After months of matches, the eight contestants are now down to two. Mas will face-off against Nicholas Chan. Winner has bragging rights as the best Malaysian chesser, at least for 2009 (let's hope we can see a second edition in 2010).
This event proves that the juniors still have a lot to catch up with our seniors. Both National Master Evan Capel and National Junior Tariq Amru were shown the door in their first match.
Mas had a tougher time to the finals. Although he beat Tariq Amru easily, he was really stretched against "Tiger" Mok Tze Meng who took the match to the rapid tie-breaks. Mas was literally a move away from being eliminated when Mok hung a rook in a completely winning position. Mas just needed a draw in the next game which he managed without difficulty.
Quarter-finals bt Tariq Amru 3-0
Semi-Finals bt Mok Tze Meng 3.5-1.5 (tie-breaks)
Nicholas had an easier route to the finals. After beating Evan, he did not have difficulty showing Yee Weng the door.
Quarter-finals bt Evan Capel 3-0
Semi-Finals bt Lim Yee Weng 2.5-0.5
Prior to this, Mas has played many tournaments without much success. His last two were the Vietnam Open where he was 10th and the Commonwealth Open in Singapore where he finished 11th. I think the number of tournaments have been taking a toll on him.
Nicholas have not been playing much apart from winning the Selangor Open Champion this year and playing a few games in the DATCC Chess League and the Merdeka Team championships.
If I were to compare the styles for these two players, Mas is a more technical and rounded player. Nicholas is a tactician and blitz king and Mas has never been comfortable with someone who plays fast.
Who do I think will win? I pick Nicholas to win this match. Maybe my readers might find this surprising. There are few reasons for me to pick Nicholas.
Mas has been chasing a GM norm for a while now without success. When you are in his situation, you need to take a break, study your games thoroughly and evaluate why he is in the position he is in. I am willing to bet, Mas had many good or winning games in all these tournaments, which he spoiled at some crucial moments, possibly because of time trouble. He needs time to fix this and he is not in the best frame of mind to go into an important six game match with a dangerous tactical player. Besides he must be exhausted by now.
The finals starts tomorrow Saturday 19th December 2009 at 10:30 AM at the usual venue which is DAT Chess Centre. I might be following the games sporadically.
Showing posts with label Malaysian Masters. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Malaysian Masters. Show all posts
Friday, December 18, 2009
Friday, September 18, 2009
Malaysian Masters Semi-Finals Comments
Now that the quarter-finals are over, we can look forward to the semi-finals. While the quarter-finals were rather one-sided, the semis will pitch the most experienced and strongest players currently in the local scene.
The first match will be FM Nicholas Chan versus IM Lim Yee Weng, or what I call the "amateurs" match. As both of them are currently working, so they can be considered as amateurs. This is their big disadvantage as history have proven that working outside of chess has a negative effect on your chess :)
Yee Weng will be a hard man to beat. His performance in DATMO 2008 is probably his best ever. He had a reasonable result in the Dresden Olympiad with two wins, six draws and three loses on board two. Since then his form has taken a dip with mediocre results in the DATCC Chess League, DATMO 2009 and Merdeka Team Rapid.
From personal observation on their recent play, I think Nicholas did not drop as much in form. My bet is that he will beat Yee Weng.
The second match sees IM Mashafizul against FM Mok Tze Meng. This is the battle of the "pros" as both can be considered chess professionals at this point in time. Mas is attached to Petronas but has been playing chess non-stop for some time. Mok does chess coaching as part of his source of income so undeniably he is a chess pro.
Mas has been playing non-stop for the past two (?) years mostly against strong players in international competitions. Currently he is chasing his first grandmaster norm in Europe. We can expect him to be at the top of his game.
However, Mok cannot be discounted. He has a good run winning the Penang Open ahead of Mas, great performance in DATCC Chess League, had the best performance amongst all the Malaysians at DATMO 2009 and capped off with an outstanding turnout at the Merdeka Team where he beat GM Rogelio Antonio (Philippines) in the last round.
This will be a hard match to predict. But based on rating and recent performances, I am willing to bet that the winner of this match will win the finals as well.
The first match will be FM Nicholas Chan versus IM Lim Yee Weng, or what I call the "amateurs" match. As both of them are currently working, so they can be considered as amateurs. This is their big disadvantage as history have proven that working outside of chess has a negative effect on your chess :)
Yee Weng will be a hard man to beat. His performance in DATMO 2008 is probably his best ever. He had a reasonable result in the Dresden Olympiad with two wins, six draws and three loses on board two. Since then his form has taken a dip with mediocre results in the DATCC Chess League, DATMO 2009 and Merdeka Team Rapid.
From personal observation on their recent play, I think Nicholas did not drop as much in form. My bet is that he will beat Yee Weng.
