Wednesday, December 31, 2014
Friday, December 19, 2014
National Juniors 2014
This year's National Juniors for boys and girls are currently going on in Sabah. Despite it being the last round today, there has been zero coverage of this so called prestigious event.
The top seed in both events so out-rated their opposition that they will be the over-whelming favourite to win. Nithyalakshmi Sivanesan and her brother Subramaniam Sivanesan are leading and barring a last round loss are likely to be the champions. If this happens this could be a first for siblings to win both the boys and girls championship.
The top seed in both events so out-rated their opposition that they will be the over-whelming favourite to win. Nithyalakshmi Sivanesan and her brother Subramaniam Sivanesan are leading and barring a last round loss are likely to be the champions. If this happens this could be a first for siblings to win both the boys and girls championship.
Wednesday, December 17, 2014
Dilwen wins First Saturday FM
Congratulations to Malaysian Dilwen Ding who has won the First Saturday FM-A in Hungary with a victory over his more higher rated opponents.
Seeded 8th out of 9 participants, Dilwen scored an undefeated 6.5 points from a possible eight to take the top position. A measure of this achievement is the fact that he gained 170 ELO points and will be close to 2000 on the next FIDE Rating List.
Another fact, the first Malaysian to win a First Saturday is IM Mas who obliterated the opposition to make his IM norm.
Seeded 8th out of 9 participants, Dilwen scored an undefeated 6.5 points from a possible eight to take the top position. A measure of this achievement is the fact that he gained 170 ELO points and will be close to 2000 on the next FIDE Rating List.
Another fact, the first Malaysian to win a First Saturday is IM Mas who obliterated the opposition to make his IM norm.
Monday, December 1, 2014
ChessVibes hacked!
Today went to ChessVibes site as usual found it hacked by Iranian hackers.
There might be malicious code inserted into the landing page so I advise everyone not to go there for at least a day until the admin fixes it.
There might be malicious code inserted into the landing page so I advise everyone not to go there for at least a day until the admin fixes it.
Monday, November 17, 2014
Carlsen-Anand: An unnoticed blunder
The FIDE World Championship is taking place in Sochi from November 7 to 27. World Champion Carlsen is challenged by former champion Anand.
Carlsen won the sixth game and he described it as "very, very lucky". On his 26th move, Carlsen committed a serious blunder which would have lost a pawn for nothing. His opponent thought for a minute and missed it!
Carlsens' move allowed 26...Nxe5 winning a pawn since 27 Rxg8 black plays the in-between move 27...Nxc4+
Carlsen now leads with 3.5 points to Anand's 2.5 points.
Carlsen won the sixth game and he described it as "very, very lucky". On his 26th move, Carlsen committed a serious blunder which would have lost a pawn for nothing. His opponent thought for a minute and missed it!
 |
| After 26 Kd2 |
Carlsens' move allowed 26...Nxe5 winning a pawn since 27 Rxg8 black plays the in-between move 27...Nxc4+
Carlsen now leads with 3.5 points to Anand's 2.5 points.
Saturday, November 15, 2014
Carlsen-Anand: Let the draws begin
The FIDE World Championship is taking place in Sochi from November 7 to 27. World Champion Carlsen is challenged by former champion Anand.
Both games four and five were drawn without much of a fight.
In game five last night, Russian GM Ian Nepomniachtchi replaced Sopiko as co-commentator. And what a difference it made. The very strong grandmaster could rattle off analysis like a bullet train (in constrast with Sopiko who 90% of the time would keep agreeing with Svidler), punctuating it with humorous banter. Both Nepomniachtchi and Svidler seems to be fans of the Lord of the Rings movie as at one point both started making quotes from the movie! Very entertaining and I hope more such guest commentators will be forthcoming.
