National Junior: New Champions

The 5th National Junior concluded this morning with new champions crowed in the boys and girls events.

Perakian Fong Yit San won the boys while Tan Li Ting took the girls champion title. While Li Ting win was not in doubt, Yit San could have to go into a play-off with Tan Jun Feng if the latter won his last game. However Jun Feng choose to offer a draw in a R+B vs R+B ending where he had twenty-five minutes to Lim Chuin Kai's ten minutes.

Thus the winners are 1st Fong Yit San, 2nd Tan Jun Feng and  Lim Chuin Kai tied for third with Aron Teh and Subramaniam Shreyas.The ratings are quite accurate as two of the three top seeds finished in their ranking spot. The dark horse is Tan Jun Feng who took second from a starting rank of sixth.

In the girls' event, Tan Li Ting came first followed by Nur Najiha and Nithyalakshmi third. Final rankings -

Boys Event - Up to 5.5 pointers only

Girls Event

View of top boards. In the foreground Low Jun Jian - Aron Teh

Yit San's winning position with pawn to d6

Lim Chuin Kai - Tan Jun Feng , draw

Low Jun Jian thinking hard. Accepted a draw in a winning position

Mark Siew analysing Aron's game

Ho Chen Ee (left) lost to Nithyalakshmi (right)

Two participants still battling after most of the games finished.

National Juniors: Last round decider

Just when we thought the boys event was going to go to Fong Yit San, the unexpected happened. A loss to Aron Teh in the eight round throws the championship wide open.

By my reckoning, no less than five players have chances to take the title. They are Yit San and Tan Jun Feng both with 6.5 points. The others are Aron Teh ,Lim Chuin Kai and Rosli Ahmad Afiq Afyfy with six points.

Aron Teh beat Yit San and Jun Feng won against Lim Kim Siong. Rosli Ahmad Afiq Afyfy shocked the more fancied Mark Siew.  I guess the latter have to go for more sharpening.

The pairings for the last round - the title will be decided on the first three boards.

All the five contenders have to go for win. If both Yit San and Jun Feng draws while Aron wins, then there is likely to be a play-off. If Aron wins and Yit San draws and Jun Feng loses, Aron takes the title (having defeated Yit San). If Chuin Kai beats Jun Feng and Yit San loses, than Chuin Kai and Rosli will tie for first. Many possibilities. Exciting round tomorrow, I think I'll drop by.

Over at the girls event, there is zero excitement. The championship has been decided and Tan Li Ting is the winner. Mathematically, Najiha can still catch her, but the personal encounter was won by Li Ting so even if she loses, she should end up the champion.

National Junior: Clear leaders

Fong Yit San has taken a clear lead after beating Amier Hamzah in the six round. He now has a one point lead. No less than nine players have 4.5 pointers amongst them Duncan Lucas Matthew, Mark Siew, Aron Teh, Amier Hamzah, Rosli Ahmad, Mohd Noor and Liew Ken Yew, Tan Jun Feng and Lim Kim Siong. All of them will be fighting for the second placing in the rounds to follow.

Duncan Lucas Matthew will face Yit San tomorrow morning. Can he defeat Yit San to catch up with him?

In the girls section, the lead is similar. Li Ting beat her co-leader, Nithya to take her tally to 5.5 points, one point ahead of Nur Najiha who has 4.5 points. She next meets Kelly Lim who only have 4 points. Unless Li Ting loses this game, she is almost certain of becoming the champion. Najiha meets her sister and have to win to maintain chances of catching Li Ting.

Girls Standings after Round 6

Boys Standings after Round 6

National Juniors: New leaders emerge

The fifth round of the on-going National Juniors at DAT Chess Connections produced new leaders. Fong Yit San beat Mark Siew to take over the lead. Amier Hamzah joined him with a win over Tan Jun Feng.

Yit San and Amier Hamzah will play each other in the sixth round and this could be a decider if Yit San wins as he will have met most of contenders.

In the girls section, Tan Li Ting beat Nur Najiha in the fifth round. This means that Li Ting have beaten both sisters who have been very successful at the top in women's chess for the past year. I'm quite curious whether Li Ting have made a quantum leap in strength or Najiha and Nabila have reached a plateau in their chess. This does happen and it takes a shift in their chess training or mind-set to continue their progress beyond this.

