’s checkmate after 25…Kxf8 26. Qd8+ Re8 27. Bg7+ Kg8 28. Qxe8.)

Up next  

UTP rapid chess

As part of Universiti Teknologi Petronas’ convocation programme this year, there will be a national rapid chess open tournament at the main hall of the university’s campus in Tronoh, Perak tomorrow and on Sunday. The Malaysian Chess Federation and the Perak International Chess Association are the co-organisers with the University. Seven round, 45-minute time control. Entry fees are RM35 (adults and players below 18 years old), RM30 (players below 16 years old) and RM25 (players below 12 years old). Closing date for entries is Oct 2. More information available from Saeksarn Sinnaso (017.5514682, saeksarnskill@gmail.com), Zulaizat (013.4666195) or visit http://nationalrapidchess.blogspot.com

UPSI open

The Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) will organize an open chess tournament at their university campus in Tanjung Malim, Perak on Oct 23-24. Seven rounds, one-hour time control games. Entry fees are RM30 (open), RM15 (school children) and RM10 (UPSI students). More details from Mohd Huzairi (013.5959350, mohdhuzairi89@yahoo.com) or Izza Hasrina (012.7412326). 

Penang open

The Penang Chess Association (PCA) will organize the Penang Heritage City international open chess championship at the Penang City Hall in George Town, Penang on Dec 8-12. This will be a FIDE-rated event with a RM5,000 first prize. Nine rounds, full time control. Entry fees for the open tournament are RM50 (Fide-rated player), RM150 (PCA member) and RM180 (others), while for the challengers section, they are RM30 (Fide-rated player), RM50 (PCA member) and RM80 (others). Contact Tan Eng Seong (012.4299517, estan64@streamyx.com) for more details.

MSSM-Masterskill chess

The Polgar Chess Asia will organise the MSSM-Masterskill national scholastics chess championship at the Masterskill University College campus in Ipoh, Perak on Nov 8-12 in association with the Ministry of Education, Majlis Sukan Sekolah-Sekolah Malaysia and the Malaysian Chess Federation. 

There will be six age group events: under-13 open and girls sections, under-11 open and girls sections, and under-9 open and girls sections, and each state, through their respective schools’ sports councils, may enter one official player for each section. individual non-official entries are also accepted with a RM100 entry fee. 

The respective winners get the right to be the official Malaysian representatives at the Asian schools chess championship in Colombo, Sri Lanka on Dec 16-23. More details available from Peter Long (peterlong@aol.asia) or Gregory Lau (greglau64@gmail.com). 

Sarawak open

The Lanang Chess Association and Sarawak Chess Association will jointly organize the Universal Chinese Sports Sarawak open chess championship in Sibu, Sarawak on Dec 17-19. This will be a FIDE-rated event with a RM2,500 first prize. Eight rounds, full time control. Entry fees are RM50 (adults) and RM25 (ladies and players below 18 years old). Contact Joseph Ting (016.8893185, fax: 084.331451) or Lim Kian Hwa (016.8603180, lkhwa@tm.net.my) for more details.

 

Mixed fortunes

It is at times like this, with the Chess Olympiad in full swing, that I yearn to own the biggest computer monitor so that I can open multiple windows with my web browser and view several chess games simultaneously.

In any given round of this Chess Olympiad in Khanty-Mansiysk, there are 524 games being played at the same time. Of course, many games are not worth the time to follow but certainly, it is always useful to keep an eye out for those match-ups between the top countries. And there are plenty.

Then there are always the games of the Malaysian teams. Regardless of who they play with – be it a strong opposing team or a weak team – as a Malaysian, I follow their progress very closely. 

I cheer when the team wins and I despair when they miss winning chances and lose. So far in this Chess Olympiad, I’ve had my fair share of high and low emotions.

Take, for example, the seventh round on Tuesday. The men were playing a team from the International Committee for Silent Chess (ICSC). The ICSC is one of three non-country teams in the event, the other two being the International Braille Chess Association (IBCA) and the International Physically Disabled Chess Association (IPCA).

The match between Malaysia and the ICSC started off well enough and our players – Mas Hafizulhelmi, Mok Tze Meng, Tan Khai Boon and Peter Long – were actually pressing their opponents hard. There were good chances of them winning the match. 

But suddenly, the positions turned against them. Mok came under heavy pressure, could not defend his position adequately and had to resign his game. Long’s defence unravelled and he had to resign also. Mas Hafizul suddenly found his king being encircled by enemy pieces and he too had to give up. These frustrations aside, the consolation came when Tan rounded off the evening with a decisive attack on his opponent. That game cheered me up. Here it is.

White: Tan Khai Boon (Malaysia)

Black: Vladimir Klasan (ICSC)

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 Bf5 6. Ne5 Nbd7 7. Nxc4 Nb6 8. Ne5 a5 9. f3 Nfd7 10. Nxd7 Nxd7 11. e4 Bg6 12. Be2 Qb6 13. h4 h5 14. f4 e6 15. O-O e5 16. f5 exd4 17. fxg6 dxc3+ 18. Kh1 O-O-O 19. bxc3 Ne5 20. Qc2 f6 21. Rb1 Qa7 22. Bf4 Nxg6 23. e5 Nxf4 24. Rxf4 Be7 25. Qf5+ Kc7 26. Qg6 Qc5 27. Rc4 Qa3 28. Qe4 Bc5 29. Bf3 Rc8 30. Qg6 Rhe8 31. Qxg7+ Re7 32. Qxf6 Rce8 (see Diagram One) 33. Rxb7+ Kxb7 34. Qxc6+ Ka7 35. Rxc5 Qc1+ 36. Kh2 Qf4+ 37. g3 Qd2+ 38. Bg2 Qd8 39. Rb5 Qc7 40. Qd5 Ka6 41. Rc5 1-0

Until the seventh round of this Chess Olympiad, the most memorable round for us Malaysians must be the third. Our men were paired with a strong Lithuanian team that comprised three grandmasters and one international master. Like many others watching through the Internet, we were expecting the worst to happen but on the contrary, our players rose to the occasion and at one point there were real chances of our team winning the match. Unfortunately, that was not to be and all they got away with was a tied match.

