NON VERBAL CHESS LANGUAGES

Non verbal chess language…this is something that we could not find in any chess books but we collected it over many years of indulging ourselves in this addictive relationship with Caissa.

Our opponents used it… and we also used it…not a single word said but the message is just as loud and clear as spoken words.

Crossing fingers 

Message: I am offering you a draw but don't want anyone to heard it...malu woo.

Repeating moves

Message: Let's draw... (but sometimes we can used this to know whether our opponent is looking for a draw or if we want to gain precious time on our clock)

Taking the captured queen and place it nearer. 

Message: I am about to promote a pawn to queen and will win this game.

Signing the scoresheet during the game (normally accompanied with bored face) 

Message: Don’t waste my time. Resignlah…

There are others of course…like rapid firing moves in the opening stage (Message: Be very afraid, I know this opening well…) or scratching one’s head (Message: Damn it, I make a mistake…but be carefully, sometimes that is what your opponent want you to think but the truth is he has set some trap there…)

THE UNIQUE (AND GENEROUS) INSOFAR TOURNAMENT

Since the organizer able to quote verbatim what i wrote about Insofar. Here. I better be very careful on what i wrote or risk being ban from his lucrative and generous tournament.

1.Insofar is a unique tournament. For this edition, Insofar limited number of participant to 64, a symbolic number representing number of squares on chess board. Unlike other tournament organizer that prefer to limits participant according to number of possibilities in chess which is....zillion times zillion!

Insofar also advertise other chess tournament that is being held on the same day complete with tel number etc, in order to ensure number of players are below 64....chess tournament that advertise other chess tournament...all i can say, unique!

2.There are many strong players here, Sumant, Kamaludin, few Pinoy players san Ian Udani, Syazwan, Haq, Li Tian, Chin Seng, Dr Ronnie etc. Dr Zaidan did not took part (though he still came to lend support to this tournament) since organizer 'ban' those who have won certain number of Insofar Tournament. So we cannot see any Djokovic's Grand Slam grip by strong player on this tournament. Well, another unique Insofar recipe!

3. Sumant is the champ. Li Tian is having a tough time at this tournament...scoring 4.5 out of 7 (ahemm, same as mine...). In the last round, Li Tian lost to kamaluddin...somehow, Li Tian is always had a tough time against Abang Bro.

Me 

Seeded 12 and finished 12, actually achieve my earlier objective of finishing better or equal of my seeding but not really happy since almost half of the contestant came home with some prizes while i belong to the other half...not even won blogger prizes :(

My play is rusty. For example in second round i faced Darrel Yap Egin. Below is the position

W:ILHAM
B:DARREL YAP EGIN
 

I played the weak 1. Qe3 and game ended in a draw after some minor ‘controversy’

1. Ba6! is winning 1...ba6
2. Nd4!

I blame it on heavy haze that day that clouded my vision...

Minor Controversy 

On my game against Darrrel above, both players are down with few seconds left on the board, at one time he made an illegal move and i said illegal (but did not call arbiter) and he made other moves..then after few more moves, it is my time to made illegal move, he called arbiter but by this time his time is ‘-0’negative zero while mine is ‘0’ but no negative. Najib (arbiter) came and declared the game as draw...if only i had one second left on my clock!

Moving On

According to organizer, should i enter my third Insofar tournament, i am entitled for RM500 (RM5 for next 100 months)...all i can say, only in the unique (and generous) Insofar!

DEAR CHOSEN ONE,

Dear Chosen One,

If University offered you a place to study subject of your interest...should you decline it because you feel other student deserve the seat more than you? Or because someone whisper it so to you..

If your boss gave you a promotion...should you decline it because you feel your colleague deserve it more than you? Or because someone whisper it so to you..

If Sultan gave you a Datukship...should you decline it because you feel other rakyat deserve it more than you? Or because someone whisper it so to you..

If your pretty girlfriend wanted you to be her husband...should you decline it because you feel your girlfriend deserve someone better? Or because someone whisper it so to you..

 

Well, should you decline above because you feel someone else deserve it more than you or worst, because someone else told you that you are not deserve to get it, no matter how bad you want it...i feel sorry for you. For lack of correct word that i can think of now, you are STUPID.

Fact of life, in our imperfect world, there is always someone who is better than us...always someone who deserve what we are being offered but should opportunity knock at our door, i say not just accept it, but GRAB it!

There is reason why Opportunity chose you...and there is only reason of stupidity should you decline Opportunity (without good reasons).

Dear Chosen One,

You have chose chess and now chess have chose you to represent Malaysia, accept it with pride and dignity... and walk with head held high...you deserve it! 

Congratulations

WHAT IS IN THE NAME...

In Finance
I used to read an article about banker's name that carry aroma of wealthy in it. Bob Diamond or JP Morgan’s CEO, Jamie Dimon (Rhyme with diamond though some naughty one say its rhyme with demon) and few more.

