Chess-in-Malaysia

Ahmad Fadzil Nayan Wins Perak GP 1st Leg

2012-02-13T05:00:00.001-08:00

13 February 2012, Kuala Lumpur – At the first leg of the Perak Grand Prix Open 2012, Asian Amateur Champion, Ahmad Fadzil Nayan came out a winner with 6.5 points from 7 rounds of Swiss-System Rapid Rounds.

The following table summarises the top 28 players of the Open Category played yesterday, 12 February 2012 in SMK Clifford, Kuala Kangsar, Perak.

(table courtesy of gilachess blog)

Zhou vs Nepomniachtchi, Aeroflot Open 2012

2012-02-13T04:49:00.001-08:00

13 February 2012, Kuala Lumpur – Ian Nepomniachtchi was the 2010 European Individual Champion and the 2010 Russian Chess Champion. He has scored 3.5 points from six rounds of the Moscow Aeroflot Open 2012, category A and he is currently lying in 31st position somewhere in the middle of the table. There are 86 players participating in the Category A of the Moscow Aeroflot Open 2012.

Here is the round 7 live game between Zhou Jianchao and Ian Nepomniachtchi of the Aeroflot Open 2012, Moscow.

Rankings After round 6, Moscow Aeroflot Open 2012, Category A.

Here is the round 7 live game between Eljanov Pavel and Korobov Anton, the current leader with 5.0 points from six rounds of the Moscow Aeroflot Open 2012.Here is the round 7 live game between Eljanov Pavel and Korobov Anton, the current leader with 5.0 points from six rounds of the Moscow Aeroflot Open 2012.

To see more games, please visit Susan Polgar’s blog or click here.

Official website: http://www.aeroflotchess.org

Insofar Combined Tournament Feb 2012

2012-02-13T03:46:00.001-08:00

13 Feb 2012, Kuala Lumpur – The Insofar Chess Academy is organising the INSOFAR COMBINED Tournament on 26th Feb 2012 at DATCC, Wilayah Kompleks, Kuala Lumpur.

(source: stonemaster.info)

Kuala Lumpur Organizes DYTM Raja Nazrin Shah International Open 2012

2012-02-12T07:41:00.001-08:00

12 Feb 2012, Kuala Lumpur – Just read from Susan Polgar’s blog, Chessdom.com website and KLChess.com blog that the DYTM Raja Nazrin Shah International chess Open 2012 will take place in September 2012.

Chessdom.com reported that DYTM Raja Nazrin Shah International Open, with a total prize fund of RM 45,000 thanks to generous sponsorship from the Masterskill Education Group, will be held in Kuala Lumpur at the Olympic Sports Hotel from 17-23 September 2012.

It will be a FIDE titled and rated event over 9 rounds using the Swiss System and the time control will be the standard FIDE 90 minutes for the first 40 moves followed by 30 minutes plus a 30 second time increment per move for the rest of the game. Foreign titled players may apply for conditions which will be awarded on a case by case basis. Official website is www.klchess.com

The event is organised by Polgar Chess Asia for the Kuala Lumpur Chess Association (KLCA) with support from the Malaysian Chess Federation, previous winners are GM Anton Filipov (2008), GM Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son (2009), GM Hou Yifan (2010) and GM Oliver Barbosa (2011).

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

Korobov vs Rodshtein, Round 6, Aeroflot Open 2012

2012-02-12T06:23:00.001-08:00

12 February 2012, Kuala Lumpur – Here is the round 6 game between current leader, GM Anton Korobov against GM Maxim Rodshtein during the Moscow Aeroflot Chess Open 2012 Category A. Both Korobov and Rodshtein have scored 4 points each from five rounds of play.

Here is the live game of round 6, Aeroflot Open 2012, Moscow, Russia.

Pairings of Round 6, Aeroflot Open 2012, Category A

Here is another live game between GM Ray Robson of USA and GM Le Quang Liem (pix below) of Vietnam during round 6 of the on-going Moscow Aeroflot Open 2012, Category A.

(source: http://www.aeroflotchess.org/tournaments/A/)

Tournaments Around The World Today 2012

2012-02-11T20:29:00.001-08:00

12 February 2012, Kuala Lumpur – Live chess ratings website keeps track of the 2700+ ratings of chess players and tournaments that they participate around the world.

Here are a few of the upcoming chess tournaments and their official websites (source live chess ratings website)

Upcoming Events:
1. Match Russia - Azerbaijan, Moscow (Russia), 1 March - 9 March 2012, Web (5) [No players info yet]
Current events:
1. Aeroflot Open 2012, Moscow (Russia), 7 February - 15 February 2012, Web (5/9) [Caruana, Nepomniachtchi, Tomashevsky, Le, Jobava, Vallejo, Sasikiran etc]
2. Bundesliga 2011/2012 (German League), 14 October 2011 (next 25 February) - 15 April 2012, Web(9/15) [Svidler, Gashimov, Adams, Bacrot, Naiditsch, Almasi, Vallejo, Berkes, Fressinet, Wojtaszek, Movsesian, Efimenko]
3. Bundesliga-2, Ost, 2 October (next 26 February) - 15 April 2012, Web (6/9) [Navara]
4. 4NCL 2011/2012, Four Nations Chess League (GBR), 12 November 2011 (next 11 February) - 7 May 2012, Web (4/11) [Adams, Short, Vachier-Lagrave]
5. Israel Team Championship 2011/2012, 16 December 2011 (next 3 and 4 February, no results yet) - 2 March 2012, Web (7-8*/11) [Sutovsky]
6. Hungarian League 2011/2012, 25 September 2011 (next 19 February) - 20 May 2012 Web (5/11) [Berkes, Efimenko, Naiditsch]
7. Dutch League 2011/2012, 17 September 2011 (next 11 February) - 22 April 2012 Web (5/9) [Giri]
8. Czech League, Extraliga, 8 October (next 3 March) - 22 April 2012, Web (6/11) [Ponomariov, Vitiugov, Navara, Laznicka, Wojtaszek, Korobov]
9. Czech League-2, Zapad, 2 October (next 12 February) - 1 April 2012, Web (7/11) [Navara]
Completed events:
1. Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival, Gibraltar (Great Britain), 24 January 2012 - 2 February 2012, Web(10/10) [Svidler, Adams, Mamedyarov, Le, Polgar J., Shirov, Vachier-Lagrave, Almasi, Laznicka, Sutovsky, Short etc]
2. Tata Steel 2012, Wijk Aan Zee (The Netherlands), 13 January - 29 January 2012 Web (13/13) [Carlsen, Aronian, Karjakin, Topalov, Ivanchuk, Gashimov, Kamsky, Nakamura, Radjabov, Gelfand, Giri, Caruana, Navara, Van Wely]
3. Queenstown Chess Classic 2012, New Zealand, 15-23 January 2012 Web (9/9) [Li Chao b]
4. 54th Reggio Emilia Tournament, Reggio Emelia (Italy), 27 December 2011 - 6 January 2012, Web (10/10) [Ivanchuk, Morozevich, Nakamura, Caruana, Giri, Vitugov]
5. Hilton Open 2012, Basel (Switzerland), 01 January - 05 January 2012, Web (7/7) [Grachev]
6. Hastings Chess Congress, Hastings (England), 28 December 2011 - 5 January 2012, Web (9/9) [Wang Yue]
7. Zurich Weihnachtsopen, Zurich (Switzerland), 26 December - 30 December 2011, Web (7/7) [Grachev]
8. North American Open 2011, Las Vegas, Nevada (USA), 26 December - 29 December 2011, Web (7/7) [Vallejo]

Live Chess Ratings:

Anton Korobov Leads In Moscow Aeroflot Chess Open 2012

2012-02-11T04:13:00.001-08:00

11 February 2012, Kuala Lumpur – Chessbase.com reports that The 11th Aeroflot Open is taking place in Moscow from February 7 to 15, 2012. Top seeds are Evgeny Tomashevsky, Fabiano Caruana, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Le Quang Liem, Francisco Vallejo Pons and Baadur Jobava, Krishnan Sasikiran, all ranked 2700 or higher.

After the fourth round of the Aeroflot Open, GM Anton Korobov of Ukraine is in the lead with 3.5 points. Trailing behind him are a bunch of GMs with 3.0 points among them are GM Denis Khismatulin of Russia , GM Ivan Sokolov of Netherlands and GM Bu Xiangzhi of China. Meanwhile GM Caruana of Italy has dropped to 25th ranked with 2.5 points to show so far.

Tourney mode: Open tourney 9 rounds Swiss System. Time control: 100 minutes/40 moves + 50 minutes/20 moves + 15 minutes + 30 seconds/move starting with the first move. Game start:all rounds 12:00 (15:00 local Moscow time). Tiebreak systems: For tournament A and B: 1st: The number of games played with Black. Byes and forfeited games will be considered as games played with White. 2nd: The average of the opponents' ratings minus the highest and the lowest rating.

Here is a live game between Vietnam’s GM Le Quang Liem (pix below left) and GM Alexander Khalifman of Russia of round 5, Moscow Aeroflot Open 2012. Both have scored 2.5 points so far.

Here is the critical round 4 game between Anton Korobov of Ukraine and Fabiano Caruana of Italy giving Korobov the win and the current leadership of the Moscow Aeroflot Open 2012 category A. The Benko/Volga Gambit opening transpired during the game and was won by white.

Official website of the tournament: http://online.aeroflotchess.org/

(source: Susan Polgar’s Daily Chess News blog and Chessbase.com)

Melaka International On FIDE.com

2012-02-11T03:06:00.001-08:00

11 Feb 2012, Kuala Lumpur – The Malacca International Chess Festival 2012 has been recently announced on this blog and on fide.com. It will be held in the month of April – May 2012 in Malacca, Malaysia.

Here is an extract of the tournament news on fide.com:-

The festival is scheduled 20th April to 1st May 2012 and it offers 3 major events – the Florencio Campomanes Memorial International Rapid Chess Championship, the Historical Melaka International Chess Championship and the Historical Melaka Challenger Chess Championship with a total prize fund of more than USD 35,000. The official Hotel/Venue for the event shall be the HANG TUAH WORLD HERITAGE HOTEL MELAKA located right in the heart of the City of Melaka, a stone’s throw away from many historical landmarks and museums, shopping malls, interesting attractions, eateries and popular night spots.

Do mark your calendar this coming April for the 750 Years Melaka International Chess Festival to be held in the Historical City of Melaka in Malaysia. This international chess event is jointly organized by the Malaysian Chess Federation (MCF), the Melaka State Government and the Melaka State Foundation.
The Florencio Campomanes Memorial shall be the first event for the festival and it offers a prize fund of USD 20,000. Player’s registration and meeting are on 20th April at 9:00pm and Round 1 on 21st April at 9:00am. The Campo Memorial, a FIDE event, shall be played over 11 rounds using rapid time control of 25 minutes per player per game played to the finish. The first 6 rounds will be played on Day 1 of the event (21st April) and the balance 5 rounds to be played on Day 2 (22nd April 2012) followed by Prize Giving ceremony at 6:00pm.

The next two events, the Historical Melaka International Chess Championship and the Historical Melaka Challenger Chess Championship, will run concurrently from 23rd April until 30th April 2012. This event shall be FIDE rated played over 9 rounds using classical time control of 90 minutes plus 30 seconds increment per move per player per game from move one. The International section is open to all players of any playing strength whilst the Challenger section is open only to player with a FIDE rating of 1999 and below. The International section offers a prize fund of RM 40,000 (about USD 13,000) whilst the Challenger section offers a prize fund of RM 10,000 (USD 3,300).

Entry fees for GM, WGM, IM, WIM and players above the 2500 FIDE rating is free for both the Rapid and International event.

Single room accommodation is provided for the first 10 GMs above 2600 and twin for the next 15 GMs.

FYI, Melaka is located approximately 100km to the south of KLIA (Kuala Lumpur International Airport) and the LCCT (Low Cost Carrier Terminal) and travelling time via the highway to Melaka will take between 1½ and 2 hours.

If you are interested to play in this event, or would like to know more information on the event details i.e. entry fees, hotels, accommodation, please reply to this email or direct your clarification and questions to either MCF Secretary, Mr Gregory Lau Beng Hock at msianchess2010@gmail.com or event Secretary, Mr Khairi Jansar at kj_melaka@yahoo.com or contact Najib Abdul Wahab, Tournament Technical Director, tel: +6016 338 2542, Email: najib.wahab@chess-malaysia.com
Blog: http://datcchess.blogspot.com.

To read the same, please visit fide.com or click here. Or on fireyrook’s blog, click here. Or on this blog, click here.

National Age Group Chess Championship 2012

2012-02-09T06:57:00.001-08:00

9 Feb 2012, Kuala Lumpur - Here is an important announcement from En A Hamid Majid of an upcoming age group chess tournament.

This year's National Age Group Chess Championship will be held over 3 days (11 - 13 March 2012) in the OCM Indoor Stadium in Jalan Hang Jebat. Hope for your support to publicize the event.

I send the Entry Forms in PDF and Word as an attached file. For those who have blog sites or facebook please help advertise. Your support is appreciated. The main organizer is MCF and DAT Chess Center will be the event manager.

Parents are advised to register early due to space and logistical restrictions.

A Wish List

2012-02-07T03:35:00.001-08:00

Pix 1. Vladimir Kramnik hitting the gong, Tata Steel Chess 2012. (Photo by Fred Lucas)

7 Feb 2012, Kuala Lumpur - As a local chess enthusiast there are a few things on the wish list that one hopes the local Malaysian chess scene would improve in the near future. Here are a few that could be considered by the Malaysian Chess Federation (MCF) as either one of short-term or long term strategic plan:-

A. A local professional chess circuit offering reasonable cash prizes for the professional local chess player,

B. Chess tournaments offering local players FIDE Ratings for classical, rapid and blitz categories,

C. Training of local would-be arbiters to assist fully the understanding of FIDE Chess laws and rules, so that the country will never be short of potential chess arbiters,

D. Development of high performance chess teams for active duty at regional and international chess events to represent the country in either gender or in which ever age group,

E. to develop a cadre of Malaysian players to Grand Master (GM) level, the highest level that a chess player can aspire to be,

F. To encourage the government to adopt "Chess-in-school" curriculum and encourage it as one of the extra curricular activities of primary, secondary and tertiary level education, similar to other strong chess nations such as Europe and the USA,

G. To form and inculcate a pool of would-be chess tournament sponsors by forming strategic partnerships,

H. To encourage the growth of professionally run chess centers throughout the country, by doing so these centers will provide the necessary chess trainers that budding chess players can fall back for further development,

I. To form a center or a chess magazine that integrates information of local chess tournaments by disseminating the information systematically through the public media like a locally produced chess magazine, at the moment it is still seen as ad-hoc,

J. MCF to have a special publicity committee that focuses in providing public media the necessary information and promotes chess in a healthy manner.

