My First Video

Testing my first video. It's game between 2008 Malay Open Champion Abdullah Che Hassan and Kamaluddin Yusof which ended in a draw.

IM Mashafizul ended in 36th place in The SIO 2008.

IM Mashafizul in SIO 2008

IM Mashafizul end his campaign in The SIO 2008 with a draw in the last round against Indonesian Akwie Setiawan (2207).GM Ganguly Surya Shekhar (2579) photo right , GM Zhang Zhong (2617), GM Gawain Jones (2562) and IM Zhao Zong Yuan (2487) shared 1^st place with 7points each. However, based on the better tie break, GM Ganguly was announced the top winner.

Meanwhile Mas only collected 5 points from 9 rounds to finish 36^th place which is far from his initial seeding ( 19^th). It must have been a sad ending for him after starting quite well for the first 5 round. So guys we have to wait patiently for Mas to get his GM norm in future tournaments and let wish him all the best.

photo from theclosetgrandmaster

IM Mas lost to Domagoj Dragicevic (2215) in round 8 SIO 2008.

Recent news from Sydney is IM Mashafizul photo left lost to 26 years old Aussie Domagoj Dragicevic (2215) photo right in round 8 of The SIO 2008. What a set back for Mas after having a marvelous start beating and drawing GMs like Murray Chandler (2540) and GM Darryl Johansen (2475) earlier. I think we have to wait patiently for his GM norm seeking and give him continous moral support.

IM Mashafizul (2382) vs Van der Wal,Fritz (1968) game Round 1, SIO 2008

Below are IM Mashafizul game in round 1, SIO 2008.

Van der Wal,Fritz (1968) - Mas,Hafizulhelmi (2382) [A41]
Sydney Internatonal Open (Round 1), 25.03.2008

1.Nf3 d6 2.d4 Bg4 3.h3 Bxf3 4.exf3 d5 5.Bd3 g6 6.Bf4 Bg7 7.c3 c6 8.0–0 Nf6 9.Re1 0–0 10.Nd2 Nbd7 11.Qc2 Re8 12.Re2 c5 13.dxc5 Nxc5 14.Bb5 Nfd7 15.Nb3 Ne6 16.Be3 Nc7 17.Bd3 e5 18.Rae1 b6 19.Qd2 Qc8 20.Bb1 Qa6 21.h4 Qc4 22.h5 a5 23.hxg6 hxg6 24.Bh6 Kh7 25.Bxg7 Kxg7 26.Qg5 Ne6 27.Qg3 Nf4 28.Re3 a4 29.Nc1 Re7 30.Bd3 Qc7 31.Bb5 Nf6 32.Nd3 N6h5 33.Qh4 Nxd3 34.Bxd3 a3 35.Qb4 Nf4 36.Bb1 axb2 37.g3 d4 38.cxd4 Nd5 39.Qxb2 Nxe3 40.Rxe3 Rc8 41.Re1 exd4 42.Qxd4+ Kg8 43.Rxe7 Qxe7 44.Be4 Rc1+ 45.Kg2 Qc5 46.Qd7 Qc4 47.Bd3 Qc7 48.Qe8+ Kg7 49.Qe3 Qc5 50.Qe2 Qc3 51.Qe4 Re1 52.Qc4 Qxc4 53.Bxc4 g5 54.g4 Kf6 55.Bb3 Rc1 56.Kg3 Rc3 57.Kg2 b5 58.Bd5 Rc7 59.Kg3 Ke5 60.Bb3 f6 61.Bg8 Rc3 62.Bf7 Kd4 63.Bg8 Kd3 64.Bd5 Ke2 65.Kg2 Rc1 66.Bb7 Rf1 67.Bc6 Rxf2+ 68.Kg3 Ke3 69.Bxb5 Rxf3+ 70.Kg2 Rf2+ 71.Kg3 Rxa2 72.Bd7 Rf2 73.Be6 Rf3+ 74.Kg2 Kf4 75.Kh2 Rg3 76.Bd7 Rxg4 0–1

Peter Long shine at The Singapore Intchess Mixed Tournament 2008 (15-23 Mac 2008)

Asean Masters Circuit - Intchess Mixed Tournament 2008, 15 to 23 Mar, Singapore

Our ex- national player FM Peter Long has emerged from his retirement to play at The Singapore Intchess Mixed Tournament 2008 held from 15-23 Mac 2008 at the Teck Ghee Community Club, Singapore.

Singaporean FM Graham Chua (2075) with 9 points emerged as the winner followed by FM Peter Long (2350) photo right with 8 points . Both are the only unbeaten player in the 11 round events.

Among players that participate is FM Kyaw Kyaw Soe (2477) Myanmar, FM Kyaw Lin Naing (2405) Myanmar, Chia Chee Seng (2222) Singapore, WFMMyat Thiri Aung Kyaw (2181) Myanmar, CM Chan Yi-Ren Daniel (2175) Singapore, Magno Enerose (2169) Philipines , Camacho Chardine Cheradee (2106) Philipines, WFM Nguyen Thi Mai Hung (2062) Vietnam, Verdiana Norasa (1890) Indonesia, WFM Chan Wei-Yi Victoria (1876) Singapore.

