Selection trials

Every year, the Malaysian Chess Federation (MCF) faces the same old dilemma of selecting players to represent the country at official overseas chess tournaments. It’s a problem that the federation has been unable to uncover a satisfactory solution even after almost 40 years.

So many selection methods have been employed in the past. Initially, it was thought that selecting a team based solely on the results of the national closed championships would be good enough but as we all know, how accurate can that be when a chess competition is run according to the Swiss pairing rules with a limited number of rounds? 

At worst, only the champion can really be considered as worthy of selection. All other standings become less accurate as we go down the final prize-winners’ list and that is why organizers use all sorts of tie-breaking systems to justify the players’ standings. Still, it is not quite sufficient.

There were also occasions when the best one or two players in the country were given automatic entry into the national teams and the rest of the players were selected from either the Fide rating list or the results of the national closed championships or a combination of both.

Then it was decided that the MCF president should have the prerogative to select a player of his choice into the national team, based on a short-list provided by the council. Sort of a wild card entry just in case a really worthy case needed to be considered at the last moment.

But any reasonable person will realize that all these alternatives are not really fool-proof. Every method may have its good points but each also has its own different short-comings. So every time a major chess event comes along, there are always new suggestions and new tweaking made to find an appropriate solution to suit that occasion.

Let me say here about Malaysian chess that we do compete regularly at world and regional chess events. At the heart of our activities is the biennial Chess Olympiads but lately, there’s also the Asian Games and the SEA Games. 

Well, with the SEA Games in Jakarta just around the corner – in about six months’ time – the MCF is now in the midst of selecting the players to fill spots in the national men’s and women’s teams.

This year, without any great surprise, we learn that the federation has decided yet again to adopt yet another selection format. This time, there would be round-robin selection trials with the bulk of eligible players to come from this year’s national men’s and women’s closed championships that had concluded recently.

I’m sure that this decision will please several people who feel that the national closed results are now being given more recognition by the same body that organized it. But on the other hand, this decision could also have distressed other people who had expected it their right to compete in the selection. To be fair, the MCF had announced the national selection trials way ahead of the national closed championships so that any of the top players who find themselves now missing from the selection trials have only themselves to kick, isn’t it?

The main basis for a player to be eligible for the selection trials was to finish within the top eight positions in last month’s national men’s and women’s closed championships. If any of the players were to decline participation, their places would be taken up by players from either the FIDE rating list or by going down further through the results of the two national closed events. There are two remaining two slots that would be filled by the participants in last year’s Asian Games.

So last weekend, the selection process for the men’s and women’s teams began in earnest in Kuala Lumpur but it had to break for two weeks in order to accommodate the running of the week-long 38th Selangor open chess tournament, at the Wilayah Complex in Kuala Lumpur, which overlaps into this weekend. The resumption of the selection trials will be on May 7 and 8 when the sixth to ninth rounds are played. 

In any case, based on these eligibility criteria, the players who started the men’s selection tournament were international masters Mas Hafizulhelmi and Mok Tze Meng (the two had participated in last year’s Asian Games), international master Jimmy Liew, current national champion Lim Zhuo Ren, Sumant Subramaniam, Fong Yit Ho and Fong Yit San (qualifiers from the national closed championship) and international master Lim Yee Weng, former national champion Kamalariffin Wahiduddin and Tan Jun Feng (whom MCF had chosen to replace three players that had declined to take part).

Meanwhile for the women’s selection tournament, the players were Nur Nabila Azman Hashim (qualified from last year’s Asian Games but she is also the current national women’s champion), Nur Najiha Azman Hisham, Fong Mi Yen, Tan Li Ting, Puteri Rifqah Fahada Azhar, Camilia Johari, Sarika Subramaniam and Puteri Munajjah Az-zahra Azhar (qualifiers from the national women’s closed championship) and Nurul Huda Wahiduddin and Tang Kar Khei (as replacements for two other qualifiers).

I shall leave you this week with a game from the very first round of the selection trials. Sumant Subramaniam is a very promising junior player but he came a cropper in his game with Jimmy Liew. Here it is:

Sumant Subramaniam (rated 2065) – Jimmy Liew (rated 2302)

National selection tournament, 2011

1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 e5 4.Nf3 Nbd7 5.Be2 Be7 6.0-0 0-0 7.Bg5 a6 8.Qd2 b5 9.dxe5 Nxe5 10.Nxe5 dxe5 11.Qe3 c6 12.Qg3 Nd7 13.Bh6 Bf6 14.Rad1 Qe7 15.Rd2 Nc5 16.Be3 Ne6 17.Rfd1 Nd4 18.Bg4 Bxg4 19.Qxg4 Ne6 20.Ne2 Rad8 21.Ng3 Rxd2 22.Rxd2 Rd8 23.Nf5 Qb4 24.c3 Qc4 25.Rxd8+ Nxd8 (The game had been on a rather even keel with Black having equalized comfortably. Now, White thought that his worthy opponent had missed something. See the diagram: was there a small brilliant combination here in this position that could net him a winning advantage?) 

26.Nxg7? (But this sacrifice turned out to be delusional. Black saw deeper into this move and had a rejoinder ready.) 26…Bxg7 27.Bh6 Ne6 28.Bxg7 h5 (And this is the move that wrecked White’s plans. Black would keep his knight although he loses two pawns. White was actually banking on 28…Nxg7 29.Qc8+ Ne8 30.Qxe8+ Kg7 31.Qxe5+ and Black would be in trouble.) 29.Qxh5 Nxg7 30.Qxe5 Qxa2 31.h4 Qxb2 32.h5 Qc1+ 33.Kh2 Ne6 34.Qb8+ Kh7 35.Qe8 Qf4+ 36.Kg1 c5 37.Qe7 Kg7 38.Qe8 Qc1+ 39.Kh2 Qg5 40.g4 Qh4+ 0-1

Up next

Perlis events

In conjunction with the 68th birthday of the Raja of Perlis, there will be two tournaments in Perlis this weekend. Tomorrow, the Perlis Chess Academy will organize the Perlis open tournament with cash prizes totalling RM1,610. Entry fees: RM10 (players under 18 years old), RM15 (Perlis residents) and RM20 (non-Perlis participants). 

Then on Sunday, Kilang Gula Felda Perlis will organize the Gula Perlis open chess challenge. The cash prizes for the Gula Perlis event amount to RM5,555. Four DGT digital chess clocks are also given as lucky draw prizes. Entry fees: RM15 (players under 18 years old) and RM20 (adults). 

Both events are played at the Dewan Belia in Kangar, Perlis. More details available from Syaifulzamani (013.3939838), Darwis (012.4128207), Abdul Aziz (019.5700828), Azrul Sani (019.4651122).

Perak grand prix

The Perak International Chess Association will organize the third leg of this year’s Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng chess grand prix tournament at the Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Slim River on May 15. Like the two previous tournaments in Taiping and Bagan Serai, this leg in Slim River will be contested over seven rounds with a 25-minute time control. The two remaining legs will be played in Kampar on Jun 19 and the grand final in Ipoh on July 10. Other than cash prizes, points are awarded to the top 10 winners of each leg and these would accumulate till the final leg. 

Entry fees for the Slim River tournament: RM25 (open section), RM15 (under 16 years old), RM10 (under 12 years old). For PICA members and Perak residents: RM20 (open section), RM10 (players under 16 years old). Closing date for entries is May 12. To register, call Yunus (013.3908129), Abu Bakar (014.2510852) or Uztaz Ismail (019.5520391). Alternatively, visit the PICA blog at http://perakchess.blogspot.com for details. 

Chess camp

The Creative Chess Enterprise will hold a two-day chess champ at the Sekolah Sri Bestari in Bandar Sri Damansara, Kuala Lumpur on Jun 6-7. Entry fees: RM140 (elementary level), RM160 (players with national chess ratings below 1200 points) and RM180 (players with national rating above 1200 points). Discount of RM20 applies to anyone registering before May 15. Closing date: May 22. For inquiries, call Balendran (012.3547011) or Lim Tse Pin (012.2984922).

 

Wild draw

It’s just not the same any more. Not since the growing popularity of computer chess programs, anyway. 

Way back in the past when we talked about blindfold chess, it would mean just that: two players who were literally blindfolded. It was great publicity. I remember that in the early 1990s, this newspaper even once published a colour picture of two blindfolded players on the front page. 

