Yeoh Li Tian - The Champion!

Yeoh Li Tian, Nf6 Champion!

1 August 2011, Kuala Lumpur - News from DATCC - The Nf6 Chess Event concluded with youngster Yeoh Li Tian emerging as champion, finishing with the better tiebreak against NM Kamalariffin Wahiduddin. Both had 7 points with each losing a game, and drawing 2 games - one of the draws coming from their earlier encounter.

Kelantanese Nik Ahmad Farouqi came in third place with Kaushal coming in 4th. 

The tournament organizer, Abdul Aziz Abdul Shukor plans to hold a similar event next year which will be the event's third edition. MCF Secretary Gregory gave away the prizes to the winners.

DATCC, as the host for the event, congratulates all the winners and players for a successful tournament and hope to be a part of the same event next year.

(source: Najib Wahab, DATCC)

Trip To London

29 July 2011, Kuala Lumpur – During the month of July 2011, my chess blog was a little quiet as I was away visiting my son in the United Kingdom. As he was due to graduate on the 20th July 2011, the whole family decided to join him there. Even then, my son had bought me a sim card for a 1 GB data plan for my iPad for 10 Sterling Pounds and had one or two posts made while on the move in the U.K.

None of my family members had been to the U.K. and my wife in particular who had been planning to visit the U.K. for the past 30 years, finally got her golden chance. She did get a few chances to do some training in the U.K. but due to various reasons such as the outbreak of SARS disease and office problems, she never got her wish fulfilled.

So when our son won the opportunity to study in Coventry at Warwick University in 2007/2008, we decided to plan and save for that golden event – his graduation ceremony.

Pix 1. By Brighton Pier on first day out, 17 July 2011.

Pix 2. A view of the Brighton beach from the pier.

Pix 3. Stonehenge, somewhere north of Southampton. It was blustery and cold to the bone.

Pix 4. Our accommodation for five nights, Wychnor Park Country Club in Staffordshire (just north of Birmingham city).

Pix 5. Managed to visit one full day in London and visited Trafalgar Square where the National Gallery is located.

Pix 6. Just across Trafalgar Square was Whitehall and 10 Downing Street. We took some pictures by the front gate of Downing Street.

Pix 7. Big Ben (clock tower in background) and daughter pretending to capture it by her hands thro’ another camera on hand. A red London double decker bus passing by.

Pix 8. The Eye of London was in the background with my family in the foreground.

Pix 9. The whole family with Syukri in black robe on graduation day.

Pix 10. Syukri with other Malaysians in their black robe.

Pix 11. We had a whole day to travel north to Leeds to visit my old university, University of Leeds, to walk down memory lane with the family.

Pix 12. Down to Manchester City and the boys wanted to see the Red Devils football stadium and we went there to buy some souvenirs of the Manchester United team.

Pix 13. On the last day before leaving Wychnor Park Country Club, a farewell family photo by the signature signpost.

Kramnik Ahead At Dortmund

 

29 July 2011, Kuala Lumpur – At the Sparkassen Chess Meeting in Dortmund, Germany, Kramnik won his seventh round game against Meier and currently leads way ahead of the others. In second place is Le Quang Liem of Vietnam with four points.

Susan Polgar’s website reported that after 7 rounds, Kramnik has 6 points, a full 2 points ahead of Le Quang Liem, with just 3 rounds to go. Le Quang Liem is in 2nd with just 4 points.

Round 7, 28 July, 2011
4-6 Nakamura 1/2 Le
3-5 Giri 1-0 Ponomariov
2-1 Kramnik 1-0 Meier

Crosstable after 7 rounds

To read more, please visit this link here.

New Chess Center At G Tower

28 July 2011, Kuala Lumpur – Latest news: Excel Chess Academy in association with some corporate sponsors have teamed up to afford the chess community another venue for playing chess.

The place is at G Tower (besides Tabung Haji Complex, Jalan Tun Abdul Razak, Kuala Lumpur) and will be held on Saturdays which had begun last week, 23 July 2011. The venue is in the food court Lower Ground floor of G Tower, 199, Jalan Tun Abdul Razak, Kuala Lumpur (map below). The time between 11 am – 5 pm. Bernard Ng will be on site from 11 am with the chess sets. From 1 pm – 5 pm, Jax Tham will be around with the chess clocks.

