Nuffnang

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

MALAY OPEN 1985

Tonight while surfing the internet i stumble on an old News Straits Times article about 1985 Malay Open wrote by Peter Long

Here

I like this article. It is factual, frank and author did not hesitate to pen down what he actually thoughts or knows or especially on what he feels. Well, in simple words... a no holds barred...a vintage Peter!

Some of the interesting points are:
Peter began by mentioning PCMM as “...a strange but not uncommon example of an association which was formed simply to organise one tournament”...ouch! :)

Malaysian Airlines System donated plane tickets as prizes and organisational costs were largely taken care of by Konsortium Serbaguna Sdn Bhd and Wearne Brothers Sdn Bhd.

On Ghalam’s play “Ghalam Sani Datuk Abdul Rashid is young and ambitious, but is afraid of taking risks”

Peter touched on then recently married Mohd Noor Yahya's poor (chess) performance"...biggest disappointment...has been indifferent form...etc"

Peter actually comment on most player worthy of comments, as a reader we could feel Peter know his colleague well.

Dinner and prize giving ceremony is held at Putra World Trade Centre where Datuk Khalil Yaacob, the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, was at hand to give away the prizes.

Peter concluded the article by presenting few games played at the tournament.

Hope
How i wish today chess tournaments are to be cover like this... in almost full page of major newspaper, honestly/frankly written by author without any hidden agendas, with historical facts and is well researched...too bad if chess tourney is not written this way because, a'la Yuna's tagline... there is story in every tournament!

Monday, April 2, 2012

WHICH ONE IS A HOAX ?

One, out of four articles published at www.chessbase.com on 1st April 2012 is a hoax, an April fool joke, a chessbase tradition...but the big question here is which one?

1.European Championship: Jakovenko is champion with last round victory
This is real since it is also reported at other chess site.

2.Capablanca's Chess + Billiards match
Never heard of this but that beautiful game...an evidence..50-50 chances it's hoax. Lets evaluate others.

3.The 'Let's Check' Crystal Ball
I know Fritz has this ability and i don't think Chessbase is going to trick or make fun of something that they sell..open to sue...ok, this is real.

4.Chess Match of the Century table up for sale
I think i have heard about this table few years back...i think this one is April Fool's article...:)

Chessbase, my final answer is..Chess Match of the Century table up for sale is this year April Fool's joke!

Ok, now lets wait for the result...:)

Sunday, April 1, 2012

DEAR DATCC...

As someone who moonlight as a chess player, and someone who considered DATCC as his third house and who is interested to see DATCC as a chess hub for the nation, I have below suggestions/question, which I personally like to believe, for the betterment of DATCC.

ADVERTISEMENT
Few years after DATCC acquired space previously taken by William Restaurant, William Restaurant‘s sign board is still being proudly displayed outside DATCC. If I am not a chess player, with tables, chairs and Restaurant signage and a weird language being spoken by its patronage (en passant, zugzwang, bulchoz break …) I will believe DATCC is a restaurant serving some exotic European cuisine.

Maybe it is time for DATCC to bring down William’s signboard, replace it with big, bright DATCC signage. I believed every day at least 100 cars passes through DATCC’s front, definitely this will be a great advertisement for DATCC.

Even better if DATCC signboard could be display outside Kompleks Wilayah alongside all those Dangduts and Karaoke signage. Everyday thousands of people passed through Jalan Dang Wangi, got stuck inside their car with nothing to do but cursing the traffic jem. It is to DATCC's advantage if there is awareness among those stranded afternoon travellers (and morning too) that there exist a chess center inside Kompleks Wilayah.

In a world we live in which every company is fighting for eye balls exposure, not wrong if DATCC do the same.

No doubt it is costly but i think in the long run will bring benefit to DATCC and Malaysian chess.

REPLACE THE CHAIR

Chairs at DATCC is a folded type but in my opinion is not very durable. If your weight is above ‘healthy and wealthy’ level i.e 88.88 kgs, be very careful. I have seen many players that crashed down to floor due to this chair unable to support their weight. Yes, there is maybe one or two non folded chair around but I think it is not enough. Before someone suing DATCC for injury sustained at DATCC, maybe DATCC could prevent it…in chess terms, doing prophylaxis to avoid checkmate.

For beginning maybe get 10 plastic chair non folded type that parents can double it up for use of their 7 years old son/daughter to make it more easily to make a move deep inside opponent’s territory.

SELL CHESS MERCHANDISE
It is a win win situation if DATCC could sell some chess goods such as chess pieces, boards, score books etc or even premier items such as chess software, chess clocks, chess books etc.

Of course DATCC could also sell non chess items such as pens, tissues, soft drinks ( I think already did) for the convenience of players…and extra income for DATCC.