The second match sees IM Mashafizul against FM Mok Tze Meng. This is the battle of the "pros" as both can be considered chess professionals at this point in time. Mas is attached to Petronas but has been playing chess non-stop for some time. Mok does chess coaching as part of his source of income so undeniably he is a chess pro.
Mas has been playing non-stop for the past two (?) years mostly against strong players in international competitions. Currently he is chasing his first grandmaster norm in Europe. We can expect him to be at the top of his game.
However, Mok cannot be discounted. He has a good run winning the Penang Open ahead of Mas, great performance in DATCC Chess League, had the best performance amongst all the Malaysians at DATMO 2009 and capped off with an outstanding turnout at the Merdeka Team where he beat GM Rogelio Antonio (Philippines) in the last round.
This will be a hard match to predict. But based on rating and recent performances, I am willing to bet that the winner of this match will win the finals as well.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Yee Weng in Malaysian Masters semi-finals
Lim Yee Weng beats Edward Lee to move into the semi-finals. However, I am very surprised at the way Edward conceded the match.
The first two games were drawn and Yee Weng won the third to take the lead. In the fourth game, a draw was agreed after eleven moves in a standard French Defence. Edward is playing white so there is every chance of winning. Besides, Yee Weng form has dropped tremendously since the Dresden Olympiad. He did not do very well in the DATMO. In the Merdeka Rapid, he blundered a whole rook against me in a possibly winning position.
It seems that Edward already gave up hope after losing the third game. It is reported that he is currently studying in Singapore and I think he do not fancy coming back again for a semi-final match(?)
The competitors in this event were picked based on their ratings and performances in the National championship as well as the National Junior Championships. I wondor why someone would agree to take part if they are not committed to the event.
The first two games were drawn and Yee Weng won the third to take the lead. In the fourth game, a draw was agreed after eleven moves in a standard French Defence. Edward is playing white so there is every chance of winning. Besides, Yee Weng form has dropped tremendously since the Dresden Olympiad. He did not do very well in the DATMO. In the Merdeka Rapid, he blundered a whole rook against me in a possibly winning position.
It seems that Edward already gave up hope after losing the third game. It is reported that he is currently studying in Singapore and I think he do not fancy coming back again for a semi-final match(?)
The competitors in this event were picked based on their ratings and performances in the National championship as well as the National Junior Championships. I wondor why someone would agree to take part if they are not committed to the event.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Jaws strikes back - Summary of Game 1
Nicholas Chan is like a shark under water. He is always there even if you don't see him. And if you bat your eyelids for a sec, he's got his jaws in you. Nicholas "Jaws" Chan has just won the first game of the match against Evan Capel. Sorry, Evan, we only give names to those whom we consider the cream of Malaysian chess. So you know you have made it when you get your very own monicker. Keep trying and knock out "Jaws".
The first game started quietly, a Queen's Gambit Exchange variation. Jaws uncorked a bishop sacrifice out of the blue with 13. Bxh6. An unexpected lapse on move twenty (20. Rad1) allowed black to hit back with 20...dxe4. White played 21. Bc4 thinking he had the winning move (21.Bxe4 would retain the pawn with some advantage). Both black queen and bishop are under attack. But Jaws missed 21..Bc5+ clearing the second rank for the queen to block the subsequent check.
A further blunder 24 e6 lost the passer and black with his own passer on e4 was actually winning. Things took a dramatic change when Evan overlooked the pin on his queen and blundered a piece on his 31st move.
Nicholas takes the first game. Next game starts at 3:00 PM.
The first game started quietly, a Queen's Gambit Exchange variation. Jaws uncorked a bishop sacrifice out of the blue with 13. Bxh6. An unexpected lapse on move twenty (20. Rad1) allowed black to hit back with 20...dxe4. White played 21. Bc4 thinking he had the winning move (21.Bxe4 would retain the pawn with some advantage). Both black queen and bishop are under attack. But Jaws missed 21..Bc5+ clearing the second rank for the queen to block the subsequent check.
A further blunder 24 e6 lost the passer and black with his own passer on e4 was actually winning. Things took a dramatic change when Evan overlooked the pin on his queen and blundered a piece on his 31st move.
Nicholas takes the first game. Next game starts at 3:00 PM.
Friday, August 7, 2009
Crouching Tiger, Smiling Buddha
On Wednesday somebody reminded me that I had not had a post for days. This proves that at least one person reads my blog and secondly, he does not have a life. Are you actually counting the days between my blogs?
Chess is a boring game to the uninitiated. You cannot appreciate it unless you know the game. This is why chess will never become a spectator sport. Imagine an audience following the game. After long minutes of thought, one of the player reaches out and moves a piece. Both players sink back into deep thought. Maybe one of them (hopefully not the one on the move), gets up and takes a stroll to the loo (thats the toilet to you less refined types). Then repeat again and again until the handshake signalling the end of the game.
What is the casual observer to make of this? Man, I'm better off watching wrestling at home on my TV in the comfort of my living room.
