Malaysia Victorious!

Pix 1. The winning Malaysian Chess Team 2011 in Singapore.

(picture courtesy of Hairulovchessmaniac.com)

1 January 2011, Kuala Lumpur – The Malaysia chess team triumphs in Singapore after drawing level 19-19 all in the final round 4 rapids of the Singapore-Malaysia Chess Challenge 2011 at the Stansfield Residence 1, Vernon Road, Singapore. This means Malaysia bring home the 3-0 winning lead and winning this year’s chess challenge 77.5-74.5 overall. Congratulations to team Malaysia!!!

With this win, Malaysia has finally avenged its loss in Kuala Lumpur and kept its critics at bay.

Well done to the Malaysian officials, players and organisers of the chess challenge! Hope to meet the Singaporeans again next year! Happy New Year everyone!

To read similar posts on this blog, please click here.
To read more, please visit Hairul’s chess blog who is in Singapore with the chess team or click here.

Malaysia Roars Back With 24-14 Win!

1 January 2011, Kuala Lumpur – Latest news is that the Malaysian chess team turn the tables on Singapore by winning the third round rapid game with a 24-14 win!

Keep it up team Malaysia!!!

To follow the chess event, please visit Hairul’s chess blog or click here.

Singapore Leads In Annual Friendly

1 January 2011, Kuala Lumpur – At the Singapore-Malaysia Chess Challenge 2010-2011, Singapore chess team is leading with a 7-point lead after round 2 has been played. The overall score is now 41.5 - 34.5 in Singapore’s favour. Today, both teams will play two rapid games to decide this year’s winner.

Below is a picture courtesy of hairulovchessmaniac.com indicating round 2 results which resulted in 19-19 draw result.

In the previous Malaysia-Singapore chess friendly held in Kuala Lumpur on the 16-17 February 2010, Malaysia lost to team Singapore 75.5-76.5, losing by one solitary point on an overall basis.

To read similar posts on this blog, please click here.

To keep track of events in Singapore, please visit Hairul’s chess blog or click here.

Vallejo’s and Caruana’s 3rd Round Games Reggio Emilia

1 January 2011, Kuala Lumpur – At the 53rd Torneo di Capodanno in Reggio Emilia 2010-2011 Italy, Vallejo Pons Francisco is in sole lead scoring 2.5/3 points. Meanwhile local favourite Fabiano Caruana of Italy soundly beats Nigel Short of England in the third round. Both games are featured below.

The 53rd Torneo di Capodanno takes place December 28 – January 6 in Reggio Emilia, Italy. It’s a 10-player, single round-robin with Vallejo Pons, Short, Ivanchuk, Caruana, Onischuk, Movsesian, Navara, Godena, Gashimov, and Morozevich playing. Rounds start at 15:00 CET every day, except for January 6th when it starts at 12:00 CET.

 

 

White (Vallejo) played 46.Qd6 attacking the a6 pawn, e5 pawn and the black’s knight simultaneously. Next move 47.Qxe5+ forcing the black king to move either to g8, h7 or g6 squares.

[Event "53rd Reggio Emilia, Italy"]
[Site "twic"]
[Date "2011.01.02"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Vallejo Pons, Francisco"]
[Black "Navarra, David"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C69"]
[Annotator ",user"]
[PlyCount "91"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. O-O f6 6. d4 Bg4 7. c3 Bd6 8. Be3
Ne7 9. Nbd2 O-O 10. Qb3+ Kh8 11. h3 Bh5 12. Qxb7 Bf7 13. dxe5 fxe5 14. Nb3 Bc4 15. Rfd1 Rb8 16. Qa7 Ra8 17. Qb7 Be2 18. Nxe5 Qe8 19. Rxd6 cxd6 20. Re1 dxe5 21. Rxe2 Ng6 22. Rd2 Qe6 23. Nc5 Qxa2 24. Kh2 Qc4 25. Rd7 Rab8 26. Qxc6 Rxb2 27. Rxg7 Rfxf2 28. Bxf2 Rxf2 29. Qc8+ Kxg7 30. Ne6+ Qxe6 31. Qxe6 Rxg2+ 32. Kh1 Rg3 33. c4 Rc3 34. Qd7+ Kh8 35. h4 h5 36. Qc8+ Kg7 37. Qd7+ Kh8 38. Qd6 Kg7 39.c5 Rh3+ 40. Kg1 Rxh4 41. c6 Rg4+ 42. Kf2 Rf4+ 43. Ke3 Rf6 44. Qd8 Rf7 45. c7 Ne7 46. Qd6 1-0

Here is the third round game between GM Fabiano Caruana, the local Italian favourite and GM Nigel Short of England. The French Defense opening transpired. This time Nigel is playing black in the French Defense.