J. Development of a chess career for those deciding to devote chess their whole life from player to trainer to arbiter to tournament organizer to chess magazine publisher to chess sponsors. The whole gamut of chess life.

Many steps may have been taken before but unknown to the mainstream public.

Highlight them in the media and gain the necessary publicity for chess where it is appropriately due.

The wish list may have been implemented partially in some parts but left wanting more by the chess community. What is your dreams for chess?

Calendar of Chess Activities 2012 – MCF

2012-02-06T07:26:00.001-08:00

Pix 1. Kateryna Lahno, Ukraine – Tata Steel 2012. (Photo by Fred Lucas)

6 February 2012, Kuala Lumpur – The Malaysian Chess Federation calendar of chess activities for the year 2012 has been posted on Biro Catur Wanita MCF’s blog. Here is a copy of the calendar of the year’s activities.

(source: Biro Catur Wanita’s blog)

Seremban Parade Age Group and Open

2012-02-05T22:51:00.001-08:00

6 Feb 2012, Kuala Lumpur - Here is the latest announcement from the Negri Sembilan Chess Association and Seremban Parade of an upcoming chess weekend tournament on 25-26 February 2012.

MSSD WP CHESS SCHEDULE

2012-02-05T05:59:00.001-08:00

5 Feb 2012, Kuala Lumpur - Here are some important chess dates for school going teens and an important reminder.

MSSM (Majlis Sukan-sukan Sekolah Malaysia) is an annual sports meet amongst national school children to show their prowness in various sports event. Chess is one of them.

This year chess for MSSD WP (District, Wilayah Persekutuan) will kick off with the following schedule:-

Zones:
Bangsar - 13-17 Feb (Primary); 19-23 Mar (Secondary)
Keramat - 20-24 Feb (Primary); 2-6 Apr (Secondary)
Pudu - 27 Feb-2 Mar (Primary); 9-13 Apr (Secondary)
Sentul - 19 - 23 Mar (Primary); 26-30 Mar (Secondary)

Whereas, the Selangor Petaling Utama Zone will kick off on 3-5 Apr @ SK Bandar Sri Damansara I.

For those who are keen to represent the school, please contact the school's Guru Penolong Kanan - Ko-kurikulum or teacher in-charge of chess immediately and register.

So get prepared and be ready.

Sumant Wins January Insofar Combined Tournament 2012

2012-02-05T03:25:00.001-08:00

Pix 1. Sumant Subramaniam.

5 Feb 2012, Kuala Lumpur - Here are the round 7 results and final rankings of the January Insofar Combined Tournament 2012 held last weekend 29 January 2012 in DATCC Kuala Lumpur. About 120 participants came to play on the day. Full to the brim for DATCC!

Sumant Subramaniam was declared the January Insofar Combined Champion. Sumant scored 6.5 points after overcoming Kamaluddin Yusof in the final seventh round. Second, NM Kamalariffin Wahiduddin with 6.0 points and Chek Kin Keow in third position.

Table 1. Round 7 Results.

Table 2. Final Ranking INSOFAR Combined Tournament January 2012.

To see complete results of this tournament, please visit chess-results.com or click here.

Kubra Ozturk Declared Turkish Women Champion 2012!

2012-02-04T18:38:00.001-08:00

5 February 2012, Kuala Lumpur – Kubra Ozturk is Turkish Women Chess Champion 2012. Chessdom.com reported that in the 9th round of the Turkish Women Championship the leaders of the tournament Kubra Ozturk and Betul Yildizwon their matches and finished the race with equal scores. According to the championship rules, they had to play a tie-break in order to determine the champion.

Betul Yildiz, who is an eight-time Turkish champion, won the first game of the playoff, in which both players had ten minutes for the whole game and five seconds increment per move.

In the second game her team mate Kubra Ozturk managed to equalize the score by winning it. The fate of the first place was decided in Armageddon – Kubra Ozturk won the game and clinched the title. Busra Arig took the bronze medal.

Pix 1. Kubra Ozturk, the champion. (Photo by Anastasiya Karlovich)

Pix 2. Top three women finishers of Turkish Women Chess Championship 2012 – Betul Yildiz, Kubra Ozturk and Busra Arig. (Photo by Anastasiya Karlovich)

Here is the final 9th round game played by Betul Cemre Yildiz against Kaya Emel during the Turkish Women Chess Championship 2012.

Here is the Kubra Ozturk’s winning 9th round game against Sural Yanik Emine during the Turkish Women Championship 2012. Ozturk played black and won.

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

Nigel Short’s Rapid Win At Gibraltar Masters 2012 Playoffs

2012-02-03T06:19:00.001-08:00

Pix 1. Nigel Short receives his trophy. (PHOTO by Zeljka Malobabic)

3 February 2012, Kuala Lumpur – Have a look at GM Nigel Short’s rapid game playoffs win against GM Hou Yifan of China during the Gibraltar Masters 2012. With this emphatic win in the first game of the rapid game playoffs gave Nigel the needed confidence to simply draw as black in the second rapid game playoffs. The Closed Sicilian opening transpired during the game.

The Gibraltar Masters 2012 produced one last press release and the release praised Hou Yifan’s efforts in this tournament. Here is an abstract of the press release:

“… A bridge too far for Hou Yifan? No! She played a counterattacking line of the Najdorf Sicilian made famous by Bobby Fischer – the Poisoned Pawn variation. This was a statement that she intended to go toe to toe with her famous adversary. A great chunk of opening theory ensued – the women’s world champion knows her theory extremely well – and Shirov innovated by taking her b-pawn. But it seemed to be laced with more poison than his own b2 pawn and his position started to wilt as Hou Yifan’s position gradually got better. Eventually it came down to a level ending but one where Hou Yifan’s pair of pawns were just a little bit more advanced and threatening than Shirov’s and the Latvian’s super-GM’s king was trapped on the back rank. Would she start getting nervous and blow it? No – she hung and won.

I guess it was at this point that most of us realised that Hou Yifan had broken through some sort of barrier. Two barriers, actually: the big deal a couple of rounds previously had been the face-off between the two top women players but that had become almost an irrelevance. Hou Yifan had already moved on and was showing that it wasn’t just about beating Judit. She had proved that she was capable of dishing out punishment to any 2700 who sat in front of her.What we were seeing was a player who had made a large jump in standard in a very short time.

The clue was there in her world championship match last year with Humpy Koneru. On paper the two were closely matched but the evidence of the chess and the ease of the result suggested that Hou Yifan had put a distance between herself and her Indian challenger. After the last round, Michael Adams joined the commentary team for the play-offs and made much the same point. Basically, the rating list hasn’t quite caught up her rapid rate of improvement. Her playing strength is that of a 2700+ player.The win against Alexei Shirov had done something else. Hou Yifan was now in the lead on her own! There was still one round to go. Would she suddenly get nervous and experience fear of success, like a tennis star serving for their first Grand Slam title? …”

Read more from http://susanpolgar.blogspot.com.

The ninth round game between GM Alexei Shirov and GM Hou Yifan gave chess enthusiasts a greater measure of the depth of her chess strength as she beat Shirov in this game. Let’s watch the game here.

(source of games: Internet Chess Club and official website of the tournament)

(source of press release: Susan Polgar’s Daily Chess News Blog)

Nigel Short Wins Gibraltar Masters 2012

2012-02-02T14:32:00.001-08:00

Pix 1. Hou Yifan and Nigel Short in the Gibraltar Masters playoff.

(Photo by Ray Morris-Hill)

3 February 2012, Kuala Lumpur – In the Gibraltar Masters 2012, GM Nigel Short of England wins the play-off against GM Hou Yifan 1.5-0.5. Hence Nigel Short is declared the Champion of the Gibraltar Masters 2012.

Round 10 Results – Up To Board 25

In round 10 of the Gibraltar Masters 2012, GM Nigel Short had a crucial final round game against India’s GM Sasikiran. Here is the game. Short played as black and won.

Official website: http://www.gibraltarchesscongress.com

Jovanka vs Zatonskih, Round 10, Gibraltar Masters 2012

2012-02-02T06:26:00.001-08:00

2 February 2012, Kuala Lumpur – Here is the round 10 game between IM Jovanka Houska of England against IM Anna Zatonskih of USA of the Gibraltar Masters 2012.

Pix 1. IM Jovanka Houska Pix 2. IM Anna Zatonskih

(Photos from Gibraltar Masters 2012 official website)

Official website: www.gibraltarchesscongress.com.

(source: Susan Polgar’s Daily Chess News blog)

Polgar vs Korchnoi, Round 10, Gibraltar Masters 2012

2012-02-02T06:03:00.001-08:00

2 February 2012, Kuala Lumpur – Here is the round 10 game between GM Judit Polgar, Hungary against the veteran GM Viktor Korchnoi, Switzerland, during the Gibraltar Masters 2012.

Pix 1. Judit Polgar Pix 2. Viktor Korchnoi

(Photos from Gibraltar Masters 2012 official website)

Official website: www.gibraltarchesscongress.com.

(source: Susan Polgar’s Daily Chess News blog)

Hou Yifan vs Alexei Shirov, Gibraltar Masters 2012

2012-02-01T06:25:00.001-08:00

1 February 2012, Kuala Lumpur – Live game between GM Alexei Shirov (pix below left) vs GM Hou Yifan (pix below right) of China at the Gibraltar Masters 2012.

Official website: www.gibraltarchesscongress.com.

(Photos from official website of Gibraltar Masters 2012)

(source: Susan Polgar’s Daily Chess News blog)

1Malaysia KK City Chess Tournament, 4-5 Feb 2012

2012-02-01T03:47:00.001-08:00

1 February 2012, Kuala Lumpur – The Sabah Chess Association is organising a two-day weekend tournament for individual and team events on separate days in Kota Kinabalu city this coming weekend, 4-5 February 2012.

The tournament will be held at Asia City Complex. The individual chess rapid to be played over 7 rounds of Swiss-System will be national-rated and held on the 4th February 2012, Saturday. While the team chess event will be held at the same place on the 5th February 2012, Sunday.

To download team event registration form click here.

To read more, please visit sabahchess.com or you may visit the facebook page for the tournament, click here.

Hou Yifan’s Games From Gibraltar 2012

2012-01-31T22:57:00.001-08:00

1 February 2012, Kuala Lumpur – Here are two games played by Women World Champion, GM Hou Yifan during the Gibraltar Masters 2012. In both games she won convincingly. One against Vietnam’s GM Le Quang Liem and the other against veteran GM Judit Polgar.

Official website: http://www.gibraltarchesscongress.com/

Masrin Erowan Wins NC2012 Sabah Chess Selection

2012-01-31T19:48:00.001-08:00

1 February 2012, Kuala Lumpur – Here are the final round results and final ranking of the recently held chess tournament in Lokkawi named NC2012 Sabah Chess Selection.

Mas Erowan (pix above, left) came out as the champion with 7 points from seven rounds. He beat 53 others to the winner’s rostrum and overcame Mohd Noh Anuk in the last final round. Second was National Master Mohd Kamal Abdullah with 6 points. He beat Abdul Sahim Wising on second board of the final 7th round. Third, Sulaiman Jamal with 5.5 points.

To see more results, please visit sabahchess.com or click here.

To see a previous similar post on the same tournament, please click here.

(Photo from Masrin Bronstein’s facebook)

1st Melaka International 2012

2012-01-30T08:27:00.001-08:00

31 January 2012, Kuala Lumpur - At last the awaited Malacca chess event of the year has some news to announce. Here it goes:-

Words have it that the 1st Melaka International event has been finalized and that the event will be hosted by the Historical City of Melaka starting from 20th April right up to 1st May 2012. The event will be marked as one of the major international event to commemorate the 750th year of Melaka since it was first founded and built

The event shall start with an 11 round International Rapid event offering a prize fund of USD 20,000 to be played over the 2 days weekend, followed by Classical event over 9 rounds for 2 categories - Open International and Challenger, offering a total prize fund of up to RM 50,000.

The total prize fund is one of the biggest purse ever offered for a local tournament surpassing that of the Malaysian Chess Festival. Entry fees for the event and other details are being fine tuned before it is officially released

The 12 days chess gala will be hosted at the Hang Tuah Hotel right in the heart of Melaka City where Mahkota Parade, Dataran Pahlawan, Historical Museums, popular night spots and eateries, are all located within walking distance from the playing venue.

An opening dinner is also on the agenda and it is very likely that it will be officiated by the YAB Ketua Menteri Melaka with many local, regional and international chess dignitaries expected to attend the festival.

Event schedule that has been tentatively agreed earlier today is as follows:

Be on the lookout for more information on the event which will unfold within the next few days. Players who are interested to have a good start and learn more about the event, please get in touch with:

Haslindah Ruslan - MCF Vice President at +6019.206.9605
Gregory Lau Beng Hock - MCF Honorary Secretary at +6012.289.8215
Najib A Wahab - Technical Director +6016.338.2542

Come and join the fun!

Kelantan Close 2012 – Nik A Farouqi Wins

2012-01-29T06:50:00.001-08:00

Pix 1. Nik Farouqi vs Mas Hafizulhelmi, Round 4, Kelantan Close 2012

(Photo by Mohd Ezmi Mahmood’s facebook)

29 January 2012, Kuala Lumpur – The eight round Swiss- System Kelantan CLose 2012 Men Open was won by Nik Ahmad Farouqi with 7.5 points from 8 rounds of play. The final ranking is as shown in the table below:-

Round 8 Results, Men Open, Kelantan Close 2012

To read more results, please visit caturkelate.blogspot.com or click here.

Farouqi Shocker!

