Mashafizul is recovering from dengue

I sms Mashafizul today and he replied that he has return back to work last Thursday. According to our no.1 player, he has  almost recover  from dengue though not 100% fit. Usually a completely recover from dengue  may take several weeks ... i know very well because i've be infected before :(.

Mas (photo right) mentioned that he will play in the coming ASEAN Chess Championship which will be held next month in Singapore from 25th-30th December 2010.

All the best to you  Mas and i'm sure many local fans will eager to see you back in action !

Malay Championship 2010

KEJOHANAN CATUR  MELAYU 2010
Kelolaan Pengurusan Catur Ar Rahman (001996556-A)

Tarikh  :  26 Disember 2010 (Ahad)

Masa  :   8.30 pagi

Tempat : Pusat Kecemerlangan Jalan Cocrane, Kuala Lumpur

Format : Swiss System 7 Pusingan (National Rated)

Kawalan masa : 25 Minit

Two from INSOFAR

Below is two interesting position from  round 4, INSOFAR Team Tournament which was held in Shah Alam last night.

Shamsol Bahrin (Nusa Mahkota Chess Club) vs Kamaluddin Yusof (17 Chess Club)

INSOFAR Team Tournament, Round 4, 26.11.2010

Black to move

INSOFAR Team Tournament - Round 4

The 4th round of 2010 INSOFAR Annual Team tournament was held  last night at the Kompleks PKNS Shah Alam. The team tournament is limited to four teams  - 17 Chess Club (defending champion), Passion and Glory, Nusa Mahkota Chess Club and Passed Pawn.

Obituary - Lim Chong

Lim Chong. Photo from kid4chess.com

It was with great sadness that I received the news of Lim Chong's death. Lim Chong was a former chess columnist in Malay Mail. In recent years, he write regularly in a chess column - Chess Overboard in  DATCC's blog.

Abdul Hamid Majid told me this afternoon that Lim died on a flight from London to Malaysia early today.  I'm waiting for more details from Mr.Hamid and according to Hj. Ibrahim Bakar, the remains will undergo a post-mortem examination at Serdang Hospital.

This is a sad day for  Malaysian chess.

Read more about this sad news at MalayMail Online here

The 3rd National Junior Chess Championship

Malaysian Chess Federation (MCF) will organize the 3rd National Junior Chess Championship at the Hotel Olympic, Jalan Hang Jebat, Kuala Lumpur from 15th-19th December 2010. For further details, click MCF's blog here

Chuck Norris chuck mate Fischer!

I found this silly joke on the net

"One time while playing Bobby Fischer in a heated chess match, Chuck Norris was down to his last 2 pawns, a GI Joe, and a Malibu Stacy doll. Bobby Fischer made one more move and proclaimed to have Chuck Norris in checkmate, however, Chuck Norris responded "I'm sorry Bob, but your in chuck mate" and roundhouse kicked him in the face. Immediately following the kick, the search for Bobby Fischer officially began"

source: keithdevens.com 

Yeoh Li Tian vs Daryl Unix

Below is a game played in APSSO 2010 between two talent from different country - Yeoh Li Tian (Malaysia) and Daryl Unix Delos Reyes Samantila from the Philippines. Daryl is one of the Philippines young top player and he has his own blog here.

2010 APSSO photos

As i mentioned in my previous post, Malaysia emerged as the overall winner at the ASEAN Primary School Sports Olympiad (APSSO) 2010 which was held this year in Jakarta , Indonesia from 4-10 November 2010.

Our chess players produced a memorable performance and was the main contributor to our overall medal tally.

Yeoh Li Tian presenting one of his gold medal to Deputy Prime Minister - Y.A.B. Tan Sri Dato' Haji Muhyiddin Mohd. Yassin. Photo from NST.com

Kramnik vs Robot!

A Russian technology company introduce an industrial robot wired to a chess playing program to the guests of the 60th Russian Women's Chess Championship. Former World Champion - Vladimir Kramnik played an exhibition game against it.