Talking about Peter Long, I always joke with my friends that my dream is to watch Peter Long play a game with Nigel Short photo left Hehehehe

Below are Peter Long games:-

Round 1

Long,Peter (2350) - Kyaw,Kyaw Soe (2477) [D02]
ASEAN Masters Circuit Singapore (1), 15.03.2008

1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 c6 3.Bf4 Bf5 4.e3 e6 5.Nbd2 Bd6 6.Bxd6 Qxd6 7.c4 ½–½ eeemm..a draw in 7^th move…so early…or maybe the organizer didn’t key in the complete moves in the website ?

Round 2

Kyaw,Lin Naing (2405) - Long,Peter (2350) [B48]
ASEAN Masters Circuit Singapore (2), 15.03.2008

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Be3 a6 7.Bd3 Nf6 ½–½ …aaahhh…another draw in 7^th move…thinking about drawing problems ? Sofia rules or Gibraltar rules anybody!?

Round 3

Long,Peter (2350) - Chua Xing-Jian,Graham (2075) [A48]
ASEAN Masters Circuit Singapore (3), 16.03.2008

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bg5 Nbd7 4.Nbd2 g6 5.e4 Bg7 6.c3 0–0 7.Qc2 c6 8.a4 Qc7 9.Be2 e5 10.0–0 Re8 11.dxe5 dxe5 12.Rfe1 h6 13.Bh4 Nh5 14.Nc4 g5 15.Bg3 Nf4 16.Bf1 Nf8 17.Ne3 N8g6 18.Nd2 Be6 19.Ndc4 Rad8 20.b4 g4 21.Nf5 Bxf5 22.exf5 Ne7 23.Bh4 f6 24.Ne3 h5 25.Bc4+ Nfd5 26.Rad1 Kh8 27.Nf1 Rf8 28.Ng3 Nf4 29.Be6 Ned5 30.b5 a6 31.c4 Nb4 32.Qe4 Nbd3 33.Rf1 Nc5 34.Qb1 Qe7 35.bxc6 bxc6 36.Rxd8 Rxd8 37.Qb4 Re8 38.Rd1 Ncxe6 39.Qxe7 Rxe7 40.fxe6 Rxe6 41.Rd7 Kg8 42.Nf5 Bf8 43.Ra7 c5 44.a5 Ng6 45.g3 Ne7 46.Ne3 Rd6 47.Rc7 Rc6 48.Rb7 Rd6 49.Rc7 Rc6 50.Rb7 ½–½

Aaahhh….from now on the games start to last longer as it should be J

Round 4

Chan,Yi-Ren Daniel (2175) - Long,Peter (2350) [B19]
ASEAN Masters Circuit Singapore (4), 16.03.2008

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.Nf3 Nd7 7.h4 h6 8.h5 Bh7 9.Bd3 Bxd3 10.Qxd3 Ngf6 11.Bd2 e6 12.0–0–0 Be7 13.c4 0–0 14.Ne4 b5 15.cxb5 cxb5 16.Kb1 Nxe4 17.Qxe4 Nf6 18.Qe2 Qd5 19.Ka1 a5 20.Rdg1 Rfc8 21.g4 Qe4 22.Be3 Rc2 23.Nd2 Qc6 24.g5 Nd5 25.gxh6 Rxb2 26.Rxg7+ Kh8 27.Rh7+ Kxh7 28.Qd3+ f5 29.Kxb2 Nxe3 30.Qxe3 Qxh1 31.Qxe6 Ba3+ 32.Kc2 Rc8+ 33.Kd3 Qc6 34.Qxf5+ Kxh6 35.Ne4 Qc2+ 36.Ke3 Bc1+ 37.Kf3 Qd1+ 38.Kg2 Rg8+ 39.Ng3 Qg4 40.Qf6+ Kh7 41.Kf1 Bf4 42.Qe7+ Rg7 43.Qe4+ Kh8 44.Ne2 Qxh5 45.Ke1 Bd6 46.Qa8+ Rg8 47.Qxa5 Re8 48.f3 Qxf3 49.Qxb5 Bb4+ 0–1

Round 5

Long,Peter (2350) - Magno,Enerose (2169) [A00]
ASEAN Masters Circuit Singapore (5), 18.03.2008