It’s not so dramatic nowadays. Players in blindfold games are now more inclined to sit at a laptop computer. Some people say that the players stare blankly at an image of an empty chessboard on the computer’s monitor but there is much more going on than that. You see, their brains are whirring along – thinking, calculating and assessing – and the chessboard, though empty, helps them in the visualization process. And they are still required to record their every move.

So to the experienced chess players, an empty chessboard is not a hindrance at all; not when there are still the visible game scores to follow. These reminders are more than sufficient in allowing them to play normally. 

How normal or accurate could their games be, you may ask? Well, very normal indeed. For example, at the Amber tournament in Monaco last month, half of the games were played in this so-called blindfold fashion and I tell you, there were games of sheer accuracy and brilliancy. 

This week, I would like to show you one rather remarkable game from this event. 

Vladimir Kramnik (rated 2785) – Vassily Ivanchuk (rated 2779)

20th Amber Blindfold, Monaco, 2011

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.d4 Bb4+ 5.Bd2 Be7 6.Bg2 c6 7.Qc2 0-0 8.0-0 b6 9.Rd1 Nbd7 10.Bf4 Bb7 11.Ne5 Rc8 12.Nc3 Nh5 13.Bc1 f5 14.Qa4 Nxe5 15.dxe5 Qc7 (Something new from Ivanchuk which left Kramnik wondering how to refute.) 16.cxd5 (Later, Kramnik commented that he should have played the immediate 16.Bf3.) 16…cxd5 17.Qxa7 (And finally, White decides to take the offered a-pawn. So the queen is offside but it’s not so simple for Black to trap it with 17…Ra8 immediately. There is bigger game on the kingside.) 17…Bc5 (To support the b-pawn just in case the black queen needs to move away but more importantly, the bishop occupies the diagonal and gets aimed at White’s king.) 18.Bf3 f4 19.g4 (If 19.Bxh5, then 19…fxg3 rips into the white kingside. White sidesteps this but now comes a stunning move.) 19…Ng3! 

(See diagram) 20.b4 Ra8 21.Nxd5 Nxe2+ 22.Kf1 Rxa7 23.Nxc7 Bxf3 24.Nxe6 Nc3 (Possibly, 24…Bxb4 could have won the game. After Ivanchuk misses that, Kramnik steers the game into safe waters.) 25.bxc5 Nxd1 26.cxb6 Ra4 27.Nxf8 Kxf8 28.Rb1 Rxa2 29.b7 Rxf2+ 30.Ke1 Re2+ 31.Kf1 (Of course, not 31.Kxd1 Rb2+ 32.Ke1 Rxb1 and the white b-pawn falls.) 31…Rf2+ 32.Ke1 ½-½

Up next

Perak grand prix

The Perak International Chess Association informs me that the first leg of this year’s Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng chess grand prix tournament in Taiping a fortnight ago was a remarkable success with 217 participants. There could have been more players but the last-minute entries were turned away due to space constraints of the venue.

The second leg of the grand prix will be held at the Sekolah Menengah Teknik Kerian, Jalan Siakap, Bagan Serai this Sunday. Like the Taiping leg, this second leg will be contested over seven rounds with a 25-minute time control. The other three legs will be played in Slim River on May 15, Kampar on Jun 19 and the grand final in Ipoh on July 10. Other than cash prizes, points are awarded to the top 10 winners of each leg and these would accumulate till the final leg. 

Entry fees for the Bagan Serai tournament: RM25 (open section), RM15 (under 16 years old), RM10 (under 12 years old). For PICA members and Perak residents: RM20 (open section), RM10 (players under 16 years old). To register, call Yunus (013.3908129), Kamaruddin (019.4316793) or Mas’ud Hamzah (012.4681665). Alternatively, visit the PICA blog at http://perakchess.blogspot.com for details. 

Percawi Labour Day team

The Kuala Lumpur Federal Territory Chess Association (Percawi) will organize a Labour Day team tournament at the Datuk Arthur Tan Chess Centre, Wilayah Complex, Kuala Lumpur this Sunday. Six rounds, 30-minute games, four players per team. Entry fee: RM160 (companies and government departments), RM80 (schools, colleges and universities). Details available from Collin Madhaven (016.2123578) and Bob Yap (012.2878378).

Selangor open

The Chess Association of Selangor (CAS) will organize their 38th Selangor open chess tournament at the Datuk Arthur Tan Chess Centre, Wilayah Complex, Kuala Lumpur from Apr 28 to May 2.

This nine-round, Fide-rated tournament will have 10 main cash prizes totaling RM7,000 with the winner receiving RM2,500. There are also various minor category prizes. Entry fees: RM70 (CAS members with Fide ratings), RM80 (CAS members without Fide ratings), RM90 (non-CAS members with Fide ratings) and RM100 (non-CAS members without Fide ratings). Grandmasters and international masters play for free. Universities, colleges and schools that submit four players or more will receive a 20 percent discount. Entries received after Apr 21 will be charged an extra RM20.

For enquiries, contact Lim Tse Pin (012.2984922, selangorchess@gmail.com), Mat Zaki Yeop (017.2032051) or Yeoh Chin Seng (012.6199816). More information available from http://selangorchess.blogspot.com 

Perlis events

In conjunction with the 68th birthday of the Raja of Perlis, there will be two tournaments in Perlis on Apr 30 and May 1. On Apr 30, the Perlis Chess Academy will organize the Perlis open tournament with cash prizes totalling RM1,610. Entry fees: RM10 (players under 18 years old), RM15 (Perlis residents) and RM20 (non-Perlis participants). 

Then on May 1, Kilang Gula Felda Perlis will organize the Gula Perlis open chess challenge. The cash prizes for the Gula Perlis event amount to RM5,555. Four DGT digital chess clocks are also given as lucky draw prizes. Entry fees: RM15 (players under 18 years old) and RM20 (adults). 

Venue for both events will be the Dewan Belia in Kangar, Perlis. More details available from Syaifulzamani (013.3939838), Darwis (012.4128207), Abdul Aziz (019.5700828), Azrul Sani (019.4651122).

Chess camp

The Creative Chess Enterprise will hold a two-day chess champ at the Sekolah Sri Bestari in Bandar Sri Damansara, Kuala Lumpur on Jun 6-7. Entry fees: RM140 (elementary level), RM160 (players with national chess ratings below 1200 points) and RM180 (players with national rating above 1200 points). Discount of RM20 applies to anyone registering before May 15. Closing date: May 22. For inquiries, call Balendran (012.3547011) or Lim Tse Pin (012.2984922).

 

Wild attack

Would you give an arm and a leg to even play half as well as the winner of this game? I would. From the Chinese chess championship in Xinghua, Jiangsu Province, China earlier this month comes this fantastic game. 

Xiu Deshun is not to be scoffed at. Although he is still without any international chess title, not even that of an international master, Xiu’s rating of 2508 points ranks him in China’s current list of their top 20 players. Besides, he had won the Thailand open chess championship two years ago.

However, Xiu came undone while playing against Zhao Jun who is one of China’s chess grandmasters. This game is the stuff which gets shown again and again anywhere in the world as an example of brilliancy. Just bring out your chess set and enjoy it.

Zhao Jun (rated 2580) - Xiu Deshun (rated 2508)

Chinese chess championship, Xinghua, China, 2011

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.a3 Bxc3+ 5.bxc3 c5 6.e3 b6 7.Bd3 Nc6 8.Ne2 Ba6 9.e4 0-0 10.Bg5 h6 11.Bh4 g5 12.Bg3 d6 13.f4 Na5 14.fxg5 hxg5 15.0-0 Nh5 (From this point onwards, the game gets interesting. But first, before we continue with the game, it is to be noted that two of Black’s minor pieces are basically out of play on the queenside and his kingside pawns have been irreversibly weakened.)

16.Bxd6!! (See Diagram One. This piece sacrifice comes right out of the blue. It works not because of White’s bravado but because of great inspiration. His instinct tells him to go completely for broke in this game.)  (Diagram One)

16...Qxd6 17.e5 Qe7 18.Ng3 (This move would be a bit more difficult to see. Usually, a player would be quite loathe to exchange off pieces during an attack. Piece exchanges can only help the defender. And yet, here is White offering to swap knights.)