I'm quite happy to see Nithyalakshmi  Sivanesan share the lead with a win over Kelly Lim. She has been around for some time now. It's just that the quartet of Li Ting, Najiha, Nabila and Camilia have been dominating the women's chess scene. It is good to see other girls challenging them and take them out of their comfort zone.

Nithyalakshmi  will play Li Ting in the sixth round. Both have already played Nabila and Najiha so this could be a decider for the title. I prefer to see a Nithyalakshmi  win to generate more interest in the womens chess scene as she is not considered a favourite for the title. Will there be upsets on the top boards for the sixth round? Let's wait a while to see :)

5th National Junior fifth round starts

The fifth round will have just started this morning. In the boys event, Mark Siew is leading with perfect 4/4. He beat Liew Ken Yew yesterday afternoon. Fong Yit San could only manage to draw with Tan Jun Feng.

The fifth round pairing is crucial for the championship. Mark will play Yit Sand and a win for the former virtually seals the championship for him.

There was a big shock in the girls section. Nur Nabila lost two games in a row, first to Nithyalakshmi  Sivanesan and later to team-mate Tan Li Ting. Three players lead going into the fifth round. Nithyalakshmi  Sivanesan, Nur Najiha and Tan Li Ting.

Najiha plays Li Ting and this will be another crucial battle for the first place. Read more at Najib's blog here.

5th National Junior begins

The 5th National Junior is now in progress at the DAT Chess Centre in Jalan Munshi Abdullah. This is a nine round Swiss for both boys and girls. Two rounds are scheduled daily from Tuesday to Friday except the last round which will be played on Saturday morning (22nd December).

This year is one of the weakest. The top three seeds are Fong Yit San, Mark Siew and Aron Teh. The previous year's champion, Mohd Nabil, current National Champion Roshan and Malaysia's best hope for GM, Yeoh Li Tian, as well as Wong Jianwen are not taking part. Lim Zhuo Ren  is studying in England as is Sumant Subramaniam who is studying locally. The fight will be between these three top seeds though I do not discount a possibility of a dark horse emerging to challenge them.

Read some of my writings on juniors here

The top two seeds in the girls event are sisters WCM Nur Nabila  and WFM  Nur Najiha. They will face tough opposition from Olympiad team-mate Tan Li Ting. However newly titled WFM Camilia Johari is not taking part.  In my opinion, the tussle for the title of National Junior Master will be amongst these three.

5th National Junior

The 5th National Junior will take play 18-22nd December 2012. Venue will be the DAT Chess Centre in Jalan Munshi Abdullah.

The championship will be open to all Malaysian boys and girls under the age of 20 i.e born on or after 1992. There will be only two categories, boys and girls. The winners of each category will get the title National Junior Master (NJM). Closing date is 16th December so waste no time to register.

Below is the full prospectus.

THE 5TH NATIONAL JUNIOR CHESS  CHAMPIONSHIP 18th – 22nd December 2012 KUALA LUMPUR , MALAYSIA ORGANISED BY MALAYSIAN CHESS FEDERATION                          A FIDE-rated & National-rated event

TOURNAMENT :       2 Categories ( Boys U-20 & Girls U-20 DOB on or after 1992 )

                                   

Time Control:           (90 minutes + 30 seconds increment from move 1)

 All moves must be recorded.

*This event is open to all Malaysian citizens only.

TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE FOR 9 ROUNDS SWISS

DATE	TIME	PROGRAMME	VENUE
18 Dec 2012 (Tues)	0830	Player Meeting	Dat Chess Centre (DATCC), 4th  Floor, Wilayah Komplex,Jln Munshi Abdullah, Kuala Lumpur
	0900 – 1300	Round 1
	1430 - 1830	Round 2
19 Dec 2012 (Wed)	0900 – 1300	Round 3
	1430 - 1830	Round 4
20 Dec 2012 (Thurs)	0900 – 1300	Round 5
	1430 - 1830	Round 6
21 Dec 2012 (Fri)	0900 – 1300	Round 7
	1500 - 1900	Round 8
22 Dec 2012 (Sat)	0900 – 1300	Round 9
	1330 1430 - 1700	Prize Giving National Junior Blitz

CLOSING DATE IS 16^th Dec 2012

ENTRIES AFTER CLOSING DATE WILL BE ACCEPTED ONLY AT THE DISCRETION OF THE ORGANIZERS AND A LATE PENALTY WILL BE CHARGE.

