Young Talent Chess Development Program

30 June 2010, Kuala Lumpur – Something big is afoot and the email from Najib Wahab and this flyer below says it all!

This is a program that was developed to help promote and accelerate the talent of our young chess players who are between the ages of 8 and 14. The entire program covers 15 months and is divided into 6 terms of 30 days each. The first term is schedule to start on 24^th July 2010.

Each student will experience 68 hours of chess education (comprising of 60 hours of group session and 8 hours of personalized session) during the 30 days duration. The main trainer for the program is GM Ziaur Rahman and 2 local IMs have been identified to help him and this will only be confirmed by next week. The program is also aimed at using local expertise to couple with GM Ziaur in helping to improve the standards of local chess players. For the first term, we are looking to take 10 players into this program (we can probably increase it to 12) and subsequent terms may see us enrolling more students (up to a maximum of 24).

YOUNG TALENT CHESS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
Term 1: 24^th July to 22^nd August 2010

The wait is finally over as we have received confirmation that a generous organization has agreed to sponsor the YOUNG TALENT CHESS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM to help develop our potential and talented young chess players. This will be one of a kind training program designed to help promote and accelerate the potential talent that we have amongst our youngsters, to help improve and develop their playing skills towards becoming a world class chess player.

The YOUNG TALENT CHESS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM is aimed at developing and improving our junior talents between the ages of 8 and 14 years old. Older youths are also welcomed to join but the focus shall be for the younger players as they represent the future of our chess achievement.

The training program is divided into 6 terms of 30 days each and will run from July 2010 until September 2011. The 1^st term is scheduled to start next month from 24^th July 2010 until 22^nd August 2010, followed by the 2^nd term to start in September, 3^rdterm in November, 4^th term in February 2011, 5^th term in April 2011 and the final term in July 2011.

The training approach is divided into 2 major sessions; a group session where all students will learn the common fundamentals and basics of chess, and a personalized session where students will be paired with either the GM or the IM to participate in a more detailed study mode. The personalize session is focused on fine tuning the student in accordance to his/her playing style, opening repertoire and specific weaknesses and areas for improvement.

The group class runs for 5 consecutive weekends and the individual classes are arranged over the weekdays. Alternatively, personalized sessions can also be arranged on weekends (after the group classes especially for those from areas out of KL) or a separate arrangement can also be made between the student and their respective trainer, with the agreement of the latter. At the end of the 5 weeks term, each student would have experienced a maximum of 68 hours of classes of end-to-end chess improvement experience and learning.

This program will feature GM Ziaur Rahman as the main trainer, complemented by some of our local IM who has been invited to be a part of this program.

The fees for the 68 hours of chess lessons will be below RM500 per student which works out to be less than RM7.50 per student per hour. In normal circumstances, such training program can cost a student anything between RM 4,000 and RM 6,000 which is between RM58 and RM88 per hour per student.

Those who are interested to sign up for the program needs to do so before the 19^th July and due to space constraint, and trainers availability, we are limiting the first term program to only 10 students. Take note that the students need to be of certain playing strength and skills as such, the organizer may request for additional information to substantiate the students playing strength before confirming his/her inclusion in the program

For further inquiries, or to request for program prospectus, please contact the program organizer, Najib Wahab atnajib.wahab@chess-malaysia.com  or you can reach him at (6016)3382542. We look forward to meeting some of the brightest young chess stars for the program!

Abdul Hamid Nominated As FIDE Sec-Gen

30 June 2010, Kuala Lumpur – Just read from Fide.com and Hairulov’s blog that our very own, Abdul Hamid b Majid is nominated as the FIDE Secretary-General of FIDE under the Karpov’s Presidential team.

You may read more from fide.com or click here.
II.Presidential ticket of Mr. Anatoly Karpov:

1.President - Mr. Anatoly Karpov nominated by France, Germany and Switzerland,
2.Deputy President - Mr. Richard Conn Jr nominated by USA,
3.Vice President - Dr. Aguinaldo Jaime nominated by Angola,
4.Vice President - Prof. Dr. Alica Maric nominated by Serbia,
5.General Secretary - Mr. Abd Hamid Majid nominated by Malaysia,
6.Treasurer - Mr. Viktor Kapustin nominated by Ukraine.

