Team Chesskidz Wins ASTRO Merdeka Team Open 2011

Pix 1. Chesskidz Team won First Prize for the best ASTRO Merdeka Team Open 2011. (Photo by Andrew Ooi@ Gilachess blogger)

Pix 2. Best family team won by the Aminuddin Family. (Photo by Khairun Nisaa’@ Kelab Catur Setia Kuantan blogger)

29 August 2011, Kuala Lumpur – Team Chesskidz of Singapore won the ASTRO Merdeka Team Open Rapid 2011 with 26.5 points. Second place went to PNOY Expats with 26 points. Third place was won by Chesskidz Shock Troopers with 25.5 points.

Final Ranking for Top 33 Teams:-

Winners Of 31st ASTRO Merdeka Rapid Open Team Chess Championship 2011:-

(results courtesy of Kelab Catur Setia Kuantan’s blog)

With the completion of the 31st ASTRO Merdeka Team Rapid Open 2011, the Malaysian Chess Festival 2011 comes to a close.

Next up is the Raja Nazrin Shah Masters and International Open 2011 (originally Kuala Lumpur Open) to be held 4-10 September 2011 at Swiss Garden Hotel & Residence, Kuala Lumpur.

Astro Ladies

27 August 2011, Kuala Lumpur – Roslina Marmono and Tan Li Ting representing Astro Ladies chess team in the Merdeka Team Rapid Open 2011 during the third round. The top five board teams play in a separate more exclusive and comfortable room.

Pix 1. Roslina Marmono and Tan Li Ting.

Camilia Johari and Latifah round up the third and fourth boards of ASTRO Ladies chess team.

Pix 2. Camilia Johari and Latifah.

Roslina was facing off against IM Barbosa Oliver (pix 3) of the Philippines, hence Roslina’s serious concentration and respect for her opponent during the third round.

Pix 3. IM Barbosa Oliver, PHI vs Roslina Marmono, MAS.

Mamak Team In Action

27 August 2011, Kuala Lumpur – The infamous Mamak Chess Team in action this morning during the third round of the Merdeka Team Rapid Open 2011.

From left to right facing the camera are Fairul, Sapirin and Zaidan (yellow t-shirt).

 

The stand at CitiTel Hotel lobby informing the events of the Malaysian Chess Festival 2011.

Petronas Team In Merdeka Team Rapid

27 August 2011, Kuala Lumpur – Petronas Team playing St.Paul’s KL during the third round of the Merdeka Team Rapid 2011 earlier this morning.

Sanchez, Wang Rui, Nolte, Yu Jointly Leads In Individual Rapid 2011

26 August 2011, Kuala Lumpur – The Merdeka Individual Rapid is currently being held at the Malaysia Chess Festival and after the fourth round, GM Sanchez Joseph, GM Wang Rui (pix above), IM Nolte Rolando and IM Yu Lie are jointly first with 4 points each.

A total 118 participants are participating in today’s one-day Merdeka Individual Rapid 2011. Here are the round 4 results up to table 36 :-

Rank After Round 4, Individual Rapid

The Star On Chess Festival

26 August 2011, Kuala Lumpur – In today’s The Star Online, SS Quah discusses about the highlights of the ongoing Malaysia Chess Festival 2011 at the CitiTel MidValley Hotel, Kuala Lumpur.

It had begun from the 17th August 2011 and will run until the 28th August 2011. Four chess events had just ended yesterday with the crowning of the winners late afternoon. The Blitz, 8th Dato’ Arthur Tan Malaysia Open 2011, 6th AmBank Malaysia Chess Challenge 2011 and 2nd KLK Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng Seniors Open 2011 all came to an end yesterday afternoon.

He also discusses about the one day Swensen Age-Group Chess held last Sunday, 21 August 2011 which had a group of Iranian students as part of their package tour of Malaysia. The one day rapid is ongoing today and the Merdeka Team Rapid over Saturday and Sunday.

The numbers are already swelling beyond the capacity of the existing hall. Come join in the fun and the finale over this weekend! See you all there!

To read more, please visit this link here.

Two Games From DAT Malaysia Open 2011

 

26 August 2011, Kuala Lumpur – Here are two games from the 8th Dato’ Arthur Tan Malaysia Open 2011. One was between IM Lim Yee Weng (pix above) of Malaysia against Karunanayake Mayuri during round 1 and the other between GM Li Shilong of China and IM Barbosa Oliver in the fifth round of the tournament.

IM Lim Yee Weng played the Reti Opening in the King’s Indian Attack, Yugoslav Variation. Lim, playing white, manages to outsmart his opponent in the endgame where his last pawn is about to queen.

