Festival highlights

For the better part of the last fortnight, I have been playing in the Malaysia Chess Festival. At the risk of disclosing my age to the whole wide world, I want to mention that I was not participating in the Datuk Arthur Tan Malaysia open championship but rather, in the KLK Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng senior open tournament.

These two tournaments, together with the AmBank chess challenge, were the main showcase events of this year’s 12-day festival at the Cititel MidValley Hotel in Kuala Lumpur.

All these ended yesterday but there is no respite for the organizers. It is just one tournament after another and today sees the festival continue with the one-day ASTRO Merdeka individual rapid open tournament. Then tomorrow and on Sunday, the festival ends with the traditional ASTRO Merdeka team rapid open championship.

Earlier this week, I heard from the organizers that more than 80 teams had already registered for the team event, and these were only the early entries. The late entries had yet to be counted and it was anticipated that when they do, the number of teams in this event may go well above one hundred, meaning a possibility of more than 500 people taking part in a chess competition! By comparison, there were “only” 70 teams last year.

As for the three showcase tournaments – all individual events – there were 98 participants in the Malaysia open championship, 40 players in the chess challenge tournament and 29 in the senior open tournament. The numbers may be down from last year but there was still a very respectable list of visiting grandmasters and international masters.

Sandwiched within the nine rounds of the three events was a spectacularly run Swensen’s rapid age group championship, a one-day event that managed to attract 385 junior players from within and outside the country. 

From experience, I can tell you that managing age group chess events can be quite harrowing for organizers. The prospect of controlling the younger players, especially those that are 12 years old and below, can test the nerves of even the coolest organizers. 

Can’t remember how it was like to be a 12-year-old or an eight-year-old kid? For one day, these children reminded me how we were all young once. Surely like us, they are all noisy, boisterous, innocent, excitable, exuberant and impatient, and they have the most impressionable minds on the planet.

But I also marvelled at the ease these young chess players were alternating between being very serious to being very playful. They were full of energy away from the chessboards but by golly, they held such concentration and determination when seated across the board from their opponents.

I should also mention here that among the 385 players was a group of 35 children from Tehran, Iran, none of them older than 14 years old. Together with their parents and chess coaches, they came on an eight-day holiday but had also arranged with the festival organizers to take part in the Swensen’s event as part of their holiday itinerary. 

At the closing ceremony, they even arranged to appear on stage with the sponsors and organizers just to receive their certificates of participation and for some of them, their winner’s medals. 

Looking back at that, I would think that it was very important to the Iranian parents and coaches that this would be an educational trip and the children had something to show and remind them that they had after all come to Malaysia to play chess.

Up next

Merdeka rapid events

Here is a reminder to all local chess players that the ASTRO Merdeka individual rapid open tournament will be played today and the ASTRO Merdeka team rapid open tournament tomorrow and on Sunday. Venue for both events is the Cititel MidValley Hotel in Kuala Lumpur. 

It is a bit too late to register for the individual rapid event but for the team rapid event, the entry fees are RM300 for four-player teams and RM375 for five-player teams. Junior teams (all players to be below 16 years old) will be charged at RM200 for four-player teams and RM250 for five-player teams. However, do note that the organizers reserve the right to impose late fees on all last-minute entries. 

For more information, visit http://datcchess.blogspot.com/2011/06/malaysia-chess-festival-is-on.html 

Raja Nazrin Shah open

Formerly known as the Kuala Lumpur open, the Raja Nazrin Shah international open chess tournament takes place at the Swiss Garden Hotel & Residences, Kuala Lumpur on Sep 4-10. Nine rounds with time control of 90 minutes for the first 40 moves followed by 30 minutes play-to-finish with a 30-second increment from the first move. For details, contact Peter Long (peterlong@aol.asia). 

 

Surprising turn

Being named as the top seed in any tournament can work two ways: this top billing can inspire the player to go on to win the event or make the player muck up his attempt to justify the ranking. 

I do observe that at most top chess events in the world, the highest rated player generally justifies his top ranking. Cases in point: at the Biel tournament in Switzerland, the Norwegian grandmaster Magnus Carlsen came through beautifully to win; at the Dortmund tournament in Germany, former world champion Vladimir Kramnik cut a swathe through his opposition to take the first prize; at the British championship in England, grandmaster Michael Adams won the play-off for the title; and at the Lake Sevan tournament in Armenia, grandmaster Baadur Jobava won on tie-break after finishing in joint first place.

But for every success in justifying the top seeding, there is also the disappointment. As examples, at the Hangzhou women’s grandmaster tournament, woman grandmaster Ju Wenjun won convincingly ahead of the women’s world champion, Hou Yifan; and at the Fide women’s grandm prix tournament in Rostov, Russia, grandmaster Koneru Humpy was overshadowed by a brilliant display by the same Hou Yifan.

Just earlier this week, the 50th world junior chess championship ended in Chennai, India. For the open event, the top-seeded Maxim Matlakov, a grandmaster from Russia, couldn’t live up to his ranking and after two crucial back-to-back losses, he finished well outside the prizewinners’ list. 

After Matlakov dropped out of contention, the number of front-runners chasing for the world junior championship title was reduced to just four players: the Polish grandmaster, Dariusz Swiercz, two Armenian grandmasters, Robert Hovhannisyan and Samvel Ter-Sahakyan, and an Indian Fide master, A Koushik Girish.

Girish dropped out of the picture soon afterwards (but not before he qualified for a grandmaster title norm) and the front-runners were now reduced to only three. On the back of a series of seven consecutive wins, Hovhannisyan had taken over the lead after the ninth round but Ter-Sahakyan and Swiercz were right behind him.

The pressure was relentless as Ter-Sahakyan and Swiercz kept at Hovhannisyan’s heels for the next two rounds. Then, Ter-Sahakyan’s challenge fell apart when he suffered two consecutives losses in his final two games.

With only the final round to be played, Hovhannisyan was left to contend with only Swiercz. At this late stage in the tournament, the Armenian grandmaster held a slim half-point lead over his rival. Swiercz would have to win his final game but it would seem likely to any observer that all Hovhannisyan needed was a draw in the final round to secure the first place.

But chess with all its tie-break possibilities can spring surprises. Hovhannisyan made his draw and Swiercz won his game. Both players were now tied at the top. But surprise, surprise, according to the tie-break system, the draw had actually pulled Hovhannisyan down from the perch, giving him only second place and the silver medal. As a result, Swiercz ended up as the new world junior chess champion despite having trailed in the tournament until the last round was played.

This being the world junior chess championship, Malaysia was represented in this event by the current national champion, Lim Zhuo Ren. Although Lim had been an active player in local tournaments for several years, this event was his first outside the country. (As far as I’m concerned, participating in last year’s Singapore open doesn’t qualify as taking part in a foreign country.)

I think the strength of the event surprised him and taught him many lessons. Though he didn’t create any wave in Chennai, at the very least he played more or less according to his rating expectation. I’m sure that the lessons he brought back from India will be put to good practice at the Datuk Arthur Tan Malaysia open championship which is in progress at the Cititel MidValley Hotel in Kuala Lumpur.

Speaking of which, today is the second day of the Malaysia Chess Festival of which the Malaysia open is one of the three main showcase events that are running until Aug 25. The other three events are the Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng senior open tournament and the AmBank chess challenge. 

All these three events are played daily – do check with the organizers because sometimes there are two rounds in a day and sometimes only one round – but there are two rest days next week on Sunday and Wednesday.

On Sunday, though, the Svensen’s open rapid age group chess tournament will take place at the same venue.

Up next

Merdeka rapid events

Here is a reminder to all local chess players that the Merdeka individual rapid open tournament will be played on Aug 26 and the ASTRO Merdeka team rapid open tournament on Aug 27-28. Venue for both events is the Cititel MidValley Hotel in Kuala Lumpur. 

For the individual rapid event, entry fees are RM20 for players below 16 years old and RM30 for others. For the team rapid event, entry fees are RM300 for four-player teams and RM375 for five-player teams. Junior teams (all players to be below 16 years old) will be charged at RM200 for four-player teams and RM250 for five-player teams. 