We wish him well and hopes that he wins and maybe able to bring in more support for chess activities in Malaysia.

Irregular Opening Quiz

30 June 2010, Kuala Lumpur – How well does one know their openings? I happened to read an interesting article on chess openings and it has a quiz to test your knowledge on irregular openings.

Here is the article from Alexandra Kosteniuk’s blog for your reading pleasure.

“Hello Everyone!
I guess, You must know very well your 1.e4 and 1. d4 openings but do you roll your eyes when your opponent starts off with something like 1.b4 or 1.g4?
Do you know the answers to the following questions?
1. Which opening move characterizes the Grob opening or Grob's Attack?
2. What is Benko's Opening?
3. What is the Encyclopedia of Chess Openings (ECO) designation for irregular openings?
4. Which opening is more commonly known as the Dunst Opening?
5. Which of the following is a name for 1.h4?
Check your knowledge of unusual openings in an interesting quiz we found here. The questions are fun to answer.”
From Alexandra Kosteniuk's
www.chessblog.com
Also see her personal blog at
www.chessqueen.com

StoneMaster Winners, 3rd Leg, 27 June 2010

27 June 2010, Kuala Lumpur – Here are the top 25 winners of the 3rd Leg of the Stonemaster Amateur Special Edition held at DATCC, Wilayah Complex, Kuala Lumpur. There were 87 participants who participated. The number of participants were a bit disappointing as usually there are more than 100 players for the Amateur chess tournament held by Stonemaster.

The winner of the third leg is Mohd Rezal Che Man with 6.5 points from 7 rounds. Congratulations to all winners and players alike. You may read more of the results at gilachess.com or stonemaster.info. Usually, the latest pictures from stonemaster will be published either tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, so wait for it.

(table of results courtesy of Gilachess.com)

(note: fireyrook could not make it this time to the Amateur tournament due to family commitments)

Study Linking Physical Fitness and Chess Players

25 June 2010, Kuala Lumpur – Here is an interesting article about a study on the importance of physical exercise for chess players from the chess queen, Alexandra Kosteniuk.
Hello Everyone!

As chess players we spend a lot of time sitting at the board and at the computer. But physical fitness and a regular exercise program is essential for chess players. Physical fitness in relation to age and body build of young chess players is the subject of a study conducted by Agnieszka Fornal-Urban (pix left below), Anna Kęska (pix right below). The University of Physical Education in Warsaw, the European Chess Union and the Polish Chess Federation have supported the study.

 
Dr. Agnieszka Fornal-Urban        Dr. Anna Kęska
The following interesting conclusions were drawn from the study:

• 
  
  It is worth obligating the organizers of the chess tournaments to make it possible for the chess players to participate in attractive and active forms of recreation in their free time.
• 
  
  It would be advisable to undertake the efforts aiming at making the parents and coaches aware of the significance of the regular physical exercises for the health and high sport achievements.
• 
  
  In the training process of the chess players, more attention should be paid to their fitness preparation, particularly to the exercises developing their strength.
• 
  
  The results of the conducted study are significant not only for the chess players themselves, for their coaches and parents. The characteristics of this population of sportsmen can also be used in much broader perspective, because of the sedentary lifestyle of children and teenagers who do not play chess.

You can read a detailed report on the study at chessbase.com or details of the methodology of the study here.

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's

www.chessblog.com

Also see my personal blog at

www.chessqueen.com

Exhumation Of Bobby Fischer!

25 June 2010, Kuala Lumpur – In the Star Online today, SS Quah discusses the ramifications of the estate of the late Bobby Fischer who died an Icelandic citizen but born as an American.