This, here, is Mas Hafizul’s Herculean effort on the first board. In my opinion, a masterful game in which he gave up a pawn but completely tied down his grandmaster opponent. A good strategical decision.

White: Eduardas Rozentalis (Lithuania)

Black: Mas Hafizulhelmi (Malaysia)

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Nc6 4. O-O Bd7 5. Re1 Nf6 6. h3 a6 7. Bf1 Ne5 8. Nxe5 dxe5 9. a4 e6 10. b3 Bc6 11. d3 Bd6 12. a5 Bc7 13. Bd2 O-O 14. Bc3 Nd7 15. Nd2 Bb5 16. Qb1 Rc8 17. Nc4 f6 18. g3 Rf7 19. Bg2 Nb8 20. Qd1 Nc6 21. Qd2 Bxc4 22. bxc4 Nb4 23. Bxb4 cxb4 24. Qxb4 Bd6 25. Qd2 Bf8 26. Red1 Rd7 27. Qe1 Bc5 28. Rdb1 Rf7 29. Qd2 Qd6 30. Kh1 Ba7 31. Ra4 Rcc7 32. Rf1 Rfd7 (see Diagram Two) 33. f4 Qd4 34. Qe2 exf4 35. gxf4 Rc5 36. Ra3 g6 37. Qf3 Qb2 38. Rfa1 Qxc2 39. Rf1 Qb2 40. Rfa1 Rh5 41. R3a2 Qc3 42. Ra3 Qb4 43. Ra4 Qd6 44. Rf1 Bb8 45. c5 Rxc5 46. d4 Qc6 47. dxc5 Qxa4 48. e5 Qc2 49. exf6 Qxc5 50. Qb3 Kf7 51. Bxb7 Qxa5 52. Bc8 Qd5+ 53. Qxd5 Rxd5 54. Re1 Rd6 55. Ra1 Rc6 56. Bb7 Rb6 57. Bc8 Rc6 58. Bb7 Rc3 59. Bxa6 Rxh3+ 60. Kg2 Rc3 61. Ra4 Kxf6 62. Bb7 Kf5 63. Be4+ Kf6 64. Bf3 Rc2+ 65. Kh3 Rf2 66. Kg3 Rb2 67. Kh3 Bd6 68. Rd4 Rb6 69. Kg2 Kf5 70. Be4+ Kf6 71. Bf3 Bb8 72. Bg4 Rb2+ 73. Kf3 h5 74. Bh3 Rb3+ 75. Kg2 e5 76. fxe5+ Bxe5 77. Rd7 g5 78. Rh7 Rg3+ 79. Kh2 Re3+ 80. Kg2 Kg6 0-1

And below is Mok’s game in the same Malaysia-Lithuania match. Our player had very good chances to win but he missed the best continuation and allowed his grandmaster opponent to wriggle out with a draw.

White: Mok Tze Meng (Malaysia)

Black: Sarunas Sulskis (Lithuania)

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bc4 Be6 4. d3 Nf6 5. Nc3 c5 6. Bg5 Be7 7. Bxf6 Bxf6 8. Nd5 Nd7 9. h3 Nb6 10. Nxb6 Qxb6 11. b3 Qc6 12. a4 O-O 13. O-O d5 14. exd5 Bxd5 15. Bxd5 Qxd5 16. Qe2 g6 17. Qe4 Qxe4 18. dxe4 c4 19. Rfd1 Rfd8 20. Kf1 Rac8 21. Rxd8+ Rxd8 22. Ke2 Be7 23. Rd1 Rxd1 24. Kxd1 f6 25. Nd2 cxb3 26. cxb3 Kf7 27. Ke2 Ke6 28. Kd3 Bc5 29. f3 h5 30. Kc4 Be3 31. Nb1 Bd4 32. Na3 f5 33. Nb5 Bf2 34. Nc7+ Kd6 35. exf5 gxf5 36. Ne8+ Ke7 37. Ng7 h4 38. Nxf5+ Ke6 39. Nh6 Be3 40. Ng4 Bb6 41. b4 Bg1 42. Kd3 Kf5 43. Ke2 a6 44. Nf2 b6 45. Kf1 Bh2 46. Ne4 Bf4 47. Ke2 Bh2 48. Kd3 (see Diagram Three) 48…Kf4 49. Ke2 Bg1 50. Nc3 Bd4 51. Nd5+ Kg3 52. Kf1 a5 53. bxa5 bxa5 54. Nf6 Kf4 55. Nd5+ Kg3 56. Ne7 Kf4 57. Ke2 Kg3 58. Nf5+ Kxg2 59. Nxh4+ Kxh3 60. Nf5 Bb6 61. Kd3 Kg2 62. Ke4 Kf2 63. Nh6 Ke2 64. Nf5 Bc7 65. Ne7 Bd6 66. Nc6 Bc7 67. Na7 Kf2 68. Nb5 Bb8 69. Na3 Ke2 70. Nc4 Bc7 71. Nb2 Bb8 72. Nd3 Bd6 73. Nc1+ Kf2 74. Nb3 Bb4 75. Na1 Ke2 76. Nc2 Kd2 77. Ne3 Kc3 78. Kxe5 Kb3 79. Kd5 Kxa4 80. Nc4 ½-½ 

If you also want to watch the Chess Olympiad games through the Internet, visit the official website at http://www.ugra-chess.com. Today’s penultimate round starts at 5pm local time. Tomorrow is a rest day for the competition and the final round will be contested on Sunday at 1pm.