Carlsen appeared to know his openings very well, rattling off moves at blitz speed. Anand whowever got a slightly better position with a superior bishop against a knight although the position was too simple to cause any problems for Carlsen. However Carlsen's strange decision to capture a pawn on move 22 was baffling. Carlsen could have ended in a slightly worse ending. However Anand did not play the better 27 Ra4, which would have kept the queen-side pawns and maintain a nagging edge. Instead he quickly went into mass exchanges and ended in a drawn rook ending. Disappointing decision from Anand.
Game six continues today.
Both games four and five were drawn without much of a fight.
In game five last night, Russian GM Ian Nepomniachtchi replaced Sopiko as co-commentator. And what a difference it made. The very strong grandmaster could rattle off analysis like a bullet train (in constrast with Sopiko who 90% of the time would keep agreeing with Svidler), punctuating it with humorous banter. Both Nepomniachtchi and Svidler seems to be fans of the Lord of the Rings movie as at one point both started making quotes from the movie! Very entertaining and I hope more such guest commentators will be forthcoming.
Carlsen appeared to know his openings very well, rattling off moves at blitz speed. Anand whowever got a slightly better position with a superior bishop against a knight although the position was too simple to cause any problems for Carlsen. However Carlsen's strange decision to capture a pawn on move 22 was baffling. Carlsen could have ended in a slightly worse ending. However Anand did not play the better 27 Ra4, which would have kept the queen-side pawns and maintain a nagging edge. Instead he quickly went into mass exchanges and ended in a drawn rook ending. Disappointing decision from Anand.
Game six continues today.
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
Carlsen-Anand: Strike back by Anand
The FIDE World Championship is taking place in Sochi from November 7 to 27. World Champion Carlsen is challenged by former champion Anand.
In the third game, Anand showed better preparation to beat Carlsen. The amount of time spent on the opening by Carlsen definitely indicated that Team Carlsen had not paid enough attention to this opening variation. You know Carlsen knows he is in trouble when he spent 32 minutes on 17...Ndf6.
The opening was a Queen's Gambit Declined which seemed much better for black in Aronian-Adams, Bilbao 2013. However Anand and his team found a better continuation for White with 20 fxe4 (Aronian played 20 Qe2 instead). By forcing the exchanges, White could capture a pawn on a4 with the queen still on d1. A simple enough idea that rewarded Anand with his first win against Carlsen in a slow game.
In the third game, Anand showed better preparation to beat Carlsen. The amount of time spent on the opening by Carlsen definitely indicated that Team Carlsen had not paid enough attention to this opening variation. You know Carlsen knows he is in trouble when he spent 32 minutes on 17...Ndf6.
The opening was a Queen's Gambit Declined which seemed much better for black in Aronian-Adams, Bilbao 2013. However Anand and his team found a better continuation for White with 20 fxe4 (Aronian played 20 Qe2 instead). By forcing the exchanges, White could capture a pawn on a4 with the queen still on d1. A simple enough idea that rewarded Anand with his first win against Carlsen in a slow game.
Monday, November 10, 2014
Carlsen-Anand: First Blood
The FIDE World Championship is taking place in Sochi from November 7 to 27. World Champion Carlsen is challenged by former champion Anand.
Game one was a draw while game two played last night resulted in a first victory for the World Champion.
Anand played 1...e5 to Carlsen's king pawn in the opening and offered the possiblity to enter a Ruy Lopez Berlin. Carlsen was not having any of that as the Berlin is the toughest variation for White to crack in a Ruy Lopez. Carlsen played 5 d3 entering quiet waters. But the dangers for Black were there as Carlsen played a series of moves starting with 12 Nxb6 and 13 d4 that showed White's initiative on the king-side was not to be underestimated.
I was following Svidler and his partner Guramishvili commentary at the official site. They did not think that White's attack was so dangerous although Anand's 18...Be6 was puzzling as two moves later he had to exchange it for the knight on f5. It is still quite surprising how difficult Black's position was in the major piece ending. Anand's blunder at the end even though he is quite lost by then, is quite ominous for his chances and reminds me of his many blunders in last year's match.
Today is a rest day so game three will continue on Tuesday.
