Chess News

17 August 2012, Kuala Lumpur – Some chess news from chessbase.com of the World Chess Championship in Dubai, followed by the Alex Ipatov winning the World Junior Championship in Athens and the passing of chess legend, Gligoric.

First ACO World Chess Championship in Dubai
16.08.2012 72 players from 25 countries, ages ranging from eight to 79, seven rating groups, nine games, ten days in a five-star luxury beach hotel, many new friendships as well as a gala dinner in the most beautiful ballroom of the world in the famous seven-star hotel Burj-Al-Arab – the first World Amateur Chess Championship was undoubtedly a great success, as our big pictorial report shows.

World Junior Championship: GM Alex Ipatov is the winner
16.08.2012 The World Junior Championships took place, without undue public attention, in Athens 2nd-16th August 2012. For much of the final stretch two players were in the lead: Richard Rapport (2605) and Alexander Ipatov (2577). The latter, who is from Ukraine but represents Turkey, won in the end on tiebreak. His trainer, GM Efstratios Grivas, sent us annotated games for our big pictorial report.

Svetozar Gligoric 1923-2012
15.08.2012 He was one of the great players of the 20th century, record national champion of Yugoslavia, friend of Bobby Fischer, theoretician, musician, author and gentleman. He was also a close personal friend, and we will provide more material on his career in the coming weeks and months. Svetozar Gligorić died in Belgrade on August 14 at the age of 89. The chess world will miss this great human being.

(All photos and news courtesy of chessbase.com)

Malaysia And FIDE-Rated Chess Events

 

21 February 2011, Kuala Lumpur – On Najib Wahab’s new blog called  The Chess Connections, Najib’s does an analysis of chess players in Malaysia in general and the availability of FIDE Chess Tournaments available in the country at large.

Here is a sampling of Najib’s analysis of Malaysian players’ participation in 10 chess events organised locally in the country.

Based on the 10 events, the following figures were arrived:

	EVENTS		TOTAL	MALAYSIAN	%
1	KUALA LUMPUR OPEN		111	20	18%
2	SELANGOR OPEN		71	70	99%
3	NATIONAL (OPEN)		94	94	100%
4	NATIONAL (WOMEN)		44	44	100%
5	MALAYSIA OPEN		133	26	20%
6	AMBANK CHALLENGE		52	42	81%
7	PENANG OPEN		71	42	59%
8	PENANG CHALLENGE		109	103	94%
9	GACC OPEN		110	69	63%
10	GACC (WOMEN)		50	28	56%
	TOTAL		845	538	64%

Based on the Jan 2011 rating list (for the period between November/December 2011), Malaysia was the most active country in the region with 84 of our players (or 29% of that 293 players that Malaysia has in the rating list) played at least 1 FIDE rated event.

A lot of the analysis is quite revealing about the status of chess in Malaysia itself and The Chess Connections’ blog post on Malaysia is simply very interesting and should put the MCF on alert on Malaysia’s future direction.

As First-GM blogger wants Malaysia to achieve our first International Grand Master sooner so that at least Malaysia can be proud of having one home-grown GM locally, therefore instituting a local FIDE Rated chess circuit with foreign players is uppermost and a priority.

Good standing foreign chess players with IM and GM titles would help push further the rating of the event higher and creates more opportunities for our local players to succeed getting either an International Master (IM) or Grand Master (GM) norm. In this regard, efforts by Excel Chess Academy to create a FIDE-Rated chess event locally at its own chess academy is comendable and would help the cause of chess in Malaysia further and create a further pool of FIDE-rated players. With a bigger pool, the chances of creating IM and GM players among Malaysians will increase.

All this analysis is good and should be made available to MCF officials for further understanding.

To read more of Najib’s analysis of chess in Malaysia, please visit this link here.

Chess On Malaysian Internet TV!

20 February 2011, Kuala Lumpur – The Bangsar Zone Chess has started in search for their chess zonal champion. Apparently chess is now getting some internet TV exposure. FIDE National Instructor, Shamsuddin Mat Isa gives his thoughts on Bangsar chances at the school district championship. Participation in this year’s chess tournament has exceeded beyond expectations. 

The interview was carried out by EduWEBTV.


(source: gilachess.com)

Tough Times For Elite Chess Players

15 February 2011, Kuala Lumpur – There is  indications that chess tournaments in Europe of high quality are continuing to dwindle. The Linares will not happen in February of this year and the Chess Classic Mainz also will disappear from the chess calendar.

Mark Crowthers of TWIC reports some of the early signs of decline of chess in Europe - The Chess Classic Mainz will not have an edition in 2011. The Brainchild of Hans-Walter Schmitt it started in Frankfurt before changing to the city of Mainz. The event brought new ideas of presentation to chess and championed Chess960. Last year there was a slimmed down event and this year no sponsor could be found. Knowing the determination of its creator I would not at all be surprised if it is revived when and if economic times improve. With the Linares tournament not taking place in February and possibly not at all and the Sofia tournament also not happening these are tough times for elite chess. There is a press release below from Hans-Walter along with a summary of all the results.