Up next  

UTP rapid chess

As part of Universiti Teknologi Petronas’ convocation programme this year, there will be a national rapid chess open tournament at the main hall of the university’s campus in Tronoh, Perak on Oct 9-10. The Malaysian Chess Federation and the Perak International Chess Association are the co-organisers with the University. Seven round, 45-minute time control. Entry fees are RM35 (adults and players below 18 years old), RM30 (players below 16 years old) and RM25 (players below 12 years old). Closing date for entries is Oct 2. More information available from Saeksarn Sinnaso (017.5514682, saeksarnskill@gmail.com), Zulaizat (013.4666195) or visit http://nationalrapidchess.blogspot.com

UPSI open

The Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) will organize an open chess tournament at their university campus in Tanjung Malim, Perak on Oct 23-24. Seven rounds, one-hour time control games. Entry fees are RM30 (open), RM15 (school children) and RM10 (UPSI students). More details from Mohd Huzairi (013.5959350, mohdhuzairi89@yahoo.com) or Izza Hasrina (012.7412326). 

MSSM-Masterskill chess

The Polgar Chess Asia will organise the MSSM-Masterskill national scholastics chess championship at the Masterskill University College campus in Ipoh, Perak on Nov 8-12 in association with the Ministry of Education, Majlis Sukan Sekolah-Sekolah Malaysia and the Malaysian Chess Federation. 

There will be six age group events: under-13 open and girls sections, under-11 open and girls sections, and under-9 open and girls sections, and each state, through their respective schools’ sports councils, may enter one official player for each section. individual non-official entries are also accepted with a RM100 entry fee. 

The respective winners get the right to be the official Malaysian representatives at the Asian schools chess championship in Colombo, Sri Lanka on Dec 16-23. More details available from Peter Long (peterlong@aol.asia) or Gregory Lau (greglau64@gmail.com). 

Sarawak open

The Lanang Chess Association and Sarawak Chess Association will jointly organize the Universal Chinese Sports Sarawak open chess championship in Sibu, Sarawak on Dec 17-19. This will be a FIDE-rated event with a RM2,500 first prize. Eight rounds, full time control. Entry fees are RM50 (adults) and RM25 (ladies and players below 18 years old). Contact Joseph Ting (016.8893185, fax: 084.331451) or Lim Kian Hwa (016.8603180, lkhwa@tm.net.my) for more details.

 

Olympiad begins

Finally, the main chess event of the year – the World Chess Olympiad 2010 – gets underway in Khanty-Mansiysk, a Russian town that’s buried deep in Siberia. Today is already the fourth day of the event which will continue until Oct 3.

Altogether there are 260 teams participating in the competition, of which 146 are in the open Olympiad and 114 in the women’s Olympiad. 

We are represented by two teams. Our men’s team – comprising Mas Hafizulhelmi, Mok Tze Meng, Tan Khai Boon, Peter Long and Gregory Lau – and our women’s team – consisting up of Alia Anin Azwa Bakri, Nur Nabila Azman Hisham, Nurul Huda Wahiduddin, Fong Mi Yen and Roslina Marmono – all left for Khanty-Mansiysk last Saturday via a long roundabout route that took them through Dubai and Moscow.

Controversially, Russia are represented by five very strong men’s team in the open Olympiad and three in the women’s Olympiad. The two “Russia A” teams are the top seeds and they are looking to wrest the title from Armenia and Georgia, the open and women’s team winners of the last Chess Olympiad in Dresden, Germany two years ago.

There were questions asked about why the organizing country had been allowed to field so many teams. Apparently, it seemed that Russia was first promised three teams in the open Olympiad.

The regulations allowed them an additional team should there be an odd number of teams, which there was, and then when Romania pulled out of the Chess Olympiad at the last minute, a vacancy was created and the World Chess Federation (Fide) granted the organizers a replacement.

The first round of any open chess event would normally be uneventful. Although it would be unlikely for any of the stronger teams to lose their matches against the weaker ones, casualties do happen on the individual boards.

In the open Olympiad, one of the earliest surprises was the second-board loss by Indian grandmaster Pentala Harikrishna to an unheralded Tim Kett of Wales. A few minutes later, there was an even greater shock when Vietnam’s top board, the 19-year-old grandmaster Le Quang Liem, fell to Botswana’s Phemelo Khetho. 

White: GM Le Quang Liem (Vietnam)

Black: Phemelo Khetho (Botswana)

1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. b3 c5 4. e3 Nc6 5. Bb2 Bf5 6. c3 e6 7. Be2 cxd4 8. exd4 Bd6 9. O-O Ne4 10. Nbd2 Qf6 11. c4 Qh6 12. cxd5 Nxd2 13. Qxd2 Bxh2+ 14. Nxh2 Qxd2 15. dxc6 Qxe2 16. cxb7 Rb8 17. Ba3 Qa6 18. Bc5 f6 19. Rfe1 Kf7 20. a4 Qxb7 21. b4 h5 22. a5 a6 23. Re3 h4 24. Nf3 h3 25. g3 h2+ 26. Nxh2 Rxh2 27. Kxh2 Rh8+ 0-1

The first round also saw the Malaysian men’s team losing to a very strong England team. It was an expected result but the blushes were saved by Mas Hafizul’s quick draw with the England grandmaster, Michael Adams, in a position that still promised lots of play for both sides:

 

White: IM Mas Hafizulhelmi (Malaysia)

Black: GM Michael Adams (England)

1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6 3. d3 Nc6 4. Nc3 Na5 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 c6 7. a3 Nxc4 8. dxc4 d6 9. Qd3 Be6 10. Nge2 Be7 11. b3 g5 12. Bg3 Qa5 13. f3 O-O-O 14. O-O Kb8 15. Rfb1 h5 16. Bf2 Nd7 17. a4 Rc8 18. b4 Qd8 19. a5 g4 ½-½ 

The Malaysia women’s team lost all their games to Slovakia.