2012-01-28T03:32:00.001-08:00

28 Jan 2012, Kuala Lumpur – Today is the first day of the Kelantan Close 2012 and Nik Ahmad Farouqi has made a sensation by winning his game against Malaysia’s number 1 player, IM Mas Hafizulhelmi.

Here is the winning game from Nik Ahmad Farouqi in the Kelantan Close 2012 Men’s Open category.

To read more, please visit caturkelate.blogspot.com.

(source of game: http://caturkelate.blogspot.com/)

A Few Games of Round 3, Gibraltar Masters 2012

2012-01-26T19:53:00.001-08:00

Pix 1. Hou Yifan Pix 2. Zhukova

(PHOTOS by Zeljka Malobabic)

27 Jan 2012, Kuala Lumpur – Here are few games from round 3 of the Gibraltar Masters 2012. All games were from Internet Chess Club site.

David Howell and Judit Polgar ended a slugfest with two kings remaining on the board and a drawn game.

Meanwhile GM Michael Adams of England had a nice win in the third round against GM Daniel Fridman in a French Defence opening (French Tarrasch variation) in the Gibraltar Masters 2012.

In round 3, Women’s reigning World Champion, GM Hou Yifan of China also won her fourth round game against GM Zoltan Almasi with a Ruy Lopez opening.

Rank after round 3, Gibraltar Masters 2012:-

Results of round 3, Gibraltar Masters 2012 (up to table 26):-

Official website: http://www.gibraltarchesscongress.com/index.htm

To see more results, please visit chess-results.com or click here.

(source of games: Internet Chess Club)

Polgar’s Round 2 Game, Gibraltar Masters

2012-01-26T07:49:00.001-08:00

26 Jan 2012, Kuala Lumpur – In Gibraltar Masters 2012, Le Quang Liem and Judit Polgar won their round 2 games. Judit’s round 2 game against Ikonnikov Vyacheslav is shown below:-

Results of round 2 Gibraltar Masters 2012 (up to table 25)

Current Leaders after round 2, Gibraltar Masters 2012

You can see a commentary on the top two boards of round 2 Gibraltar Chess Masters 2012 by clicking on this link www.gibraltarchesscongress.com/videos.htm.

Official website: http://www.gibraltarchesscongress.com/index.htm

Gibraltar Chess Festival 2012

2012-01-25T04:05:00.001-08:00

25 January 2012, Kuala Lumpur – The Gibraltar Masters 2012 is now playing from 24 Jan – 2 February 2012. GM Peter Svidler, GM Judit Polgar, GM Le Quang Liem and GM Hou Yifan are some names that are playing in this year’s tournament.

Masters gets underway

The official website of the tournament reported that the major event of the Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival - the Gibraltar Masters - got underway at the Caleta Hotel this afternoon. This is the tenth in the series of major international chess events held on the Rock and the second one to be sponsored by Tradewise Insurance.

Pix 1. Board 1, round 1, GM Peter Svidler plays against IM Jovanka Houska, England. (Photo from official website of tournament)

Here is the game between Svidler and Houska of round 1, Tradewise Gibraltar Masters 2012 played yesterday, 24 January 2012.

Here is another game of round 1 involving American Anna Zatonskih against Gerald Loew, Gibraltar Masters 2012.

Here is a video of the Gibraltar Chess Festival 2012.

Results of Round 1 (up to table 26)

Official website: http://www.gibraltarchesscongress.com/

Nik Ahmad Farouqi Wins 17 Chess Club FIDE Rated Tournament 2012

2012-01-24T12:00:00.000-08:00

25 Jan 2012, Kuala Lumpur – The 17 Chess Club FIDE Rated Tournament 2012 held from 20-24 January 2012 at DATCC ended later yesterday afternoon with Nik Ahmad Farouqi declared the champion with 7.5 points from 9 rounds of single round robin format of Group A.

Abdul Haq Mohamed was second with 6.5 points and third was Mohd Saprin Sabri (pix above) with 6.0 points. To Saprin’s credit, he is the only non-losing player in the tournament but suffered due to six draws too many. All other players had at least one loss.

Meanwhile in the B group, Faiezul Zainal (pix above, Photo by Ng6 blogger) won convincingly with 8 points from 9 rounds of play from a similar single round robin format. Second, Foo Chee Kin with 6.5 points and surprisingly, Saprin’s protege son, Amir Qayyim Mohd Saprin is in third place with 6.0 points.

Johansen Darryl K wins Queenstown Chess Classic

2012-01-24T05:33:00.001-08:00

24 January 2012, Kuala Lumpur – Discovered that Lim Kian Hwa of Malaysia had recently participated in the New Zealand’s Queenstown Chess Classic held from 15-23 January.

Chess.com reported that the 2012 Queenstown Chess Classic runs from 15-23 January in New Zealand.

The competition is a nine-round international open incorporating the 119th New Zealand Chess Championships, with a guaranteed prize fund of NZD 30,000 (approx USD 24,000).

The tournament is the inspiration of New Zealand chess Grandmaster Murray Chandler (pictured), and is the third edition following two successful previous events in 2006 and 2009.

The tournament was won by Australian GM Johansen Darryl K with 7.5 points. Johansen won by winning the crucial last ninth round game against GM Gawain Jones of England. GM Li Chao of China who had been leading up to round 8 fell to second place after drawing the last ninth round game against Tao Trevor. Li Chao also scored 7.5 points but lost out on tie-break points.

Lim Kian Hwa (pix left) of Malaysia ended in 111th position with 3.5 points after winning the last round game against Beckman John.

Lim’s play (shown below) involved two FMs and one WIM comprising of 3 wins and a draw from nine rounds of play. He played against 6 Australians and 3 New Zealanders.

Sabah Chess Masters

2012-01-24T04:47:00.001-08:00

24 Jan 2012, Kuala Lumpur - Here is one chess tournament organized by Sabah Chess Association and the military. It will be held in Sabah 's military camp in Lokkawi on 28-29 Jan 2012. In conjunction with their 48th anniversary, the chess tournament titled Sabah Chess masters Piala Panglima 5 Brigade 2012 will be held at Dewan Mini MINDEF Kem Lokkawi in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.

Here is the news article related to the chess event.

Please contact Chi Tin Phin (016-813 3487), Kamariah Abu Bakar (017-818 8798) or Charles Lucas (016-836 2436) for further details. Please visit theri website http://sabahchess.com.

Farouqi's game

2012-01-24T02:38:00.001-08:00

24 Jan 2012, Kuala Lumpur - Here is a game between Nik Ahmad Farouqi and Kamaluddin Yusof during the Nf6 Fide Rated Tournament 2011 held last year at DATCC. The French Defence opening transpired in the game in which Nik Ahmad Farouqi excels in and won easily in 21 moves.

Have a go at the game below:-

Nik Farouqi, Faiezul Zainal Leads In 17 Chess Club

2012-01-22T21:01:00.001-08:00

23 January 2012, Kuala Lumpur – The 17 Chess Club FIDE Rated Tournament 2012 is currently on-going at DATCC with two groups of 10 players.

In Group A, Nik Ahmad Farouqi and Abdul Haq Mohamed are leading the group with 4 points after 5 rounds of play.

Meanwhile in Group B, Faiezul Zainal is leading with 5 full points from 5 rounds of play.

To read more either visit chess-results.com or visit Pengurusan Catur Ar-Rahman or click here.

Tata Steel Chess – Round 8

2012-01-22T18:29:00.001-08:00

23 January 2012, Kuala Lumpur – The official website of the Tata Steel Chess 2012 tournament reported that a flurry of draws and just one decision in eighth-round action brought little change to the standings in Grandmaster Group A at the 74th annual Tata Steel Chess Tournament in Wijk-aan-Zee on Sunday. Levon Aronian of Armenia settled for a relatively quick draw, while the other tournament leader, Norway’s Magnus Carlsen, rejected an early peace offer only to reach the same result by a repetition of moves after trying in vain for most of the afternoon.

“I think it was a drawish line, more or less,” said Aronian about his Queen’s Gambit with black against Bulgaria’s Veselin Topalov. “I don’t know too much about it but it felt very natural the way I played it.” When asked about his preparation, Aronian indicated he hadn’t studied all that hard, as he’d spent the night before Sunday’s round at the BIM-House, a jazz music hall in nearby Amsterdam. Even so, at one point he felt that black was better “but then, I committed a couple of inaccuracies, because I thought the game was already finished. Fortunately, I collected myself and played correctly and it was a draw.”

Carlsen, meanwhile, played black in a Gruenfeld against Azerbaijan’s Teymour Radjabov (see picture), an inventive player with a reputation as a tough defender, who sprung an early proposal to split the point on his formidable opponent. The top-rated Norwegian refused, of course. “You should expect to have to fight to the end for every half point,” he told reporters afterwards. “But, okay, I think the position never strayed beyond the bounds of a draw, although I believe I was better to begin with and then, he might have tried for a win, because I over-pressed.” The game ended when a repetition of moves became unavoidable, which deprived Carlsen of the privilege to play on until just two kings were left on the board – as he did twice in earlier rounds.

To read more of the round 8 report, please visit the official website of the tournament or click here.

Here is the winning game of round 8 for Gashimov against Anish Giri.

(Photos by Fred Lucas)

Video Interviews On Tata Steel 2012

2012-01-19T01:38:00.001-08:00

19 January 2012, Kuala Lumpur – Here are a few videos on the on-going Tata Steel Chess 2012 in Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands.

Round 3 video commentary by ICC Chess.FM on Carlsen-Aronian game.

To watch the free video by ICC Chess.FM please visit the YouTube link: http://youtu.be/yTsR8zi04vM

Round 4 Tata Steel 2012 latest videos

You Tube link : http://youtu.be/rHqwEHHxFiM

Interview on Hikaru Nakamura by Tata Steel Chess 2012 Daily

You Tube link : http://youtu.be/GPwpVsSWDyk

Interview on En Passant of Anne Haast from Netherlands in Dutch

You Tube link : http://youtu.be/6hkG8zoNQAE

Interview on Lisa Schut from Netherlands after her fourth round win.

You Tube link : http://youtu.be/uIJpdPUTVvs

Official website for latest videos : http://www.tatasteelchess.com/tournament/video/nr/5

Leadership changes hands to Levon Aronian!

2012-01-18T05:39:00.001-08:00

Pix 1. Daniellan, Cmilyte, Lahno. (Photo by Fred Lucas)

18 January 2012, Kuala Lumpur – In the Netherlands, the leadership has changed hands yet again as Levon Aronian joins Carlsen at the top after round 4 play in the closely followed Tata Steel Chess 2012.

TWIC website reported that Levon Aronian scored his third win in four rounds of the 74th Tata Steel tournament to join Magnus Carlsen in the lead going into the first rest day. Aronian kept grinding away against Gata Kamsky and eventually emerged with a winning position. Fabiano Caruana drew with Carlsen in a Berlin where both players thought white should be much better but they couldn't point out where and the game drifted to a draw. Sergey Karjakin got back to 50% with a win against David Navara on the black side of a Berlin where Navara should have taken a draw by repetition. Vassily Ivanchuk was visably upset when Loek van Wely found a tactical escape to draw after being under strong pressure. Remaining games drawn.

The official website of the tournament reported that a fine technical victory with white over Gata Kamsky of the U.S. in fourth-round action brought Armenia’s Levon Aronian back on top of the standings in Grandmaster Group A of the 74th annual Tata Steel Chess Tournament at Wijk-aan-Zee Tuesday (see picture). The world’s second highest ranked player was level with Norway’s Magnus Carlsen, who headed the field as the sole leader at the outset of the round but had to settle for a draw with black in a hard-fought Berlin Wall game against Fabiano Caruana of Italy (see picture).

Referring to his defeat at Carlsen’s hands the day before, Aronian expressed his joy at finding himself “on the other side today. This time it was me who was pressing, and even though I also managed to let my opponent get away, in the end he was the one to make the final mistake.”

Pix 2. Group A players. (Photo by Fred Lucas)

Pix 3. Bruxon, Nyzhnik and Vocaturo. (Photo by Fred Lucas)

Pix 4. Anne Haast. (Photo by Fred Lucas)

Here is the round 4 game between Levon Aronian and Gata Kamsky of the Grandmaster Group A, Tata Steel Chess 2012 in Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands.

Official website: http://www.tatasteelchess.com

Carlsen Returns As Leader, Tata Steel 2012

2012-01-17T06:44:00.001-08:00

Pix 1. IM Elisabeth Paehtz, Germany playing in Group C, Tata Steel Chess 2012. (Photo by Fred Lucas)

17 January 2012, Kuala Lumpur – In the Netherlands, the third round completion returned GM Magnus Carlsen as the leader of the Group A tournament of the Tata Steel Chess 2012 after beating Aronian.

The official website of the tournament reported that Magnus Carlsen of Norway, the world’s highest ranked chess player, replaced Armenia’s Levon Aronian on top of the standings in grandmaster group A of the 2012 Tata Steel Tournament after an exciting third-round duel between the two ended in a victory for the Norwegian Monday (see picture). Playing white in a Queen’s Gambit, Carlsen profited from an overly aggressive black kingside pawn advance to gain an early advantage but Aronian fought back for all he was worth. In the end, it took Carlsen 68 moves before he forced Aronian – the number two on the international rating list- to admit defeat.

Carlsen left no doubt afterwards that he was far from happy with the win. Judging from the look on his face, in fact, no one would have guessed that he had just beaten his strongest opponent on the planet and taken the lead in the world’s strongest tournament.

“I was completely winning, of course,” he complained to journalists. “All I had to do was to try and find the most accurate way to win.” Apparently, he failed. “No, I didn’t feel good about that but I had to go on, and in the end I won mostly by luck. But a win is a win.” Asked if Aronian might have salvaged a draw, Carlsen said he felt he was “probably still winning” after he “wasted the advantage” but admitted that the Armenian came awfully close to escaping with a half point.

There was an added bonus of 500 euros for the lucky but far from satisfied winner when Dutch GM Ivan Sokolov decided to award the “Piet Zwart” prize for the round’s most attractive group-A game to the 22-year-old Norwegian. The prize, named for a former Wijk-aan-Zee tournament director, is funded jointly by the municipalities of Velsen and Beverwijk.