For more information, visit http://datcchess.blogspot.com/2011/06/malaysia-chess-festival-is-on.html 

Raja Nazrin Shah open

Formerly known as the Kuala Lumpur open, the Raja Nazrin Shah international open chess tournament takes place at the Swiss Garden Hotel & Residences, Kuala Lumpur on Sep 4-10. Nine rounds with time control of 90 minutes for the first 40 moves followed by 30 minutes play-to-finish with a 30-second increment from the first move. For details, contact Peter Long (peterlong@aol.asia). 

 

Five days to go

There are just five days to go before the start of this year’s Malaysia Chess Festival. Are you ready for it? As for me, I’m preparing to make my way down to Kuala Lumpur very soon.

Normally, I would just be spending two or three days at the festival just to soak in the occasion, observing the participants and basically enjoy the fun among the people whom I’ve known for decades. However since last year, I have become more involved in the festival as a somewhat reluctant participant.

Yes, I’ve been roped in again to play in the second Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng seniors open tournament. Not to say that I’m totally prepared for it; I have to admit that just like last year, I am far from being comfortable. Apart from looking at chess games live on the Internet and doing some brief analysis and commentaries for this chess column, I haven’t sat down with real chess pieces and feeling their weight in my hands. Not for quite some time, I haven’t!

So it is with some trepidation that I’m getting myself involved again. And I know that the competition level this year isn’t going to be any easier than the maiden event last year. I took a sneak look at the preliminary list of players yesterday and true enough, it looks tough even before the first move is pushed.

Last year’s tournament had 18 participants but so far, I’ve seen 24 names in the players’ list. I am sure that before the event starts on Aug 18, they may be more additions to this number.

One reason for the increasing number is, of course, more players are now more aware of the existence of this event. Last year was just the curtain raiser; this year is the real competition.

Another reason is that the organizers in their infinite wisdom had decided to lower the age of entry into this tournament from 55 to 50, thereby enabling more people to make the transition from playing in open events to this senior event. It’s a good thought but I should say that the organizers should rein themselves in or otherwise, the continuing lowering of age limit will defeat the idea of holding a senior tournament in the first place.

As for the other two main draws of the Malaysia Chess Festival, the organizers say that they are confident of at least 100 entries for the main event, the Datuk Arthur Tan Malaysia open championship, while 37 entries have been received for the AmBank chess challenge.

There are at least 17 grandmasters in the Malaysia open and this includes the defending champion, Vietnamese grandmaster Cao Sang. Also taking part are two woman grandmasters and nine international masters. The most prominent names among the Malaysians taking part will be Mas Hafizulhelmi and Lim Zhuo Ren.

These three main events will be held at the Cititel MidValley Hotel, Kuala Lumpur on Aug 18-25. They will all be played over nine Swiss rounds using a 90-minute plus 30-second increment time control. 

Apart from these long time control tournaments, there are also the Svensen’s open rapid age group chess tournament on Aug 21, of which more than 200 entries have been received so far, and the Malaysia Chess Festival open blitz tournament on Aug 25.

Up next

Merdeka rapid events

Here is a reminder to all local chess players that the Merdeka individual rapid open tournament will be played on Aug 26 and the ASTRO Merdeka team rapid open tournament on Aug 28-29. Venue for both events is the Cititel MidValley in Kuala Lumpur. 

For the individual rapid event, entry fees are RM20 for players below 16 years old and RM30 for others. For the team rapid event, entry fees are RM300 for four-player teams and RM375 for five-player teams. Junior teams (all players to be below 16 years old) will be charged at RM200 for four-player teams and RM250 for five-player teams. 

For more information, visit http://datcchess.blogspot.com/2011/06/malaysia-chess-festival-is-on.html 

Raja Nazrin Shah open

Formerly known as the Kuala Lumpur open, the Raja Nazrin Shah international open chess tournament takes place at the Swiss Garden Hotel & Residences, Kuala Lumpur on Sep 4-10. Nine rounds with time control of 90 minutes for the first 40 moves followed by 30 minutes play-to-finish with a 30-second increment from the first move. For details, contact Peter Long (peterlong@aol.asia).

 

No surprises

To round up on the other two major chess events that had concluded last week in Dortmund and Biel, it didn’t come as a surprise to many that both Russia’s Vladimir Kramnik and Norway’s Magnus Carlsen were convincing winners in their respective tournaments.

In Dortmund, Germany, Kramnik had been dominant in the first half of the double round-robin tournament and though he could not repeat his feat in the second half, the advantage that he brought forward was enough to see him through.

In the final round, he was even tempted to try his luck against the American grandmaster, Hikaru Nakamura. Somewhere in the middlegame, he uncorked a brave sacrifice to open up his opponent’s defences around the king. 

A win would almost certainly have propelled Kramnik into the elite 2800 club of the live ratings list of which there are currently only three players: Carlsen, Viswanathan Anand and Levon Aronian.

But in this case, fortune did not favour the brave. There was always something in the position that enabled Nakamura’s defence to hold. Possibly, the draw could still be salvaged but at this late stage in the game, Kramnik was probably no longer interested to split the point.

Despite the loss in the final round, the Russian grandmaster still won the tournament with a big two-point margin over his rivals, the nearest of whom was the Vietnamese grandmaster, Le Quang Liem. Ruslan Ponomariov, a former Fide world champion, was third.

Meanwhile in Switzerland, the Biel tournament was won by Carlsen. This was also a double round-robin event which saw the players playing one another twice. However, the organizers had adopted a different scoring system that awarded three points for a win, one point for a draw and zero point for a loss; something that we would probably be more familiar with in football competitions.

There are, of course, merits in trying something different for a change and in this case, the organizers were hoping to impress on the players – and the spectators – that drawing two games have less value than a win and a loss. It would call for fighting chess all the way, which was what the organizers achieved at the end.

Carlsen continued to put in an exemplary display in this event, despite showing a vulnerability in the first half when he lost to the French grandmaster, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. However, this only setback did not cause Carlsen any real damage because his closest rival, Alexander Morozevich, was unlucky enough to lose to Fabiano Caruana. The final standings could have been different had Morozevich won that game. 

Here is Nakamura’s win against Kramnik from the final round of the Dortmund tournament.

Vladimir Kramnik – Hikaru Nakamura, Dortmund 2011

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. O-O Nc6 8. d5 Ne7 9. b4 Nh5 10. c5 Nf4 11. a4 f5 12. Bc4 fxe4 13. Nxe4 h6 14. Re1 Bg4 15. Ra3 g5 16. h3 Bh5 17. Bxf4 Rxf4 18. g3 Rf8 19. a5 Kh8 20. Kg2 Rb8 21. Qd2 b6 22. axb6 axb6 23. Nfxg5 (see diagram) 

23…hxg5 24. Qxg5 Bg6 25. cxd6 cxd6 26. Ra7 Rc8 27. Rxe7 Rxc4 28. f3 Rc2+ 29. Kg1 Rc8 30. Ra1 Rf7 31. Qxg6 Qxe7 32. Ng5 Kg8 33. Qh7+ Kf8 34. Ne6+ Ke8 35. Qh5 Bf6 36. g4 Qb7 37. Rd1 Qa6 38. Qg6 Ke7 39. g5 Bh8 40. Re1 Qa3 41. Nd4 Qxb4 42. Nf5+ Kf8 43. Rd1 Rc2 44. Nd4 exd4 45. Qxc2 Qc3 46. Qe4 Qe3+ 47. Qxe3 dxe3 48. Kg2 Bc3 49. Kf1 Rxf3+ 50. Ke2 Rxh3 0-1

Up next

Malaysia Chess Festival

According to the organizers of the Malaysian Chess Festival, 95 entries had been received for their showcase event, the Datuk Arthur Tan Malaysia open championship when entries officially closed on Monday.

We should see at least 15 grandmasters (including the defending champion, Vietnamese grandmaster Cao Sang), two woman grandmasters and nine international masters in the field. The most prominent names among the Malaysians taking part will be Mas Hafizulhelmi and Lim Zhuo Ren.

