Anand, Magnus Blunders In Sao Paolo

30 September 2011, Kuala Lumpur – Chess.com reported that both Anand and Magnus making blunders in their third round games.

“Top seeds Vishy Anand and Magnus Carlsen found themselves propping up the standings in São Paulo after both lost their games in a remarkable third round at the Grand Slam Final Masters.

Vishy Anand was met with a bold opening challenge when Vassily Ivanchuk's played the Ruy Lopez Schliemann, and under pressure an oversight cost the world champion a pawn and the game.

Magnus Carlsen's loss was as dramatic as it was unexpected. Vallejo Pons looked to be heading for another loss as the world #1 gradually increased his advantage until victory seemed to be within his grasp.

But then, proof came that Carlsen is indeed mortal, as he floundered when attempting to finish off the game, eventually blundering a whole piece and losing! 

Lev Aronian had the white pieces against Hikaru Nakamura, but the American played confidently to earn a well deserved draw.”

The standings after three rounds:

Pix 1. Magnus Blunders In His Third Game Against Vallejo in Sao Paolo

To see more games, you may visit this link here.

Doyen Of Malaysian Chess

30 September 2011, Kuala Lumpur – In the StarOnline for this Friday’s edition, Quah Seng Sun discusses the plans that the Doyen of Malaysian Chess, Datuk Tan Chin Nam has for Malaysian chess.

Datuk Tan continues to play chess actively and was a participant of the recent Senior Lee Loy Seng Open during the Malaysian Chess Festival 2011 last August 2011.

Plans are afoot by Datuk Tan to make the next Malaysian Chess Festival 2012 more grander than this year.

To read more, please visit this link here.

Singapore Chess Festival 2011 – 25 Dec 2011

29 September 2011, Kuala Lumpur – Singapore is organising their year-end chess festival 2011 from 25th – 31st December 2011 at Jurong East Sports Hall, 21 Jurong East Street 21 Singapore 609517. The chess festival is in celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Singapore Chess Federation.  Here is the news from fide.com.

“In the frameworks of the 8th Singapore International Chess Festival 2011 the following events are going to be organized:
1. The 2nd ASEAN Chess Championships 2011 - Campomanes Cup
2. The 2nd Singapore International Youth Championships 2011 - Under-8, Under-11, Under-14, Under-17 (Open and Girls)
3. Singapore Open 2011
4. FIDE Arbiters' Seminar
5. FIDE Trainers' Seminar
Download the Regulations and Registration form of the 2nd ASEAN Chess Championships 2011 - Campomanes Cup
Download the Regulations and Registration form of the 2nd Singapore International Youth Championships 2011
Download the Regulations and Registration form of Singapore Open 2011
Download the information and Registration form of the FIDE Arbiters' Seminar
Download the information and Registartion form of the FIDE Trainers' Seminar”

Raja Bazli Bot - The Most Improved Player, October 2011

29 September 2011, Kuala Lumpur – The new National Rated Ratings for October 2011 is out! And a brand new list of top 20 most improved chess players has been released!

Top of the list is Raja Bazli Bot Raja Badli of Selangor, improving a massive 333 points from a National Rating of 986 to 1319.

Second is Benjamin Koo Wei Jie of Kuala Lumpur, another 300+ points quantum leap from a National Rating of 1166 in July 2011 to 1478.

Another familiar name is Tan Wei Ting, sister to Tan Li Ting, improved from 1110 to 1314.

Table 1. Top 20 Most Improved Malaysian Chess Players for October 2011.

To see the full National Rating list for Malaysian chess players, please visit this link here.

Ekonomist early leader, Euro Club Cup 2011

26 September 2011, Kuala Lumpur – In Slovenia, the 27th European Club Cup 2011 has begun and Ekonomist SGSEU Saratov takes the lead with a solid 6-0 win over Tammer-Shakki in the first round.

Meanwhile the 16th European Club Cup for Women 2011 saw the MIKA chess team taking the lead with a 3.5 – 0.5 win score over CS R. Fischer Chieti.