In Chess 

In chess world we can witnessed the same phenomena, we have Morozevich ‘Moro’ (name of an ethnic in Southern Philippines that is fighting for independent, they are liberator or terrorist, depend on which side you are).

We have Nakamura ‘Naka’ which is fire in Japanese. Talked about Naka, there is one company/counter at KLSE named Nakamichi Corporation Berhad and the stock’s code is Naka and this Naka counter has been doing very well last week when Nakamura starts winning... and week before when GM Naka is losing, this Naka counter drop so much. Hmm, I wonder whether I should starts trading this counter next week based on GM Naka’s performance…

There are of course a lot others such as Magnus is the name of the Norway’s King, we have Tomashevsky (Tomahawk), Levon (Lion) Aronian, Tigran (Tiger) Petrosian and Captain Planet’s favourite player, Leonid Stein (Lion) etc.

All are great players with great, aggressive name…

Message 

There is one Estonian International Master player named Ular Lauk. Message in the name is simple, either you be an Ular (win) or be a Lauk (lose) to him.

Message or no message we will surely smile when we play against IM Ular Lauk.:)

Dream game 

My dream game is actually to see Nigel Short play a game with Peter Long ( Short vs Long). Just imagine if the opening is Sicilian Dragon, commentators can be heard saying “ Shortly after Short castled long, Long followed suit by castling short…” :)

And this imaginary game ended in a draw…after a long manoeuvre by Long to gain advantage, Short executed a nice, short combination that leads to a perpetual check.

Question. 

Question: Who emerged as the champion at Insofar Ipoh last week?
Answer: Mr Johan

See…

GREECE'S DEBT CRISIS (FROM CHESS PLAYER'S POINT OF VIEW)

CHESS TEAM CRISIS
1. There is one player, let's call him Mr G...average player at best but badly wanted to join his town strong, newly estabished chess team that consist of many strong, hardworking players. Since Mr G, FIDE rating wise, did not qualified him to be in the team, Mr G submitted instead his National rating inside FIDE Rating column and finally make it to the team.

2. After a few tournaments it became clear that Mr G should not be in this team...his result, his rating and especially his work habit (most players spend at least 8 hours study chess while Mr G is spending only 4, 5 hours study chess.) There is now small talk, a whisper, of kicking him out from the team.

3. Mr G's rating also has dropped around 200 points now...

4. So one fine day, in the middle of the tournament no less and after registering another lost, Mr G was asked by his team mate to leave the team but suddenly Mr G fights back...a fierce fight with lots of noise , with lots of apologies and promises as long as he is allowed to continue to be in the team... despite of Mr G inability and its incompetency compared with the rest of his team mate.

5. Heck, outside of team...suddenly everybody support Mr G...Tournament Director/Arbiter want Mr G to continue to be in team as not to spoilt other player's norm/rating...chess fan want him to continue playing because he is popular (and handsome too)...his future opponent wants him to play because they see easy point there.

 6. So after many meetings, everybody agreed to beef up Mr G. So they lend to Mr G many chess books and chess analyses etcetera with hope that Mr G will be able to play competitive chess...as required by his team mate..with a condition: Mr G must study chess at least 8 hours a day.

 7. Just when everyone thought this is the solution and happy ending for Mr G...out of nowhere Mr G's coach and second protest " Thanks for the books and support...but why must we study chess for 8 hours while we so used to 3 or 4 hours...do you want to see us die when studying chess? Thanks but no thanks"

8. So right now everybody (with vested interest) is again cracking their head to find ways to help Mr G improve his chess...while at the same times not burdening him so much...

9. and the worst part is, now other participant see that maybe Mr I or Mr S got the same problem as Mr G...

GREECE DEBT CRISIS
1. Based on Greeece economic figure, Greece actually did not qualified to be in EU (European Union) but there is rumors that certain figure has been altered in order to qualify Greece to join EU.

2. After few years, Greece's debt, GDP, accumulate defisit spending and even early retirement age for their citizens compared with other EU members is worrisome. Rumours that Greece needs to be out of EU suddenly is being spread

3. Major rating agencies started to downgrade Greece's rating .

4. Many EU's countries prefer Greece to leave EU but Greece refuse.

5. Bankers, Fed Reserve, Central banks prefer Greece to be part of EU and continue playing..big banks see there is opportunity for profit or cut losses.

6. Bailout is being offered to help Greece but with strings attached...Stringent Economic Measure!

7. Greece's citizen refused to obey to stringent economic measured impose to them.

 8. So now economists, bankers, academicians are trying to find creative ways to help Greece.

9. Now Italy and Spain are in troubled and required bailout.

OLYMPIAD DREAM TEAM

WHO ARE THE CHOSEN ONE?
I used to believe that the most guarded MCF secret is MCF bank balance (talked on the street varied from MCF got no money to MCF got a lot of money, depend with whom you talk or whom you want to believe) but now no more…

Now I started to believe the most guarded MCF secret is a list of players who will represent Malaysia in this coming Olympiad or via which manner players will be chosen…is it via selection system?...is it via merit system?...is it via hybrid (combine between selection and merit system)?...or is it via MAS (Mana Ada System)?