Robot vs GM Vladimir Kramnik
Exhibition Game, 16.11.2020

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Bg5 Bd7 7. Qd2 h6 8. Bxf6 gxf6 9. O-O-O Nxd4 10. Qxd4 Qa5 11. Kb1 Rc8 12. f4 Qc5 13. Qd3 Bg7 14. f5 h5 15. Be2 Qe5  Rybka Opening book suggest  15... h4 a possible continuation is 16. Nd5 Bh6 17. Rhf1 Bg5  16. Qg3

16...Qxg3? Kramnik can avoid losing the h-pawn with 16... Bf8 17. hxg3 Rc5 18. Bxh5

Black is a pawn down but the close nature of this position give him chance to survive. 18...Bc6 19. Nd5 Rc4 20. Bf3 Rxh1 21. Rxh1 Kf8 22. b3 Rc5 23. Kb2 Bxd5 24. exd5 a5 25. a4 Rc7 26. c4 Rc5 27. Kc3 Rc7 28. g4 b6 29. Kd3 Rc5 30. Kd4 Rc7 31. Be2 Kg8 32. Bd3 Kf8 33. Bc2

Here the game end because Kramnik think that the position is drawn because it seems that white can't break black fortress. 1/2-1/2 The computer i believe - still want to play!

World Blitz : Nakamura-Kramnik

The World Blitz Championship is being held from 16 to 18 November 2010 at Moscow, Russia. The format is  double round robin with twenty players and time control of  three minutes for all the moves plus a two second increment per move.

Below is the second round game between former World Champion - Vladimir Kramnik vs Blitz 'King' - Hikaru Nakamura.







GM Hikaru Nakamura - GM Vladimir Kramnik
World Blitz, Round 2, 16.11.2010

Analyzed by Hairulov + Rybka 4

1.e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. f4 Bg7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. e5 dxe5 7. fxe5 Nd5 8. h4  

This seems ultra aggresive but a 'normal' move for player like Hikaru. 8. Bc4 is suggest by Rybka opening book.  8... Bg4 9. h5 c5 Kramnik use a well known theory - Attack on flank is answer with attack on the center! However, Rybka had other 'opinion'. The beast prefer taking the pawn sac with 9...Bxh5  A human player would  probably  avoid facing a dangerous attack after 10. Rxh5 gxh5 with the idea of Qd3-Ng5 later although Rybka 'said' that black can defend the position. 10. hxg6 hxg6 11. Rh4 Bxf3 12. Qxf3 Nb4 13. Bc4?!

This is a pure rook sac. Hikaru know that with the simple 13...Nxc2+ and later 14...Nxa1 he will
lose a full rook, however in blitz, initiative is usually more valuable then material 13...e6!? Kramnik wisely avoid the complication after  13... Nxc2+14.Kf1 Nxa1 15. e6 although black can probably defend the position. 14. Qh3!? Hikaru once again offer the rook 14...Nxc2+ 15. Kf1

15...Nxd4? 15... cxd4 16.Ne4 Ne3+ is probably the correct answer because now white's black square bishop can't join the kingside attack.  Another option 15...Nxa1 is quite risky because after 16.Bh6 white have a strong attack and a single mistake by black can be fatal.  16. Ne4 Now except for his rook on a1, all white piece is aiming at black's kingside. 16... Nf5 16... Bxe5?? Taking that pawn is naive 17. Bg5 Qc7 18. Nf6+ Bxf6 19.Bxf6 and mate is near for black! 17. Bg5 Qd4 This is black best chance to survive. 18. Nf6+ Bxf6 19. Rxd4 Bxg5 20. Rg4