[Event "Malaysian Open"] [Site "Kuala Lumpur MAS"] [Date "2011.08.18"] [Round "1.37"] [White "Lim, Yee-Weng"] [Black "Karunanayake, Mayuri"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A05"] [PlyCount "139"] [EventDate "2011.08.18"] 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 d5 3. Bg2 c6 4. O-O Bg4 5. Ne5 Bh5 6. b3 Nbd7 7. Bb2 Nxe5 8. Bxe5 e6 9. d3 Bd6 10. Bb2 O-O 11. c4 Re8 12. Re1 Be7 13. Nd2 Nd7 14. Rb1 Bf6 15. b4 Qb6 16. b5 Qa5 17. Bxf6 Nxf6 18. Qc2 Rab8 19. Nb3 Qc7 20. Rbc1 cxb5 21. cxb5 Qxc2 22. Rxc2 Rec8 23. Rec1 Rxc2 24. Rxc2 Kf8 25. Kf1 Ke8 26. Ke1 Kd8 27. Na5 Kd7 28. Kd2 Ng4 29. Bf3 Nf6 30. Bxh5 Nxh5 31. e4 dxe4 32. dxe4 Nf6 33. f3 e5 34. Ke3 Ng8 35. f4 exf4+ 36. gxf4 Ne7 37. Rd2+ Kc7 38. Rc2+ Kd7 39. e5 b6 40. Nc6 Nxc6 41. Rxc6 Re8 42. Kd4 Re6 43. Kd5 g6 44. Rc3 Re7 45. Rh3 h5 46. f5 Ke8 47. fxg6 Rd7+ 48. Kc6 fxg6 49. Ra3 Re7 50. Kd6 Rd7+ 51. Ke6 g5 52. h3 g4 53. hxg4 hxg4 54. Kf5 Rg7 55. Rg3 Ke7 56. Rxg4 Rf7+ 57. Ke4 Rf2 58. a4 Re2+ 59. Kd5 Rd2+ 60. Kc6 Ke6 61. Rg7 Rc2+ 62. Kb7 Rc4 63. Kxa7 Rxa4+ 64. Kxb6 Kxe5 65. Kc5 Ke6 66. b6 Ra2 67. b7 Rb2 68. Rg6+ Kd7 69. Rb6 Rxb6 70. Kxb6 1-0

 

In this game between GM Li Shilong and IM Barbosa Oliver of the Philippines, the Queen’s Gambit Decline Slav opening transpired with the Krause attack variation. Shilong with white won this game in 80 moves.

[Event "Malaysian Open"] [Site "Kuala Lumpur MAS"] [Date "2011.08.20"] [Round "5.1"] [White "Li, Shilong"] [Black "Barbosa, Oliver"] [Result "1-0"] [PlyCount "159"] [EventDate "2011.08.20"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 Bf5 6. Ne5 Nbd7 7. Nxc4 Nb6 8. Ne5 a5 9. f3 Nbd7 10. Nxd7 Nxd7 11. e4 Bg6 12. Be2 e6 13. O-O Bb4 14. Be3 O-O 15. Qb3 Qc7 16. Rac1 Rfe8 17. Bd3 Rad8 18. Bb1 Qb8 19. Ne2 f6 20. f4 Bf7 21. Qc2 Kh8 22. Nc3 Bg6 23. Qf2 f5 24. e5 Nb6 25. Ba2 Qa8 26. Qe2 Rd7 27. Bb3 Qd8 28. h3 Nc8 29. Kh2 Rf7 30. Na2 Bf8 31. Qe1 Rd7 32. Bc4 Bh5 33. Rf2 h6 34. Nc3 Bb4 35. Bb3 Qe7 36. Qf1 Qf7 37. g3 Be7 38. Qc4 Bd8 39. Rg1 Qe7 40. Kh1 Nb6 41. Qf1 Qb4 42. Ba2 Nxa4 43. g4 Bg6 44. Nxa4 Qxa4 45. Bb1 Qb3 46. gxf5 Bxf5 47. Bxf5 exf5 48. Qe2 Qg8 49. Rfg2 Re6 50. d5 cxd5 51. Bd4 Qe8 52. Rg3 Kh7 53. Qc2 g6 54. Re3 Qe7 55. Qb3 Qh4 56. Qb5 Rc6 57. Rf3 Qe7 58. Rfg3 Qb4 59. Qd3 Bb6 60. e6 Rg7 61. Bxg7 Bxg1 62. Bc3 Qxf4 63. Qxd5 Qe4+ 64. Qxe4 fxe4 65. Kxg1 Rxe6 66. Bxa5 g5 67. Rb3 Re7 68. Rb6 Rf7 69. Bc3 Re7 70. Kf2 Rf7+ 71. Ke2 Rf3 72. Rxb7+ Kg6 73. Rb6+ Kh7 74. h4 gxh4 75. Bd2 Rh3 76. Rxh6+ Kg7 77. Re6 Rh1 78. Rxe4 h3 79. Rh4 Kf7 80. Kf3 1-0

 

To see more games, pls visit this link here.