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.Nc3 0–0 6.0–0 Nc6 7.d4 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Nxd4 9.Qxd4 d6 10.Bd2 a5 11.Rac1 Nd7 12.Qh4 Nc5 13.Be3 Bf6 14.Bg5 Bxg5 15.Qxg5 Be6 16.Nd5 Bxd5 17.Bxd5 e6 18.Qxd8 Rfxd8 19.Bf3 Ra6 20.Rfd1 Rb6 21.Rd2 Kf8 22.Kf1 Ke7 23.e3 Rb4 24.Rc3 Ra8 25.a3 Rb6 26.Ke1 g5 27.Rcc2 Rf8 28.Rd1 f5 29.Ke2 f4 30.exf4 gxf4 31.Rb1 a4 32.Bg2 e5 33.Bd5 Rf6 34.Rc3 fxg3 35.Rxg3 Rh6 36.Rg7+ Kd8 37.Rf7 Rxh2 38.b4 axb3 39.Rg1 Nd7 40.Rgg7 Kc8 41.Rxd7 Rh4 42.Rc7+ Kd8 43.Rxb7 Rxb7 44.Rxb7 Rh3 45.a4 Rc3 46.a5 Rc2+ 47.Kf3 Ra2 48.Rxb3 Rxa5 49.Rb8+ Ke7 50.Rb7+ Kf6 51.Rxh7 Ra3+ 52.Kg4 Ra2 53.Kh5 e4 54.Rf7+ Ke5 55.Re7+ Kf6 56.Rxe4 Rxf2 57.Kg4 Rg2+ 58.Kf4 Rf2+ 59.Ke3 Rh2 1–0

Round 6

Verdiana,Norasa (1890) - Long,Peter (2350) [B12]
ASEAN Masters Circuit Singapore (6), 20.03.2008

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nc3 Qb6 5.g4 Bd7 6.h3 e6 7.Nge2 c5 8.Be3 Nc6 9.f4 cxd4 10.Nxd4 Bc5 11.Nce2 h5 12.Bg2 Nh6 13.c3 Nxd4 14.cxd4 Be7 15.Qd2 Bh4+ 16.Bf2 Bxf2+ 17.Kxf2 hxg4 18.Ng3 0–0–0 19.Rac1+ Kb8 20.Rc3 Rc8 21.Rhc1 Rc6 22.Rb3 Qc7 23.Rcc3 gxh3 24.Bxh3 Ng8 25.Bg2 Ne7 26.Qe2 Rh4 27.Qe3 f6 28.Bf1 Rxc3 29.Rxc3 Nc6 30.Ne2 Qd8 31.Qg3 Qh8 32.exf6 gxf6 33.Ke1 Rh1 34.a3 Qh4 35.b4 a6 36.Kf2 Qxg3+ 37.Rxg3 Rh7 38.Bg2 Ne7 39.Bh3 Kc7 40.Re3 Kd6 41.Nc3 Nc6 42.Ne2 e5 43.fxe5+ fxe5 44.dxe5+ Nxe5 45.Bxd7 Rxd7 46.Ke1 Re7 47.Kd1 Rf7 48.Nd4 Rf4 49.Ne2 Rf1+ 50.Kc2 Nc4 51.Rh3 Rf2 52.Kd1 b6 53.Rh6+ Ke5 54.Rh3 b5 55.Ke1 Rf5 56.Kd1 Nd6 57.Kd2 Ne4+ 58.Ke3 Ng5 59.Rg3 Ne6 60.Rg4 Rh5 61.Rg3 Rh2 62.Rf3 Rxe2+ 0–1

Round 7

Long,Peter (2350) - Chan,Wei-Yi Victoria (1876) [B57]
ASEAN Masters Circuit Singapore (7), 21.03.2008

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Bc4 Qb6 7.Nb3 e6 8.0–0 a6 9.Be3 Qc7 10.a4 b6 11.f4 Be7 12.Bd3 0–0 13.g4 Re8 14.g5 Nd7 15.Qh5 g6 16.Qh4 Nb4 17.Rf3 Bb7 18.Rh3 Nf8 19.Qh6 Nxd3 20.cxd3 Bd8 21.Rc1 Qd7 22.Rf1 f5 23.Rg3 b5 24.axb5 axb5 25.Nd2 Ra6 26.h4 b4 27.Nd1 d5 28.h5 dxe4 29.dxe4 Bb6 30.Nc4 Bxe3+ 31.Ndxe3 Bxe4 32.hxg6 hxg6 33.Rd1 Qg7 34.Qh2 Rea8 35.Rh3 Ra1 36.Qd2 Rxd1+ 37.Qxd1 Ra7 38.Qd6 Rb7 39.Rh2 Qc7 40.Qd4 Qg7 41.Qd6 ½–½

Round 8

Camacho,Chardine Cheradee (2106) - Long,Peter (2350) [B21]
ASEAN Masters Circuit Singapore (8), 21.03.2008

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.f4 e6 4.Nf3 d5 5.e5 Nge7 6.d3 Nf5 7.g3 b5 8.Bg2 Qb6 9.Ne2 h5 10.0–0 Bb7 11.c3 a5 12.h3 Be7 13.Kh2 a4 14.a3 Na5 15.Bd2 Nb3 16.Rb1 d4 17.cxd4 cxd4 18.Nc1 Nxd2 19.Qxd2 Ne3 20.Rf2 Rc8 21.Ne2 Rc2 22.Qe1 b4 23.Qg1 Bxf3 24.Bxf3 Ng4+ 25.Bxg4 hxg4 26.h4 0–0 27.Rg2 Rd8 28.Qd1 b3 29.Qf1 Rdc8 30.Rc1 Rxc1 31.Nxc1 Bxa3 32.Nxb3 Qxb3 33.bxa3 Qxa3 34.Qe2 Rc1 35.Qb2 Qxb2 36.Rxb2 a3 37.Ra2 Rc3 38.Kg2 Rb3 39.Kf1 Rb1+ 40.Ke2 Rb2+ 0–1