20...Bh6 20... Ne3+ straight away is also possible. 21. Ke2 Nxg4 22. Qxg4  21. Bd3?  21. Re1 protecting the e3 square is nessecary 21... Ne3+ 22. Kf2 Nxg4+ 23. Qxg4 Nc6 Now black is back into the game. 24. Rh1 Bg7 black can take the e5 pawn with 24... Nxe5 25. Qh4? 25. Qh3 Is probably white best chance 25... Rfd8 26. Bxg6 Nxe5 (26... fxg6 27. Qxe6+ Kf8 28.Rf1 Bxe5 29. Kg1+ Kg7 30. Rf7+ Kh6 31. Qh3+ Kg5 32. Qe3+ Kg4 33. Qh3+ Kg5 34. Qe3+ Kg4) 27. Bh7+ Kf8 28. Re1 25... Rfd8 26. Bxg6 ?! fxg6 27. Qh7+ Kf8 28. Rf1 Rd7! 29. Qxg6 Rf7+ 30. Ke1 Nxe5 31. Rxf7+ Nxf7 32. Qe4 Rb8 White lone queen can't do much again black's three pieces. 33. b3 b6 34. Qc6 Be5 35. Qd7 a5 36. Qxe6 Bd6 37. Kf2 b5 38. g4 Be7 39. Qa6 a4 40. bxa4 bxa4 41. Qxa4 Rb4 42. Qd7 Rd4 43. Qf5 Kg7 Hikaru overstepped the time limit. White lost on time. 0-1

Big Think Interview with Maurice Ashley

Here is an interview with US most colourfull chess personalities - GM Maurice Ashely.



Source: Bigthink.com

ASIAN Games Photos

Below is the recent photos of the Malaysian players at the 2010 ASIAN Games Guangzhou, China. The photos is from a friend - IA Gyanendra Khaiju from Nepal who was there as the arbiter.

Team captain - Ibrahim Abu Bakar (standing) and IM Mok Tze Meng



WCM Nur Nabila Azman Hisham (left) lost to Liza Shamima Akter (Bangladesh) in round 8.



WCM Nur Nabila Azman Hisham (left)  lost to WIM Nakhbayeva Guliskhan  from Kazakstan in round 9.







IM Mok Tze Meng (right) lost to IM Basheer Al-Qudaimi from Iraq in round 8.

 

 You can see from the face that Mok is not happy with his results in ASIAN Games.

WFM Alia Anin Azwa Bakri (left) lost to WIM Ibrahim Dalbek Ismael from Iraq in round 9.

ASIAN Games - Round 9 Results

Round 9 Results (16th November 2010)


Men (Rapid)

IM Mok Tze Meng

Mok lost to FM Ahmed Abdul Sattar Abdul Wahab (2309) from Iraq.

Mok finish this rapid tournament in 38th place out of 46 participants. His initial seeding is 27. He collected 3 points out of 9 with 2252 rating performance.


Women (Rapid)


WFM Alia Anin Azwa Bakri (1953)


Alia lost to  WIM Ibrahim Delbak Ismael (1929) from Iraq.

Alia finish this  tournament with in 29th place from 38 participants. Her initial seeding is 22nd. She collected 3.5 points out of 9 with 1884 rating performance.


WCM Nur Nabila Azman Hisham (1845)

Nabila lost against WIM Nakhbayeva Guliskhan (2209) from Kazakstan.

Nabila  finish this tournament in 22nd place from 38 participants. Her initial seeding is 28th. She collected 4 points from 9 rounds with 2015 rating performance.




2010 ASIAN Games official website

source: chess-results.com

ASIAN Games - Round 8 Results

Round 8 Results (16th November 2010)


This is the worse round for our players. All lost their game.

Men (Rapid)

IM Mok Tze Meng

Mok lost against IM Basheer Al Qudaimi (2406) from Yemen.




Women (Rapid)


WFM Alia Anin Azwa Bakri (1953)


Alia .lost  against WFM Bahar Hallaeva (2184) from Turkmenistan.



WCM Nur Nabila Azman Hisham (1845)

Nabila lost against.Liza Shamima Akter (1998)  from Bangladesh.





Round 9 Pairing (16th November 2010)

Men (Rapid)

IM Mok Tze Meng

Mok has 3 points out of 8 . Mok will meet FM Ahmed Abdul Sattar Abdulwhhab (2309) from Iraq.