[Event "53rd Reggio Emilia, Italy"]
[Site "twic"]
[Date "2011.01.02"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Black "Short, Nigel"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C09"]
[Annotator ",user"]
[PlyCount "117"]
[SourceDate "2011.01.02"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 c5 4. Ngf3 Nc6 5. exd5 exd5 6. Bb5 cxd4 7. O-O Bd6 8. Nb3 Nge7 9. Nbxd4 O-O 10. h3 Re8 11. c3 a6 12. Bd3 Nxd4 13. Nxd4 Nc6 14. Nf3 Bc7 15. Bg5 Qd6 16. Bh4 Qh6 17. Bc2 Be6 18. Bg3 Bxg3 19. fxg3 Rad8 20. Qd3 g6 21. g4 f5 22. Rae1 fxg4 23. hxg4 Bf7 24. g5 Qf8 25. Ba4 Rxe1 26. Rxe1 b5 27.Bb3 Qd6 28. Nd4 Nxd4 29. Qxd4 Qg3 30. Re5 a5 31. a3 b4 32. axb4 axb4 33. Bxd5 bxc3 34. bxc3 Bxd5 35. Rxd5 Rxd5 36. Qxd5+ Kg7 37. Qd2 Qc7 38. Qd4+ Kg8 39. c4 Qe7 40. c5 Qxg5 41. Qc4+ Kf8 42. c6 Qd8 43. Qf4+ Kg8 44. Kh2 Qd5 45. Qf6 Qh5+ 46. Kg3 Qc5 47. Kg4 Qd5 48. Kh3 Qh5+ 49. Kg3 Qc5 50. Qe6+ Kg7 51. Kf3 Qc3+ 52.Ke4 Qc2+ 53. Kd4 Qxg2 54. c7 Qd2+ 55. Kc5 Qa5+ 56. Kd6 Qa3+ 57. Kd7 Qa4+ 58.Ke7 Qa7 59. Qd7 1-0

• Official website
  
• Games in PGN via TWIC

Howell Leads In Hastings Masters 2010-2011

31 December 2010, Kuala Lumpur – At the Hastings Masters Chess Tournament, the top seed is David Howell. 109 players have registered for the Hastings Masters 2010-2011. David Howell has won all three rounds so far. This is a 9 round Swiss chess tournament.

 

Here is the third round game between GM David Howell and Ramnath Bhuvanesh of the Hastings Masters 2010-2011. The Caro-Kann Opening transpired. Black ends with a win.

To see the full rankings table, please click here.

Official website : http://www.hastingschess.org.uk/default.asp

Vallejo Leads Reggio Emilia, Italy

Pix 1. WGM Olga Zimina, WGM Yulia Kochetkova, and WGM Martha Fierro (picture courtesy of chessdom.com)

31 December 2010, Kuala Lumpur – At the 53rd Reggio Emilia Chess Tournament in Italy, Vallejo Pons Francisco (pix left) beats Navara David of Czech Republic in the third round. Meanwhile Short suffered a loss at the hands of Caruana Fabiano of Italy, as a result, the third round leader is now Vallejo Pons Francisco with 2.5 points.

Cross-table (after round 3):

The diagram above demonstrates the ending of the Caruana-Short chess game during the third round of the 53rd Reggio Emilia 2010-2011 Italy. Despite black having the  extra pawn did not help matters as white has an advanced c-pawn at the seventh rank. White played 59.Qd7 allowing the white pawn to reach its queening square and taking the pin out while giving white a gain in material.

To read more, please visit chessdom.com or click here.
To read more, please visit official website or click here.

17chessclub Blitz

31 Disember 2010, Kuala Lumpur – Berita terkini daripada Syazrin Abdul Rahman mengenai pertandingan catur blitz pada lewat petang, 9 Januari 2010 di DATCC, Kuala Lumpur.

17chessclub blitz@datcc open

17chessclub blitz @ datcc open
(Kawalan Masa 5 minit seorang)

9 pusingan
Tarikh:  9hb January 2011
Tempat: DATCC 4 Floor Wilayah Complex,KL
Masa:   0630 ptg- 0930 mlm
Yuran:   RM10

Jadual pertandingan
0630-0715Pusingan 1 hingga 3
0715-0745 Sembahyang Maghrib/Rehat
0800-0930 Pusingan 4 hingga 9

Format hadiah seperti berikut;
Hadiah hanya tempat pertama,kedua dan ketiga sahaja
*Hadiah mengikut bilangan peserta.

