Invitation from DAT

DAT Chess Center is issuing an open invitation to high tea in celebration of Yeoh Li Tian's IM title. There will also be a blitz event at the venue.

Venue: DAT Chess Center F-03A-9 Starparc Point, Jalan Taman Ibu Kota, 533000 Kuala Lumpur
Date: 7th January 2017
Time: 4:30 PM

All are welcome!

GACC Chess Championships

The GACC chess championship returns for the 21st Edition. There are three events
- Open Age Group for Under 8/10/12/14/16/18
- Open and Team
- Inter -Varsity

The registration for Inter-Varsity is already closed. Registrations for the other two events  are open until 10th Jan 2017. See below for details.

Play chess this New Year

Congratulations IM Yeoh Li Tian!

Yeoh Li Tian is currently playing in the 2016 Australasian Masters Tournament in Australia. He now has 7 points, the required number for his final IM norm. In the penultimate round, he drew with FM Dusan Stojic to tally six wins and two draws and not losing any game.

His close competitor GM Daryl Johansen lost to FM Liu Xiangyi and both have six points trailing Li Tian by one point. Johansen has to beat Li Tian in the final round tomorrow to have a mathematical chance of winning the tournament. Any other result will end with Li Tian winning his first international.

One wonders what is next in store. Will he continue with his winning streak to go for a GM title? Will the newly elected Malaysian Chess Federation officials extend some help be it financial or in other ways?

Yeoh Li Tian closing in on IM title

Yeoh Li Tian currently playing in the 2016 Australasian Masters Tournament in Australia is closing in on his third (some say fourth) IM norm. He has 6.5 points from seven games, winning six and drawing one. He needs just another half point from the remaining two games.

His score also means he is leading the tournament with his closest competitor half point behind. They are scheduled to meet in the last round possibly determining who will be the champion.

Yeoh Li Tian top seeded at 2016 Australasian Masters IM Norm Tournament

Yeoh Li Tian is the top seed at the 2016 Australasian Masters IM Norm Tournament. This is his second tournament in Australia after the Lidums Young Masters where he gained the IM norm. This tournament could be his try for the final norm for the IM title.

So far, only one round has been played. Li Tian drew against FM Liu Xiangyi from Singapore.

Yeoh Li Tian close to 2nd norm

Malaysian FM Yeoh Li Tian is playing in Australia at the Lidums Young Masters in Adelaide. This is a ten player round robin. After seven rounds, Li Tian has scored 4.5 points and is tied for 2nd placing. He needs another one point from the remaining two games to achieve his 2nd IM Norm.

This is quite a strong tournament with one GM and four IMs. The remaining are FMs with one exception, Patrick Gong who is also the lowest rated. Li Tian will play IM James Morris in the current round and Patrick Gong in the final.

The rankings after round 7:

Latest update 1:15 PM 
No sooner have I just posted this and results came in. Yeoh Li Tian beats IM James Morris and shares joint lead with IM Bobby Cheng!

1st Kimma Chess Tournament announcement

The 1st Kimma Chess Tournament is scheduled for 5th February 2017. The champion will receive the YB Senator Datuk Seri Syed Ibrahim Kader Trophy. This event is managed by DAT Chess Centre.

Rounds: 7
Time control: 25 minutes to finish
Venue: Dewan Serbaguna Pusat Perdagangan PT 80 DBKL,  Lorong Bunus 4,
Masjid India, 50050 KUALA LUMPUR (Belakang Haniffa Departmental Store)
Contact: Abd Hamid Majid (019 3158098) / Siraj (010 5499916) / Fadli (014 2312370)
Prizes: There are prizes for Open, Under 18 and Under 12 with the winner of the Open receiving a generous RM1000.

For the prospectus go to www.kimmachess.blogspot.my or Click here.

Penang wins 2016 Inter-state Championship

The 2016 Inter-State Chess Championship was held at M.S. Garden Hotel in Kuantan, Pahang from 25th-28th November. The Open tournament had 14 teams and played a six round Swiss while the Womens had only six teams and a round-robin replaced the Swiss.

This tournament has always been hotly contested between Selangor  (FM Nicholas Chan, FM Lim Zhuo Ren, IM Jimmy Liew, Marcus Chan and NM Kamal Abduallah) and Penang (Looi Xin Hao, FM Wong Yinn Loong, IM Ooi Zhi Yang, Tan Khai Boon and NM Ng Tze Han). This time, the Kuala Lumpur Chess Association (Lye Lik Zang, IM Mas Hafizul, Zaidan  Zulkipli, CM Ng Jen Sheng and, WFM Tan Li Ting) secured the services of IM Mas Hafizul and they were seen as possible contenders. In a bizarre move, they put youngster Lye Lik Zang on board one instead of IM Mas and I believe this to be a mistake which eventually put them out of contention. If Lye Lik Zang was on third or fourth board, K.L. would have a fighting chance for the championship.