Round 9

Long,Peter (2350) - Nguyen,Thi Mai Hung (2062) [D14]
ASEAN Masters Circuit Singapore (9), 22.03.2008

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.cxd5 cxd5 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Bf4 Qb6 7.Na4 Qa5+ 8.Bd2 Qc7 9.Rc1 Ne4 10.Nc3 Nxd2 11.Qxd2 e6 12.e3 a6 13.Be2 Bd6 14.0–0 0–0 15.Na4 Qe7 16.a3 Bd7 17.Nb6 Rad8 18.Rc2 Be8 19.Rfc1 Bb8 20.Na4 f6 21.Nc5 e5 22.b4 e4 23.Ne1 f5 24.f4 exf3 25.Nxf3 f4 26.b5 fxe3 27.Qd1 axb5 28.Bxb5 Ne5 29.dxe5 Bxb5 30.Qd4 b6 31.Nd3 Bxd3 32.Qxd3 Bxe5 33.Rc6 Bb2 34.Re1 Rfe8 35.Rxb6 Bxa3 36.Rc6 Bb4 37.Re2 Qe4 38.Qb3 Ra8 39.Rc1 Ra3 40.Qb2 Rea8 41.h3 Bd6 42.Qb6 Bg3 43.Rf1 h6 44.Qc5 Ra2 45.Rxe3 Qc4 46.Qe7 Qc2 47.Nd2 Qxd2 48.Rxg3 Qd4+ 49.Kh2 R2a7 50.Qe6+ Kh8 51.Rf5 ½–½

Round 10

Long,Peter (2350) - Chia,Chee-Seng (2253) [A00]
ASEAN Masters Circuit Singapore (10), 22.03.2008

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.Bg5 c5 4.e3 Qb6 5.Qc1 ½–½

eeemmm---another short draw....to short i think...

Round 11

Myat,Thiri Aung Kyaw (2181) - Long,Peter (2350) [A05]
ASEAN Masters Circuit Singapore (11), 23.03.2008

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 b5 3.Bg2 Bb7 4.d3 e6 5.e4 d5 6.exd5 Nxd5 7.0–0 Nf6 8.Bg5 Be7 9.Re1 c5 10.Qe2 Qb6 11.Nbd2 Nbd7 12.Rad1 0–0 13.Ne4 Rfe8 14.Bxf6 Bxf6 15.c3 Rad8 16.Nfd2 Be7 17.Qf3 Ne5 18.Nf6+ gxf6 19.Qxb7 Qxb7 20.Bxb7 Rxd3 21.f4 Red8 22.fxe5 Rxd2 23.Rxd2 Rxd2 24.exf6 Bxf6 25.Rf1 Bg5 26.b3 Be3+ 27.Kh1 Rxa2 28.Bc6 b4 29.cxb4 cxb4 30.Be8 Bf2 31.Rc1 Kf8 32.Rc8 Ke7 33.Ba4 Bd4 34.Rc4 Bc3 35.Rc7+ Kf8 36.Rxa7 h6 37.Rd7 Rb2 38.Rc7 Be5 39.Rb7 Bd6 40.Rd7 Be7 41.Rc7 e5 42.Rc6 Kg7 43.Rc7 Bd6 44.Rd7 Rd2 45.Bb5 Kg6 46.Bc4 f5 47.Rd8 e4 48.Rg8+ Kf6 49.Rh8 f4 50.gxf4 Bxf4 51.Rf8+ Ke5 52.Re8+ Kf5 53.Rf8+ Kg4 54.h3+ Kf3 55.Kg1 e3 56.Re8 e2 0–1

IM Mashafizul draw against Sherily Cua (2132) in Round 7 SIO 2008

The recent news from The Closet GM is IM Mashafizul photo left managed only a draw against Pinoy girl - Sherily Cua (2132) photo top right in the 7th round of the SIO 2008.


Below are their game:-

IM Mashafizulhelmi (2382) - SherilyCua (2132) [C10]
Sydney International Open (Round 7), 28.03.2008

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bd7 5.Nf3 Bc6 6.Bd3 Nd7 7.0–0 Ngf6 8.Ng3 Be7 9.Re1 Bxf3 10.Qxf3 c6 11.a4 0–0 12.c3 Qc7 13.Bg5 Rfe8 14.Bc2 c5 15.Rad1 Rad8 16.dxc5 Nxc5 17.h3 Rxd1 18.Rxd1 Rd8 19.Rxd8+ Bxd8 20.Qf4 Qxf4 21.Bxf4 Nd5 22.Bb8 a6 23.Ne4 Nd7 24.Bd6 f5 25.Nc5 Nxc5 26.Bxc5 Be7 27.Ba7 Kf7 28.Bb3 Bf6 29.g3 Ke7 ½–½

