OSG Baden-Baden Wins 9th Round, German Chess League

7 February 2011, Kuala Lumpur – At the German Chess League, the Bundesliga 2010/2011, the top chess team OSG Baden-Baden beat FC Bayern Munchen, 7.5:0.5 in the 9th round match held on Sunday, 6 February 2011.  The German Chess League has over 270 players from 30 countries play for 16 teams in the highest German chess league.

Here is a game viewer of the 9th round game between Etienne Bacrot of OSG Baden-Baden as black against Tibor Reiss of FC Bayern Munchen. The English Opening transpired during the game.

Links:

• German Chess League (Schach Bundesliga) 2010-2011
• Bundesliga 2010-11 (Munich GER)
  Fri 8th Oct 2010 - Sun 10th Apr 2011 - Official Site - Results - Live
• Bundesliga 2010-11 (272 players 15 Rds League Team TC:100:50:15+30spm(1)) - Games in PGN: Bundesliga 2010-11 | Live Bundesliga

Nik Ahmad Farouqi Is Kelantan Closed Champion

7 February 2011, Kuala Lumpur – At the Kelantan Closed Chess Championship 2011, Nik Ahmad Farouqi (pix left) prevailed and was declared the new Kelantan Closed Chess Champion 2011. Nik scored 6.5 points after 7 rounds played over two days at the school hall of Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Pahi, Kuala Krai, Kelantan.

 

In second place is Syed Azizi Abdul Rahman (pix below)who also scored 6.5 points. Based on Naserov’s blog, there was a playoff which Nik Ahmad Farouqi duly won 2-0 against Syed Azizi fair and square.

 

 In third place is Mohd Amin Mohd Noor with 6.0 points and fourth, Baharuddin Hamzah, while in fifth position, Wan Mohamad Amirul Wan Mohamad Y, both scored 6.0 point and separated by tie-break points.

 

 

To read more, please visit Naserov’s blog or click here.

Or visit chess-results.com for more detail results or click here.

Lessons Learned In QGA During MSSM 2010

7 February 2011, Kuala Lumpur – Armanov discusses the Queen’s Gambit Accepted opening in his blog – MSSM 2010. Read here. It is in Bahasa Malaysia. He discusses some of the games played during the Malaysian Schools Sports Council (MSSM) chess tournament in 2010 and some of the errors committed by some players in playing this opening. It makes an interesting read and useful lessons learned for tournament play.

   Pix 1. After 2.c4.

To help along here is a brief introduction to the Queen's Gambit Accepted, commonly abbreviated to QGA, is a chess opening characterized by the opening moves:

1. d4 d5

2. c4 dxc4

The Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings classifies the Queen's Gambit Accepted under codes D20 to D29.

The Queen's Gambit is not considered a true gambit, in contrast to the King's Gambit, because the pawn is either regained, or can only be held unprofitably by Black. Black will allow the pawn to be recaptured, and use the time expended to play against White's centre.

As Black's 2. ... dxc4 surrenders the centre, White will try to seize space in the centre and use it to launch an attack on the black position. Black's game is not devoid of counterchances, however. If the white centre can be held at bay, Black will try to weaken White's centre pawns, using that to gain an advantage in the ensuing endgame by playing ... c5 and ... cxd4 at some stage, and if White responds with exd4, White will have an isolated pawn, leading to a keen middlegame battle. If White recaptures with a piece at d4, the centre will be liquidated and a fairly even game will usually ensue.

The Queen's Gambit Accepted is the third most popular option at Black's second move, after 2. ...e6 (the Queen's Gambit Declined) and 2. ... c6 (the Slav Defense). In both of these variations, slow and subtle manoeuvres are often necessary to complete development. White will try to exploit an advantage in space and development, while Black will defend the position and aim for queenside counterplay.

Two Games Of CENTO 1st International

6 February 2011, Kuala Lumpur – Here are two games from the first round of the CENTO 1st International Chess Open 2011 in Bologna, Italy. One involves Ivan Sokolov with his attacking chess and the other the sensation of round one win by Marina Brunello against a higher rated, Rozentalis. Games are courtesy of playchess.com.

