Testing The Waters

by Quah S S

Players in the Klang Valley are getting a taste of the long time control game format.

FOR the past nine weeks, chess enthusiasts in the Klang Valley have been using an old chess format that has not seen the light of day for quite a while. How does a once-a-week, long time control game grab you?

That’s what 70 chess players are in the midst of discovering.

Would they prefer a serious once-a-week game tournament, a tournament that’s played over four or five consecutive days, or a quick event that crams six or seven rounds over a weekend?
Right now on every Wednesday, a handful of them have been turning up at the Dato Arthur Tan Chess Centre (DATCC) at the Wilayah Complex in Kuala Lumpur to discover whether the first option is right for them. They come to play a single round of chess that could last up to three hours or longer.

















Lending support: Goldis Berhad CEO Tan Lei Cheng dropped in just in time to watch her father, Datuk Tan Chin Nam, play.


It was the brainchild of Datuk Tan Chin Nam to begin with, that the DATCC should engage chess players in long serious games so that they would have more time to mull over their next move and rediscover the beauty of the game.

At first, it was envisioned that there could be about 20 teams taking part but eventually last April, the DATCC chess league started off with 10 teams.

“Ten teams is not a setback for you,” I told organiser Hamid Majid. “It was probably as good as you could get for a first-time event.

“The format is new to people in Kuala Lumpur,” I continued. “They are probably a little apprehensive about committing one day in the middle of every week to play chess. There’ll be better response next year when this once-a-week tournament catches on and players see how they can readjust their time accordingly.”

I told Hamid that when the Penang Chess Association first organised their chess league along the same lines in 1991, the association had faced the same challenges.

There were only eight teams then, but at the height of its popularity a few years later, there were 30 teams. For a small place like Penang, it was an astounding response.

So with only 10 teams, it was decided that this first DATCC chess league would be played as a double round-robin event. It would be a win-win situation for all. The players get to play 18 rounds and the organisers get to fill their clubhouse for 18 weeks.

Last Wednesday, the half-way stage for the DATCC chess league was reached. It was a significant milestone which, unfortunately, passed unnoticed by everyone, including the organisers.

At the half-way stage of the event, SMS Gold was leading the pack with 32 points, a slim but clear margin of 1½ points over Goldis. For most of the first half of the league, it was a close tussle between these two teams for the lead.

SMS Gold was first off the block with a 4-0 win against current tail-ender MBS Kuala Lumpur in the first round but somehow, the team lost its focus and found themselves trailing Goldis in the standings.

By the fifth round, Goldis had opened up a two-point gap on SMS Gold.
In an important do-or-die match in the sixth round, SMS Gold beat Goldis 3-1, which meant that both teams were now equal on points.

After this round, SMS Gold simply rode on the momentum to win by 4-0 in their next three matches.

In contrast, some wind was taken out of Goldis’ sails as they couldn’t match the progress of SMS Gold. Hence by the end of the ninth round last week, a 1½-point gap had been opened by the league leaders.

As the teams entered the second phase of the chess league, they would again be meeting the same opponents as in the first half of the event but now with colours reversed.
The 10th round was played only two days ago but with SMS Gold playing the tail-ender, I do not see how Goldis would be able to narrow the gap.

So who are the players that have helped SMS Gold and Goldis put up such an impressive start to the DATCC chess league?

SMS Gold is led by Fide Masters Ooi Chern Ee and Mok Tze Meng playing on the top boards. There’s also former world police champion Ismail Ahmad in the team, and Malaysian Chess Federation secretary Gregory Lau, veteran player Chan Mun Fye, Soon Wai Cheong, former national champion Nicholas Chan, current national schoolboy champion Lim Zhuo Ren and Khor Shihong.

Goldis’ fire power includes international masters Mas Hafizulhelmi, Lim Yee Weng and Jimmy Liew playing side by side. The team also has Abdullah Che Hassan (who came so close to winning this year’s national closed championship), Nik Ahmad Farouki, Ian Udani, Gerald Soh, Abdul Haq, Tan Ken Wei and Faizal Andin.

Although these teams (including the other eight) had registered up to 10 players each, only four could play in each round.

If you want to watch the 11th and subsequent rounds, be at the Dato Arthur Tan Chess Centre, Wilayah Complex, in Kuala Lumpur from 7pm onwards every Wednesday until Aug 19.