Winning edge

CHESS
By QUAH SENG SUN

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Experience gives players the edge over the competition.

THE results of two recent chess tournaments here and elsewhere have left me doubly convinced that experience can be a great leveller. Time and again, the player with the greater experience has shown the resilience to come up tops in chess events.

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In faraway Khanty-Mansiysk, the experience of a 41-year-old Boris Gelfand triumphing over 26-year-old Ruslan Ponomariov in the Chess World Cup knock-out tournament was a typical example.

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King of kings: (from left) Ibrahim Bakar (MCF), Mok Tze Meng, Nicholas Chan and the triumphant Mas Hafizulhelmi.
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Gelfand was the oldest player in the tournament but in 26-year-old Ponomariov, he was facing a former Fide world champion in 2002 who knew his way around the chessboard.

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Many did not expect Gelfand to last the distance against the younger Ponomariov. The previous six rounds had been gruelling enough and in the final, Ponomariov had been expected to play better in the rapidchess tie-break games should their classical time control games ended drawn.

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Sure enough, all four of the classical games were drawn and the two players went on to play rapidchess. However, they also ended with a drawn result and so, everything boiled down to blitz chess. Here, Gelfand sprang the greatest surprise by beating Ponomariov 3-1, thus ending the latter’s hopes of winning the Chess World Cup.

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Likewise at home, we have found this year’s Malaysian King of Kings. After six months, the Malaysian Masters knock-out tournament is finally over. A much more experienced Mas Hafizulhelmi triumphed over Nicholas Chan in the final which was staged in Kuala Lumpur last weekend.

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Both players have played chess for long years but in terms of recent exposure to the game, Mas Hafizul held a big advantage over Chan. Whereas Mas Hafizul has been totally immersed in playing competitive chess all over the world in the past two years, Chan had been more pre-occupied with his studies. As a result, the rustiness showed in Chan’s play and this was well exploited by Mas Hafizul.

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Although six games had been scheduled for this match, it was practically over by the end of the first day of play when Mas Hafizul went two-up in the match. The third game was drawn but Chan again faltered in the fourth game and allowed Mas Hafizul to wrap up the match with a 3½-½ score.

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Mas Hafizul had progressed through the Malaysian Masters by beating Muhammad Tariq Amru in the first round and Mok Tze Meng in the semi-finals. In the meantime, Chan advanced to the final of this event by beating Evan Timothy Capel in the first round and Lim Yee Weng in the semi-finals.

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Here are the four games from the Malaysian Masters finals:

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Mas Hafizulhelmi vs Nicholas Chan (Game 1)

1. e4 c5 2. f4 d5 3. exd5 Nf6 4. Bb5+ Bd7 5. Bxd7+ Qxd7 6. c4 e6 7. Qe2 Bd6 8. d3 O-O 9. dxe6 fxe6 10. Nf3 Nc6 11. O-O Rae8 12. Nc3 e5 13. f5 Nd4 14. Qd1 Nxf5 15. Bg5 Ng4 16. Qd2 Nd4 17. Ne4 Be7 18. Bxe7 Qxe7 19. Rae1 Nxf3+ 20. Rxf3 Rxf3 21. gxf3 Nh6 22. f4 exf4 23. Nf6+ Qxf6 24. Rxe8+ Kf7 25. Re4 g5 26. h4 Nf5 27. hxg5 Qxg5+ 28. Qg2 Qh4 29. Re2 Kf6 30. Qxb7 Qg3+ 31. Qg2 Nd4 32. Rf2 Kg5 33. Kf1 Nf5 34. Qf3 h5 35. b4 Qxf3 36. Rxf3 Kg4 37. Rf2 Ne3+ 38. Ke2 Kg3 39. bxc5 Nf5 40. Rf3+ Kg4 41. Rf1 h4 42. Kf2 Nd4 43. Rg1+ Kf5 44. Rg7 h3 45. Rxa7 Nc6 46. Rh7 Kg4 47. Rh6 Ne5 48. c6 Nxd3+ 49. Ke2 1-0

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Nicholas Chan vs Mas Hafizulhelmi (Game 2)

1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. g3 Bb4 4. Qb3 Nc6 5. Bg2 Nd4 6. Qd1 O-O 7. e3 Bxc3 8. bxc3 Ne6 9. e4 Qe7 10. Ne2 Nc5 11. d3 Qd6 12. d4 Ncxe4 13. Qc2 Nxf2 14. Kxf2 Ng4+ 15. Ke1 Re8 16. Qf5 exd4 17. Bd5 Nf6 18. cxd4 c6 19. Bf3 Qxd4 20. Rb1 Qxc4 21. Bb2 d5 22. Qf4 Ne4 23. Rc1 Qxa2 24. Bh5 Be6 25. Rf1 Qxb2 0-1

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Mas Hafizulhelmi vs Nicholas Chan (Game 3)

1. d4 c5 2. d5 Nf6 3. Nc3 d6 4. e4 g6 5. Nf3 Bg7 6. Nd2 O-O 7. Be2 Nbd7 8. O-O Ne8 9. a4 Rb8 10. f4 a6 11. a5 Nc7 12. Nc4 Nb5 13. Na4 Nf6 14. Bd3 e6 15. Nab6 exd5 16. Nxd5 Nxd5 17. exd5 f5 18. c3 Nc7 19. Nb6 Bd7 20. Be3 Be8 21. Qd2 Na8 22.Nc4 Bb5 23.Bf2 Re8 24.Rfe1 Qc7 25.Ne3 Bxd3 26.Qxd3 Bh6 27.g3 Qd7 28.Nc4 Qb5 29.Re6 Bf8 30.Rae1 Nc7 31.R6e2 Rxe2 32 Rxe2 Ne8 33 Re6 Rd8 34. h3 Ng7 35. Re2 Nh5 36. Kg2 Bh6 37. Kf3 Rf8 38. Re6 Nf6 39.Qe2 Qb3 40.Be3 Ne4 41.g4 Bg7 42.g5 Bg7 43.h4 Kf7 44.Bc1 Rd7 45.h5 Rd8 46.Kg2 Qb5 47. Kh3 Qb3 48.Ne3 Qb5 49.Nc4 Bh8 50. Kg2 Rd7 51. Kf3 Bg7 52. Be3 Qb3 53. Qd3 Qa2? 54. hxg6+ hxg6 55. Rxe4 fxe4+ 56. Qxe4 Re7 57. Qd3 Kg8 58. Nxd6 Qxb2 59.Qxg6 Qh2 ½-½

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Nicholas Chan vs Mas Hafizulhelmi (Game 4)

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qb3 a5 5. g3 d5 6. a3 Be7 7. d4 O-O 8. Bg2 c6 9. O-O a4 10. Qa2 b6 11. Rd1 Ba6 12.Ne5 Nfd7 13.Nxd7 Nxd7 14.cxd5 cxd5 15. e4 Bc4 16. Qb1 Nf6 17. e5 Nd7 18. Re1 b5 19. Qc2 Qb6 20. Qd1 Nb8 21. Qg4 Kh8 22. Be3 Nc6 23. Ne2 Bxe2 24. Rxe2 Na5 25. Rd1 Rac8 26. h4 Rc4 27. h5 Nb3 28.Bf1 b4 29.axb4 Qxb4 30.f3 Rfc8 31.Qf4 Kg8 32.Rf2 R4c7 33.Bd3 Bf8 34.Kg2 Na5 35.Ra1 Qb3 36. Bb1 Qb5 37.Kh2 Nb3 38.Ra2 Nc1 39.Ra1 Ne2 40.Qg4 Qxb2 41.h6 Qxa1 42.hxg7 Qxb1 43.hxf8+=Q Kxf8 44.Bh6+ Ke7 45.Rxe2 Rc2 46.Bd2 R2c4 47. Qg5+ Kd7 48. Qf4 Qf5 49. Qe3 f6 50.g4 Qg5 51.Qd3 Qh4+ 52.Kg2 f5 53.Be1 Qe7 54.gxf5 Qg5+ 55. Kf1 Qxf5 56.Qa3 Qf8 57. Qd3 Rb8 58. Qxh7+ Qe7 59. Qh6 Rb3 60. Bh4 Rxf3+ 61. Kg2 Qf8 62.Qg6 Qf5 63. Qg7+ Qf7 64. Qg4 Rcc3 65. Rb2 Kc6 66. Be1 Rce3 67. Rc2+ Kd7 68. Bh4 Re4 69. Qg5 Rxh4 70. Qxh4 Qg6+ 71. Kxf3 Qd3+ 72. Kf4 Qxc2 73. Qh8 Qf2+ 74. Kg4 Qxd4+ 75. Kg3 Qd3+ 76. Kg2 Qe2+ 77. Kg3 a3 78. Qb8 Qd3+ 79. Kh4 Qc4+ 80. Kg5 Qc7 81. Qb5+ Kd8 82. Qa6 Qxe5+ 83. Kg6 Qf5+ 84. Kg7 Qg5+ 85. Kf7 Qe7+ 86. Kg6 Qb4 87. Kf7 Kc7 88. Qa7+ Kc6 89. Kf6 Kb5 90. Kxe6 Qc5 91. Qh7 a2 92. Qd3+ Qc4 93. Qa3 d4+ 94. Kd7 Qa4 0-1 -The Star