To read more, please click here.

Links:

• TWIC

Caruana Leads in 70th ITA Siena

 4 December 2010, Kuala Lumpur – At the chess championship in Siena, Italy, GM Fabiano Caruana is leading with 8 points after 10 rounds of play. Twelve of Italy’s best chess players are participating in this chess championship.

 

Results of the 10th round:-

Ranking of players after the 10th round:-

GM Caruana is almost certain to win the Italian Chess Championship 2010 as he is a full point ahead of the others, with the 11th round still to play.

To read more, please visit chess & strategy’s blog or click here.

Official website: http://www.federscacchi.it/cia2010/

Malcolm Pein’s Chess Column

19 October 2010, London – There is a regular chess column in the London’s Telegraph newspaper written by columnist Malcolm Pein, who is himself an International Master (IM) chess player.

To visit and read some of his articles, please click here.

Below is a range of his chess news and articles on chess that he has written over the past two-three months.

WFM Nur Najiha Wins Sports Award!

18 October 2010, Kuala Lumpur – Malaysia’s WFM Nur Najiha bt Azman Hisham has won the Anugerah Tunas Harapan 2009 sports award from the Deputy Minister of Education, Y.B. Datuk Ir. Wee Ka Siong. The sports award was awarded to Najiha in a ceremony held on the 14th October 2010 at the Dewan De'Seri Endon, Puspanitapuri, Presint 10, Putrajaya.

The award given to WFM Nur Najiha in recognition of her recent achievements as follows:
a. Two gold at the ASEAN Age Group Chess Tournament 2009, Hue, Vietnam;
b. National Champion of the Junior Chess Championship 2009, Kuala Lumpur;
c. National Champion of the Age Group Chess Championship 2009, Kuala Lumpur;
d. Awarded the prestigeous title of WOMAN FIDE MASTER (WFM) by the World Chess Federation, FIDE based in Europe;

To read more, please click to the following link to Hairul’s blog:-

http://hairulovchessmaniacs.blogspot.com/2010/10/wfm-nur-najiha-azman-hisham-win.html

Congratulations to WFM Nur Najiha!! Keep on winning, Najiha!!

WFM Nur Najiha Wins Sports Award!

18 October 2010, Kuala Lumpur – Malaysia’s WFM Nur Najiha bt Azman Hisham has won the Anugerah Tunas Harapan 2009 sports award from the Deputy Minister of Education, Y.B. Datuk Ir. Wee Ka Siong.

To read more, please click to the following link to Hairul’s blog:-
http://hairulovchessmaniacs.blogspot.com/2010/10/wfm-nur-najiha-azman-hisham-win.html
Congratulations to WFM Nur Najiha!! Keep on winning, Najiha!!

Two New GMs Born In First Saturday!

17 October 2010, Budapest – At the First Saturday tournament in Budapest, two new GMs were born. Antal Gergely (HUN) and Banusz Tamas (HUN) both made their third clear GM norms recently and will be awarded the Grandmaster Title soon.

Antal Gergely (25), University Champion of USA (2009) and gold medallist in U18 European Team Championship as early as 2003. Currently he plays for BEAC which is the team of University of Budapest. He is a brilliant tactician.

Banusz Tamas (21), has the following track performances:- gold medallist at U16 World Youth Olympiad (TUR 2003), also won gold at European Youth Team Ch (SRB 2007) best scorer of Europe by 5.5/6 points. He is a member of Pannonpower Chess Club at Pecs city which  currently holds the proud title of the Capital of Culture in Europe. His style combines both positional and tactical elements but his technical skills is the most outstanding part of his chess skills.

Banusz Tamas (Hun), 2550 vs Antal Gergely (Hun), 2526 First Saturday 2010 October GM, Budapest, Hungary, 03 October 2010, Round 2. The Dutch opening transpired [A90].

1. d4 f5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 e6 4. Nf3 d5 5. c4 c6 6. O-O Bd6 7. b3 Qe7 8. Bb2 O-O 9. Qc2 Nbd7 10. Ne5 a5 11. a4 Ne4 12. Nd3 Qg5 13. Ba3 Bxa3 14.Rxa3 Ndf6 15. f4 Qh5 16. Ne5 Nd6 17. e3 Qe8 18. Nd2 Bd7 19. c5 Nf7 20. Nxf7 Qxf7 21. Rb1 Qe7 22. b4 axb4 23. Rxb4 b5 24. Qb3 bxa4 25. Raxa4 Rfc8 26. Rxa8 Rxa8 27. Rb8+ Rxb8 28. Qxb8+ Qe8 29. Qa7 Qc8 30. Bf3 Ne8 31. Nb3 Nc7 32. Be2 Kf8 33. Na5 Ke7 34. h3 g6 35. g4 fxg4 36. hxg4 g5 37. fxg5 e5 38. Bd3 exd4 39. exd4 Kf8 40. Qb6 Ne6 41. Bf5 Qe8 42. Bxe6 Qxe6 43.Qd8+ Kg7 44. Kf2 1/2-1/2

To read more, please click here or visit www.firstsaturday.hu.