Game one was a draw while game two played last night resulted in a first victory for the World Champion.
Anand played 1...e5 to Carlsen's king pawn in the opening and offered the possiblity to enter a Ruy Lopez Berlin. Carlsen was not having any of that as the Berlin is the toughest variation for White to crack in a Ruy Lopez. Carlsen played 5 d3 entering quiet waters. But the dangers for Black were there as Carlsen played a series of moves starting with 12 Nxb6 and 13 d4 that showed White's initiative on the king-side was not to be underestimated.
I was following Svidler and his partner Guramishvili commentary at the official site. They did not think that White's attack was so dangerous although Anand's 18...Be6 was puzzling as two moves later he had to exchange it for the knight on f5. It is still quite surprising how difficult Black's position was in the major piece ending. Anand's blunder at the end even though he is quite lost by then, is quite ominous for his chances and reminds me of his many blunders in last year's match.
Today is a rest day so game three will continue on Tuesday.
Sunday, November 9, 2014
Carlsen-Anand: First draw
Anand came out with an interesting idea (13 0-0-0) and got Carlsen thinking right out of the opening. At one point, Carlsen's clock was half an hour behind Anand.
The World Champion showed his strength and skill when he managed to diffuse Black's initiative. He even got the better of the resulting ending of Q+R v. Q+R. Anand defended very well and drew by perpetual. But as Carlsen admitted in the press conference, he did not think he was winning in the endgame anyway.
The first game is thus drawn and some interesting observations can be drawn here. Anand is trying to score as early as game one, a stark difference from the first match where he was content with drawing games in the early stages of the match. He knows that a prolonged match is not to his advantage, being the older player.
Anand showed better preparation and might have scored against a lesser opponent. Carlsen is such a tenacious player that even when he is caught off-guard is able to find the best moves over the board.
The World Champion showed his strength and skill when he managed to diffuse Black's initiative. He even got the better of the resulting ending of Q+R v. Q+R. Anand defended very well and drew by perpetual. But as Carlsen admitted in the press conference, he did not think he was winning in the endgame anyway.
The first game is thus drawn and some interesting observations can be drawn here. Anand is trying to score as early as game one, a stark difference from the first match where he was content with drawing games in the early stages of the match. He knows that a prolonged match is not to his advantage, being the older player.
Anand showed better preparation and might have scored against a lesser opponent. Carlsen is such a tenacious player that even when he is caught off-guard is able to find the best moves over the board.
Saturday, November 8, 2014
Carlsen-Anand starts tonight!
The "return match" between the current World Champion and challenger Anand will begin shortly. It is not really a return match (which is why it is in quotes), but Anand emerged as the challenger by winning the latest Candidates Tournament.
I am very surprised how low key this match is compared with the 2013 match. If I were not looking forward to this match to start today, I could easily overlook it. Could it be because it is held in Sochi (in Russia in case you are not familiar with this city) at quite short notice?
Anand looks like he is in top form. After winning the Candidates convincingly, he next topped Bilbao. Carlsen seems not really in his best form, but what should be worrying to Anand is that even when not at his best, Carlsen is doing very well against the best in the world. Carlsen came second in the 2014 Sinquefield Cup where Fabiano Caruana blew away the field to take first.
My personal favourite to win is Carlsen. Anand is a great player and the fact that he is facing Carlsen again attests to that. But to me, Anand is the past and Carlsen as returning champion is better for the future of chess.
I am also very pleased to learn that Peter Svidler will be doing commentary with assistance from WGM/IM Sopiko Guramishvili. GM Svidler is a very entertaining chess personality with excellent command of English. For the live video go here.
The first game will begin shortly at 8:00 PM (Malaysian time).
I am very surprised how low key this match is compared with the 2013 match. If I were not looking forward to this match to start today, I could easily overlook it. Could it be because it is held in Sochi (in Russia in case you are not familiar with this city) at quite short notice?