Chess: Carlsen number one

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As the youngest chess player ever, Norwegian Magnus Carlsen (19) now tops the list over the world's top players, after his match at the London Chess Classic against British Michael Adams on Monday ended in a draw.
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Carlsen whose 19th birthday was on November 30th, is also the first player from a western nation to reach the top since Bobby Fisher in1972.
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The Norwegian will meet Nigel Short on Tuesday in the last round of the tournament.
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(NRK/Aftenposten)
Rolleiv Solholm
http://www.norwaypost.no

GM Boris Gelfand wins Chess World Cup

Dec 15 - Justifying his top billing Grand Boris Gelfand of Israel won the Chess World Cup, defeating former world champion Ruslan Ponomariov of Ukraine in the tie-breaker of the final here.

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After the first three games ended in a draw, the fourth game under normal time control was intense but also ended in a draw leading to the tie-breaker which was also not devoid of venom.

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Gelfand enjoyed early lead in the rapid tie-break games and was almost closed to shut the doors on Pono when suddenly in the last (fourth) game of the rapid games the giant rose and squared the one point advantage that the Israeli had.

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The stage was thus set for the tie-break blitz games that have been known to give the seeds a taste of their own medicine. Gelfand won the second set of Blitz tie-breaker 2-0 after drawing the first set 1-1.

World Cup final

Chess

By QUAH SENG SUN

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DID anyone manage to watch the games of the Chess World Cup live from Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, in the past week?

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Someone dropped me a line to say that he visited the official website, where he downloaded the games of the first two rounds and played quickly through many of them. Then, he noticed that from the third round onwards, the field of players dwindled from 32 to just four players.

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“I just felt that the tournament became less interesting with fewer players,” he wrote. “I know the stakes may have gone higher but I miss the thrill of moving from game to game, like in the earlier rounds.”

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I know what he meant. He missed the hustle and bustle of a crowded chess room. In a virtual chess room, like what you’d get on an Internet chess server, there could be hundreds of people playing blitz chess at the same time. You would be able to watch hundreds of games and participate with other players too.
Showdown: Boris Gelfand and Rusland Ponomariov (below) are battling it out at the final of this year’s Chess World Cup.

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So when all he saw on the Chess World Cup website were just two games between four players at the semi-final stage, it was quite a letdown. Moreover, except for the rapid chess play-off games, the main games used classical time control and were ploddingly slow. As a result, they were not so interesting to watch.

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Well, the final started yesterday between Boris Gelfand and Ruslan Pono­mariov. This is played over four games with classical time control and if they are tied, they players will proceed to rapid chess play-offs. If they are still tied, then it will go down to the blitz and sudden-death games.

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In 1990, Gelfand was one of more than 10 Soviet grandmasters who were on transit in Kuala Lumpur en route to play in the Manila chess inter-zonal tournament. Today, he is an Israeli citizen.

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Gelfand went to Khanty-Mansiysk as the joint top seed, being one of two players with the highest ratings in the tournament. He has played to his top billing and is in crushing top form. Until the final, the only time he was seen to struggle was in the fourth round when his French opponent, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, pushed him to play four rapid chess games and two blitz rounds.

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On the other hand, Ponomariov’s progress in this event took him through four gruelling tie-breaking matches, including the semi-final match with Vladimir Malakhov.

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Ponomariov is a former Fide world chess champion from Ukraine. In 2002, he beat Vassily Ivanchuk by 4½-2½ to win this title at the age of 18, making him the first teenager to ever become a world chess champion. In the same year, he came second behind Garry Kasparov in a very strong tournament held at Linares, Spain.

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By the way, you may want to know what happened to Wesley So, that talented 16-year-old Filipino kid who created waves in this event. Well, soon after I had spoken so much about him last week, the lad’s brilliant run ended in the fourth round at the hands of Vladimir Malakhov. Malakhov, a physicist by profession, later downed Peter Svidler in the quarter-final and met his match in the semi-final against Ponomariov.

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So who will be the eventual winner of this year’s Chess World Cup: Gelfand or Pono­mariov? Hard to say, but let’s watch at the official website http://cup2009.fide.com/java/pgn/mon.php. The final match will be played until Sunday or Monday (if it goes to tie-breaks).

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In the meantime, here are two illustrative games from the finalists.

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White: Sergey Karjakin
Black: Boris Gelfand

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1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d3 Nc6 4.Nf3 Be7 5.0-0 0-0 6.Bb3 d5 7.exd5 Nxd5 8.h3 a5 9.a4 Nd4 10.Nxd4 exd4 11.Re1 Ra6 (This is a very interesting move because if White plays 12.Bxd5 Qxd5 13.Rxe7, then Black’s 13 … Rg6 threatens checkmate in one move) 12.Qh5 Nb4 13.Na3 Rg6 14.Bf4 b6 15.Qf3 Be6 16.Bxe6 fxe6 17.Qe4 Bd6 18.Bxd6 cxd6 19.Qxd4 Qg5 20.g3 Qf5 21.g4 h5 22.Re4 d5 23.Kh2 Qf3 24.Ree1 hxg4 25.Qe3 gxh3 26.Qxf3 Rxf3 27.Rg1 Rxf2+ 28.Kxh3 Rxg1 29.Rxg1 Nxc2 30.Nb5 Rf3+ 31.Kg4 Rxd3 (This is a rout. Black is three points to the good and White has no compensation at all) 32.Nd6 Ne3+ 33.Kf4 Nc4 0-1

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White: Ruslan Ponomariov
Black: Vladimir Malakhov

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1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 c6 3. e3 Nf6 4. Nc3 a6 5. Be2 dxc4 6. Bxc4 b5 7. Bb3 e6 8. O-O Bb7 9. d4 c5 10. e4 Be7 11. e5 Ne4 12. Nxe4 Bxe4 13. Qe2 Bb7 14. dxc5 Bxc5 15. Ng5 Nc6 16. Qh5 g6 17. Qh6 Bf8 18. Qh3 Qc7 19. Rd1 Rd8 20. Be3 Bg7 21. Bxe6 fxe6 22. Nxe6 Rxd1+ 23. Rxd1 Qf7 24. Nxg7+ Qxg7 25. Bc5 Qf7 26. e6 Qf5 27. Qxf5 gxf5 28. Rd7 Bc8 29. Rc7 Bxe6 30. Rxc6 Kf7 31. Rxa6 Rd8 32. h3 f4 33. a4 Rd5 34. b4 bxa4 35. Rxa4 f3 36. Ra3 fxg2 37. Kxg2 Rh5 38. Rf3+ Ke8 39. Rc3 Bd7 40. Re3+ Kd8 41. Be7+ Kc7 42. h4 Rf5 43. Kg3 Bc6 44. Bc5 h5 45. f4 Bb5 46. Re7+ Kc6 47. Rg7 Kd5 48. Kf3 Bd3 49. Rd7+ Kc4 50. Ke3 Bb1 51. Rd1 Bc2 52. Rc1 Kb3 53. Rxc2 1-0

Norwegian, 18, Is Youngest to Be Ranked No. 1 at Chess

By DYLAN LOEB McCLAIN
Published: November 14, 2009
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The chess world has a new No. 1 player, Magnus Carlsen of Norway, and he is only 18 years old — the youngest player ever to hold the rank.