Turkey Develops Chess At Fantastic Speed

28 September 2010, Khanty-Mansiysk – Ali Nihat Yazici, President of the Turkish Chess Federation gave a press interview recently and talked about Turkish plans to bid Istanbul as host of the next Chess Olympiad in 2012. Looks like chess olympiads are hosted once every two years, I maybe wrong but that is what I gather from this news item. Besides Turkish plans of hosting, Ali Nihat Yazici talked about the chess in schools program in Turkey and how chess has picked up speed in schools.

Here is part of the interview for interested readers of the interview with Ali Nihat Yazici on the chess development program in Turkey:

CHESS AT SCHOOLS

– Everyone knows that chess in Turkey develops at a fantastic speed. Can you give us some numbers?
– Of course. 2.25 million children have learnt chess in the last 5 years in primary schools. We have around 200 000 members of federation, 50 000 trainers. Federation budget was 6.5 million Euros in 2009, sponsorship was more than 1 million last year. We are planning to double these, numbers in the next 2- 3 years.

– Does the program Chess at Schools work in Turkey?
– Yes.

– How did you manage to prove usefulness of teaching chess at schools?
– We did some research in internet and made several presentations, then adopted this information for our country and brought it to the attention of the government. Our goal is to develop the intellectual level of students and make them more competitive in their future life. We don't necessarily want raising grandmasters and champions. But by adding value with marketing chess in the country we make money and we achieve all aims for a federation.

For me, it is most amazing. I wish this sort of program could exist in our Malaysian schools program and allow our young chess players to develop and be groomed for future Grandmasters-to-be.

To read more, please click here.

Upcoming Chess Tournaments

17 September 2010, Kuala Lumpur – Here are a few of the chess tournaments that will be played soon and for chess enthusiasts to make a note of.

DATCC weekender: The Datuk Arthur Tan Chess Centre will organise the fourth DATCC super supreme rapid chess weekender tournament at their Wilayah Complex premises in Kuala Lumpur on Sept 26. Seven rounds, 25-minute time control. Entry fees: RM15 for players below 12 and RM30 for others. Details from Najib Wahab (016-338 2542,najib.wahab@chess-malaysia.com) or Justin Kumar (018-396 0781,kjustin09@yahoo.com).

Perak grand prix: The Kampar leg of the Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng Perak grand prix chess tournament will be played at the Grand Kampar Hotel in Kampar, Perak, on Sept 26. Entry fees are RM25 for the open section, RM15 for under-16 players and RM10 for under-12 players. Members of Perak International Chess Association and players born in Perak pay RM5 less. To register, contact Yunus (013-390 8129), Sukumaran (012-525 2445) or Kamaruddin (019-431 6793). Details from perakchess.blogspot.com

UPSI Open 2010: The Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) Open Chess Tournament 2010 will be held on the 23-24th October 2010 at the Bitara Siswa Hall, UPSI campus, Tanjung Malim, Perak. Entry fees are RM30 for the open section, RM15 for Secondary School, RM12 for Primary School and RM10 for UPSI students. To register, contact IZZA (0127412326), HUZAIRI (0135959350). Closing date is 20th October 2010. Or click here for details. 

Kejohanan Catur Terbuka Ampang AidilFitri 2010. Lokasi: Galeri Tkt 4, Menara MPAJ, Jalan Pandan Utama, Pandan Indah, Kuala Lumpur. Untuk keterangan lanjut sila klik disini.

No Frills Chess Tournament, Venue: Excel Chess Academy, OUG, Kuala Lumpur. 3rd October 2010. Click here for details.

First UTP National Rapid Chess Championship, Venue: UTP, Tronoh, Perak, 9-10 October 2010. Click here for details.

Penang Heritage City International Chess Open 2010, Venue: City Hall, Georgetown, Penang, 8-12 December 2010. Click here for details.

The 2 Ks In Howard Staunton Memorial Dinner

14 September 2010, London – Both Karpov and Kasparov were both in London during the Howard Staunton Memorial Dinner 2010 where there were tag team chess played at the Simpson’s-In-The-Strand in London last 8th September 2010. Nigel Short was at hand to lend support to the chess event.

A press conference was held earlier in the day by the trio of Karpov, Kasparov and Nigel. Then later in the evening the chess events as part of the fund raiser.

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

Demise Of A Chess Legend!