IM Mas will meet 26 years old Aussie - Domagoj Dragicevic (2215) photo below left in the 8th round tomorrow.


photo from theclosetgrandmaster

IM Mas lost to IM Zhao Zong Yuan in Round 6 SIO 2008

The recent news I get from the The Closet GM is IM mashafizul lost his 6th round game in SIO 2008 to Aussie no.2 and new hot shot – GM to be IM Zhao Zong-Yuan (2487.) Unfortunately i can't find any source for Mas game against Zhao but from the photo above i guess the move order would be like below:-

IM Mas (right) lost against IM Zhao Zong Yuan (left) in round 6 ,SIO 2008

IM Zhao Zong Yuan (2487) - IM Mas Hafizul (2382)
Sydney International Open (Round 6), 27.03.2008

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 b6

and the latest photo below show that IM Zhao has played 5.a3 ..............1–0




photo from chessaustralia.com

IM Mashafizul Played 1.d4 in SIO 2008!!!!

Round 5: IM Mashafizul (right) vs GM Darryl Johansen (left)

IM Mashafzul played 1. d4 in his 5th round draw against Aussie n0. 3 GM Darryl Johansen (2475). This is the first time I ever see Mas played 1.d4 in a serious tournament .He had almost as white played 1.e4 or in few occasion playing 1. Nf3 followed by g3 and Bg2 but never a Queen Pawn game!

Below are the game.

IM Mas Hafizul (2382)- GM Darryl Johansen (2475) [D02]
Sydney International Open (5.3), 27.03.2008

1.d4 The first shock! If I’m not mistaken, Mas never play other then 1. e4 accept 1. Nf3 with later g3 and Bg2 set up. 1... d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bf4 Mas could still play 3.g3 which is more like a set up that he have played before although it is without the early d4. 3.Bf4 The London System. It just shows that Mas really intent to play the Queen Pawn Game- an opening that i have never seen Mas play it before! 3...c5 4.c3 Qb6 5.Qb3 Nc6 6.Qxb6 axb6 7.Bc7 Nd7 8.Na3 f6 9.Nb5 e6 10.g3 Kf7 11.h4 Na7 12.e3 c4 13.Nd6+ Bxd6 14.Bxd6 Nc6 15.e4 b5 16.Nd2 Ra6 17.Bc7 f5 18.f3 Nf6 19.exf5 exf5 20.b3 Be6 21.a4 b4 22.cxb4 Nxb4 23.Rc1 Rc6 24.Ba5 cxb3 25.Nxb3 Rxc1+ 26.Nxc1 Nc2+ 27.Kf2 Nxd4 28.Bb6 Rc8 29.Bd3 Nc6 30.Ne2 Nd7 31.Be3 Nde5 32.Bb5 Nc4 33.Bf4 Na7 34.Nd4 Nxb5 35.axb5 Ra8 36.Re1 Bd7 37.Bg5 Re8 38.Ra1 Ne5 39.Ra3 Bc8 40.Bf4 Nc4 41.Ra7 h6 42.Ra2 Kf6 43.Re2 Rxe2+ 44.Kxe2 g5 45.hxg5+ hxg5 46.Bc7 Bd7 47.b6 Ne5 48.Bd8+ Kg6 49.Bc7 Kf6 ½–½

Mashafizul Flying Start at SIO 2008!!!

IM Mas hafizul has start the Sydney International Open 2008 with an excellent result. So far he has scored 4 points from 5 round with a win in the 4^th round against the famous All Black (New Zealand No. 1) - GM Murray_Chandler (2540) photo left and a draw with Australian no. 3 GM Darryl Johansen (2475) photo right in the 5^th round.

In the 6^th round he will face Aussie no. 2 – the new hot shot and GM to be IM Zhao_Zong-Yuan(2487) . Zhao photo left achieved all three of the required grandmaster (GM) norms over two months in December 2007 and January 2008. Zhao scored 7/9 earning his first GM norm in the First Saturday chess tournament (1-10 December 2007) in Budapest, Hungary. Zhao earned his second GM norm by convincingly winning with 6.5 points the VII Festival Internacional de Ajedrez GEMA tournament (10th category round robin) which was held from 26 December 2007 until 5 January 2008 in Mondariz Balneario (Pontevedra), Spain. In his third attempt, which was unsuccessful, Zhao played in the 33rd Seville Open/XXXIII Abierto Internacional "Ciudad de Sevilla" (5-12 January 2008) Sevilla, Spain finishing with 6.5/9 points (=10th place). In 22-31 January 2008 he managed to achieve his final GM norm at the 2008 Gibtelecom Chess Festival in Gibraltar.

IM Mashafizul beat IM Vladimir Fledman in the last round of the 2008 Doerbel Cup

Latest news is IM Mashafizul Helmi won his last round game in the Derbel Cup 2008. His beat veteran Australian IM Vladimir Fledman (2309)-photo left with black. However, due to his unexpected lost against Aussie youth player -Vincent Suttor in the 7th round, Mas highest possible placing is 7th place which is highly unlikely because of his bad tie-break and the lowest is possibly 36th place. The tournament winner is American GM Varuzan Akobian photo right.