The significance of all this is that Bobby Fischer was once the World Chess Champion and had a child out of wedlock with Miyoko Watai, a Japanese citizen, whom Fischer had developed a relationship. You can read more of the discussion of the legalities of estate planning or ownership of his estate from today’s The Star Online, Living or click here

Date Changed to 10 July 2010, Segamat Chess Challenge 2010

SEGAMAT CHESS CHALLENGE 2010 on 10th JULY 2010

This is a repost of a previous posting as the school concerned has a function on the 3rd July as School Open Day as such the Segamat Chess Challenge is now postponed to 10th July 2010. Pls read http://168chessmaster.blogspot.com for the latest news on the status of this chess tournament.
 SMK Seri Kenangan,
MSSKLEM,
Segamat Chess Challenge@ SMK Seri Kenangan, Segamat, Johor
1. Organisers and Sponsors
Organised by MSSKL Event Management (MSSKLEM)  & SMK Seri Kenangan, Segamat, Johor.
2. Format, Time Control & System
There will be two sections – Open & Junior played using the Swiss System, and the rate of play will be 25 minutes each and 50 minutes for the whole game.
*. The organizers reserves discretion in modifying the number of qualifiers and also reserve the right to cancel the Tournament if the participant less then 40 players per game (Only for Open) but if participant for open increase more then 100 players the organizer will increase the prize as well.
3. Schedule
Saturday 09:00-10:00 Final Registration
10:00-10:50 Round 1
11:00-11:50 Round 2
12:00-12:50 Round 3
14:00-14:50 Round 4
15:00-15:50 Round 5
16:00-16:50 Round 6
17:00-17:50 Round 7
18:00-18:30 Closing & Prize Giving
Participants are encouraged to pre-register with the organizers to be assured of a place as space is limited and so only 300 places are guaranteed for each leg.
4. All participant will get the their entry certificate and winning certificate
Open:
1st Prize – RM700; 2nd – RM400; 3rd – RM300; 4th to 5th – RM150 each; 6th to 10th – RM 75 each
Junior:
1st Prize – RM250; 2nd – RM150; 3rd – RM100; 4th to 5th – RM50 each
Best 1600 - Hamper (Boy & Girl)
Best 1400 - Hamper (Boy & Girl)
5. Entry Fees to be payable three days before each leg, thereafter a 50% penalty of up to the applicable entry fee may apply.
Open: RM 35         Junior RM 20
*The organizers reserve the right to accept and reject entries.
6. The Playing Venue
The tournament playing venue is the Hall of SMK SERI KENANGAN, SEGAMAT, JOHOR
7. Payment
All payments shall be made payable to:
MSSKL EVENT MANAGEMENT.
Am Islamic Bank Berhad, Cawangan Sentul, Jalan Sentul, 51100 KualaLumpur
Account Number: 227 20 2 200 2489
REGISTRATION FORM
School :
Name :
(Please underline surname)
Address :
Telephone : E-mail :
Section : ( ) Open ( ) Junior (U-18)  (Please tick)
Payment Details:
Please return this entry form three working days before the leg you wish to participate in to: SMK Seri Kenangan
by HP: 010-9634258 by E-mail to: msskleventmanagement@gmail.com
(sumber: 168chessmaster.blogspot.com)

High Altitude Chess – Chess Video

Last 25 May 2010, I had blog on this webpage a news article about Alexandra Kosteniuk’s High Altitude Chess in Peru that appeared in a Malaysian newspaper. I repost the blog here again.  25 May 2010- In today's paper The Sun, there is a front page news on chess in Peru where Alexandra Kosteniuk of Russia won the '2010 Machu Pichu Challenge'. She played against the Under-16 Girl's World Champion from Peru in the finals. As you can see from the picture, the background is very picturesque and mountainous, typical of Peru.

However I wish to show you a game of the chess game played during that chess challenge between Alexandra, chess queen against Deysi Cori, Peru, the chess teen, taken off The Chessblog.com created by Alexandra herself. Please enjoy the chess game annotated by Alexandra Kosteniuk.

(source: Chessblog.com)

Excel Chess Academy Starts New Season Of Chess Training!