12 September 2010, Kuala Lumpur – News of the chess legend, Bent Larsen of Denmark dies in Argentina! Have only read his games in books of chess! Also read that Bent Larsen was one of the possible candidates to challenge Russian dominance in chess in the early 1970s. Instead the late Bobby Fischer was selected to play against Boris Spassky.

To read more about Bent Larsen, please click here.

Dato’ Tan Speaks Out At Malaysian Chess Festival Dinner

9 September 2010, Kuala Lumpur – The rest day of the Malaysian Chess Festival for the players of Dato’ Arthur Tan Malaysian Open 2010, the organisers had arranged a dinner which has held in the CitiTel Mid Valley Hotel, Kuala Lumpur, 5th September 2010.

All the organisers, foreign players and local players were invited and officials of the chess fraternity were invited. GM Karpov, who had promised to come, however, did not make his appearance as he was busy attending a chess function in Angola. Nevertheless, his vice presidential candidate, Richard Conn of the USA was present as was Abdul Hamid Majid.

To read more of the happenings and what transpired, please visit Hairul’s blog or click here. The truth awaits you there!

Malaysian Open 2010 Found On The Week In Chess!

8 September 2010, Kuala Lumpur – The recently concluded 7th IGB Dato’  Arthur Tan Malaysian Chess Open 2010 has been seen to be reported on The Week In Chess website!

You may visit the website “The Week In Chess” or click here. A sampling of the chess games up to round 6 can be found there as per the official website http://datmo.net.

Philippines Aspires To Top 20 Chess Power In 5 Years!

22 August 2010, Kuala Lumpur – A news article in Manila was quoted as saying that the Republic of the Philippines is targeting to be in the top 20 ranked nation in five years’ time. They are currently ranked 35 in the world.

Under its current leadership, the Philippines has produced five new grandmasters which includes the young whiz, GM Wesley So.

They also targeting to increase the number of international chess tournaments in their country to allow more of the young talented chess players in the Philippines more opportunity to gain norms.

Other asian countries like Vietnam and Iran are chasing the Philippines, if the country does not strive to increase the level of competitiveness of the chess scene locally.

To read more, please click here.

To take a leaf from the Philippines’ scenario, Malaysia should also strive to hold more international chess tournaments that are FIDE-rated and to achieve higher heights of achievement in its current world rankings.

Malaysia Chess Festival – Merdeka Rapid

Merdeka rapid events

14 August 2010, Kuala Lumpur - Here is a reminder to all local chess players that the Merdeka individual rapid open tournament will be played on Aug 28, the Merdeka team rapid open tournament from Aug 29-31, and the Merdeka individual national age-group rapid open tournament on Sept 5. Venue for all three events is the Cititel hotel ballroom at MidValley Megamall in Kuala Lumpur.

Details from Hamid Majid (019-3158098, fax 03-40244337,aham@pc.jaring.my or aham4you@gmail.com.my). Or you may visit Malaysian Open blog or click here.

Kasparov In Singapore

14 August 2010, Singapore – On a preview news of the Singapore’s Straits Times dated 13 August 2010, is an article about Kasparov’s impending visit to Singapore today to promote the game of chess. The article discusses about the group called CES or Chess For Everyone In Singapore. Kasparov was the ex-World Chess Champion from 1985-2000.

  To find out more, please click here.

Upcoming Chess Tournaments

9 July 2010, Kuala Lumpur – Some upcoming chess tournaments for chess enthusiasts to consider.

Perlis team open

The Perlis Chess Academy, the Majlis Sukan Sekolah-sekolah Perlis and the Persatuan Catur Prestij Perlis will jointly hold the Perlis team open tournament at the Dewan S.M. Putra in Kangar, Perlis, on July 24. Entry is limited to the first 70 teams.

For details, contact Syaifulzamani Ismail (013-3939838) or visit chessperlis.blogspot.com.

MBS chess

The Methodist Boys’ Secondary School in Jalan Hang Jebat, Kuala Lumpur, will hold the fifth MBSSKL chess open tournament at the school premises on July 24. For enquiries, contact teachers N.K. Chin or (Mdm) L.Y. Yong at the school (03-2078 2293).

Perak grand prix

The sixth leg of the Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng Perak grand prix chess tournament will be played at SMK St Anthony in Teluk Intan, Perak, on July 25.

Closing date for entries is July 22. To register, contact Yunus (013-3908129), Hamisah (012-5008723) or Andrew (016-6295352). Details are available from perakchess.blog spot.com

Passing Of Smyslov

2 April 2010 - In today’s paper The Star – Living, SS Quah discusses the life and times of a music loving chess grandmaster by the name of  Vasily Smyslov. He was the World Champion for the short period of 1957-1958.

Please read more from the newspaper, The Star or you may visit the internet website of the newspaper The Star under Living or click here.