MEMBERSHIP
During Insofar tournament, Jax Tham mentioned to me about a knock out chess tournament that he planned to do every Tuesday night and from that kertas kerja I noticed there is DATCC membership being mention…honestly I am neutral about this membership thingy but I am curious about few things.

· Is membership open to all or is it via invitation?

· What is the privilege in being DATCC member?

· Is member entitled to vote, access to account etc?

Some clarification from DATCC is most welcome!

Monday, March 26, 2012

CHESSAHOLIC REPORT ON INSOFAR

Chessaholic
After more than 100 days sober and free from the grip of tournament chess, i couldn't resist it anymore, last weekend i went alone to DATCC...the sound of chess pieces being captured...and the smell of plastic pieces...the laughter of my fellow chess buddy...ahh, damn it, the temptation too strong...i got dizzy and weak and silently...enter chess tournament again, Insofar Chess Tournament.

Insofar
Insofar tournament is arguably the third most difficult thing to understand (the first is young lady, close second is old lady). Starts with entrance fee (you can chose to pay RM20 or RM50), the prize structure (the scholarship things, 60 months continuos payment reward, the vouchers), the reward for serial entree (my understanding is if you enter 3 times in a row then you are guaranteed of certain amount of prize, every month for 60 months),and there is this equation 1 RM= 1 unit...i got confuse.

But all in all it is a generous tournament, well run and well, bit misunderstood...for clarification you can always check this out with Encik Mat Zaki. He shall be glad to assist.

Ah, never mind about prizes, after all i am here for jolly good hour of chess. So i proceed to make a payment...so, via cash or voucher? come back the question, i got even confuse. Voucher?

Cash!, i replied...ok, you play first, make payment AFTER round one, i was told. I smiled, ah, evil you! just like a bank's credit card tactic, used first, pay later...Result of this novelty play first, pay later concept?... Also like a bank, customer needs to be reminded again and again to make payment, round after round,....not sure whether at the end of round 7, if any player manage to avoid from making payment.

Enough about it, let's proceed with proper tournament report. A very good turnout (100 plus), seeded number one is Yeoh Li Tian, seeded number double one (or eleven) is yours truly, elsewhere there are AM Fadzil Nayan, IM Giam, NM Kamal Ariffin, Kamaluddin, Syazwan, Zaidan, Sumant, Aqie, Zambri, Ng6 (with son!) etc.

On and off, IM Mok can be seen here, So are CM Fadli and CK Saprin (Cari Komputer). IA Hamid Majid also around and many others...just too many to mention.

I finished at 5 points out of 7 and left early (partly to avoid KL's famous afternoon shower, mostly because i am sure i am not winning any prizes...bad habit, don't follow) not sure who is the winner but i think its Li Tian.

Below is my round 6 game.
Bro, since this is allegro...I want to be hero and play like Moro...Result? Zero. I have never play this bad...

W: Mohd Tayah
B: Ilham


With game like this...it is time for me to enter chess rehab.

Me :Hello, my name is Ilham...
Other:Hello, Ilham.

Saturday, March 24, 2012

WHY I PLAY CHESS...

I play chess because 29 years ago, trapped inside my auntie typical Terengganu’s wooden house at Kampung Ladang due to heavy monsoon rain, I learned to play a war game that soon become an obsession, an addiction and took a life of its own that I now can barely able to control.

I play chess because when i was young (read:stupid) i thought this is the cool way to impress my pretty schoolmates...no success, some even until now don't know i am exist.

I play chess because chess game allowed me to unleash that primitive primordial urge in me, Homo Sapien, to kill...to torture..to strangle my fellow human rival (although most of the time, i am the one who at the receiving end), albeit only in a game.

I play chess because chess is the only world where the more queens you have, the less headache is your situation! Unlike the real world where more queens equate to more profit to Panadol company. The best part is in chess it is not wrong to have more than 4 queens legally!

I play chess because chess teach patience...we need to wait our opponent to make his/her move before we can make our move...we need to wait for tournament (1st round) to start, normally half an hour late, the earliest, from schedule...of course, as at now, we have been waiting 57 years, and counting, for Malaysia to have our own GM.

I play chess because as an adult (read: wiser…hopefully) chess teach me valuable skills such as detecting traps from miles away, innocently creating traps to my unsuspected victim, maximising limited resources etc... skills I found useful now to survive in a jungle called adulthood.

I play chess because it is the game i can play theoretically forever. Chess is the only game that 50 years from now…if I am still alive and hopefully still passionately and intimately in love with chess…I, then an 88 years old payer, can play/fight as an equal against 20 years old kid… Cannot say the same for say …88 years old rugby player.

I play chess because chess make it possible (thanks Mr Internet) for me to play chess against my fellow citizen of the world that locate at Jeddah or Jerusalem , or to play against freely floating astronaut at Space Station to prisoner at some maximum security prison… The force of chess and internet already tore down invisible, divisive wall of race and religion. …exactly what politician wished they could do it but failed miserably.