22 June 2010, Kuala Lumpur - The Excel Chess Academy is starting off a new season of chess training and they are doing it with a bang. So come have a look on the 26th June 2010, 2.30 pm, Excel Chess Academy, Overseas Union Garden, Kuala Lumpur and see what he has to offer to you for chess training for you or your children or the interested chess enthusiasts. You are kindly advised to come early to catch the  limited number of seats available at the academy.

To read more of his promo for Excel Chess Academy, please go to the "Chess Tigers, Excel Chess Academy" posting or click here. Or you may visit the Excel Chess Academy blog or click here.

Openings : Theory and Practice

21 June 2010, Kuala Lumpur. Here is an article written by WGM Natalia Pogonina on chess.com. I felt moved to have my readers read her interesting article on chess openings. It is clear and simple to understand and provides an insight as to how a world class grandmaster think, even though she is currently a WGM.

“The opening is a very important stage of the game. It often determines the course of events for the whole encounter.

Underestimating (as well as overestimating) the opening’s role often leads to poor performances. To be successful, a strong chess player should have a few well-studied openings at his disposal for each side. Generally, there are two main types of openings: solid (when playing for a draw) and aimed at a fight (when you want the whole point pretty badly). It’s essential to know the main ideas of the opening and the key plans. Some modern and fashionable openings (e.g. the Dragon or Gruenfeld Defense) require extensive knowledge of move-by-move variations, while in others you may get away with improvising. It is sensible to review the positions that occur in this or that opening (following masters’ games) and make sure you like and understand them.

A few recommendations on how to study openings:
1. Read good chess books. They have the main ideas, nuances, variations and illustrative games included.
2. Review masters’ games. What plans they have been trying to implement, how they responded to their opponents’ activity. Once one has reached master level, one should update his/her chess database regularly to stay up-to-date with the latest trends and novelties.
3. Research the position yourself. It is a critical step towards understanding its essence. Many interesting continuations remain behind the scene. Let’s say you want to sacrifice a piece, win an exchange or trade a knight, but no one ever played that way. Build your own tree of variations and see whether you have found a useful idea (write it down). If not, you will learn from your mistakes without losing rating and game points at a real event. A chess engine, a strong chess friend or a coach will be of assistance here.
4. To get a feeling for what the opening is about, play training games (rapid or even blitz). Analyze them thoroughly and pinpoint all the critical moments to avoid making the same mistakes in tournament games.

When a chess player has a broad chess repertoire, it’s harder to prepare for a game with him. Let’s say you play 1.e4, and he may opt for 1…c5, 1…e5, 1…d5, 1…Nf6 depending on his mood. Pretty tough to foresee what to prepare against, right? However, one shouldn’t get obsessed with studying lots of openings simultaneously. This will lead to superficial knowledge of all of them. As my coach likes to say, a person who employs a few openings for each side is either a grandmaster, or a patzer. It is also vital to stay updated on the state of affairs in “your” openings and refresh your openings trees.

A few days before the tournament it makes sense to review your main openings, refresh them in your memory. If you are playing in a round robin or a chess match, it is possible to study the repertoire of your opponent(s) and prepare in advance.

One's opening choice before a game may be influenced by lots of factors:
1.    Tournament situation. Are you ok with a draw or do you need a win only? For example, it hardly makes sense to play a very drawish system if you need to win to get prize money, a title norm, etc.
2.    Your opponent. Choose the opening he doesn’t like, or where he is currently experiencing problems.
3.    Your shape. If you are in high spirits and ready to fight, you may choose the most demanding schemes. Otherwise, settle for something quiet and positional to save energy on calculation of variations.
4.    Opening problems. If someone finds a flaw in your opening preparation during the tournament, it is often useful to abstain from playing it since chances are high you won’t be able to fix it on the go. Otherwise, your partners will be exploiting this and aiming for your Achilles’ heel over and over again. Especially in round-robins, where all the games are available to the participants.
Smart opening choice is the first step towards overall success.

