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