Showing posts with label 2012 Istanbul Olympiad. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2012 Istanbul Olympiad. Show all posts
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Captain's report
Now that the Olympiad is over, I can tell the story as a member and captain of the team. Is it not better to hear everything from someone from the inside and has all the facts?
Board order
Some trouble-maker claimed the board order was arranged for my benefit and tried to "prove" it with outlandish claims and contrived "circumstantial evidence". Nothing is further from the truth. From the start Yee Weng asked for the possibility that he be given the chance to try for the GM norm. By ratings, the board order should be IM Mok, IM Jimmy, IM Yee Weng. Therefore we (Mok, Gregory and myself) moved Yee Weng up to second board leaving myself on third. I decided to move Li Tian up to give him a shot at the IM norm. This was my decision as captain and Greg accepted it. Thus the board order became IM Mok, IM Yee Weng, Yeoh Li Tian , IM Jimmy and Zhuo Ren.
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
At the Istanbul Olympiad
At the 2012 Istanbul Olympiad, we had one of the more successfuly outings in many years.
Seeded 86th and finished 64th ahead of Myanmar, Indonesia and Thailand. We finished on same match point as Singapore but tie-breaks were superior for the Singaporeans.
For the first time in the men's participation, we finally had a norm result. Lim Zhuo Ren brings home his FM title plus a 13 game IM norm. The women's team also gained, WFM for Camilia and WCM for Tan Li Ting.
The women's team performed above their seeding to finish in 61st position. The tireless efforts of their coach, Peter Long no doubt contributed to their success. Read about it here
Next post I will write more details of our campaign at this olympiad.
Seeded 86th and finished 64th ahead of Myanmar, Indonesia and Thailand. We finished on same match point as Singapore but tie-breaks were superior for the Singaporeans.
For the first time in the men's participation, we finally had a norm result. Lim Zhuo Ren brings home his FM title plus a 13 game IM norm. The women's team also gained, WFM for Camilia and WCM for Tan Li Ting.
The women's team performed above their seeding to finish in 61st position. The tireless efforts of their coach, Peter Long no doubt contributed to their success. Read about it here
Next post I will write more details of our campaign at this olympiad.
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Round 11 Results
Malaysian men beat Thailand 3-1. Congrats to Zhuo Ren who won to make his first IM norm. He also collects the FIDE Master title for scoring 2/3rd of the total points.
Our girls team lost 1-3 to Estonia. A draw would have given them the Category D prize. The consolation was Camilia drew her game to gain the WFM title. Earlier, Tan Li Ting had made a CM title so the girls team comes home with two new titles.
In the Open section, joint leader China lost badly to Ukraine thus they finish out of medal contention. The medal winners are Russia, Armenia and Ukraine with Ukraine taking bronze while Armenia is the likely champion on tie-breaks and Russia taking the silver.
In the women section, Russia takes gold, China the silver and Ukraine the bronze.
Our girls team lost 1-3 to Estonia. A draw would have given them the Category D prize. The consolation was Camilia drew her game to gain the WFM title. Earlier, Tan Li Ting had made a CM title so the girls team comes home with two new titles.
In the Open section, joint leader China lost badly to Ukraine thus they finish out of medal contention. The medal winners are Russia, Armenia and Ukraine with Ukraine taking bronze while Armenia is the likely champion on tie-breaks and Russia taking the silver.
In the women section, Russia takes gold, China the silver and Ukraine the bronze.
Final round about to start
The 11th and final round of the Istanbul Chess Olympiad will start in another 1.5 hours.
Both Malaysia's Men and Women team are doing well. The women are leading Group D with Turkey2016 team. The Turkish team is playing Vietnam and I predict they will lose. This means that our girls can win Group D with a draw with Estonia. The Estonians have two WIM on the first two boards so our girls have their work cut out for them. Camilia Joharia is aiming for WFM title by drawing her last game.
