A new National Champion

After five days of hard fought chess, the new National Champion for 2014 is Fong Yit San. This is the man I said to watch out for and not Mark Siew. Yit San has thus completed the the feat of being both National Junior and National Champion. From memory, not many has achieved this , only Lim Zhuo Ren comes to mind.

Things were not so clear in the final round. No less than six players still had a chance to claim the top prize.  On top board I was paired with Fong Yit San (7 points). On second table, Sumant faced Erowan Masrin. Sumant was a queen down for rook and bishop but in the complications even managed to win his game.

This left my game against Yit San to decide the champion. A draw for Yit San would mean a tie with Sumant with the latter getting the title on account of their individual encounter which Sumant won. A series of blunders late in the game cost me the half point and gave Yit San clear first. A sad day for me and Sumant whose tournament was going so well.

In the Women's tournament, Renitha took clear first a point and a half from her nearest rival. A big surprise was the failure of former champion WCM Fong Mi Yen who lost her first game to Melanie Koo and struggled thereafter to chase the leaders.

4th HD Banks in progress

From the previous post, some sharp eyes might have realized that one of the bigger names that is not playing in the National Closed is Yeoh Li Tian. The reason is he is now playing in the HDBank Cup in Vietnam. Three rounds have been played so far and  Li Tian has two wins and one loss. In the next round, Li Tian plays Indian IM Prasanna Raghuram Rao.

This event  is in its 4th edition. There are many strong GMs and IMs competing. Three players have scored 100% so far. They are Vietnamese IM Nguyen Doc Hoa and GM Le Quang Liem and GM Zhang Zhong from Singapore.

One name in the starting list caught my eye. Mark Siew. I wonder how he can be playing in Vietnam when I just saw his name in the participants list for the National Closed.  It became clear when in the first round he gave a walkover. That is, he never showed up but did not inform the organizers he was not going. The benefactor of this free point is someone called Bersamina Paulo. Who is Bersamina Paulo? I believe this is the training partner of Mark in the Philippines as claimed by his father, Raymond Siew.

Is this what Raymond likes to call  "a thrown game"? Its very convenient. Now, if I am Raymond Siew I would be screaming conspiracy. However I am not  Raymond Siew so I'll just say there was a misunderstanding somewhere and leave it at that.

2014 National Closed Participant list

Open List of Participants

Women's Participants List

 There are a few players which are conspicously missing, former champions Nabila and Najiha is not in the list as well as last year's Women Malaysian Masters Champion, Camilia.

One of the playing rooms. There are total of two rooms.

An endgame lesson

Today I witnessed an interesting off-hand game between Dato' Tan Chin Nam and Bernard Ng this afternoon. The lesson to be learned - calculate everything!

Dato Tan - Bernard Ng

 White immediately captured the bishop and as he explains, the black king is outside the square of the pawn.

1. Rxf4 Rxf4 2. Rxf4 Kxf4 3. d6 h3 4. Kf2 ??

After 4. Kf2??

This looks easily won as the white king can stop the h-pawn. The other king move does not change anything 4. Kf1 Kf3 5. Kg1 (5. d7 h2 6. d8=Q h1=Q#) 5... g3 with the same winning idea

4... g3+ 5. Kg1 Kf3 6. d7 h2+ 7. Kh1 Kf2! 

On the contrary it is black who wins!
 
8. d8=Q g2+

White resigns since  9. Kxh2 g1=Q+ and mates next move

At the time we thought 4. d7 was drawing but looking at this position at home the win for white is clear

After 4. d7 h2 5. d8=Q h1=Q (Here we all thought it was a draw by perpetual but the black king is in an unfortunate position) 6. Qf6+! Kg3 7. Qe5+ Kg2 8. Qe4+ Kh2
9. Qxg4 with a winning queen ending.

Things are never as simple as they look!

Chess in Sri Hartamas

Now you can play chess with other enthusiasts in Sri Hartamas. Najib Wahab has organized a place open to all chess players at Knowledge Mind Tuition Centre in Plaza Damas. Below is his message -

Interested to meet up and play chess?

I am organizing a weekly chess session every Wednesday evening from 6:30pm to 9:30pm at Knowledge Mine Tuition Center located in Plaza Damas, Sri Hartamas with the first weekly session to start on 19th February 2014. Knowledge Mine Tuition Center is located at Blok L, Unit 1.9/2.9 Plaza Damas, Jalan Sri Hartamas – immediately on top of Starbucks

This is a free and open session (no fees shall be imposed) for everyone to participate. The center intents to promote as part of its learning enrichment program and the weekly session is to promote and provide a place for chess players to meet up, chat, play a game of chess with fellow chess players, or enjoy reading a collection of chess books available in its mini library. As this is a voluntary site provided by the management of Knowledge Mine, visitors are encouraged to bring their own sets and clocks although a limited number of sets and clocks will be made available.

Currently, there is a beginners chess class being organized every Saturday from 5:00pm to 7:00pm with more classes to be added soon. Other events planned at the same location will include a monthly chess event, team event, blitz event, weekly team/individual league and many more activities for players from all playing levels and age groups. If you are into Sabutteo - the table football game, the Knowledge Mine is also the place to be

For parents and non playing partners, there are plenty of eateries and entertainment within the complex including Starbucks (directly below the Tuition Center), TGIF, a Supermarket, convenient stores (7-11), Karaoke and many more. From my personal experience, the Mee Rebus and Mee Bandong served at the Warong nearby is definitely something not to miss.

For those driving to the center, there are ample parking spots within the complex basement with rates as cheap as RM1 per hour - as a reminder, do avoid the open car park above as it can be costly. 

For more information, please visit http://thechessconnections.blogspot.com

 

Master Class with GM Li Chao

The annual Gibralta Chess Congress is in its 12th Edition. Most interesting for me is the Master Class that are conducted nightly. I followed GM Li Chao's class and found it most entertaining.

Li Chao's English has progressed a lot from just a few phrases to holding a full master class in English.  Definitely not for the less confident in the English language. But I found it funny every time he pronounced the word  "usual" without the "s"!

From the chess perspective, it is very informative as Li Chao explains what is going on in the mind of a top grandmaster. Very instructive is how he presents the concept of "waiting" in the first game. I believe this is something from the Chinese School of Chess.

View the video here .

Dinner

My  dinner tonight.

Kangkung  (water spinach) fried with belacan is a simple Malay dish. I know it does not look that great, but eaten with white rice, it is good enough for a simple man like me.

Two chess golds in Para games

NM Choo Min Wang has won two golds in the 7th ASEAN Para games. At 74 years old, Choo is the oldest National Master.

Read it here.

GM Vugar Gashimov passes away

The very sad news of the talented 27 year old Azerbaijan grandmaster Vugar Gashimov passing was the big news yesterday. I did not want to spread this news until I was completely sure that it is authentic.

Gashimov was clearly not well in recent years and missed a few important tournaments. Nobody knew how serious his health was as he and his family kept it secret as much as possible.

More here. This is a nice pic of him.

R.I.P

2014 K. L. Open announcement

Kuala Lumpur Chess Association (KLCA) has announced this year's K.L. Open will be held 4-11 April 2014.

For more details go here.