For the AmBank chess challenge tournament, there are 34 entries presently while 24 players have been registered for the Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng international seniors open championship. Uzbek grandmaster Dmitri Kayumov is back to defend his title but an interesting development is that the names of Filipino international master Luis Chiong, Malaysia’s Jimmy Liew and Ukranian international master Mikhail Vasilyev are included in the players’ list.

The organizers say that entries are still being accepted despite the official closing date but a 25 percent surcharge is imposed. And anyone submitting their entries within 24 hours of the start of these events will be subjected to a 50 percent surcharge. 

The three events will be held at the Cititel MidValley Hotel, Kuala Lumpur on Aug 18-25. Nine round Swiss, 90 minutes plus 30-second increment time control. 

As for the complimentary chess events, the closing date remains at Aug 15. The events here are the Swensen’s open rapid age group chess tournament on Aug 21 (six rounds, 25 minutes per game), the Merdeka individual rapid open chess tournament on Aug 26 (seven rounds, 25 minutes per game) and the ASTRO Merdeka rapid open team chess tournament on Aug 28-29 (nine rounds, 25 minutes per game).  

For more information, visit http://datcchess.blogspot.com/2011/06/malaysia-chess-festival-is-on.html 

Raja Nazrin Shah open

Formerly known as the Kuala Lumpur open, the Raja Nazrin Shah international open chess tournament takes place at the Swiss Garden Hotel & Residences, Kuala Lumpur on Sep 4-10. Nine rounds with time control of 90 minutes for the first 40 moves followed by 30 minutes play-to-finish with a 30-second increment from the first move. For details, contact Peter Long (peterlong@aol.asia).

 

Armenia triumphs

There are simply too many world-class chess events taking place or have taken place all over the world at the same time. From Ningbo in China to Dortmund in Germany and Biel in Switzerland, my attention is presently being distracted with this surfeit of chess activities.

Would I consider this a problem? Yes, but this is a happy problem. I don’t mind the distraction. It only proves that chess can have a crowded calendar.

So where shall I start? Perhaps, from where I left off last week, with the world team chess championship that ended in Ningbo on Tuesday with Armenia deposing Russia to become the new champion. 

I thought at first that Russia was going to win this event but the Russians then stumbled badly and went out of contention. The Russian team lost to both China and Azerbaijan, and in the final round, suffered the ignominy of losing to India.

Russia’s setback was the opportunity for Armenia to spring into the lead. The Armenian team had played so steadily that they hadn’t lost to any other team yet. At their worst, they drew with Russia, the United States and Azerbaijan. 

On Tuesday, Armenia was due to play Ukraine in the final round. A drawn match was all that they would need to clinch the title but the Ukrainians themselves were in the chase. If they could score a crushing result like a 3½-½ win against Armenia, they may even come out tops. Maybe the Ukrainians saw the unlikelihood of this ever happening because soon after the start of the round, their match was quickly drawn.

 

I would believe that China was disappointed with this outcome because they were mathematically in contention for the title and they would only need to win by 2½-1½ against Hungary, which they did, to be the champion if Ukraine had won by any score line. The only consolation for the Chinese team was that they actually finished with the same game points as the Armenians, except that on the more important match points they trailed the new champion. 

India, Israel and Egypt found themselves out of their depth in this tournament. Israel was possibly the biggest disappointment seeing how just a year ago, they had finished third in the Chess Olympiad. 

India came into this event as the Asian champion but they soon realized that even finishing in the middle of the table would be a tall order. I even thought that they could play the role of a spoiler and take surprising points off the main title contenders but the only problem was, they could not until the very last round against Russia when the results did not count significantly any more.

As for Egypt, there is little to be said about this African representative except that they failed totally.

And so we move on to Dortmund in Germany where the former world champion, Vladimir Kramnik, is creating waves at the Dortmund Sparkassen invitational chess tournament. Well, at least he has been in impressive form right until the mid-way point of this event last Monday. By the way, the tournament ends on Sunday so there is still time to see whether Kramnik will carry his advantage right through till the end.

The Dortmund Sparkassen is an elite chess tournament that goes a long way back. However, it was not until 1973 when it was converted into a regular annual event. This year’s edition is a six-player, double round-robin tournament that features Vladimir Kramnik, Hikaru Nakamura, Ruslan Ponomariov, Le Quang Liem, Anish Giri and local German player Georg Meier.

As mentioned, Kramnik has been showing great form. He couldn’t have been happier. In the first half of the tournament, his victims have included Ponomariov, Giri, Meier and Nakamura, and he has dropped only a draw to Le. Even if he eases up on the pedal and draws the rest of his games in the second half, I believe he should coast through easily to win the top prize. 

The last tournament on my list today is the annual Biel Chess Festival. This is also another chess festival that has been around for decades. It started life as only a masters open tournament in 1968 but the grandmaster tournament was introduced in 1976. 

Since then, the grandmaster tournament has evolved into one of Europe’s showcase events. Like in Dortmund, this is a double round-robin tournament featuring six very strong players. Their names speak for themselves: Magnus Carlsen, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Alexei Shirov, Fabiano Caruana, Alexander Morozevich and Yannick Pelletier.

I would be very surprised if Carlsen does not win the event which will end today. On Tuesday as I was writing this story, he was leading the field with only Morozevich following hard on Carlsen’s tail. The rest had been left behind. Caruana, who had won last year’s Biel grandmaster tournament, found himself trailing everyone this time around. A complete reversal of form.

Up next

Malaysia Chess Festival

With only a few days remaining until the official closing date of entries for the main events of this year’s Malaysian Chess Festival, I’ve been informed by the organizers that there may be close to a hundred participants in their showcase event, the Datuk Arthur Tan Malaysia open championship. 

At least players from 19 countries will be represented and among them will be at least 13 grandmasters, two woman grandmasters and nine international masters. Presently, there are only a small number of Malaysian players in the field but no doubt, we shall see the numbers increase ahead of the closing date. 

According to the organizers, the official closing date for entries for the main events – the Datuk Arthur Tan Malaysia open championship, the Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng international seniors open championship and the AmBank Malaysia chess challenge – is Aug 1. Entries will still be accepted after this date but a 25 percent surcharge will be imposed. Plus, anyone submitting their entries within 24 hours of the start of these events will be hit with a 50 percent surcharge. So before you say “ouch” and complain about the surcharges, it is best to submit your entry before Monday.

The three events will be held at the Cititel MidValley Hotel, Kuala Lumpur on Aug 18-25. Nine round Swiss, 90 minutes plus 30-second increment time control. 

As for the complimentary chess events, the closing date remains unchanged, that is, Aug 15. Here, you have: the Swensen’s open rapid age group chess tournament, Aug 21, six rounds, 25 minutes per game; the Merdeka individual rapid open chess tournament, Aug 26, seven rounds, 25 minutes per game; and the ASTRO Merdeka rapid open team chess tournament, Aug 28-29, nine rounds, 25 minutes per game.  

For more information, visit http://datcchess.blogspot.com/2011/06/malaysia-chess-festival-is-on.html 

Raja Nazrin Shah open

Formerly known as the Kuala Lumpur open, the Raja Nazrin Shah international open chess tournament takes place at the Swiss Garden Hotel & Residences, Kuala Lumpur on Sep 4-10. Nine rounds with time control of 90 minutes for the first 40 moves followed by 30 minutes play-to-finish with a 30-second increment from the first move. For details, contact Peter Long (peterlong@aol.asia).

 

Who rules the world

We’re in the midst of a mini-Chess Olympiad and it is taking place in Ningbo, China. This is the world team chess championship which started on July 16 and will continue until Tuesday.

Since the first world team chess championship began in 1985, it has always been held every four years but the World Chess Federation changed its regulations and turned it into a biennial event. The last championship was two years ago in Turkey.

In case you are wondering, no, we are ineligible to play in it. Only the best teams in the world are able to take part, and there are only 10 places available. The foremost criterion for selection into this event is that a team must qualify as their continental champion. 

Thus, India came out the winner at the last Asian team championship in Kolkata two years ago and is thus representing Asia in this world team chess championship. Azerbaijan won the European team championship in 2009 and is playing in Ningbo. Similarly, the United States is the qualifier from America and Egypt is the representative for Africa.

