VARIOUS...

CAS 4Q

Sorry this is old news...last month I took part in CAS 4Q Tournament. This CAS 4Q is really a 40 tournament…there are 40 players that took part in section 1 and 40 players took part in section 2...on average took about 40 minutes to finish a game... Entrance fee for me? RM40!

Hairulov is here but he did not take part but can be seen looking with great interest of game played by his son, Ilhan Mansiz Hairul. Yeoh Li Tian, Fadli, Fariz Safruddin, Jax Tham are few regular players taking part.

Winner is Yeoh Li Tian. I was seeded number 3 and finished 2^nd …and bring home more than RM40 second place prize money!

I say... good things in life began at 40!

Mohd Fadzil Nayan

One of the most active (and most successful) local player today is Mohd Fadzil Nayan. Weeks in and weeks out, he can be seen playing in local circuits everywhere and finished top three in most of it and directly raking in few hundred dollars...kachingg!!

But it was not just due to monetary rewards, few weeks ago he took part in Sukan University and scored a massive 10.5 out of 11! A national service he done to his university.

Last week he was second at Insofar behind Udani. Next week he will take part in Perak Closed...simple words, everywhere!

I say... you better know how to fill up the tax form!

Blogs War

For umpteenth time, blog wars erupted again last week between the usual bloggers but this time around… with different twist! MCF is acknowledging the Open Letter raised by IM Jimmy Liew!

It is going to be interesting to see what action MCF will do, will MCF investigate it and asked party involved to explain?... Will MCF just acknowledge the Open Letter (and do nothing about it)? It will be interesting to see since this will be a landmark case, a precedent, for issues raised to MCF in future.

 

Again, to me MCF should not only responds on issues raised by Jimmy, MCF should also responds on issues raised by Raymond Siew as well... then its fair to everybody. Fair to Jimmy...Fair to Raymond.

Just like any organizations or corporates that worth its name will immediately respond if there is slightest inaccuracy of the report/news no matter who raised it (as long as not on the P&C matter). ..Just my opinion. 

I say...lets get the soda and popcorn ready!

DATCC Renovation

Najib announced during recently concluded INSOFAR that DATCC will go through renovation next month. At the end of the renovation there will be a new entrance door, a new rest area (complete with WiFi and Astro - Hopefully its subscribe to Beyond!), a room to conduct classes and playing hall that will be limited to only 120 players and etcetera.

DATCC will also started offering membership with benefits, among others, are discounts on tournament fee, discounts on merchandise, a use of member’s room etc.

You just need to be there to see how passionate Najib is with this new development…its contagious and since I consider DATCC as my second home…any improvement is most welcome.  

I say... lets have a chess library at DATCC! …and high heels librarian is most welcome too!

Next Posting: Insofar November

I say...aisey man!

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

INSOFAR SEPTEMBER EDITION

How could i no say to a tournament in which once i entered. regardless of result, i am ensure of RM500 in 'scholarship' form?

So that is why yesterday, i took part in Insofar September Edition (My 3rd Insofars in a row) and in doing that securing RM500 (RM5 for next 100 months).


All in all, 28 players took part...a low turnout for weekend event...not sure why but i think must be due to lack of publicity (there is some but a bit last minute, i guess) ... a blessing actually for chess players :) since there will be no que at the toilet and a higher chances of winning something but on the other side, this tournament has been shorten to 6 rounds instead of previously planned 7.

Najib is the arbiter.

First seeded is Sumant and second seeded is Zaidan. Among regular players are Syazwan, Jax Tham and Chek Kin Keuw.

I am seeded under 6 and as usual hope that i could finished better than number 6. At the end of the tournament, achieved my aim (finished 5th) winning 4 games and lost 2 ( to Sumant and Mok)...wait, Mok is playing?...No, not that IM Mok but his 12 years old daughter, Mok Shu Zing.

Poor Mok Shu Zing when everybody like asked her twice about this result...Are you sure you won? Are you sure you beat Ilham? Her reply is ...Why everybody don't believe that i won?

Oppss! :)

Congratulation Mok Shu Zing!