In the following game against WGM Olga Ilyushina (actually, a friend of mine, we live in the same city) at the Russian Club Cup in Dagomys, opening choice played an important role. Olga likes the Catalan, while I always tried to deviate from its main lines. Nonetheless, before this tournament I had studied the variations in detail. Having faced the Catalan for the first time, I managed to surprise my opponent by the sole fact of choosing it. A tricky move order caught her off-guard. Having won the opening duel, I went on to outplay my opponent and earn an important win."

P.S. This article offers insight on how pros work on chess openings. I am not as naïve as to try to persuade you into analyzing for hours with chess engines, downloading the latest TWICs, playing lots of trainings games, gaining sound knowledge and understanding of 20-30 move-long variations, etc. However, the less tips you ignore, the higher the chance of becoming a better player. Depending on how much time you have, your chess goals and other factors, you may come up with a way of studying openings that suits you best.

(written by WGM Natalia Pogonina, Chess.com)

Tan Khai Boon and Fong Mi Yen Are NM and NWM!

20 June 2010, Bangi – Here are the final ranking results of the National Championship 2010 which ended today, 20 June 2010. Mr Tan Khai Boon (pix bottom left) is the new National Champion and the new National Master (NM) while Ms Fong Mi Yen (pix bottom right)is the new lady National Champion 2010 and the new National Woman Master (NWM). Congratulations to both players and all participating players and officials alike for making the National Championships 2010 a success!

  
Open Category

Women Category

(results are courtesy of Kelab Catur Setia Kuantan’s blog@Khairunissa’ Wahiddudin)

Edward Lee wins 8th Round Game

19 June 2010, Bangi – Latest News! Finally, NM Edward Lee is close to winning his 8th round game on the fourth board with a pawn, a knight and King vs a King. Edward Lee was playing against Masrin Erowan. Edward’s King was nicely centralised winning against Masrin’s off positioned knight earlier in the game.

Tomorrow morning, 1st board – Tan Khai Boon vs Nik Ahmad Farouqi, 2nd board – Edward Lee vs Mohd Nabil, 3rd board – Sumant vs Kamal Ariffin. It is expected that no playoff and no play safe is allowed. (sofia rules kot!) Best of luck to the players!

Latest From MNCC 2010!

19 June 2010 – Today two more rounds has been played to complete it up to round 8. From sources in Bangi, board 3, NM Kamalarifin Wahiddudin has just won his game against Fadzil Nayan due to short of time on the part of Fadzil.

On second board, Nik Ahmad Farouqi has just won against Lim Zhou Ren, one of the teens who has just started his college education.

Meanwhile Tan Khai Boon has won his game on top board against Mohd Nabil Azman Hisham. Tan Khai Boon had a rook, bishop and a knight against two bishops of Nabil and a possible pawn marching to a queening square. However, Nabil’s plan failed to materialised and Khai Boon’s knight at f6 saved his king. Khai Boon has been raising his game like a Phoenix after failing to win his first round game against Amri Ibni Hajar. This means Khai Boon has seven points from 8 rounds going into the last round 9 tomorrow morning. A big blow to the ambitions of the young Mohd Nabil who is close to a major title and a major chess championship.

Pix 1. Mohd Nabil against Tan Khai Boon (blue shirt) on first board of 8th round of the National Chess Championship 2010 being anxiously watched over by Azman Hisham, Nabil’s father in the background. (picture courtesy of Malaysian National Chess Championship’s blog)

The Next National Champion Please Step Forward!

19 June 2010, Kuala Lumpur – In yesterday’s copy of The Star, our regular weekly chess columnist, SS Quah, discusses about the next National Chess Champion.

Quah speculates it might come from among the teens as in the past three years, it has been our juniors who have become Malaysian National Champions.

Among the names mentioned were Edward Lee Kim Han, Yeoh Li Tian, Sumant Subramaniam and Lim Zhou Ren.

Even though he has his own opinion, I wish to add Mohd Nabil b Azman Hisham (pix below) also has the potential to win the national title.

Let’s wait and see who wins, then.
To read more of the news article – Will History Repeat Itself? of the The Star, Living, please visit TheStar online of the newspaper dated 18th June 2010 or click here.

Round 6, MNCC 2010 begins!