Apart from these four countries, Russia is playing in the championship as the defending champion, while Ukraine, Israel and Hungary qualified from finishing first, third and fourth respectively from last year’s Chess Olympiad in Khanty-Mansiysk. Of course, China as the host country is participating, and Armenia is the World Chess Federation president’s nomination.

Of these 10 countries, Egypt has arguably the weakest line-up. The team is not expected to end up anywhere but in the cellar position. But among the other nine teams, it is a real challenge to predict the winner.

Of course, Russia is still the team to beat with a line-up that comprises Sergey Karyakin, Alexander Grischuk, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Peter Svidler and Nikita Vitiugov. But they can’t be expecting any favour from the other teams. 

If anything, Azerbaijan and Ukraine will be breathing down hard on the Russians. Both Armenia and Hungary cannot be discounted from leapfrogging over these top three teams while China, the United States, Israel and India will always be there as spoilers. 

But having said all this, the first surprise was sprung in the very first round of the championship by an Egyptian player. International master Samy Shoker had been overwhelmed by playing the Ukrainian grandmaster, Alexander Areshchenko.

At the most critical point in the game, Areshchenko, thinking that the point was already in his pocket, went into an auto-pilot mode and relaxed for a second. Shoker had the presence of mind to detect the smallest chance given to him and he seized on it. The result? Areshchenko came under a mating attack and was unable to save the game. Here is the game.

Alexander Areshchenko (Ukraine) – Samy Shoker (Egypt)

1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. Be3 c6 5. h3 Nbd7 6. Nf3 Qc7 7. Bd3 e5 (I would have thought that the most logical move was to fianchetto the bishop and go for castling quickly.) 8. Qd2 exd4 (Again, 8…Bg7 was called for) 9. Nxd4 Bg7 10. Bh6 Bxh6 (Castle! Black should be castling here. Now, his king is caught in the centre.) 11. Qxh6 b5 (Black plays like a patzer. This move can be refuted immediately with 12.Bxb5 cxb5 13. Ndxb5 and Black is in deep trouble). 12. O-O-O b4 13. Nb1 Bb7 14. Nd2 Qb6 15. N4b3 Ba6 16. Bxa6 Qxa6 17. Kb1 c5 18. Nf3 c4 (At least Black has the presence of mind not to tempt fate further by capturing the e-pawn) 19. Nc1 Ne5 20. Rd4 c3 21. Rhd1 cxb2 22. Nb3 Nc4 23. e5 

(See diagram. White was already feeling so comfortable that he thought the game would play by itself. He totally overlooked Black’s threats or otherwise he would have played 23…Qg7. Just this one move, 23 e5, and the fortunes in this game turned around.) 23…Rc8 24. exf6 Na3+ 25. Kxb2 Rxc2+ 26. Ka1 Nc4 27. Re4+ Kd8 28. Nc1 Qa3 0-1 (Checkmate is next.)

Up next

MBSSKL open

The Methodist Boys’ Secondary School (MBSSKL) in Kuala Lumpur will hold the sixth MBSSKL open tournament at their school on Sunday. Six rounds, 25 minutes per game. Entry fees: RM5 (MBSSKL students) and RM15 (others). For more details, visit http://mbsskl.edu.my or contact Sanusi or Madam Yong LY (03.20782293).

Malaysia Chess Festival

Datuk Arthur Tan Malaysia open championship, Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng international seniors open championship and Malaysia chess challenge, Aug 18-25. Nine rounds, 90 minutes plus 30-second increment time control. Closing date: Aug 1. 

Swensen’s open rapid age group chess tournament, Aug 21, six rounds, 25 minutes per game; Merdeka individual rapid open chess tournament, Aug 26, seven rounds, 25 minutes per game; ASTRO Merdeka rapid open team chess tournament, Aug 28-29, nine rounds, 25 minutes per game. Closing date: Aug 15. 

All game are played at the Cititel MidValley Hotel, Kuala Lumpur. For more information on the entry fees and prizes, visit http://datcchess.blogspot.com/2011/06/malaysia-chess-festival-is-on.html 

Raja Nazrin Shah open

Formerly known as the Kuala Lumpur open, the Raja Nazrin Shah international open chess tournament takes place at the Swiss Garden Hotel & Residences, Kuala Lumpur on Sep 4-10. Nine rounds with time control of 90 minutes for the first 40 moves followed by 30 minutes play-to-finish with a 30-second increment from the first move. For details, contact Peter Long (peterlong@aol.asia).

 

Future champs

At the last minute on Sunday, I decided to take a short drive down from Penang to look in at the fifth and final leg of the Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng chess grand prix tournament at the Syuen Hotel in Ipoh.

I wasn’t disappointment by what I saw. In fact, it was very encouraging. When I entered the tournament hall, I could see that the Perak International Chess Association (PICA) has a good thing going for them. The playing hall at the hotel was full and there were a total of 213 people playing chess.

Players of all ages, from the young to the old, and they had come to Ipoh not only from all over Perak but from other nearby states as well. As far as I could tell, there were players from Selangor and Penang but the organizers were quick to stress that that there were busloads of players from areas like Bagan Serai, Slim River, Grik, Kampar, Ayer Tawar, Kuala Kangsar and Sungai Siput. 

In fact, despite there being a closing date for entries that were announced much earlier, the PICA officials suddenly found an unprecedented number of unregistered players knocking at the door on Sunday morning. 

They had to adjust their entries quickly and would have gladly accepted all that turned up at the last minute if not for the fact that they had filled up the tournament hall and had run out of chess equipment. I was told that possibly, some 30 to 40 players were turned away reluctantly.

Because of this large number of players, the organizers also took a quick decision to increase the number of rounds to eight and at the same time, reduce the time control for each round.

Of course, some of the more serious participants may say that these factors made it not conducive to competing seriously (there was a lot of prize monies involved) but privately, I was thinking to myself, who cares? 

It was a great carnival atmosphere and I could see that the majority of the players were enjoying themselves tremendously. Noise level was high and impossible to shut out, but who cares again?

Naturally, the top boards got the most attention. They were the games that were usually among the last to finish and so, it gave the other players a great opportunity to mill around and watch the better players.

This is actually the second year of the grand prix. The series started last year and according to the PICA president, Chan Swee Loon, the association had received RM25,000 from Kuala Lumpur Kepong Berhad (KLK) this year for the running of the five legs in various towns around Perak. 

The series began with the Taiping leg in April and then proceeded to Bagan Serai, Slim River, Kampar and finally, Ipoh. Chan said that the grand prix circuit had drummed up a lot of interest in the towns where chess is not normally played. Next year’s grand prix circuit, he added, would probably be increased to six legs and start earlier in January.

At the closing ceremony on Sunday, the Datuk Bandar of Ipoh, Datuk Haji Roshidi bin Haji Hashim enthused about the game and paid a glowing tribute to the late Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng, the founder of KLK. Then he sprang a surprise on the PICA by pledging that the Majlis Bandaraya Ipoh would contribute RM10,000 to next year’s grand prix circuit in the state.

Just for the record, the eight winners of the grand prix were Fong Yit San, Muhammad Nabil bin Azman Hisham, Fong Yit Ho, Ahmad Jamal Husni Jamaluddin, Jason Teh Chee Ying, Azman Hisham bin Che Doi, Amirul Rahimi bin Shamsuddin and Noor Ahmad Fazilah.

Up next

MBSSKL open

The Methodist Boys’ Secondary School (MBSSKL) in Kuala Lumpur will hold the sixth MBSSKL open tournament at their school on July 23. Six rounds, 25 minutes per game. Entry fees: RM5 (MBSSKL students) and RM15 (others). Closing date for entries is July 9. For more details, visit http://mbsskl.edu.my or contact Sanusi or Madam Yong LY (03.20782293).

Malaysia Chess Festival

Datuk Arthur Tan Malaysia open championship, Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng international seniors open championship and Malaysia chess challenge, Aug 18-25. Nine rounds, 90 minutes plus 30-second increment time control. Closing date: Aug 1. 