The first round game by Ivan Sokolov (2641) against Girolamo Valguarnera (2179) is vintage Sokolov with attacking chess. The black pieces are pinned on its 8th rank with mate looming on the 29th move.

[Event "1st CENTO International Chess Open"] [Site "Bologna/Italy"] [Date "2011.02.05"] [Round "1"] [White "Sokolov, Ivan"] [Black "Valguarnera, Girolamo"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E61"] [WhiteElo "2641"] [BlackElo "2179"] [Annotator "Robot 4"] [PlyCount "55"] [EventDate "2011.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 c5 4. d5 e6 5. e4 exd5 6. exd5 d6 7. Bf4 Be7 8. Be2 O-O 9. g4 Re8 10. h4 Nxg4 11. Bxg4 Bg5+ 12. Be3 Bxe3 13. fxe3 Rxe3+ 14. Kd2 Re7 15. h5 f5 16. Be2 g5 17. h6 g4 18. Qf1 Rf7 19. Qf4 Nd7 20. Qxd6 Qg5+ 21. Kc2 Qe3 22. Rf1 Qe5 23. Qe6 Qg3 24. Ne4 Qc7 25. Rxf5 Nf8 26. Rxf7 Nxe6 27. dxe6 Qd8 28. Nf6+ 1-0

During the first round of the CENTO 1st International Chess Open 2011, a sensation was created when Marina Brunello (2216) as black defeated the higher-rated player, Eduardas Rozentalis (2631). The Sicilian Opening [B53] transpired during the game. Black ended with a rook and four pawns against white’s single bishop and four pawns.

[Event "1st CENTO International Chess Open"] [Site "Bologna/Italy"] [Date "2011.02.05"] [Round "1"] [White "Rozentalis, Eduardas"] [Black "Brunello, Marina"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B53"] [WhiteElo "2631"] [BlackElo "2216"] [Annotator "Robot 4"] [PlyCount "100"] [EventDate "2011.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Qxd4 Nc6 5. Bb5 Bd7 6. Bxc6 Bxc6 7. c4 Nf6 8. Nc3 e6 9. O-O Be7 10. b3 O-O 11. Bb2 Qa5 12. Rfe1 Rfd8 13. Rad1 a6 14. Qd2 Qc7 15. Nd4 Rab8 16. Qd3 Bf8 17. Qg3 Nd7 18. f4 b5 19. cxb5 axb5 20. Rc1 Qb6 21. Qf2 Nc5 22. Nxc6 Qxc6 23. Re3 Qa6 24. Qe2 d5 25. exd5 exd5 26. Rg3 d4 27. Nd1 Re8 28. Qh5 Re1+ 29. Kf2 Rbe8 30. Rxc5 Bxc5 31. Qxc5 Rxd1 32. Qc2 Ree1 33. Rg5 f6 34. Rc5 Qd6 35. Rc8+ Kf7 36. Qc7+ Qxc7 37. Rxc7+ Re7 38. Rxe7+ Kxe7 39. Ke2 Rg1 40. Kf2 d3 41. Bc3 Rh1 42. h3 Kd6 43. Ke3 Rg1 44. Kf2 Rd1 45. Ke3 Kd5 46. Bd2 Rg1 47. Kf2 Ra1 48. Ke3 Rxa2 49. Kxd3 f5 50. h4 Rb2 0-1
Links:

• Official website
• Chessdom.com
• Playchess.com

PERCAWI’s New Committee

6 February 2011, Kuala Lumpur – The new President of PERCAWI sent me the new list of committee members for the new term 2011/2012. I wish them the best of luck in their endeavours.

Pix 1. Collin Madhavan, President of PERCAWI 2011-2012.

I do hope besides planning for the future GMs (the young ones) of Malaysia with tournaments, please do not forget that the adult and veteran who are keen on playing in chess tournaments as well. A balanced chess development for both young and adult would be most appreciated by chess enthusiasts.