Anand looks like he is in top form. After winning the Candidates convincingly, he next topped Bilbao. Carlsen seems not really in his best form, but what should be worrying to Anand is that even when not at his best, Carlsen is doing very well against the best in the world. Carlsen came second in the 2014 Sinquefield Cup where Fabiano Caruana blew away the field to take first.
My personal favourite to win is Carlsen. Anand is a great player and the fact that he is facing Carlsen again attests to that. But to me, Anand is the past and Carlsen as returning champion is better for the future of chess.
I am also very pleased to learn that Peter Svidler will be doing commentary with assistance from WGM/IM Sopiko Guramishvili. GM Svidler is a very entertaining chess personality with excellent command of English. For the live video go here.
The first game will begin shortly at 8:00 PM (Malaysian time).
Wednesday, November 5, 2014
Two tie for first in World Senior
The World Senior Championship concluded in Katerini, Greece yesterday. In the 50+ event, there was a two way tie for first between GM Zurab Stura and GM Keith Arkell with 8.5 points from 11 rounds. Top seed GM John Nunn finished in sole third with 8 points.
Malaysia had two representatives in Lim Kian Hwa and Ismail Ahmad. I was supposed to be the third but I decided to pull out to concentrate on other matters. Lim Kian Hwa had the best result with 5.5 points (beating Ismail in their individual encounter) and finished in 28th position. Ismail Ahmad was in 31st position after scoring five points.
The 65+ event was keenly contested and no less than four players tied for first with 8 points. GMs Anatoly Vaisser, Yuri Balashov, Victor Kupreichik are the well known players from yester-years and they were joined by the Brazilian IM Herman Van Riemsdijk.
25 players took part in the Women's 50+ and 65+ event so they were pooled together into one tournament. Russia's Svetlana Mednikva was the overall champion with 8 points while the former World Champion Nona Gaprindashvili was second was second.
Malaysia had two representatives in Lim Kian Hwa and Ismail Ahmad. I was supposed to be the third but I decided to pull out to concentrate on other matters. Lim Kian Hwa had the best result with 5.5 points (beating Ismail in their individual encounter) and finished in 28th position. Ismail Ahmad was in 31st position after scoring five points.
The 65+ event was keenly contested and no less than four players tied for first with 8 points. GMs Anatoly Vaisser, Yuri Balashov, Victor Kupreichik are the well known players from yester-years and they were joined by the Brazilian IM Herman Van Riemsdijk.
25 players took part in the Women's 50+ and 65+ event so they were pooled together into one tournament. Russia's Svetlana Mednikva was the overall champion with 8 points while the former World Champion Nona Gaprindashvili was second was second.
Tuesday, November 4, 2014
Reminisces from the past
My regular readers would have been aware I have not been active in this blog in the last few months. Besides preparing for the Malaysian Chess Festival and other personal matters I had another project. This is a book that I was writing. The publisher's dateline was near and I had only done something like 40% of the book in the last two months I spent most of my time to complete it. More about this when the time is right.
Anyway, during my book research I was digging through my old stuff which consists of newspaper clippings, old score sheets, magazines, tournament bulletins and things like that.
I still remember the day long ago when I was first taught the game. Later a cousin told me that a game of chess could be recorded and replayed over and over. I can imagine the incredulous look on my face at the moment. Games that we played, games I won and lost were gone like fragments of a memory. But they need not be!
We went down to the bookstore to look for chess books. At that time (Penang in the early 70s) , if you wanted any book you went down to The University Book Store which had the largest collection of books on any subject. My first book was a book on the Spassky-Fischer match. From this book I learnt the chess notation using English descriptive notation which the majority of books used in this time period. So my early games were all recorded using this system. In the late 70s, I had big debates with Joseph Toh on the merits of the English against algebraic notation (he being a proponent of the latter).
From this scoresheet on the left, you can see I eventually adopted the algebraic notation. Some interesting observations from this scoresheet. The event is "Subang Parade Active Chess". Active chess is the precursor to rapid chess and I believe was mooted by Dato Tan Chin Nam. Somewhere along the line, the name was changed and it stuck.