Matlamat pertandingan adalah untuk menajamkan lagi 'opening' para peserta,mendedahkan lagi keseronokan aktiviti catur di kalangan masyarakat.

Sila SMS nama pada Syazrin Abd Rahman 0126091898 atau register pada 9hb January 2011 pada pukul 1 tengahari hingga pukul 5 petang

Who Said Chess Isn’t Sexy

31 December 2010, Kuala Lumpur – It’s the last day of the year folks and tomorrow we usher a new year – 2011 and enjoy the youtube video on the former Women’s World Chess Champion, Alexandra Kosteniuk exploits in chess.

53rd Reggio Emilia 2010-2011, Italy

31st December 2010, Kuala Lumpur – At the 53rd Torneo di Capodanno in Reggio Emilia, Italy, Nigel Short is leading with two wins. In the second round of the Italian chess tournament, Nigel Short beat Alexander Morozevich of Russia. While Navara beat Caruana in a Sicilian Defense opening of the second round play.

 Second Round Results:-



Cross-Table (after round 2):

The game viewer of the second round between Nigel Short as white against Morozevich below. Short played 1.e4 and the French Defense opening transpired. White had a rook, a knight and a pawn against black’s four pawns.

[Event "53 Torneo di Capodanno"]
[Site "Reggio Emilia"]
[Date "2010.12.29"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Short, Nigel"]
[Black "Morozevich, Alexander"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C11"]
[WhiteElo "2680"]
[BlackElo "2700"]
[EventDate "2010.12.29"]
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. dxc5 Nc6 7. a3 Bxc5 8. Qg4
O-O 9. Bd3 Qe7 10. Bd2 f6 11. Qh4 h6 12. exf6 Nxf6 13. O-O-O e5 14. fxe5 Nxe5
15. Nf3 Nxd3+ 16. cxd3 b5 17. Rhe1 Qb7 18. Be3 Bxe3+ 19. Rxe3 a5 20. Rde1 b4
21. Re7 Qb6 22. axb4 axb4 23. Nd1 Bg4 24. Kd2 b3 25. Ke2 Ra4 26. Qg3 Nh5 27.
Qe5 Rf5 28. Qc3 Bxf3+ 29. gxf3 d4 30. Re8+ Kh7 31. Qc8 Nf4+ 32. Kf1 Qb5 33. Nf2
Nxd3 34. Rh8+ Kg6 35. Qe6+ Kh5 36. Rb8 Qe5 37. Rxe5 Ra1+ 38. Re1 Rxe1+ 39. Qxe1
Nxe1 40. Kxe1 Rxf3 41. Rd8 Re3+ 42. Kf1 Rc3 43. bxc3 dxc3 44. Nd3 1-0

Local Italian GM Caruana lost to GM David Navara of Czech Republic. David Navara got a nice positional advantage on the white side of a Sicilian against Fabiano Caruana and brought this home for a win. The Sicilian Defense opening transpired.

[Event "53 Torneo di Capodanno"]
[Site "Reggio Emilia"]
[Date "2010.12.29"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Navara, David"]
[Black "Caruana, Fabiano"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B33"]
[WhiteElo "2708"]
[BlackElo "2709"]
[PlyCount "139"]
[EventDate "2010.12.29"]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bg5 a6 8.
Na3 b5 9. Nd5 Be7 10. Bxf6 Bxf6 11. c3 O-O 12. Nc2 Rb8 13. Be2 Bg5 14. O-O Be6
15. Ncb4 Qc8 16. Qd3 Nxb4 17. Nxb4 a5 18. Nd5 Qd7 19. Rad1 Rfc8 20. Qg3 Qd8 21.
a3 h6 22. Bg4 Rc5 23. Bxe6 fxe6 24. Ne3 Qe7 25. Rd3 Rf8 26. f3 Bh4 27. Qg6 Rf6
28. Qh5 Rf8 29. Rfd1 Rc6 30. g3 Bg5 31. Nc2 Qd7 32. h4 Bd8 33. Kg2 Qe7 34. Qg4
Bb6 35. h5 Kh8 36. Kh3 Rf7 37. Ne1 a4 38. Ng2 Bc7 39. f4 Rc4 40. Nh4 Kh7 41.
fxe5 dxe5 42. Rd7 Qe8 43. Qg6+ Kg8 44. R1d3 Rc6 45. Rxf7 Qxf7 46. Qxf7+ Kxf7
47. Rd7+ Kf6 48. Ng6 Bd6 49. Kg4 Rb6 50. Nh8 Be7 51. Rd3 Bc5 52. Rf3+ Ke7 53.
Rf7+ Ke8 54. Rxg7 Be3 55. Rg8+ Ke7 56. Ng6+ Kf6 57. Rf8+ Kg7 58. Rf3 Bc1 59.
Rf2 Rd6 60. Rc2 Rd1 61. Nxe5 Re1 62. Nc6 Rxe4+ 63. Kf3 Re1 64. Nd4 e5 65. Nxb5
e4+ 66. Kg4 e3 67. c4 Bd2 68. c5 Rd1 69. Nd4 Ba5 70. Nf5+ 1-0

Official website: click here.
Reports on chessdom.com : click here.