18...Nxg3 19.Rf6!! (See Diagram Two. This position deserves a diagram. Now we know why White was willing to exchange the knights: he wanted to remove Black’s last defending piece, especially its defence of the f6 square. Once the knight was gone, this rook move drives a wedge into Black’s position. The black king is stranded. Since it’s almost impossible to find safety, there is no escape route.)  (Diagram Two)

19...Kg7 (Black tries to create a flight square for the king after he moves away the rook from the f8 square. However, as the game shows, this plan doesn’t work. Another alternative for Black is to exchange off more pieces and hope to relieve the pressure with 19...Bxc4 20.hxg3 Bxd3 21.Qxd3 but unfortunately, it doesn’t work too.)

20.Qg4 (The rest of the game basically plays by itself. Again, do note that Black’s bishop and knight on the queenside are still offside and incapable of doing anything much. Black’s priority is to protect his king but his rook is a poor defender. White simply needs to throw all his remaining big pieces – the queen and the other rook – into the attack.)

20...Rg8 21.hxg3 Nb7 (Black’s next few moves see him trying to defend the f7 pawn and simultaneously open an escape route for the king to the queenside. However, White ignores everything that Black does and continues with his game plan to build up the pressure. Double the rooks on the f-file, totally seize the d3-h7 diagonal. White doesn’t even need to capture the g5 pawn yet.)

22.Raf1 Nd8 23.Qe4 Qb7 24.d5 (Great move, in my opinion.) 24…Rh8 25.Qg6+! fxg6  (25...Kf8 26.dxe6 and 27.Rxf7+ follows next. No escape for Black.) 26.Rxg6+ Kh7 27.Rxg5+ Kh6 28.Rg6+ Kh7 (28…Kh5 29.g4+ Kh4 30.Rf3 and it’s checkmate next.) 29.Rg4+ Kh6 30.Rf6+ Kh5 31.Rh4+ 1-0 (The net is complete: 31…Kg5 32.Rg6 mate.)

Up next

YAB chess open

The Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) will organize the YAB chess open at their campus in Kedah later this month. There will be two events: a Chinese chess tournament on Apr 22 and a chess tournament one day later on Apr 23. Each event, limited to 100 participants, shall consist of four categories: open, under-18, under-12 and UUM students. Entry fee: RM18. Accommodation is available at RM7 per person per night. Closing date: Apr 17. Registration forms available from Neoh Shi Ling (017.4762906, shil_neoh@hotmail.com), Yoong Kah Eng (017.6204688, kahengyoong@yahoo.com) or Yen Yee Kiat (012.5998347).

 

Larry Parr's passing

In the week that I want to share with you a few games from the recent national closed and national women’s closed championships, I received word that a familiar face in our chess circle had passed away in one of our local hospitals.

Larry Parr was a rather enigmatic person. He guarded his privacy jealously and only a privy few were let in to meet his close-knit family of wife, daughter and son. Yet, Parr’s public facade had quite a notorious streak about him. 

Many chess players worldwide would associate Parr with that well-known American institutional chess magazine, Chess Life, of which he was the editor from 1985 till 1988. He was also the author of a few books on the chess game. Plus, he surprised many with his fluency in the Russian language.

However, many people locally, and not only those in the chess circle, would probably recognize him better as the co-author of “Never Say I Assume!” which was the memoir of Datuk Tan Chin Nam, one of the pioneers of property development in Malaysia who also happened to be the honorary life president of the Malaysian Chess Federation.

To have been able to do the extensive research for that book, Parr would have stayed in Kuala Lumpur for at least the past 10 years to piece everything together but to people like me who have been involved in the game for quite a while, we will remember that he had been seen on and off in this country as long ago as the mid-1970s.

I do remember bumping into him in 1975 or 1976 and always, he would be deeply engrossed in discussing a chess game with this or that chess player who cared to sit down with him.

The more you know him, the more you’d learn that he had an elephantine memory and could be very talkative. He had stories to tell and he’d tell them in so dramatic a fashion that you’d think there’d be scandals behind them but there weren’t. He wove fascinating tales around the chess personalities. His favourite subject was Bobby Fischer and he loved to talk and write about him. 

Parr never considered himself to be a chess historian but clearly, he had a deep running interest in this subject. Once when I visited him at his old Tan & Tan office in Kuala Lumpur, he kept probing into the developments of Malayan chess in the 1950s and early 1960s but which, of course, I had no answer. That period was too long ago; it was way before my time.

But one other thing I do know about him is that he was very immersed in American and world chess politics. He had very strong views and was never afraid to speak his mind on various topics. He challenged people online and was challenged in return. Those were the early days of the Internet where instead of the World Wide Web, people were into the Usenet. 

Anyone who had joined the rec.games.chess main and sub-newsgroups could have hardly missed the no-holds-barred exchanges that Parr had with other opinionated contributors. Usually, they were a pack of more or less the same people that dominated the newsgroups to voice their opinions. But he could give as good as he received, that much I have to say about him. 

Even in the last years of his life, he was an active campaigner in other chess forums that had sprung up on the Internet. He continued sparring verbally with new people about perceived wrongs in the chess world. In his own unique way, he contributed much to the chess game.

All this will be missed. Parr’s death means that the chess world has become a little less noisy. His detractors may miss his online presence or they may not. But I do know that his friends in Malaysia will certainly miss him.

I shall end this week with two games from the recent national closed and national women’s closed championships. They were critical games for the winners of the two events. 

Lim Zhuo Ren found himself paired against a formidable opponent in the final round of his event. Though leading the pack of front-runners, he needed only a draw. However, Jimmy Liew took the game to him, and it was only with consistency and an alert mind that he weathered the storm.

Lim Zhuo Ren – Jimmy Liew

National closed championship, Round 9

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. g3 Nc6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 g6 6. Bg2 Bg7 7. Nxc6 bxc6 8. Nc3 O-O 9. O-O Qc7 10. Qd2 a5 11. Na4 Rb8 12. Qc2 d6 13. Rd1 Bg4 14. h3 Bf5 15. e4 Be6 16. Bd2 Nd7 17. Rac1 f5 18. b3 Rf7 19. Be3 c5 20. Kh2 Rbf8 21. Qd2 fxe4 22. Bxe4 Bd4 23. f4 Bxe3 24. Qxe3 g5 25. Bg2 Bf5 26. fxg5 Ne5 27. Nc3 Bg4 28. Rd5 Bf3 29. Rd2 Qd7 30. Nd5 Bxd5 31. Bxd5 e6 32. Bg2 Nf3+ 33. Bxf3 Rxf3 34. Qxc5 Qb7 35. Qd4 a4 36. Rb1 Rf1 37. Rxf1 Rxf1 38. Rg2 axb3 39. axb3 Qxb3 40. Rb2 ½-½ 

Nur Nabila’s path to the women’s title also took here through several obstacles. She had to negotiate carefully through the likes of the former champions, Fong Mi Yen and Tan Li Ting. Though her game with Tan ended drawn, it had its interesting moments. For one, there was Nur Nabila’s determination to win in a largely drawn game and the other, Tan’s dogged defence to keep her half point. 

Tan Li Ting – Nur Nabila bt Azman Hisham

National women’s closed championship, Round 6

1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bf4 e6 4. e3 Bd6 5. Bg3 O-O 6. Nbd2 b6 7. Bd3 Bb7 8. O-O Bxg3 9. hxg3 Nbd7 10. Re1 c5 11. c3 Qc7 12. Qc2 h6 13. Rad1 Rac8 14. Qb1 Rfd8 15. Bc2 b5 16. Rc1 Qb6 17. e4 dxe4 18. Nxe4 Nxe4 19. Bxe4 Bxe4 20. Qxe4 Nf6 21. Qe2 cxd4 22. cxd4 Qb7 23. Rc5 Rxc5 24. dxc5 Rc8 25. b4 Nd5 26. Qb2 a5 27. a3 axb4 28. axb4 Ra8 29. Nd4 Ra4 30. Nc2 Qa8 31. Ra1 Rxa1+ 32. Nxa1 Nxb4 33. Qxb4 Qxa1+ 34. Kh2 Qa6 35. Qd4 g6 36. Qd8+ Kg7 37. Qb6 Qa1 38. Qd6 b4 39. c6 Qc3 40. c7 b3 41. Qd8 b2 42. c8=Q Qxc8 43. Qxc8 b1=Q 44. Qc3+ Kh7 45. Qf6 Qf5 46. Qb2 g5 47. Kg1 h5 48. Qe2 Kg6 49. Qc4 Qe5 50. Qc2+ Kg7 51. Qd1 Kh6 52. Qd2 Qd5 53. Qb2 e5 54. Qb6+ Kg7 55. Qe3 Kg6 56. Qb6+ Qe6 57. Qd8 f6 58. Kh2 e4 59. Kg1 f5 60. Qd2 Qf6 61. Qd5 h4 62. gxh4 gxh4 63. Qg8+ Kh6 64. Qd5 Kg5 65. Qg8+ Kh6 66. Qd5 Kh7 67. Qd7+ Kh6 68. Qd5 ½-½ 

Up next

Perak grand prix

The Perak International Chess Association (PICA) kicks off this year’s Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng chess grand prix with the first leg at the Chinese Recreation Club in Taiping this Sunday. This is the second season of the local grand prix which will see five legs held in Taiping, Kerian, Slim River, Kampar and Ipoh until July. 