For record top 3 finishers are ZZ, SS and KK (Zaidan Zulkifli, Sumant Subramaniam and Kin Keuw)

Thanks

• Thanks to Sumant who after our game he shared some of his opening knowledge. I shall remember that but ofcourse, need to verify that first!
• Thanks to IM Mok who shared few stories about Turkey Olympiad.
• Thanks to ZZ for the Nescaffe Ice!
• Thanks to Insofar, which i believe in next 60 months, will consistently and punctually credited my Maybank account with RM 10 (RM5 plus previous RM5 that i won in July Edition..Jangan lupa ya!) 

DYTM RAJA NAZRIN SHAH INTERNATIONAL OPEN 2012

The latest chess 'Grand Slam'
In golf there are 4 tournaments that are considered as Majors ( US Masters, US Open, British Open and PGA Championship)

In tennis, there are also 4 tournaments that are considered as Grand Slam (US Open, Wimbledon, French Open and Australia Open)

In Malaysia chess, to me, there are also 4 tournaments that could be considered as The Major or The Grand Slam... Not in particular order, Selangor Open, National Closed, Penang Open, DATCC Datuk Arthur Tan Malaysia Open and KL Open (or now known as DYTM Raja Nazrin Shah International Open)

Correction:Agreed with Najib (See comment below) that National Closed is best to be replace with Penang Open.



DYTM Raja Nazrin Shah International Open
While his three peers (maybe with exception of Penang Open) are...for lack of better word.... 'struggling' ( Financial/ Sponsorship problems...lack of strong players took part...change to unrated rapid etc), Raja Nazrin Shah Open is just getting stronger and stronger. For this year edition, they managed to rope in GM Sergey Tiviakov...a world class player and once a member of Russian Olympiad Team and former European Champion.

Of interest to me about this tournament are:

Lim Zhuo Ren

Seeded 33 and finished at respectable 34, he is a fighter with no draws. Resultwise, a bit of dissapointment here (especially after such a great Olympiad outing) because he did not manage to get the  IM norm and maybe lost some rating points here.

Lim Chuin Hong.

Malaysia flag bearer, seeded 24 and finished at 29. What an outing for him, after a steady win,draw, win, draw, win, draw...that put him among the leader...unfortunately, he lost his last two rounds game...sayang betul! a good doctor he is, he will surely find medicine to this and we can expect him to come back stronger in his next international outing.

Ng Tze Han

Former National Champion, he makes a comeback via this tournament, seeded 25 and finished 20, he is the best Malaysian in this event and shows that  he still did not lose any of his Caissa touch.

For record GM Tiviakov is the champ with 7 points out of 9, same point (but better tie beak) with GM Barbosa

Me

Initially plan to take part in this event but due to unfortunate cruel twist of last minute events resulting in me need to give this event a pass...sigh! :(

Last but not least

Congratulation to Peter Long who manage to again organising this event successfully...with string of elite players and sponsors... and a steady covering at international websites and Bernama too!  

Najib's report on this event here shows that almost who's who of Malaysian chess is there at the tournament...I'll surely missed this event.

Once again, congratulation Peter Long! 


 


 

THE CONVERSATION (WITH SHOP ASSISTANT)

Last week I went to a place that is dangerous to my cash (or credit card, depend), a book shop at one of Malaysia’s shopping heaven.

I had this conversation with a pretty shop assistant , who seems very much eager to help, wide smile, straight teeth, standing tall, active eye contact, a sweet smell of perfume etc (sorry, cannot go much detail here... to avoid domestic World War 3)

The Conversation
Me: Hi
Her: Hi
Me: Where is chess book?
Her: Oh, jazz book…music is on that section sir.
Me: No, not jazz, chess!chess book! Book on chess opening!
This time moving my hand to indicate making a chess move and stressing the word ‘Chess’…sorry girl, if this has cause afternoon shower to you. Anyway she looked confused before replying.

Her: Chest opening !? Err, Let me check…not sure whether we have advanced medical book here.
Me:No, not chest opening. Chess! Chess!... Never mind, where can I found book on poker?
Her: There, sir. That section
Me:Thank you

…since normally we can find chess books, side by side with poker books. No wonder why many chess players played poker.

But then again, to avoid all this we can always buy books from our fellow chess players…Mok, Jax Tham, Mat Arshad, Fadli Zakaria etc…not only cheaper, we can get free advice on what is good for us too! Lucky for us, As at now, they yet to charge on advice what book is good for their potential buyer

...and no, i don't get any commission from them on this posting (though i welcome if they want to give me some).

This posting is about the conversation that we have had and will have again in future in our quest to improve doing what we love doing...play chess!