Malaysian Chess Scenario

 

29 June 2011, Kuala Lumpur – An update from the caretakers of DATCC and the unfolding of on-going and upcoming chess events up and down the country. Read on!

It has been quiet in KL (and DATCC) since the last Warrior event being held at the end of May. Between then and now, there were two International events held in Indonesia i.e. the ASIAN Cities and the ASEAN Age Group, the MSSM event in Penang, and other weekend events that were held out of KL i.e. Setia Chess Club Grand Prix Series in Kuantan and the KLK Perak Grand Prix in Kampar. There were smaller invitational FIDE Rated events held such as the EXCEL Event organized by Jax Tham and the Nf6 Masters event held at DATCC. But of course, the only ongoing event that still goes strong is the monthly InSoFar weekend events namely the Elite Open series, Junior series and Scholarship series that continues to strive despite the silence.

From here on, the chess community can start to look forward to the coming of two back-to-back major events in KL starting with the Malaysia Chess Festival in August and the KLCA Open in September. There is also a rumor that another major international event is being planned immediately after the KLCA Open but this can only be confirmed once the sponsors have agreed to put up the budget for the event. And with just over 6 more weeks to go before the Malaysia Chess Festival clocks off, a few events are in store for those who would like warm up as preparation for these 2 (or 3...) major events.

One of the more anticipated event is the SMK Hillcrest Chess event scheduled for 10th July - an event that was advertised since April 2011. With a lot of goodies and prizes to be given away, the organizer is expecting more than 500 players to participate in its inaugural event. Another event will take place in Perak on the same day which is the KLK Perak Grand Prix to be held in Ipoh, going into its second year after a successful series last year.

Setia Chess Club in Kuantan is also organizing its SCC Grand Prix D series event where the winners will have a chance to be invited to the Grand Final to be held in December.

Currently, UPM is hosting the MASUM Chess Championship to crown the best University Chess Team in the country and the next major chess activity will be the FIDE Arbiter's Seminar to be held in Kuala Lumpur from 30th June to 4th July.

The following is a calendar of chess events for July and August. These have been compiled from various sources as such, please contact the organizer/association for events confirmation or registration. If you would like to add your event to the calendar, or correct some of the information contained within the list, please contact Najib Wahab at najib.wahab@chess-malaysia.com