Cento 1st International Chess Open

6 February 2011, Kuala Lumpur – At Bologna, Italy, the first round of the Cento 1st Open International Chess Open has begun. 102 players have registered for the Open event. Amongst them include GM Dreev Aleksev, GM Ivan Sovolov. GM Ivan Sovolov created some interesting upsets over higher rated players during last year’s Chess Olympiad in Khanty Mansyisk, Siberia in 2010.

Pix 1. Aleksev Dreev, the top seed at Cento (pictures courtesy of chessdom.com)

Chessdom.com reports that “The 1st International Chess Open of Cento”, dedicated to the memory of Viviana Manservisi, will take place on 5-13th February 2011 at the Grand Hotel Bologna in Pieve di Cento. The tournament will be played over nine rounds with Swiss pairings and time control of 90' x 40 moves + 30' for the rest of the game with 30'' increment from the first move.

The organizers have provided a rich prize fund of 26,000 EUR. There are 20 regular prizes (first 2500 EUR), seven prizes for Italian players and five prizes in each of the U2300, U2100, U1900 and U1700 rating categories.

Pix 2. Ivan Sokolov (pictures courtesy of chessdom.com)

 

Pix 3. Marina Brunello. (pictures courtesy of chessdom.com)

In addition, there will be two weekend tournaments, each a 5-round Swiss, to be played on 4-6th and 11-13th February. The time control will be slightly faster - 90' with 30'' increment from the first move for the whole game. More information on ScacchiRandagi.com.

The 1st International Chess Open of Cento, dedicated to the memory of Viviana Manservisi, will take place on 5-13th February 2011 at the Grand Hotel Bologna in Pieve di Cento. The tournament will be played over nine rounds with Swiss pairings and time control of 90' x 40 moves + 30' for the rest of the game with 30'' increment from the first move.

After the first round of games yesterday (5 Feb 2011), most of the elo favourites converted the rating differences of a couple of hundred points into first round victories. However, GM Eduardas Rozentalis of Lithuania, at 2588 elo seeded 4th in the tournament, was stunned by the ultra-talented WIM Marina Brunello (2155).

The organizers have provided a rich prize fund of 26.000 EUR. There are 20 regular prizes (first 2500 EUR), seven prizes for Italian players and five prizes in each of the U2300, U2100, U1900 and U1700 rating categories.

In addition, there will be two weekend tournaments, each a 5-round Swiss, to be played on 4-6th and 11-13th February. The time control will be slightly faster - 90' with 30'' increment from the first move for the whole game. More information on ScacchiRandagi.com.

Location of tournament is in Bologna, Italy shown as (A) on the map below.

Links:

• Official website
• Chessdom.com

Moscow Open

Pix 1. GM Alexandra Kosteniuk (picture courtesy of open.moschess.ru)

6 February 2011, Kuala Lumpur – TWIC reports that The Moscow Open, the traditional curtain raiser for the Aeroflot Open has a couple of youth all-play-alls and a strong open tournament (bizarrely the strong open is called Open E) as well as other women's and universities events. It takes place 28th January - 7th February 2011.

Here is a round 6 game between former 12th World Women Champion and current Olympiad Champion 2010, Alexandra Kosteniuk and Gunina Valentina of the Moscow Young Women Grandmasters Open 2011. The Caro Kann Advance Variation transpired during the game. Black resigned as soon as it lost it’s last bishop at b7 on the 65th move as it dawns on Gunina that the Black king was facing an eminent checkmate from one of the white pawns.

Here is another game in round 7 between Lilit Galojan and Alexandra Kosteniuk during the Moscow Young Women Grandmasters Open 2011. The Nimzo-Indian: Samisch [E29] transpired during the game. Black won the game with an advanced c-pawn on the 2nd rank about to reach its queening square.
 