I play chess because chess is democracy at its purest. Each side got its own equal firepower, equal move, equal time, equal set of laws. Player with best campaign or preparation wins. No veto, no politic. Simple.

I play chess because 29 years ago, I used to think with chess, it is possible to make some good money (good money, not coins, ok)…now I know good money in chess belongs only to World top 20 players…definitely fortune is not smiling to one obscure world number 68,509 (read:me!)

I play chess because it teach me that making a first move is advantage, profitable...but me being me, only ever willing to make the first move in chess...and prefer to 'play it safe' by allowing others to make their first move outside chess...and which later i regret it.

Saturday, March 17, 2012

ANAND'S CHESS (MIS)QUOTE

Let me add a bit what IM Jimmy has wrote here about GM Anand's now famous quote

"Nowadays, when you are not a GM at 14 you can forget about it"

Intro
In life there are 2 major lines of thinking. The first is the one who followed everything to the letter, "you drove above speed limit, here! RM300 fine because law said so, your IC and driving license...." and the second one, those who used judgment, see the bigger picture, used discretion to evaluate things before deciding on the next course of action "you drove above speed limit to send your about-to-deliver wife to hospital...ok, no fine, quick! i will escort and clear the road for you..."

Ok maybe there is 3rd line of thinking...never mind, maybe next time...

Point
My point is we should not take Anand's quoatation word by word, verbatim...it should be seen together with the reasons why Anand say that, which unfortunately we did not know. However, I believe it is Anand's response to question like "At what age we can determine whether a chess player is World Champ's material?" or something like that...definitely i think the question is not "Mr Anand, what is your advice to Malaysian chess junior?"

We should not be the extremist and takes this quotation verbatim. After all many other GMs said "worst" such as Nigel Short who has once said "Chess is ruthless: you've got to be prepared to kill people". Is it fair it we bandied around Short's short (sorry, could not resist that!) quote above by saying only killer makes a good chess player because Short said so? We understand what Short mean with his quotation the way we should understand Anand's quotation is not meant to discourage young chess player.

Anand's quoatation is more to reflect the changes in time (Super GM are getting younger and younger...), the more competitive nature of chess now and his realistic view of quest for a World Champ's title etc.

It is sad when GM Anand's (arguably the most well mannered sportsman in chess) quotation is towed around to show as an example of how Malaysian chess society tried to dampen the spirit of its youngsters.

It is totally not the case.

Monday, February 6, 2012

FOR A CHANGE...

The Audition
Few weeks ago I went to one of a local TV station to take part in audition process for one family game show. Reached there at about 10am and after finish filled the form and signed the Term and Condition...I was given number 20.

While waiting for my number to be call (they called my number at about 5pm, after waiting for 7 hours), I look around and cannot help to notice there are many similarities between participants attending the Local Game Audition and chess players entering chess tournament.

The Regular
Believe it or not there is a clique of people who make taking part in any TV shows/games as their hobby (career?!). They know each other and always talk about previous TV game show like we talk about Selangor Open or National Closed…and they know what’s going on in local TV shows , who’s who etc. Hearing them talked, you feel how ‘green’ and how ‘out prepared’ you are compared with these professionals. Must be what newbies feels when we, the chess regulars, start discussing Dragon and Marshall Attack! or whether Malaysia Olympiad 1986 is the best team...
Not sure whether they have website sharing their knowledge about this…or self promoting themselves via it!

The Opinionist.
I happened to sit next to an uncle who is very generous with ideas. They should limit the number of contestantlah…they should doing thislah…they should doing thatlah…I asked him what is his number…smiled, he told me he did not take part in the audition (just accompany his daughter).

The Secretive vs The Professor
After finished audition, contestant will be mobbed by other fella contestant who yet to be audition, asking what they asked to do inside the studio. Some refused to answer (afraid of giving his opponent an unfair advantage) while some are very generous with answers (in chess it is equivalent to reveal all one opening preparation for the sake of impressing fellow contestant)

The Rights to ‘ban’ clause.
After I have signed the Terms and Conditions and have all the time in this world waiting for my number to be call, only then I read the T&C (My boss will surely scream at me should she knew I signed first, read later…). Hmm, Ok, they have this ‘ban clause’…”…reserved the rights at its sole discretion to disqualify any individual …”:)

The Differences
Maybe the only different is on the prize money, unlike chess the first prize of winning this show is , I was told, around tens of thousands (and this game show is considered 'very small', according to The Regular) while in chess with first prize in tens of thousands, it will surely be a mega event…

Last but not least, sorry guys, cannot be specific on this posting since I have signed Confidential Agreement with them. Fully believed if this TV station say they will sue me under whatever ground, it will not going to be NATO….