The strange language on the score-sheet is Greek. The organizer, Christi Hon, had simply taken the score-sheets from the 1984 Thessaloniki Olympiad and changed the title and made copies.
I used to record the times taken by each player. As you can see, Chin Seng took less time than me. My final score was 5.5/6 which probably won the tournament.
Most interesting is the notation that I used. All pieces are correct except for the knight which I used to record with the letter "S". This was the period when my reference books were German ones. The German word for knight is "springer" so the knight is written with an "S" in German notation. Why did I still use the English name for the other pieces? I think it is because the letters "K" and "N" are quite similar (especially if you scribble like me), so I substituted "S" for the knight. I have since switched back to using the English "N".
Below is a scan of Quah Seng Sun's chess column in The Star about the Selangor Open tournament for 2006, one of the many newspaper clippings I used to collect.
Anyway, during my book research I was digging through my old stuff which consists of newspaper clippings, old score sheets, magazines, tournament bulletins and things like that.
We went down to the bookstore to look for chess books. At that time (Penang in the early 70s) , if you wanted any book you went down to The University Book Store which had the largest collection of books on any subject. My first book was a book on the Spassky-Fischer match. From this book I learnt the chess notation using English descriptive notation which the majority of books used in this time period. So my early games were all recorded using this system. In the late 70s, I had big debates with Joseph Toh on the merits of the English against algebraic notation (he being a proponent of the latter).From this scoresheet on the left, you can see I eventually adopted the algebraic notation. Some interesting observations from this scoresheet. The event is "Subang Parade Active Chess". Active chess is the precursor to rapid chess and I believe was mooted by Dato Tan Chin Nam. Somewhere along the line, the name was changed and it stuck.
The strange language on the score-sheet is Greek. The organizer, Christi Hon, had simply taken the score-sheets from the 1984 Thessaloniki Olympiad and changed the title and made copies.
I used to record the times taken by each player. As you can see, Chin Seng took less time than me. My final score was 5.5/6 which probably won the tournament.
Most interesting is the notation that I used. All pieces are correct except for the knight which I used to record with the letter "S". This was the period when my reference books were German ones. The German word for knight is "springer" so the knight is written with an "S" in German notation. Why did I still use the English name for the other pieces? I think it is because the letters "K" and "N" are quite similar (especially if you scribble like me), so I substituted "S" for the knight. I have since switched back to using the English "N".
Below is a scan of Quah Seng Sun's chess column in The Star about the Selangor Open tournament for 2006, one of the many newspaper clippings I used to collect.
Sunday, October 5, 2014
Japan gets first IM
Congratulations to Japan who will get its first IM , Ryosuke Nanjo. At the Presidential Board Meeting in Sochi in November, his application for the title will be tabled for approval.
Nanjo obtained his norms within the space of a month. At the Tromso Olympiad he was on first board and scored 7/11. He defeated two grandmasters in the final two rounds.
Immediately after the olympiad he flew to Riga to take part in an Open. Here he scored 5.5/9 and it was sufficient for his final norm. He only needed two norms since the olympiad norm is counted as a twenty game norm.
Incidentally, the Japanese took part in the recent Malaysian Open last month. His score of 4/5 was mediocre by comparision.
In the game below, Nanjo outplayed his grandmaster opponent.
Nanjo obtained his norms within the space of a month. At the Tromso Olympiad he was on first board and scored 7/11. He defeated two grandmasters in the final two rounds.
Immediately after the olympiad he flew to Riga to take part in an Open. Here he scored 5.5/9 and it was sufficient for his final norm. He only needed two norms since the olympiad norm is counted as a twenty game norm.
Incidentally, the Japanese took part in the recent Malaysian Open last month. His score of 4/5 was mediocre by comparision.
In the game below, Nanjo outplayed his grandmaster opponent.