We are paired with the Thai team. On paper this should be a win for us. Lim Zhuo Ren is gunning for a IM norm. The regulations for norms are quite vague and can lead to different interpretations. If he is allowed to raise one of his opponents rating to the IM rating floor than a draw might suffice. To be on the safe side, he has been told to win.
The championship will be decided in this round as well. The three leaders, China, Russia and Armenia have 17 match points just one point ahead of Ukraine. Ukraine have to beat China on top table to finish with a medal. Armenia plays Hungary and Russia plays Germany.
Russia should win their match and its up to China and Armenia to catch up and decide the medals on tie-breaks. A win for China should give them the trophy as their tie-breaks is the highest amongst the three leaders.
Both Malaysia's Men and Women team are doing well. The women are leading Group D with Turkey2016 team. The Turkish team is playing Vietnam and I predict they will lose. This means that our girls can win Group D with a draw with Estonia. The Estonians have two WIM on the first two boards so our girls have their work cut out for them. Camilia Joharia is aiming for WFM title by drawing her last game.
We are paired with the Thai team. On paper this should be a win for us. Lim Zhuo Ren is gunning for a IM norm. The regulations for norms are quite vague and can lead to different interpretations. If he is allowed to raise one of his opponents rating to the IM rating floor than a draw might suffice. To be on the safe side, he has been told to win.
The championship will be decided in this round as well. The three leaders, China, Russia and Armenia have 17 match points just one point ahead of Ukraine. Ukraine have to beat China on top table to finish with a medal. Armenia plays Hungary and Russia plays Germany.
Russia should win their match and its up to China and Armenia to catch up and decide the medals on tie-breaks. A win for China should give them the trophy as their tie-breaks is the highest amongst the three leaders.
Saturday, September 8, 2012
Malaysia round ten results
Men's Team
Malaysia's men's team bounced back from 9th round defeats to score a 3-1 victory over Japan. In round nine we were defeated by Columbia 1.5-2.5
Lim Zhuo Ren was rested today to avoid meeting a lower rated opponent. Zhuo Ren needs another draw from a 2300 player to make his first ever IM norm! Currently he has already scored the 66.67% number of points and assured of the FIDE Master title.
We were better on all boards at one stage. Yee Weng decided to draw to safeguard our match win after his advantage slipped away. Li Tian had an exchange up plus a passed pawn on the seventh rank. Still he decided not to press the win so the final result was two wins and two draws in our favour. Hopefully this result will ensure that we meet a strong team for Zhuo Ren to realise his IM norm hope.
Women's team
Our girls also recovered from a disastrous 4-0 loss to the Netherlands in round nine. In the tenth round, they were paired with the stronger Philippines team. Their score of 2-2 was a success though this could have been a 2.5-1.5 win if Najiha had converted an ending with an extra piece
Interestingly both Malaysia and Philippines were leading their group before this round. With this draw, Philippines would have lost their lead in Group C. Malaysia still have a chance to top Group D with a final round win.
Tomorrow will be a rest day. The final round starts earlier on 9th September at 11:00 A.M local time (4 PM in Malaysia).
Malaysia's men's team bounced back from 9th round defeats to score a 3-1 victory over Japan. In round nine we were defeated by Columbia 1.5-2.5
Lim Zhuo Ren was rested today to avoid meeting a lower rated opponent. Zhuo Ren needs another draw from a 2300 player to make his first ever IM norm! Currently he has already scored the 66.67% number of points and assured of the FIDE Master title.
We were better on all boards at one stage. Yee Weng decided to draw to safeguard our match win after his advantage slipped away. Li Tian had an exchange up plus a passed pawn on the seventh rank. Still he decided not to press the win so the final result was two wins and two draws in our favour. Hopefully this result will ensure that we meet a strong team for Zhuo Ren to realise his IM norm hope.
Women's team
Our girls also recovered from a disastrous 4-0 loss to the Netherlands in round nine. In the tenth round, they were paired with the stronger Philippines team. Their score of 2-2 was a success though this could have been a 2.5-1.5 win if Najiha had converted an ending with an extra piece
Interestingly both Malaysia and Philippines were leading their group before this round. With this draw, Philippines would have lost their lead in Group C. Malaysia still have a chance to top Group D with a final round win.