Playing Adjustment In International Chess Tournaments

30 December 2010, Kuala Lumpur – Lately, observing some of our Malaysians players that are playing in the Singapore Chess Festival 2011, some of our juniors including the newly crowned National Junior Champions, Lim Zhou Ren (top left pix) and Alia Bakri (top right pix) didn’t do so well. Lim collected 5.5/9 pts in the Singapore Open 2010 and Alia Bakri 4.5/9 points in the ASEAN Women Chess Championship 2010.

 

     

Have digged up some interesting facts about playing chess in international chess tournaments. In order to compete successfully in international chess tournaments instead of Swiss-system events requires several important adjustments:

1. The heightened level of competition – typically every player is strong and there are no easy rounds. Even after losing a game, the next pairing could be just as tough. In Swiss-system events, a loss or draw is usually ‘rewarded’ by being paired against a lower-rated opponent in the next round.
2. The scoring mentality is different – any result that adds to your score is a desirable outcome. In Swiss-system events a draw can often be as devastating as a loss, so the higher-rated players are more inclined to take real risks to try to win in the later rounds, especially against lower-rated opposition.
3. The time-limit is often slower – a classical game requires a different mind-set from a faster time-limit game. There is more time for calculation, so an impulsive move in the opening can be more easily punished by the opponent.

Despite those comments, Lim to his credit drew a game against a GM, a WFM and an FM rated players and Alia Bakri to her credit also won a game against a WIM and drew a game against a WIM, WFM and a WCM rated players.

So do not be disheartened. As they say, Practice Makes Perfect! You need to make baby steps and improve every day. Keep on trying guys.

Malaysia’s Top 100 Chess Players

1 January 2011, Kuala Lumpur – FIDE has just released the latest FIDE Rating List for all countries including Malaysia. Here is the top 100 FIDE Rated Malaysian chess players for the January 2011.