Swensen’s open rapid age group chess tournament, Aug 21, six rounds, 25 minutes per game; Merdeka individual rapid open chess tournament, Aug 26, seven rounds, 25 minutes per game; ASTRO Merdeka rapid open team chess tournament, Aug 28-29, nine rounds, 25 minutes per game. Closing date: Aug 15. 

All game are played at the Cititel MidValley Hotel, Kuala Lumpur. For more information on the entry fees and prizes, visit http://datcchess.blogspot.com/2011/06/malaysia-chess-festival-is-on.html 

Raja Nazrin Shah open

Formerly known as the Kuala Lumpur open, the Raja Nazrin Shah international open chess tournament takes place at the Swiss Garden Hotel & Residences, Kuala Lumpur on Sep 4-10. Nine rounds with time control of 90 minutes for the first 40 moves followed by 30 minutes play-to-finish with a 30-second increment from the first move. For details, contact Peter Long (peterlong@aol.asia).

 

Junior rule

India, together with China, the Philippines and Vietnam, are considered among the great chess-playing countries in Asia, if not the world. I say this because these countries continue to produce some of the most exciting names in world chess. 

For example, isn’t India’s Viswanathan Anand today the world chess champion? Wasn’t China’s Xie Jun the first Asian to become the women’s world champion? And isn’t Le Quang Liem the first Vietnamese player to break into that elite group of players with a rarified 2700+ chess rating? 

I need to mention only these three names but in fact, there are so many other talents that have emerged from these four countries. 

Wesley So from the Philippines is currently that country’s top ranked player and he is only 17 years old; Hou Yifan from China is currently the women’s world chess champion and she is also only 17 years old; Parimarjan Negi is considered to be a chess prodigy from India and he is 18 years old. I should also add that Le Quang Liem is 20 years old.

All very talented junior players. And when we also consider the likes of Norway’s Magnus Carlsen who is approaching his 21st birthday, the Italian-American Fabiano Cauana who is 19 years old and currently the top junior player in the world, and the 17-year-old Nepalese-Russian (but now Dutch) Anish Giri, we find that the world is practically littered with junior players that continue to shake up the older chess masters in today’s chess world.

Recently, the Delhi Chess Association and the Airport Authority of India joined hands to organize the AAI international grandmasters chess tournament in New Delhi, India and they invited four of these young chess talents to participate.

Joining Caruana, So, Negi and Hou in this double round-robin tournament were two other players. One was the Czech Republic’s Viktor Laznicka, who at 23 years old wasn’t that much older than the four, and India’s second-best player Krishnan Sasikiran who at 30 years old found himself the oldest player in the tourmanent.

The event was a romp for Caruana who justified his top seeding. He led after the third round and never allowed any of his rivals to get near enough to him. By the end of the eighth round, he was the only unbeaten player and he enjoyed a 1½-point advantage over his closest rival, Sasikiran.

But disaster struck for Caruana in the ninth round. According to him, he had blundered in a position which would have led to a draw. As a result, Sasikiran crept to narrow the gap on him to only a single point. However, Caruana’s first place in this tournament was never in any real danger as a draw in the 10th round was enough to seal his top prize. 

Sasikiran came second in the tournament and he was followed by Laznicka in third place. And what of the other three teenagers in this event? Well, by their own admission, they could have played better but actually, they finished according to expectation. So and Negi were expected to finish in fourth and fifth positions respectively, and so they did.

Hou was the weakest player in the field and she did finish last. In fact, if not for a much steadier performance in the second half of the tournament, she would have ended up with even less points. The first half of the tournament was a disaster as she lost her first four games. 

On the basis of her play in this tournament, I think she is going to have her hands full later this year when she defends her women’s world championship title against her official challenger, Koneru Humpy. It will be back to the training board for her as her coaches try to build up her game before the big match.

This week, I’m featuring a critical game between the tournament winner and the current chess champion of India. I’m referring, of course, to Negi who had won the Indian national championship in December last year. In this marathon game which went to 98 moves, Caruana sacrificed his queen and in return, got back three pieces as compensation. At first, Caruana’s advantage was slight but his pieces coordinated better and he gradually built up to a winning position. However, he still had to tread carefully to prevent Negi’s queen from continually checking him as he pushed his pawn towards queening. Eventually though, both players managed to convert their pawns into new queens but where Caruana was concerned, his position was already winning.

Fabiano Caruana – Parimarjan Negi, Round 6

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 e6 7. f3 b5 8. Qd2 Nbd7 9. g4 h6 10. O-O-O Ne5 11. Qf2 b4 12. Nce2 Nc4 13. Ng3 Qc7 14. Bxc4 Qxc4 15. Kb1 g6 16. h4 e5 17. Nb3 Be6 18. h5 g5 19. Nf5 Bxf5 20. gxf5 Rc8 21. Rd3 Be7 22. a3 d5 23. exd5 Nxd5 24. Rhd1 Nf6 25. axb4 Qxb4 26. Bd2 Qb8 27. Bc3 O-O 28. Qe3 Rfe8 29. Bxe5 b5 30. f4 Qc4 31. Qd2 Ne4 32. Qg2 Qc6 33. Rd5 Nf6 34. fxg5 hxg5 35. Qxg5+ Kh7 36. Bxf6 Qxc2+ 37. Ka2 Rg8 38. Qxg8+ Rxg8 39. Bxe7 Rg3 40. Na5 Rg2 41. Ba3 Rf2 42. Nb3 Rf3 43. Nc5 Qc4+ 44. Kb1 Rf1 45. Rd4 Qe2 46. Rxf1 Qxf1+ 47. Ka2 Qxf5 48. Rd6 Qf1 49. Nxa6 f5 50. Nb4 Qc4+ 51. b3 Qe2+ 52. Bb2 Qxh5 53. Nd5 Qf3 54. Rd7+ Kg6 55. Ne7+ Kh6 56. Rd6+ Kh7 57. Rd8 Kh6 58. Rd6+ Kh7 59. Rd4 Kh6 60. Nd5 Qe2 61. b4 Kg5 62. Kb3 Qf1 63. Nf4 Qa6 64. Bc1 Kf6 65. Bd2 Qf1 66. Rd5 Qb1+ 67. Kc4 Qa2+ 68. Kb5 Qa8 69. Bc3+ Kg5 70. Be5 Qa7 71. Ne6+ Kg4 72. Rd4+ Kf3 73. Nc5 Ke3 74. Kc6 Qf7 75. Rd3+ Ke2 76. Rd5 Qe8+ 77. Kb6 Qf7 78. Rd6 Kf3 79. b5 Qe8 80. Re6 Qc8 81. Bc7 Qa8 82. Rd6 Ke2 83. Ne6 Qe4 84. Nd4+ Kf2 85. Nc6 Qc2 86. Kb7 Qb3 87. b6 f4 88. Kc8 Qh3+ 89. Rd7 f3 90. b7 Kg2 91. b8=Q f2 92. Qb2 Kh1 93. Ne5 f1=Q 94. Kb8 Qh8+ 95. Rd8 Qhf6 96. Qb7+ Kg1 97. Rg8+ Kh2 98. Ng4+ 1-0

Up next

Perak grand prix

The Perak International Chess Association will organize the fifth leg of this year’s Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng chess grand prix tournament at the Syuen Hotel in Ipoh this Sunday. 

As this tournament is also the final leg of the chess grand prix, the organizers have doubled the value of all the cash prizes. The winner of the open section, for instance, will receive RM600 instead of RM300. In addition, there will be prizes for the top eight players who accumulate the most points in the grand prix standings, with the grand prix champion set to receive RM800. 

Like the four previous legs, this one in Ipoh will be contested over seven rounds with a 25-minute time control. Entry fees: RM25 (open section), RM15 (players under 16 years old), RM10 (under 12 years old). For PICA members and Perak residents: RM20 (open section), RM10 (all players under 16 years old). For more information, contact Yunus (013.3908129) or visit http://perakchess.blogspot.com. 

Hillcrest open

The Sek Men Keb Hillcrest in Taman Seri Gombak, Batu Caves, Kuala Lumpur will organize their first Hillcrest open tournament at the school premises on Sunday. Six rounds, 25 minutes per game. Entry fees: RM25 (players below 18 years old), RM30 (others). For details, contact Wong Yen Lee (017.3577788, yenlee741011_u@hotmail.com), Farah Alwani (013.3336849) or Manivannan (018.3757339).