We need to spice things up to get more sponsors (and money) into the game. Look at pro-wrestling. In the 70s and early 80s, what we got were two big guys slugging it out in the ring in a small town school gymnasium in the good old US of A. Then along came the World Wrestling Federation and turned wrestling around. Just watch Wrestle Mania and see how the thousands of people actually paying hard earned money to watch these wrestlers muck around in a square ring.
How did the WWF (its now called WWE) did it? It made the wrestlers larger than life, giving them outrageous ring names like Hulk Hogan, Brett "Hitman" Hart and many more. There is much more to it than a name, but its a good start and I think we can copy this trick :)
I'm going to take it upon myself to come up with some board names for some of our top players. Let's start with Ooi Chern Ee and Mok Tze Meng, who are going to meet tomorrow morning for their quarter final match for the 2009 Malaysian Masters.
Naturally the name must match some characteristics of the person. If you talk to Chern Ee he is always smiling, and just being the nice guy he is. For some reason, he reminds me of the statues of buddhas at the Kek Lok Si Temple in my home town on Penang Island. OK, I call him "Smiling Buddha" Ooi Chern Ee.
His opponent is more difficult to name. Mok reminds me of a cartoon tiger in a book called "Chess for Tigers". ( If you can still find it, get this book for a good laugh). The cartoonist drew this tiger with an impossibly slim middle. Now Mok has the slimmest abdomen area I have ever seen in a male and I think he really resembles the tiger in the book.
Mok is quite an enigma. Obviously he has the chess skills but never made his IM title. Not many people remember this, but he has been carrying one or two IM norms for some years but never succeeded to achieve the final one. For some time, he has been like a tiger in the shadows waiting for his moment in the limelight. His success in the recent Penang Open where he took the championship ahead of Mas and a GM, indicates he is ready to make his move. He is a crouching tiger ready to pounce on his victims. That's right, I give you ... *drum roll* ... Mok "Crouching Tiger" Tze Meng.
So will it be "Smiling Buddha" Ooi or Mok "Crouching Tiger" Tze Meng who will emerge victorious? Catch the action at DATCC tomorrow morning and Sunday at 9:00 AM or come back here for the results on Sunday.
Nuff said!
Chess is a boring game to the uninitiated. You cannot appreciate it unless you know the game. This is why chess will never become a spectator sport. Imagine an audience following the game. After long minutes of thought, one of the player reaches out and moves a piece. Both players sink back into deep thought. Maybe one of them (hopefully not the one on the move), gets up and takes a stroll to the loo (thats the toilet to you less refined types). Then repeat again and again until the handshake signalling the end of the game.
What is the casual observer to make of this? Man, I'm better off watching wrestling at home on my TV in the comfort of my living room.
We need to spice things up to get more sponsors (and money) into the game. Look at pro-wrestling. In the 70s and early 80s, what we got were two big guys slugging it out in the ring in a small town school gymnasium in the good old US of A. Then along came the World Wrestling Federation and turned wrestling around. Just watch Wrestle Mania and see how the thousands of people actually paying hard earned money to watch these wrestlers muck around in a square ring.
How did the WWF (its now called WWE) did it? It made the wrestlers larger than life, giving them outrageous ring names like Hulk Hogan, Brett "Hitman" Hart and many more. There is much more to it than a name, but its a good start and I think we can copy this trick :)
I'm going to take it upon myself to come up with some board names for some of our top players. Let's start with Ooi Chern Ee and Mok Tze Meng, who are going to meet tomorrow morning for their quarter final match for the 2009 Malaysian Masters.
Naturally the name must match some characteristics of the person. If you talk to Chern Ee he is always smiling, and just being the nice guy he is. For some reason, he reminds me of the statues of buddhas at the Kek Lok Si Temple in my home town on Penang Island. OK, I call him "Smiling Buddha" Ooi Chern Ee.
His opponent is more difficult to name. Mok reminds me of a cartoon tiger in a book called "Chess for Tigers". ( If you can still find it, get this book for a good laugh). The cartoonist drew this tiger with an impossibly slim middle. Now Mok has the slimmest abdomen area I have ever seen in a male and I think he really resembles the tiger in the book.
Mok is quite an enigma. Obviously he has the chess skills but never made his IM title. Not many people remember this, but he has been carrying one or two IM norms for some years but never succeeded to achieve the final one. For some time, he has been like a tiger in the shadows waiting for his moment in the limelight. His success in the recent Penang Open where he took the championship ahead of Mas and a GM, indicates he is ready to make his move. He is a crouching tiger ready to pounce on his victims. That's right, I give you ... *drum roll* ... Mok "Crouching Tiger" Tze Meng.
So will it be "Smiling Buddha" Ooi or Mok "Crouching Tiger" Tze Meng who will emerge victorious? Catch the action at DATCC tomorrow morning and Sunday at 9:00 AM or come back here for the results on Sunday.
Nuff said!
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