Each leg of the grand prix will be played over seven rounds with a 25-minute time control. Other than the cash prizes, points will be awarded to the top 10 winners of each leg and these would accumulate till the final leg. 

While entries have closed for the Taiping tournament, the next one for Kerian looms ahead. Entry fees for all the legs are: RM25 (open section), RM15 (under 16 years old), RM10 (under 12 years old). For PICA members and Perak residents: RM20 (open section), RM10 (players under 16 years old). For updates, call Yunus (013.3908129) or visit the PICA blog at http://perakchess.blogspot.com. 

Selangor open

The nation’s longest-running chess tournament is back. The Chess Association of Selangor (CAS) will organize their 38th Selangor open chess tournament at the Datuk Arthur Tan Chess Centre, Wilayah Complex, Kuala Lumpur from Apr 28 to May 2.

This nine-round, Fide-rated tournament will have 10 main cash prizes totaling RM7,000 with the winner receiving RM2,500. There are also various minor category prizes. Entry fees: RM70 (CAS members with Fide ratings), RM80 (CAS members without Fide ratings), RM90 (non-CAS members with Fide ratings) and RM100 (non-CAS members without Fide ratings). Grandmasters and international masters play for free. Universities, colleges and schools that submit four players or more will receive a 20 percent discount. Entries received after Apr 21 will be charged an extra RM20.

For enquiries, contact Lim Tse Pin (012.2984922, selangorchess@gmail.com), Mat Zaki Yeop (017.2032051) or Yeoh Chin Seng (012.6199816). More information available from http://selangorchess.blogspot.com 

Percawi Labour Day team

The Kuala Lumpur Federal Territory Chess Association (Percawi) will organize a Labour Day team tournament at the Datuk Arthur Tan Chess Centre, Wilayah Complex, Kuala Lumpur on Apr 24. Six rounds, 30-minute games, four players per team. Entry fee: RM160 (companies and government departments), RM80 (schools, colleges and universities). Details available from Collin Madhaven (016.2123578) and Bob Yap (012.2878378).

 

Narrow win

In addition to Lim Zhuo Ren winning the national closed championship two weeks ago, there is also a new national women’s champion in Nur Nabila Azman Hashim. 

The national women’s closed championship, which was also being held at the same time, was an equally gripping affair. Not much actually separated the eventual champion, Nur Nabila, from her sister, Nur Najiha, who finished as the runners-up.

For much of the distance, both of them were going neck-to-neck in the tournament. Both started off the tournament on a winning note, winning their first two games, and in the third round they met one another and drew their game.

At that point, Puteri Rifqah Fahada Azhar had jumped into the early lead with three full points from her first three games. But that was about as far as she got with her impressive 100 percent score because immediately, she lost to Nur Najiha in the fourth round. In the meanwhile, Nur Nabila overcame the defending champion, Fong Mi Yen.

These two wins set the two sisters firmly in the lead and on a canter towards the finish line. It was only a matter of knowing whom they would be paired against in the subsequent rounds and how they would score in these games.

Nur Najiha made the first breakthrough in the sixth round as she overcame Camila Johari while Nur Nabila could only score a draw with Tan Li Ting, another former national women’s champion.

However, Nur Najiha’s sole lead in the championship was short-lived. In the seventh round, she could only draw with Li Ting while Nur Nabila easily overcame a challenge from Amira Syahmina Zulkafli. 

Now, both players were tied again. More importantly, though, they had opened up a one-point gap between themselves and their nearest rivals. That one of them would become the next national women’s champion was never a doubt; the only question was who would it be?

This far in the tournament, Nur Najiha had managed to avoid Fong Mi Yen. The defending champion had already played with Nur Nabila but not with Nur Najiha yet. In the eighth round, they met. If ever there was an occasion that Nur Najiha needed all the luck to win, this would be it. 

Unfortunately, Mi Yen was equally determined to win the game. A loss would have seen her spiral out of contention for a decent finish to this event and she wanted to avoid that. In any case, Mi Yen won the game to put a real dent into Nur Najiha’s chances. On the other hand, Nur Nabila had no problem disposing of Anis Fariha Saleh. 

With only a single round remaining in the championship, Nur Nabila suddenly found herself propelled into the sole lead for the very first time, and she still retained a one-point lead over her nearest rivals. Would she falter in the final round? It was still possible that the championship could end up tied if she lost and her nearest rivals won.

But Nur Nabila knew what to do. Paired against Camila Johari, she quickly extracted a half point from this game. This half-a-point meant that her lead would be unassailable no matter what happened on the other boards and it was enough for her to become the new national women’s champion.

Of her two closest rivals who were now fighting more for honour than the title, Nur Najiha won against Amira Syahmina Zulkafli to take the second prize while Mi Yen agreed to a draw with Li Ting. This result gave Mi Yen the third place and Li Ting the undisputed fourth place. 

Up next

Perak grand prix

The Perak International Chess Association (PICA) will kick off this year’s Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng chess grand prix with the first leg at the Chinese Recreation Club in Taiping on Apr 10. 

This is the second series of the local grand prix which will see five legs held in Taiping, Kerian, Slim River, Kampar and Ipoh until July. Last year’s inaugural series attracted more than 900 players from around the country and were held at seven different districts in the state. PICA is confident that this year’s series would attract even greater response. 

Each leg of the grand prix will be played over seven rounds with a 25-minute time control. Other than the cash prizes, points will be awarded to the top 10 winners of each leg and these would accumulate till the final leg. 

Entry fees for the first leg in Taiping: RM25 (open section), RM15 (under 16 years old), RM10 (under 12 years old). For PICA members and Perak residents: RM20 (open section), RM10 (players under 16 years old). Closing date: Apr 7. For more information, call Yunus (013.3908129) or visit the PICA blog at http://perakchess.blogspot.com for updates. 

Selangor open

The nation’s longest-running chess tournament is back. The Chess Association of Selangor (CAS) will organize their 38th Selangor open chess tournament at the Datuk Arthur Tan Chess Centre, Wilayah Complex, Kuala Lumpur from Apr 28 to May 2.

This nine-round, Fide-rated tournament will have 10 main cash prizes totaling RM7,000 with the winner receiving RM2,500. There are also various minor category prizes. Entry fees: RM70 (CAS members with Fide ratings), RM80 (CAS members without Fide ratings), RM90 (non-CAS members with Fide ratings) and RM100 (non-CAS members without Fide ratings). Grandmasters and international masters play for free. Universities, colleges and schools that submit four players or more will receive a 20 percent discount. Entries received after Apr 21 will be charged an extra RM20.

For enquiries, contact Lim Tse Pin (012.2984922, selangorchess@gmail.com), Mat Zaki Yeop (017.2032051) or Yeoh Chin Seng (012.6199816). More information available from http://selangorchess.blogspot.com 

Percawi Labour Day team

The Kuala Lumpur Federal Territory Chess Association (Percawi) will organize a Labour Day team tournament at the Datuk Arthur Tan Chess Centre, Wilayah Complex, Kuala Lumpur on Apr 24. Six rounds, 30-minute games, four players per team. Entry fee: RM160 (companies and government departments), RM80 (schools, colleges and universities). Details available from Collin Madhaven (016.2123578) and Bob Yap (012.2878378)

 

Champ at last

Two years ago, Lim Zhuo Ren met with the greatest of his heartaches. At the national closed chess championship of that year, 2009, he was leading a close pack of players going into the final round of the tournament. A draw was all he needed to clinch the title but he played over-cautiously to lose the game.