The battles on the chessboard are actually a prelude to a much more important contest in the days to come: the Fide elections on Sep 29 between the incumbent president, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, and former world chess champion Anatoly Karpov. Leading to this very pivotal election, it has been a very acrimonious campaign by both candidates.

The presidential elections next week should be proceeding as planned unless there is already a decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) in Lausanne in Karpov’s favour. The former world champion had filed a suit at the Court to disqualify Ilyumzhinov and his team. At this time of writing, no decision has been announced yet.

Interesting days are ahead for chess….

Up next  

DATCC weekender

The Datuk Arthur Tan Chess Centre at the Wilayah Complex in Kuala Lumpur will organize the fourth DATCC super supreme rapid chess weekender tournament at their premises on Sep 26. Seven rounds, 25-minute time control.

Entry fees are RM15 (players below 12 years old) and RM30 (others). Contact Najib Wahab (016.3382542, najib.wahab@chess-malaysia.com) or Justin Kumar (018.3960781, kjustin09@yahoo.com) for more information.

Perak grand prix

The Kampar leg of the Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng Perak grand prix chess tournament, sponsored by Kuala Lumpur Kepong Berhad, will be played at the Grand Kampar Hotel in Kampar, Perak on Sep 26. Seven rounds, 25-minute time control.

Entry fees are RM25 (open), RM15 (under-16 players) and RM10 (under-12 players). Members of the Perak International Chess Association (PICA) and players born in Perak pay RM5 less. To register, contact Yunus (013.3908129), Sukumaran (012.5252445) or Kamaruddin (019.4316793). More details are available from http://perakchess.blogspot.com 

UTP rapid chess

As part of Universiti Teknologi Petronas’ convocation programme this year, there will be a national rapid chess open tournament at the main hall of the university’s campus in Tronoh, Perak on Oct 9-10. The Malaysian Chess Federation and the Perak International Chess Association are the co-organisers with the University. Seven round, 45-minute time control. Entry fees are RM35 (adults and players below 18 years old), RM30 (players below 16 years old) and RM25 (players below 12 years old). Closing date for entries is Oct 2. More information available from Saeksarn Sinnaso (017.5514682, saeksarnskill@gmail.com), Zulaizat (013.4666195) or visit http://nationalrapidchess.blogspot.com

UPSI open

The Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) will organize an open chess tournament at their university campus in Tanjung Malim, Perak on Oct 23-24. Seven rounds, one-hour time control games. Entry fees are RM30 (open), RM15 (school children) and RM10 (UPSI students). More details from Mohd Huzairi (013.5959350, mohdhuzairi89@yahoo.com) or Izza Hasrina (012.7412326). 

MSSM-Masterskill chess

The Polgar Chess Asia will organise the MSSM-Masterskill national scholastics chess championship at the Masterskill University College campus in Ipoh, Perak on Nov 8-12 in association with the Ministry of Education, Majlis Sukan Sekolah-Sekolah Malaysia and the Malaysian Chess Federation. 

There will be six age group events: under-13 open and girls sections, under-11 open and girls sections, and under-9 open and girls sections, and each state, through their respective schools’ sports councils, may enter one official player for each section. individual non-official entries are also accepted with a RM100 entry fee. 

The respective winners get the right to be the official Malaysian representatives at the Asian schools chess championship in Colombo, Sri Lanka on Dec 16-23. More details available from Peter Long (peterlong@aol.asia) or Gregory Lau (greglau64@gmail.com). 

Sarawak open

The Lanang Chess Association and Sarawak Chess Association will jointly organize the Universal Chinese Sports Sarawak open chess championship in Sibu, Sarawak on Dec 17-19. This will be a FIDE-rated event with a RM2,500 first prize. Eight rounds, full time control. Entry fees are RM50 (adults) and RM25 (ladies and players below 18 years old). Contact Joseph Ting (016.8893185, fax: 084.331451) or Lim Kian Hwa (016.8603180, lkhwa@tm.net.my) for more details.

 

Finest moments

One thing for sure: this year’s Malaysia Chess Festival was a resounding success on all fronts. A slicker organization and yes, more teams and players from home and abroad that registered for the 11-day chess fest than ever before. The chess festival has indeed become a recognized event in the international chess calendar.

 

However, there is some consternation within the chess community that this year’s chess festival may be the last that we would see organized in its present format. In my private conversations with the man at the forefront of the chess festival in recent years, Datuk Tan Chin Nam told me that he would be taking a two-year leave from sponsoring chess.

“I feel that I have become a hindrance to chess development,” he said. “Chess should not solely depend on Tan Chin Nam. I need to stand down so that other big sponsors can come in and help lift the game to its next level in the country. Please help tell the chess community to understand. I shall be on a sabbatical.” 

Curiously piqued, I asked how he would then occupy his time in the mean time. I doubted that he could take a back seat for too long. After all, chess had been in his blood since 1974.

“I want to look at chess from the other side of the chess board,” he replied, “I shall want to play in more chess tournaments in the next two years. It doesn’t matter if it is a slow or fast game, I just want to play.”

Obviously, Tan had been bitten by his foray at the Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng international seniors open tournament. “I’m encouraged with the two points scored in this tournament. In other games, I found that I had reasonable chances too but unfortunately, I spoilt them all. I shall want to play more so that I can learn. I’m not too old to learn how to play better.”