Women (Rapid)


WFM Alia Anin Azwa Bakri (1953)


Alia has 3.5 points out of 8. Alia will meet WIM Ibrahim Delbak Ismael (1929) from Iraq.


WCM Nur Nabila Azman Hisham (1845)

Nabila has 4 points out of 8. Nabila will meet WIM Nakhbayeva Guliskhan (2209) from Kazakstan.


2010 ASIAN Games official website

source: chess-results.com

Photos from ASIAN Games

Below is photos of the Malaysian players at the 2010 ASIAN Games Guangzhou, China. The photos is from a friend - IA Gyanendra Khaiju from Nepal who was there as the arbiter.


Round 5: IM Mok Tze Meng (right) beat IM Mohammed Al-Saffar Araz Basim Mohammed (2349) from Iraq

 

WFM Alia Anin Azwa Bakri with MCF's Deputy President and Malaysia ASIAN Games Chess team manager - Hj. Ibrahim Abu Bakar



IA Gyanendra Khaiju

 


Round 6: GM Anton Filippov (photo left) beat  IM Mok Tze Meng



WCM Nur Nabila Azman Hisham (right) beat Sultana Sharmin Shirin (1998) from Bangladesh



Round 6 and Round 7 Results

Round 6 Results (15th November 2010)

Men (Rapid)

IM Mok Tze Meng

Mok lost against GM Anton Filippov (2620) from Uzbekistan. Mok now has three points out of 6.

Women (Rapid)


WFM Alia Anin Azwa Bakri (1953)


Alia drew against Japanese WFM - Narumi Uchida (1834). Alia has 2.5 points out of 6.


WCM Nur Nabila Azman Hisham (1845)

Nabila lost  against Iranian WGM - Atousa Pourkashiyan  (2347). Nabila has three points out of 6.

Round 7 Results


Men (Rapid)

IM Mok Tze Meng (2394)

Mok blunder a whole rook on move 18th and had to resign  a move later against his opponent FM Namkhai Battulga (2428) from Mongolia.

IM Mok Tze Meng (2394) - FM Namkhai Battulga (2428)
ASIAN Games (Rapid), Round 7, 15.11.2010

1.e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Nc6 4. Bxc6+ bxc6 5. O-O Bg4 6. h3 Bh5 7. Re1 e6 8. e5 d5 9. d3 Ne7 10. c4 Bxf3 11. Qxf3 Nf5 12. Nc3 Be7 13. b3 O-O 14. Ba3 f6 15. Na4 Qa5 16. Rac1 fxe5 17. Rxe5 Bf6 

18.Rxe6?? 18.Ree1 is the natural move but Mok unexpectedly took the e-pawn and had to paid heavy price after 18...Nd4 19. Qg4 h5 and after 20.Qxh5 Nxe6 white is simply a rook down 0-1



Women (Rapid)


WFM Alia Anin Azwa Bakri (1953)


Alia beat unrated player from Jordan - Rayah Nuimat with ease.




WCM Nur Nabila Azman Hisham (1845)

Nabila beat a higher rated player - A Nodira Nodirjano (2149) from Uzbekistan.



Round 8 Pairing (15th November 2010)

Men (Rapid)

IM Mok Tze Meng

Mok is paired against IM Basheer Al Qudaimi (2406) from Yemen.


Women (Rapid)


WFM Alia Anin Azwa Bakri (1953)


Alia is paired against WFM Bahar Hallaeva (2184) from Turkmenistan. Nabila lost to Bahar in round 2.


WCM Nur Nabila Azman Hisham (1845)

Nabila is paired against.Liza Shamima Akter (1998)  from Bangladesh.


2010 ASIAN Games official website

source: chess-results.com

ASIAN Games - Round 4 and Round 5 results

Round 4  (14th November 2010)

Men (Rapid)

IM Mok Tze Meng

Mok as expected, win against  Maldive player - Ali Abdul Rahman.(1936). He has 2 points out of 4.

Women (Rapid)


WFM Alia Anin Azwa Bakri (1953)


Alia lost against Mongolian player - WCM Altanulzii Enkhtuul (2121). She has a single point out of 4.