18 June 2010, Bangi – In the fifth round of the women category, Fong Mi Yen won her game against Alia Anin, making Mi Yen as outright leader with 5 points. She now meets with Shahmina Amira Zulkafli (pix left) in the sixth round on first board. Surprise, surprise, Haslindah Ruslan has four points from five rounds and is in the top four of the current women’s category leaders. She will meet Camilia bt Johari on second board of the sixth round this afternoon.

Meanwhile in the open category, Nabil and Swee Leong drew on first board and now Nabil will meet with Tariq Mohd Amru who won his fifth round game against Mohd Khair of Wahiddudin family. While NM Edward Lee (pix right) meets with Yeoh Li Tian, who has 4.5 points on the second board.

       

The People Behind The Scenes!

18 June 2010, Bangi – Here are some of the people working hard behind the scenes of the current Malaysian National Chess Championship 2010 that help keep the event running smoothly.

Khairunissa’ Wahiduddin (left) and Duratul Ain working to input the results into the computer.

The Chief Arbiter, Najib Wahab and blogger, Andrew Ooi keying-in the results of the competition onto the blogs.

Picture Gallery, National Chess Championship 2010

18 June 2010, Bangi – Here are some random pictures of the players in the playing hall during the fifth round of the National Chess Championship 2010 at UKM, Bangi.

 
Pix 1.                                               Pix 2.
 
Pix 3.                                               Pix 4.
 
Pix 5.                                              Pix 6.
 
Pix 7.                                              Pix 8.
 
Pix 9. View of entire length of hall.        Pix 10.

Kolej Pendeta Za’ba In UKM

18 June 2010, Bangi – Earlier this morning I had trouble locating the tournament venue of the National Chess Championship 2010 in UKM, Bangi. I had to call Abdul Haq Mohamad, the tournament director of the event a couple of times to get the directions right. Well, UKM has many one-way streets that lead to the same roundabout in front of the University Mosque. I nearly completed the full circle of roads within the campus because I was simply confused with the directions. It is located next to the Engineering Department of UKM.

Anyway, when I finally got here, I found the place quite pleasant – the Kolej Pendeta Za’aba (pix below). The playing venue is on the first floor of this building and on the ground floor you have the eaterieries or canteen area where food is relatively inexpensive.

Round 5 In Play!

18 June 2010, Bangi – Here at the Pendita Zaaba College in UKM, Bangi, the round 5 has started at 8.30 am this morning with M Nabil playing against Loo Swee Leong on board 1 and on the adjacent board are Ahmad Fadzil Nayan versus NM Edward Lee Kim Han on board 2.

Meanwhile in the women’s category, Fong Mi Yen (left, below) is playing against Alia Anin Azwa Bakri on board 1 in round 5 of the National Chess Championship 2010.

Round 5 Pairings, MNCC 2010

18 June 2010, Bangi – Here are the round 5 pairings for the Open category and Women category to start at 8.30 am this morning at Bangi, Selangor.

OPEN

Women

(source: MNCC’s blog)

Nabil and Fong Leads In Open and Women Cats!

17 June 2010, Bangi – Mohd Nabil (pix right below) beat Lim Zhou Ren in the fourth round to lead with a solid four full points from four rounds of play in the Open Category. Meanwhile Fong Mi Yen (pix below left) leads with four points in the Women’s category. She beat Tan Li Ting in the fourth round.

Please visit the MNCC 2010’s blog for more news or click here.

Mohd Zullghafari vs Mohd Firdaus, Round 3, National Championship 2010

17 June 2010, Bangi – Here is a freshly concluded chess game between Mohd Zullghafari Saparmin (pix right) against Mohd Firdaus Afiq during the third round of the National Championship 2010 held at UKM, Bangi, Selangor. During the game, Zull managed to trap the black Queen using several sacrifices and the poisoned pawn.

The Slav Defence transpired during the game where Mohd Zullghafari played white and Mohd Firdaus is black. The picture below shows black played 7….e6.

 

At move 17, white invites the desperate sacrifice 17. g4 and black took the white knight at e5.

