KING'S GAMBIT

 Opening


 
 Middlegame

  


 
  Endgame

"Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep on moving" - Albert Einstein

DUNGUN'S BLITZ

The Journey

At about 3am in the morning, I make a move from Setiawangsa and drove my new Saga (my SLK, small Little Kancil's  replacement) to Dungun…hence began my 800kms blitz journey to take part in Dungun Blitz Tournament.

By 6am I reached Cherating…perfect! From the window of my car I could almost saw activities taken place inside those small wooden houses…mother preparing kopi o…father waking up son or daughter for morning (Subuh) prayer…and kids who are trying 1001 tricks to continue sleeping…

At 7am I stopped at Kemaman for Nasi Dagang and Nescafe Ice. My WXK car plate number and me reading News Strait Times (instead of Harakah) and I did not spoke in Terengganu language…when its time to pay, I was told the price is 8 bucks. 8 bucks?! Instantly I know this makcik tried to rob me alive and instantly too I queried her back in my flawless ( I think) Terengganu language.

Me: lapang riya? Oo woh , guaner yang ma’ha ngak? (8 bucks? How come it is so expensive?)

Makcik: Ehh, saloh…li’mer riya jer (Opps mistake…Its actually only 5 bucks)

…Ever since that I just continue using my rusty Terengganu language to safeguard myself against possible dual tourist pricing.

At 9am having my second round of breakfast with Arshad and Razief. This time it is Nasi Minyak. Yes, in Terengganu we have Nasi Minyak for breakfast

The Tournament

22 players took part in this tournament. One thing unique that I saw it here is you don’t have to fill up any form or write down your name etc to register…just go there, pay RM10 entrance fee (That’s right, RM10 only…far cry from one  future weekend rapid event in which entrance fee is RM100!) and you are in…everybody knows everybody here.

Its 13 round event and result (top 3) is as below.

1     1. Norazmi (11.5 points), RM200

2     2. Nor Ilhamuddin (10 points), RM150

3     3. Mohd Arshad (10 points), RM100

For records prizes are up to number 10 with several special prizes thrown in.

Tournament ends at about 1.30 pm and after having lunch with Rahim, Gambit, Arshad, Indera and few others, I drove back to KL and stopped along the way to buy Sata, Keropok Lekor etc (and do the conversation in Terengganu language of course), I reached home at about 8pm…just in time for dinner.

PAWN PLAY

Gelfand vs Shirov

This is a game in which we should not let beginners to see it because it might create false impression that moving lots of pawns in chess is a good thing....it is not.

Well, exception if your name is Shirov and your are from Latvia.

First watch this game when i was a student at Sintok in mid 90's...at a time when you have to pay RM10 to enter a weekend tournament that offer a first prize of RM300 ...now ofcourse the situation has improved...have to pay RM30 for a weekend tournament with a first prize of RM300!

W:Gelfand
B:Shirov
Linares 1993