WCM Nur Nabila Azman Hisham (1845)

Nabila won against Alia's 2nd round  opponent  - WFM Salama Al-Khelaifi (1761) from Qatar. She has 2 points out of 4.

Round 5 Results (15th November 2010)

Men (Rapid)

IM Mok Tze Meng

Mok beat Iraqian IM  - Mohammed Al-Saffar Araz Basim Mohammed (2349). Mok now has 3 points out of 5.


Women (Rapid)


WFM Alia Anin Azwa Bakri (1953)


Alia beat Jordanian player - Boshra Alshaeby (1807). She has 2 points out of 5.


WCM Nur Nabila Azman Hisham (1845)

Nabila beat  Sultana Sharmin Shirin  (1998)  from Bangladesh. She now has 3 points out of 5.

Round 6 Pairing (15th November 2010)

Men (Rapid)

IM Mok Tze Meng

Mok is  paired against a strong GM from Uzbekistan - GM Anton Filippov (2620). Filippov is the 2008 KL Open champion and Mok is expected to have a tough game.

Women (Rapid)


WFM Alia Anin Azwa Bakri (1953)


Alia is paired against Japanese  - WFM Narumi Uchida (1834).


WCM Nur Nabila Azman Hisham (1845)

Nabila is paired against Iranian WGM - Atousa Pourkashiyan  (2347) who beat Alia in round 3. Nabila should ask some tips from Alia about Atousa's  playing style. Atousa is Iranian no.1 women player.

2010 ASIAN Games official website

source: chess-results.com

Nur Najiha in MyMetro

WFM Nur Najiha Azman Hisham . Photo from MyMetro.com

Yesterday, MyMetro publish an article about our young chess talent - WFM Nur Najiha Azman Hisham. Click here for full article (in Malay).

Malaysian players round 4 games

Below is the Malaysian players games in round 4, Rapid event, 2010 ASIAN Games.

ASIAN Games - Day 2 - Round 3 UPDATE

Round 3  Results (14th November 2010)

Men (Rapid)


IM Mok Tze Meng (2394)

Mok lost  against Chinese Giant - GM - Ni Hua (2633).

Women (Rapid)

WFM Alia Anin Azwa Bakri (1953)

Alia lost against  Iranian no. 1 women player - WGM - Atousa Pourkashiyan (2367).

WCM Nur Nabila Azman Hisham (1845)

Nabila as expected,  win against South Korean - Kim Hyoyoung (1355) and register her first point in this rapid tournament.


Round 4 Pairing (14th November 2010)

Men (Rapid)

IM Mok Tze Meng

Mok is  paired against Maldive player - Ali Abdul Rahman.(1936) and is expected to win with ease.

Women (Rapid)


WFM Alia Anin Azwa Bakri (1953)


Alia is paired against Mongolian player - WCM Altanulzii Enkhtuul (2121).


WCM Nur Nabila Azman Hisham (1845)

Nabila is paired against Alia's 2nd round  opponent  - WFM Salama Al-Khelaifi (1761) from Qatar. Nabila should ask some tips from Alia about Salama's playing style since Alia won against the Qatari on the previous round.

2010 ASIAN Games official website

source: chess-results.com

ASIAN Games - Day 1

13th November 2010 - The Malaysian players have a modest start in day 1 of the ASIAN Games - Rapid Individual Chess Event.

Round 1 and Round 2 Results (13th November 2010)

Men (Rapid)


IM Mok Tze Meng (2394)

Mok lost his first round game  against former FIDE World Champion - Rustam Kasimdzhanov (2685) from Uzbekistan . As many knows, Rustam is still an active super GM and he is one of the current World Champion- Vishy Anand main second in his previous  World Championship match against Kramnik (Bonn 2008)  and Topalov (Sofia 2010).

In round 2, Mok beat Libyan- Tarek Modallal (2028). Mok now has a point out of two.