Because of that result, three other players caught up with him at the top of that year's championship. All four had finished with equal points and it forced the Malaysian Chess Federation to arrange a quick play-off tournament to determine a winner. 

Lim never recovered totally from that last-round loss. The disappointment showed. In the play-off, he was outplayed and could only finish third among the four players.

It has been two years since that great experience. Or maybe, I should call it his great inexperience. Last year, he again played in the national closed championship but it was as though he was still reliving the past. A lukewarm 14th position was about all he could achieve.

By the end of the year though, his confidence was starting to creep back into his games. At the national junior chess championship in December, Lim played well enough to force a five-way tie at the top. In the play-off tournament that followed, Lim won.

Fast forwarding three months to March this year, it was now time for the national closed championship. Again, Lim – now 19 years old – decided to throw his hat into the ring but this time, he had a new status as the national junior champion.

Maybe Lim did not have great expectations of himself but suddenly, like two years earlier, he found himself in a similar position: sole leader after seven rounds, and people already talking of him like the new national champion. 

In those first seven rounds, he had played and defeated players like Yeap Eng Chiam, Loo Swee Leong and even former champion Edward Lee. However, there were still further challenges facing him. 

In the eighth round, he met and navigated safely through a test with Yeoh Li Tian. He retained his lead but in the meantime, two other players – international master Jimmy Liew and fast improving youngster Sumant Subramaniam - had successfully climbed up the tournament to stand just one point below the leader. Lim would have to face either one of them in the final round.

As providence would have it, he was paired against Liew. Surely this would be his sternest test, a make or break attempt to land the national closed championship title. All that Lim required was half a point in his final game but would Liew hand it to him easily?

There were now questions asked of Lim. Would the demons from his past come to haunt him? Would he have learnt his lesson well from two years earlier? Cautious play had cost him the title then; would he repeat the same mistake? In short, people wanted to know whether or not he has matured as a player. The tension was indeed high.

At the same time, Liew understood that he had to win his game at all cost. With the black pieces, it would be an uphill task but not an impossible one. If he were to win, there was a chance that he could even be the champion. But there was now a new complication. Sumant had already beaten Edward Lee in their final game. 

Even if Liew were to win his game and tie on equal points with both Lim and Sumant, all he would achieve was to force another play-off in the national closed championship. Whether he could win the play-off was a different matter but right at that moment, he knew that honour was also at stake too. It was no longer possible for him not to give Lim a fight for his money. So in a way, this was also a make or break game for Liew.

To both players’ credit, their game turned out to be the highlight of the championship. Both players had chances with Liew taking the greater risk and Lim defending well. Theirs was about one of the last games to finish, a fitting end to one of the great local chess debates. At the end, from a superior position, Lim propositioned a draw which was then accepted by Liew.

That precious half-a-point meant that Lim is the new king of our local chess game. He is the latest player to become a national master but I believe significantly, he has succeeded in exorcising the last of the chess demons from his mind. I shall look forward to him playing in more tournaments.

Up next

Lim Chong memorial

The Datuk Arthur Tan Chess Centre will organize the Lim Chong memorial tournament at the Wilayah Complex in Kuala Lumpur this Sunday. Seven rounds, 25-minute time control games. Entry fees are RM15 (players under 16 years old) and RM25 (all other players). More information from Hamid Majid (019.3158098 or aham@pc.jaring.my), Jan Lim (012.2678738) or Najib Wahab (016.3382542). 

JB youth chess

The Johor Bahru Chess Association and the Rakan Muda Johor Bahru are jointly organizing the sixth Johor Bahru youth chess tournament on Sunday. Venue is the concourse area of the SouthernCity Giant Hypermarket in Taman Suria, Johor Bahru. Seven rounds, 25-minute games. Entry fees are RM15 (players under 16 years old) and RM12 (players under 12 years old). Closing date for entries is Mar 25. More details available from Narayanan Krishnan (013.7717525, jb_chess_association@jyahoo.com). 

PICA/YMCA chess

The Perak International Chess Association (PICA) and the YMCA Perak are jointly holding the PICA/YMCA chess tournament in conjunction with PICA’s annual general meeting on Sunday. Venue is the YMCA Hall in Jalan Raja Muda Aziz, Ipoh. Entry fees are RM15 (PICA or YMCA members and players under 15 years old) and RM15 (others). Closing date for entries is Mar 25. Contact  Yunus (013.3908129) to register or visit http://perakchess.blogspot.com for the details.

Percawi Labour Day team

The Kuala Lumpur Federal Territory Chess Association (Percawi) will organize a Labour Day team tournament at the Datuk Arthur Tan Chess Centre, Wilayah Complex, Kuala Lumpur on Apr 24. Six rounds, 30-minute games, four players per team. Entry fee: RM160 (companies and government departments), RM80 (schools, colleges and universities). Details available from Collin Madhaven (016.2123578) and Bob Yap (012.2878378).

 

Age group focus

One of the most encouraging signs in local chess is the continuing willingness of the Malaysian Chess Federation (MCF) to allow their state chess affiliates to play active roles in organizing some of the national-level chess competitions. 

Take the annual national age group chess championships as an example. 

Last year, the Penang Chess Association was given the go-ahead to plan for this competition in George Town on behalf of the federation. This year, the challenge was offered to the Perak International Chess Association (PICA).

 

PICA did so in Tronoh, Perak, in a joint effort which involved the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. By all accounts, this year’s edition of the national age group championships was a great success for the organizers. A total of 380 players took part in the three-day competition which, I was told, proceeded without any hitches. 

As was to be expected, the most closely watched contest was the boys’ under-18 event. There were a few junior heavyweight players in the field, the most notable among them being the top-seeded Evan Timothy Capel who was a former national closed champion and last year’s winner of the boys’ under-16 event. This year, though, the 17-year-old would be playing in the under-18 section, no longer eligible for the younger age group event. In fact, many of his rivals who played with him in Penang last year had also been elevated to the under-18 section.

Past successes, however, do not guarantee future gains, and Capel found this out pretty quickly. By the third round, he had already dropped a point to the second-seeded Sumant Subramaniam. By the tournament’s end, he had dropped two more points to Patrick Lim Kong Hui and the new winner of the boys’ under-18 event, Muhd Nabil Azman Hisham.

This was also a sobering experience for Sumant. After his heady win against Capel, he was brought down to earth with two consecutive losses to Muhd Nabil and Low Jun Jian. A further loss to Chong Shao Hong also ended his hopes in this tournament.

For Muhd Nabil, though, everything fell into place for him perfectly. He had lost to Capel in the boys’ under-16 event last year but this year, he exacted revenge on the top seed. By also defeating the second seed, there could only be one description for Muhd Nabil: worthy winner. His draws were with Low Jun Jian and Mark Siew Kit Tze, but he won all the other six games.

Here are the top winners of the various age group sections:

Boys’ under-18: Muhd Nabil 7 points; Mark Siew and Low Jun Jian 5½ points; Sumant, Capel, Patrick Lim, Fong Yit Ho, Keok Kai En and Chong Shao Hong 5 points; (field of 22 players). Girls’ under-18: Latifah Kaiyisah Mohd Latib 5 points; Adele Lau Chuey Theng, Fatin Nur Nadirah Mat Rahim and Winnie Hong Wee Ni 4 points; (field of seven players).

Boys’ under-16: Wong Jian Wen 8 points; Yeap Eng Chiam 6½ points; Elgin Lee Kah Meng and Jeff Tan Jun Feng 6 points; (field of 49 players). Girls’ under-16: Pavitraneyagi Jayamurthey 6½ points; Sarika Subramaniam and Hoh Tjin Li 6 points; Amira Syahmina Zulkafli 5½ points; (field of 21 players).

Boys’ under-14: Roshan Ajeet Singh and Aron Teh Eu Wen 6½ points; Tan Wei Hao, Muhd Irfan Haqqim Azhar, Subramaniam Sivanesan 6 points; William Lee Kah Howe, Muhd Nuriman Yahaya, Shreyes Subramaniam, Harleiff Haniff and Ang Zhen Yuan 5½ points; (field of 58 players). Girls’ under-14: Tan Li Ting and Nur Nabila Azman Hisham 7 points; Camilia Johari and Hoh Tjin Hui 6 points; Fatih Nor Sahariah Abdul Jalil 5 points; (field of 22 players).