Li Shilong Declared DAT Malaysian Open Champion 2011!

 

25 August 2011, Kuala Lumpur – Congratulations to GM Li Shilong (pix above) of China for scoring 7.5 points from 9 rounds and declared the new champion of the 8th Dato’ Arthur Tan Malaysian Open 2011 held at the CitiTel MidValley Hotel, Kuala Lumpur. He beat 97 other participants to win the DAT Malaysian Open title. Shilong drew his last 9th round against Wan Yunguo of China.

Positions 2-6 were all won by Chinese players beginning with IM Lu Shanglei (2nd, 7.0 points), GM Wen Yang (3rd, 7.0 points), Wan Yunguo (4th, 6.5 pts), GM Wang Rui (5th, 6.5 pts), WGM Wu Wenjun (6th, 6.5 pts).

Positions 7-9 were all won by Vietnamese players beginning with GM San Chez Joseph (7th, 6.5 pts), IM Dimakiling Oliver (8th, 6.0 pts) and GM Salvador Roland (9th, 6.0 pts).

In tenth position, IM Nguyen Duc Hoa from Vietnam with 6.0 pts. Last year’s defending champion GM Cao Sang from Vietnam landed in 20th position with 5.5 pts.

Round 8 Rankings - DATMO-AmBank-Senior

IM Lim Yee Weng, Malaysia.

25 August 2011, Kuala Lumpur - Here are the round 8 rankings before the start of round 9 this morning for the top 41 players for 8th DAT Malaysian Open, 2nd KLK Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng Seniors Open 2011 and 6th AmBank Malaysia Chess Challenge 2011.

For the top five of the Malaysian Open, all of the candidates are from China with GM Li Shilong at the top with 7.0 points. The next two are from Vietnam including the defending champion, GM Cao Sang. Followed by two from Philippines - Roland Salvador and Nolte Rolando. No Malaysians inside the top 40 this year. At 41 is Cheah Cheok Fung of Malaysia with 4.5 points.

Round 9 Pairings, AmBank-Senior-DATMO

24 August 2011, Kuala Lumpur - Here are the 9th Round pairings for the Dato' Arthur Tan Malaysian Open, 6th AmBank Chess Challenge and 2nd KLK Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng Seniors Open respectively.



GM Li Shilong of China leads in DATMO with 7 points, S M Sharon of Bangladesh in AmBank with 6.5 points and GM Kayumov Dmitry of Uzbekistan in Seniors Open with 7 points.



Today is another rest day for the participants before they come back tomorrow to complete the final 9th round beginning at 9 am.







Table 1. DATO' Arthur Tan Malaysian Open 2011, 9th Round pairings, 25 August 2011.





Table 2. 2nd KLK Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng Seniors Open 2011, 9th Round, 25 August 2011.






Table 3. 6th AmBank Malaysia Chess Challenge 2011, 9th Round pairings, 25th August 2011.

Zaidan Leads AmBank Challenge 2011

Pix 1. Zaidan Zulkipli, Malaysia (courtesy of Hairuluvchessmaniacs.com)

23 August 2011, Kuala Lumpur – In yesterday’s round 6 of the 6th AmBank Malaysia Chess Challenge 2011 between Zaidan Zulkipli, Malaysia and Sarvinoz Kurbonboeva of Uzbekistan resulted in a win for Zaidan Zulkipli on top board. Zaidan made waves last year when he participated in the European Chess Club Cup 2010 event in Plovdiv, Bulgaria where he represented a mixed Irish chess team.

The 6th AmBank Malaysia Chess Challenge is one of three concurrent chess tournaments running at the same time during the Malaysian Chess Festival 2011 at CitiTel MidValley Kuala Lumpur.

This win gives unheralded Zaidan Zulkipli a five point score and currently co-leads with S.M. Sharon of Bangladesh. Both Zaidan and Sharon will meet on top board round 7 held this morning, 9 am, 23 August 2011.

Round 7 Pairings, 6th AmBank Malaysia Chess Challenge 2011.

 Results of Round 6 held on 22 August 2011, 3 pm.

