It has been many years since I wrote my first and only book. It was published sometime in the early 80s and called "Chess Malaysia", a collection of games and essays on chess in Malaysia.
The Veresov is is an opening that I have been playing for over 30 years. Today I am proud to announce that my book "The Veresov: Move by Move" is being published by Everyman Chess, a well known international chess publisher. It will be available by end May or latest by June 2015.
You can download a sample pdf here.
I will receive a limited copy of the book from the publisher and if anyone wishes to place an order from me, you may email me at the address on the "Contact Me" tab.
Saturday, May 16, 2015
Thursday, May 14, 2015
World Schools in Pattaya
Thanks to Peter Long for highlighting this interview.
Ng Jen Sheng is currently competing in Pattaya, Thailand in the World Schools. He had an excellent start of 4/4 but then lost three games in a row. As of the eighth round he has five points one point behind the leader , Wong Chi Jit from Singapore.
Malaysia is represented in the U11, U13 , U15 and U17. Malaysia has only one girl player, Rosamund Koo in the Girls U-17. The best player so far is Tan Jun Jing in the Open U-13 with 5.5 points after 8 rounds.
Ng Jen Sheng is currently competing in Pattaya, Thailand in the World Schools. He had an excellent start of 4/4 but then lost three games in a row. As of the eighth round he has five points one point behind the leader , Wong Chi Jit from Singapore.
Malaysia is represented in the U11, U13 , U15 and U17. Malaysia has only one girl player, Rosamund Koo in the Girls U-17. The best player so far is Tan Jun Jing in the Open U-13 with 5.5 points after 8 rounds.
Sunday, April 12, 2015
NCC Playoff
I was reminded today that I have not written anything for a while....
The playoff is necessary to decide the two players from the National Championships last month who will proceed to this year's Malaysian Masters. Six players tied for the second position, they are
IM Jimmy Liew
Mohd. Saprin
Lye Lik Zang
Ooi Zi Yang
Ryan Chan
Muhd. Szawan Zukifli
Ooi Zi Yang pulled out at the last minute which meant the remaining players had to have a bye. This make it a bit challenging to figure out who was going to take the top two places. Thankfully by the penultimate round, things got much clearer.
Lye Lik Zang and I were leading with two points and played each other this round. While Lik Zang already had his bye, mine was in the last round. This meant I had to win this game to avoid getting involved in a play-off. Things went easier than I expected and basically Lik Zang did not handle the opening well.
Szawan was involved in a do-or-die game with Saprin; the winner had a chance for at least a playoff for the second spot. Saprin blundered in the opening but his opponent did not notice....in the end Saprin won beautifully with a mate in the centre of the board.
With this win, Saprin caught up with Lik Zang and interestingly they will face each other in the last round. The winner will get one of the coveted spots. In case of a draw, they have to play a rapid game followed if necessary by a blitz game and then an armageddon game until a winner is found.
In the game below, White is already in trouble.
The playoff is necessary to decide the two players from the National Championships last month who will proceed to this year's Malaysian Masters. Six players tied for the second position, they are
IM Jimmy Liew
Mohd. Saprin
Lye Lik Zang
Ooi Zi Yang
Ryan Chan
Muhd. Szawan Zukifli
Ooi Zi Yang pulled out at the last minute which meant the remaining players had to have a bye. This make it a bit challenging to figure out who was going to take the top two places. Thankfully by the penultimate round, things got much clearer.
Lye Lik Zang and I were leading with two points and played each other this round. While Lik Zang already had his bye, mine was in the last round. This meant I had to win this game to avoid getting involved in a play-off. Things went easier than I expected and basically Lik Zang did not handle the opening well.
Szawan was involved in a do-or-die game with Saprin; the winner had a chance for at least a playoff for the second spot. Saprin blundered in the opening but his opponent did not notice....in the end Saprin won beautifully with a mate in the centre of the board.
With this win, Saprin caught up with Lik Zang and interestingly they will face each other in the last round. The winner will get one of the coveted spots. In case of a draw, they have to play a rapid game followed if necessary by a blitz game and then an armageddon game until a winner is found.
In the game below, White is already in trouble.
Thursday, March 26, 2015
Without sacrifices, you will not reach the top
Even with great sacrifice there are no guarantees you'll make it to the top but without sacrifice, it's a sure thing you won't.
This is what GM Wesley So said during an interview with US Chess. Thanks to my friend Eliseo Tumbaga who posted the link on Facebook.
How true.
How many Malaysians are willing to make these kind of sacrifices?
This is what GM Wesley So said during an interview with US Chess. Thanks to my friend Eliseo Tumbaga who posted the link on Facebook.
How true.
How many Malaysians are willing to make these kind of sacrifices?
Sunday, February 8, 2015
Merdeka Team 2002
Recently I found amongst my old scoresheets, games from the 2002 Merdeka Team Championship. I have already forgotten how many times I have competed in this event. I thought there were years when I had stopped playing completely but evidence shows that I played in 2002 as well as 2003.
The 2002 Championship was quite special as it was held after the World Youth Under-16 Olympiad in Malaysia. Some of the teams stayed back for this tournament. This meant a stronger than normal event. I played for the Chess Network though I do not remember who my team-mates were, apparently we were quite strong because my score-sheets showed that we were on the top table for most of the rounds. Only in the final round we were relegated to the second table.