JB Rakan Muda open

The Johor Bahru Chess Association, Rukun Tetangga Taman Sri Tebrau and Rakan Muda Johor Bahru are jointly organizing the 22nd Rakan Muda Tebrau open chess tournament at the Plaza Pelangi in Johor Bahru on Sunday. Seven round Swiss with 25-minute time control. Entry fees: RM30 (open section), RM16 (under-16 section) and RM12 (under-12 section). Details available from Narayanan Krishnan (013.7717 525, jb_chess_association@yahoo.com). 

MBSSKL open

The Methodist Boys’ Secondary School (MBSSKL) in Kuala Lumpur will hold the sixth MBSSKL open tounament at their school on July 23. Six rounds, 25 minutes per game. Entry fees: RM5 (MBSSKL students) and RM15 (others). Closing date for entries is July 9. For more details, visit http://mbsskl.edu.my or contact Sanusi or Madam Yong LY (03.20782293).

 

Carlsen heads live rating

I still stand by my opinion that the Medias King’s tournament that ended in Romania last week wasn’t by far the most exciting chess event that I had been following recently, despite the presence of some heavyweights in Norway’s Magnus Carlsen and Ukraine’s Vasily Ivanchuk.

But for a different reason, this tournament has earned its special position in today’s busy chess world. 

Carlsen, by finishing this event tied for first place with Russia’s Sergey Karyakin, regained his position at the top of the unofficial chess live rating list, jumping over Viswanathan Anand. Anand, who is the world chess champion, had occupied the top live rating spot since October last year.

The Norwegian grandmaster’s live rating now stands at 2820.8 points, which is 3.8 points more than Anand’s current live rating of 2817. Before this Medias King’s event, Anand had held a two-point cushion ahead of Carlsen.

And of course, Karyakin’s fantastic performance in this tournament also ensured that he would improve his live rating position as well. 

In fact, Karyakin’s live rating increased by an impressive 12 points to 2788 points and this raised him from fifth to fourth position on the list, right behind Armenia’s Levon Aronian. This is an all-time high for the 21-year-old player who was once the youngest grandmaster in the world.

Last week, I offered you a game between Ivanchuk and Karyakin, a game where Karyakin’s irresistible attack tore through Ivanchuk’s defence. Today, there is another game from the Medias King’s tournament and this time, it is a game between Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura who is the top-ranked grandmaster in the United States. 

If you are wondering whether I am mixed up about Nakamura’s nationality, no, I’m not. Nakamura’s an American citizen: his mother is American but his father is Japanese. He was born in Japan but at the age of two, the whole family moved to the United States. And, by the way, Nakamura’s number six on the live rating list.

 

So here is game between 20-year-old Carlsen and 23-year-old Nakamura from the very first round of the Medias King’s tournament:

Magnus Carlsen – Hikaru Nakamura

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Be7 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bf4 c6 6. Qc2 Bg4 (At first, this move looked a little strange to me as the bishop lands on a square where it doesn’t even threaten a non-existent knight on f3. Then as the game continued, it struck me that all along Black wanted to move his piece to g6.) 7. e3 Bh5 8. Bd3 Bg6 9. Bxg6 hxg6 10. O-O-O (With this move, White gives up the idea of a minority pawn attack on the queenside. Instead, with the black kingside pawns a little awkwardly positioned, White looks to attacking in that direction should Black chooses to castle kingside.)

10... Nf6 11. f3 Nbd7 12. Nge2 b5 (White gets ready to push with h2-h4-h5 on the kingside, but Black starts the fun first by committing to his own queenside pawn roll.) 13. e4 (However, White’s decision to seize the centre puts Black’s strategy immediately into some doubt.)

13... b4 14. Na4 dxe4 15. fxe4 Qa5 16. Kb1 O-O 17. h4 (Here it comes. After due preparations to safeguard his king, White commences with his own initiative against the black king. Question is, whose attack will prevail first: White or Black?) 17…Rfe8 18. e5 Nd5 19. h5 g5 (Of course, Black does not wish to open up the h-file for White.) 20. h6 g6 21. Bc1 N7b6 22. Nc5 Bxc5 23. dxc5 b3 24. Qxb3 Qxc5 (Black seems to have an attack going as well but he will always have to keep the white pawn on h6 under observation. It can turn dangerous any time.) 25. Nd4 (Temporarily sacrificing a pawn in order to place his knight on a better square.) 25…Rxe5 26. Nf3 Re2 27. Nxg5 

(See diagram. Black looks active but I think it is only illusory. White is better. The h6 pawn will be the key to winning the game. Now, 27…Rxg2 is answered with 28.Nxf7) 27…Qe7 28. Qd3 Rf8 29. Rdf1 (This threatens 30…Rxf7 next.) 29... f5 30. g4 Na4 31. Qd4 Qe5 32. Qxe5 (White mustn’t be too greedy with 32.Qxa4 as the table will turn with 32…Nc3+) 32…Rxe5 33. gxf5 gxf5 34. Nf3 Re7 35.Rfg1+ Kh7 (If 35…Kh8, then 36.Nh4 will win material. Or White can also play 36.Rg7) 36. Rg7+ Kh8 37. Rhg1 Rfe8 38. Nh4 Rxg7 (And here, Black gives up. After 39.Rxg7, Black will have to meet the threat of 40.Ng6+ next.) 1-0

 

Up next

Perak grand prix

The Perak International Chess Association will organize the fifth leg of this year’s Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng chess grand prix tournament at the Syuen Hotel in Ipoh on July 10. 

As this tournament is also the final leg of the chess grand prix, the organizers have doubled the value of all the cash prizes. The winner of the open section, for instance, will receive RM600 instead of RM300. In addition, there will be prizes for the top eight players who accumulate the most points in the grand prix standings, with the grand prix champion set to receive RM800. 

Like the four previous legs, this one in Ipoh will be contested over seven rounds with a 25-minute time control. Entry fees: RM25 (open section), RM15 (players under 16 years old), RM10 (under 12 years old). For PICA members and Perak residents: RM20 (open section), RM10 (all players under 16 years old). Closing date for entries is July 7. To register, call Yunus (013.3908129) or visit http://perakchess.blogspot.com for details. 

Hillcrest open

The Sek Men Keb Hillcrest in Taman Seri Gombak, Batu Caves, Kuala Lumpur will organize their first Hillcrest open tournament at the school premises on July 10. Six rounds, 25 minutes per game. Entry fees: RM25 (players below 18 years old), RM30 (others). Closing date for entries is July 1. For more information, contact Wong Yen Lee (017.3577788, yenlee741011_u@hotmail.com), Farah Alwani (013.3336849) or Manivannan (018.3757339).

JB Rakan Muda open

The Johor Bahru Chess Association, Rukun Tetangga Taman Sri Tebrau and Rakan Muda Johor Bahru are jointly organizing the 22nd Rakan Muda Tebrau open chess tournament at the Plaza Pelangi in Johor Bahru on July 10. Seven round Swiss with 25-minute time control. Entry fees: RM30 (open section), RM16 (under-16 section) and RM12 (under-12 section). Closing date is July 6. For more information, contact Narayanan Krishnan (013.7717 525, jb_chess_association@yahoo.com). 

MBSSKL open

The Methodist Boys’ Secondary School (MBSSKL) in Kuala Lumpur will hold the sixth MBSSKL open tounament at their school on July 23. Six rounds, 25 minutes per game. Entry fees: RM5 (MBSSKL students) and RM15 (others). Closing date for entries is July 9. For more details, visit http://mbsskl.edu.my or contact Sanusi or Madam Yong LY (03.20782293).

 

Redeeming moment

For the most part of the past week, I’ve been trying to follow the Medias Kings tournament that was going on in Romania. The first time that I heard about this tournament, I thought that it would be an interesting event, seeing how the organizers had managed to invite some of the top players in the world to compete.

Leading the pack of six players in this double round-robin event was the Norwegian grandmaster, Magnus Carlsen who is currently the second highest rated player around. Then there was Russia’s Sergey Karyakin who was once the youngest grandmaster in the world and is still an immensely talented player.