How then will the Malaysia Chess Festival proceed without his financial sponsorship? “There are other sponsors but as long as I’m there, they are reluctant to come forward. This is the time for chess organizers to build their relationships with them,” he said.

So this seventh Datuk Arthur Tan Malaysia open chess tournament may be the last we shall see played in memory of his late son, Arthur Tan, for some time. But in the meantime, this seventh Malaysia open tournament was won fittingly by Vietnam’s 37-year-old grandmaster Cao Sang. 

Cao Sang has been at the game for a very long time. In this event, he was always up there among the title chasers. After the first six rounds, he was among the leaders. Two rounds later, he fell back half a point behind them. However, in the ninth round, a determined win meant that he climbed back to join two other players at the top of the standings. 

Some anxious moments passed as the organizers got down to break the tie but eventually, word leaked out that Cao Sang had indeed pipped Chinese grandmaster Zhou Weiqi and Indian international master SP Sethuraman to the top prize of USD4,000. Here is the game that won him the prize and the Malaysia open challenge trophy:

White: Cao Sang (Vietnam)

Black: Nguyen Anh Dung (Vietnam)

1.e4  c5  2.Nf3  d6  3.Nc3  Nf6  4.d4  cxd4  5.Nxd4  a6  6.Bg5  e6  7.Qf3  Nbd7  8.0-0-0  Qc7  9.Bd3  b5  10.Rhe1  Ne5  11.Qg3  b4  12.Nce2  Bb7  13.Bxf6  gxf6  14.Kb1  0-0-0  15.f4  Nc4  16.Nb3  d5  17.exd5  Bxd5  18.Qf2  Be7  19.Ned4  f5  20.Nf3  Bf6  21.Bxc4  Bxc4  22.Ne5  Bxe5  23.fxe5  a5  24.Nc5  Qb6  25.b3  Rd5  26.Rxd5  Bxd5  27.Rd1  Rg8  28.Rxd5  exd5  29.Qxf5+  Kc7  30.Qxf7+  Kc6  31.Qxg8  Kxc5  32.Qf8+  Kb5  33.Qf1+  Kc5  34.Qf6  Qb5  35.Qf2+  d4  36.Qf8+  Kd5  37.Qf7+  1-0

Up next  

DATCC weekender

The Datuk Arthur Tan Chess Centre will organize the fourth DATCC super supreme rapid chess weekender tournament at their Wilayah Complex premises in Kuala Lumpur on Sep 26. Seven rounds, 25-minute time control. Entry fees are RM15 for players below 12 years old and RM30 for others. Details from Najib Wahab (016.3382542, najib.wahab@chess-malaysia.com) or Justin Kumar (018.3960781, kjustin09@yahoo.com).

Perak grand prix

The Kampar leg of the Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng Perak grand prix chess tournament will be played at the Grand Kampar Hotel in Kampar, Perak on Sep 26. Entry fees are RM25 for the open section, RM15 for under-16 players and RM10 for under-12 players. Members of Perak International Chess Association and players born in Perak pay RM5 less. To register, contact Yunus (013.3908129), Sukumaran (012.5252445) or Kamaruddin (019.4316793). Details from http://perakchess.blogspot.com  

 

Finest moment

It has been an interesting week at the Malaysia Chess Festival in Kuala Lumpur. I'm home in Penang right now but still suffering the dizzying effects of playing in this event. It's been correct what I said last week about it taking more than sandpaper to scrape off the rust.

Still, I've no reason to regret playing in the first Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng international seniors open tournament, one of the three events that made up the festival proper. There is nothing like playing to really create a bond with the other players in the event, especially if the field is compact and well manageable. 

And I like to think that 18 players was a decent and well manageable number for the seniors event. It can only get better next year. Nevertheless, the field this year included a grandmaster from Uzbekistan (Dimitry Kayumov), two international masters from Singapore (Tan Lian Ann and Giam Choo Kwee) and a Fide master from Australia (Brian Jones), plus several other foreign entries from China and India.

The main event was, of course, the seventh Datuk Arthur Tan Malaysia open tournament with 133 entries. Many more than the organisers had expected; 33 players more than last year's tournament. And rather unsurprisingly, since none of the previous champions are here, the trend continues that there is a new champion for each edition of the Malaysia open.

But I shall write more about the Malaysia open and the AmBank chess challenge (52-player field) next week when I have more time over this weekend to sort out and look deeper into the results.

In the meantime, I shall leave you with these three games from the Malaysia Chess Festival. 

The first game saw 11-year-old Yeoh Li Tian hold Uzbek grandmaster Saidali Yuldachev to a gritty draw in the very first round of the Arthur Tan Malaysia open.

White: Saidali Yuldachev (2496) 

Black: Yeoh Li Tian (2112)

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.c4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Nf3 Bg4 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.Qb3 Bxf3 9.gxf3 e6 10.Qxb7 Nxd4 11.Bb5+ Nxb5 12.Qc6+ Ke7 13.Qxb5 Qd7 14.Nxd5+ Qxd5 15.Bg5+ f6 16.Qxd5 exd5 17.Be3 Ke6 18.0-0-0 Bb4 19.a3 Rhc8+ 20.Kb1 Bc5 21.Rhe1 Kd6 22.Bf4+ Kc6 23.Re6+ Kd7 24.Re2 g5 25.Bc1 Kd6 26.Red2 Ke6 27.f4 gxf4 28.Re2+ Kf7 29.Rxd5 f3 30.Red2 Rab8 31.R5d3 Re8 32.Rxf3 Re1 33.Rd7+ Ke6 34.Rdd3 Rf1 35.Rd2 Bd6 36.h3 Be5 37.Rc2 a5 38.b3 Rd8 39.Rc6+ Kd5 40.Rc4 Rg8 41.Rd3+ Ke6 42.f4 Bb8 43.Kc2 Rg2+ 44.Rd2 Rff2 45.b4 axb4 46.axb4 Rxd2+ 47.Bxd2 Kd5 48.Rc5+ Kd4 49.Kc1 Bd6 50.Rc8 Ke4 51.b5 Rg7 52.Rc6 Kd5 53.Rc3 f5 54.Rd3+ Ke6 55.Be3 Rg3 56.b6 Rg7 57.Kc2 Rb7 58.Kc3 Rb8 59.Kc4 Rc8+ 60.Kb5 Rc2 61.b7 Rb2+ 62.Kc6 Rc2+ 63.Kb5 Rb2+ 64.Kc6 Rc2+ ½-½ 