Among my opponents were two not familiar names to me at the time. Of course now they are quite famous, Vietnamese Le Quang Liem and Chinese Wang Yue were some of my opponents and I was only playing on board three! Wang Yue was only an FM then but already sporting a 2400+ rating while Quang Liem was below 2200. Today both of them are 2700+ grandmasters.
As this was a rapid event, my scoring stopped in the early middle-game so there are no complete games to show. Worse was that I did not even record the results of most of my games, which was quite unlike me at all. I guess at that time I was already dis-illusioned with chess and playing only as a favor to a friend. I only have two recorded results and one of them was against Wang Yue which I drew. I was rated around 2333 then so I guess my chess was still not too much of an embarrassment.
The 2002 Championship was quite special as it was held after the World Youth Under-16 Olympiad in Malaysia. Some of the teams stayed back for this tournament. This meant a stronger than normal event. I played for the Chess Network though I do not remember who my team-mates were, apparently we were quite strong because my score-sheets showed that we were on the top table for most of the rounds. Only in the final round we were relegated to the second table.
Among my opponents were two not familiar names to me at the time. Of course now they are quite famous, Vietnamese Le Quang Liem and Chinese Wang Yue were some of my opponents and I was only playing on board three! Wang Yue was only an FM then but already sporting a 2400+ rating while Quang Liem was below 2200. Today both of them are 2700+ grandmasters.
As this was a rapid event, my scoring stopped in the early middle-game so there are no complete games to show. Worse was that I did not even record the results of most of my games, which was quite unlike me at all. I guess at that time I was already dis-illusioned with chess and playing only as a favor to a friend. I only have two recorded results and one of them was against Wang Yue which I drew. I was rated around 2333 then so I guess my chess was still not too much of an embarrassment.
Thursday, February 5, 2015
Look ahead to progress further
The post title could be advice to our current crop of players but no, these words were written almost twenty years ago.
Going through my old scores-sheets and clippings I came across this one from the Malay Mail dated 18th October 1996. The feature article was titled "Look ahead to progress further" by one Eddie Chua who took over the chess column of the newspaper from Lim Chong.
Eddie was quite a character and could be quite scathing in his column.
Going through my old scores-sheets and clippings I came across this one from the Malay Mail dated 18th October 1996. The feature article was titled "Look ahead to progress further" by one Eddie Chua who took over the chess column of the newspaper from Lim Chong.
Eddie was quite a character and could be quite scathing in his column.
Sunday, February 1, 2015
Shock February ratings
I got the biggest shock of my life when I saw the FIDE Elo Rating List for February 2015. See the screen shot below.
Dilwen Ding has leaped into the top 10 Malaysian players with a hefty 2274 rating making him the 5th highest rated player. By my estimation he was around 1800 last year which means that within three months he has gained over 400 points. If he continues this climb he could be the number one rated Malaysian before long.
The reason for this is the of course the change in rating calculation which FIDE wisely adopted the K=40 rule for juniors who have not reached 2300 in rating and below 18 years of age (or is it 20?)
A gain of 400 rating points is not unusual, there were reports that a junior gained 568 points within three months.
Dilwen is currently in Europe and scoring in some minor tournaments. In January 2015 alone, he has gained 300 points. I hope Dilwen will continue to progress and gain another 200 points in this month and that will put him over 2400 and the highest active Malaysian! Congratulations!
Dilwen Ding has leaped into the top 10 Malaysian players with a hefty 2274 rating making him the 5th highest rated player. By my estimation he was around 1800 last year which means that within three months he has gained over 400 points. If he continues this climb he could be the number one rated Malaysian before long.
The reason for this is the of course the change in rating calculation which FIDE wisely adopted the K=40 rule for juniors who have not reached 2300 in rating and below 18 years of age (or is it 20?)
A gain of 400 rating points is not unusual, there were reports that a junior gained 568 points within three months.
Dilwen is currently in Europe and scoring in some minor tournaments. In January 2015 alone, he has gained 300 points. I hope Dilwen will continue to progress and gain another 200 points in this month and that will put him over 2400 and the highest active Malaysian! Congratulations!
Monday, January 12, 2015
Wesley So press conference
This is Wesley So's Press conference after round two at the 2015 Tata Steel tournament. Wesley had just drawn against World Champion Magnus Carlsen.
In the conference, Wesley talks about his game with Magnus, changing federations to the U.S.C.F. and why he decided to stop his studies and go full time in chess.
In the conference, Wesley talks about his game with Magnus, changing federations to the U.S.C.F. and why he decided to stop his studies and go full time in chess.
Wednesday, December 31, 2014
Friday, December 19, 2014
National Juniors 2014
This year's National Juniors for boys and girls are currently going on in Sabah. Despite it being the last round today, there has been zero coverage of this so called prestigious event.
The top seed in both events so out-rated their opposition that they will be the over-whelming favourite to win. Nithyalakshmi Sivanesan and her brother Subramaniam Sivanesan are leading and barring a last round loss are likely to be the champions. If this happens this could be a first for siblings to win both the boys and girls championship.
The top seed in both events so out-rated their opposition that they will be the over-whelming favourite to win. Nithyalakshmi Sivanesan and her brother Subramaniam Sivanesan are leading and barring a last round loss are likely to be the champions. If this happens this could be a first for siblings to win both the boys and girls championship.
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