Chess in the eye of National Master Kamal Abdullah! - Part 1

Shamsol Bahrin (left) NMCC owner giving the welcoming speech

Today as scheduled, National Master (NM) Kamal Abdullah give a chess talk at Neo Manhattan Chess Centre (NMCC), Taman Tun Dr. Ismail, Kuala Lumpur. The talk was organised by NMCC in conjuction with the official opening ceremony of the chess centre.

Kamal Abdullah is a former National champion who has played many international tournaments such as Olympiad and Zonal . In this session, Kamal share a lot of story, tips and his opinion about chess .

NM Kamal Abdullah discussing one of the immortal game of Paul Morphy in 1857!

Among the participants who attend this talk is ex-National player - Mohd Fairin Zakaria and his daughter - Liyana , Mohd Saprin Sabri ( also former National player) , Muhammad Arshad - Secretary of Terengganu Chess Association , Mohd Zambri Syariff, Khairul Annuar, Shukri, Rizal Ahmad Kamal and his kids. Two famous local chess blogger - Marcus Yeoh and Andrew Ooi(gilachess) also turn up to give support!

One interesting story shared by Kamal is when he was once affected by unusual " chess syndrome". In the past, many times he faced a situation where he will see or think about chess everywhere he looks or go but he can't think about chess when he was at the chess board. From my own experience, i myself faces this kind of syndrome but probably not as bad as Kamal.

After telling his chess experience, Kamal ask the participants to form a group and play a group chess game . The participants are divide into three groups and they have to play a chess game where they have to choose a move alternately . The funny things is at several stages, the players have to proceed with a "not so favourable position" which was produced by other participant.

At the end, all participants seems to enjoy this group game. Kamal said this is a good exercise because the idea is you will not only look/analyze your move but your opponent move as well.

Kamal also show and discuss an interesting immortal game from the legendary chess player - Paul Morphy . The game against Napoleon Marache create a lively discussion among the participants because everyone was eager to find the best reply but in the critical position below, no one found the correct answer.

Napoleon Marache - Paul Morphy [C52]
New New, 1857

White has just play 19.Qe4 here. Try guess black best move in this position

In the above position, the particpants suggest moves such as 19...Ne2, 19...Nh4 ; and 19...c2. However all that move is not the best answer . Mohd Fairin Zakaria suggest a good move 19...Qg4 threatening 20...g5 pinning the bishop which good enough for a win . However the best move is actually 19...Ng3 !

White queen on e4 is being attack and if 20.Qxg6 Nde2++ checkmate !

One excellent tips from the Master is he suggest to chess players to study 100 chess diagrams every week. What he means is to solve chess diagrams which contains opening, middle game or endgame position . He said this type of study has give him good results.

Photos of the event

From left: Fairin Zakaria and his daughter , Khairul Anuar, Zambri Syarif, Irwan and Marcus Yeoh.

From left : Andrew Ooi ( Gilachess), Muhammad Arshad (Secretary of Terengganu Chess Association), and Rizal Ahmad Kamal.

Irwan Zulkenain the host giving a short brief about NMCC


After the chess talk, a NMCC Blitz Winner Take All Tournament were organised. 8 players tooks parts. The details and results of this tournament will be publish in part two report...