 

 

Official website: http://ecc2011.sahohlacnik.com/

Fikri, Sheng Yip Win Prestige Jr, Jr Scholarship

25 September 2011, Kuala Lumpur – The juniors had their day too at DATCC today and all organised by Insofar Chess Academy. In the Insofar Prestige Junior Final, Fikri Saleh won with a score of 4 full points from four rounds of play. He beat 7 other players today.

Meanwhile in the 6th Junior Scholarship Tournament 2011, Chan Sheng Yip scored 3.5 points from four rounds of play and declared the champion of the Junior Scholarship tournament.

 

Ahmad Fadzil Nayan Wins 2nd Elite Open Final

25 September 2011, Kuala Lumpur – Ahmad Fadzil Nayan scored 5 points from six rounds of play during the 2nd Elite Open Final organised by Insofar Chess Academy. He beat 18 other participants including IM Jimmy Liew who finished in second place with 4.5 points.

Ahmad Fadzil met Nithyalakshmi Sivanesan, Mohd Fairin, Mohd Fadli Zakaria, Sumant, IM Jimmy Liew, and Kamaluddin Yusof. He drew with Jimmy Liew and Kamaluddin and won the rest.

Abdul Haq Wins Insofar 1st Open Scholarship Tournament 2011

25 September 2011, Kuala Lumpur – At the DATCC today, Abdul Haq Mohd scored full 4 points from four rounds of play in the Insofar 1st Open Scholarship Chess Tournament 2011. Abdul Haq met Saleh Latif, Ahmad Firdaus, Mohd Sapirin Sabri and Bernard Ng on his way to winning the Open Scholarship Tournament 2011.

In second place was Mohd Saprin Sabri with 3 points. He lost to Abdul Haq during the third round. In third place is Ahmad Firdaus Mohd Rodzi who scored 2.5 points.

Festival Catur Politeknik Merlimau 2011

23 September 2011, Kuala Lumpur - The Malacca Chess Association and Merlimau Polytechnique will be having a one day chess festival at the Merlimau Polytechnique on the 9th October 2011. An announcement in Bahasa Malaysia from Catur Melaka with the tournament details follows:-

Saya bagi pihak pengurusan catur di negeri Melaka, menjemput tuan-tuan ke Kejohanan Terbuka Politeknik Merlimau Melaka pada hari Ahad, 9 Oktober ini. Semoga kehadiran tuan-tuan akan memeriahkan negeri Melaka untuk aktif dan terus aktif selepas ini. Terima Kasih atas sokongan yang terdahulu dan saya akan cuba yang terbaik dengan keadaan kawasan pertandingan yang selesa.

Untuk pertanyaan lanjut sila hubungi saya 0193914349 khairy jansar. FB di "caturmelaka".

Untuk yuran penyertaan boleh berhubung terus dengan saya. Boleh bank-in ke 154035335373 maybank (Muhammad Khairi bin Jansar). Sila nyatakan kemasukan dengan mengirimkan resit maybank2u atau nyatakan bila dibank-in kan.

Upcoming European Club Cup 2011 in Slovenia

22 September 2011, Kuala Lumpur – Chess.com reported that the 27th European Club Cup will run from 24 September - 2 October in Rogaška Slatina in Slovenia.

65 teams will be competing for the European Club title, team prizes, and individual prizes.

Participating clubs must be affiliated to the European Chess Union to take part, but their team members can hail from anywhere the world.

Team SOCAR Azerbaijan are the top seeds (Alexander Grischuk, Emil Sutovsky, Andrei Volotkin, Rustam Kasimdzhanov, Teimour Radjabov, Eltaj Safarli, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Rauf Mamedov).

2010 champions Economist Saratov will be defending their title. A full list of all the teams and their players can be found at the official website.

A separate women's competition will also take place, with 12 teams taking part headed byCercle d'Echecs de Monte-Carlo (Hou Yifan, Anna Muzychuk, Pia Cramling, Monika Socko, Almira Skripchenko). 

The format is a 7-round Swiss event. The tournament schedule:

 

The time control is 40 moves in 90 minutes, then 30 minutes to finish, plus a 30 second increment from the start of the game.

All games start at 15:00 local time (13:00 UTC). More information and live game coverage can be found at the official website.