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On Saturday, Mr. Carlsen beat Peter Leko, a Hungarian player now ranked No. 11, in the final round of a tournament in Moscow. Though Mr. Carlsen only tied for second in the tournament, his performance was good enough for him to edge out Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria for the top world ranking. Mr. Topalov, 34, did not compete in the tournament.

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Mr. Carlsen, who turns 19 on Nov. 30, is only the seventh No. 1-ranked player since the ranking system began in 1970. Garry Kasparov, the Russian former world champion, became No. 1 in January 1984, when he was 20 years and 9 months old. He held the spot for 18 months, lost it, and then regained it and held it for 20 consecutive years before retiring in March 2005.

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The other players to be No. 1 are all former world champions, including Bobby Fischer, Anatoly Karpov, Vladimir Kramnik and Viswanathan Anand.

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Rankings are based on cumulative performances, measured by something called a rating. Mr. Carlsen’s rating is now 2,806, and Mr. Topalov’s is 2,805. Mr. Anand, 39, the current world champion, finished in a tie for fourth in Moscow and is now No. 3, with a rating of 2,790.

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Last year, during a tournament in Bilbao, Spain, Mr. Carlsen briefly took over the top spot, but he lost the following the day and slipped back to No. 4. In an e-mail message just after the tournament ended in Moscow, Mr. Carlsen said of his current No. 1 status that he “hopes it lasts much longer than the short stay during Bilbao last year.”

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Mr. Kasparov is now training Mr. Carlsen. They began working together in December 2008, though Mr. Carlsen said the training sessions became more intensive over the summer.

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Though Mr. Carlsen is No. 1, he cannot become world champion yet. World champions have historically been determined in a match of many games between two players, and Mr. Anand and Mr. Topalov have already signed to play a title match next April in Bulgaria.

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The World Chess Federation, the game’s governing body, has also not settled on a format for selecting a challenger after next year’s match, so Mr. Carlsen will have to wait until at least 2011 and possibly 2012 to even have a shot at the title. But he still has a few years to become the youngest world champion, as Mr. Kasparov did not do it until he was 22. -NY Times

Carlsen-Morozevich

Carlsen

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[Event "Tal Memorial"]

[Date "2009.11.06"]

[Round "2"]

[White "Carlsen, M."]

[Black "Morozevich, A."][ECO "E25"]

[WhiteElo "2801"][BlackElo "2750"]

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1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. f3 d5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 c5 7. cxd5 Nxd5 8. dxc5 Qa5 9. e4 Nf6 10. Be3 O-O 11. Qb3 Na6 (A lesser known move. Most popular is 11...Nfd7) 12. Nh3 += (I expect Morozevich to play Nd7 here. Even though Black is down a pawn, he can recapture at c5 at will.

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However, I am not very impressed with Black's position. The Bishop on c8 is stuck.) 12... Nd7 (Now, White's best option is to take the Knight on a6. Even when Black recaptures with the Queen, White does not worry about the castling problem because White always has the f2 square for the King. White can also play c4 to block the Black Queen.)

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13. Ba6 Qxa6 14. c4 (White can now castle safely.) 14...Ne5 (The only decent square for the Knight) 15. Rc1 Bd7 (Pretty much a must since Black has to begin to develop his Bishop.)16. Qc3 f6 17. 0-0 Ba4 += (The idea is to block the White's Rooks from the d file.)

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18. Nf4 Rfd8 (White must chase the Black Knight from the best square e5. Bd4 would solve this problem. White can also solidify his Bishop with Ne2 eventually.) 16. Bd4 (Black has many choices to retreat his Knight. A logical spot is on f7. Nc6 is no good because of Nxe6. Ng6 is also playable.)

16...

Beating the giants

CHESS
By QUAH SENG SUN
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Norwegian teen makes ripples in chess world.
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SINCE the end of last month, I’ve been spending some time marvelling at the progress of a young man whom I consider to be one of the most exciting chess players to have emerged in recent years.

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As an eight-year-old kid, he started learning chess and by his 11th birthday, had attained an international rating of 2,072. For a player that was brought up on chess in the West, that was nothing much but since that modest start, that young chap’s chess prowess had shot through the roof.

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At the age of 13 years four months and 27 days, he became the third youngest grandmaster in chess history. He touched the 2,600 rating level in the January 2006 Fide rating list, then topped the 2,700 rating mark in the July 2007 rating list.
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Today, according to the Live Rating list, he has breached the rarified 2,800 rating level, one of only two chess players to do so. Only 18 years old, and he’s currently the No.2 player in the world.

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I’m talking about Magnus Carlsen. The whole world is talking about Magnus Carlsen. A phenomenal chess player from Norway with a phenomenal memory and chess talent.

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At the second Pearl Spring chess tournament that ended in Nanjing, China, last week, Carlsen brushed aside a formidable field that consist­ed of Veselin Topalov (Bulga­rian grandmaster and former Fide world champion, ranked first in the world), Peter Leko (Hunga­rian grandmaster, ranked sixth in the world), Teimour Radjabov (Azerbai­jan grandmaster, ranked seventh in the world), Dmitry Jakovenko (Russ­ian grandmaster, ranked 12th in the world) and Wang Yue (Chi­nese grandmaster, ranked 15th in the world).

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In my opinion, Carlsen made mincemeat out of them. In the first half of the double round-robin tournament, he almost made a clean sweep of his rivals, beating all of them except dropping a draw in his game with Wang. Then, having achieved a commanding lead, he slowed down his pace in the second half and conceded three draws. Despite that, he finished the tournament with an impressive eight points from 10 games.

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According to his live ratings, his rating shot up by an astounding 28.8 rating points against these top players. In the process, he beat Topalov, Wang, Radjabov and Leko by similar 1½-½ results, and won both of his games against Jakovenko.

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By contrast, while he was demolishing his opposition, the other players were making heavy weather playing against one other (other than Carlsen). In the 20 games that were recorded amongst themselves, all except three games were drawn.

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As a result, there was a wide chasm that separated Carlsen from Topalov. True, the former Fide world champion finished second in the tournament but he obtained only 5½ points. Wang was the lowest rated player among the six of them but he finished a very creditable third with 4½ points. Radjabov, Leko and Jakovenko finished with four points each.

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Incidentally, it was revealed last month that Garry Kasparov is now officially Carlsen’s trainer. They have been having training sessions for about nine months now. As a coach, nobody comes any bigger than Kasparov himself. In Nanjing, according to Carlsen, the games were “homework by Garry Kasparov and me.”

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Here are three of Carlsen’s games in Nanjing that I found particularly enjoyable.

Magnus Carlsen vs Veselin Topalov, Round 2
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. h3 Na6 7. Be3 e5 8. d5 c6 9. g4 Nc5 10. Nd2 a5 11. a3 Nfd7 12. Rg1 a4 13. Qc2 Nb6 14. O-O-O Bd7 15. Kb1 cxd5 16. cxd5 Rc8 17. Bb5 Bxb5 18. Nxb5 Qd7 19. Nc3 Bf6 20. g5 Bd8 21. h4 Na8 (See diagram) 22. Bxc5 Rxc5 23. Qxa4 Qc8 24. Rc1 Nb6 25. Qd1 Qh3 26. Qf3 Qd7 27. Qd3 Kg7 28. Rc2 f6 29. gxf6+ Rxf6 30. h5 Rxf2 31. hxg6 h6 32. Nd1 Rxc2 33. Nxf2 Rc8 34. Ng4 Bg5 35. Nf3 Nc4 36. Nxg5 hxg5 37. Ne3 Nxe3 38. Qxe3 Qa4 39. Qxg5 Qxe4+ 40. Ka1 Re8 41. Rc1 1-0