Ranking After Round 6, 6th AmBank Malaysia Chess Challenge 2011.

Shilong In The Lead, DAT Malaysia Open

 

23 August 2011, Kuala Lumpur – At the 8th Dato’ Arthur Tan Malaysia Open 2011, Li Shilong (pix above) and Dimakiling Oliver drew their top board game during the 6th round. Shilong is at 5.5 point and still in the lead. Trailing behind is IM Lu Shanglei with 5.0 points. IM Lu Shanglei won his third board game against IM Nguyen Duc Hoa.

GM Li Shilong will meet IM Lu Shanglei on top board during round 7 today, 23 August 2011, 9 am.

Ranking After Round 6, 8th DAT Malaysia Open 2011.

Round 7 Pairings, 8th DAT Malaysia Open 2011.

To read similar posts, please click here or DAT Malaysian Open 2011.

Olivers Stumble, Shilong Shines!

 

20 August 2011, Kuala Lumpur – At the 8th Dato’ Arthur Tan Malaysian Open 2011, GM Li Shilong (pix above) is outright leader with 5 points after both Olivers stumble. Li beat Barbosa on top board while Dimakiling drew with Wan Yunguo on board two.

In round 6, Li will match-up with Dimakiling on top board. Round 6 will be played on Monday, 22 August 2011, 15:00 hrs. Tomorrow is Swensen’s one-day rapid Age Group Tournament. Malaysian Open participants will get a rest day on Sunday, 21 August 2011.

Rank after round 5, 8th DAT Malaysian Open 2011.

6th Round Pairings, 8th Dato’ Arthur Tan Malaysian Open 2011.

  

Meanwhile Malaysia’s best player is IM Lim Yee Weng with 3 points, followed by Cheah Cheok Fung (pix above) with 2.5 points, Justin Ong and WCM Nur Nabila Azman Hisham both scored 2.5 points each. In fifth place is NM Lim Zhuo Ren with 2.0 points to show after five rounds of play. At 2.0 points include Ismail Ahmad, Roshan Singh, Tan Li Ting, Renitha Narayanan, Elgin Lee Kah Meng and Mark Siew.

Oliver Brothers To The Fore!

20 August 2011, Kuala Lumpur – At the DAT Malaysian Open 2011, Dimakiling Oliver, Philippines and Barbosa Oliver, Philippines, both won their round 4 games. Meanwhile GM Li Shilong of China, won his game against GM Wang Rui on second board of the round 4 this morning.

All three players, Dimakiling, Barbosa and GM Li Shilong have scored four points and all three jointly leads in the 8th DAT Malaysia Open 2011.

Ranking Crosstable After Round 4, 8th Dato’ Arthur Tan Malaysia Open 2011.

(source: chess-results.com)

Two Games From Round Two, DAT Malaysian Open 2011

 

20 August 2011 Kuala Lumpur – Here are two games from round 2 of the Dato’ Arthur Tan Malaysian Open 2011 involving the defending champion, GM Cao Sang of Vietnam and a regular woman participant , WIM, Muminova Nafisa of Uzbekistan.

[Event "DAT Malaysian Open 2011"] [Site "MidValley, Kuala Lumpur"] [Date "2011.08.18"] [Round "2"] [White "Ikeda, Junta"] [Black "Cao, Sang"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C00"] [WhiteElo "2349"] [BlackElo "2533"] [Annotator ",user"] [PlyCount "66"] [EventDate "2011.08.20"] [SourceDate "2011.08.20"] 1. e4 e6 2. Qe2 c5 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 Be7 5. Bg2 d5 6. d3 Nf6 7. O-O b6 8. Re1 Bb7 9. e5 Nd7 10. h4 h6 11. h5 b5 12. b3 b4 13. Bf4 Nb6 14. c4 bxc3 15. Nxc3 Ba6 16. a3 Rc8 17. Rec1 O-O 18. Bh3 Re8 19. Qd2 Rc7 20. Kh2 Rd7 21. g4 c4 22. Rg1 d4 23. Ne4 c3 24. Qe2 Nd5 25. Bc1 Qb8 26. Ng3 Bg5 27. Nxg5 hxg5 28. Bxg5 Qxe5 29. Qxe5 Nxe5 30. Kh1 Nxd3 31. Bf1 f6 32. Bxd3 Bxd3 33. Bc1 Bc2 0-1

 

 

 

 