The official website reported that in Group C, Germany’s Elisabeth Paehtz and England’s Matthew Sadler shared the day prize of 100 euros in group C for their spectacular draw in 40 moves from a Modern opening. Paehtz teetered on the edge for a few moves when she was forced to send her King on a long march to b3, which it should not have but did in fact survive.

Official website: http://www.tatasteelchess.com

PERCAWI City Day Age Group Chess Open 2012

2012-01-16T18:41:00.001-08:00

17 January 2012, Kuala Lumpur – The Cheras Chess Academy and MSSWP are organising the annual PERCAWI City Day Age Group Chess Open 2012 to be held on the 12th February 2012.

For those young chess enthusiasts and itching to have a go at the game of strategy, pencil in the date of the 12th February 2012.

Registration Form:

Please contact : Collin (pix above) 016-2123578 and Bob Yap 012-2878378.

(Source: www.kids4chess.com)

Rakan Muda Chess

2012-01-16T18:14:00.001-08:00

17 January 2012, Kuala Lumpur – Here is a tournament announcement from the Johor Bahru Chess Association of an upcoming chess tournament to be held next month – 19 February 2012. This tournament has been announced in the chess-malaysia email group on yahoo.

Organisers     : Rakan Muda Johor Bahru, Johor Chess Academy , JB Chess
                        Association & Southerncity Giant Hypermarket.
Venue            : Concourse Area, Southerncity Giant Hypermarket,Tmn Suria,JB
Date&Time     : Sunday - 19th February 2012 from 9.00 am to 6.00 pm
Time Control   : Swiss System of 7 Rounds with 25 minutes per player to
                        complete the game.
Entry Fee       : Under 12 - RM 13.00
                       Under 17 - RM 15.00
Prizes            : Under 17 :
                       RM200,RM100,RM80,RM60,RM50,RM40,RM40,RM30,RM30,RM30
                       Under 12:
                       RM100,RM80,RM60,RM50,RM40,RM40,RM30,RM30,RM30,RM30
Closing Date   : 17 February 2012

Late entries and entries without payment will not be accepted.Entry fees are non refundable.

For more information, kindly contact :
Mr.Narayanan Krishnan
Tournament Director
Tel. N0: 013 7717 525
email : jb_chess_association@yahoo.com

Group C Games, Tata Steel 2012

2012-01-16T05:16:00.001-08:00

16 January 2012, Kuala Lumpur – In the Netherlands, Turov leads with 2 full points from two rounds of play in Tata Steel 2012 GM Group C.

The official website of the tournament reported that second seed Maxim Turov was the only player in Group C to win his first two games by beating Pieter Hopman of the Netherlands on the black side of a Benko Gambit. Somewhat surprisingly, number one seed Matthew Sadler of England, long-time resident of the Netherlands, was unable to beat much lower rated Tania Sachdev of India (see picture). In fact, the Englishman was somewhat fortunate to escape with a draw after having been outplayed with White in a theoretical endgame resulting from a Scotch Game. The daily prize was awarded to Dutch Lars Ootes and India's Baskaran Adhiban for their spectacular draw.

Three games from Group C are shown below:-

Official website: http://www.tatasteelchess.com

Aronian Leads In Tata Steel Chess

2012-01-16T04:57:00.001-08:00

Pix 1. Playing Hall 2, Tata Steel Chess 2012. (Photo by Fred Lucas)

16 January 2012, Kuala Lumpur – In the Netherlands, Levon Aronian has taken the lead in the Grandmaster Group A after winning against Nakamura during round 2 of play in Tata Steel Chess 2012.

The official website of the tournament reported that in round 2 of Tata Steel Chess, world number two Levon Aronian took sole lead by beating last year's winner Hikaru Nakamura (see picture). The American grandmaster of Japanese descent had little to complain about a Dutch opening, as Aronian freely admitted: “That was not the way to play against the Dutch!”. Soon White give up a queen for rook and bishop and it seemed Black was doing fine (see diagram). Somehow, some way, over the next 30 moves Aronian used his surplus of pieces to greater effect than Nakamura used his queen, and collected the full point.

World number one Magnus Carlsen could not keep in pace, as he soon found himself in a lifeless position against Vasily Ivanchuk of Ukraine. The matadors gave it 30 more moves, but the evaluation never dipped below dead even. The third leader after day one, Dutch Anish Giri, had by then long left the premises. Teymour Radjabov had comfortably taken the sting out of Giri's Samisch King's Indian and even though the youngster was up a pawn, there was no way to exploit this asset and his draw offer after 24 moves was accepted.

Official website: http://www.tatasteelchess.com

Results of 2nd Cerdik Catur Semi-Pro

2012-01-16T04:05:00.001-08:00

16 January 2012, Kuala Lumpur – Here are the final ranking for the top 25 players after the 8th final round of play for the 2nd Cerdik Catur Semi-Pro Chess Championship 2012 held at DATCC, Wilayah Complex, Kuala Lumpur on Sunday, 15 January 2012. 179 players participated in this record-breaking attendance one-day rapid tournament.

The tournament was won by Norazman Ismail with 8 full points from 8 rounds of play. In the final 8th round, Norazman beat Mohd Ezmi Mahmood, who ended in 6th position with 6.5 points. In second place was Michael Angelo Palma with 7 points, third, Nor Zaiasron Yahaya with 7 points, fourth Mohd Fairuz Shah with 6.5 points, fifth, Muhd Rabani Che Hassan from UiTM, 6.5 points. In seventh was Mohd Khairul Nizam Johariy, also from UiTM, with 6.5 points. Top seed, Fikri Saleh, ended in 8th position with 6.5 points.

To see more results, please visit stonemaster.info or visit chess-results.com or click here.

Kamaluddin Yusof Among Most Improved 2011!

2012-01-15T21:16:00.001-08:00

16 January 2012, Kuala Lumpur – The new ratings is out! Here are the top 20 most improved Malaysian chess players in the country. Top of the list is Chew Zhi Qi with a 208 rating points difference moving from 1199 to 1407.

Two players of notable interest are Kamaluddin Yusof (pix above) who moved from 1859 to 2016 stratosphere ratings and blogger Naserov, Dr Nasrul Humaimi Mahmood, also made a quantum jump leap from 1608 to a rating of 1749!

Congratulations to all top 20 most improved chess players! Keep it up! At this rate, we will get a serious GM for Malaysia soon!

To see the whole file National Ratings for all Malaysian chess players, please click here.

(source: Lim Tse Pin, Malaysia’s Ratings Officer, MCF)

Lahno Wins, Cmilyte Loses – Group B, Tata Steel

2012-01-15T04:23:00.001-08:00

15 January 2012, Kuala Lumpur – In Netherlands, the Group B Grandmasters had GM Kateryna Lahno and GM Viktorija Cmilyte playing. One GM won while the other lost to young boy, GM level, of course.

The official website of the tournament reported that in Grandmaster Group B four out of seven games ended in a decision, with Kateryna Lahno awarded the 250-euro Prize for her victory over Holland's Sipke Ernst after a beautiful thematic knight sacrifice: (see diagram) 28.Nf5! and Black's king was soon stripped of al defenders.

Here are two games from Group B.

Official website: http://www.tatasteelchess.com/

Carlsen wins 1st Round – Tata Steel 2012

2012-01-15T03:45:00.001-08:00

15 Jan 2012, Kuala Lumpur – In Netherlands, the first round of Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2012 was played yesterday with a win for the World’s Number One Magnus Carlsen.

The official tournament website reported that world number one Magnus Carlsen of Norway Saturday defeated Vugar Gashimov of Azerbaijan in the opening round of the 74th edition of the annual chess tournament in Wijk aan Zee see picture. Defending himself with a Hedgehog that arose from a Symmetrical English, the only player to make his debut in Grandmaster Group A, was slowly disemboweled by the former child prodigy, now leading the world rankings by a signifant margin.

Second seed Levon Aronian of Armenia quickly reached a comfortable position as Black in a Ruy Lopez against Russia's Sergey Karjakin. A tense struggle ensued until Karjakin cracked under pressure with (see diagram) 32.Nh5?, where White could have struck with 32.Bxh6!! and after for example 32...gxh6 33.Rxd7 Nxd7 34.Ng5 Kh8 35.Nxf7 Kg8 36.Nxh6 Kf7 37.Qf7 Kxh6 38.Nf5 Kg5 39.Qxd7 White is certainly not worse as Black will soon have to give his knight to stave off bigger trouble. Aronian missed 32...Nxe4! 33.Ng5 Nxg5 34.Rxd7 Qe6 when White would soon have collapsed under the combined pressure of the black pieces. Instead, the game entered an endgame where Karjakin nonetheless succumbed to the continuous strain on his position.

The 500-euro “Piet Zwart Prize” for the best game of the day was awarded to Anish Giri (see picture) for his victory over World Championship contender Boris Gelfand of Israel. The Dutch prodigy, fresh off his formidable tournament victory at Reggio Emilia in Italy a week ago, made a big impression with another fine example of his mature positional style. Giri aptly neutralized Gelfand's initiative after the latter sacrificed a pawn out of a Queen's Gambit Accepted. Commentator of the day, Grandmaster Ivan Sokolov, was especially impressed with the 17-year-old's ability to keep posing his opponent new problems every time a safe haven came in view.

Below is the cross-table for Grandmaster Group A after the first round:-

Official website: http://www.tatasteelchess.com/

Norazman Ismail Wins 2nd Cerdik Catur Semi-Pro

2012-01-15T02:39:00.001-08:00

15 Jan 2012, Kuala Lumpur : Latest News from DATCC, Stonemaster’s 2nd Cerdik Catur Semi-Pro Rapid, 1st is Norazman Ismail (pix above) scoring 8 points from 8 rounds of play! A record turn out with 175 players participated in today’s Stonemaster’s 2nd Cerdik Catur Semi Pro Rapid Chess Championship 2012!

1st Norazman Ismail (pix above), 2nd Michael Palma, 3rd Nor Zaiasaron Yahaya, 4th Ahmad Fairuz Shah, 5th Rabbani Che Hassan, 6th Ezmi Mahmood, 7th Khairul Nizam Johardy, 8th Fikri Saleh (son to blogger Gilocatur!)

(source: Mohd Zullghafari Saparmin)

Khor Boon Han Declared Open Perak Teen Champ!

2012-01-14T18:23:00.001-08:00

15 Jan 2012, Kuala Lumpur – Here are the final results of the recently held Perak Age Group Open Chess Championship 2012 in National State Library in Ipoh, Perak on 14 January 2012. The tournament was organised by the Perak International Chess Association.

Khor Boon Han beat 71 other players in the Under-16 Age category to win with 6 points and a superior tie-break points after seven rounds of rapid play. Meanwhile Khairulanwar Iskandar won in the Under-14 Age category with 6 points and Muhammad Khairul Izwan Haikal Kam won in the Under-12 Age category with the full 7 points!

The top fifteen winners in each category is shown below:-

Here was the original flyer for this tournament as published in the Perak Chess Association blog or click here.

(Source: Arman Amin)

Azhar Siblings Win Seremban Age Group

2012-01-07T06:11:00.001-08:00

7 Jan 2012, Kuala Lumpur - tournament result for Seremban Age Group. Under 18 won by Syakir Syazmeer, 2nd - Nur Nabila, 3rd - Faizal Roslan. Under 12 won by Puteri Rifqah, 2nd - Nithya Sivanesan, 3rd - Muhd Faqih Aminuddin.

Tomorrow the Seremban Open 2012 will take place. Preregistered list include IM MAS, FM Nicholas Chan, Ian Udani.

(source : Syazrin b Abdul Rahman)

Wang Yue Wins Hastings Masters 2012

2012-01-06T16:21:00.001-08:00

Pix 1. Masters winner Wang Yue with Amber Rudd MP and Councillor Maureen Charlesworth (Photo from tournament official website)

7 Jan 2012, Kuala Lumpur – From Hastings Masters, the news is GM Wang Yue has won the tournament. There is a superb review in The Guardian by Leonard Barden. You can check the official website here.

The top-seeded GM Wang Yue, 24, is China's No. 2, is ranked in the world top 50, and was nearly 100 points ahead of his nearest Hastings rival in the ratings. He won GBP 2000 after having scored 7.5 points from 9 rounds.

Carlsen vs Ivanchuk, Grand Slam

2012-01-06T16:00:00.001-08:00

Grand Slam Final Sao Paulo/Bilbao

Chessbase Magazine in the December 2011 edition reported that In the Grand-Slam Final only two of the six top players managed to stand out: Vassily Ivanchuk was the man of the moment in the first leg in Sao Paulo, Magnus Carlsen dominated the return leg in Bilbao. As last year’s Grand Slam was held over two venues, one in Sao Paolo, Brazil and the other in Bilbao, Spain. Going by the traditional way of scoring in chess, the Norwegian would have won the tournament with 6 out of 10 (ahead of Ivanchuk with 5.5). In view of the course of the tournament it was somehow fitting that both of them tied at the end on 15 points because of the three points for a win rule used in the "Masters". A playoff with blitz thinking time was to decide the outcome and winner of the tournament. In the first tie-break game Carlsen was better with White, but Ivanchuk escaped with a draw. The second game, on the other hand, was a very one-sided affair going in favour of the Norwegian, who was thus able to celebrate a further success in a top tournament.

Here is the winning game between Magnus Carlsen of Norway and Vassily Ivanchuk of Russia during the Grand Slam Final 4th in Bilbao, Spain that provided the spurt for Carlsen to finish equal with Ivanchuk on 15 points.

[Event "Grand Slam Final 4th"] [Site "Sao Paulo/Bilbao"] [Date "2011.10.10"] [Round "9"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Ivanchuk, Vassily"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E21"] [WhiteElo "2823"] [BlackElo "2765"] [PlyCount "67"] [EventDate "2011.09.26"] [EventType "tourn"] [EventRounds "10"] [EventCountry "BRA"] [EventCategory "22"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2011.11.11"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nf3 b6 5. Qc2 Bb7 6. a3 Bxc3+ 7. Qxc3 Ne4 8. Qc2 f5 9. g3 Nf6 10. Bh3 O-O 11. O-O a5 12. Rd1 Qe8 13. d5 Na6 14. Bf4 exd5 15. Bxf5 dxc4 16. Ng5 Qh5 17. Rxd7 Kh8 18. Re7 Nd5 19. Bg4 Qg6 20. Nf7+ Kg8 21. Bf5 Qxf5 22. Qxf5 Nxe7 23. Nh6+ gxh6 24. Qg4+ Ng6 25. Bxh6 Rf7 26. Rd1 Re8 27. h4 Nc5 28. h5 Bc8 29. Qxc4 Ne5 30. Qh4 Nc6 31. Rd5 Ne6 32. Qc4 Ncd8 33. Qg4+ Ng7 34. Qxc8 1-0

Diagram 1. White just played 17.Rxd7!