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Magnus Carlsen vs Teimour Radjabov, Round 5
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 e6 4. 0-0 Nge7 5. c3 a6 6. Ba4 b5 7. Bc2 Bb7 8. Qe2 d5 9. e5 d4 10. Be4 Qb6 11. d3 Rd8 12. a4 Nd5 13. axb5 axb5 14. cxd4 cxd4 15. Nbd2 Nf4 16. Qd1 Nb4 17. Nb3 Bxe4 18. dxe4 Nfd3 19. Bg5 Rc8 20. Nfxd4 Nxb2 21. Qe2 Nc4 22. Rfc1 Bc5 23. Nxb5 0-0 24. Nxc5 (See diagram: the four knights make for a very unusual position) 24….Nxe5 25. Be7 1-0
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Magnus Carlsen vs Dmitry Jakovenko, Round 10
1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Be7 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bf4 c6 6. Qc2 Bd6 7. Bxd6 Qxd6 8. e3 Ne7 9. Bd3 b6 10. Nf3 Ba6 11. O-O Bxd3 12. Qxd3 Nd7 13. e4 O-O 14. e5 Qe6 15. Rae1 Rfe8 16. Nh4 Ng6 17. Nxg6 Qxg6 18. Qd2 Nf8 19. f4 Qf5 20. Nd1 f6 21. Ne3 Qd7 22. Qd3 fxe5 23. dxe5 Ne6 24. f5 Nc5 25. Qd4 Ne4 26. Nxd5 (See diagram) 26….Qxd5 27. Qxe4 Rad8 28. e6 Qxe4 29. Rxe4 Rd6 30. g4 Kf8 31. g5 Ke7 32. Kg2 Rd5 33. Kg3 Kd6 34. h4 c5 35. f6 gxf6 36. gxf6 Rd3+ 37. Kh2 Rd2+ 38. Kh1 1-0

Contest of contrasts

CHESSBy QUAH SENG SUN

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The first knock-out match of the Malaysian Masters was an interesting one, with about 300 rating points separating the two contenders.

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IT’S time to wrap up the coverage of the first round of knock-out matches in the Malaysian Masters tournament.

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Last month, we witnessed an interesting struggle between two of our former national champions, Lim Yee Weng and Edward Lee.

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Lim was the national champion in 1996 and 1997, while Lee was last year’s champion. It is interesting to note that, like many of our former national champions, both of them were only in their mid-teens when they won their titles. Lim was 14 in 1996 while Lee was not much older at 15 years when he won it last year.

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I do remember that Lim first won the title under my watch. I was the chief arbiter of the national championship at that time and I saw a very confident Lim patiently grind down all the opposition, including his closest rivals, while having a school text book with him between rounds.

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Of course, a lot has happened in the last 13 years. Lim had gone on to represent the country in so many international-level chess competitions that he is one of our most experienced players. In fact, he is just short of raising his international rating to above 2,400 before being awarded the international master title but unfortunately, it is a barrier that he hasn’t overcome.

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By comparison, Lee is still a greenhorn at the game. The only opportunity he had to play for the country was at last year’s Chess Olympiad in Dresden, Germany. He is now studying in Singapore, so I reckon that it doesn’t given him many chances to play competitively at a higher level. Still, he was game enough to return to Kuala Lumpur to play this match with Lim.

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Accordingly, what we have here is another contest of contrasting experience. Also, there were about 300 rating points seprating them.

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Right from the start, it looked like a shoo-in for Lim in this short, four-game match. However, it turned out that Lee had more wits about him.

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He took the fight to Lim in the first game which turned out to be a very interesting tussle. To the two players’ credit, they fought it out to a draw.

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More excitement was expected of them in the second game but surprisingly, they agreed to a quick draw. Thus, at the end of the first day’s play, the match was squared at 1-1. It was the first time at the Malaysian Masters that points had been shared.

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Lim Yee Weng vs Edward Lee (Game 1)
1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 a6 3. g3 b5 4. Bg2 Bb7 5. d3 e6 6. f4 d5 7. Qe2 d4 8. Nd1 Nf6 9. Nf3 Nc6 10. O-O Be7 11. Nf2 Qb6 12. Bd2 Nd7 13. Rfc1 O-O 14. e5 Rac8 15. Ne4 c4 16. Be1 Nc5 17. Nxc5 Bxc5 18. Ng5 Be7 19. Ne4 Nb4 20. Nf6+ gxf6 21. exf6 Bxf6 22. Bxb4 Rfe8 23. Bxb7 Qxb7 24. Bd6 Qd5 25. Be5 Bxe5 26. fxe5 Rc5 27. Re1 Rec8 28.Qg4+ Kf8 29.Qf4 cxd3 30.cxd3 Rc2 31.Re4 Rxb2 32. Rf1 Rc7 33. Qf6 Ke8 34. Qh8+ Kd7 35. Qb8 f5 36. exf6 Rcc2 37. Qa7+ (½-½)

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Edward Lee vs Lim Yee Weng (Game 2)
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. e5 f6 5. Nf3 Bb4 6. a3 Bxc3+ 7. bxc3 Qe7 8. Bb5 Bd7 9. Qe2 Qf7 10. O-O Nge7 11. a4 Ng6 12. Ba3 a6 13. Bd3 Nf4 14. Qe3 Nxd3 15. cxd3 f5 16. c4 h6 (½-½)

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However, Lee’s dream run effectively ended on the second day. The third game proved to be another very interesting encounter. Much of the game centred around Black’s dangerous pawns on the queenside but once all of them were neutralised and eliminated, the point was soon in Lim’s pocket.

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Lim Yee Weng vs Edward Lee (Game 3)
1. d4 Nf6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Bg5 Nbd7 4. f3 h6 5. Bf4 a6 6. e4 dxe4 7. fxe4 e6 8. Nf3 Bb4 9. e5 Nd5 10. Bd2 Nxc3 11. bxc3 Be7 12. Bd3 b5 13. a4 bxa4 14. c4 Bb7 15. O-O c5 16. d5 exd5 17. e6 Nf6 18. Ne5 dxc4 19. exf7+ Kf8 20. Ng6+ Kxf7 21. Nxh8+ Kg8 22. Bxc4+ Kxh8 23. Bc3 Qxd1 24. Rfxd1 Bc6 25. Re1 Bd8 26. Bd3 c4 27. Bf5 Bb6+ 28. Kh1 Nd5 29. Re6 Nxc3 30. Rxc6 Bd4 31. Rxc4 Bf6 32. Rc8+ Rxc8 33. Bxc8 a5 34. Bd7 Nd5 35. Ra2 Nb4 36. Rxa4 Nxc2 37. Rxa5 Nd4 38. Be8 Kg8 39. Bg6 Kf8 40. Ra7 Nc6 41. Rc7 Ne7 42. Be4 Kf7 43. g3 Ke6 44. Kg2 Kd6 45. Ra7 Nc8 46. Ra6+ Ke7 47. Kf3 Nd6 48. Bd5 Nb5 49. Bc4 Nc7 50. Ra7 Kd6 51. Ke4 Bc3 52. Ra3 Bf6 53. Kf5 Bb2 54. Rd3+ Ke7 55. Kg6 Ba1 56. Re3+ Kd6 57. Bf7 Bb2 58. Rf3 Ba1 59. Bb3 Ne8 60. Rf7 Be5 61. Ba4 Nf6 62. Rxg7 Ng4 63. Rd7+ Ke6 64. Rd2 (1-0)

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The fourth game proved to be a non-event. Lee had to win this game at any cost to remain in contention for qualification to the semi-finals of the Malaysian Masters but inexplicably, he agreed to a very short draw with Lim. It was a decision that left many spectators non-plussed and questions were raised why he did exactly that.

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Edward Lee vs Lim Yee Weng (Game 4)
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Be3 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Bc5 9.Qd2 Nxd4 10.Bxd4 Bxd4 11.Qxd4 Qb6 (½-½)

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Nevertheless, it was a very exciting match that saw Lim ease into the semi-finals of the Malaysian Masters where he is slated to meet Nicholas Chan. Chan had earlier disposed of this year’s national champion, Evan Timothy Capel.

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The other semi-final match will be a clash of Malaysian titans as Mas Hafizulhelmi and Mok Tze Meng will face off with one another. And there can be only one survivor. Mas Hafizul had earlier knocked off Muhammad Tariq Amru while Mok showed off his mettle by out-performing Ooi Chern Ee.