What will be happen depends on the crowd that appears on that day. If chess lectures is wanted, then either Bernard Ng or Jax Tham will do a lecture and if chess play is wanted, then chess sets and clocks will be made available.

The event is made free to the chess community and no charges imposed. In fact, free food coupons will be awarded to those that come. So let’s come and have some fun playing and learning chess!

If you don’t remember where G Tower is but you came for Karpov’s presentation when he was in Malaysia last year, then that is the place to go. G Tower is a building enhanced with GREEN-technology, one of the government’s National Key Results Area (NKRA). (gtower.com.my)

Please contact Jax Tham, hp: 013-3232280 or email: jaxtham@hotmail.com for details.

Armenia Wins World Team Championship 2011

28 July 2011, Kuala Lumpur – Team Armenia won the World Team Championship 2011 in Ningbo, China edging out team China to second place. Armenia represented by Aronian, Akopian, Movsesian and Sargissian, scored 5 wins and 4 draws, ending with 14 points. Armenia drew their last match 2-2 against Ukraine and China won against Hungary, 2.5 – 1.5.

 

Links

• Official website
• Details at Chess Results
• Games in PGN via TWIC

(tables courtesy of chessvibes.com)

MCF 's National Arbiters' Seminar

27 July 2011, Kuala Lumpur - Here is an announcement of an MALAYSIAN CHESS FEDERATION's initiative of a national arbiters' seminar to be held 16-18 September 2011. For those who missed the first one, then this second seminar should not be missed. So read on and book this date on your calendar!





"With the success of the recent FIDE Arbiter Seminar, MCF is taking another step forward with its national version of the same seminar to encourage and educate more locals on the rules and regulations that govern chess events and games.



The MCF version of the seminar will cover topics that are more suited for the local circuits by focusing primarily on FIDE Laws of Chess, Swiss Pairing and Tournament Organizing. The idea of the MCF seminar is to share the knowledge and learning that were gained during the FIDE Arbiter Seminar with other local arbiters, teachers, organizers, club members, associations including parents and players whom may not have the opportunity to join the FIDE session. 



Similar to the FIDE seminar, participants for the MCF seminar will also sit for a short exam on the final day of the seminar to gauge their understanding on the topics that were presented and discussed. Those who have done well in the exams will be conferred with appropriate titles and recognitions, and can look forward to earn the National Arbiter's title which MCF plans to introduce in the very near future. The MCF seminar will also provide better preparation to the participants should they want to pursue their ambition in becoming globally recognized FIDE Arbiters or International Arbiters.



One of the interesting feature of the MCF seminar is that it will also provides an optional 1 additional day for participants to learn and be trained on using the Swiss Manager program, one of the world's most popular pairing program used in many local and international chess events. Participants are advised to purchase their own Swiss Manager program prior to attending the training day, or download the DEMO version from the Swiss Manager website. Whilst the organizer may provide computers for the participants to practice, the units available may not be enough to go around for everyone. During the learning session, participants will be taught on how to download FIDE and MCF rating list, execute pairings including changing the pairings, keying in and correcting results, understanding tie breaks, printing and preparing tournament reports, and other relevant topics that will help the user to use the software effectively.



The entry fees for the 3 days seminar is RM200 per person of which RM50 shall be used towards MCF certification. For the Swiss Manager training program, the registration fees is RM80 per person. For the entire 4 days seminar, the total fees is RM280 per person. Participants are advised that the fees do not cover for lunch, accommodation or transport during the duration of the seminar. Those who are interested to take part in the Swiss Manager training program must have a solid understanding on Swiss Pairing program prior to participating in training program. Those who are interested to take only the Swiss Pairing program will be accepted at the discretion of the organizer with a higher fees imposed.



