PERCAWI Labour Day Team Chess Tournament

28 February 2011, Kuala Lumpur - Here is a new team chess tournament organised by PERCAWI and it is called the Percawi Labour Day Team Chess Tournament 2011 due to be held on the 24th of April 2011.  It is a one-day team rapid chess tournament with each team having only 4 players. The six round team event is open to Companies, Government Departments, schools and institutions of higher learning. No open teams are allowed to participate in this event. The complete details are below. Date:                   24th April 2011 (Sunday) Time:                   9 am to 5 pm Playing Venue:  Dato’ Arthur Tan Chess Centre,4th Floor, Car Park, Wilayah Kompleks, Jalan Munshi Abdullah, K.L. Organiser:                   Percawi and assisted by MSSWP. Event:     Team tournament of 4 players each team with no reserves. Format:              6 Rounds Swiss Rapid play (½ hour each). Entry fee:     RM 160 for Companies & Government Departments per team      RM   80 for schools and institutions of higher learning     (colleges, universities) Closing date:     22nd of April 2011 (Friday). Contacts:            Collin 016-2123578 & Bob Yap 012-2878378.

Prizes      

Open section:

Champion:   Percawi Challenge Trophy + 4 Gold Medals + RM 400

Second:       4 Silver Medals + RM 300

Third :         4 Bronze Medals + RM 200

Fourth :       RM 200

Fifth :          RM 200

Special

Best primary school:    4 Gold Medals + RM 160

Best secondary school: 4 Gold Medals + RM 160

Best Girls team:          4 Gold Medals + RM 160

Eligibility for participation:

¤    For Companies & Government Departments, players must be bona fide employees/staff.

¤    For schools and institutions of higher learning, only students, lecturers and office staff are allowed to represent them.

¤    Chess companies and Chess Academies are not allowed to participate. Guest players, temporary and part-time staff, are not allowed to participate

Madjidov Jasur Wins Maverick Rapid

28 February 2011, Kuala Lumpur - At the DATCC, the Maverick was successfully held with a full house of players of 108 players, final tally.

(Note: Full cross table can be found at GilaChess blog or Chess Results website)

After the smoke had cleared, Madjidov Jasur sealed the Maverick Rapid title with a tame draw when paired against Fong Yit San in the final round of the Maverick Rapid event. IM Mas who was the hot favorite to win the event, misplayed his game against Madjidov in round 6 and had to settle for second place after outplaying aspiring junior player Mohd Syakir Syazmeer Azhar in round 7. IM Mas started very well when he cruised against National Junior Champion Lim Zhou Ren in round 4 and Sumant Subramniam in round 5 before his unexpected loss to Madjidiv in the penultimate round. In the earlier round 4, IM Mas was seen as the clear favorite when Madjidov drew with Kelantanese Nik Farouqi on table 2. In round 5, when second board Cheah Cheok Fung and Ian Udani agreed for a draw, it was clear that Madjidov would be playing IM Mas in round 6 and the winner should be able to seal the top spot in the event.

It was also a remarkable showing for Fong Yit San who ended 3rd in the event after winning against Philippines Ian Udani in round 6. Fong Yit San edged Lim Zhou Ren by a mere quarter of a point on the SB tie break and the latter had to settle for 4th place. Renegade defending Champion Wong Jianwen was in 5th with local "spaceman" Nor Ilhamuddin rounding up the winners list at 6th place.

A total of 108 players participated in the DATCC Maverick Rapid Chess weekender series for 2011 surpassing the number of 92 registered in the Renegade event which was conducted late last month. The number of strong players turning up for the event is seen as a good omen for chess, promising a better and more vibrant future that is soon to come. Led by IM Mas Hafizul, Uzbek Madjidov Jasur and Philippines Ian Udani, this has been one of the strongest weekend event in the recent years influence by the upcoming NAG event, National Closed event and MSS event which are nearing very soon. It was clearly a “sparring” ground for aspiring players gunning for a good showing in the upcoming major events mentioned.

DATCC has been gaining a lot of support since being taken over by a new management earlier this year and the presence of IM Mas Hafizul in this weekend event are additional contributing factors that has made this event a huge success. Riding on the success of Renegade which pulled 92 players, Maverick event with 108 players is the single largest event conducted by DATCC since the center started. The biggest crowd for DATCC was 119 players back in January when Stonemaster did its “1 Malaysia” event.