Boys’ under-12: Ooi Zhi Yang 7 points; Mohd Noor Azam Mohd Noor and Tan Yong Zhao 6½ points; Tang Wei Kit and Teoh Ern Sheng 6 points; (field of 52 players). Girls’ under-12: WFM Nur Najiha Azman Hisham 7 points; Puteri Rifqah Fahada Azhar 6½ points; Nithiyalakshmi Sivanesan 6 points; (field of 35 players).

Boys’ under-10: Teh De Juan 7½ points; Wong Yinn Long and Benjamin Lee Kah Teng 6½ points; Kong Dak Nam and Max Wong Zi Quan 6 points; (field of 52 players). Girls’ under-10: Teh De Zen 8 points; Puteri Munajjah Az-Zahraa 6½ points; Teh Ming Min 6 points; (field of 25 players).

Boys’ under-8: Tan Jun Ying 7 points; Lye Lik Zang 6½ points; Muhd Faqih Aminuddin, Ng Shi Yang and Teh De Yong 5½ points; (field of 22 players). Girls’ under-8: Goh Jie Yi 8 points; Chua Jia Tien 7 points; Zainoor Ikmal Munirah 6 points; (field of 14 players).

Now with the national age group championships over, the focus this week is on the national closed and national women’s closed championships that are taking place at the Wilayah Complex in Kuala Lumpur.

Today is already the third day of play and there are only five more rounds to go before the two competitions end on Sunday. So if you are not competing but have time on your hands, why not go and speculate who will emerge as the 2011 national champions?

The organizers tell me that as of the beginning of this week, there hasn’t been any change to the number of entries: still 89 players for the national closed and 34 players for the national women’s closed. At press time it is impossible to say whether there were any dropouts from the players’ lists or additions to it.   

Anyway, I have to set the record right in a slip of the finger that appeared in last week’s story. In my excitement to see our international master Jimmy Liew enter the fray as one of the competitors, I have inadvertently described him as a grandmaster. 

I’ve received a lot of ribbing privately from friends and chess players in the past week. Really, I’m a bit embarrassed. However, I hope that my personal embarrassment is contained and has not spilled over to Liew. I really don’t want this episode to distract him in this national event where he is clearly the top seeded player.  

So I shall wish “best of luck” to Jimmy Liew, as well as wishing the same to last year’s winners Tan Khai Boon (national closed defending champion) and Fong Mi Yen (national women’s closed defending champion) and all the hopefuls this year.

Both events are being played at the Datuk Arthur Tan Chess Centre, Wilayah Complex, Kuala Lumpur until Sunday. The games start at 9am and 3pm daily. For more information, contact Najib Wahab (016.3382542 or najib.wahab@chess-malaysia.com.)

Melody Amber

This year’s Melody Amber blindfold and rapid chess tournament in Monaco promises to be a nostalgic event that goes down memory lane. After a 20-year run, there is closure coming to this fantastic event. This year’s final edition will end next Thursday. For old times’ sake, anyone who has Internet access should visit http://www.amberchess20.com/ to watch the live games. Some of the world’s best players are competing: Viswanathan Anand, Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura, Vladimir Kramnik, Vassily Ivanchuk and Veselin Topalov among them. 

Up next

Klang Parade open

The Klang Parade shopping mall, Datuk Arthur Tan Chess Centre and Cerdik Chess Enterprise are jointly organising the 10th Klang Parade open chess tournament at the shopping mall in Jalan Meru, Klang tomorrow and on Sunday. Tomorrow’s tournament is for players under the age of 18, while Sunday’s event is an open competition. Entry fees for the age group tournament are RM10 (players under 12 years old) and RM15 (players under 18 years old). For the open event, the entry fees are RM10 (players under 12 years old) and RM15 (all other players). Contact Siti Nor Faiza (03.33437889 office hours) or Mohd Fadli Zakaria (014.2312370 or cerdikcatur@yahoo.com) for details.

Lim Chong memorial

The Datuk Arthur Tan Chess Centre will organize the Lim Chong memorial tournament at the Wilayah Complex in Kuala Lumpur on Mar 27. Seven rounds, 25-minute time control games. Entry fees are RM15 (players under 16 years old) and RM25 (all other players). More information from Hamid Majid (019.3158098 or aham@pc.jaring.my), Jan Lim (012.2678738) or Najib Wahab (016.3382542). 

JB youth chess

The Johor Bahru Chess Association and the Rakan Muda Johor Bahru are jointly organizing the sixth Johor Bahru youth chess tournament on Mar 27. Venue is the concourse area of the SouthernCity Giant Hypermarket in Taman Suria, Johor Bahru. Seven rounds, 25-minute games. Entry fees are RM15 (players under 16 years old) and RM12 (players under 12 years old). Closing date for entries is Mar 25. More details available from Narayanan Krishnan (013.7717525, jb_chess_association@jyahoo.com). 

PICA/YMCA chess

The Perak International Chess Association (PICA) and the YMCA Perak are jointly holding the PICA/YMCA chess tournament in conjunction with PICA’s annual general meeting on Mar 27. Venue is the YMCA Hall in Jalan Raja Muda Aziz, Ipoh. Entry fees are RM15 (PICA or YMCA members and players under 15 years old) and RM15 (others). Closing date for entries is Mar 25. Contact  Yunus (013.3908129) to register or visit http://perakchess.blogspot.com for the details.

Percawi Labour Day team

The Kuala Lumpur Federal Territory Chess Association (Percawi) will organize a Labour Day team tournament at the Datuk Arthur Tan Chess Centre, Wilayah Complex, Kuala Lumpur on Apr 24. Six rounds, 30-minute games, four players per team. Entry fee: RM160 (companies and government departments), RM80 (schools, colleges and universities). Details available from Collin Madhaven (016.2123578) and Bob Yap (012.2878378).

 

Teen titans

The biggest prize in women’s chess is the women’s world chess championship crown. Right now, it sits pretty with Hou Yifan, the 17-year-old wonder lass from China. She won it last December at the women’s world chess championship in Turkey and she is not due to defend her crown – and the title – until the third quarter of this year. 

But against whom is Hou going to defend her title? Has a challenger already been determined? 

The short answer to the two questions is, yes, India’s Koneru Humpy has just won the right to challenge Hou Yifan for the women’s chess crown.

I got pretty excited the first time I heard it last week. It’s unprecedented that both defending champion and challenger in an official world title match come from this part of the world. (Never mind the fact that the men’s world chess title is also being held by another Asian chess giant, Viswanathan Anand.)

Like Hou, Humpy was also a chess prodigy. Presently, Humpy is already 24 years old but in 2002 at the age of 15 years and two months, she qualified for the full-fledged grandmaster chess title.  (Only Hou was younger, at 14 years, six months.)

Humpy became the official challenger when she won the sixth and final leg of the FIDE women’s grand prix 2009-2011 in Doha, Qatar last week. Before this final leg began, Humpy was languishing fourth in the grand prix standings and her chances of qualifying actually looked quite bleak.

During the first half of the tournament itself, her play was rather insipid and she scored only 2½ points from her first five games. If she had any remaining hopes of qualifying, she would have to depend greatly not only on the results of the other players in the tournament but also her own rearguard action.

And what a magnificent fight-back for her! In the second half of the event, she scored 5½ points from her final six games, which brought her total tally of points to eight from 11 games. Inexplicably also, the front runners suddenly lost steam at about the same time. 

Before the start of the tournament’s final round, Humpy was still only in second place half a point behind the tournament trailblazer, Elina Danielian. Humpy needed a win to have any chance of tying for first place and she got it from her final-round opponent, the 2001 women’s world champion, Zhu Chen. 

In the meantime, Danielian had already agreed to a quick draw with Antoaneta Stefanova. Apparently, she was satisfied with this result although a win would make her the undisputed winner of the tournament. The draw meant that at worst, she would finish on equal points with Humpy, although the tie-break would be in the Indian grandmaster’s favour. 

Calculating the grand points was more complicated but in the end, Humpy’s success in this tournament meant that she leapfrogged several places over other contenders to finish second in the standings. 

Interestingly, Hou remained first in the grand prix standings but as she was already the women’s world champion, the qualifying spot was now filled by Humpy. 

How would Humpy fare against Hou later this year? On rating, Humpy is the higher rated of the two. That alone would make her the favourite to wrest the title from the defending champion.