Friday, September 26, 2014
5th KLK Seniors
The Malaysian Chess Festival incorporated the 5th KLK Senior Event. I managed a second placing, my third in this event.
This game in the eight round clinched the 2nd place for me. My opponent, the Singaporean IM Chan Peng Kong, was tied for first with GM Fominyh while I was half a point behind. I needed to win this position to overtake the IM and get into second position.
Here I was faced with three choices - 35...Nxe5, 35...Nxb2 or 35...b6
A: 35... Nxe5 36. Kf4 Nf7 37. Bg6 Nd6 38. Ke5 Kd7 39. b3 Ke7 Black has a extra pawn but I rejected this line as I could not be sure that white could set up a positional draw with bishop against knight. Looking back this was the best chance for the win.
B: 35... Nxb2 36. Kf4 Kd7 37. Kg5 Ke7 38. Kg6 Kf8 39. Bxb7 Nc4 Black wins the e-pawn and ends up in a similar ending as (A).
So what I choose was the worse possible choice. I might even lose if not careful.
35...b6
The idea being that my king was now free to move up the board and create threats.
36. Kf4 Kd7 37. b3!
The best chance. White traps the black knight on a3
37... Nxa3 38. Bd3 Kc6 39. Kg5 Kd5 40. Kg6 Kd4
This is the move I was banking on for the win.
41. Kxg7?
Even though I had anticipated this move on my 35th move, it still came as a shock. I had calculated that this was losing for white. Did I miss something? Was I lost?
In fact 41. Kxg7 is a mistake although it looks very appealing over the board. The white h-pawn looks impossible to stop.
White can get a draw by retreating the bishop
A) 41. Be2 Nc2 42. Kxg7 Ne3 43. Kf6 Nd5+ 44. Kg5 Kxe5 45. h4 Nf4 46. h5
Nxh5 47. Bxh5 a5 48. Kg4 Kd4 49. Bf7 e5 50. Kf3 Kd3 51. Bc4+ Kd4 52. Bb5 Kc3 =
B)Ba6 Nc2 42. Kxg7 Kxe5 43. h4 Kf4 44. Kf6 Kg4 45. Kxe6 Nd4+ 46. Kd5
Nxb3 47. Kc6 picks up the remaining black pawns.
41...Kxd3
The bishop must be taken
42. h4
It looks impossible that the white h-pawn can be stopped but like General McArthur, the black knight on a3 will "return" in time.
Now I saw two moves Nc2 or Nb5 and I was not sure which was best.
42... Nb5 ??
42... Nc2 43. h5 Ne3 44. Kf6 (44. h6 Nf5+ 45. Kg6 Nxh6 46. Kxh6 Ke4 , both white pawns are neutralized and black wins.
43. h5 Nd4 44. Kf6 Nf5 45. Kxe6 Ng7+ 46. Kd5??
White can still draw after 46. Kf7 Nxh5 47. e6 Ng3 48. Kf6 ! (48. e7?? Nf5 49. e8=Q Nd6+ forks the king and queen). The knight cannot approach except to repeat the check on h5.
46... Nxh5 47. b4 Kc3 48. b5 Kb4 49. Kd6 Kxb5 0-1
This game in the eight round clinched the 2nd place for me. My opponent, the Singaporean IM Chan Peng Kong, was tied for first with GM Fominyh while I was half a point behind. I needed to win this position to overtake the IM and get into second position.
 |
| IM Chan - IM Liew |
A: 35... Nxe5 36. Kf4 Nf7 37. Bg6 Nd6 38. Ke5 Kd7 39. b3 Ke7 Black has a extra pawn but I rejected this line as I could not be sure that white could set up a positional draw with bishop against knight. Looking back this was the best chance for the win.
B: 35... Nxb2 36. Kf4 Kd7 37. Kg5 Ke7 38. Kg6 Kf8 39. Bxb7 Nc4 Black wins the e-pawn and ends up in a similar ending as (A).
So what I choose was the worse possible choice. I might even lose if not careful.