DATCC would like to extend its heartfelt thanks to all the players (especially to IM Mas), supporters, bloggers, writers, parents, teachers, officials (especially IM/IA Giam Choo Kwee) for all the support and assistance that ALL OF YOU have given in making this event a huge success. Thank you everyone.

The next weekender series is planned for May 2011 – be on the lookout for our next successful outing!Thanks again everyone!!!

Final Prize Winners listing for Maverick:

Rg.	Name	Elo	FED	Pkte	Position
1	Madjidov Jasur	2214	UZB	6	First
2	Mas Hafizulhelmi	2275	MAS	6	Second
3	Fong Yit San	1760	MAS	6	Third
4	Lim Zhuo Ren	1925	MAS	6	Fourth
5	Wong Jianwen	1819	MAS	6	Fifth
6	Nor Ilhamuddin Shaikh Ali	1759	MAS	6	Sixth
18	Nithyalakshmi Sivanesan-G	1478	MAS	5	Best U1600
23	Muhd Hanif Basri	0	MAS	4½	Bes Unrated
24	Nur Nabila Azman Hisham-G	1792	MAS	4½	Best Lady
26	Teh Wee Zhun	1489	MAS	4½	Second U1600
34	Nur Najiha Azman Hisham-G	1748	MAS	4	Best U12 (Girl)
35	Zulhasrizal Zulkifli	1263	MAS	4	Best U 1400
36	Amier Hamzah Mohd Zuhri	1623	MAS	4	Best U12 (Boy)
43	Muhd Farhan Jamil	1346	MAS	4	Second U1400
45	Mustafa Said	1627	MAS	4	Best veteran

(source: Najib Wahab's reporting of the event)

Jax Leads Excel FIDE Rated

 

27 February 2011, Kuala Lumpur – At the Excel Chess Academy, Jax Tham continues to lead with 6.5 points from 8 rounds of play, Excel FIDE-Rated Feb.-March chess tournament 2011. Mohd Noor Azam is second ranked at 6.0 points and three others on joint third with 5.5 points. The joint third force are Bernard, Chia and Rifqah.

Next weekend, four more rounds will be played and will complete the 11 rounds of play at the Excel Chess Academy.

(results courtesy of Jax Tham, Excel Chess Academy)

Holiday Chess Program

26 February 2011, Kuala Lumpur – The Polgar Chess Asia is organising a Holiday Chess Program this coming March 2011 as shown in the flyer below:-

Please contact Louisa Yip of Polgar Chess Asia (Mobile: +60 19-258 6355) or Tel: +60 3-2300 1680  Fax: +60 3-2300 1689 for more details.

UNIKL MFI Open Chess Tournament

26 February 2011, Kuala Lumpur – Here is a new chess tournament slated for the 9th April 2011, Saturday to be held at the UNIKL MFI Multipurpose Hall in Bandar Baru Bangi. It will consist of 7 or 8 rounds with a time control of 20/25 minutes per round per player.

(source: email from Azhar Said, puteriams@yahoo.com.my)

Maverick Turns Legendary!

26 February 2011, Kuala Lumpur – Just got back from two khenduris in Perak and DATCC is already having a ball judging from Najib’s email to bloggers.

Just to update you that the number of players for Maverick rapid weekend now stands at 105 players, oversubscribed by 15 seats than expected. (I actually anticipated only 60 players!) It is so good to see many strong players coming to the fore to play in this event. FYI, Mas has again reconfirm that he will be playing - excellent!!!!

Appreciate if you can help share the good news with your blog followers/readers. I have also updated the DATCC blog site with the following story.

Thanks for your continuing support and assistance.

Its going to be LEGENDARY! Maverick hitting 105 players.....
<http://datcchess.blogspot.com/2011/02/list-of-players-for-maverick.html>

Despite my appeal, it seems that the players registering for the Maverick Rapid event continue to climb and 2 days before the event date, the number of players is now at 105 players. With many strong players wanting to play in the event, the only thing to do is to continue accepting entries. And to be a part of a "revolution" (considering that this is the "Maverick" event)where good players are beginning to come to the fore, DATCC is proud to be a part of this great development!

To quote Barney Stinson (Neil Patrick Harris) from the TV sitcom "How I Met Your Mother" - "Its going to be legendary!"