1. MODE OF PAYMENT

     Bank In to  PERSEKUTUAN CATUR MALAYSIA – AmIslamic Bank , Jln Raja Chulan Branch

     Current A/C No:  211-202-200852-2

2.  The entry form and a copy of pay-in-slip MUST can be scanned and email to msianchess2010@gmail.com

     (Attn :Gregory Lau not later than 16th Dec 2012)

        3. Direct submission of entry form with cash payment to Gregory Lau  017-2898215,  

            En. Najib Wahab: 016-3382542

    Pn. Zuraihah Wazir 017-2837808

    not later than 16^th Dec 2012

 

NO REGISTRATION BY TELEPHONE OR SMS.

TIE-BREAK:        1) Play-Off (only for 1^st place) in the event PE does not produce a result

                                2) Solkoff, 3) S.B. 4) Cumulative

For further enquiries, contact or email :

Mr Gregory Lau: 017-2898215 - (email: msianchess2010@gmail.com)

Pn. Haslindah Ruslan (email: haslindahr@yahoo.com)

En. Najib Wahab: 016-3382542

        Pn.Zuraihah Wazir 017-2837808

1)                THE NATIONAL JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP (BOY)  2012

            The Champion will be awarded the title ‘NATIONAL JUNIOR MASTER ’ (NJM) BOY

                             

2)        THE NATIONAL JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP (GIRL) 2012

            The Champion will be awarded the title ‘NATIONAL JUNIOR MASTER’ (NJM) GIRL

PRIZES FOR  NATIONAL JUNIOR CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP 2012 ( B/G U-20 )

MAIN PRIZES	BOYS	GIRLS
Champion	CHALLENGE TROPHY Gold Medal     + RM600	CHALLENGE TROPHY Gold Medal    + RM600
2nd	Silver Medal   +RM400	Silver Medal   +RM400
3rd	Bronze Medal +RM200	Bronze Medal +RM200
4th – 10th	Medal	Medal
Championships Medal For BEST UNDER-14
1st	Gold Medal	Gold Medal
2nd	Silver Medal	Silver Medal
3rd	Bronze Medal	Bronze Medal
Championships Medal For BEST UNDER-12
1st	Gold Medal	Gold Medal
2nd	Silver Medal	Silver Medal
3rd	Bronze Medal	Bronze Medal

*ALL PARTICIPANTS WILL RECEIVED A CERTIFICATE OF PARTICIPATION

*ALL PRIZE WINNERS WILL RECEIVED A CERTIFICATE OF ACHIEVEMENT

*The results of this championship will be one of the main criteria for selection for international representation in the year 2013. (Refer to MCF Selection Guideline)

An updated registration list of participants will be posted on the Blog Site:  Malaysian Chess Federation Chess Blog on 16th Dec 2012 prior to the start of the tournament. Entry forms can be downloaded from this Blogsite. 

FOR ADMINISTRATIVE PURPOSES ALL COLUMNS IN THE ENTRY FORM MUST BE FILLED.

ENTRY FORM

5TH NATIONAL JUNIOR CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP 2012

 

PLEASE WRITE CLEARLY IN BLOCK LETTERS

NAME :

(Follow I/C)

CATEGORY :	MALE
(Please tick)	FEMALE

FEE    :   FIDE RATED          ______________________   ( RM 60.00 )

FEE    :   NON-FIDE RATED ______________________ ( RM 100.00 )

FOC        NJM, NM/NWM  

Registration  after  16th Dec 2012  will be charge a late penalty fee  of  RM50

I.C NO /. :

B.C NO.

AGE           :   ________________________   DATE OF BIRTH : ____________________________________________

ADDRESS :   ______________________________________________________________________________________

                     _______________________________________________________ POSTCODE : _________________

TEL. NO.   :   _____________________________ E-MAIL : ________________________________________________

SCHOOL   :   _________                                                                                                                                                                                                    

SIGNATURE : ______________________________________

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

	PERSEKUTUAN CATUR MALAYSIA OFFICIAL RECEIPT
Name   : _________________________________________________________________			FIDE              RM 60.00 NON - FIDE RM 100	Late penalty  : RM 50.00

Received by : __________________________________________________          Date : ___________________________________________________