However, Carlsen, the leader in the world ranking list set about matters very energetically with White and after around 15 moves of a side variation of the Nimzo-Indian he achieved a strong initiative on the kingside. In the position on the board Carlsen was unable to resist the temptation to play the move 17.Rxd7. In analysis, however, he admits had he been somewhat more circumspect he would have played 17.Rd4, followed by Bd2 and Rh4. But in spite of a few more inaccuracies on his part and an unsuspected defensive resource found by the Ukrainian, Carlsen managed to win the game at the end thanks to the weakened black kingside. As a result, Carlsen became the winner of the 4th Grand-Slam Finals 2011.

Here is the winning 2nd rapid playoff to determine the winner of the 4th Grand-Slam Final 2011 winner. Carlsen played black and won.

[Event "Grand Slam Final playoff 4th"] [Site "Sao Paulo/Bilbao"] [Date "2011.10.11"] [Round "2"] [White "Ivanchuk, Vassily"] [Black "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C65"] [WhiteElo "2765"] [BlackElo "2823"] [PlyCount "78"] [EventDate "2011.10.11"] [EventType "match (rapid)"] [EventRounds "2"] [EventCountry "BRA"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2011.11.11"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. Be3 Qe7 6. Bxc6 bxc6 7. Bxc5 Qxc5 8. Nc3 O-O 9. O-O Rb8 10. Qd2 Qe7 11. b3 c5 12. h3 d6 13. Nh2 Nh5 14. Nd5 Qd8 15. Rae1 Be6 16. Nc3 f5 17. exf5 Bxf5 18. f3 Bg6 19. Rf2 Qh4 20. Nd5 Rf7 21. Qc3 c6 22. Ne3 Nf4 23. Qd2 Rbf8 24. Nd1 h5 25. Nc3 Bf5 26. Ne2 Ne6 27. Qe3 Rf6 28. Kh1 Rg6 29. Rg1 Nc7 30. Rgf1 Nd5 31. Qd2 Rgf6 32. Nc3 Nf4 33. Ne4 Rg6 34. Rg1 Qd8 35. Nf1 Qe7 36. Nfg3 d5 37. Nxf5 Rxf5 38. Nc3 Qh4 39. Kh2 Qg3+ 0-1

Diagram 2. Black played 39…Qg3+, White resigned.

Final Rankings Grand-Slam Finale 2011.

(source: Chessbase, Dec 2011)

Wang Yue Leading At Hastings Masters

2012-01-05T04:49:00.001-08:00

Pix 1. GM Wang Yue, China (Photo from tournament website)

5 Jan 2012, Kuala Lumpur – At the Hastings Masters, the 8th round was completed yesterday with most of the top games were wins. This contrasts sharply with the ‘good old days’ when there would be many drab draws. At the moment, GM Wang Yue is leading with 7.0 points out of 8 rounds of play. IM Lalith Babu of India is second with 6.5 points and IM Shvam Sundar of India in third. While GM Istratescu Andrei of France in fourth with 6.0 points. Today will be the last day of the tournament and round 9 will be played. 118 players are participating.

The tournament website reported that Wang Yue (6) v Andrey Vovk (5½) – the younger Ukrainian brother felt his position was fine. We didn’t discuss it for long; one doesn’t with somebody who lost. It was only tonight that I realised they were unaware of the nature of the Commentary Room. My apologies for that. 10…d5 would not have been to my taste before completing his development, but what do I know. Chris criticised 16…Bf5, but Black disagreed. Andrey felt 23…Re7 was incorrect and 23…b6 should have been played.

[Event "Hastings Masters"]
[Site "Horntye Park Sports Complex, "]
[Date "2012.01.04"]
[Round "8.1"]
[White "Wang, Yue"]
[Black "Vovk, Andrey"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2697"]
[BlackElo "2551"]
[PlyCount "75"]
[EventDate "2012.01.04"]
[TimeControl "120+24"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. Be3 exd4 8. Nxd4 Re8 9. f3 c6 10. Bf2 d5 11. exd5 cxd5 12. O-O Nc6 13. c5 Nh5 14. Qd2 Be5 15. g3 Ng7 16. Rfd1 Bf5 17. Bb5 Bd7 18. Nb3 Ne7 19. Bxd7 Qxd7 20. Nxd5 Nxd5 21. Qxd5 Qxd5 22. Rxd5 Bxb2 23. Rb1 Bf6 24. Nd2 Re7 25. Ne4 Ne8 26. Rbd1 Kf8 27. Rd7 Rc8 28. g4 Be5 29. c6 b6 30. Ng5 Rc7 31. Nxh7+ Kg7 32. Rxe7 Rxe7 33. Rd7 Bd6 34.Ng5 Bb4 35. Bd4+ f6 36. Ne6+ Kf7 37. c7 Nxc7 38. Rxe7+ 1-0

Here is a game from round 6 of IM Jovanka Houska, England vs Gavin R Lock in which the lady wins playing black. Black wins the pawn race with her c-pawn just one step away from its queening square on c1.

[Event "Hastings Masters"] [Site "Horntye Park Sports Complex, "] [Date "2012.01.02"] [Round "6.15"] [White "Lock, Gavin R"] [Black "Houska, Jovanka"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "2157"] [BlackElo "2415"] [PlyCount "86"] [EventDate "2012.01.02"] 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 c6 3. c4 e6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. Bxe7 Qxe7 6. e3 Nf6 7. Nc3 O-O 8. Be2 Nbd7 9. O-O b6 10. cxd5 exd5 11. Qa4 Bb7 12. Rfd1 Rfd8 13. Rac1 Ne8 14. Bd3 Nd6 15. Ne2 a6 16. Qc2 h6 17. Ng3 c5 18. Bh7+ Kh8 19. Nf5 Nxf5 20. Bxf5 c4 21. Qd2 Bc8 22. h3 Nf6 23. Qc2 a5 24. Ne5 Bxf5 25. Qxf5 b5 26. g4 Re8 27. Kg2 Kg8 28. f3 Ra6 29. Re1 Re6 30. Re2 Nd7 31. Nxd7 Qxd7 32. Rce1 b4 33. e4 g6 34. Qf4 dxe4 35. Rxe4 Rxe4 36. Rxe4 c3 37. bxc3 bxc3 38. Qe3 Rc8 39. Re5 c2 40. Rc5 Rxc5 41. dxc5 Qe6 42. Qc3 Qxa2 43. Kg3 Qb1 0-1

To read more, please visit the tournament website or click here.

KLCA Organises KL Masters in June 2012

2012-01-02T15:27:00.001-08:00

3 Jan 2012, Kuala Lumpur – For those who wish to have a FIDE Rated tournament in rapid or blitz, well, your wish has been answered. The KLCA is organising the Masters and International Youth Under 16 plus the National Rapid and National Blitz Championship 2012 in 8-17 June 2012.

The Masters is by invitation only with the tentative entry list being GM Tahir Vakhidov (UZB), GM Bui Vinh (VIE), GM Richard Bitoon (PHI), IM Mas Hafizulhelmi (MAS), IM Nguyen Van Huy (VIE), IM Kevin Goh Wei Ming (SIN), IM Rolando Nolte (PHI), IM Tirta Chandra Purnama (INA), IM Jahongir Vakhidov (UZB) and IM Agryadip Das (IND). Entry Fee for the Youth U-16 Open is USD 100 for foreign participants and RM 150 for Malaysians irrespective of rating.

The entry fee for the FIDE rated National Rapid is RM 100 and for the FIDE Rated National Blitz it is RM 40. (Note that local players must be a member of their respective national state associations and in good standing with MCF, KLCA and the organisers).

To read more, please visit this link here.

Two Games From 54th Reggio Emilia

2012-01-02T07:11:00.001-08:00

Pix 1. GM Hikaru Nakamura, USA (Photo from chessbase.com, report by Martha Fierro and Augusto Caruso)

2 Jan 2012, Kuala Lumpur – In Italy, the 54th Reggio Emilia chess tournament is taking place with Nakamura in first place after five rounds with 4 points. It is a six player double round robin tournament, 10 rounds of play with Giri, Ivanchuk, Morozevich, Nakamura, Caruana and Vitiugov as participants.

[Event "54th Reggio Emilia"] [Site "Reggio Emilia ITA"] [Date "2011.12.31"] [Round "5"] [White "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Black "Ivanchuk, Vassily"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A22"] [WhiteElo "2758"] [BlackElo "2775"] [PlyCount "113"] [EventDate "2011.12.27"] 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e5 3. g3 Bb4 4. Nf3 Bxc3 5. bxc3 d6 6. Bg2 O-O 7. O-O Re8 8. Ne1 c6 9. d3 h6 10. Rb1 d5 11. Qb3 b6 12. cxd5 cxd5 13. Nc2 Nc6 14. h3 Bb7 15. Nb4 Na5 16. Qb2 d4 17. c4 Rc8 18. Bxb7 Nxb7 19. e4 dxe3 20. Bxe3 Qd7 21. Kh2 Nd6 22. Rbc1 Nf5 23. Rfd1 h5 24. Qe2 h4 25. Nc2 b5 26. Qf3 bxc4 27. dxc4 hxg3+ 28. fxg3 Qe6 29. c5 Red8 30. Bf2 e4 31. Qb3 Qe5 32. Ne3 Rxd1 33. Qxd1 Rxc5 34. Nc4 Qc7 35. Bxc5 Qxg3+ 36. Kh1 Qxh3+ 37. Kg1 Qg3+ 38. Kf1 Ng4 39. Qd8+ Kh7 40. Qd5 Qf3+ 41. Ke1 Ng3 42. Rc2 f5 43. Kd2 Nf6 44. Qd8 Ne2 45. Ke1 f4 46. Rxe2 Qc3+ 47. Kd1 Qxc4 48. Qd4 Qb5 49. Rh2+ Kg6 50. Kc2 a5 51. Be7 Qc6+ 52. Qc5 Qa4+ 53. Kc1 f3 54. Bxf6 Kxf6 55. Rd2 g6 56. Rd6+ Kg7 57. Rd8 1-0

The women section of the 54th Reggio Emillia also had six women playing the double round robin tournament. Anna Sharevich, Sopiko Guramishvili, Marin a Brunello, Maria De Rosa, Iva Videnova and Marianna Chierici making up the six women players.

[Event "54th Reggio Emilia w"]
[Site "Reggio Emilia ITA"]
[Date "2011.12.31"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Sharevich, Anna"]
[Black "Guramishvili, Sopiko"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D10"]
[WhiteElo "2267"]
[BlackElo "2374"]
[PlyCount "69"]
[EventDate "2011.12.27"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 dxc4 4. e4 b5 5. a4 b4 6. Nb1 Ba6 7. Qc2 Qxd4 8. Nf3 Qd8 9. Bxc4 Bxc4 10. Qxc4 Nd7 11. O-O e6 12. Bg5 Qc7 13. a5 Ngf6 14. Nbd2 Bd6 15. Qc2 O-O 16. Nc4 e5 17. Rfd1 Be7 18. Ne3 Rfc8 19. Qc4 Bf8 20. Nf5 Rab8 21. b3 Rb5 22. Be3 Nc5 23. Bxc5 Bxc5 24. Rd2 Rxa5 25. Rad1 Bf8 26. Ng5 h6 27. h4 hxg5 28. hxg5 Rc5 29. Qe2 Ne8 30. Rd7 Qa5 31. Nh6+ gxh6 32. Qh5 Ng7 33. Qxf7+ Kh7 34. R1d6 hxg5 35. Rg6 1-0

To read more, please visit chessbase.com or click here. Or the official website - http://www.ippogrifoscacchi.it/tornei_capodanno/54/tabellone.htm

Mas Hafizulhelmi Wins DATCC Blitz 2012

2012-01-02T04:21:00.001-08:00

2 Jan 2012, Kuala Lumpur – At the DATCC, 24 players participated in the DATCC New Year Blitz 2012 held today over 15 rounds of chess fun. IM Mas Hafizulhelmi won all 15 rounds with 15 points and young Wong Jianwen finished second with 12 points. While Kelantan Chess Team mastermind, Nik Ahmad Farouqi finished third with 12 points and Lim Zhou Ren in fourth with 11 points. Fifth was Kamaluddin Yusof with 10 points.

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

1st Sunday Chess UTM

2011-12-31T23:07:00.001-08:00

1 Jan 2012, Kuala Lumpur - Here are the results of the first Sunday Chess Tournament University Technology Malaysia (UTM).

1.Mohd anuas habib,
2.Ng sau chyun,
3.Ong wei bin,
4. Ng han loong,
5.Dr. Haizal,
6.ilyas ramdzan,
7. Ng hong yuan,
8.Pratama jujur wibawa,
9. ahmad justin,
10. T. Mandar.

(source : Mohd Zullghafari Saparmin)

Insofar Combined Tournament

2011-12-30T03:43:00.001-08:00

30 Dec 2011, Kuala Lumpur - Here is a new upcoming combined chess tournament from Insofar Chess Academy slated for 29 Jan 2012.

New Year Blitz Chess

2011-12-29T17:07:00.001-08:00

30 Dec 2011, Kuala Lumpur – An announcement from DATCC on an upcoming blitz chess event after New Year.

What better way to usher in the New Year than playing blitz! After all the partying and happening that you may experience on New Year midnight, and nursing the hangover, the tiring and "painful" experience of celebrating the coming of 2012, perhaps it is best to relax and enjoy some chess - on the 2nd day of the New Year.

It will be a good time to reflect with others - on chess related issues, on how we (or I) can improve our chess playing skills for 2012. For me, perhaps its about reflecting whether I should continue (or discontinue with chess) and seeing friends and chess players, may just nudge that desire into higher gear (or lower - looking at the flip side of the coin).