By move 23 the black-colored white bishop was brought to the c1 square in order to control the d2 square and to allow the a-rook to move freely from Ra1 to Ra2 to trap the black Queen. Diagram below, shows the white move 23. Bc1.

Black took the poisoned pawn e4 at move 24 and the trap is sprung!

By move 30, the rooks moved in and the bishop at c1 moved to g5 to seal the fate of the trapped black Queen shown below. Black immediately resigned giving white, Mohd Zullghafari, his first point of the championship 1-0.

An excellent game from Zull in the Slav defence entrapping and circling the black queen, unnoticed. Let’s hope we can see more wins from Mohd Zullghafari in this edition of the National Championship 2010 and a new full fledged FIDE rating to boot!

(source: email from M Zullghafari Saparmin)

Round 3 Pairings, MNCC 2010

17 June 2010, Bangi – Here are the round 3 pairings of the Malaysian National Chess Championship 2010 at Bangi, Selangor held on the 17th June 2010, 9 am.

Women

Open

Ranking of Women (up to round 2)


Ranking of Open (up to round 2)

(source: Kelab Catur Setia Kuantan)

Chess Tigers Project, Excel Chess Academy

17 June 2010, Kuala Lumpur – Here is a chess promo from Jax Tham of Excel Chess Academy inviting chess enthusiasts to pick up the study of chess in a systematic manner.

CHESS TIGERS PROJECT
INTRODUCTION

During my many years of work as a chess trainer, I have noticed that there are only a few books which are really suitable for most amateur players. Some good books treat individual aspects of the game (middlegame or endgame, tactics or positional play) without paying any real heed to the reader’s playing level. This brought about the idea of working out a teaching programme aimed specifically at a certain playing strength. Such teaching programmes, in a brief form and intended as systematic help for trainers, are common only in Russia, where they are very popular.

In 2003, I began a 3-year training programme in my chess academy. Three groups were set up according to playing strength: under Elo 1500, under Elo 1800 and under Elo 2100. Each annual stage consisted of 24 teaching modules and 24 tests, plus a final test at the end of the course. This programme was later taken over, in a different form, by the Chess Tigers University and is still being used there.

This text book is a series of manuals designed for players who are building the foundations of their chess knowledge. The participant will receive the necessary basic knowledge in six areas of the game - tactics, positional play, strategy, the calculation of variations, the opening and the endgame.

The participant will benefit from the methodical build-up in this text book, even if some of the material is familiar, as it will close any possible gaps in his chess knowledge and thus construct solid foundations for future success. With perseverance and hardwork this text book simply gives you a solid basis for a leap forward in chess ability. You should also play in tournaments, analyse your own games, play through well annotated games of stronger players and read books on chess.

I believe that many talented chess players could develop much further, if they had support at the correct time and if they had not left gaps in their learning. Chess is a complicated sport, which has to be studied for many years. It is hard to imagine any other sport without coaches. I further believe that many chess lovers, who show great commitment will gain with this text books going through important methodological support and high quality training material for their chess lessons.

GM Artur Yusupov ( 2009 )
ENQUIRIES : JAX THAM (HP 013- 3232 280 )
COMMENCEMENT : 26 JUNE 2010 ONWARDS.
(source: email from Jax Tham)

3RD LEG STONEMASTER AMATEUR SPECIAL EDITION CHESS CH 2010

15 Jun 2010, Kuala Lumpur – Ini adalah salah satu daripada dua flyer CM Mohd Fadli Zakaria untuk pertandingan catur amator special edition anjuran Cerdik Catur Enterprise pada 27 Jun 2010 nanti untuk perhatian peminat-peminat catur tanah air.

Untuk melihat senarai pra-daftar bagi pertandingan catur ini, sila layari ke stonemaster.info atau klik disini.

Picture Gallery 3, Other Winners Of 12th CAS-Octagon 2nd Qtr Allegro 2010

14 June 2010, Kuala Lumpur - Here are some more pictures of other winners at the 12th CAS-Octagon Second Quarter Allegro 2010 held at the DATCC on the 13th June 2010, Sunday.