LINKS:

• Moscow Open 2011 (Moscow RUS)
  Fri 28th Jan 2011 - Mon 7th Feb 2011 - Official Site
• Young GM (10 players 9 Rds SRR Indiv TC:90m:30m+30spm(1)) - Games in PGN: YGM Men
• Moscow Open E (582 players 9 Rds Swiss Indiv TC:90m:30m+30spm(1)) - Games in PGN: Open E
• Young Masters WGM (10 players 9 Rds SRR Indiv TC:90m:30m+30spm(1)) - Games in PGN: YGM Women
• Moscow Open C (64 players 9 Rds Swiss Indiv TC:90m:30m+30spm(1))
• Moscow Open F (122 players 9 Rds Swiss Indiv TC:90m:30m+30spm(1)) - Games in PGN: Open F Women
• Moscow Open D (23 players 9 Rds Swiss Indiv TC:90m:30m+30spm(1))

Amin, Nik A Farouqi, Syed Azizi Leads In Kelantan Closed

5 February 2011, Kuala Lumpur – At the Kelantan Closed Chess Tournament, three players are leading after the 5th round. All three players, Mohd Amin, Nik Ahmad Farouqi (pix left) and Syed Azizi Abdul Rahman have scored 5 full points from five rounds. Syed Azizi is the defending Kelantan Closed champion while Nik Ahmad Farouqi is the top seed with a 1914 rating.

From Naserov’s blog, I gather it is now at the playoffs to decide the winner between Nik Ahmad Farouqi and Syed Azizi Abdul Rahman, the defending champion.

 

Results of Round 5 shown below:-

To read more, please visit Naserov’s blog or click here.

Or visit chess-results.com for more detail results or click here.

Muhd Syazwan Zulkifli Declared Champion Of 2nd Cerdik Catur

5 February 2011, Kuala Lumpur – At the 2nd Cerdik Catur Chess Challenge 2011 held at the DATCC, Muhd Syazwan Zulkifli was declared the overall winner of the one day seven round Swiss-System chess tournament.

Muhd Syazwan Zulkifli (1801) scored 6.5 points from 7 rounds. Muhd Syazwan Zulkifli was also the winner of the Under-21 age category in the recent 3rd IIUM Invitational Chess Tournament 2010/2011 held at International Islamic University Gombak campus on the 2nd January 2011.

Taulani Tukiran, second place.

In second place, Taulani b Tukiran (1768) with 6.5 points, too! And in third place, Muhd Nabil b Azman Hisham (1893) with 6.0 points. His sister, WCM Nur Nabila bt Azman Hisham (1792) finished in fourth place with 6.0 points. Fifth position went to Tun Seri Lanang (1762) with 5.5 points.

Final Ranking Crosstable for the top 34 players.




Links:

• chess-results.com
• 3rd IIUM Invitational Chess Tournament 2010/2011
• 2nd Cerdik Catur Chess Challenge 2011
• stonemaster.info

PERCAWI City Day Age Group 2011 Final Results

5 February 2011, Kuala Lumpur – Fireyrook surprisingly received in the email box the final results of the recently concluded PERCAWI City Day Age Group Chess Tournament 2011 held on the 1st February 2011 courtesy of its current President, Mr. Collin Madhavan. A total of 77 players participated in both Open and Girls Categories Under-18 Age Group chess tournament.

Kung Kah Heng (1382) won with 5.5 points in first place followed by Fikri Saleh (1696) with 5.5 points in second place and Shawn Edgar Miranda (1444) scoring 5 points in third position. There were 56 players participating in the Open U-18 Age Category.

Meanwhile in the Girls Open was won by Olivia Madhavan (pix left) scoring 5.5 points from six rounds. In second place was Veronica Shalini with 5 points and in third place, Nur Ainina Hanum Mat Asdi with 4.5 points. There were 21 girls that participated in the Girls U-18 Age Group.

Here are the final results of both Open and Girls’ Age Group 2011.

Girls U-18 Age Group 2011





(results courtesy of Collin Madhavan, President of PERCAWI)