In any case, do drop by at DATCC on 2nd January for us to get some serious cracking on Blitz Chess - DATCC style!

A total prize fund of RM500 has been set aside with the winner set to take home RM200 for his (or her!) effort. It will be a 15 rounds of pure fun chess with entry fees set at RM20 each player - regardless of age (and title!!! Just in case Mok Tze Meng wants to play....)

Registration starts at 10:00am with Round 1 schedule at 10:30am. Round 1 to 8 will be played before lunch (until 12:30pm) and Round 9 will restart at 2:00pm and Round 15 is expected to start at 3:30pm and conclude at 3:45 pm, just in time for the prize giving ceremony at 4:00pm.

Entry forms can be downloaded via www.chess-malaysia.com/Blitz2012.pdf and inquiries can be directed to Najib Wahab at +6016.338.2542 or via email najib.wahab@chess-malaysia.com

Tribute To World Champions

2011-12-29T16:56:00.001-08:00

30 Dec 2011, Kuala Lumpur – The StarOnline written by SS Quah discusses about the performance of the two current World Champions of both gender. Interestingly enough both champions are from Asia, one from China (women) and the other from India.

To read more, please visit The StarOnline or click here.

ASEAN Men 2011

2011-12-27T05:11:00.001-08:00

27 Dec 2011, Kuala Lumpur – The 2nd ASEAN Men is currently being held as part of the Singapore Chess Festival 2011 from 26 – 31st Dec 2011 in Singapore. IM Mas Hafizulhelmi (top right pix) and IM Lim Yee Weng, both of Malaysia are participating in this single round robin tournament with GM Bitoon Richard of Philippines, GM Cao Sang of Vietnam and GM Megaranto Susanto of Indonesia participating in this 10 man tournament.

So far IM Mas has gained two draws from two rounds while IM Lim Yee Weng has no points to show yet.

Meanwhile WCM Nur Nabila bt Azman Hisham (top left pix) has entered in the 2nd ASEAN Women tournament. She is the sole representative from Malaysia. So far no points yet on her scoresheet to show from three rounds.

Results for rounds 1-3:

To see more results, please visit chess-results.com or click here.

8th Singapore Open 2011

2011-12-27T04:25:00.001-08:00

27 Dec 2011, Kuala Lumpur – The 8th Singapore Open is now ongoing in Singapore from 26th – 31st Dec 2011. Two Malaysians are participating namely, Lim Zhuo Ren and Lim Kian Hwa from Sarawak.

After two rounds, both Lims are at 1 point. Lim Zhuo Ren (top left pix) got them through two draws and Lim Kian Hwa (top right pix) with a win against Ong Wah Peng John in the second round. Meanwhile FM Susilodinata Andrean of Indonesia is leading with 2 full points. Another 8 players are also with 2 points including GM Gasano Eldar (2458) of Ukraine. Meanwhile top seed GM Mchedlishvili Mikheil (2636) of Georgia forfeited his second round game against Foo Benjamin of Singapore, the Sarawak Open 2011 winner.

Rank after round 2:-

To see more results, please visit chess-results.com or click here.

Mas Hafizul Declared SCC Grand Finale Champion!

2011-12-24T05:42:00.001-08:00

Pix 1. IM Mas Hafizulhelmi, Champion of SCC Grand Finale 2011.

24 Dec 2011, Kuala Lumpur – Mas Hafizul (pix top) clear winner at SCC Grand Finale with a perfect 7.0 points from 7 rounds of play. Mas beat Ali Akhbar in the last round on top board. Second was Kamaluddin Yusof with 5.5 points, Kamaluddin beat Khair Wahiduddin on second board, and third Zarul Shazwan Zullkafli, also with 5.5 points. Zarul beat Syazwan on third board of the last round.

Pix 2. Kamaluddin Yusof. Pix. 3. Zarul Shazwan Zullkafli

(Photos courtesy of official website – http://kuantanrapidchess.blogspot.com)

Round 7 Results:

To see more results, please visit chess-results.com or click here.

Mas Hafizulhelmi Leads In SCC Grand Finale 2011

2011-12-24T01:48:00.001-08:00

24 Dec 2011, Kuala Lumpur – The one day rapid SCC Grand Finale 2011 took off today in Kuantan with IM Mas Hafizulhelmi in the driving seat after six rounds of play. IM Mas beat Asian Masters Champion, Ahmad Fadhil Nayan on top board giving IM Mas 6 points from six rounds.

Thirty four players are participating in the Grand Finale, with tournament director, Khairunnisa Wahiduddin playing as well. Chief arbiter is Najib Wahab.

Ranking after round 6 indicate IM Mas is the leader with Zarul Shazwan Zullkafli in second with 4.5 points and third, Ali Akhbar Kuning, also scoring 4.5 points. Fourth placed is Mohd Khair Wahiduddin (pix above) who beat Ruzenan Abu Bakar on third board of the sixth round.

Ranking after round 6:-

Round 7 pairings:-

In the 7th round, Mas Hafizulhelmi will face-off with third placed, Ali Akhbar Kuning on top board, while Kamaluddin Yusof meets Mohd Khair Wahiduddin on second board. Second place, Zarul Shazwan Zullkafli meets Muhd Syazwan Zulkifli, the UIAM Open Champion 2011.

China Continue To Win, WWCT 2011

2011-12-22T07:30:00.000-08:00

22 Dec 2011, Kuala Lumpur – In Turkey, China continued their winning ways in the World Women’s Chess Team Championship 2011. The official website of the tournament reported that round 4 did not bring many surprises. China won against Vietnam 3-1, scoring on the two lower boards (Zhao Xue - Nguyen Thi Thanh An 1-0 and Hoang Thi Nhu - Tan Zhongyi Y 1-0) and remain in the lead with 100 percent match points.

India scored 3,5 board points against Armenia. Only Lilit Mkrtchian was able to draw against Harika Dronavalli on the second board. India is on the second rank with 7 match points.

Here is the round 4 game between IM Maria Muzychuk of Ukraine and IM Yelena Dembo of Greece, which was won by Maria. The Sicilian Opening was played during the game. Ukraine beat Greece, 3.5-0.5.

[Event "FIDE WOMENS WORLD CHESS TEAM CHAMPIONSHI"]
[Site "MARDIN"]
[Date "2011.12.21"]
[Round "4.13"]
[White "IM M.MUZYCHUK (UKR - 2460)"]
[Black "IM Y.DEMBO (GRE - 2468)"]
[Result "1-0"]
[PlyCount "111"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nd4 4. Nf3 e6 5. O-O Ne7 6. Nxd4 cxd4 7. Ne2 Qb6 8.a4 Nc6 9. c3 dxc3 10. dxc3 a6 11. Bd3 Be7 12. Be3 Qc7 13. f4 b6 14. Qe1 Na5 15.Qg3 O-O 16. f5 Qxg3 17. Nxg3 Rb8 18. e5 f6 19. exf6 gxf6 20. Nh5 Nc6 21. Bh6 Rf7 22. Rf3 Kh8 23. Rg3 Bc5+ 24. Kh1 Bf8 25. Bxf8 Rxf8 26. Rg7 e5 27. Be4 b5 28. a5 Nd8 29. Bd5 Nb7 30. g4 Nd6 31. Re7 Re8 32. Rxe8+ Nxe8 33. g5 fxg5 34. f6 Nd6 35. Rd1 Bb7 36. Bxb7 Nxb7 37. Rxd7 Nc5 38. Re7 Ne4 39. Rxe5 Nd6 40. Rxg5 Re8 41. Rd5 Re6 42. Rc5 h6 43. Rc6 Re1+ 44. Kg2 Nf7 45. Nf4 Rb1 46. b4 Rb2+ 47. Kg3 Rc2 48. h4 Kg8 49. Rc8+ Kh7 50. Rc7 Kg8 51. Kg4 Rf2 52. Re7 Rc2 53. Ne2 Rb2 54. Kf5 Rb1 55. Re8+ Kh7 56. Ke6 1-0

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

(Photos courtesy of official website)

Nur Sisters Dominate Girls NJCC

2011-12-21T22:14:00.001-08:00

22 Dec 2011, Kuala Lumpur - Both Nur Nabila and Nur Najiha Azman Hisham are at the top of the girls National Junior Chess Championship 2011 being held at DATCC, Wilayah Complex, Kuala Lumpur.

Nur Nabila is ahead with 5.5 points while Nur Najiha has scored 5.0points after 6 rounds of play.

Roshan Creates Upset In NJCC 2011

2011-12-21T14:38:00.001-08:00

22 Dec 2011, Kuala Lumpur – In yesterday’s round 6 of the National Junior Chess Championship 2011, Roshan Ajeet Singh met Muhd Nabil Azman Hisham (pix left) on top board and Roshan created an upset by beating the top seed of the tournament, Nabil.

With that win, Roshan and Nabil both scored 5 points after round 6. Roshan now heads the leadership board overtaking Nabil. In third is now Mark Siew and fourth, Yat Guo Jie. CM Amier Hamzah is in eighth position.

A total of 54 players are participating in this year’s National Junior Chess Championship 2011 being held at the DATCC, Wilayah Complex, Kuala Lumpur from 19-23 Dec 2011.

Rank After Round 6:

Round 7 pairings (9 am, 22 Dec 2011):-

To see more results, please visit chess-results.com or click here.

2nd Cerdik Catur Semi Pro Chess Championship 2012

2011-12-20T06:13:00.001-08:00

20 December 2012, Kuala Lumpur – Stonemaster and Cerdik Catur are organising the 2nd Cerdik Catur Semi Pro Chess Championship 2012 on 15 January 2012, Sunday at DATCC, Kuala Lumpur.

To get more details, please contact CM Fadli Zakaria – 014-2312370.

Or visit http://stonemaster.info for details.

World Women Chess Team In Turkey 2011

2011-12-19T07:56:00.001-08:00

China defeats Turkey in women's world chess team championship
(Xinhua)
09:06, December 19, 2011

ANKARA, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese team defeated the Turkish team in the first round of the 2011 World Women Chess Team Championship (WWTC), which started in Mardin province of southeastern Turkey on Sunday.

The top seeded Chinese team was a clear favorite against the young ambitious Turkish team with 2.5:1.5 in the WWTC first round.

Chinese coach Ye Jiangchuan confirmed that Chinese players Tan Zhongyi and Zhang Xiaowen defeated their Turkish rivals in the WWTC first round, adding that Turkish player Kubra Ozturk on the second board took an upper hand on Chinese player Zhao Xue and the first board game Turkish player Betul Cemre Yildiz vs. Chinese player Ju Wenjun ended in a draw.

Ye said: "the Turkish women chess team has been developing fast and has become an important rival for the Chinese team."

Russia defeated Vietnam, Georgia defeated South Africa, Armenia defeated Greece, Ukraine and India ended in a draw in the first round.

China has won the championships in both 2007 and 2009.

For the 2011 championship held in Mardin province between Dec. 18-28, China has dispatched five players of Hou Yifan, Ju Wenjun, Zhao Xue, Tan Zhongyi and Zhang Xiaowen.

Source: http://english.peopledaily.com.cn

Official website: http://wwct2011.tsr.org.tr

(Photo courtesy of official website)

Nakamura’s Game vs Adams, London Chess Classic

2011-12-18T05:56:00.001-08:00

18 Dec 2011, Kuala Lumpur – Eventhough Vladimir Kramnik won this year’s London Chess Classic 2011, the game of the day belonged to Hikaru Nakamura of the USA vs Michael Adams of the UK. In the last round of the recent London Chess Classic 2011, Nakamura chose the King’s Gambit Opening against Michael Adams.

[Event "3rd London Chess Classic"]
[Site "London ENG"]
[Date "2011.12.12"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Nakamura, Hi"]
[Black "Adams, Mi"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C36"]
[WhiteElo "2758"]
[BlackElo "2734"]
[PlyCount "81"]
[EventDate "2011.12.03"]

1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 d5 4. exd5 Nf6 5. Bc4 Nxd5 6. O-O Be6 7. Bb3 c5 8.
Kh1 Nc6 9. d4 c4 10. Ba4 Bd6 11. b3 c3 12. Qd3 O-O 13. Bxc6 bxc6 14. Nxc3 Re8
15. Nxd5 Bxd5 16. c4 Be4 17. Qc3 a5 18. a3 f6 19. Bb2 Ra7 20. Rad1 Rae7 21. b4
axb4 22. axb4 Kh8 23. Qb3 Rb7 24. Bc3 Qb8 25. b5 cxb5 26. c5 b4 27. Bd2 Bf8 28.
Rde1 g5 29. Qc4 g4 30. Nh4 f3 31. d5 fxg2+ 32. Nxg2 Bf3 33. Kg1 Rc8 34. c6 Rb5
35. Nf4 Bc5+ 36. Be3 Bxe3+ 37. Rxe3 Qb6 38. Rfe1 b3 39. Qc3 Rf8 40. Ne6 b2 41.
c7 1-0

John Saunders at the London Chess Classic 2011 reported that the game of the day was Hikaru Nakamura versus Mickey Adams and was earmarked as such from the moment that Hikaru played the King’s Gambit. As with the previous outing in the tournament for this museum piece of an opening (when Nigel Short played it against Luke McShane), initial exuberance soon gave way to caution and tentativeness as Hikaru tucked his king away on h1 and allowed a c4 counter-thrust. A pleasantly piratical game ensued, with White launching a pawn assault on the queenside as Mickey Adams pointed his bishops at the white kingside.

Julian and Stuart enjoying their exchanges with the audience.

Watching in the VIP room was a fascinating experience as the super-GMs who had finished their games were joined by Garry Kasparov and other former greats of the game. GMs Julian Hodgson and Stuart Conquest were the commentators there but for once they were heavily outgunned by the audience. Black seemed to hold sway for much of the game but eventually the great pendulum swung in White’s direction. Garry Kasparov it was who first spotted the change in wind direction: “38 Rfe1 and now it looks better for White.” A blunder followed and White duly triumphed, taking Hikaru Nakamura to clear second in the table and condemning poor Mickey Adams to last place. Credit to both players, though, for providing the last round audience with a feast of chess entertainment.