Those who would like to inquire more about the seminar, please contact Najib Wahab at +6016 338 2542 or email najib.wahab@chess-malaysia.com



The proposed schedule for the seminar is as follows:"





( source : Najib Abdul Wahab,Program Manager/Coordinator
Tel: +6016 338 2542, Email: najib.wahab@chess-malaysia.com
Web: http://www.chess-malaysia.com
Blog: http://datcchess.blogspot.com)

FIDE Announces Changes To Rating Rules

27th July 2011, Kuala Lumpur – Here is a picture message from FIDE’s official blog which announced changes to rating regulations effective 1st July 2011.

I can only hazard a guess from the above, that it would be easier to obtain an official FIDE Rating as games against rated players can now be accumulated. Previously you need to get three games in one tournament against rated players.

You may visit fide.com to read the same, or click here.

(spotted by Muhd Zullghafari Saparmin/ source: fide.com)

Jax Leads In Senior Excel

25 July 2011, Kuala Lumpur - latest results of the Senior Excel FIDE-Rated Chess Tournament. Jax Tham leading with 5.5 points and Greg Lau in second place with 3.0 points.








(source: Jax Tham, Excel Chess Academy)

Closing Dates Of Festival Announced

22 July 2011, Kuala Lumpur - The organizers of this year's Malaysian Chess Festival 2011 has made a short announcement of closing dates as follows:-



8th IGB Dato’ Arthur Tan Malaysia Open Chess Championship
6th AmBank Malaysia Chess Challenge
2nd KLK Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng International Seniors Open
01 August 2011



2nd Swensen’s Age-Group Rapid Chess Championship
2nd Merdeka Individual Rapid Open Chess Championship
31st ASTRO Merdeka Rapid Open Team Chess Championship
15 August 2011


To read similar posts, please click here.



(source Abdul Hamid Majid)

MBPJ Chess Championship 2011

16 July 2011, Kuala Lumpur – Here is a new tournament being organised jointly by Cerdek Catur Enterprise and in collaboration with Petaling Jaya Community Library called the Majlis Bandaraya Petaling Jaya Chess Championship 2011, which be held on 23-24th July 2011 local Petaling Jaya Community Library in Section 3, Petaling Jaya.

Details of the tournament are as shown below:-

To get a copy of the registration form, please visit stonemaster.info or click here.

Howell Leads In 5th Leiden Chess

12 July 2011, Kuala Lumpur – GM Howell of England (pix below) leads after four rounds with four full points. There are a total 97 players participating in this year’s 5th Leiden Chess Tournament 2011 being held in the city of Leiden, Netherlands.

 

Chess base reports that the 5th Leiden Chess Tournament 2011 is a nine-round open taking place from July 7th to 17th, 2011. The top seeds – GMs over 2600 – are Predrag Nikolic (2629, BIH), David Howell (2625, ENG) and Sergey Tiviakov (2623). At the start of the event there was a two-game rapid chess match between Jan Timman and Anish Giri.

To read more, please visit this link here.

Links

• Official tournament site
• Top games in PGN

Top 20 Most Improved – July 2011

12 July 2011, Kuala Lumpur – Here is the latest list of the top 20 of the Most Improved chess players for the month of July 2011 released by Mr. Lim Tse Pin, Malaysia’s Rating Officer.

Top of the list is Kughan Ravindran (pix above) with a massive 205 points jumping from a National Rating of 1263 to 1468. Second is Ling Zhan Yang from National Rating (NR) 1327 to 1527. Third is Jackie Chan Sheng from NR 1243 to 1427.

Another notable name is Khairul Azam Mastuki (pix above) from NR 1460 to 1635. Another is Hemant Sathish from India who improved from NR 1395 to 1530. Here is the summary of the top 20 most improved chess players.

Well done to all top 20 most improved chess players! Great effort and keep up the momentum. To see more details, please click one of the links below.

Link:

a. National Rating July 2011;

b. April-July 2011 Most Improved;

Ian Udani Wins 1st Hill Crest Open 2011

11 July 2011, Kuala Lumpur – The Chess Open Tournament held at SMK Hill Crest today was won by Ian Udani (pix above) with 5.5 points from six rounds of play. Second was IM Mas, followed by Cheah Cheok Fun and fourth, IM Jimmy Liew.