[Event "DAT Malaysian Open 2011"] [Site "MidValley Kuala Lumpur"] [Date "2011.08.20"] [Round "2"] [White "Muminova, Nafisa"] [Black "Li, Shilong"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B51"] [WhiteElo "2319"] [BlackElo "2520"] [Annotator ",user"] [PlyCount "122"] [EventDate "2011.08.20"] [SourceDate "2011.08.20"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Nc6 4. O-O Bd7 5. c3 a6 6. Ba4 Nf6 7. Re1 c4 8. Bc2 Ne5 9. h3 g5 10. Na3 b5 11. Nxe5 dxe5 12. b3 g4 13. hxg4 Bxg4 14. f3 Qb6+ 15. Kh2 Qf2 16. Rh1 Be6 17. Qe1 Qxe1 18. Rxe1 O-O-O 19. bxc4 bxc4 20. Bd1 Bh6 21. Be2 Bf4+ 22. Kg1 Bxd2 23. Bxd2 Rxd2 24. Nxc4 Rxe2 25. Nb6+ Kb7 26. Rxe2 Kxb6 27. Rb1+ Kc6 28. Reb2 Nd7 29. Kf2 Nc5 30. Rd1 h5 31. Ke3 h4 32. Rh1 a5 33. Rhb1 Bc4 34. a3 h3 35. g3 Na4 36. Rh2 Rd8 37. Rd2 Rxd2 38. Kxd2 Be6 39. g4 Kc5 40. Kd3 Nb6 41. Rh1 Nc4 42. Rxh3 Nxa3 43. Rh5 Nc4 44. g5 Kd6 45. Rh6 Nb6 46. g6 fxg6 47. Rxg6 a4 48. Kc2 a3 49. Rh6 a2 50. Rh1 Kc5 51. Kb2 Na4+ 52. Kc2 Kc4 53. Rc1 Nxc3 54. Kb2 Kd4 55. Rh1 Na4+ 56. Ka3 Nc5 57. Kb2 Ke3 58. Rh7 Nd3+ 59. Ka1 Nb4 60. Rh2 Kd3 61. Kb2 Nc2 0-1

 

 

(games courtesy of DAT Malaysian Open 2011 website)

Update On Malaysian Chess Festival!

16 August 2011, Kuala Lumpur - Here are the latest news and updates of the various chess tournaments lined up for the upcoming Malaysia Chess Festival that will begin tomorrow.

DATCC reported the following updates - "With yesterday being the final closing date for the remaining 3 events, the number of participants playing in the Malaysia Chess Festival can now be confirmed as follows:

1. 8th IGB Dato' Arthur Tan Malaysia Open - 96 players (It was 133 players last year)
2. AmBank Malaysia Chess Challenge - 36 players (It was 52 players last year)
3. 2nd KLK Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng International Seniors Open - 24 players (It was 18 players last year)
4. Merdeka Individual Rapid Chess Tournament - 76 players (It was 107 players last year)
5. ASTRO Merdeka Open Rapid Team Chess Championship - 79 teams (It was only 70 teams last year)
6. SWENSEN Age Group Event - 367 players (It was less than 200 last year)

The number of participants have slightly increased for the Seniors Open event but the ASTRO Merdeka event attracted 9 team more this year compared to last year, and for the SWENSEN Age Group event, the number of children playing is almost double of last year's figure with a plane load of young players coming in from Iran to participate in this year's event.

Although some of the events are registering lesser number of participants compared to last year, the organizer is expecting some last minute entries to be received during the player's meeting tomorrow which may increase the numbers slightly but not drastic enough to exceed last year's participation.

Less than 48 hours to go before Round 1 officially starts.... "


"WELCOME to the 8th Malaysia Chess Festival" 


Let the festival begin.

Updates of DAT Malaysian Open

3 August 2011, Kuala Lumpur - for the upcoming Dato' Arthur Tan Malaysian Open 2011, there are 96 pre-registered players with defending champion GM Cao Sang of Vietnam, 2533, in this list. The highest rated player is GM Zhang Zhong, 2594, of Singapore. The list includes several titled players comprising of 16 GMs, 9 IMs, 2 WGMs, 3 WIMs, 4 FMs, 2 WFMs and 1 CM.

Pix 1. IM Mas Hafizulhelmi, Malaysia.

Malaysia's IM Mas Hafizulhelmi, Lim Zhuo Ren, Justin Ong, Ismail Ahmad, Roshan Ajeet Singh, Mark Siew, Elgin Lee Kah Meng and a few others are participating as well in this year's edition.

Other updates are the 6th AmBank Malaysia Chess Challenge 2011 - 35 players and 2nd Dato' Arthur Tan Malaysia Open 2011 - 24 players, as shown below:-

(source: Abdul Hamid Majid, MCF)