Round 9

H.Nakamura - M.Adams

King’s Gambit

1 e4 e5 2 f4

A surprise, although Hikaru has been known to play it in rapid play and minor US domestic events. “I felt inspired by Nigel... and felt like taking a chance.” (Nakamura) At which point GM Chris Ward interjected: “Can we just clarify: you’re not so happy with one or two of the openings your other coaches having been giving you and you’re following Nigel’s openings from now on?” The rather arch emphasis which Chris placed on the words “other coaches” and “Nigel” indicated a wicked, joking reference to Hikaru being trained by Garry Kasparov. A knowledgeable audience spotted the reference and laughed, as did Hikaru, ruefully. “I followed Magnus yesterday and Nigel today!”

2...exf4 3 Nf3 d5 4 exd5 Nf6 5 Bc4

The speciality of GM Joe Gallagher (a true Brit, though now qualified for Switzerland).

5...Nxd5 6 0–0 Be6 7 Bb3 c5

“The best move and makes 7 Bb3 a bad try” (Nakamura)

8 Kh1

“8 Kh1 has to be wrong but I was trying to come up with complications. After 8 d4 cxd4 9 Qxd4 Nc6 10 Ba4 Rc8, I wasn’t sure what I was doing here.” (HN)

8...Nc6 9 d4 c4 10 Ba4

10 Bxc4 would involve an exchange for a pawn sacrifice after 10...Ne3 11 Bxe3 Bxc4 12 Bxf4 Bxf1 13 Qxf1 Bd6, etc.

10...Bd6 11 b3 c3

11...cxb3 12 axb3 is not so good as White can soon play c4 and undermine the f4 pawn’s main defender. Hanging onto the f4 pawn is a key factor in Black’s plan at this stage.

12 Qd3 0–0 13 Bxc6 bxc6 14 Nxc3 Re8 15 Nxd5 Bxd5 16 c4 Be4 17 Qc3 a5

Hikaru felt Black was a fair bit better here but that Mickey had been unable to maintain the pressure.

18 a3 f6 19 Bb2 Ra7 20 Rad1 Rae7

Hikaru didn’t like this though the computer disagrees. If 20...Rb7, the b-pawn is restrained but then 21 Rfe1 applies a little pressure to the e-file.

21 b4 axb4 22 axb4 Kh8 23 Qb3 Rb7

Hikaru overlooked that the rook can double back in this way.

24 Bc3 Qb8 25 b5 cxb5 26 c5 b4 27 Bd2 Bf8

Black now has an extra pawn but his structure is far from ideal and it is not so easy to exploit.

28 Rde1 g5 29 Qc4!

This move takes courage. White is worried that Black will organise a support for Black to play Bd5 “and it will be pretty much game over”. But the advance of the b-pawn looks equally scary.

29...g4

It is easy to say with hindsight but the more obvious 29...b3 looks more promising, when White has to stay active with 30 c6 Ra7 31 Bc3 b2 32 Nd2. The computer comes up the lively 32...Bxc6!? 33 Qxc6 Rc8 34 Qxf6+ Bg7 35 Qxg5 Rxc3 but that would take some calculating for a human. However, the problem with the text move is that it leaves Black’s kingside pawn structure very shaky.

30 Nh4

Hikaru thought perhaps he should have preferred 30 Ne5!? Bxg2+ 31 Kxg2 fxe5 32 dxe5 f3+ which may come down to a draw.

30...f3

30...b3 is still a strong candidate here. Rybka considers it to be winning after 31 c6 Ra7 32 Bc3 Qd6 33 Qxb3 Qxc6, etc.

31 d5

Hikaru characterised this as a ‘blunder’ but that may be overstating it.

Video link of the game:

http://youtu.be/KnVULOrMD98

31...fxg2+ 32 Nxg2 Bf3

This is what Hikaru had not seen and caused him to berate himself. “I should just be losing here now.”

33 Kg1 Rc8 34 c6 Rb5

34...Bd6 was a move looked at by the commentators, but 35 Bf4!? is a possible antidote.

35 Nf4

Hikaru felt that, after 35 Rxf3 gxf3 36 Nf4, Black can play 36...Bd6 and he is just losing.

35...Bc5+ 36 Be3 Bxe3+?

Black starts to go wrong. Both players thought 36...Qb6 would just win for Black here, e.g. 37 Bxc5 Rxc5 38 Qd4 and now 38...R5xc6! is the key move that Mickey failed to find, when he would have a fairly simple win.

37 Rxe3 Qb6 38 Rfe1

Suddenly White’s position has become more solid and he can think about offensive action. He is probably better now.

38...b3??

A blunder which falls victim to a four-move combination. 38...Rc5?? is equally terrible after 39 Re8+ Rxe8 40 Rxe8+ Kg7 41 Ne6+ Kf7 42 Nxc5 Kxe8 and now 43 d6! and White has some crushing threats. The best the computer can find is 38...Ra5 but Black is not on the defensive.

39 Qc3!

Suddenly Black has a problem defending the f6 pawn.

39...Rf8 40 Ne6! b2 41 c7! 1–0

If 41...b1Q 42 Qxf6+! Rxf6 43 c8Q+ and mate in a couple.

(source: London Chess Classic 2011, photo by John Saunders)

Kelantan wins DATCC Chess League 2011

2011-12-17T04:47:00.001-08:00

17 Dec 2011, Kuala Lumpur – At the DATCC today, two rounds of team chess league matches were played at 9 am and at 2.30 pm. After the completion of 9 rounds of play, Kelantan Chess Team won the league with 25.5 points edging out rivals Najib’s Rojak Team and Too Less Ordinary to second and third places respectively with a similar 25 points.

Nusa Mahkota Chess Club overcomed Renegade with a marginal win 2.5-1.5 win. Jianwen of Renegade managed to steal one full point from Nusa Mahkota’s top board. Nusa Mahkota finished fourth, 17Chess Club in fifth, DATCC Senior on sixth, Seahorse Petronas on seventh and Renegade Chess Team a respectable eighth position.

Round 9 Team Results (2.30 pm, 17 Dec 2011):

Round 9 Board Pairings – Team (2.30 pm, 17 Dec 2011) :-

Round 8 Team Results (9 am, 17 Dec 2011):-

Earlier in the morning during round 8, Kelantan and Petronas Swordfish drew on top board, and DATCC Seniors Team drew with Najib’s Rojak Team on third board. Meanwhile Renegade crushed PJMIM 4-0 and Nusa Mahkota whipped Bernama 4-0 too.

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

Eng Andre Jerome Leads In Sarawak Open

2011-12-15T06:06:00.001-08:00

15 December 2011, Kuala Lumpur – Here is the latest ranking after round 8 for the Sarawak Open Chess Championship 2011. Eng Andre Jerome of Singapore has scored 7 points after 8 rounds of play and is the sole leader.

Followed closely behind are Foo Benjamin of Singapore with 6.5 points and Wong Jianwen (pix left), also with 6.5 points.

Next is the group with 6.0 points that comprises of Kamaluddin Yusof of Malaysia, Efren Bagamasbad of Philippines, Rhobel Legaspi of Philippines, Ahmad Fadhil Nayan and Bueder Thomas of Germany.

Ninety four players are participating in this year’s Sarawak Open 2011.

Results of Round 8 held earlier this afternoon, 15 December 2011.

Wong Jianwen looks impressive with his third ranking after round 8 and he won his 8th round game against IM Atanu Lahiri of India. Jianwen will be playing on top board in the final 9th round against the current leader Eng Andre Jerome of Singapore tomorrow at 9.00 am.

To see more results, please visit chess-results.com or click here.

Abdullah’s Game vs Khairunnissa’, Round 7 Game

2011-12-14T05:49:00.001-08:00

14 December 2011, Kuala Lumpur – Here is the round 7 game between Abdullah Che Hassan of the Kelantan Chess Team and Khairunnisa’ Wahiduddin of Renegade Team played on board 2 of the table 2 at the DATCC, Wilayah Complex, Kuala Lumpur last night.

Abdullah played white in a Catalan Opening. Khairunnisa’ sacrificed a black Knight for white’s three pawns by move 11.

Pix 1. Abdullah, Kelantan. Pix 2. Khairunnisa’ Wahiduddin, Renegade.(Photos by Shamsuddin Sabri)

[Event "DATCC League 2011"]
[Site "DATCC, Kuala Lumpur"]
[Date "2011.12.13"]
[Round "7.2"]
[White "Abdullah Che Hassan"]
[Black "Khairunnisa"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E01"]
[PlyCount "61"]
[EventDate "2011.11.22"]
[SourceDate "2011.12.13"]

1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e6 3. g3 d5 4. d4 c6 5. Bg2 dxc4 6. a4 Bb4 7. Nf3 Bxc3+ 8.
bxc3 Nd5 9. e4 Nxc3 10. Qc2 Nxa4 11. Qxa4 b5 12. Qc2 O-O 13. O-O a5 14. Ba3 Re8 15. e5 Ra6 16. Bd6 Nd7 17. Nh4 Qb6 18. Be4 f5 19. exf6 Nxf6 20. Bc5 Qc7 21. Bg2 e5 22. Rfe1 Nd7 23. Nf3 Nxc5 24. dxc5 Qa7 25. Nxe5 Qxc5 26. Ng6 Rxe1+ 27. Rxe1 hxg6 28. Re8+ Kh7 29. Rxc8 Qd6 30. Be4 Qe6 31. Bxg6+ 1-0

By move 31, black was looking at losing its queen. White played 31.Bxg6+, then follows black takes bishop with 31…Qxg6, then a force check by white with the rook, 32.Rh8+ and the King is forced to take the rook at h8, 32…Kxh8, 33.Qxg6! leaving the white queen to take the defenceless black queen at g6. Brilliant play by Abdullah!

Black was not able to press its advantage of having 5 pawns against white’s three early enough. White used speed to wind down black’s position by mobilising its pieces effectively.

(Game courtesy of Khairunnisa’ Wahiduddin)

Kelantan Chess Team Takes Lead At DATCC League

2011-12-14T01:45:00.001-08:00

14 December 2011, Kuala Lumpur – Here are the latest news and announcements from the organisers of the DATCC Team Chess League 2011. Another furious race to the finish line! Kelantan Chess Team takes lead from Najib’s Rojak Team with one point lead after scoring 20.5 points from seven rounds. Meanwhile Too Less Ordinary made a leap frog jump to second place with 19.5 points and Rojak Team fell to third place with 19.0 points.

Folks.... Round 8 on Saturday, 17 December 2011, to start at 9:00am and Round 9 at 2:30pm.

As for Round 7, the traffic in KL was unbelievable and with scattered flooding in certain areas in KL, and the SMART tunnel was closed to divert rising waters, many players found themselves stuck in traffic jams and a few games were forfeited due to non-arrivals. Saprin and family was 10 minutes away from giving away 4 points to their opponent PETRONAS Seahorse and on Table 1, whilst young Yeoh Li Tian had to forfeit his game, Najib on board managed to arrive at the tournament hall with only 1 minute to spare - and the opponent not arriving on time (Max came in about 8:45pm and was disappointed that he had to give away the point). Yeoh Li Tian also arrived just before Max but opponent Nor Ilhamuddin already left the crime scene.

Suffering worse were PJMIM who had to forfeit 2 boards and BERNAMA Team forfeiting 3 boards.

With the conclusion of Round 7, and the remaining 2 rounds to be played this Saturday, the race for the lead is very tight between 3 teams - Kelantan, Too Less Ordinary and Najib's Rojak Team. Kelantan and Too Less Ordinary both scored perfect 4 points to stay ahead in the lead at first and second respectively, followed closely by Najib's Rojak Team at third place - with only 1.5 points separating the 3 teams.

Following behind with 2.5 points behind Najib's Rojak Team is 17 Chess Club and another 1 point behind the DATCC Senior'S Team.

Round 8 will be the telling points as the top team will vie to continue their good run and maintain their lead but, with the bottom teams having the ability to steal 1 or 2 valuable points, the event is not over until the fat lady sings! The pairing for the last round will be very crucial and teams that can score a perfect 4-0 in the last 2 rounds will definitely jump up the table.

Results for Round 7:

Teams position after Round 7

And the most awaited table of all - Pairing for Round 8, an interesting one indeed.

Picture Gallery Round 7, DATCC Chess League

2011-12-13T05:09:00.001-08:00

13 Dec 2011, Kuala Lumpur - Here are some pictures of round 7 of the DATCC Chess League 2011.

Tonight many of the players arrived late as the weather caused havoc on the roads around the city. One team arrived 15 minutes before the one hour delay allowed for.

Kramnik Grabs Lead At London Chess Classic 2011

2011-12-12T03:49:00.001-08:00

12 December 2011, Kuala Lumpur – Vladimir Kramnik grabs the lead at the London Chess Classic with a Ruy Lopez Berlin Defence against Luke McShane. Kramnik has 15 points after round 8.

Chess.com reported that the dramatic showdown between Luke McShane and Vladimir Kramnik was the key game of round eight at the London Chess Classic.

Hoping to secure the outright lead, McShane took the game to Kramnik with an exchange sacrifice to create a powerful bishop with threats to Kramnik's king.

However, any advantage that McShane had achieved evaporated during time-trouble and Kramnik took the initiative, but despite being a full rook ahead the result was still far from clear.

However, eventually the tactical tricks ran out and Kramnik earned a crucial win to take the sole lead with just one round remaining.

Nigel Short managed to completely block the position against Hikaru Nakamura, and remarkably there were no captures at all until move 30! Yet "thanks" in part to the anti-draw rules, the players continued shuffling their pieces around until move 90 before a draw was mercifully agreed!

Magnus Carlsen drew his game with black against Vishy Anand, and David Howell ended his event on a positive note by holding Lev Aronian to a draw.

Pix 1. Game of the round between McShane and Kramnik. (Photo courtesy of Ray Morris-Hill at the official website)

ICC also did an analysis of the McShane-Kramnik game of the 8th Round, London Chess Classic 2011. Analysis was done by GM Suat Atalik.

The "Sofia" anti-draw rules are in operation, and the 3-1-0 scoring system adopted for London Chess Classic 2011.