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

Peter Svidler FIDE World Cup 2011 Champion!

21 September 2011, Kuala Lumpur – Yesterday Peter Svidler of Russia drew his last fourth game against Grischuk in a Sicilian Opening allowing him to win the FIDE World Cup as the champion with a 2.5-1.5 score.

Chess.com reported that Peter Svidler drew the final game of his match with Alexander Grischuk to win the 2011 World Cup and pocket a cheque for 100,000 USD.

Svidler had an excellent tournament, beating Caruana, Kamsky, Polgar and Ponomariov on the way to the final, and winning many games with black pieces.

In the 3/4th place play-off match Vassily Ivanchuk held off Ruslan Ponomariov to earn the final place in the 2012 Candidates Tournament.

Peter Svidler’s fourth game of the Final, World Cup 2011.

Ivanchuk Vassily’s fourth game for the third position, World Cup 2011.

 

To read more, please visit chess.com or click here.

Photos from the official website.

DATCC Senior FIDE Rated Tournament

20 September 2011, Kuala Lumpur – Here is the latest FIDE Rated Tournament from Excel Chess Academy. The single round robin tournament will be played on October 9, 15-16, 22-23 at DATCC using the classical chess time of 90 mins plus 30 second increment. Twelve good players from the senior category will be participating. Among them are Dato’ Tan Chin Nam, Sirajudeen, Ibrahim Abu Bakar and Jax Tham.

Please contact Jax Tham, h/p: 013-3232280 for any enquiries.

DATCC's Upcoming Chess Events

20 September 2011, Kuala Lumpur - The DATCC management has made an announcement of its upcoming chess events at DATCC and it looks like some busy weeks ahead in DATCC with an array of events to cater for players of different playing skills and age, and different playing format. There are classes for beginners, junior events, team event and blitz event to satisfy almost all chess players whims and fancies.

Chess Class for Beginners (24^th September 2011 – This Saturday!)

The new “Chess Classes for Beginners” term is starting this Saturday at 10:00am with its first session. The 10 sessions term (2 hours per session) is expected to be completed by the end of December with several breaks in between to allow students to enjoy the Deepavali, Hari Raya Haji and Maal Hijrah celebrations. For effective learning, each class is limited only to 8 students but additional classes can be organized if the response for the classes are well received.

The fee for an entire term of ten (10) classes is RM 400. Students unable to commit to all sessions or those who prefer to attend the classes on a casual week-to-week basis will be charged RM 60 per session. For more information on this classes, please click the following link.

1^st DATCC Super Kids Weekend (24^th September 2011 – This Saturday at 9:00am)

The Super Kids Weekend is aimed at providing alternative fun and excitement for students U-12 in view of the recently concluded UPSR examinations. Chess is a well known tool used by many teachers and schools around the world to promote healthy and productive mind games for young children and with the long school break coming ahead, what better way to keep the mind going!

Entry fees is set at RM10 per child and the top kids finishing in the event will receive medals and/or certificates for their excellent effort. Games are played over 6 rounds with a time control of 25 minutes to finish, and is expected to conclude before 4:00pm. To download the registration forms, please click the following link.

You may contact Jax Tham, h/p: 013-3232280, email: jaxtham@hotmail.com for some help and details.

1^st DATCC Master Blaster Blitz Event (9^th October 2011 – Sunday!)

The Master Blaster Blitz Event offering a prize fund of RM500 with RM200 allocated for the champion. This will be a 15 rounds Blitz event starting at 10:00am, continuing into the afternoon and to conclude by 4:00pm with prize giving.

Entry fees is set at RM15 per player and the entry forms can be downloaded at http://www.chess-malaysia.com/DATCC%20Blitz.pdf

4^th DATCC Open Team Chess Championship (Starting in October)

With the continuing success of three previous DATCC KL Open Chess League, The Dato’ Arthur Tan Chess Center (DATCC) will organize the 4^th DATCC KL Open Team Chess Championship 2011 starting from Saturday, 22nd October 2011 with Registration, and Team Meeting at 9:00am followed by Round 1 at 10:00am.