Women (Rapid)

WFM Alia Anin Azwa Bakri (1953)

Alia suffered the same fate as Mok in round 1. She  lost against former World Champion - GM Zhu Chen, originally from China but now playing for Qatar after marrying Qatari GM - Al Modiahki.

In round 2, she was paired against another Qatari player - WFM Salama Al-Khelaifi (1711) but this time she was in the winning side. Alia now has a point out of two.

WCM Nur Nabila Azman Hisham (1845)

Nabila had a tough start after losing both her round 1 and 2 games. In round 1, she lost against Vietnamese WIM - Nguyen Pham Le Thao (2337) and in round 2 she lost against Turkmenistan WFM - Bahar Hallaeva (2184)

Round 3 Pairing (14th November 2010)

Men (Rapid)

IM Mok Tze Meng

Today,  Mok will once again face an uphill task after being paired against China strong GM - Ni Hua (2633). In 2004, Ni Hua win the first edition of Dato' Arthur Tan Malaysian Open (DATMO)  and last year he reached his peak rating performance to date - 2724!

Women (Rapid)


WFM Alia Anin Azwa Bakri (1953)


Alia is paired against strong Iranian WGM - Atousa Pourkashiyan (2367).


WCM Nur Nabila Azman Hisham (1845)

In round 3, Nabila is expected to bounced back after being paired against weaker player - Kim Hyoyoung (1355) from South Korea.

2010 ASIAN Games official website

source: chess-results.com

Yeoh Li Tian - Derek Lim

Below is Yeoh Li Tian (photo left) win over Singaporean - Derek Lim in the recently conclude - ASEAN Primary School Sports Olympiad (APSSO). The annual event was held in Jakarta Indonesia from 4th-10th November 2010 and Li Tian emerged as the main contributor to the Malaysian squad with 4 golds.

Yeoh Li Tian, vs Lim De Li Derek
APPSO, 5.11.2010 

Analyzed by Centaur (Hairulov+Rybka 4)

INSOFAR Team Tournament - Round 3

The 3rd round of 2010 INSOFAR Annual Team tournament was held  last night at the Kompleks PKNS Shah Alam. The team tournament is limited to four teams  - 17 Chess Club (defending champion), Passion and Glory, Nusa Mahkota Chess Club and Passed Pawn.

Tournament Background


This  tournament use  25 minutes rapid time control . The tournament is held every alternate Friday starting from 15th October 2010 and the final round will be on 24th December 2010. Each round starts at 9 PM.

The main attraction for this tournament is the attractive prizes money. Thanks to sponsors - HBM Group of Companies (Shah Alam), Az-Zahrah Private Hospital (Bandar Baru Bangi), Ibsul Holding Sdn Bhd (Shah Alam), the 1st prize is RM 2,000 followed by RM 1,000 for 2nd and RM 600 for the 3rd placing!

Kudos to the organiser Mr.Mat Zaki Yeop from INSOFAR for organizing this tournament.

This tournament apply a unique rules.The team line-up can be change in any round and the players need not be line up according to strength (rating). However the line up must be submitted to the organizer at least 30 minutes before each round.

Round 3 Report

Round 3 saw three  'deadly' new entry players - NM Kamal Ariffin (Nusa Mahkota) , World Police Champion - Ismail Ahmad and Abdul Haq (Passed Pawn). In the previous round , ex-National player - Mohd Saprin Sabri made his debut with 17 Chess Club. It seems that this tournament is getting stronger and stronger!

Unfortunately due to work commitment , i can't attend the third round session and same goes to my team members - Shamsol and Rizal. Due to that reason, our team had to give a "free" point (walkover) on board 3 but thanks God, that doesn't stop us to beat the top seed - Passion and Glory with the score :  2.5-1.5 !  The first time appearances  of our top horse  - NM Kamal Ariffin proved fatal to our opponent! I contribute this victory  to our very sporting team captain - Mr.Razali Hamzah aka Ng6 :)

In the other match, the inclusion of two new players in the Passed Pawn team (Abdul Haq and Ismail Ahmad - ex World Police Champion and National player) , have changed the team from being the weakest /punching bag/sayur  team to a force to be reckon with. In round 3, they beat defending champion - 17 Chess Club 3-1! Now, others team will  not have "a walk in the park" anymore against Passed Pawn.