The latest additions are former National Champion Zarul Shazwan with brother Zarul Shafiq and sister Amira. Some of the other notable players are Malaysia's top player IM Mas Hafizul and current Junior Champion Lim Zhuo Ren. Also playing are another former National Champion Kamalariffin Wahiduddin, Renegade Champion Wong Jian Wen, National Junior players siblings Mohd Nabil, WCM Nur Nabila and WFM Nur Najiha, National Junior players Mohd Izz Saifuddin, UIA leading player Ahmad Fadzil Nayan, and some of Malaysias top players in Cheah Cheok Fung, Kamaluddin Yusof, Nor Ilhamuddin and Mohd Saprin Sabri. Up and coming rising stars siblings Subramanian and Nithyalakshmi, and Puteri Munajjah (and brothers Syakir and Irfan) together with Camilia Johari and Amier Hamzah have also booked their places.

 

As a gentle reminder, players who are yet to pay for the event are advised to show up before 9:30am to complete the payment and registration as round 1 will start at exactly 10:00am.

 

School children (17 years and below) are advised to provide their full name and complete school name in order for the organizer to prepare their "Certificate of Participation" which will be given to to them at the end of the event.

On a post-script: It is nice to see that DATCC’s stature is gradually growing with the acceptance of chess enthusiasts coming in droves for the monthly rapid albeit with some good rebranding by Najib, carefully crafted and ingeniously intriguing to force chess enthusiasts to spring into action with each post that Najib puts up! Well done Najib for the good marketing effort! The proof in the pudding is in the numbers!

Women’s GP Qatar – Elina Leads

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26 February 2011, Kuala Lumpur – At the Qatar FIDE Women’s Grand Prix 2011, GM Danielian Elina is leading with 4 points after four rounds of play. Twelve of the world’s top chess players are participating in this year’s Grand Prix tournament in Qatar 2011. It is being held from 20th February till 6th March 2011.

Here are the round 4 results and ranking table after round 4 :-

 

Here is the fourth round game between Dzagnidze of Georgia and Danielian of Armenia who is now the current fourth leader of the Qatar FIDE Women’s GrandPrix 2011. The Queen’s Gambit Declined [D36] transpired during the game.

[Event "FIDE Women Grand Prix 2011"]
[Site "Doha, Qatar"]
[Date "2011.02.25"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Dzagnidze, Nana (GEO)"]
[Black "Danielian, Elina (ARM)"]
[Result "0-1"]
[EventDate "2011.02.25"]

1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c4 c6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 Nbd7 6. cxd5 exd5 7. e3 Be7 8.
Qc2 O-O 9. Bd3 Re8 10. h3 Nf8 11. O-O-O b6 12. Kb1 Bb7 13. g4 a6 14. Rhg1 N6d7 15. h4 c5 16. Bf5 c4 17. Bxe7 Qxe7 18. g5 b5 19. h5 b4 20. Ne2 a5 21. g6 fxg6 22. hxg6 h6 23. Nf4 a4 24. e4 b3 25. Qc3 a3 26. Rd2 Nb6 27. axb3 axb2 28. Rxb2 Ra3 29. Nxd5 Bxd5 30. exd5 Qf6 31. Bg4 Rea8 32. Kc2 cxb3+ 33. Rxb3 Ra2+ 34. Kd1 Ra1+ 35. Ke2 R8a2+ 36. Nd2 Rxg1 37. Be6+ Nxe6 38. Rxb6 Rxd2+ 39. Qxd2 Nf4+ 40.Kf3 Qxb6 0-1

       Position after 40…Qxb6, 0-1.

 

Official website: http://qatar2011.fide.com/

PERCAWI March Age Group Chess 2011

25 February 2011, Kuala Lumpur – Here is a new tournament from PERCAWI to be held on 13th March 2011 for the under 18 and under 12 age groups. The tournament venue is at Pusat Kecemerlangan Sukan Cochrane, Kuala Lumpur. If you are free and enthusiastic about playing chess, why not join this tournament! Have a go at it!

As part of PERCAWI’s development & membership drive, PERCAWI (KL FT Chess Association) is organising another junior tournament, Percawi City March Age Group Chess Open 2011. It's a one-day 6 round rapid tournament. Hope you, your children and/or students can participate in this event. The entry form is attached to this email.

Also for your additional info, PERCAWI is planning the PERCAWI Labour Day Team Tournament on the 24th of April. It is a chess tournament meant for  companies, institution of higher learning and schools. More information will be put up on the blogs when the details are finalised sometime next week.

The form:

Please call Collin 016-2123578, Azwan 019-2788471 or Bob Yap 012-2878378 for more information.

2nd INSOFAR ELITE OPEN – Second Chance!