The second game was played in the fourth round of the Arthur Tan Malaysia open. Dr Lim Chuin Hoong, known more popularly in local chess circles as Ronnie Lim, scored a full point off German grandmaster Gerhard Schebler.

White: Lim Chuin Hoong (2302)

Black: Gerhard Schebler (2474)

1.d4 e6 2.c4 Bb4+ 3.Bd2 Bxd2+ 4.Qxd2 Nf6 5.g3 0-0 6.Bg2 d5 7.Nf3 Nbd7 8.0-0 dxc4 9.a4 Rb8 10.Qc2 b6 11.Rd1 Bb7 12.Qxc4 Bxf3 13.exf3 c5 14.Nc3 cxd4 15.Qxd4 Nc5 16.Qe3 Qe7 17.Nb5 Rfd8 18.Nd4 Qe8 19.b4 Nd5 20.Qa3 Nb7 21.Rac1 Rbc8 22.f4 Rxc1 23.Rxc1 Rc8 24.b5 Na5 25.Rxc8 Qxc8 26.Bxd5 exd5 27.Qd6 h6 28.Qxd5 Qc4 29.Qxc4 Nxc4 30.Nc6 Nb2 31.a5 bxa5 32.Nxa5 Kf8 33.Nc6 Ke8 34.Nxa7 Na4 35.Nc6 Kd7 36.Ne5+ Ke6 37.Kg2 f6 38.Nc6 Kd5 39.Kf3 Nc5 40.g4 Nd7 41.Ne7+ 1-0

The third game is from the Lee Loy Seng international seniors open. Now, many people know that Dato Tan Chin Nam is an octogenarian. His knees may be weak and his hands may be shaky but his mind is still as razor sharp as ever. And he loves the game of chess very much.

Given half a chance, he can figuratively run rings around any opponent. If anyone happens to let their guard down, Tan is capable of building up an attack that sucks them off the chess board. India's Ummer Koya happened to be the one to get caught in the murky whirlpool in the fifth round of the seniors open tournament.

White: Dato Tan Chin Nam (Malaysia)

Black: Ummer Koya PT (India)

1. e4 b6 2. Nf3 c5 3. Bc4 d6 4. Nc3 Nc6 5. d3 e6 6. Bb5 Bd7 7. O-O a6 8. Bxc6 Bxc6 9. a4 Nf6 10. Bg5 Be7 11. Qd2 Qc7 12. b3 0-0 13. h3 h6 14. Bh4 Rfe8 15. Ne2 d5 16. Bg3 Qb7 17. e5 Nh5 18. d4 f5 19. exf6 Bxf6 20. Be5 Bxe5 21. Nxe5 Rf8 22. c3 Rae8 23. f4 Qc7 24. Rf3 Nf6 25. Qc2 Ba8 26. Rg3 Ne4 27. Rf3 Rc8 28. Raf1 Bb7 29. Ng3 cxd4 30. Ng6 Rf6 31. Ne5 dxc3 32. Nh5 Rff8 33. Ng6 Rfd8 34. f5 Nd2 35. f6 Nxf3+ 36. Rxf3 gxf6 (At this stage, the spectators were getting somewhat restless. What a turnaround in the game. From a worse position, he now had a lot of chances to win. But the problem was, would he blow it? Could he win the game?) 37. Nxf6+ Kg7 38. Nh5+ Kg8 39. Nf6+ Kg7 40. Nh5+ Kg8 (Well, we thought, was he going for the draw or was he trying to win?) 41. Rg3 (No, there was no doubt in our minds that he was going for the win! No splitting of point. The forced win would be 41. Ne7+ Qxe7 42. Qg6+ Kh8 43. Qxh6+ Qh7 44. Qf6+ Kg8 45. Rg3+ Qg6 46. Rxg6+ Kh7 47. Qg7# but okay, under such circumstances, his game continuation was good enough) 41...Qxg3 42. Nxg3 d4 43. Ne7+ Kf7 44. Nxc8 Bxc8 45. Qh7+ Ke8 46. Qg6+ Ke7 47. Qg7+ Ke8 48. Nh5 Rd6 49. Nf6+ Kd8 50. Qf8+ Kc7 51. Ne8+ 1-0

I've never seen the man so happy after a chess game!

Up next  

UTP rapid chess

As part of Universiti Teknologi Petronas’ convocation programme this year, there will be a national rapid chess open tournament at the main hall of the university’s campus in Tronoh, Perak on Oct 9-10. The Malaysian Chess Federation and the Perak International Chess Association are the co-organisers with the University. Entry fees are RM35 for adults and players below 18 years old, RM30 for players below 16 years old and RM25 for players below 12 years old. Closing date for entries is Oct 2. More information available from Saeksarn Sinnaso (017.5514682, saeksarnskill@gmail.com), Zulaizat (013.4666195) or visit http://nationalrapidchess.blogspot.com. 