#	Name	Title	Fed	Rating	G	B-Year
1	Mas, Hafizulhelmi	m	MAS	2418	9
2	Mok, Tze-Meng	m	MAS	2394	0
3	Chan, Nicholas	f	MAS	2375	0
4	Ooi, Chern Ee	f	MAS	2349	0
5	Lim, Chuin Hoong Ronnie	f	MAS	2335	0	1983
6	Liew, Chee-Meng-Jimmy	m	MAS	2302	0	1958
7	Ng, Tze Han		MAS	2285	9	1981
8	Long, Peter	f	MAS	2282	0	1961
9	Lim, Yee-Weng	m	MAS	2248	0	1982
10	Law, Zhe Kang		MAS	2215	0
11	Chin, F		MAS	2211	0
12	Zakaria, Fairin		MAS	2198	0
13	Yeoh, Chin-Seng		MAS	2185	0
14	Wahiduddin, Kamalarifin		MAS	2169	0	1972
15	Leong, Mun Wan		MAS	2167	0
16	Lau, Gregory		MAS	2163	0	1964
17	Lee, Kim Han Edward		MAS	2161	8	1993
18	Tan, Khai Boon		MAS	2150	8
19	Loo, Swee Leong		MAS	2141	7
20	Yeap, Eng Chiam		MAS	2140	9	1995
21	Sabri, Mohd Saprin		MAS	2139	0	1972
22	Ibrahim, Mohd Irman		MAS	2119	0	1976
23	Yeoh, Li Tian		MAS	2115	12	1999
24	Liong, Ing Kiat Anthony		MAS	2107	0
24	Soon, Wai Cheong		MAS	2107	0	1988
26	Mohamed, Abdul Haq		MAS	2096	0
27	Ooi, Chong Hean		MAS	2094	0	1982
28	Tan, Hong Ghee		MAS	2092	8
29	Wahiduddin, Mohd Khair		MAS	2089	0
30	Chin, David		MAS	2082	0	1961
31	Zullkafli, Zarul Shazwan		MAS	2081	4	1989
31	Pok, Wern Jian		MAS	2081	0	1987
33	Abang, Mohd Reduan		MAS	2080	4
34	Che Hassan, Abdullah		MAS	2076	7	1984
35	Lim, Zhuo Ren		MAS	2074	13	1992
36	Soh, Han Loong Gerald		MAS	2073	0	1985
37	Zainal, Faiezul		MAS	2069	0
38	Subramaniam, Sumant		MAS	2065	3	1993
39	Othman, Tun Seri Lanang		MAS	2062	0	1975
40	Ong, Thian Loon		MAS	2059	0
41	Chan, Tze Wei		MAS	2058	3	1987
42	Nik, Nik Ahmad Farouqi		MAS	2057	7	1982
42	Zullkafli, Zarul Shafiq		MAS	2057	0	1987
44	Amru, Muhd Tariq		MAS	2049	0	1992
45	Zakaria, Mohd Fadli	c	MAS	2048	0	1969
46	Abdul Shukor, Abdul Aziz		MAS	2046	0	1970
47	Azman Hisham, Mohd Nabil		MAS	2044	23	1994
47	Zulkipli, Zaidan		MAS	2044	0	1984
49	Leong, Zhi Wen		MAS	2043	0	1990
50	Ong, Way Justin		MAS	2041	0	1992
51	Capel, Evan Timothy		MAS	2040	0
51	Tham, Tick Hong Jax		MAS	2040	0	1960
53	Tukiran, Taulani		MAS	2033	0	1965
54	Yusof, Kamaluddin		MAS	2029	8	1967
54	Siah, Jun Ren Ian		MAS	2029	3
56	Erowan, Masrin		MAS	2027	0
57	Nayan, Ahmad Fadzil		MAS	2023	3
58	Tan, Ken Wei		MAS	2022	0	1992
59	Husain, Hazril		MAS	2021	0
60	Cheah, Cheok Fung		MAS	2020	0	1982
61	Saifuddin, Muhd Izz		MAS	2016	0	1993
62	Han, Kun Lin Zach		MAS	2015	0	1986
63	Fong, Choong Ee		MAS	2014	0	1961
64	Shaik Ali, Nor Ilhamuddin		MAS	2012	0
65	Ibni Hajar, Amri		MAS	2010	6
65	Andin, Faizal		MAS	2010	0
67	Al-Ashaari, Mohd Musa		MAS	2005	4
68	Khandhar, Kaushal		MAS	2003	0	1990
69	Wan Nawawi, Wan Mohd Fazli		MAS	2001	0
70	Ismail, Ahmad		MAS	1997	7	1963
71	Ahmad, Morsin		MAS	1995	3
71	Fong, Yit Ho		MAS	1995	0	1993
73	Kz, Abdullah Khairi		MAS	1991	3	1989
74	Kueh, Yan Chew		MAS	1989	3
75	Tan, Yik Ping		MAS	1988	9
76	Yeoh, Phee Leong Marcus		MAS	1986	0	1981
77	Kz, Amir Hamzah		MAS	1984	2	1992
78	Zulkifli, Muhd Syazwan		MAS	1981	3
79	Wahiduddin, Nurul Huda		MAS	1977	0
80	Chew, Yaw Chong		MAS	1973	0	1963
81	Shah Atan, Noor Muhd Azlan		MAS	1972	0
82	Looi, Xin Hao		MAS	1970	9
83	Thong, Yung Cheng		MAS	1968	13
84	Wising, Abdul Sahim		MAS	1967	0
85	Loo, Pak Kwan		MAS	1966	0
86	Siew, Kit-Tze Mark		MAS	1961	6
87	Bakri, Alia Anin Azwa	wf	MAS	1959	5	1994
87	Giridau, Guadis		MAS	1959	0
87	Lim, Kian Hwa		MAS	1959	0
90	Ramli, Abdul Rahim		MAS	1955	0
91	Wong, Jianwen		MAS	1954	10	1995
92	Kamal, Rizal Ahmad		MAS	1951	0	1973
92	Mahmood, Nasrul Humaimi		MAS	1951	0	1977
94	Ng, Bernard		MAS	1950	0
95	Fong, Yit San		MAS	1945	0	1994
96	Azhar, Muhammad Syakir Shazmeer		MAS	1937	5	1994
97	Rosli, Ahmad Afiq Afyfy		MAS	1933	7
98	Kimbin, Richard		MAS	1926	14	1975
99	Wahiduddin, Khairunnisa		MAS	1925	0
100	Lee, Kah Meng Elgin		MAS	1923	15

(source: fide.com)