25 February 2011, Kuala Lumpur – Another friendly reminder of the 2nd ELITE OPEN by Insofar Chess Academy at DATCC, Kuala Lumpur to be held tomorrow, 26th February 2011. This is the 2nd Preliminary and a second chance to those interested.

To find out more, please call 017-2032051, Mat Zaki Yeop.

Insofar Prestige Junior Chess Tournament

25 February 2011, Kuala Lumpur – A friendly reminder for those interested, there will be one INSOFAR Prestige Junior Chess Tournament (Kuala Lumpur) to be held on Saturday, 26th February 2011 at DATCC, Wilayah Complex, Kuala Lumpur.

 

Please contact 0172032051 for more details.

Looi Xin Hao Wins USM 1Malaysia Open 2011

22 February 2011, Kuala Lumpur – Got a hint from a tweeter that the results of the USM 1Malaysia Chess Open held on 20 February 2011 at Nibong Tebal Engineering Campus was out on chess-results.com. A total of 217 players participated in this chess open last Sunday.

Looi Xin Hao was declared the winner of the USM 1Malaysia Chess Open 2011 scoring 6.5 points.

In second place was NM Tan Khai Boon scoring 6.5 points too! And in third place was Yeoh Choon Guan, also scoring with 6.5 points! Phew all too close!

Fourth was Fong Yit San with 6.0 points and Fifth Tan Eu Hong, the blogger with 6.0 points.

Here is the ranking crosstable for the top 40 players of the USM 1Malaysia Chess Open 2011 after round 7.

Round 7 results shown below for the top 41 boards.

To see more results, please click here.

Malaysia’s National Close Chess Championship Update!

21 February 2011, Kuala Lumpur – DATCC has a short announcement. Although there are limited space left for the National Closed, players who are still keen to play are advised to submit their names as there could be possible cancellations from a few of the pre-registered players. However, as the early bird deadline has drawn to an end yesterday, players wishing to play in the National Closed 2011 from 16th-20th March 2011 will now have to pay the normal registration rate.

For players representing their states, the 50% registration fee still applies until 1st March 2011 after which, the normal rates shall apply.

For players having FIDE rating of above 2200, it is FREE entry for them provided they register to play before 9th March 2011. After that, a fee of RM50 shall apply.

To see the current list of players please visit blog.gilachess.com or click here or visit the National Close 2011 website or click here.

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 commendable 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.

Bangsar Zone In Search Of A Zonal Chess Champion!

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)

Dramatic Increase – Update NC2011

20 February 2011, Kuala Lumpur - DATCC has a new update on the latest news of the pre-registered list of players for the upcoming Malaysian National Close Chess Championship 2011 to be held 16th-20th March 2011.

The number of players registering for the National Closed increased rapidly over the last 24 hours with the number of players for the Open section hitting 75 players and the Women section climbing to 22 players.

Penang sent in 11 players for the event (9 for the Open section and 2 for the Women) followed by Kelantan and Pahang with 3 players each, and Sarawak with a single representative. Both the winners of last year National Junior event, Lim Zhuo Ren and Alia Anin Azwa Bakri have registered for the event, including reigning Women Champion, Fong Mi Yen.

For the Open section, the top seeded player is currently Loo Swee Loong of Penang followed by Mohd Saprin Sabri and Yeoh Li Tian. In the Women section, WFM Ali Azwa Anin Bakri leads the pack followed by WCM Fong Mi Yen and WCM Nur Nabila Azman Hisham.

With capacity for the National Closed is limited to 120 seats, there are only 21 seats left to be filled. With some states still waiting for the 1st March deadline to register, and those who are rated 2200 and above who are waiting until 9th of March to confirm their participation, the door might close much earlier as soon as the number of players hit the ceiling of 120.

Some of those who have preregistered but have not made the necessary payment, are advised to complete the payment soon or contact the organizer for extension failing which, their names may be canceled to allow for other players to take part.

For further information or clarification, or if you find that your name has been listed in err, please contact Najib Wahab at +6016 338 2542 or najib.wahab@chess-malaysia.com.