 

In full swing

I have been here at the Malaysia Chess Festival at the Cititel Midvalley in Kuala Lumpur since Tuesday: much later than I would have liked since I missed all the fun and bustle of both the ASTRO Merdeka individual and team rapid chess tournaments but there is compensation.

I am able to soak in the full atmosphere of this year’s Datuk Arthur Tan Malaysia open tournament and the AmBank Malaysia chess challenge. Both events are currently in progress and to boot, there is also the first Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng international senior open tournament going on at the same time. 

And here’s a little admission. A few weeks ago, the organizers had been suggesting that I take part in the senior event. No, no, no, I had told them, I won’t be taking part. But it’s all good clean fun, they pleaded. And besides, “many of your friends will be competing too.” 

I tell you, the pressure was unrelenting but it was all very appealing, to say the very least. To cut a long story short, they won the war but my battles are only starting. Truth is, I haven’t sat down in front of the chess board for quite a while. When rust sets in, it takes more than sandpaper to polish it off. 

So I’m quite certain that I’ll be making a fool of myself at the senior event but what the hey. Like what I was told, it will all be good clean fun, win or lose, as long as we confine the battles to the chess board and keep our friendship off it.

Earlier, as I had expected, entries for the ASTRO Merdeka individual rapid chess event swelled to 107 participants due to the last-minute registration by foreign players who had arrived early for the Malaysia open. 

Saidali Yuldachev, the seasoned grandmaster from Uzbekistan, secured the top prize despite a draw with local youngster Irfan Haqqim in the opening round. After that slight hiccup, Yuldachev went full speed ahead to win his remaining games which included victories against German grandmaster Gerhard Schebler in the sixth round and Uzbek international master Khamrakulov Dzhurabek in the final round. 

Schebler, who led the event until his loss to Yuldachev, had to be contented with the second prize. In third place was Fide master Nicholas Chan who was undefeated and impressive with five wins (including one against Uzbek grandmaster Marat Dzhumaev in the final round) and two draws in the one-day tournament. Another Uzbek player, Vakhidov Jahongir, finished fourth.

Jointly fifth to seventh were international master Mok Tze Meng, grandmaster Ziaur Rahman and Sutarno; and rounding up the top 10 prize-winners were Dzhumaev, Dzhurabek and Carlos Leonardo.

Amidst all the excitement of the festival’s opening tournament, a hastily arranged one-day visit to Malaysia by World Chess Federation Kirsan Ilyumzhinov passed by almost unnoticed by the local chess fraternity.

Kirsan was en route to Manila but he made a brief stopover in Kuala Lumpur to visit the Ministry of Sports and the Olympic Council of Malaysia where he witnessed a symbolic flag transfer ceremony to the Malaysian Chess Federation delegation taking part in next month’s World Youth Championships 2010 in Greece.

Meanwhile, more action was seen at the ASTRO Merdeka team rapid chess tournament which attracted 70 teams, a modest increase of four teams from last year’s event. Considering that each team consisted of at least four players, tables and players filled the playing venue from wall to wall. 

Noticeably, there were fewer foreign teams from Indonesia and the Philippines in this year’s competition but from my observation, the strength of the event has not been diluted. In fact, the increased number of mixed teams that fielded local talents with foreign players had balanced up the event and helped it retain its competitive fervour.

This year, the round-by-round pairings were made using match points instead of game points, which brought a refreshing change to the scoring system. What this meant was that a team winning by a crushing 4-0 score would be given the same match points as another team that scraped through by 2½-1½. 

There are advantages and disadvantages of this system – which has already been utilized in other team events worldwide, including the biennial World Chess Olympiad – but the main reason in its favour is that it minimizes the rollercoaster pairing fluctuations when teams are heftily pushed up or pulled down the pairing tables based on the results of a single round. 

By the way, the event was won by Chesskidz Men’s Team – fronted by two Filipino grandmasters working in Singapore, Nelson Mariano and Bong Villamayor – which won eight matches and drew one for a total match point of 17, two match points more than their closest rivals, Bengal Tigers. Third place went to the Crusher team. The best Malaysian team was SMS Gold which were four match points behind the winners.

Incidentally, if this event had been scored using the traditional game point method, Chesskidz Men’s Team would still have emerged as the winners. However the second spot would have gone to Crusher and the Jakarta B team would have been third.

Up next  

Malaysia chess festival

Here is a summary of the remaining events at this year’s Malaysia Chess Festival. All games are played at the Cititel Midvalley ballroom:

a)Datuk Arthur Tan Malaysia open: Fide-titled event, nine rounds, ongoing until Sep 7;

b)AmBank Malaysia chess challenge: Fide-rated event, nine rounds, ongoing until Sep 7;

c)Merdeka national age group rapid open: seven rounds, Sep 5, medals as prizes, RM25 entry fee;

d)Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng international seniors open: Fide-rated event, nine rounds, ongoing until Sep 7;

e)ASTRO simultaneous chess display: Sep 3, 10 grandmasters and international masters against 250 players below 16 years old, entry fee RM20 per player per ASTRO account;

f)Malaysia blitz open: details to be announced later, Sep 7.

More details from Hamid Majid (019.3158098, fax 03.40244337, aham@pc.jaring.my or aham4you@gmail.com).

UTP rapid chess

As part of Universiti Teknologi Petronas’ convocation programme this year, there will be a national rapid chess open tournament at the main hall of the university’s campus in Tronoh, Perak on Oct 9-10. The Malaysian Chess Federation and the Perak International Chess Association are the co-organisers with the University. Entry fees are RM35 for adults and players below 18 years old, RM30 for players below 16 years old and RM25 for players below 12 years old. More information available from Saeksarn Sinnaso (saeksarnskill@gmail.com) or Wan Fatin Izyan (eyanzdaqpe@gmail.com). 