However, chess is not solely dependent on ratings. Ratings only give an indication of how one player compares with another. Eventually, it will all boil down to the player with the stronger nerves, the one who plays better and is better prepared psychologically.

And in this aspect – the psychological aspect – Humpy trails Hou. In their last two high-profile encounters, in the women’s world chess championship cycles of 2008 and 2010, Hou had eliminated Humpy. The Indian grandmaster may yet become the next women’s world champion but she will have to overcome this mental barrier first.

National closed

This year’s national closed and national women’s closed chess championships are just five days away. According to information from the organizers earlier in the week, 89 players have registered for the national closed while a further 34 players will be contesting the national women’s closed. This is already more than the limit of 120 players that the Malaysian Chess Federation had expected collectively for the two competitions. 

Since I last wrote about these two events, the two winners of last year’s championships have confirmed their participation. So we shall have Tan Khai Boon (national closed champion) and Fong Mi Yen (national women’s closed champion) defending their titles.

There is also an added attraction which will make this year’s contest extra special, especially for the participants. I hear that international master Jimmy Liew has also decided to play. He will be the yardstick for all the other players to measure themselves with. 

Most people will know that Liew was Malaysia’s first grandmaster, but not many will realize that he is also a former national closed champion, having won the title in 1984. He is paying back his dues to the national closed championship cycle, giving it the recognition it deserves. Now, if only our other former national champions will do the same next year.

Both competitions will be played at the Datuk Arthur Tan Chess Centre, Wilayah Complex, Kuala Lumpur from next Wednesday until Mar 20. There will be nine rounds with games starting at 9am and 3pm daily. For more information, contact Najib Wahab (016.3382542 or najib.wahab@chess-malaysia.com.)

Up next

National age group

This year’s three-day national age group chess championships start tomorrow at the Chancellor Hall, Universiti Teknologi Petronas in Tronoh, Perak. This event is organized jointly by the Malaysian Chess Federation, the Perak International Chess Association and Universiti Teknologi Petronas. There are six age group events for boys and girls – under-8, under-10, under-12, under-14, under-16 and under-18 – running concurrently. Eight rounds of 45-minute games with 30-second increments per move. Anyone still thinking about taking part should contact Gregory Lau (012.2577123), Zuraihah Wazir (017.2837808) or Haslindah Ruslan (019.2069605) for the latest information.

Hillcrest chess camp

The Sek Men Keb Hillcrest in Taman Sri Gombak, Batu Caves, Selangor will be the venue for a two-day holiday chess camp on Mar 14-15. The chess camp will be conducted by international master Mok Tze Meng and his team of trainers. For more details, contact Wong (017.3577788) or Yen Lee (yenlee741011_u@hotmail.com).  

Klang Parade open

The Klang Parade shopping mall, Datuk Arthur Tan Chess Centre and Cerdik Chess Enterprise are jointly organising the 10th Klang Parade open chess tournament at the shopping mall in Jalan Meru, Klang on Mar 19 and 20. The tournament on Mar 19 is for players under the age of 18, while the event on Mar 20 is an open competition. Entry fees for the age group tournament are RM10 (players under 12 years old) and RM15 (players under 18 years old). For the open event, the entry fees are RM10 (players under 12 years old) and RM15 (all other players). Contact Siti Nor Faiza (03.33437889 office hours) or Mohd Fadli Zakaria (014.2312370 or cerdikcatur@yahoo.com) for details.

Lim Chong memorial

The Datuk Arthur Tan Chess Centre will organize the Lim Chong memorial tournament at the Wilayah Complex in Kuala Lumpur on Mar 27. Seven rounds, 25-minute time control games. Entry fees are RM15 (players under 16 years old) and RM25 (all other players). More information from Hamid Majid (019.3158098 or aham@pc.jaring.my), Jan Lim (012.2678738) or Najib Wahab (016.3382542). 

Percawi Labour Day team

The Kuala Lumpur Federal Territory Chess Association (Percawi) will organize a Labour Day team tournament at the Datuk Arthur Tan Chess Centre, Wilayah Complex, Kuala Lumpur on Apr 24. Six rounds, 30-minute games, four players per team. Entry fee: RM160 (companies and government departments), RM80 (schools, colleges and universities). Details available from Collin Madhaven (016.2123578) and Bob Yap (012.2878378).

 

A true champion

If a champion is someone who has won a competition, how would you define a true champion? To me, it’s very easy: a true champion is one who successfully defends a title won in the previous competition.

There aren’t many such champions around but one that comes to mind in recent chess history is Vietnam’s leading grandmaster, Le Quang Liem.

Le is 20 years old. At this age in chess, you may actually be considered a veteran at the game already. In 2005 when Le was 14 years old, he became the Under-14 world youth chess champion. In 2006 and 2008, he played in the Vietnamese national team at the Chess Olympiads.

In February last year, he was a joint winner of the Moscow open tournament and he then immediately followed up this performance with an equally impressive victory at the ninth Aeroflot open chess tournament in Moscow.

So we know that Le is capable of winning some pretty strong chess tournaments. But is he a true champion? By my reckoning, yes. Just last month, he repeated his feat at the 10th edition of the Aeroflot open. Although technically, Le and two other players finished with equal points at the top, the Vietnamese was adjudged the winner on a better tie-break.

Despite being the defending champion, Le did not enter the tournament as the top seed. Indeed, he was over-shadowed so much by the higher-ranked players that he started this tournament only as the 19th seed. 

The top seed was the Russian-born American grandmaster, Gata Kamsky, and then there were also Sergei Movsesian, Dmitry Jakovenko, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Nikita Vitiugov who dominate the world chess ranking list.

But the chess goddess can sometimes smile on the underdogs and in this case, she smiled on Le. While the seeds above him fell off one by one, he played steadily to gain ground on his rivals. He was helped by great results in his first four games which he won, and one of them, in the fourth round, was against no other than Kamsky himself.

Le Quang Liem (2664) – Gata Kamsky (2730)

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Qb3 e6 5.Nc3 Nbd7 6.Bf4 a5 7.cxd5 exd5 8.e3 Nb6 9.Bd3 Bg4 10.Ne5 Bh5 11.0-0 a4 12.Qc2 Bg6 (There is nothing to recommend about Black’s opening strategy in which he has lost time with his rook pawn, knight and bishop. White has a good lead in piece development and he now takes aim at Black’s uncastled king. But first, White strikes to open up the centre.) 13.e4 dxe4 14.Nxe4 Nxe4 15.Bxe4 Be7 (It is a bit too late for this move. Here’s a little combination which should not be too difficult to spot.) 16.Bxc6+ bxc6 17.Qxc6+ Nd7 (17…Kf8 18.Qxb6 Qxb6 19.Nd7+ and White will be two pawns up.) 18.Nxg6 (18.Nxd7 does not regain the piece as Black plays 18…Rc8 first.) 18…hxg6 19.Rfe1 0-0 (This is not castling into safety.) 20.Bc7 Nb8 (20…Qe8 21.d5) 21.Bxd8 (Or 21.Qxa8 Qxc7 22.Qxa4 with rook and three passed pawns for two pieces in an endgame.) 21...Nxc6 22.Bxe7 Nxe7 23.Rxe7 Rfd8 24.Rd1 a3 25.b3 Rac8 26.Kf1 Rd5 27.Rd2 (Black sees the light; the game is lost for him.) 1-0 

After this win, Le took two draws before winning in the seventh round. Then disaster struck in the eighth round. He lost to Ivan Cheparinov and thereby allowed the Bulgarian grandmaster to level up with him on equal points. But this was as far as Cheparinov could go. In the final round, he succumbed to a bout of chess blindness and lost. 

In the meantime, Le assured himself of the top prize by drawing his game, knowing that any one else that finished with the same points would lose out on the tie-break. 

Up next

National age group

The Malaysian Chess Federation, the Perak International Chess Association and Universiti Teknologi Petronas will jointly organise this year’s national age group chess championships at the Chancellor Hall, Universiti Teknologi Petronas in Tronoh, Perak on Mar 12-14. There will be six age group events for boys and girls – under-8, under-10, under-12, under-14, under-16 and under-18 – running concurrently. Eight rounds of 45-minute games with 30-second increments per move. Entry fees: RM25 (under-8, under-10 and under-12 events), RM35 (under-14, under-16 and under-18 events). Entry fees are doubled after Mar 5 deadline. For more information, contact Gregory Lau (012.2577123), Zuraihah Wazir (017.2837808) or Haslindah Ruslan (019.2069605).