Open Section

Nr.	Name	EloN	EloI
1	Abd Fatah Muhd Anuar	1495	0
2	Abd Rahman Syed Azizi	1788	0
3	Abdul Shukor Abdul Aziz	1686	2046
4	Ahmad Danial Kafi	1347	0
5	Ahmad Mohd Nazmi	1396	0
6	Ajeet Singh Roshan	1681	1828
7	Aminuddin Muhd Faqih	1282	0
8	Aminuddin Muhd Faris	1425	0
9	Aron Teh Eu Wen	1593	1772
10	Azhar Muhammad Syakir Shazmeer	1885	1937
11	Azhar Muhd Irfan Haqqim	1731	1819
12	Azman Hisham Mohd Nabil	1893	2044
13	Azman Muhd Taufik	1515	0
14	Cheah Cheok Fung	1955	2020
15	Choong Ee Jin Eric	1306	0
16	Ding Tze How Dilwen	1486	0
17	Fong Choong Ee	1723	2014
18	Fong Yit Ho	1755	1995
19	Fong Yit San	1760	1945
20	Ganesh Kuhan	1224	0
21	Hamid Ros Syamsul	1678	0
22	Ismail Ahmad	1900	1997
23	Ismail Muhd Azmi	1349	0
24	Johariy Mohd Khairul Nizam	1414	0
25	Kalivanan Suniil	1563	1698
26	Kamal Rizal Ahmad	1722	1951
27	Kughan Ravindran	1361	0
28	Lee Kah Meng Elgin	1790	1923
29	Lim Kian Hwa	1693	1959
30	Lim Zhuo Ren	1925	2074
31	Loo Swee Leong	1914	2141
32	Looi Xin Hao	1771	1970
33	Mahmood Mohd Ezmi	0	0
34	Mohd Hisham Muhd Fareed	1465	0
35	Mohd Hisham Muhd Hafiz	1460	0
36	Mohd Noor Nor Hafiz	0	0
37	Muhalip Sotimin	1576	0
38	Mustafa Albakri Suhaimi	1683	0
39	Ng Jen Sheng	1486	0
40	Ng Shi Xuan	1331	0
41	Ng Shi Yang	1375	0
42	Nik Nik Ahmad Farouqi	1914	2057
43	Ong Aik Liang	0	0
44	Ong Thian Loon	1838	2059
45	Ooi Zhi Yang	1593	1737
46	Parimanam Paul	1511	1728
47	Rais Ahmad	0	0
48	Roslan Mohd Faizal	1697	1865
49	S Balendran	1496	1856
50	Sabri Mohd Saprin	1950	2139
51	Sabri Shamsuddin	1331	0
52	Saleh Fikri	1521	1696
53	See Kai Loong	1665	1913
54	Shaik Ali Nor Ilhamuddin	1759	2012
55	Siew Kit-Tze Mark	1816	1961
56	Singh Kabir	1241	0
57	Sivanesan Subramanian	1632	1764
58	Subramaniam Shreyas	1526	0
59	Subramaniam Sumant	1980	2065
60	Tan Jun Feng	1777	1855
61	Tan Jun Ying	1347	0
62	Tan Ken Wei	1925	2022
63	Tang Wei Kit	1536	0
64	Tee Han Kang	1496	0
65	Teh De Juan	1518	0
66	Teh Wee Zhun	1489	0
67	Tukiran Taulani	1768	2033
68	Wahiduddin Mohd Khair	1888	2089
69	William Lee Kah Howe	1583	1787
70	Wong Jianwen	1819	1954
71	Wong Yinn Long	1512	1648
72	Yahaya Muhammad Nuriman	1538	0
73	Yahaya Muhammad Nurislam	1562	0
74	Yeoh Li Tian	1985	2115
75	Zakaria Mohd Fadrus	1568	0

Women Section

Nr.	Name	EloN	EloI
1	Aminuddin Nur Faqihah	1295	0
2	Aminuddin Nur Farihah	1460	0
3	Azhar Puteri Munajjah Az-Zahra	1611	1729
4	Azhar Puteri Rifqah Fahada	1525	1830
5	Bakri Alia Anin Azwa	1804	1959
6	Camilia Bt Johari	1562	1724
7	Chua Jia-Tien	1120	0
8	Fong Mi Yen	1657	1890
9	Ganesan Khirranya	1191	0
10	Haslindah Ruslan	1511	1666
11	Madhavan Olivia	1519	1793
12	Mohd Saufi Najihah	1286	0
13	Nithyalakshmi Sivanesan	1478	1686
14	Nur Nabila Azman Hisham	1792	1874
15	Nur Najiha Hisham	1748	1820
16	Saleh Anis Fariha	1391	0
17	Sarika Subramaniam	1584	0
18	Tan Li Ting	1688	1824
19	Tan Wei Ting	1233	0
20	Tang Kar Khei	1553	0
21	Teh De Zen	1376	0
22	Zullkafli Amira Syahmina	1512	1725

To read future updates on the National Close Chess Championship 2011, please visit this link here.