 

All set for chess fest

Today is the eve of the Malaysia Chess Festival and tomorrow, the first of six main events – the Merdeka individual rapid open tournament – will kick off the 11-day chess festival at the ballroom of the Cititel Hotel at the MidValley shopping centre in Kuala Lumpur. 

Elsewhere on this page is a summary of the various events that everybody can look forward to. Take your choice: there is something for everyone, be it a simultaneous chess game, a five-minute blitz tournament, a 30-minute rapid chess tournament or a full 90-minute normal time regulation tournament.  

Concerns that I voiced last week about the Malaysia Chess Festival taking a possible beating from a major rival tournament being planned at the same time in nearby Manila looks to have eased.

The whole of this week as I continuously checked with the organizers, their confidence seemed to have returned to normal levels. To paraphrase a song by Harvey Schmidt in the mid-1960s, their “cup runneth over”. The organizers are brimming with joy that the response to the Festival has exceeded last year’s.

For example, tomorrow’s one-day event has attracted at least 74 players. This was the number told to me three days ago and no doubt, as more chess players arrive in Kuala Lumpur, the number of participants is set to go up further. 

Similarly too, there are at least 67 teams in the Merdeka team rapid open with foreign grandmasters from Australia, Bangladesh, Uzbekistan, Germany and India joining in the fray with local players. 

But the real icing on the cake is the increased entries for the main event, the Datuk Arthur Tan Malaysia open, that will start on Sep 1. Last year, the field consisted of exactly 100 players. Until Tuesday, 135 players had already registered for this year’s edition. 

For a long time, the organizers had been overly cautious about disclosing publicly the list of participants for fear that the foreign entries could be persuaded to withdraw and play elsewhere. Maybe the fear was unfounded but then, anything can happen in the world of chess today.

Nevertheless, today being the eve of the Malaysia Chess Festival where everything comes together, I can now safely whisper out loud that the grandmasters registered for the Malaysia open include: 

Abhijeet Gupta (India, rated 2587), Zhou Weiqi (China, 2570), Ziaur Rahman (Bangladesh, 2543), Cao Sang (Vietnam, 2540), Prasad Arun (India, 2535), David Smerdon (Australia, 2526), Dao Thien Hai (Vietnam, 2516), Wen Yang (China, 2507), R.R. Laxman (India, 2503), Xu Jun (China, 2503), Nguyen Anh Dung (Vietnam, 2500), Saidali Yuldachev (Uzbekistan, 2496), Jha Sriram (India, 2490), Xu Yuhua (China, 2488), Marat Dzhumaev (Uzbekistan, 2484), Gerhard Schebler (Germany, 2474) and Niaz Murshed (Bangladesh, 2406).

They may not be the top echelon of grandmasters in the world but hey, the Malaysia open was never about attracting the crème de la crème of grandmasters in the first place. Much as like water finding its own level, grandmasters and international masters will find the right level of tournaments to suit their own playing levels. 

Anyway, the Malaysia open will also feature two woman grandmasters from China and Vietnam, at least 18 international masters, several Fide masters and woman Fide masters. 

The Malaysian challenge will be spearheaded by international masters Mok Tze Meng and Jimmy Liew. 

There is a sizeable number of Malaysian entries and apart from Mok and Liew, we have no less than four national masters in the field too, namely, Lim Chuin Hoong, current national champion Tan Khai Boon, Edward Lee and Evan Timothy Capel. There will also be spotlight on Yeoh Li Tian. 

And I should also particularly mention the presence of two of our woman national masters, current women’s national champion Fong Mi Yen and Alia Anin Azwa Bakri, as among the competitors. They are being very good sports.

Up next  

Malaysia chess festival

Here is a summary of all the events at this year’s Malaysia Chess Festival. All games will be played at the Cititel Midvalley ballroom:

a)Datuk Arthur Tan Malaysia open: Fide-titled event, nine rounds, Sep 1-7, USD4,000 first prize, entry fees range from USD50 to USD200 depending on player’s rating;

b)AmBank Malaysia chess challenge: Fide-rated event but player’s rating not to exceed 2200 points, nine rounds, Sep 1-7, RM2,000 first prize, entry fees range from RM75 to RM150 depending on player’s rating, 20 percent discount for players below 16 years old;

c)Merdeka national age group rapid open: seven rounds, Sep 5, medals as prizes, RM25 entry fee;

d)Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng international seniors open: Fide-rated event, nine rounds, Sep 1-7, RM4,000 first prize, entry fees range from RM100 to RM400 depending on player’s rating;

e)ASTRO Merdeka individual rapid open: seven rounds, Aug 28, RM1,000 first prize, entry fees are RM30 (adults) and RM20 (under-16 players);

f)ASTRO Merdeka team rapid open: nine rounds, Aug 29-31, RM5,000 first prize, entry fees range from RM150 to RM375 depending on number of players in the team;

g)ASTRO simultaneous chess display: Sep 3, 10 grandmasters and international masters against 250 players below 16 years old, entry fee RM20 per player per ASTRO account;

h)Malaysia blitz open: details to be announced later, Sep 7.

More details from Hamid Majid (019.3158098, fax 03.40244337, aham@pc.jaring.my or aham4you@gmail.com).

UTP rapid chess

As part of Universiti Teknologi Petronas’ convocation programme this year, there will be a national rapid chess open tournament at the main hall of the university’s campus in Tronoh, Perak on Oct 9-10. The Malaysian Chess Federation and the Perak International Chess Association are the co-organisers with the University. Entry fees are RM35 for adults and players below 18 years old, RM30 for players below 16 years old and RM25 for players below 12 years old. More information available from Saeksarn Sinnaso (saeksarnskill@gmail.com) or Wan Fatin Izyan (eyanzdaqpe@gmail.com).