Tomorrow will be a rest day. The final round starts earlier on 9th September at 11:00 A.M local time (4 PM in Malaysia).
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Double victory in Round 8
The Malaysian team scored a first double victory in Round 8. The Men's team defeated Libya 3.5-0.5 while the Ladies upset Bosnia & Herzegovina 3-1.
On paper, Bosnia & Herzegovina with a WIM and two WFM looked like white washing our girls. But Camilia won quickly while the first three boards were still at it when I came over after my game. Najiha was already up a rook though her WIM opponent still did not resign. Nabila was an exchange and pawn down and her game looked hopeless. Li Ting had an edge in a knight ending but looked like heading for a draw. So we were expecting a 2.5 - 1.5 win.
We were all pleasantly shocked when we received news that Nabila had managed a draw and the final result of 3-1.
The girls continue to lead Group D after this with a one point lead. They will try to maintain the momentum when they meet The Netherlands in the next round. Men's team meets a strong Columbia line-up.
Later that night, Camilia and Li Ting celebrated their birthdays with a cake and presents
In the men's team, IM Lim Yee Weng scored very quickly utilising a neat tactical idea.
20. Bf6! gxf6 21.Rg3+ Kh8 22. Qf4 Kh7
It seems like black has everything covered . 23.Qe4+ f5 24. Qh4 Rg8 25. Rh3 Rg6. But the sting is in the tail.
23. Rg7+!! Kxg7 24. exf6+ winning the black queen.
Black is close to drawing despite white's advanced a-pawn due to the exposed white king. Zhuo Ren thought a long time and came up with a final trick.
40. g5+ Kxg5 41. Qe7+ Kh5 42. Qh7+ Kg5 43. Qh3 Qe2+ 44. Kg1 Qe1+ 45. Kh2 Kf6
Black saw the trick 45...Qf2+?? 46. Qg2+ exchanging queens.
46. Qe6+ Kg5??
But he fails to see the second one. 46...Kg7 is drawn
47. Qg4+ Kf6 48. a8=Q 1-0
After 48...Qf2+ 49.Kh3 Qf1+ 50 Qg2 there are no more checks
On paper, Bosnia & Herzegovina with a WIM and two WFM looked like white washing our girls. But Camilia won quickly while the first three boards were still at it when I came over after my game. Najiha was already up a rook though her WIM opponent still did not resign. Nabila was an exchange and pawn down and her game looked hopeless. Li Ting had an edge in a knight ending but looked like heading for a draw. So we were expecting a 2.5 - 1.5 win.
We were all pleasantly shocked when we received news that Nabila had managed a draw and the final result of 3-1.
The girls continue to lead Group D after this with a one point lead. They will try to maintain the momentum when they meet The Netherlands in the next round. Men's team meets a strong Columbia line-up.
Later that night, Camilia and Li Ting celebrated their birthdays with a cake and presents
 |
| Playing Bosnia & Herzegovina |
In the men's team, IM Lim Yee Weng scored very quickly utilising a neat tactical idea.
 |
| IM Lim - Al-Zayat |
 |
| After 22..Kh7 |
23. Rg7+!! Kxg7 24. exf6+ winning the black queen.
 |
| Lim Zhuo Ren - Asabri, Hassan |
40. g5+ Kxg5 41. Qe7+ Kh5 42. Qh7+ Kg5 43. Qh3 Qe2+ 44. Kg1 Qe1+ 45. Kh2 Kf6
Black saw the trick 45...Qf2+?? 46. Qg2+ exchanging queens.
46. Qe6+ Kg5??
But he fails to see the second one. 46...Kg7 is drawn
47. Qg4+ Kf6 48. a8=Q 1-0
After 48...Qf2+ 49.Kh3 Qf1+ 50 Qg2 there are no more checks
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