Update on Asian Amateur!

31 October 2011, Kuala Lumpur - Here is an announcement from the organizers of Asian Amateur Chess Championship 2011 on the upcoming FIDE - Rated chess event.

As the event move into its final week before the 4th November closing date, more than 50 players from 6 counties - Brunei, Singapore, Indonesia, Nepal, Philippines and host Malaysia have submitted their registration forms to the organizing secretariat. There were also a few applications received from India and Sri Lanka which are awaiting approval from the respective Federations, with Australia and China in the midst of finalizing their representatives for the event.

For Malaysians, a few notable players who are right about the "ceiling mark" has confirmed their participation including another few who have voiced their interest to play. Zaidan Zulkipli (2069), blogger Nor Ilhamuddin Shaikh Ali (1984) and former National Player Ismail Ahmad (1989) have already committed to participate with Ahmad Fadzil Nayan (2009), Stonemaster Fadli Zakaria (2048) and Jax Tham (2076) looking almost sure to participate as well. The highest rated player so far registering for the event is Brunei's Aliuddin Azahari (2085) with local Zaidan Zulkipli (2069) ranked as second highest.

Notable juniors who are also bidding their inaugural appearance in this year's Amateur event are Wong Yinn Long, WCM Nur Nabila Azman Hisham, CM Amier Hamzah Mohd Zuhri and Mark Siew Kit-Tze.

With 5 more days to go before the closing date, the organizer is expecting a flurry of registration and participation to be received as they scramble towards the 4th November deadline. Players registering after the deadline are at risk of paying an additional USD25 as penalty for late registration.

With a total prize fund of USD7,000 for the eventual winners and USD1,500 for the winner, this will be one of the more lucrative prize fund ever offered to "normal chess players" - quoting Quah Seng Sun's words in his STAR column, "players who are just like you and me". With the ceiling rating is set at FIDE 2100, this is truly an "open" event where everyone has an almost equal chance to earn the coveted Asian Masters Title.

To add more carrot to the winner, in the recent ASIAN CHESS FEDERATION committee meeting, ACF has agreed to award the title ASIAN MASTERS to the 3 winners in each category - Open, Women and Unrated. Whilst the title may not be as well known as the GM or IM title, it is nonetheless a title to be proud of - to be known as the best Amateur Chess Masters in Asia. To attract more participation for the event, the MALAYSIAN CHESS FEDERATION will award each participant with the ASIAN AMATEUR OPEN & WOMEN CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP Certificate of Participation to all players in the tournament.

For more details on the event, please load the tournament brochure at www.chess-malaysia.com/AmateurInvite.pdf. Registration forms can be downloaded at www.chess-malaysia.com/AmateurRegister.pdf

Players who would like to stay at the 5-star Crown Plaza Mutiara - where the event is being held, can request for a booking form to reserve their room at a special rate by sending an email to the organizing secretary. Those who are from out of KL and would like to know more about other places to stay around the playing venue, please download the following brochure available at www.chess-malaysia.com/AmateurHotel.pdf which provides a list of several available hotels located within 15-30 minutes walk from Crown Plaza Mutiara.

For more information, updates and clarification, feel free to contact the Organizing Secretary, Najib Wahab at +6016 338 2542 or email him at najib.wahab@chess-malaysia.com. You can also follow more news and information on this event, and any other events in KL via our Facebook link at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Chess-Malaysia/168231673260531