Also in the field were Vasily Ivanchuk, the Ukrainian grandmaster who has climbed back to being number five in the world, top American grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura who had won the strong Wijk aan Zee tournament earlier this year and the Azerbaijan grandmaster Teimour Radjabov who had recently competed in the Candidates elimination tournament.

Of course, this event being held in Romania meant that there would also be a place for a Romanian in the tournament and it fell to Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu to complete the sextet of players. Nisipeanu isn’t very well known but he is not unknown either. In 1999, he made it to the semi-finals of the FIDE world chess championship and six years ago, he had won the European individual chess championship.

But former successes counted for nothing in this Medias Kings tournament as Nisipeanu, the lowest rated player in the field of six players, found himself outclassed by most of his rivals. Most of his rivals, that is, except one. If not for Ivanchuk’s form, Nisipeanu could have found this tournament an embarrassment. Ivanchuk was so listless that I kept getting the impression that his mind was elsewhere and that he was in Romania only to fulfil an obligation to compete. 

However, the Ukrainian grandmaster was not the only disappointment of the tournament. Broadly, I found the excitement of the whole event rather below my expectations and uninspiring. Still, there were some redeeming moments, such as in this game below, which was played in the fifth round.

Vasily Ivanchuk – Sergey Karyakin

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3 0-0 6.0-0 d6 7.h3 (In case you are wondering what the players are up to, they are playing an ultra slow variation of the Guioco Piano. In my opinion, a not very inspiring choice except that soon, I was surprised by the exciting direction that the game was going to turn.) 7…Ne7 8.Re1 Ng6 (Even Black has the luxury to waste two moves in relocating his knight to a presumably better square on g6.) 

9.Nbd2 c6 10.Nf1 d5 (By allowing this centre pawn thrust, White indirectly admits that Black has already equalized.) 11.exd5 Nxd5 12.Ng3 (White cannot win the e5-pawn by 12.Nxe5 Nxe5 13.Rxe5 because of 13…Bxf2+ and the bishop cannot be captured due to the queen check on f6.) 12...h6 13.Bb3 Re8 14.Bd2 (I really don’t know. Until here, White’s game has really looked passive to me. Wouldn’t 14.d5 be a better choice?) 14…Bb6 15.Qc2 Be6 16.Rad1 (White continues to play mechanically but with this move, he totally cuts off his queen from the main play ground which is the kingside. But then, 16.Nxe5 is still not possible because of 16…Nxe5 17.Rxe5 Bxf2+, etc) 16...Bxh3! (See Diagram One)

(Black does not miss the opportunity. After this sacrifice, White is in deep trouble. Capturing the bishop loses, for example, 17.gxh3 Qf6 18.Kg2 Nh4+ 19.Nxh4 Qxf2+ 20.Kh1 Qxg3 and threatens checkmate next with …Qxh3.) 17. c4 Ndf4 18.c5 Nxg2 19.cxb6 Qf6 20.Nh2 Nxe1 21.Rxe1 axb6 (Only a miracle can save White now. Despite the recent pieces exchanges, Black hasn’t let up on his attack on the white king. The position is close to winning.) 

22.Bc3 Be6 23.Re3 Nf4 24.Rf3 Qh4 25.Bd2 Bg4 26.Qc4 Be6 (With this move, Black exchanges off the bishop and removes possible counter-threats against his f7-square.) 27.Qc2 Bxb3 28.Qxb3 Re6 29.a3 (White cannot afford to allow the black rook to capture the a2 pawn which would then expose his king to a back rank mating attack.) 29...Rae8 30.Qb4 (White tries to keep control of the e1 square but it is useless. Note that 30.Qxb6 loses to 30…Qh3 31.Bxf4 exf4 32.Rxf4 Re1+ 33.Nhf1 Rxf1+ 34.Nxf1 Re1) 30...Rf6 31.Qe4 Ree6 32.Ne2 (See Diagram Two)

(With his next move, Black signals his readiness to simplify into a winning endgame.) 32…Nxe2+ 33.Qxe2 Rxf3 34.Qxf3 Rg6+ 35.Kh1 Rf6 36.Qg3 Qxg3 37.fxg3 Rd6 (Faced with the prospect of losing a fourth pawn to Black, White decided to give up the game.) 0–1

Up next

Hillcrest open

The Sek Men Keb Hillcrest in Taman Seri Gombak, Batu Caves, Kuala Lumpur will organize their first Hillcrest open tournament at the school premises on July 10. Six rounds, 25 minutes per game. Entry fees: RM25 (players below 18 years old), RM30 (others). Closing date for entries is July 1. For more information, contact Wong Yen Lee (017.3577788, yenlee741011_u@hotmail.com), Farah Alwani (013.3336849) or Manivannan (018.3757339).

JB Rakan Muda open

The Johor Bahru Chess Association, Rukun Tetangga Taman Sri Tebrau and Rakan Muda Johor Bahru are jointly organizing the 22nd Rakan Muda Tebrau open chess tournament at the Plaza Pelangi in Johor Bahru on July 10. Seven round Swiss with 25-minute time control. Entry fees: RM30 (open section), RM16 (under-16 section) and RM12 (under-12 section). Closing date is July 6. For more information, contact Narayanan Krishnan (013.7717 525, jb_chess_association@yahoo.com). 

MBSSKL open

The Methodist Boys’ Secondary School (MBSSKL) in Kuala Lumpur will hold the sixth MBSSKL open tounament at their school on July 23. Six rounds, 25 minutes per game. Entry fees: RM5 (MBSSKL students) and RM15 (others). Closing date for entries is July 9. For more details, visit http://mbsskl.edu.my or contact Sanusi or Madam Yong LY (03.20782293).

 

Festival frenzy

Many chess players will be heaving a sigh of relief when they read this, and I mean a really big sigh. I know, because that was what I did upon learning last week that there will be a new edition of the Malaysian Chess Festival this year. 

Yes, the country’s premier chess festival will definitely continue for at least one more year. And what it means in practical terms for chess aficionados in this region is that the frenzy of almost non-stop chess activities this year will stretch from Aug 17 until Sep 10, save for a short holiday respite as the country celebrates both National Day and Aidil Fitri.

At the conclusion of last year’s Festival, there were real fears that we could have seen the last of the event in its present format. 

Datuk Tan Chin Nam, long the doyen of the Malaysian chess scene, had been hinting rather loudly throughout last year’s festival that he was going to take a sabbatical from sponsoring future major chess tournaments in the country.

When asked why, he had said that his continued presence was casting a very long shadow on the development of Malaysian chess. As long as he was putting up the money to sponsor chess events here, he feared that other sponsors would be reluctant to step into the picture.

Malaysian chess, he told me, could not depend on his largesse forever. Malaysian chess, he said, needed to seek and have other sponsors to rejuvenate the game. If he were to move out of the picture, he believed new sponsors could be found.

True enough, when the new year (2011) came around, chess organizers found that Tan had stuck to his promise not to fork out more money for chess. The hardest hit was, of course, the Datuk Arthur Tan Chess Centre at the Wilayah Complex in Kuala Lumpur, the chess centre that bore his late son’s very name. It is to this chess centre’s credit that it has managed to reinvent itself and survive. 

Nevertheless, there would remain a big question mark over the future of the Malaysian Chess Festival, of which the Datuk Arthur Tan Malaysia open tournament was the flagship event. It was the event that attracted foreign chess masters to Kuala Lumpur; it was the event that was synonymous with the reputation of the Malaysian Chess Festival.

But in the event that there really was little funds to run a full-scale Malaysian Chess Festival, what could happen?

The worst case scenario was that the Malaysian open and the other supporting events could be scrapped and the organizers would revert back to organizing only the Merdeka chess events. If that were to happen, it would be a complete letdown for Malaysian chess and a huge blow to the foreign and local chess players who support the Festival every year. 

Therefore, scrapping the Malaysian open was not going to be a popular option. By hook or by crook, the Festival would have to go on and the organizers, a responsible lot, knew that. 