Thereafter, the event will continue with one round per week on every Tuesday nights starting from 6:30pm from 25th October to 20th December 2011. The last Round 9 shall be played on Saturday, 24th December starting at 9:00am followed by the closing and prize giving ceremony at  1:30pm.

This will be a FIDE Rated event played over 9-round Swiss System with a maximum of 10 players per team. A match is played over 4 boards and at any one time, a team can only field players with an average rating strength of 2250 or less. Pairing will be made based on game points and match points will be used as the first tie-break.

To download the entry forms and learn more about the team event, please click HERE.

Further Information and Inquiries – Who to contact….

For further information or inquiries on these events or any other events at DATCC, please visit our blog site http://datcchess.blogspot.com or our associate website at www.chess-malaysia.com .

Otherwise, you can also contact our Program Manager, Najib Wahab at +6016 338 2542 (najib.wahab@chess-malaysia.com) or our Coordinator, Kaber Azzad at +6012 617 8624 (info@chess-malaysia.com)

Looking forward to having you at our center.

Hou Yifan Wins Shenzhen

Pix 1. GM Hou Yifan, China (Picture courtesy of chess.ugrasport.com)

19 September 2011, Kuala Lumpur – Reigning Women’s World Champion, GM Hou Yifan of China manages to win the Shenzhen leg of the Women’s Grand Prix with 8 points. Meanwhile second place fell to IM Muzychuk Anna of Slovenia with 7 points.

Whychess reported that there were few surprises in the final round of the Shenzhen Women’s Grand Prix. All the top players drew, meaning that Hou Yifan has now won the first two stages of the 2011-12 FIDE Grand Prix series. Anna Muzychuk also finished unbeaten in clear second, while 5 of the top 6 players were Chinese.

For the second day in a row Anna Muzychuk matched Hou Yifan perfectly – both players gained a slight edge with the black pieces before accepting a draw a pawn up in an ending with opposite-coloured bishops. Hou Yifan finished on 8/11, a point ahead of Anna Muzychuk, who was in turn 1/2 a point ahead of the third placed players, Ju Wenjun and Tan Zhongyi.

The final standings are shown below:-

In the overall Grand Prix standings Hou Yifan now has the maximum possible 320, while Anna Muzychuk is second with 240. Of course, we're still in the early stages, as overall 6 events will be held. Each player will take part in 4, and their best 3 results will be counted.

The next Women's Grand Prix is in Nalchik, Russia from 8-23 October 2011, where the Kosintseva sisters and Alexandra Kosteniuk will be among those taking part. World Champion Hou Yifan will skip the event as she prepares to play a World Championship match against Humpy Koneru in Albania this November.

Official website
All the games with Houdini analysis at WhyChess

Svidler Draws Closer To Being Champion, World Cup

Pix 1. Svidler and Grischuk after the third round, FIDE World Cup 2011, Khanty Mansiysk, RUS. (picture courtesy of chess.ugrasport.com)

19 September 2011, Kuala Lumpur – Svidler drew his third game and drew closer to securing the FIDE World Cup 2011 in Khanty Mansiysk, Russia.

Chess.com reported that Peter Svidler had no trouble holding Alexander Grischuk to a draw in the third game of their World Cup final match.

In fact, it was Svidler who had the better position with the black pieces, and Grischuk was replying on the 30 second time increment yet again to survive.  This time he managed to navigate to safe waters and salvage a draw.

Tomorrow Grischuk needs to conjure up a win with the black pieces to take the match to tie-breaks.

Vassily Ivanchuk drew a long and tiring game with Ruslan Ponomariov to leave himself needing just half a point with black in the final game tomorrow to reach the Candidates Tournament.

Results:

To read more, please visit this link here or visit the official website chess.ugrasport.com

Latest news from chessvibes.com : (MORE LATER) Peter Svidler won the FIDE World Cup 2011 after drawing the 4th game of the final against Alexander Grischuk today. The grandmaster from St. Petersburg set the final score at 2.5-1.5 and clinched the title and US $120,000 first prize. At the moment of writing Ruslan Ponomariov and Vassily Ivanchuk are still playing.