Mashafizul lost round 7 but win round 8 in The 2008 Doerbel Cup.

IM Mashafizul lost to 20 years old Australian - Vincent Suttor (2139) in the 7 th round but won against another Aussie - WIM Laura Moylan (2092) photo right in the 8th round which ended today. Not an encouraging performances by Mas so far but i hope he will performances better in the remaining rounds and avoid losing against lower rated opponents.

Mas will meet 49 years old Australian- IM Vladimir Fledman (2309) photo left in the last round tommorow.

Eugene Schon vs Mas,Hafizulhelmi , 1st Round , 2008 Doeberl Cup

So far i manage to get only the IM Mashafizul first round game in The 2008 Canberra Doeberl Cup from the tournament site. However I think there is some mistake in the game database because the 2^nd round game GM Zhang Zhong is playing against Achim Gunter Hoffman where as from the pairing it stated that in the 2^nd round GM Zhang Zhong beat IM Mas as white !

Schon,Eugene - Mas,Hafizulhelmi [B51]
Canberra Doeberl Cup (1), 20.03.2008

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Nd7 4.d4 Ngf6 5.Nc3 cxd4 6.Qxd4 e5 7.Qd3 h6 8.Bxd7+ Bxd7 9.0–0 Rc8 10.Be3 a6 11.a4 Be6 12.Rfe1 Qa5 13.Bd2 Qc7 14.a5 Bc4 15.Qe3 Ng4 16.Qb6 Qxb6 17.axb6 Be7 18.Rac1 Bd8 19.b3 Bxb6 20.bxc4 Bxf2+ 21.Kf1 Bxe1 22.Kxe1 Rxc4 23.Rb1 b5 24.Ra1 b4 25.Nd5 Rxe4+ 26.Kd1 Kd7 27.Rxa6 Rb8 28.Ra4 Nf2+ 29.Kc1 b3 30.Rxe4 Nxe4 31.c3 Kc6 32.Nb4+ Kb5 33.Kb2 Kc4 34.Be1 f6 35.Nh4 g6 36.Nxg6 Nc5 37.Ne7 Rxb4 38.cxb4 Nd3+ 39.Ka3 Nxe1 40.b5 Kxb5 41.Kxb3 Nxg2 42.Nf5 Kc5 43.Nxh6 Nh4 0–1

IM Mas lost to WGM Li Ruofan in Round 6 , 2008

Recent update in 2008 Doeberl Cup is IM Mashafizul (left) lost his 6 round game against China turn Singaporean WGM Li Ruofan (2425) - wife of another China turn Singaporean - GM Zhang Zhong. Li Roufan (right) must be a bete noire for IM Mas because he also lost to her in the 2007 DATMO.


IM Mas will meet Vincent Suttor ( 2139) in round 7 tomorrow.

A formidable husband and wife competing in 2008 Doeberl Cup - GM Zhang Zhong and WGM Li Ruofan!

Photo from chessbase.com

IM Mas wearing same shirt ? hehehe

IM Mas with a koala a few days before The 2008 Doeberl Cup

Sorry for posting this rather stupid post... actually i found it quite interesting to noted that IM Mas is wearing the same cloth in the Doerbel Cup 2008 (photo below) and few days before (photo above) when he visited a zoo in Australia. It's quite normal to bring a few shirts only when you travel abroad ...but...i just can resist to mention it...hehehe..no offense Mas :)

IM Mas in the Doeberl Cup 2008

Photo from The Closet Grandmaster

IM Mas Playing in The 2008 Doeberl Cup!

IM Mashafizul Helmi (photo right) is playing in the The 2008 Doeberl Cup which held at the Hellenic Club of Canberra ( The capital city of Australia) from 19-24 Mac 2008. It is a 9 round tournament with 90 minute + 30 second increment time control. The tournament consist four category – Premeir, Major, Minor and Under 1200. The total prize money is Australian $ 16,800 with the 1^st prize for the Premier category will received Australia $ 4,000. IM Mas probably doing a “warm-up” before competing in the Sydney International Open (SIO) which will be held on 25th March 2008 to Saturday 29th March 2008 at Parramatta Town Hall in Sydney, Australia.

So far IM Mas has colleted 3.5 points after 5 round. He beat 3 lower rated player and draw with Belgium- GM Vadim Malakhatko (2600)!!- photo right. He only lost to the top seed GM Zhang Zhong (2617)photo left in the 2^nd round so far.

From info i get, Mas is residing in Sydney with GM Ian Rogers.

You can follow the recent news, result at the main site here

IM Mashafizul Results

Round 1

Eugene Schon (2002) – IM Mashafizul Helmi (2382) 0-1

Round 2

GM Zhang, Zhong (2617) – IM Mashafizul Helmi (2382) 1-0

Round 3

IM Mashafizul Helmi (2382) - Paul Broekhuyse (2130) 1-0

Round 4

IM Mashafizul Helmi (2382) - S Roger Farrell (2208) 1-0

Round 5

GM Vadim Malakhatko (2600) – IM Mashafizul Helmi (2382) ½-1/2

NM Choo Min Wang in Pacific Zone Championship, Sydney 1960!