In round 3 , Kuala Lumpur lost narrowly to Selangor.

The match between Penang and Selangor was in round 4 and this was clearly going to decide the championship. Nicholas Chan lost a winning game to Looi Xin Hao while I was caught in the opening by new IM Ooi Zhi Yang. The other two boards were losing for Selangor as well but the Penang players surprised by offering draws to secure the match.

Kuala Lumpur was paired with Penang in the fifth round and they had to win to get back into contention for the championship. In order to move IM Mas to first board they had to rest Lye Lik Zang. IM Mas was held to a draw and they had to be satisfied with a 2-2 result.

In the womens event, it was also clear that Selangor and Penang will be competing for the championship. The two met in round four and the former beat the latter narrowly to decide the first place.

The final crosstable -

33rd National Age Group: Malaysians performance

The  33rd National Age Group Championships 2016 from 19th to 22th November organized by Singapore Chess Federation(SCF) saw a number of Malaysian participants. Below are the results of the players.

The best performer is Cheah Kah Hoe who came 2nd in the Under 12 Open. Soo Sheng Yin took 3rd placing in the Girls Under-10.

33rd National Age Group in Singapore

455 players from 9 countries are pitting their wits in the 33rd National Age Group Championships 2016 from 19th to 22th November organized by Singapore Chess Federation(SCF).
The event takes place at Bartley Secondary School and sponsored by the QCD Group.
A total of 8 major age group titles are up for grabs ranging from the Under 8 to the Under 20 age categories.

The  33rd National Age Group Championships 2016 is now on-going from 19th to 22th November 2016. Organized by the  Singapore Chess Federation(SCF) and held at Bartley Secondary School. The QCD Group is sponsoring the event. A total of  8 major age group titles from the Under 8 to the Under 20 age categories are being contested.

I found it rather interesting that the championship is not limited to Singaporeans but open to all nationalities. There are reportedly 455 players from 9 countries. Malaysia has 20 players in all the categories. The best performers after three rounds are Emir Rasyid in the Under-10, Cheah Kah Hoe in Under 12 and Soo Sheng Yin in the Girls Under 10. All three have full points of 3/3.

2016 National Scholastics Announced

The 2016 National Scholastics will be held from 3-4 December 2016 at Putrajaya. More details below

VENUE: Sekolah Sultan Alam Shah, presint 1, Putrajaya

ORGANISER: Malaysian Chess Federation (MCF)
Co-Organise : Sekolah Sultan Alam Shah Putrajaya ( SGE)
: Institut Kemajuan Islam Antarabangsa Malaysia (IKIAM)
: Perbadanan Putrajaya
: Majlis Belia Kawasan Putrajaya

SPONSOR: Pihak Berkuasa Kemajuan Pekebun Kecil perusahaan Getah (RISDA)

FORMAT: 25 mins + 10s (9 Rounds)

Contact: En. Sophian 011 3950 5981 ( nationalscholastic@malaysiachess.com )

Entry Fees : RM 50

Payment: Persekutuan Catur Malaysia
CIMB PWTC Current Account: 8000649725

There are several age categories: Open U09, U11, U13, U15, U17 (+Best Girls). Medals and cash prizes are awarded to the 1st-10th placing and for Best Girl in each category.

Please note that the closing date is 29th November 2016. This is part of the Selection Policy for the Asian Schools or World Schools Championships for 2017.

To find out more, click here

A lesson in attack

A training game against one of my students. The student gives the teacher a lesson in attacking.

I am playing black against this young boy.

16. a5

A positional move from a young student. I had only expected him to defend the d-pawn.

16...Nxd4 ?!

Already a mistake according to the computer. 16... Nxe3 17. Qxe3 was better
for white according to him but I begged to differ. 

17. Bxa6 Bxa6 18. Bxd4 O-O 19. Bxg7 Kxg7 20. Qd4+ f6

20... e5! 21. fxe5 Bxf1 22. Ng4 c5 (22... Be2 23. e6+ f6 24. exd7 Bxg4?  25. Nxf6 Rxf6 26. axb6 surprisingly leaves black helpless. 23. Qe3 g5 24. Kxf1 Black stands better although this was
difficult to evaluate over the board. 

