Nicholas wins 2010 Selangor Open

The 2010 Selangor Open was won by Nicholas Chan with a half point lead. This is Nicholas third Selangor Open win.

Here is the final ranking list (top 20 only)

Rank	SNo.	Name	Rtg	FED	Pts	BH.	Position
1	1	Chan, Nicholas	2398	MAS	7½	53	CHAMPION
2	2	Liew, Chee-Meng-Jimmy (V)	2315	MAS	7	51½	2ND
3	5	Wahiduddin, Kamalarifin	2122	MAS	7	49½	3RD
4	21	Yeoh, Li Tian (12)	1971	MAS	6½	49	4TH
5	4	Loo, Swee Leong	2162	MAS	6½	47	5TH
6	25	Zulkifli, Muhd Syazwan	1916	MAS	6½	46	6TH
7	23	Tan, Ken Wei	1957	MAS	6½	46	7TH
8	3	Udani, Ian	2286	PHI	6	53	8TH
9	10	Wahiduddin, Mohd Khair	2088	MAS	6	52	9TH
10	15	Ismail, Ahmad	2033	MAS	6	50½	10TH
11	17	Ahmad Fadzil Nayan	1995	MAS	6	48½
12	18	Cheah, Cheok Fung	1988	MAS	6	46
13	28	Fong, Yit San	1856	MAS	6	45½
14	16	Fong, Choong Ee	2013	MAS	5½	48
15	26	Low, Jun Jian	1907	MAS	5½	47½
16	12	Mohamed, Abdul Haq	2057	MAS	5½	47
17	7	Yusof, Kamaluddin	2104	MAS	5½	47
18	27	Azhar, Muhd Syakir Shazmeer	1859	MAS	5½	44½
19	6	Nik, Nik Ahmad Farouqi	2108	MAS	5	51
20	13	Lim, Zhuo Ren	2055	MAS	5	50½

I was surprised during the closing to hear Tse Pin announce that I had the most number of Selangor Open wins, eight in total. I thought I might have won only seven times but hey, I may have stopped counting at some stage :)

The key game was my game against Nicholas in the fifth round. I knew this probably will decide the championship and went for a win with black pieces. But Nicholas was the better player that day.

The top seeds more or less confirmed their seeding with the exception of Ian Udani. Ian drew a winning game against Nicholas in the eight round. Hairulov has a good analysis of the key position. Ian unfortunately had to meet Wahiduddin Kamalarifin in the final game with both in a do or die situation which he lost after a long battle.

Youngster Yeoh Li Tian continued his good tournament results with a fourth placing. He won six games, losing only to Nicholas and the third placed Kamalarifin and drawing the last round with black against Loo Swee Leong (fifth place). A fascinating game with both sides going for each other's king ending in perpetual check. After the game, Li Tian showed how white could avoid the perpetual and win!

I really like the newly renovated DAT Chess Center which served as the venue for this year's Selangor Open. The centre is bigger now after taking over the restaurant next door. There is plenty of space for larger tournaments like this. It is also easier to watch the games without disturbing the players. The location is good with nearly LRT (Light Transit Railway) and ample parking in the building except for working hours.

The only drawback is the thumping beat of the music coming from a disco downstairs. The music is so loud, I had some trouble in one of my games converting a ending with a piece up! Thankfully, this only starts late at night.