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So far, the organisers of the Malaysian Masters have yet to finalise the schedule of the two semi-final matches. Until then, we can only wait and see. -The Star

Champ of champs

The Malaysian Masters will determine who our best player is.

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WITH the excitement of the Malaysian Chess Festival and the KL Open behind us, it is time to start looking again at the more down-to-earth chess activities in the country. But what have we here?

.

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For one, it’s the Malaysian Masters knock-out series. This event has been going on over some weekends already. The objective of this series was to let our top players determine who could rightly claim to be the champion of Malaysian champions..

The annual national closed championships were not enough to measure a winner’s credentials. It is not often that defending champions returning to defend their titles. Some risk being labelled flash-in-the-pan champions due to their unwillingness to take part again.

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We can always fall back on the Fide rating list to see who our current crop of best active players are, but there is nothing like a real hand-to-hand, over-the-board combat among the best to settle the issue, is there?

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The Malaysian Masters was designed to be a way for seven of our national masters and the present national junior champion to fight it out among themselves.

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Actually, the organisers had called upon the top four players from the July 2009 Fide rating list, and added the top two players from this year’s national closed championship, the winner of the national junior championship and one player nominated by the Malaysian Chess Federation (MCF).

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But when Wong Zijing – one of Malaysia’s top four on the Fide list – was unable to confirm his participation, his place went to the fifth person on the Fide list, Mok Tze Meng. Peter Long was the MCF’s top choice but as he too couldn’t play, Ooi Chern Ee filled the last available slot.

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So far, I have written about two of the four preliminary matches, Mas Hafizulhelmi (Malaysian No.1 in the September 2009 Fide rating list) beating Muhammad Tariq Amru (national junior champion) with a 3-0 score, and Mok triumphing over Ooi by the same margin.

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The week before the Malaysian Chess Festival took off, Nicholas Chan (Malaysian No.3 in Fide’s September list) won the match against Evan Timothy Capel (national champion) by 3-0.

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Of course, the players’ experience and rating strengths would be significant in any contest. Chan has had many opportunities to play at international levels whereas Capel’s experience was virtually none. Also, their rating difference was a world apart and a gulf of almost 400 points separated them.
.

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Chan vs Capel: Game 1
1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. d4 Be7 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Bg5 O-O 7. e3 b6 8. Bd3 Bb7 9. O-O Ne4 10. Bf4 Nxc3 11. bxc3 h6? 12. Ne5 Nd7 13. Bxh6 Nxe5 14. dxe5 f5 15. Bf4 g5 16. Bg3 Bc8 17. f4 g4 18. Qb3 Be6 19. e4 Qd7 20. Rad1 dxe4 21. Bc4 Bc5+ 22. Kh1 Bxc4 b Qxc4+ Qf7 24.e6 Qf6 25. Rd7 Rae8 26. e7+ Rf7 27. Rxc7 Rexe7 28. Rc8+ Kg7 29. Rd1 Qe6 30. Qa6 Rd7 31. Re1 Rf8 32. Rxc5 Rd2 33. Rc7+ Kg6 34. Qxa7 Rh8 35. Rg7+ Kf6 36. Rb7 Rxa2 37. Qxb6 Qxb6 38. Rxb6+ Kf7 39. c4 Rd8 40. Rf6+ Kxf6 41. Bh4+ Ke6 42. Bxd8 Rc2 43. Kg1 Rxc4 44. Bb6 Kd5 45. Kf2 Rc3 46. Be3 Ra3 47. Rd1+ Ke6 48. Bc5 Rc3 49. Rd6+ Kf7 50. Rf6+ Kg7 51. Rxf5 Rb3 52. Bd4+ Kh6 53. Re5 Ra3 54. Re8 (1-0)
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Game 2
1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. Bg5 c5 4. c3 h6 5. Bxf6 Qxf6 6. Nbd2 cxd4 7. cxd4 Nc6 8. e3 Qd8 9. Bd3 Be7 10. 0-0 0-0 11. a3 d6 12. b4 Bd7 13. Rc1 a6 14. Qb3 a5 15. d5 Ne5 16. Nxe5 dxe5 17. Nf3 axb4 18. axb4 Ba4 19. Qc3 Qxd5 20. Bc4 Qd6 21. Qxe5 Qxe5 22. Nxe5 Bxb4 23. Nd3 Bd6 24. Rb1 Rfc8 25. Bb5 Bc2 26. Rb2 Ba3 27. Ra2 Bb3 28. Raa1 Ra5 29. Nf4 e5 30. Nh5 Rc5 31. Bd7 (see diagram) Bc4 32. Rfb1 b5 33. Ng3 Rc7 34. Bf5 b4 35. Bc2 Be6 36. Bd1 Kf8 37. e4 Rac5 38. Ne2 Rd7 39. Bb3 Bxb3 40. Rxb3 Rd2 41. Kf1 Rcc2 42. Re3 g6 43. f3 Kg7 44. Ke1 h5 45. Rd1 Rxd1+ 46. Kxd1 Rb2 47. Rd3 b3 48. Rd5 Bb4 49. Ng3 Rb1+ 50. Ke2 b2 51. Kf2 (0-1)
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Game 3
1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. cxd5 exd5 5. d4 Be7 6. Bg5 O-O 7. e3 Nbd7 8. Bd3 Re8 9. Qc2 h6 10. Bh4 c6 11. O-O Ne4 12. Bxe4 Bxh4 13. Bh7+ Kh8 14. Bf5 Bf6 15. b4 Nf8 16. Bd3 Ne6 17. Rab1 Qd6 18. Rfc1 b6 19. b5 Bb7 20. bxc6 Bxc6 21. Nb5 Bxb5 22. Bxb5 Rec8 23. Qa4 Rc7 24. Ba6 Ng5 25. Ne1 Ne4 26. Rxc7 Qxc7 27. Qa3 Be7 28. Qb2 Bd6 29. g3 Rd8 30. Rc1 Qe7 31. Rc2 Rd7 32. Qb3 Nf6 33. Rc8+ Kh7 34. Qc2+ g6 35. Nd3 Rc7 36. Rxc7 Qxc7 37. Qxc7 Bxc7 38. Nb4 Bd6 39. Nc6 Ne4 40. Nxa7 Nc3 41. Nb5 Nxb5 42. Bxb5 Kg7 43. Bc6 f6 44. Bxd5 Kf8 45. Be4 Kf7 46. Kf1 Bb4 47. Ke2 g5 48. f4 Ke6 49. fxg5 hxg5 50. h4 gxh4 51. gxh4 Bf8 52. h5 Bh6 53. Kd3 Kd6 54. Bf5 Bg5 55. a4 Bh6 56. e4 Bf4 57. Kc4 Be3 58. Kb5 Kc7 59. d5 Bf4 60. Ka6 Be3 61. Bg6 Bf4 62. Bf5 Be3 63. Kb5 Bf4 64. Kc4 Kd6 65. Kd3 Ke5 66. Ke2 Bc1 67. Kf3 Bd2 68. Bd7 Kd6 69. Bf5 Bh6 70. Kg4 Ke5 71. Bg6 Bf8 72. Bh7 Bh6 73. d6 and White soon won the game (1-0)

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Up next
The Johor Chess Association is organising this event, to be held on Oct 3 and 4, at Kolej Tun Hussein Onn, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Johor. The results of this eight-round tournament will be used as the basis for selection of players to represent Johor at the Sarawak team championship in December and possibly next year’s national closed championship.

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Entries are limited to the first 60 players who sign up. Open to non-Johoreans too. To register, contact Leong Mun Wan (016-7419960 / leongmunwan@yahoo.com). -The Star

Game for more

CHESS
By QUAH SENG SUN

Even on a limited budget, we can still host interesting tournaments that attract strong foreign players.

ONE observation made by Malaysian Chess Federation honorary life president Datuk Tan Chin Nam at the prize-giving ceremony of the Malaysia Open last month was that chess promotion need not mean holding elite tournaments graced by the best players.

It was a statement that struck a chord. He was right, of course.