35...b6
The idea being that my king was now free to move up the board and create threats.
36. Kf4 Kd7 37. b3!
The best chance. White traps the black knight on a3
37... Nxa3 38. Bd3 Kc6 39. Kg5 Kd5 40. Kg6 Kd4
 |
| 40....Kd4 |
41. Kxg7?
Even though I had anticipated this move on my 35th move, it still came as a shock. I had calculated that this was losing for white. Did I miss something? Was I lost?
In fact 41. Kxg7 is a mistake although it looks very appealing over the board. The white h-pawn looks impossible to stop.
White can get a draw by retreating the bishop
A) 41. Be2 Nc2 42. Kxg7 Ne3 43. Kf6 Nd5+ 44. Kg5 Kxe5 45. h4 Nf4 46. h5
Nxh5 47. Bxh5 a5 48. Kg4 Kd4 49. Bf7 e5 50. Kf3 Kd3 51. Bc4+ Kd4 52. Bb5 Kc3 =
B)Ba6 Nc2 42. Kxg7 Kxe5 43. h4 Kf4 44. Kf6 Kg4 45. Kxe6 Nd4+ 46. Kd5
Nxb3 47. Kc6 picks up the remaining black pawns.
41...Kxd3
The bishop must be taken
42. h4
It looks impossible that the white h-pawn can be stopped but like General McArthur, the black knight on a3 will "return" in time.
Now I saw two moves Nc2 or Nb5 and I was not sure which was best.
42... Nb5 ??
42... Nc2 43. h5 Ne3 44. Kf6 (44. h6 Nf5+ 45. Kg6 Nxh6 46. Kxh6 Ke4 , both white pawns are neutralized and black wins.
43. h5 Nd4 44. Kf6 Nf5 45. Kxe6 Ng7+ 46. Kd5??
White can still draw after 46. Kf7 Nxh5 47. e6 Ng3 48. Kf6 ! (48. e7?? Nf5 49. e8=Q Nd6+ forks the king and queen). The knight cannot approach except to repeat the check on h5.
46... Nxh5 47. b4 Kc3 48. b5 Kb4 49. Kd6 Kxb5 0-1
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
100 rating point in one tournament
I never thought it is possible to gain a hundred points in a single tournament. But I was pleasantly surprised to see one of our local players achieve this at the Malaysian Chess Festival that concluded on Sunday.
Nithya is only rated 1710 yet she choose to enter the tougher Open section instead of the Challengers. She played five titled players , drawing a grandmaster! Though she lost three of her last four games it was still an amazing result. Check out the screen shot below.
This rating gain should put her in the Malaysian women's top ten on the next FIDE list. Well done.
Nithya is only rated 1710 yet she choose to enter the tougher Open section instead of the Challengers. She played five titled players , drawing a grandmaster! Though she lost three of her last four games it was still an amazing result. Check out the screen shot below.
This rating gain should put her in the Malaysian women's top ten on the next FIDE list. Well done.
Sunday, September 7, 2014
Malaysian Chess Festival : Important Announcement
CLOSING OF REGISTRATION FOR MALAYSIAN CHESS FESTIVAL 2014
THE ORGANIZERS WILL NOT ACCEPT ANY MORE REGISTRATION FOR
THE:
34th ASTRO MERDEKA RAPID OPEN TEAM CHESS
CHAMPIONSHIP (12 & 13th Sep)
AND 5th SWENSEN’S OPEN RAPID AGE-GROUP
CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP (14th Sep)
DUE TO SPACE
CONSTRAINTS. - WE JUST DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH SPACE!
REGISTRATION
FOR THE
11th IGB DATO’ ARTHUR TAN INTERNATIONAL
OPEN CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP
5th KLK TAN SRI LEE LOY SENG SENIORS CHESS
CHAMPIONSHIP
BUKIT KIARA PROPERTIES MALAYSIA CHESS CHALLENGE
WILL ONLY BE
ACCEPTED ON PAYMENT OF LATE REGISTRATION FEE!