Links: FIDE World Cup 2011 (Khanty-Mansiysk RUS)
Sun 28th Aug 2011 - Tue 20th Sep 2011 -Official Site - Results - Live
FIDE World Cup 2011 (128 players 7 Rds KO Indiv TC:90m:30m+30spm(1)) - Games in PGN:Games | Live

DATCC Super Kids Weekend, 24th September 2011

In view of the recently concluded UPSR for primary schools, DATCC will be organizing its 1st DATCC SUPER KIDS Weekend on 24th September (Saturday) starting at 9:00am. The purpose of organizing this event specially for kids is to help and motivate our kids to continue engaging in healthy and productive mind activities during the school break. The first in the series, the SUPER KIDS Weekend is aimed at boys and girls below the age of 12.

This is the first of its Junior series in anticipation of the upcoming year end school break with the U10 AMAZING KIDS Weekend and

U8 BRILLIANT KIDS Weekend series to follow in October

Entry fees is set at RM10 per child and the top kids finishing in the event to receive medals and/or certificates for their excellent effort. Games are played over 6 rounds with a time control of 25 minutes to finish.

To download the registration form and schedule for the event, please click here.

Pls contact Jax Tham, hp:013-3232280, or Najib or Kaber handphone for further details.

The Malaysian SEA Team

18 September 2011, Kuala Lumpur – The Malaysian Chess team for the upcoming SEA Games has had a training session this morning at the DATCC just prior the team disperses. The team will be meeting on a regular basis to train together and to gel together as a team.

Svidler Leads World Cup 2011

 

 17 September 2011, Kuala Lumpur – In Khanty Mansiysk, the finals between Peter Svidler and Alexander Grischuk stands at 1.5 – 0.5 with Svidler leading. Svidler drew his second game with Grischuk in 16 moves in a Sicilian Opening. Svidler and Grischuk will decide the winner of the FIDE World Cup 2011 after four games.

Meanwhile to determine the third placing, Ivanchuk wins the second game against Ruslan Ponomariov. Ivanchuk leads with 1.5-0.5 after two games.

[Event "World Chess Cup 2011"]
[Site "1:01.28-0:49.17"]
[Date "2011.09.14"]
[Round "72"]
[White "Svidler, Peter"]
[Black "Grischuk, Alexander"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "2739"]
[WhiteCountry "RUS"]
[BlackElo "2746"]
[BlackCountry "RUS"]
[Remark "Match for the 1st place"]
[PresId "1000720001"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. a4 e5 7. Nf3 Be7 8. Bg5 Be6 9. Bxf6 Bxf6 10. Nd5 Nd7 11. Bc4 Rc8 12. Qe2 Nb6 13.Nxf6+ Qxf6 14. Bxe6 Qxe6 15. b3 O-O 16. Rd1 Rc6 

1/2-1/2

Figure 1. Black played 16…Rc6, game drawn.

*
 

[Event "World Chess Cup 2011"]
[Site "0:32.22-0:33.25"]
[Date "2011.09.14"]
[Round "72"]
[White "Ponomariov, Ruslan"]
[Black "Ivanchuk, Vassily"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "2764"]
[WhiteCountry "UKR"]
[BlackElo "2768"]
[BlackCountry "UKR"]
[Remark "Match for the 3rd place"]
[PresId "1000720002"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. e4 Bb4 6. Bg5 c5 7. Bxc4 cxd4 8. Nxd4 Bxc3+ 9. bxc3 Qa5 10. Bb5+ Nbd7 11. Bxf6 Qxc3+ 12. Kf1 gxf6 13. Nxe6 Qe5 14. Nd4 O-O 15. Qd3 Nc5 16. Qg3+ Kh8 17. Qxe5 fxe5 18. Nf3 a6 19. Bc4 Nxe4 20. Nxe5 f6 21. Nf3 Bf5 22. h3 b5 23. Bb3 Nc3 24. Nd4 Bd3+ 25. Kg1 a5 26. Kh2 a4 27. Bd1 Bc4 28. a3 Rad8 29. Nc6 Rd2 30. Bf3 Rxf2 31. Rhc1 Na2 32. Re1 Rc8 33. Re7 Nc3 34. Nb4 f5 35. Rae1 Rg8 36. R7e5 Be2 37. Rxf5 Bxf3 38. Rxf3 Rgxg2+ 39. Kh1 Rh2+ 40. Kg1 Ne2+ 

0-1

Figure 2. Black played 40…Ne2+, white resigned.