Best of the best: Vietnam’s Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son accepting his prize from Masterskill University College of Health Sciences director Tunku Kamel Tunku Rijaludin.

Let’s leave the elite tournaments to organisers with the big bucks. If we spend within our means, we can still hold interesting tournaments that attract reasonably strong foreign players.

After all, as Tan reasoned, chess professionals still have to make a living off the game.

Through the Malaysia Chess Festival, we provide opportunities for players to enjoy themselves and win some cash prizes, aside from raising the standard of the local game and enabling them to earn their international title norms.

A successful chess event by Tan’s interpretation then would mean having a tournament that satisfies these conditions: that it must be organised for the players, by the players and be about the players.

If I were to draw a conclusion about the Malaysia Chess Festival based on these conditions, then yes, the event was a success.

The same could be said about the Masterskill Kuala Lumpur Open held earlier this month. I could apply the same three conditions to the KL Open and come to the conclusion that it, too, was a success for the Kuala Lumpur Chess Association.

Of course, I cannot compare the KL Open to the Malaysia Open.

They were two completely different tournaments although they shared many similarities. Both were equally competitive and suspenseful. Players jostled for position and they jostled hard for the points.

Nevertheless, the smaller number of players in the KL Open together with a more compact playing area gave the tournament its own special characteristic.

Players were sitting closer to one another, almost elbow to elbow in many cases. Not one of the visiting grandmasters or international masters minded. No prima donnas among them, they came here to play chess and enjoy a bit of competitive fun.

On the chess board, there were big battles. But as much as I would like to say that it was a very tight race to the finish point, it wasn’t exactly so.

The second half of the tournament was dominated by a 19-year-old grandmaster from Vietnam. Presently, Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son is ranked as No.2 in his country.

At the Malaysia Open, he was among four or five players who remained unbeaten throughout that event. With a little more luck, he could have tied for the first place too.

Well, at the KL Open, he showed why his consistency has made him one of Vietnam’s brightest chess stars.

After the fourth round, he shared the top position with two other players but by the end of the fifth round, he was leading the field. However, he allowed his compatriot, the veteran Vietnamese grandmaster Dao Thien Hai, to catch up with him on points and for two rounds, they were running neck and neck towards the finish post.

Dao, however, slipped up in the eighth round. Here was the perfect chance for the 19-year-old. Obviously, he had learnt his lesson at the Malaysia Open and went into the final round with a lot of determination.

He refused to accept any other result but a win and in the end, he got what he wanted: a valuable point from the Uzbekistan grandmaster Marat Dzhumaev.

In second place was Indonesian grandmaster Susanto Megaranto who was just half a point behind the winner. Interestingly enough, Susanto is also the second highest ranked player in his country so there was also a lot of pressure on him to perform.

Unfortunately, he had a poor start, losing two of his first five games. But thereafter, he managed to pull his game together and reeled off consecutive wins in his last four games. His most important point came in the last round when he beat Dao.

Up next

IIUM Open: International Islamic University Malaysia will hold its second chess tournament at its Gombak campus on Oct 17 and 18. Entry fees are RM30 for the open category and RM20 for players under 21. For details, call Norsharmila Zabani (% 03-6196 5393), Ahmad Fadzil Nayan (013-953 1278) or Nurul Azlina Bakrin (017-462 5224). -the star

Positive note

CHESS
By QUAH SENG SUN

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BY my reckoning, the Malaysian Chess Federation (MCF) has at least drawn acknowledgement from Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek that the Government could have done more for the game.

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“This is a game that needs more publicity and aggressive promotion to bring in the fans,” he said when opening the Malaysia Chess Festival in Kuala Lumpur last Saturday.

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As a first step, he said that his ministry would meet with the MCF to draw up a development programme.

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“We shall have to take the initial step towards producing quality players for the future, including grandmasters, and we look forward to assisting the MCF in whatever way we can to promote Malaysia as a destination for chess,” said Shabery.

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He was impressed by the good turnout at the chess fest which attracted about 600 local and foreign players as well as their families. The foreigners hailed from 21 countries, some coming from as far as Uzbekistan and Australia.

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New champion: Parimarjan Negi (left) with Malaysian Chess Federation honorary life president Datuk Tan Chin Nam

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Shabery observed that this was a game that defied boundaries. “It is not a game of physical strength, not how big or how small you are, young or old, man or woman, or nationalities. Rarely do we see a sporting event that allows for both genders to compete on equal terms,” he said.

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Earlier, in his welcome speech, MCF president Tan Sri Ramli Ngah Talib stressed that the MCF has had no financial assistance from the Government in the past five years.

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“We are a sports organisation recognised by the Olympic Council of Malaysia and yet we do not receive any funding at all. We appeal to the minister for assistance and greater recognition of our efforts and activities in contributing to nation-building.

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“We undertake more than 10 competitions every year and send contingents to compete at international level. We are now undertaking a project to establish our first grandmaster.

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“I can confidently say that more than 40,000 people in this country are active in the game in one way or another: people from all walks of life, of all ages and physical abilities, from schoolchildren to working adults and senior citizens, playing competitively or socially.

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“Chess has a good following in this country; it gives good exposure to our country and the game helps in promoting awareness of Malaysia,” Ramli said.

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Speeches aside, one of the memorable moments of the 10-day Malaysia Chess Festival must be the tight finish at the IGB Arthur Tan Malaysia open tournament.
When I arrived in Kuala Lumpur after the end of the seventh round, I was wondering whether China’s Yu Yangyi would be able to hold on to his slim, sole lead.

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At that stage, he had earned six points, dropping only two early draws to Malaysia’s Yeoh Li Tian in the first round and Iranian grandmaster Ghaem Maghami Ehsan in the fifth, and winning all the other games.

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Right behind him was a crowded field of five players with 5½ points each, all waiting for the slightest mistake from him.

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In the eighth round, Yu did make a mistake. Careless play against Emmanuel Senador of the Philippines doomed him to defeat. Suddenly Senador found himself thrust into the role of tournament leader with 6½ points.

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In the meantime, the players who were chasing after the leader had grown to nine players, all only half a point behind.

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In such circumstances, I would consider the tournament to be wide open. That half a point notwithstanding, any one of the 10 players could become the next Malaysia open champion.

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For the final round, Senador found himself paired with Parimarjan Negi. Other critical last-round match-ups saw Ronald Dableo paired with Susanto Megaranto, Ghaem paired with Darwin Laylo, Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son with Yu, Gerhard Schebler with Nafisa Muminova and Saidali Yuldachev with Li Chao.

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Negi and Dableo found inspiration in their games as they carved out wins. So did Schebler who won his game and thus ended the tournament with 6½ points. All the other encounters were drawn.

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So by the time the dust finally settled on the Malaysia open, Negi and Dableo were the only two players left standing with seven points each. Eight players, including Schebler, finished with 6½ points.

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Originally, I thought there would be a play-off for the title but the tournament organisers told me there wouldn’t be one. If more than one player were to tie at the end of the nine rounds, the tie would be broken by tie-breaks. As it turned out, Negi had a slightly better tie-break than Dableo.

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The event was a thrilling fight from beginning to end. Spectators came to the tournament to see whether Li Chao could do a hattrick by winning the Malaysia open tournament for a third time.

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Instead, they found a new hero in the young Indian grandmaster, Negi. Now 16 years of age, Negi was once the youngest grandmaster in the world. On July 1, 2006, at the age of 13, he became a grandmaster when he earned his third and final GM norm at a tournament in Russia.

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Up next
The Kuala Lumpur open chess tournament at Shah’s Village Hotel in Petaling Jaya starts today. Except for Sunday, there’ll be two rounds daily until next Tuesday, with games starting at 8am and 2pm.

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According to the organisers, there will be six grandmasters and nine international masters in the 56-player field.

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The round-by-round results can be followed almost instantaneously from the tournament website,http://www.klchess.com/.

.
> Quah Seng Sun can be contacted at ssquah@gmail.com. -The star

Skuad catur sapu bersih

SKUAD catur negara menyapu bersih empat pingat emas yang ditawarkan pada hari terakhir Sukan Para ASEAN Kelima (KL'09) yang berlangsung di Dewan Komanwel, Majlis Sukan Negara, Bukit Jalil semalam.