21. Rd1 Rf7 22. Nd6

This looked attractive although I was more worried of (22. axb6 Qxb6 23. Qxb6 Nxb6 24.
Rda1 Bb7 25. Rxa8 Bxa8 26. Ra6 Rb7 27. Nc5 Rb8 28. Ra7+ winning

 22... Re7 23. Ng4 Rf8 24. Rg3

Very unpleasant position for black after this.

24... Kh7 25. f5! exf5 26. Nxh6 !! f4

26... Kxh6 27. Nxf5+Kh7 28. Qh4+ Kg8 29. Rxg6+ Kf7 30. Rg7+ Ke8 31. Rxe7+ Kd8 32. Qh7 Bc8 33. Qg7 is also hopeless. 

27. Nhf5 fxg3

27... Re5 28. Qxf4 Rxf5 29. Qxf5 ! pointed out by white afterwards.

28.Qh4+ Kg8 29. Nxe7+ Kg7 30. Qxg3 Ne5 31. Ndf5+

31. Nxg6 would have ended it too.

31... Kf7 32. Nxg6 1-0

French Defence: Positional Understanding

IM Jimmy Liew is one of Malaysia's foremost expert on the French Defense. He will be talking about postional understanding, pawn structures, good/bad squares etcs. Seats are limited. Kindly confirm early.

Date: 13/11/2016
Time: 11am - 1pm
Venue: DATCC, F-3A-09 Starparc Point, Jalan Taman Ibu Kota, Taman Danau Kota, Setapak, K.L.
Fee: RM30 per person
Trainer: IM Jimmy Liew Topic: French Defense: Positional understanding.


Please bring your own chess set, notebook & chess clock (if available)

Chess Openings Master Class by WKCA

Opening Series

White Knight Chess Academy is pleased to present our Explore the Chess Openings series of master classes conducted by Malaysia’s first International Master Jimmy Liew and International Master Mok Tze Meng.

The structure of the class will be a lecture on a specific opening by an expert in that opening. Participants then take part in a clock simul followed by a discussion of selected games from the simul. This ensures that you learn specific lines to combat against white and get practical game experience against a strong player.


The French Defence

The first class will focus on the French Defence which is considered one of the more solid black defenses to the king pawn opening. The class is conducted by IM Jimmy Liew who has been using this defence from the beginning of his chess career. Participants will learn the most common white replies and Jimmy will demonstrate his lines of play against each one , refined with over 40 years of experience and 700 games in this opening.

Date and Venue

6th November 2016  (Sunday) 2 PM – 6 PM at Saujana Villa, Jalan Prima Saujana, Prima Saujana, Selangor. More details will be given on registeration.

Fee: RM300 per participant (first 10 participants will receive a complimentary autographed copy of Jimmy’s book The Veresov, Move by Move)

Lim Zhuo Ren makes IM norm

FM Lim Zhuo Ren has made a IM norm (his second) at the Millionaire Chess in Atlantic City, USA. He scored 5/9 against strong opposition. Here are a selection of his games published with his permission. All notes are by Zhuo Ren.

In the second round LZR draws with a strong Indian GM.

LZR dismantles a 2420 rated opponent

Beating another 2400 player in the fourth round.

Chess Camp by Baku Olympians

The Malaysian Chess Federation announces the Malaysia Olympiad Chess Camp open to all. The dates are 26-28 August 2016 (Friday to Sunday).

Venue is at :

Sekolah Kebangsaan Seri Hartamas,  
Taman Sri Hartamas,  
50480, Kuala Lumpur

The 3 days Camp is designed for chess players of all strengths and levels of experience, who want to improve their game and be trained by the Olympians. We will divide our campers into groups according to level and ability.

There are three levels and the costs are as follows:

CAMP I  is for Intermediate   (Prepare for Competition)         RM 240.00
CAMP II is  Developmental  (Excelling)           RM 240.00
CAMP III  is  SUPERCAMP     (Advanced Level)           RM 300.00  

For more information and registration download the form at https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BygkqsNsEJmdN1FaVkVPQVB5dGM/view?usp=sharing

Malaysia's team to the Baku Chess Olympiad

The above is the list of the official team members (not in board order) of our Open and Women's Olympiad Team Championship which will be held in Baku, Azerbaizan.

From the men's team IM Jimmy Liew, FM Ng Tze Han and Sumant Subramaniam qualified from the Malaysian Masters (Men). IM Mok Tze Meng was the Presidential pick while Kamal Abdullah substituted for IM Mas who declined his place.