 

Pictures from chess.ugrasport.com, the official website.

Hou Yifan Leads In Shenzhen

17 September 2011, Kuala Lumpur - in Shenzhen, Hou Yifan (pix above) leads with six points after 8 rounds. The official website of the tournament reported that in the 8th round of Women’s FIDE Grand Prix four games were scored. After 3,5 hours 5 outmatches were finished, although the last game between Elina Danielian and Munguntuul Bathhuyag took all audience. After five and half hours of playing Armenian Elina Danielian managed to win. Hou Yifan defeated Viktorija Cmilyte while another leader Ruan Lufey lost the game against her compatriot Zhao Xue. Ju Wenjun was stronger in the game against Betul Yildiz. Two other games Zhu Chen – Ekaterina Kovalevskaya, Anna Muzychuk – Tam Zhongyi were drawn. After 8 rounds World Champion Hou Yifan became a sole leader half a point ahead of another Chinese player Zhao Xue, placed second. Anna Muzychuk and Ruan Lufei share the third place. Tomorrow there will be the second rest day and all players will go to visit different schools in Shenzhen. The 9th round will start at 3 p.m. local time on 17th of September.






Hou Yifan -Viktorija Cmilyte 1-0
Sicilian Defense, Dragon Variation happened in the game. Black decided to sacrifice a pawn in the opening but didn’t manage to get enough compensation. After Rfc8 Black lost a material and could not defend their position.
Viktorija Cmilyte: Well I made a mistake in the opening and Hou Yifan didn’t really give me a chance to survive. After b5 g5 I’m just a pawn down but Rc8 loses three pawns. Instead of b5 there were many other normal moves, it’s a theoretical position.
Hou Yifan: b5 is a really interesting idea and maybe Black can have some compensation. After we changed Queens I’m not sure if Black got enough compensation or not. Probably White have slightly better position. Of course Rfc8 is a huge mistake.

[Event "FIDE Women Grand Prix Shenzhen2011"]
[Site "Shen Zhen,China"]
[Date "2011.09.15"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Hou Yifan"]
[Black "Cmilyte Viktorija"]
[Result "1-0"]

1. e2-e4 c7-c5 2. Ng1-f3 d7-d6 3. d2-d4 c5xd4 4. Nf3xd4 Ng8-f6 5. Nb1-c3 g7-g6
6. Bc1-e3 Bf8-g7 7. f2-f3 O-O 8. Qd1-d2 Nb8-c6 9. g2-g4 Bc8-e6 10. O-O-O Nc6xd4
11. Be3xd4 Qd8-a5 12. a2-a3 b7-b5 13. g4-g5 Nf6-d7 14. Nc3xb5 Qa5xd2 15. Rd1xd2
Rf8-c8 16. Nb5xa7 Bg7xd4 17. Na7xc8 Bd4-e3 18. Nc8xe7 Kg8-f8 19. Ne7-d5 Be6xd5
20. e4xd5 Nd7-e5 21. Bf1-e2 Ra8-a4 22. c2-c3 Be3xg5 23. Kc1-c2 Bg5xd2 24.
Kc2xd2 Kf8-e7 25. Rh1-a1 Ra4-h4 26. a3-a4 Ke7-d7 27. a4-a5 Kd7-c7 28. a5-a6
Kc7-b8 29. a6-a7 Kb8-a8 30. b2-b4 Rh4xh2 31. Kd2-e3 f7-f5 32. Be2-b5 f5-f4 33.
Ke3xf4 g6-g5 34. Kf4-g3 Rh2-b2 35. Ra1-a3 h7-h5 36. Bb5-c6 Ne5xc6 37. d5xc6
h5-h4 38. Kg3-h3 Rb2-f2 39. b4-b5 Rf2xf3 40. Kh3-g4 1-0



Pictures from official website shenzhen2011.FIDE.com.