A total of 480++ participants took part in the age-group and open chess tournament held today at SMK Hill Crest. IM Mok Tze Meng and Ms Wong Yen Lee were instrumental in successfully getting the tournament organised with plenty of help from the attendees of the equally successful Arbiters’ Seminar recently held in Kuala Lumpur.

Rakan Muda Chess Results

10 July 2011, Kuala Lumpur – At the Rakan Muda Open Chess in Johor Bahru was held today and was won by Mohd Aizuddin with 6.5 points. Aizuddin beat 50 other chess players to win the Rakan Muda Open.

Second was Leong Mun Wan with 6.0 points and third, Taulani Tukiran, also with 6.0 points.

Results shown below (courtesy of Abdul Halim of Segamat) :-

Excel Senior FIDE-Rated Tournament July/Aug 2011

6 July 2011, Kuala Lumpur – The Excel Chess Academy is organising its last tournament Excel Senior FIDE-Rated Tournament July / August 2011, 15th July-14 August 2011, at its current location in Overseas Union Garden, Kuala Lumpur. Jax Tham, the owner of Excel Chess Academy, announced that the current place of Excel Chess Academy will close shop after this Excel Senior tournament is completed before the end of this month.

 

A new set of veteran chess players have decided to join the fray to gain precious FIDE-Rated points by playing in this swan song tournament at the current location of Excel Chess Academy in OUG. Among them are Dato’ Tan Chin Nam, Mr. Subramaniam, En. Sirajuddin, En. Abdul Hamid Majid, Mr. Eddy Kwan of Johor Baharu, Mr Greg Lau (to lend a  hand to the tournament), En. Wahid Karim and others as shown in the table above.

New FIDE Ratings For May/June Excel Tournament

 

6 July 2011, Kuala Lumpur – Excel Chess Academy has just released the official new FIDE Ratings of players that participated in the May/June Excel FIDE Rating Chess Tournament held in May/June 2011 in OUG, Kuala Lumpur.

 

As seven players started with no ratings and end with new FIDE ratings as shown above, resulting in the creation of about 12000+ new FIDE Rating points. While three other FIDE-Rated players gained points and two lost a few points. However, the sacrifice of two players has given new life and hope to ten other players.

 

 

(source: Jax Tham, Excel Chess Academy)

Postponement Of INSOFAR Events

4 July 2011, Kuala Lumpur – Here is an official announcement from INSOFAR Chess Academy on its postponement of its 10th July 2011 chess events to 18th September 2011.

 

Players are encouraged to participate in the upcoming HillCrest Chess Championship or in the Perak Grand Prix Chess Final 2011.

(source: email Mat Zaki Yeop, Insofar Chess Academy, hp 017-2032051)

GM Joel Benjamin's "Game of the Week"

GM Joel Benjamin's "Game of the Week"

3 July 2011, Kuala Lumpur - Here is a free video on the Kings Indian Defence from the Internet Chess Club. This weekend is a traditional holiday weekend in the US, as the country celebrates Independence Day on the 4th of July. And what better way can we celebrate than by bringing you all (members and non-members alike) a free edition of Game of the Week from the American Grandmaster himself, Joel Benjamin!

The three-time US champion's ever-popular GOTW (which comes out every Friday here on ICC) brings you the best analysis from a current ongoing tournaments. This week, in his inimitable style, Joel expertly breaks down all the action from a key encounter from the recent Ukraine Championship, as Ruslan Ponomariov beats Yuri Volk in a game that helped him to clinch the title.

Join ICC today by clicking here to tune-in every week to Joel Benjamin's GOTW - and to access all the other shows in the series, for a unique and very instructive chess lesson in each!

Three-time U.S. Champion GM Joel Benjamin (pix above) brings you a new show every Friday at 15:00 Server Time. Joel is regarded by many as one of the best commentators and analysts' we have in the game today -- so if you want to get ahead of the game, get ready to tune-in!
| Full Show (FREE TO ALL)

Players: GM Ruslan Ponomariov vs. GM Yuri Vovk
Description: Ukraine Chess Championship
ECO: E81: King's Indian
Run Time: 00:38:26



Please visit this link below for free video:-

Full Video Show