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