To read more, please visit chess.com or click here. Or visit the official website – www.londonchessclassic.com

London Chess Classic – Nakamura In The Lead

2011-12-09T21:11:00.000-08:00

10 Dec 2011, Kuala Lumpur – At the 3rd London Chess Classic 2011, Nakamura made waves in round 5 by overcoming David Howell of the U.K. where Nakamura will win a piece in the end game. Another sensational round in the 2011 London Chess Classic saw Hikaru Nakamura seize the lead with a score of 10 points by beating David Howell.

Chess.com reported that Hikaru Nakamura celebrated his 24th birthday today, but he was unable to mark the occasion with a win. In a critical battle with Luke McShane a draw was the final result.

As fate would have it, all of the other games also ended inconclusively so Hikaru Nakamura still leads with three rounds remaining. Nakamura has 11 points so far, two points ahead of Carlsen who has played one game less than Nakamura.

It is Hikaru Nakamura's turn next to take his bye, so the other players will be hoping to make ground as the tournament heads towards its finale.

Luke McShane shaking hands with Hikaru Nakamura at the start of round 6 (Photo courtesy of Ray-Morris Hill at the official website.)

Here is the round 6 game between McShane and Nakamura which ended in a draw.

To read more please visit chess.com or the official website – www.londonchessclassic.com.

(News from Chess.com and www.londonchessclassic.com)

Dimakiling Ahead In Penang Open 2011

2011-12-09T03:28:00.001-08:00

9 December 2011, Kuala Lumpur – At the 3rd Penang Heritage City International Chess Open 2011, Dimakiling is way ahead with a score of 7.5 points, a full point ahead of his nearest rivals, IM Nguyen and fellow countryman, Olay Edgar Reggie, both with 6.5 points after the 8th round of play.

It looks almost certain that IM Dimakiling Oliver of the Philippines would return as the defending Champion of this year’s Penang Open 2011. Nobody can stop him now.

Earlier in the morning, 7th round, IM Dimakiling, the defending champion, defeated Malaysia’s IM Mas Hafizulhelmi on top board.

Round 8 Penang Open 2011 Results:

Round 7 Penang Open 2011 Results:

Dimakiling Takes Over Lead In Penang Open 2011

2011-12-08T07:38:00.001-08:00

Pix 1. IM Mas Hafizulhelmi, Malaysia

8 December 2011, Kuala Lumpur – At the 3rd Penang Heritage City International Chess Open 2011 in Penang, IM Dimakiling Oliver of Philippines takes over leadership by winning his round 6 encounter with IM Nguyen Van Huy of Vietnam on top board. Dimakiling now has scored 5.5 points and is sole leader.

IM Mas Hafizulhelmi of Malaysia, has now climbed into the top 10 of the Penang Open with a win against Looi Xin Hao on the fifth board with a score of 4.5 points from six rounds of play.

Tomorrow, 9 December 2011, IM Mas will meet defending champion, IM Dimakiling Oliver of PHI on top board during the 7th round of play. Best of luck to IM Mas in his endeavours!

Results of Round 6 pairings:

Pairings of Round 7:

Meanwhile in the Challengers Section, Mohd Faizal b Roslan has caught up with the leaders and is now joint leaders with Teh De Juan and Soh Isaak Ethan Hong Han. All three players scored 5.5 points each.

Faizal scored an important win over Gero Kuich, the top seed on board two during round 6 play, while the top board game between Teh and Soh ended in a draw.

Tomorrow, Faizal plays on top board against Teh De Juan to battle for sole leadership of the Challengers Section of the Penang Heritage City Chess Tournament 2011.

Round 7 pairings of Challengers Section:-

To see more chess results, please visit chess-results.com or click here.

Teh De Juan, Soh Isaak Leads Penang Challengers

2011-12-08T03:20:00.001-08:00

Pix 1. Mohd Faizal b Roslan, Malaysia.

8 Dec 2011, Kuala Lumpur – At the 3rd Penang Heritage City International Chess Challenger 2011, Teh De Juan and Soh Isaak Ethan Hong Han, jointly leads with 5 points after 5 rounds of play. Challengers Section is the running twin tournament of the Penang Heritage City International Open 2011.

Teh De Juan beat Kelly Lim Pei Ying on top board of the fifth round and Soah Isaak Ethan Hong Han overcomed Teoh Ern Sheng on board two.

Meanwhile on board three, Mohd Faizal Roslan (Pix 1) won against Tin Ruiqi scoring 4.5 points after five rounds. Gilocatur’s daughter Anis Fariha bt Saleh lost to Geeneish Sivalingam on fourth board. Anis Fariha has 3.5 points after five rounds and Geeneish scored 4.5 points.

Nguyen Scores Perfect 4.0!

2011-12-07T15:12:00.001-08:00

Pix 1. Mark Siew of Malaysia, in top 10 after round 4.

8 Dec 2011, Kuala Lumpur – At the Penang Heritage City International Open 2011, IM Nguyen Van Huy of Vietnam is co-leading with Mariano Nelson III of the Philippines after scoring 4.0 points after four rounds of play thus far.

Interestingly, Mark Siew (top pix) of Malaysia is in the top 10 with a largely international group of players from Philippines, Vietnam, India and Singapore, having scored 3.0 points up to round 4.

Nguyen Van Huy Leads In Penang Open 2011

2011-12-07T14:28:00.001-08:00

Pix 1. Manaog Stewart, Philippines.

7 Dec 2011, Kuala Lumpur – At the Penang Heritage International Open 2011, IM Nguyen Van Huy takes the lead after overcoming Eng Andre Jerome on top board during round 4 of the tournament. IM Dimakiling drew against Olay Edgar Reggie on second board. On fifth board we have Mark Siew drawing with FM Ronnie Lim Chuin Hoong of Penang. Manaog Stewart (pix above) of Philippines lost to NM Tan Khai Boon.

During round 5, IM Nguyen will match up against Mariano Nelson III on top board while IM Dimakiling faces Turqueza Mari Joseph on second board.

On seventh board, Penangite FM Ronnie Lim meets fellow Penangite Loo Swee Leong while IM Mas Hafizulhelmi meets Bagamasbad Efren on 10th board. IM Mas has scored 2.5 points so far. On 14th board, Limono Handjojo of Indonesia meets Nik Ahmad Farouqi of Kelantan Chess Team who has scored two points from four rounds.

To see more results, please visit chess-results.com or click here. To see similar posts on Penang Heritage City Open International Chess Tournament, please click here.

Carlsen Wins Against Nakamura

2011-12-06T09:01:00.001-08:00

7 Dec 2011, Kuala Lumpur - At the London Chess Classic, Magnus Carlsen wins against Hikaru Nakamura of the USA during the third round of play.

The Week In Chess reported that Magnus Carlsen beat Hikaru Nakamura to move into a clear lead with 7/9 after 3 rounds of the London Chess Classic. Carlsen said his position was easier to play and eventually Nakamura went wrong and his position collapsed. Viswanathan Anand was briefly in trouble against David Howell but he missed his way and the game was drawn.

Levon Aronian looked to have a smooth win against Nigel Short but he revealed afterwards it was not at all that easy and I guess a disappointed Short will at least be feeling better about his play than after round 2. Luke McShane beat an off-form Michael Adams after the latter turned down a piece sacrifice which he might just as well have accepted and taken his chances. Round 4 runs Tues 6th December 16:00-23:00 GMT to allow people to visit after work. Carlsen-Kramnik, Adams-Short, Anand-Nakamura, Howell-McShane, Aronian commentator.

[Event "3rd London Chess Classic"]
[Site "London ENG"]
[Date "2011.12.05"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Carlsen, Magnus"]
[Black "Nakamura, Hikaru"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2826"]
[BlackElo "2758"]
[ECO "C50"]

1. e2-e4 e7-e5 2. Ng1-f3 Nb8-c6 3. Bf1-c4 Ng8-f6 4. d2-d3 Bf8-c5 5. c2-c3 d7-d6 6. Bc4-b3 a7-a6 7. Nb1-d2 Bc5-a7 8. Nd2-f1 h7-h6 9. Nf1-g3 O-O 10. O-O Bc8-e6 11. h2-h3 Qd8-d7 12. Bc1-e3 Nc6-e7 13. Nf3-h4 Ne7-g6 14. Nh4-f5 Ng6-e7 15.Nf5xe7 Qd7xe7 16. Be3xa7 Ra8xa7 17. f2-f4 c7-c5 18. Bb3-c2 b7-b5 19. Qd1-d2 Ra7-b7 20. a2-a3 a6-a5 21. Rf1-f2 b5-b4 22. a3xb4 a5xb4 23. Ra1-f1 b4xc3 24. b2xc3 e5xf4 25. Rf2xf4 Nf6-h7 26. d3-d4 c5xd4 27. c3xd4 Qe7-g5 28. Kg1-h2 Nh7-f6 29. Bc2-d1 Rf8-b8 30. h3-h4 Qg5-g6 31. Rf4xf6 g7xf6 32. Qd2-f4 Rb7-b2 33. Bd1-h5 Qg6-g7 34. Bh5-f3 Rb8-a8 35. d4-d5 Be6-c8 36. Ng3-h5 Qg7-f8 37. Nh5xf6 Kg8-h8 38. Rf1-c1 Kh8-g7 39. e4-e5 d6xe5 40. Nf6-h5 Kg7-h7 41. Bf3-e4 1-0

Pix 1. GM Magnus Carlsen, Norway – leading at London Chess Classic.

Pix 2. Position after move 41.Be4+, with possible mate in two if 41… Bf5, 42.Qxf5+ Kg8, 43.Qh7 #.

Rankings After 3rd Round:-

Official website: http://www.londonchessclassic.com

Dimakiling Among Leaders After Round 2, Penang Open

2011-12-06T04:36:00.001-08:00

6 Dec 2011, Kuala Lumpur – At the Penang Heritage City International Open 2011, defending champion IM Dimakiling Oliver of the Philippines is among the pack of 15 players with the perfect score of 2 points from 2 rounds of play.

IM Nguyen Van Huy of Vietnam, IM Nguyen Duc Hoa, IM Dableo Ronald and IM Mas Hafizulhelmi among the early leaders at Penang Open. Youngster Yeoh Li Tian was playing on top board against IM Nguyen, while Yeap Eng Cheam of Malaysia played against the defending champion IM Dimakiling. Both lost their games.

Veteran Loo Swee Leong played on board 2 against IM Nguyen Duc Hoa. Malaysian player Elgin Lee Kah Meng fresh from his Turkey exploits in the Under-14 team Chess Olympiad, also lost to FM Carlos Leonardo. Stonemaster’s brother Fairin Zakaria won against Asian Amateur Unrated Champion 2011, Manaog Stewart of the Philippines. Gilocatur’s son, Fikri Saleh beat Saprin’s son, Amir Qayyim in round 2 on board 34.

The chief arbiter of the event is Abdul Hamid Majid and tournament director, Tan Eng Seong.

Rank After Round 2:

To see more results, please visit chess-results.com or click here.

4th NATIONAL JUNIOR CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP 2011 - 19th to 23rd December 2011

2011-12-05T16:16:00.001-08:00

4th NATIONAL JUNIOR CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP 2011 - 19th to 23rd December 2011

6 Dec 2011, Kuala Lumpur - The year end is racing to a furious pace with plenty of tournaments. Up next after the Sarawak Open is the 4th National Junior Chess Championship 2011.

The Malaysian Chess Federation will be organizing the 4th National Junior Chess Championship from 19th December to 23rd December at DATCC, Wilayah Complex, Jalan Munshi Abdullah, Kuala Lumpur.

As per the previous editions, the championship will be played over 9 rounds using Swiss Pairing system with a time control of 90 minutes plus 30 seconds increment per move per player from move 1.

The event is open only to Malaysian citizens born on or after 1991 i.e. 20 years of age and below, and the Champion will be awarded the title National Junior Masters by the Malaysian Chess Federation.

Registration fees is RM60 for players with a FIDE rating and those without FIDE rating, the entry fees shall be RM100. The closing date for registration shall be 16th December 2011 and additional penalty fees shall be imposed for those who register after the closing date.

For further information and clarification about the event, please contact Mr Gregory Lau at +6012.257.7123 (Email: msianchess2010@gmail.com), Mrs Haslindah Ruslan at +6019.206.9605 or Ms Zuraiha Wazir at +6017.283.7808.

Registration forms for the event can be downloaded using the following link: www.chess-malaysia.com/NATIONAL JUNIOR 2011.pdf

The same information is available on http://datcchess.blogspot.com and on FACEBOOK http://www.facebook.com/pages/Chess-Malaysia/168231673260531 or on fireyrook’s blog - http://fireyrook.blogspot.com/2011/11/4th-national-junior-chess-championship.html

Fees Reduced, Negeri Open 2012

2011-12-05T16:11:00.001-08:00

6 December 2011, Kuala Lumpur – Latest news from the organisers of the Negeri Sembilan Open, slated for 7-8 Jan 2012, is that the fees has been reduced to RM40 only. The original fees were RM50.

To see the previous post on Negeri Sembilan Open 2012, please click here.

For further details, please call

a. Kamar Cani : 019-3445343;

b. Amir : 017-6160019;

c. Syiera : 017-3838202.

3rd Penang Heritage City International Open 2011

2011-12-05T14:44:00.001-08:00

6 Dec 2011, Kuala Lumpur – The Penang City Open 2011 will begin today. 11 countries are participating with 74 players playing in the Open category. Among the countries playing include Australia, France, England, India, USA, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia, the host country. There are 12 titled players, 7 are International Masters, 3 FIDE-Master and 2 WFM.

Here are the round 1 pairings of the 3rd Penang Heritage City International Open 2011, 6 December 2011 held in Penang.

To see more results, please visit chess-results.com or click here.

Khor Boon Han Wins 2nd Insofar Kamunting.

2011-12-04T14:03:00.001-08:00

4 Dec 2011, Kuala Lumpur - Here are the final ranking of the 2nd Insofar Kamunting Invitational held in Kamunting, Perak. Saudara Khor Boon Han won the tournament with a score of 5.0 points. In second place was Akmar Laily Othman with 4.0 points and third, Fatin Nabilah Zainal Abid.

There were 28 players participating in this tournament held

(source: Mat Zaki Yeop, Insofar Chess Academy)