I think this list lies somewhere deep inside MCF safe box guarded by laser, burly guards and could only be open with combination of correct voice and numbers…of course this is only my silent imagination but MCF silent on this has been very deafening...

Actually I am neutral on this …be it selection, merit or president’s nominees, heck even if it is MAS, I frankly don’t care ( My daughters do not play chess and I am after all 20 years away from making it in the team)…all I want to see is there is a system and it is done early and not in a last minute style. Players chosen can prepare early and God knows how many preparations need to be done… leave preparation, passport preparation. chess preparation, financial preparation, getting approval from ‘Home Minister’preparation, if any…to the best of my knowledge there is no player in Malaysia who has manager to ‘kaw tim’ all that so early confirmation from MCF I think will be most appreciate.

THE DREAM TEAM

Eddy Fong posted an interesting article here and in which I did write a comment on my dream team there but it was not published…I guess Eddy just do not want to start a new comments ‘war’ on his blog…and with newly gazette law on internet posting, Eddy's action is fully understandable (and respectable too)

For record, Eddy Fong's Dream Team is as below, which is largely based on recent National Closed Result:
1. Roshan
2. Eng Chiam
3. Syazwan
4. Li Tian
5. Mas

Gilachess joined in the fun by setting up a poll... on who his readers feel deserved to be in the team (and as at now, 12am 10/6/2012) list of players are as below:
1. Roshan
2. Li Tian
3. Mas
4. Yee Weng
5. Jimmy

By the way my Malaysia dream team for this Turkiye Trip is as below, under no particular order:
1. MasHafizul Helmi
2. Mok Tze Meng
3. Lim Yee Weng
4. Roshan
5. Li Tian

And if there is reserve player, I think it should goes to Mohd Syazwan Zulkifli.

 … a nice mixture of senior and junior…

THE REMATCH (LI TIAN VS ROSHAN)

About a week ago, under the backdrop of tall buildings that shaped the skyline, smells of pollutant,city air and sounds of rushing traffic that is Kuala Lumpur...Roshan beats Li Tian in round 4 of National Closed in an exciting game and went on to be a National Champion.

Tomorrow...about 444 kilometres away from the place of their historic duel mentioned above...also in round 4...they meet again under the backdrop of tall coconut trees that shaped the skyline, smells of salty air and sounds of rushing China Selatan waves that is Kuala Terengganu...Roshan and Li Tian meet again in most anticipated 2012 MSSM encounter.

Both of them are arguably the most excited junior players at MSSM (and you too, Jianwen and few others)...one is current National Master and most improved player while the other is considered to be the best junior player and a GM beater no less...and the fact that they met in under 15 group instead of the ‘stronger’ under 18 group reminds me of Manny Pacquaio and Floyd Mayweather...two most excited welterweight boxers that world follows avidly (thought Pacman and Mayweather has never fight with each other inside the ring)...better than those in Heavyweight category.

So will Li Tian, this time around, able to tame Roshan ‘The Lion’ in the land of turtle...you may follow this game live from Arshad’s new website www.kedaicatur.com .

MAGNET COMBINATION

(This posting I dedicated to Fairul ‘Emjee’ Yusoff…chess player who will not hesitate to play a combination at the slightest invitation…or in most cases, at no invitation at all)

‘Normal’ Combination 

We all know how the combinations work. It is like a SWAT Operation when suddenly there is… Bomb! Large explosion (sacrifice) followed by a rush of pieces…go! go! go! to deliver checkmate (or sometimes just to loot valuables) at opponent’s house.

 It is fast and it is swift.

Magnet Combination 

Magnet Combination is however a different animal. It works more like a MAFIA modus operandi in Sicily. An opponent king is drag to the center of the town and in which at the center of the town…watched helplessly by his army…being murdered in most gruesome manner. If you have watched an old film titled ‘Salvatore Giulliano’, you will get the picture. “So die to all who betray Giulliano”

It is a slow torture and it is gruesome.

Extreme Magnet Combination 

Below is the most gruesome and extreme form of magnet combination. An opponent king is not only drag to the center of the town…but up to the basement of his opponent castle. After a short eye to eye meeting with his counterpart…a killing was delivered by a king via a piece that is hardly move!



1. Qh7!! Kh7
2. Nf6 Kh6
3. Neg4 Kg5
4. h4 Kf4
5. g3 Kf3
6. Be2 Kg2
7. Rh2 Kg1

 

8. Kd2

A mate is delivered with a combination  of a king move and (unmoved) rook.

Full game 

W:Lasker
B:George Thomas