And finally, after many months of suspense and hard work to convince sponsors to continue backing the Festival, the Year 2011 Edition is announced.

So what can we expect this year? First of all, I am looking forward to the eighth edition of the Datuk Arthur Tan Malaysia open. As it still retains the name of Datuk Arthur Tan in the title, I can only presume that there is continuing sponsorship from IGB Corporation Berhad.

Then there are also the Malaysia Chess Challenge and the second Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng seniors open tournament which is sponsored by Kuala Lumpur Kepong Berhad.

Apart from these three main events – all Fide-rated, by the way – there are four other tournaments that are now considered part and parcel of the Malaysian Chess Festival: the Swensen age group rapid chess open tournament, the Malaysian Chess Festival blitz open tournament, the Merdeka individual rapid open tournament and the 31st ASTRO Merdeka rapid chess team chess championship.

The three mentioned Fide-rated events will be played on Aug 17-25 while of the others,  the age group rapid chess open will be held on Aug 21, the blitz open on Aug 25, the Merdeka individual rapid open on Aug 26 and the Merdeka rapid chess team open event on Aug 28-29. All these events will be played at the ballroom of the Cititel Midvalley Hotel.

I mentioned earlier that the chess activities will stretch until Sep 10. This is because we mustn’t forget the fourth Kuala Lumpur open tournament. This event, now officially known as the Raja Nazrin Shah Masters & International Open Chess Championship, will take place starting Sep 4 at the Swiss Garden Hotel and Residences in Kuala Lumpur. 

This championship is under the purview of the Kuala Lumpur Chess Association and technically distinct from the Malaysian Chess Festival. There are two separate tournaments here. The first is a Masters event which is a 10-player round robin invitational grandmaster tournament that provides the invited hopefuls with the chance of attaining a grandmaster title norm. And the second is an open tournament that is something very similar to the Malaysia open tournament, that is, with title norm aspirations for the participants too. 

So basically, chess players will be rather spoilt for choice again come this August and September. If I were you, I would start thinking now about applying for my annual leave.

Up next

Perak grand prix

The Perak International Chess Association will organize the fourth leg of the second Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng chess grand prix tournament at the Grand Kampar Hotel this Sunday. Like the three previous tournaments, this leg in Kampar will be contested over seven rounds with a 25-minute time control. The grand final will be contested 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 Kampar 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 Jun 16. To register, call Yunus (013.3908129). Alternatively, visit the PICA blog at http://perakchess.blogspot.com for details. 

SJKC Jalan Davidson open

The Cheras Chess Academy and Percawi will assist the SJK(C) Jalan Davidson in Kuala Lumpur to organize an open chess tournament at the school hall on Sunday. Entry fees: RM12 (students from the school and Percawi members) and RM15 (others). To register, contact Kids For Chess (03.91316474 or 016.2123578).

JB Rakan Muda open

The Johor Bahru Chess Association, Rukun Tetangga Taman Sri Tebrau and Rakan Muda Johor Bahru are jointly organizing the 22nd Rakan Muda Tebrau open chess tournament at the Plaza Pelangi in Johor Bahru on July 10. Seven round Swiss with 25-minute time control. Entry fees: RM30 (open section), RM16 (under-16 section) and RM12 (under-12 section). Closing date is July 6. For more information, contact Narayanan Krishnan (013.7717 525, jb_chess_association@yahoo.com). 

MBSSKL open

The Methodist Boys’ Secondary School (MBSSKL) in Kuala Lumpur will hold the sixth MBSSKL open tounament at their school on July 23. Six rounds, 25 minutes per game. Entry fees: RM5 (MBSSKL students) and RM15 (others). Closing date for entries is July 9. For more details, visit http://mbsskl.edu.my or contact Sanusi or Madam Yong LY (03.20782293).

 

Full house

It's not often that I get to attend a MSSM chess tournament, so the fact that this year's national schools chess tournament was held in Penang meant that, by hook or by crook, I had to go and see this competition of the best of the nation's schoolboys and schoolgirls.

I was surprised when I arrived at the beach hotel in Tanjung Bunga, where the MSSM chess was taking place. The hotel was practically overrun by youthful chess players. On the sixth floor where the competition was played, the crowd had spilled out of the tournament hall into the foyer.

Players, teachers, coaches and parents: they were sprawled all over the floor. The noise level was high as the chess players, those who had finished their games and were required to leave the tournament hall, were either talking chess or in the midst of playing still more chess. 

In a corner of the foyer, the organisers had thoughtfully set up a closed circuit television to beam one or two games from the tournament hall. People were standing around and casting glances at the screen every now and then.

I looked around the foyer and picked my way gingerly towards the door of the tournament hall. I knew that once inside, I would be able to find some peace and quiet, look at a few of the unfinished games and perhaps even catch up with some familiar faces.

Of course, this MSSM being held in Penang meant that it did not surprise me to see several of the Penang Chess Association's committee members present to help in the running of the event. But I was surprised to see the Malaysian Chess Federation's secretary, Gregory Lau, there too. It was certainly a good gesture of him to lend the MCF’s presence to this national tournament.

Lau grabbed hold of me and started introducing me around as one of the pioneers of the MSSM chess movement. “You know,” he was saying, “this chap was actually playing in the very first MSSM tournament here in Penang in 1972?”

I could see people's eyes lighting up. Boy, was I uncomfortable. The very first MSSM at the Dewan Sri Pinang was 40 years ago. That really showed up my age, hasn't it? Luckily, the moment quickly passed.

But I’d like to make a swift observation between 1972 and 2011. Way back then, there were only eight state teams participating in the inaugural MSSM chess competition. The number of chess players involved? A grand total of 32 players. Boy, were we lost in the vast expanse of the Dewan Sri Pinang’s big auditorium! 

Last week, however, there were no less than 540 participants divided into three age groups (under-18, under-15 and under-12) and separated into events for teams and individuals, and boys and girls. In fact, there weren’t enough space to seat all of the players together in the tournament hall – and they were sitting elbow to elbow – which meant that the organizers were forced to adopt a novel solution which reduced the number of rounds from seven to six, and resting each age group once during the tournament. 

For the record, this is the list of winners at this year’s MSSM chess competition: 

Individual section: boy’s under-18 champion – Muhd Nabil bin Azman Hisham (Selangor); girl’s under-18 champion – Alia Anin Azwa bt Bakri (Melaka); boy’s under-15 champion – Elgin Lee Kah Meng (Penang); girl’s under-15 champion – Nur Nabila bt Azman Hisham (Selangor); boy’s under-12 champion – Muhammad Sirajuddin Munawar (Kedah); girl’s under-12 champion – Puteri Rifqah Fahada bt Azhar (Selangor).

Team section: boy’s under-18 champion – Penang; girl’s under-18 champion – Wilayah Persekutuan; boy’s under-15 champion – Wilayah Persekutuan; girl’s under-15 champion – Wilayah Persekutuan; boy’s under-12 champion – Wilayah Persekutuan; girl’s under-12 champion – Penang.

Up next

Perak grand prix

The Perak International Chess Association will organize the fourth leg of this year’s Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng chess grand prix tournament at the Grand Kampar Hotel on Jun 19. Like the three previous tournaments, this leg in Kampar will be contested over seven rounds with a 25-minute time control. The grand final will be contested 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 Kampar 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 Jun 16. To register, call Yunus (013.3908129). Alternatively, visit the PICA blog at http://perakchess.blogspot.com for details. 

SJKC Jalan Davidson open

The Cheras Chess Academy and Percawi will assist the SJK(C) Jalan Davidson in Kuala Lumpur to organize an open chess tournament at the school hall on Jun 19. Entry fees: RM12 (students from the school and Percawi members) and RM15 (others). To register, contact Kids For Chess (03.91316474 or 016.2123578).

MBSSKL open

The Methodist Boys’ Secondary School (MBSSKL) in Kuala Lumpur will hold the sixth MBSSKL open tounament at their school on July 23. Six rounds, 25 minutes per game. Entry fees: RM5 (MBSSKL students) and RM15 (others). Closing date for entries is July 9. For more details, visit http://mbsskl.edu.my or contact Sanusi or Madam Yong LY (03.20782293).