National closed

The Malaysian Chess Federation will organise this year’s national closed and national women’s closed championships with the Datuk Arthur Tan Chess Centre in Kuala Lumpur on Mar 16-20. Nine rounds with time control of 90 minutes, plus increment time of 30 seconds per move. Entry fees: RM60 (players with Fide rating above 2000), RM100 (players rated between 1600 and 1999), RM150 (players rated below 1599 or without a Fide rating). Players representing their states are eligible for a 50 percent discount on entry fees, subject to conditions. For more information, contact Najib Wahab (016.3382542 or najib.wahab@chess-malaysia.com.)

Klang Parade open

The Klang Parade shopping mall, Datuk Arthur Tan Chess Centre and Cerdik Chess Enterprise are jointly organising the 10th Klang Parade open chess tournament at the shopping mall in Jalan Meru, Klang on Mar 19 and 20. The tournament on Mar 19 is for players under the age of 18, while the event on Mar 20 is an open competition. Entry fees for the age group tournament are RM10 (players under 12 years old) and RM15 (players under 18 years old). For the open event, the entry fees are RM10 (players under 12 years old) and RM15 (all other players). Contact Siti Nor Faiza (03.33437889 office hours) or Mohd Fadli Zakaria (014.2312370 or cerdikcatur@yahoo.com) for details.

Lim Chong memorial

The Datuk Arthur Tan Chess Centre will organize the Lim Chong memorial tournament at the Wilayah Complex in Kuala Lumpur on Mar 27. Seven rounds, 25-minute time control games. Entry fees are RM15 (players under 16 years old) and RM25 (all other players). More information from Hamid Majid (019.3158098 or aham@pc.jaring.my), Jan Lim (012.2678738) or Najib Wahab (016.3382542). 

Percawi Labour Day team

The Kuala Lumpur Federal Territory Chess Association (Percawi) will organize a Labour Day team tournament at the Datuk Arthur Tan Chess Centre, Wilayah Complex, Kuala Lumpur on Apr 24. Six rounds, 30-minute games, four players per team. Entry fee: RM160 (companies and government departments), RM80 (schools, colleges and universities). Details available from Collin Madhaven (016.2123578) and Bob Yap (012.2878378).

 

Frenzy of entries

In a development rather unprecedented for Malaysian chess, I have just learnt that all the places in this year’s national closed and national women’s closed chess championships may have been completely filled by now.

If you are still dithering whether or not to play in either of the two competitions, your best chance is to give the organizers a call and enquire directly from them.

The Malaysian Chess Federation (MCF) is the organizer of both events. They had allowed only 110 places collectively for the two competitions but a frenzy of entries received before last Sunday’s deadline for a 20 percent discount on the entry fees meant that the places were quickly filled up.

That, by itself, is quite an achievement. Chess players are known to be procrastinators with their time. Who was it that once wrote about the relationship between work and time? Ah, yes, Cyril Northcote Parkinson. You may have heard of him, no?

This Mr Parkinson – actually, he was Professor of History at the University of Malaya in Singapore from 1950 to 1959 – was fond of poking fun at government bureaucracies and in 1955 published a humourous article that quickly became labelled as Parkinson’s Law.

All that Parkinson’s Law said was that “work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.” 

Now, just substitute “chess” for “work” and don’t you think that this statement also applies to chess?? Beating deadlines is the name of the game or otherwise, why are chess games played with chess clocks? Of course, to ensure that the players get into a time scramble! 

(I assume that everyone knows what is a chess clock. It’s that double-faced clock equipment that counts down the time that a chess player has for his remaining moves. It used to be that players dreaded the dropping of the tiny flag at the 12 o’clock mark on the clock; nowadays, players dread the digital countdown to zero.)

Getting into time scrambles is second nature for serious chess players. That’s one of the delights of chess. Any chess player worth his salt should be the servant of the time scramble. Whether or not he is given five minutes, 30 minutes or 90 minutes to finish his game, by right he should jolly well make full use of this time to play. That’s the law of deadlines.

There is another deadline in chess, definitely not as potent as the time control, but still should be important enough for players not to ignore. And that is the deadline of registering for events and coughing up the entry fee.

Unfortunately, this deadline means little to some of them. In the past, even threats of penalty fees do not discourage people from turning up at the last minute and wanting to play. And chess organizers used to be so accommodative – an additional player means extra entry fee collected and who doesn’t want more money? – to the extent that they would delay the start of their tournaments.

Luckily, the situation has improved in the last few years. Late entries are less tolerated nowadays. I would believe that players now appreciate that tournaments need to start on time and end on time.

But still, what I’ve learnt from this national closed and national women’s closed championships is remarkable. 

Players are actually registering and paying up before the closing date. In fact, they were well prepared to pay up early, and all because of the lure of a 20 percent discount. So what I’ve learnt today is that penalty fees are no deterrent to chess players but discounts certainly are the carrots!

Now, while looking through the list of entries, I’m actually quite heartened to see the continuing strong support from our women chess champions. Fong Mi Yen is joining the fray to defend the title that she won last year. Tan Li Ting and Alia Anin Azwa Bakri, the 2009 and 2008 champions respectively, have also entered the ring. With the three of them in the national women’s closed championship, I should think it is going to be a good contest.

This is not to say that the national closed championship won’t be tight enough. Indeed, it has all the potential to be very competitive despite the absence of any former national champion or any of our titled players. On this point, of course I’m disappointed that Tan Khai Boon, Evan Timothy Capel and Edward Lee are not playing. The three of them would have lent some added colour to the competition.

Nevertheless, it will still be an interesting race to the finish as the MCF has already announced that the top eight players from the national closed championship will be included into a shortlist for selection to this year’s SEA Games in Indonesia. Likewise too, the top eight women players will be among those shortlisted for selection to the women’s competitions at the SEA Games.

For more information on the two competitions, contact Najib Wahab (016.3382542 or najib.wahab@chess-malaysia.com) for the national closed championship and Haslindah Ruslan (019.2069605 or haslindahr@yahoo.com) for the national women’s closed championship.

Up next

DATCC maverick chess

The Datuk Arthur Tan Chess Centre will organize the DATCC maverick rapid chess weekend tournament at their Wilayah Complex premises in Kuala Lumpur this Sunday. Seven rounds, 25-minute time control games. Entry fees are RM15 (players under 12 years old) and RM25 (all other players). Today is the last day for registration. For inquiries, contact Najib Wahab (016.3382542 or najib.wahab@chess-malaysia.com.)

National closed

The Malaysian Chess Federation will organise this year’s national closed and national women’s closed championships with the Datuk Arthur Tan Chess Centre in Kuala Lumpur on Mar 16-20. Nine rounds with time control of 90 minutes, plus increment time of 30 seconds per move. Entry fees: RM60 (players with Fide rating above 2000), RM100 (players rated between 1600 and 1999), RM150 (players rated below 1599 or without a Fide rating). Players representing their states are eligible for a 50 percent discount on entry fees, subject to conditions. For more information, contact Najib Wahab (016.3382542 or najib.wahab@chess-malaysia.com.)

Klang Parade open

The Klang Parade shopping mall, Datuk Arthur Tan Chess Centre and Cerdik Chess Enterprise are jointly organising the 10th Klang Parade open chess tournament at the shopping mall in Jalan Meru, Klang on Mar 19 and 20. The tournament on Mar 19 is for players under the age of 18, while the event on Mar 20 is an open competition. Entry fees for the age group tournament are RM10 (players under 12 years old) and RM15 (players under 18 years old). For the open event, the entry fees are RM10 (players under 12 years old) and RM15 (all other players). Contact Siti Nor Faiza (03.33437889 office hours) or Mohd Fadli Zakaria (014.2312370 or cerdikcatur@yahoo.com) for details.

Lim Chong memorial

The Datuk Arthur Tan Chess Centre will organize the Lim Chong memorial tournament at the Wilayah Complex in Kuala Lumpur on Mar 27. Seven rounds, 25-minute time control games. Entry fees are RM15 (players under 16 years old) and RM25 (all other players). More information from Hamid Majid (019.3158098 or aham@pc.jaring.my), Jan Lim (012.2678738) or Najib Wahab (016.3382542).