I found an interesting photo and information from National Archives of Australia: regarding our first National champion NM Choo Min Wang (photo right) competing in the Pacific Zone championship in Sydney held in 1960. NM Choo Min Wang is Malaysia Champion in 1958 and 1971.

Baris Hutagalung - left (Indonesia) Choo Min Wang -right (Malaya) competing in the Pacific Zone championship in Sydney in 1960. New Zealand champion Ortvin Sarapu, standing and examine the position in the match between Indonesian champion Baris Hutagalung, left, and Malayan Choo Min Wang

The position after black 6th move is as diagram below

And Choo Min Wang choose to play 7.d4

IM Mashafizul GM Quest at the Sydeny International Open 2008

Whitenaval recent article mentioned that our GM hope IM Mashafizul (photo above) has arrived at Australia to participated at The 2008 Sydney International Open (SIO) which will be held on 25th - 29th March 2008 at Parramatta Town Hall in Sydney, Australia. According to whitenaval, Mas will have a training session with retired Aussie GM Ian Rogers (photo right)!!!

The 2008 Sydney International Open Chess Tournament

You can follow the latest info about the tournament here

The venue of the tournament is at the Parramatta Town Hall.

photo from

http://whitenaval.wordpress.com/

http://www.chessaustralia.com.au/index.cfm?year=2008&site=open

A Futsall Game With Suhairi

Last night I played a futsal game at Active Futsall, Bangi. My friend invite me to play a friendly match with one of MSSM Kuala Lumpur team. Although I’m not play football seriously anymore, I do play for fun with friends and to have a little bit workout .

Interestingly our opponents from Kl is a groups of teachers. One player that attract my attention is their goalkeeper because he used a head glove similar to rugby player and the one that Chelsea goal keeper Petr Cech(photo left) wore after his terrible accident in one of his game in the English Premier League.

To make the story more interesting, the MSSM Kuala Lumpur goal keeper wore a chess t- shirt and after looking carefully I noticed he is the famous Kuala Lumpur Chess Tournament organizer Suhairi (nickname: Suhairi Van Hussein-photo right).

After the game he said that he recognize me but not so sure and after i introduced my self as hairulov he immediately remmeber that i’m a chess player and chess blogger. We have a little chat about local chess stories before dismiss.

Annotated Game Replayer With Gameknot.

I just visit masros tukiran blog and found a great idea by him using game knot annotate feature to replay chess game in his blog . So i tried annotate a sample game myself in this blog using gameknot. The only problems i noticed so far is the diagrams is quite big. Need to find way to reduce the size a little bit.

Play chess online!

Malaysian Mathematician Articles in Chessbase.com

Yesterday I read an interesting article in Chessbase.com regarding the problems of Grandmaster draws in tournaments. The problems have been debated frequently by many experts in chessbase.com s but the recent article from fellow Malaysian Kung-Ming Tiong - a mathematician and logician at School of Science and Technology, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Malaysia caught my eyes. Who is Kung Ming Tiong? Lets found out….

Tiong Kung Ming or his English name Victor Tiong Kung Ming (right) is a is a mathematician and logician at School of Science and Technology, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Malaysia. His research interests include mathematics appreciation, mathematical thinking and information technology issues.

He graduate in Bachelor ( Science ). Ed. Hons. In University Malaya and , Master (Science). University Technology of Malaysia, AMInstP Mathematics/Mathematics Education.

This guy is an expert in mathematic and have wrote about academic articles in several books, journal and magazines . He said that he is and avid chess player and has participated in state and university level competitions. This made me remember Dr. John Nunn (left) a strong chess grandmaster and mathematician expert.

You can find more detail about Tiong Kung Ming at http://www.freewebs.com/tocriv/index.htm

Melody Amber 2008 : Round 1

Melody Amber 2008 start today. The first raound pairing saw an interesting features. World Champion - Vishy Anand versus World no. 1 Rank Vladimir Kramnik! This is an interseting game as they will play later this year for World Championship Match!

Others pairing is Mamedyarov vs Morozevich and Topalov vs Leko!

Live Commentary by me!