..
Keseluruhannya, Malaysia melepasi sasaran enam pingat emas pada KL'09 ini apabila meraih lapan daripada 20 pingat emas yang ditawarkan daripada acara catur.

..
Nur Feiqah Maulud Mohd. Halil dan Choo Min Wang masing-masingnya menyumbang dua pingat emas bagi acara individu dan berpasukan terbuka lelaki dan wanita.

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Pada pertandingan akhir semalam, Nur Feiqah meraih dua pingat emas bagi kategori individu wanita terbuka B1/B2/B3 dan berpasukan wanita terbuka B1/B2/B3 ketika berganding dengan Athirah Azman dan Teo Suat Mui.

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Min Wang pula menyumbangkan emas dalam acara individu lelaki terbuka B1/B2/B3 dan berpasukan lelaki terbuka B1/B2/B3 bersama Mah Hassan Omar dan Shahruddin Sidek.

.

MAH HASSAN meraih emas dalam acara berpasukan lelaki terbuka B1/B2/B3

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Nur Feiqah yang menyumbang keseluruhan empat pingat emas bagi skuad catur negara berkata beliau gembira kerana berjaya mencapai sasaran bagi kategori individu dan pasukan.

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"Kejayaan yang diperoleh hari ini (semalam) merupakan kejayaan bersama dan tanpa bantuan daripada jurulatih ia sukar dicapai," katanya.

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Beliau bertekad untuk mengulangi kejayaan yang sama jika berpeluang menyertai Sukan Para ASEAN di Bandung, Indonesia pada 2011 nanti.

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"Walaupun sibuk dengan pelajaran, saya akan tetap luangkan masa untuk mendalami ilmu catur," katanya Sementara itu pengurus pasukan catur negara, Abdul Latif Mohammad berkata, beliau bersyukur kerana anak didiknya telah membuktikan bahawa mereka adalah yang terbaik.

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"Secara keseluruhan saya berpuas hati dengan pencapaian semua pemain," katanya.

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Beliau berkata, usaha mencari bakat baru bagi atlet lelaki perlu segera dibuat sebagai persiapan awal menghadapi Sukan Para ASEAN di Bandung kerana kebanyakan daripada atlet lelaki telah berusia. -kosmo

KL'09: Malaysian Chess Players Clean Sweep All Four Gold Medals On Offer

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 19 (Bernama) -- Malaysian chess players made a clean sweep of all the four gold medals offered in chess competitions on the final day of the Asean Para Games (KL 09) at the National Sports Council's Commonwealth Hall here on Wednesday.

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With the four gold medals won on Wednesday, the last of the 20 gold medals offered in chess competitions, Malaysia ended their campaign in the Games with eight gold medals, surpassing the six gold target set earlier.

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Nur Feiqah Maulud Mohd Halil and Choo Min Wang lived up to their top billing by winning the women's and men's individual events and later led their respective teams to win the team gold in both events. The two gold medals won on Wednesday increased Nur Feiqah's personal gold medal tally in the Games to four but the young petite lass remained modest and gracious in her celebrations.

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"This victory is a win for all and a team effort. It will not have been possible if not for the support and guidance from the coaches and officials," she told Bernama here on Wednesday. Nur Feiqah whose two gold medals came through the women's B1/B2/B3 category events, hopes to repeat a similar feat at the next Asean Para Games to be hosted by Indonesia in 2011.

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"Though I will be busy with my studies, I hope to continue playing and learning the techniques of the game," said Nur Feiqah who teamed up with Athirah Azman and Teo Suat Mui for the team gold in the same event. Meanwhile, Choo who swept the men's individual in the B1/B2/B3 event, partnered Mah Hassan Omar and Shahruddin Sidek for the team gold in the same event.

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Team manager Abdul Latif Mohammad said he was more than satisfied with the performances of his charges as they were able to surpass their initial target of six gold medals.

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"Having performed well here, it will be important to identify new talents to repeat a similar feat in Indonesia two years later," he said.-- BERNAMA

Danial pelajar autisme juara catur

KUALA TERENGGANU 9 Ogos - Pelajar tingkatan dua Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Agama (SMKA) Sheikh Abdul Malik di sini, Muhammad Danial Zainuddin muncul juara pertandingan catur pelajar pendidikan khas integrasi bermasalah pembelajaran.
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Kemenangan Muhammad Danial, 14, yang mengalami autisme itu dicapai selepas menewaskan 11 pelajar istimewa lain dalam pertandingan tersebut.
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Dia berjaya membawa pulang wang tunai RM200, trofi, hamper dan sijil.
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Muhammad Danial ketika ditemui berkata, dia gembira dapat memenangi pertandingan catur yang sangat diminatinya.
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Katanya, ia merupakan pertandingan catur pendidikan khas kedua yang dimenangi.
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"Saya mula menyukai permainan ini apabila mula bermain dengan ayah sejak saya berusia dua tahun.
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"Dia yang mengajar saya cara bermain dan memberi panduan untuk mengalahkan lawan," katanya.
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Pelajar tingkatan dua itu berkata, dia banyak berlatih dengan ayah dan adik untuk meningkatkan kemahiran bermain catur.
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Dalam pada itu, seorang lagi peserta pertandingan itu, Muhammad Zulhakim Zainudin, 10, berkata, dia menyukai permainan itu kerana membolehkannya mencari lebih banyak rakan baru.
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"Saya sangat suka main catur dan kebanyakan lawan saya menjadi rakan saya," katanya.

2nd SLC Open

..

Written by Tan Eu Hong

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See Lee Chan Open Chess Championship

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Date: 23 August 2009

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Entry Fee: RM10 for PCA Member / RM20 for Non-member

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Venue: SLC Auto Academy, No.472, Sungai Rambai, 14000 Bkt. Mertajam.

• .. Prizes: Champion: RM200, 2nd RM150, 3rd RM100, 4th-6th RM50, 7th-10th RM25, Best Veteran RM25, Best Lady RM25
• Format:Open category7 rounds will be played based on the Swiss System with time control of 25-minute each.
• Tie Break: Solkoff, CummulativeEntries are on First come first serve basis. Maximum number of entries is 100.

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Schedule:

..

9.45:10.00 Arrivals

10.00:10.50 Round 1

11.00:11.50 Round 2

12.00:12.50 Round 31

2.50:14:00 Lunch

14.00:14.50 Round 4

15.00:15.50 Round 5

16.00:16.50 Round 6

17.00:17.50 Round 7

17.50 Processing Results & Cert.

18.20:18.40 Prize Giving

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Registration:

..

Registration on the tournament day itself WILL NOT be entertained.

..

Call Mr. Tan Eng Seong 012-4299517 after 8pm, Email to

estan64@streamyx.com
..
and
..

estan64@gmail.com
..
or Call Mr. Tan Eu Hong 012-4882133 after 7pm, Email to mailto:toeuhong@euhong.net
....
Closing date: 22 Aug or the entries hit the maximum allowable.

..

Provide: Name, Category and National rating (if any)

..
The organizer reserve the right to change the rules and format.

Chess Notes

By Harold Dondis and Patrick Wolff

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The Ruy Lopez tournament is held annually at Zafra, Spain. This year it was held June 13-19. The tournament honors the Spanish cleric Rodrigo Lopez de Segura (1540-1580). Lopez was born in Zafra and was bishop of Segura. He was generally thought to be the strongest player of his time.

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In this tournament Michael Adams is upset in the first round by the young (20) IM David Larino, the current Spanish champion. In the exchange variation of the Ruy Lopez, Adams suffers an early inferior position and has to surrender a pawn.

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Nevertheless, Adams sets up a defensive position with his minor pieces that appears to be impenetrable. In such situations, there are always weak spots, and Larino, in no hurry to make a premature attack, was able to find them.

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The tourney was won by Ivan Cheparinov of Bulgaria, a half a point ahead of Adams.