For the women's team , Alia, Li Ting, Najiha and Rifqah were the qualifiers while Nabila was the Presidential choice.

The team are now under-going training on weekends. More info are available here if you wish to join in the training.

2016 Malaysian Chess Festival is on

There were some signs that this year the Malaysian Chess Festival could be called off. Luckily for chess players and lovers, DAT Chess Centre has announced this festival will continue for 2016. The bad news is that the festival dates clash with the 2016 Baku Chess Olympiad in Azerbaizan making it impossible for those going to the biggest event in chess to take part in the Chess Festival.

The Festival starts on the 9th September till 19th September with events catering to the young and old. They are the Malaysian Open,  Astro Merdeka Team, IGB Seniors ,Malaysia Chess Challenge, Svensen Age Group and Malaysia Day Individual Rapid. This year a new event joins the line-up, the Datin Yee Wai Fong Rapid Team Championship. This new event is a rapid team tournament for Under-12 players only.

Entry forms are now available for download at the DAT Chess Centre web site

Analyzing Masters games

"Better to light a candle than curse the darkness"

After each tournament it is important to go through all your games. I cultivated this habit from very early in my career. You should not only analyze the variations but draw some conclusions:

- How did the opening go for you? Do you need to play another line or even switch to a different opening?
- Does your opening against a particular opponent work (not the result)? Do you need to prepare a different opening/variation for him/her?
- What errors were made? Why did you make such an error? You need to be honest with yourself to avoid succumbing to the same mistakes in future.
- What did you miss during the game? It is easy after the game to analyze with an engine at your side. The engine sees everything especially the tactics and you might be convinced that you saw the same lines as the engine during the game. Do not fool youself. It is very difficult to admit that you missed stuff. Better to understand why.

Some of my games from the recent 2016 Malaysian Masters -

Jimmy Liew-Andin Faizal

Black has just played 32...g5. I was thinking why he did not just resign since I am winning the bishop on d8.  Without thought I played

33. Rdxd8?? Qf6+

Black saves his piece! Instead of being a rook up, I ended in a queen ending  (which I still won since I was two pawns up).  I did not learn my lesson as can be seen in the next game.

Mas Hafizul-Jimmy Liew

Black has a crushing attack just by transferring the rook to the g-file. By this time I was short of time and calculated badly. My original intention was 28...Re5 29. Re2 Rg5+ 30. Rg2 Rxg2 31. Qxg2 Qxe3+ with three pawns for the piece. Won, but needs a lot of technique. An indication of how badly I calculated in time trouble was the line after 30 Rg2 black wins easily with 30...Qh2+

28....Bf4 29. Nc2 Bg3 30. Rf1 Re5 31. Qg2 

I was under the impression that 31...Bh2+ was won after 32 Qxh2 Rg5+ 33 Kh1 Qxf1+ but now I saw 32 Kh1 which I was not expecting. I rejected this line which was a mistake because after 32....Qh4 33 Qxh2 Qe4+ 34 Qg2 (34 Kg1 Rg5+) Rh5+ 35 Kg1 Rg5 36 Qxg5 fxg5 37 Nbd4 it is still not clear white is winning.

I continued to play poorly missing my best chances and Black won easily.

Jimmy Liew-Ng Jen Sheng

28 g5! e6

The only chance for Black. Before going into the variation I had calculated 29. d5 which wins rather easily as Black cannot play 29...f5 30 dxe6 wins a piece. But with the position on the board I thought I spotted an "easier" win.

29. Rd8 Rc7 30 Be2 f5 31. Bb5 

Again I was wondering why Black did not resign since he will be down a piece soon.

31...Kf7 32. Rxd7+ Rxd7 33. Bxd7 Be7 

I had not seen this move which means I was just getting too complacent. The bishop on h6 is trapped but surely a piece is still a piece. And with this in mind I played the worse possible move.

34. f4?? d5!

Now the win is very problematic and I doubt it is even possible. I sacrificed the bishop on h6 for two pawns and even blundered a whole pawn away to reach an opposite color bishop ending which was drawn.

Sumant Subramaniam - Jimmy Liew

I was planning to play 28....Rh7 which "wins" along the open h-file. Good thing I learned a lesson from the previous games and stopped long enough to spot my rook on e8 hanging! I was this close to giving away a whole point.

28....Kg7 29. Qh1?? Rh8 30. Nh2 g4 31. Bd5 Ng5 0-1

The threat of Ng5-h3+ decides.