S. Mamedyarov - Alexander Morozevich [D07]
Melody Amber 2008, Round 1, 15.03.2008

1.d4 d5 2.c4 Nc6 Sahsa favorites opening moves in the past. After keeping it for a while , Moro is ready to unleash his favorites weapon back. 3.Nc3 White immediately imply the pressure on black d5 with this gambit. 3...dxc4 4.d5 White immediately pose a question to black knight about his position. He advance and gain a tempo in the center. 4...Ne5 [4...Na5 5.Qa4+ c6 6.b4 cxb3 7.axb3 e6] 5.Qd4 White centralize queen can't be driven away by black minor piece or pawns. This is more aggressive then [5.Bf4 Ng6 6.Bg3 e5] 5...Ng6 6.Qxc4 a6 [6...Nf6 7.Nb5 Nxd5? (7...c6 8.dxc6 Ne5 9.cxb7 Bxb7 10.Nc7+ Kd7 11.Qb5+ Bc6 12.Qxe5; 7...Ne5 8.Qxc7 Qxd5 9.Qa5 Kd7 10.Bf4) 8.Qxd5 Qxd5 9.Nxc7+; 6...e5 7.dxe6 Bxe6 8.Qb5+ Qd7 9.Qxb7] 7.Qb3 The queen avoid the tempo gain move b7-b5 by black and on b3 it pressure the b7 pawn that make it difficult for black to develop his light square bishop! 7...Nf6 [7...Rb8 8.e4 b5 9.Nf3 e5] 8.Nf3 b5 9.e4 e5 10.dxe6 Bxe6 11.Qc2 Bd6 12.Be2 0–0 13.0–0 h6 14.a3 Re8 15.Rd1 Qe7 16.Nd4 Bd7 17.Nf5 Bxf5 18.exf5 Ne5 19.h3 Rad8 20.Be3 Bc5 21.Rxd8 Rxd8 22.Bf4 Nc6 23.Re1 Nd4 24.Qb1 Re8 25.Kf1 Bd6 26.Be3 Qe5 27.Bxd4 Qxd4 28.Bf3 Re5 29.Rxe5 Bxe5 30.Ne4 Qc4+ 31.Kg1 Bxb2 32.Nxf6+ Bxf6 33.g4 Kf8 34.Kg2 Be7 35.Qd1 Bd6 36.Bd5 Qf4 37.Qb3 c5 38.Qc3 h5 39.Qf3 Qxf3+ 40.Kxf3 c4 41.a4 c3 42.Bb3 bxa4 43.Bxa4 h4 44.Ke4 Ke7 45.Kd5 Bf4 46.Kc4 Bd2 47.Kd5 a5 48.Kc6 g6 49.fxg6 fxg6 50.Kd5 Kf6 51.Bc2 g5 52.Ba4 Be1 53.f3 Bf2 54.Bc2 Ke7 55.Ba4 Bg1 56.Ke5 Bh2+ 57.Kd5 Bb8 58.Bc2 Kd7 59.Ba4+ Kc7 60.Kc5 Ba7+ 61.Kd5 Be3 62.Ke4 Bc1 63.Kd5 Kb6 64.Kc4 Bd2 65.Kd4 c2 66.Bxc2 Kb5 67.Bh7 Kb4 68.Bg8 a4 69.Kd3 Bf4 70.Bf7 Ka3 71.Kc2 ½-1/2

Sorry guys, my live commentary was interrupted by Liverpool vs Reading premier League Live and 2008 Swiss Open badminton were two Malaysian Lee Chong Wei and men doubles are playing on the semi final :)

Liverpool grabs another 3 points by beating Reading 2-1 .

Latif and Tazari lost to world no. 1 in the semi

Lee Chong Wei (left) won against a Polish player and go to the final however our men double lost to the world no 1 from Indonesia. Mohd Abdul Latif /Mohd Tazarilost lost to World no. 1 pairs- Indonesian Markis Kido/Hendra Setiawan, 17-21, 21-17, 21-17.




Back to chess. The rapid game resume after all the blinfold game were finished. Anad draw against Kramnik in blinfold and below are the rapid game.

GM Vladimir Kramnik (2799) – GM Viswanathan Anand (2799)
2008 Melody Amber , Round 1 (Rapid) 16.03.2008

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.b3 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Be7 7.Bg2 c6 8.Bc3 d5 9.Ne5 Nfd7 10.Nxd7 Nxd7 11.Nd2 0–0 12.0–0 f5 13.Rc1 Nf6 14.Bb2 Bd6 15.Nf3 Qe7 16.Ne5 Rac8 17.Nd3 Rfd8 18.Re1 Qe8 19.e3 g5 20.Rc2 g4 21.Qc1 Qe7 22.Rd1 Ne4 23.c5 bxc5 24.dxc5 Bb8 25.Ne5 Ng5 26.Qa1 Nf7 27.Nxf7 Kxf7 28.a4 h5 29.b4 h4 30.b5 Bb7 31.Rdc1 Kg6 32.Be5 Bxe5 33.Qxe5 Qf6 34.Qd4 e5 35.Qb4 hxg3 36.hxg3 Rd7 37.Qa5 Rh8 38.Qxa7 f4 39.exf4 exf4 40.gxf4 Rdh7 41.Qb6?? a blunder by Kramnik in time pressure. Anand found the spectacular.....

41...Qf3!! 42...Rh1+ 43.Bxh1 Qh2+ 44.Kf1 Qxh1+ 45.Ke2 Qe4+ 46.Kd2 Qd4+ 47.Ke2 Qe4+ 48.Kd2 Qd4+ is only a draw by perpetual! 43.cxb7+ Kf5 0-1 Kramnik resign. An important physcological win for Anand over Kramnik before their World Championship match which will be held at the end of this year!!!