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a) This has become a fashionable way for White to fight for advantage here.
b) Also 6. . .Be6 is sometimes played.
c) Surprisingly, this move is quite infrequent, with 8.Nc2 and 8.d4 more common. I see no obvious reason why this move is not also reasonable, however.
d) 8. . .Bb7 9.Rd1 O-O-O has been tried a few times, with a sharp fight.
e) There is a nasty little trap after 9. . .Bg4 10.h3 Bh5? (10Bxf3 is necessary with an edge to White) 11.d4! cxd4 12.cxd4 exd4 13.Nxb5! axb5 14.Qxb5+ and the bishop on h5 hangs!
f) This looks too ambitious. Better is 14. . .Be7 with a tough fight.
g) Now Black is in big trouble as 19. . .Nxe5 20.Bxe5 Bxe5 21.Re1 wins the bishop.
h) Very nice! Black has no way to escape loss of material since 24. . .O-O 25.Ne7+ hangs the queen and 24Qa8 25.Bxg7 Nxg7 26.Rd8+ is catastrophic.
i) Not 28. . .Qxb2 29.Rd1 and 30.Rd8+ cannot be stopped.
j) Here and for several moves 31. . .Qxc6 loses to 32.Qxf7+ Kd8 33.Rf6.
k) A very nice victory against one of the world’s strongest players!

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Annotations by grandmaster Patrick Wolff, a two-time US champion who offers chess exercises and more at http://www.wolffchess.com/. -Boston.com

GM Teimour Radjabov

Teimour Radjabov, also spelled Teymur Rajabov born 12 March 1987 in Baku, Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, USSR), is a leading Azerbaijani chess player. On the April 2009 FIDE list, Radjabov has an Elo rating of 2756, ranking fifth in the world and first, by 37 points, in his native Azerbaijan.

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Radjabov earned the title of Grandmaster in March 2001 at the age of 14, making him the second-youngest grandmaster in history at the time. Radjabov's playing style has been described as attacking and tactically influenced.

Career

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Radjabov is the youngest player ever to make the FIDE Top 100 Players list. His rating of 2599 in January 2002 ranked 93rd in the world while he was still 14 years old.

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In 2003, Radjabov defeated Viswanathan Anand and Ruslan Ponomariov with the black pieces. He is probably the first player ever to beat three former and reigning FIDE World Chess Champions with the black pieces in one year.

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Radjabov reached the semi-finals (earning a bronze medal) at the FIDE World Chess Championship 2004.

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On 22 February 2006, Teimour defeated FIDE World Champion Veselin Topalov (rated 2801) with the black pieces and subsequently won the second prize at the Super GM Tournament held in Morelia, Mexico and Linares, Spain.

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Radjabov represented his native Azerbaijan at the 37th Chess Olympiad in May and June 2006, playing board one for the Azeri team.

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In an interview given on October 2006, Radjabov said that he will challenge the winner of Topalov-Kramnik unification match to a World Championship match under the rules of FIDE.

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In November 2006, Radjabov won strong Cap d'Agde tournament, advancing from second place of round robin to the elimination phase. He then went on to win the final against Sergey Karjakin.

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On 3 December 2006, during the Creativity Festival in Florence(Tuscany, Italy), Radjabov played against Deep Junior, the chess engine that won the Turin World Computer Chess Championship. The match was won by Deep Junior.

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In January 2007, Radjabov finished in joint first place at the Category 19 Corus Chess Tournament along with Veselin Topalov and Levon Aronian.

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Radjabov was also to play the Morelia/Linares Tournament 2007, but due to a robbery of some of his belongings in Mexico, he withdrew from the tournament. His position was taken by Vassily Ivanchuk. - wikipedia

Kejohanan catur berpasukan Shah Alam

Penganjur : Akademi Insofar Chess

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Tarikh : Setiap Jumaat pada 8.30 malam, bermula dari 19 Jun 2009

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Jangkamasa : 18 minggu

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Venue : INSOFAR Chess Academy, HBM Professional Training Centre, PKNS
Kompleks, Shah Alam Selangor

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Format : Acara Berpasukan (Team Event , Double Round Robin)

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Time Control : 25 minit

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Yuran bagi setiap pasukan : RM 200.

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Minimum 4 pemain, maximum 10 pemain, pemain tambahan RM50 (setiap pemain).

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TERHAD HANYA 10 PASUKAN. FIRST COME FIRST SERVE basis. Pendaftaran sebelum 18 Jun 2009.
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Setiap pasukan wajib membawa 2 set catur dan jam sendiri. Jika tiada boleh disewa - set Jam (RM 10 semalam), set catur (RM 5 semalam). Perlukan notis 3 hari sebelum hari pertandingan.

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*** HANYA SEORANG PEMAIN FIDE RATING 1800 KE ATAS DIBENARKAN DALAM SETIAP PASUKAN! ***

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Hadiah Juara : RM 1000 + medal

2nd : RM 700 + medal

3rd : RM 650 + medal

4th : RM 600 + medal

5th : RM 550 + medal

6th : medals

7th : medals

8th : medals

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Untuk maklumat lanjut sila hubungi :

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Mat Zaki Yeop (017.528.6927) atau

Muhammad Ismail aka MAX (012.268.9156)

Five Ways to Improve Your Chess

By Edward Scimia, About.com


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Every chess player is constantly looking to improve their game, and there's plenty of debate on the best way to get better. Some players try to play as many games as possible, others solve countless tactical puzzles, and many study theory until they know their favorite openings inside and out.

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Of course, there's no one improvement method that's best for everyone. However, the five activities in this article are ones that players, coaches and trainers have found to be effective methods for most players, and they should make up the core of any training you do to improve your chess.

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1. Play More Chess
This one may seem obvious, but many players forget that experience is an important and necessary part of chess improvement. Playing is what allows you to put the knowledge gained during study into practice, and work on solving practical problems during games without the aid of the prompts given in puzzle books.

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Some games are more valuable for improving your chess than others. Long games -- games where each player has an hour or more of thinking time -- allow time for seriously analyzing positions and practicing time management. Blitz games are useful for quickly learning openings or improving your chess intuition. For training purposes, long games are best, but keep in mind that blitz games can be learning experiences too.

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2. Study Annotated Master Games
Playing over the games of masters is a great way to improve your chess. These games show how strong players use their pieces, formulate plans, and execute endgames.

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There are numerous game collections out there with annotated games you can play through. You might pick a collection of games played (and perhaps even annotated) by one of your favorite players. Alternately, there are tournament books that analyze all of the games from a given event, such as New York 1924 or St. Petersburg 1909. For beginners, something with more complete annotations, such as Irving Chernev's Logical Chess Move By Move: Every Move Explained might be best.

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3. Review Your Own Games
While learning from the games of others is helpful, nothing beats learning from your own mistakes. Reviewing your own games is a crucial step in chess improvement, as it allows you to critically examine your strengths and weaknesses and figure out where your biggest mistakes occur. Make it a habit to record the moves whenever you play so that you can review the game later.

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It is best to have a stronger player analyze your games with you. A stronger player will inevitably see things you missed, and can provide helpful feedback on where you need improvement. Computer chess programs can also analyze your games, and are great for pointing out tactical mistakes, but can't give the "human" feedback that a stronger player can.

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4. Tactics, Tactics, Tactics
Tactics decide the result of most chess games, especially for beginning and improving players. Firming up these skills will allow you to pick off inadequately defended pieces or find surprising checkmates against unsuspecting opponents -- and more importantly, learning these patterns will help you defend against tactical threats during games.

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There are many books that have collections of tactical problems. Even better, interactive software programs such as Chess Tactics Art allow you to play through problems and get instant feedback without having to set up positions on a board. One free option is the Chess Tactics Server, an online tactics trainer that can guide you towards problems of an appropriate difficulty level.

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5. Private Chess Lessons
Having your own personal chess trainer can be a rewarding experience. Someone who works with you over a period of time will get a good feel for your game, and can craft lessons tailored to your needs. To find a suitable teacher, you may want to ask other local players, particularly those who play in clubs and tournaments, if they can recommend a good teacher.

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Keep in mind that the strongest players tend to give the most expensive lessons, but you may benefit just as much from a somewhat weaker (but still strong) player without paying a premium rate. Also, online lessons are often available on chess servers for much lower rates. It's not quite the same as meeting with a teacher in person, but confers many of the same benefits.