Malaysian Masters Update

Sumant Subramaniam is the new Malaysia Masters Champion. He scored a massive seven wins and two draws losing only to me. IM Mas had a solid result with no losses to take second. I was third as I had lost to Mas in our individual encounter. Ng Tze Han was a clear fourth placing.

The first four will represent Malaysia in the Men's Olympiad in September in Baku. The fifth member of the team is not known yet as it is up to the MCF President to decide.

In the Women's event, eight rounds have been played.

Tan Li Ting and Alia are already sure of their placing in the top four. Najiha and Puteri Rifqah are a half point behind. But more importantly both Rosamund and Nithyalakshmi have a possibility to catch up even though they are currently one point behind.

The key pairing for the final round is Puteri Rifqah vs Rosamund. If the latter wins, she takes the fourth placing by tie-break.

If Nithyalakshmi beats Alia Bakri  than she will have the same points as the above two players (assuming Rosamund wins). However, Nithya has already lost to Rosamund so it will be immaterial. Either Rosamund or Puteri will be fourth.

The other key pairing is Najiha against Li Ting. I think this is likely to end in a draw as both will qualify to top four.

The final round will start at 9:00 AM tomorrow at DAT Chess Center in Setapak.

NCC 2016 Playoff Round 5 Games

NCC 2016 Playoff Final Results

NCC 2016 Playoff Round 4 games

NCC 2016 Playoff Round 4

Men Round 4 results

Faizal Andin  drew Lye Lik Zang  

Awang Mohd Syafie lost to Fong Yit San 

Kabir Singh bye

Four players still have the chance to tie for second at the minimum. The only player who is out of contention is Awang Mohd Syafie but he could spoil things for Kabir by beating him in the last round.

Women Round 4 results

Tan Li Ting beat Puteri Rifqah who will have to win the next round to go to tie-breaks. 

NCC 2016 Playoff Round 3

Round 3 results

Lye Lik Zang beat Awang Mohd Syafie

Fong Yit San lost to Kabir Singh

Faizal Andin bye

Lik Zang came back into contention with a win after Awang Mohd Syafie made an incomprehensible error and resigned immediately. At the end, after 23...Nxd5 24 Qxd5+ Kh7 25. h6 will force resignation. He could still save himself after 21... Qe6 22. Qb3 Rd8 23. e4 Nxd4 24.Bxd5 Rxd5 25. Qxd5 Qxd5 26. exd5 Nc2+ 27. Ke2 Nxa1 28. Rxa1 Rxh5

The Women's playoff starts tomorrow between Tan Li Ting and Puteri Rifqah. They are playing for the final spot in the National Squad. The other two that already qualified from the NCC are Nur Nabila and Rosamund Koo.

Standings

Both Kabir and Lik Zang have not taken their bye yet so they have only one game left. Theoretically Yit Sand and Faizal Andin can catch up and tie for one or both of the two top spots.

NCC 2016 Playoffs

The playoffs for the National Chess Championship of 2016 will be played from today till Sunday 17th April.  For the open there are five competitors

1. Awang Mohd Syafie Mohd Kifflee

2. Faizal Andin

3. Fong Yit San

4. Kabir Singh Ajeet Singh

5. Lye Lik Zang

These five players will play a 4 round tournament with a bye each.

In the Womens section, there are only two competitors and they are Tan Li Ting and Puteri Rifqah. They will play two games against each other on Sunday 17th April.

Round 1

Lye Lik Zang lost to Fong Yit San 

Faizal Andin drew with Kabir Singh

The first round of the Open playoff saw all four players in fighting mood. Both were exciting game with both black players running very short of time which had a bearing on the results.

Faizal Andin opened with 1 a3 and quickly got into a lost position. In time trouble (he had around two minutes although with a 30 second increment), Kabir did not play the best continuation. Faizal then refused a repetition, banking on his opponent's shortage of time. Brave but risky as he over-pressed and soon got into a lost position again. Kabir missed win after win and eventually a draw was reached by perpetual check.

In the other game, Fong Yit San sacrificed a pawn for active play. He followed it up with a second pawn sacrifice. Lik Zang did not react correctly and the black pieces activity was too much.

The second round started early today at 9:00 AM. Surprisingly it was over in just an hour and fifteen minutes with both games drawn. The third round will start at 3:00 PM.

Round 2
Kabir Sing drew with Lye Lik Zang
Awang Mohd Syafie drew with Faizal Andin