REGISTRATION
DETAILS FOR THE ASTRO MERDEKA AND SWENSEN WILL BE POSTED ONLINE ON TUESDAY 09 SEPT
REGISTRATION DETAILS FOR THE OTHER EVENTS WILL BE
POSTED ONLINE ON THURSDAY 11 SEPT
Wednesday, August 27, 2014
Indian sensation leads Abu Dhabi Masters
The Masters section of the Abu Dhabi Festival is in its eight round. A young Indian IM is leading the field which includes 32 grandmasters. IM Murali Karthekeyan rated at 2462 has six points after drawing two games and winning five beating four grandmasters in a row. His current performance is 2830!
In round six, he won a game against a strong grandmaster with some neat tactics.
The Chinese super GM Wang Hao is the top seed but is not doing well with only five points.
In round six, he won a game against a strong grandmaster with some neat tactics.
The Chinese super GM Wang Hao is the top seed but is not doing well with only five points.
Saturday, August 16, 2014
Susan Polgar interviews Olympiad winners
Here is an press conference held by Susan Polgar for the Open winners. Good questions being posed by reporters and our players and officials should take note of the answers and comments from the Chinese team , we could learn something.
Friday, August 15, 2014
Tromso Olympiad Final Results
The Tromso Olympiad will be remembered for China's first ever gold and the failure of Russia, Ukraine and Armenia to win any medals.
In the Open, the silver went to Hungary on tie-break. A great send-off for GM Judit Polgar who had just announce her retirement. A deserving final olympiad for a great player and classy lady. The big surprise was India taking the bronze, again on tie-break ahead of Russia. A great success for the Indians who are playing without their best player, Anand. The team performed fantastically and only lost two games. Their fourth board , GMAdhiban played every game without loss.
In the Women Olympiad, Russia took gold ahead of China (silver) and Ukraine (bronze).
Board Prizes
Board prizes are awarded to the players with the highest performance on their boards. The most closely watched is the Open Board 1 which was won by Veselin Topalov, even after losing to Vladimir Kramnik.
Note China's Yu Yangyi performance on board three, an unbelievable 2912!
Malaysian results
Both Malaysian team lost all games in the final round, the men's to Norway and our women's to Australia. This was a tragedy for our girls as they were leading Category "C" before the final round. A draw would still have given them the bronze but the Australians were too strong. The only two consolations was Azhar Puteri Rifqah Fahada gaining the WFM and WCM norms with her 6/9 score and the team finished in 54th position out of a seeding of 78th.
The men's team finished in 72nd position better than the seeding of 103rd. A good result but still, a bit of a distance from the previous Istanbul olympiad where we finished in 64th position.
In the Open, the silver went to Hungary on tie-break. A great send-off for GM Judit Polgar who had just announce her retirement. A deserving final olympiad for a great player and classy lady. The big surprise was India taking the bronze, again on tie-break ahead of Russia. A great success for the Indians who are playing without their best player, Anand. The team performed fantastically and only lost two games. Their fourth board , GMAdhiban played every game without loss.
Board prizes are awarded to the players with the highest performance on their boards. The most closely watched is the Open Board 1 which was won by Veselin Topalov, even after losing to Vladimir Kramnik.
Note China's Yu Yangyi performance on board three, an unbelievable 2912!
 |
| Open Board Prize Winners |
 |
| Women Board Prize Winners |
Malaysian results
Both Malaysian team lost all games in the final round, the men's to Norway and our women's to Australia. This was a tragedy for our girls as they were leading Category "C" before the final round. A draw would still have given them the bronze but the Australians were too strong. The only two consolations was Azhar Puteri Rifqah Fahada gaining the WFM and WCM norms with her 6/9 score and the team finished in 54th position out of a seeding of 78th.
The men's team finished in 72nd position better than the seeding of 103rd. A good result but still, a bit of a distance from the previous Istanbul olympiad where we finished in 64th position.
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