With the latest result, the overall standing has change drastically. (see overall standing)

Round 3 Result (12.11.10)

Nusa Mahkota Chess Club vs Passion and Glory : 2.5-1.5

Board 1:  NM Kamal Ariffin vs Nik Ahmad Farouqi    1-0

Board 2:  Rusdi Sidi  vs Hanafi  : 1-0

Board 3:  walkover vs Abdullah Che Hasan : 0-1

Board 4:  Razali Hamzah (Ng6) vs  Najib Abdul Wahab : 1/2-1/2

Passed Pawn vs 17 Chess Club : 3-1

Board 1 : Ismail Ahmad vs Kamaluddin Yusof : 0-1

Board 2 :Mohd Saprin Sabri vs Syed : 1-0

Board 3:  Abdul Haq  vs Sahir : 1-0

Board 4:Firdaus vs Ismail (Max) : 1-0

Standing after round 3 (game points)

1. Nusa Mahkota Chess Club - 7.5 points  

2. Passion and Glory  - 7 points

3. Passed Pawn - 5 points 

4.  17 Chess Club - 4.5 points

Schedule and pairings for the remaining rounds.

Round 4 ( 26th November 2010)

Passion and Glory vs Passed Pawn

Nusa Mahkota Chess Club vs 17 Chess Club

Round 5 ( 10th December 2010)

17 Chess Club vs Passion and Glory

Passed Pawn vs Nusa Mahkota Chess Club

Round 6 ( 24th December 2010)

Passion and Glory vs Nusa Mahkota Chess Club

17 Chess Club vs Passed Pawn

Previous report (click link)

Round 1
Round 2

Round 3 Photos (Photos from Ng6's blog)

Kamaluddin Yusof (left) from 17 Chess Club beat Ismail Ahmad (right) from Passed Pawn 

NM Kamal Ariffin (far left) playing for Nusa Mahkota Chess Club. 

Mat Zaki Yeop (INSOFAR) the tournament's organizer. Photo from Hairulov

Source: Razali Hamzah aka Ng6

Malaysian players left for the 2010 ASIAN Games, Guangzhou, China.

From left: IM Mok Tze Meng, Tn Hj Ibrahim Abu Bakar, WFM Alia Anin Azwa Bakri and WCM Nur Nabila Azman Hisham.

The Malaysian players left from KLIA this morning to participate in the 2010 ASIAN Games in Guangzhou, China. Malaysia will be represented by IM Mok Tze Meng ( men - individual), WFM Alia Anin Azwa Bakri and WCM Nur Nabila Azman Hisham, both in women individual category. Malaysian no.1- IM Mashafizul was supposed to joint them but unfortunately, he couldn't make it after being infected with dengue recently.

As the only  men player  in our chess squad to Guangzhou, I asked Mok whether he will use the engines (Rybka, Fritz etc) during the tournament to prepare but he said that he will basically use his common sense. With plenty of experienced playing in  international competitions such as Olympiad, SEA Games, Zonals etc, Mok is wisely enough to handle with this kind of pressure.

IM Mok Tze Meng and yours truly

Deputy President of MCF - Tn. Hj Ibrahim Abu Bakar who is the team manager mentioned to me  that the manager meeting will be held tomorrow. The meeting will  decide about the tournament schedule, format and technical matters. Unfortunately i couldn't wait untill they depart because i have to rush to UKM for a three day course in Traning Need Analysis (TNA) but i managed to wish them all the best.

Malaysia Boleh!

Chess help Malaysia win APSSO 2010!

Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysian - Y.A.B. Tan Sri Dato' Haji Muhyiddin Bin Haji Mohd. Yassin with the APPSO Malaysian contingent

Malaysia emerged as the overall winner at the ASEAN Primary School Sports Olympiad (APSSO) 2010  which was held this year in Jakarta , Indonesia from 4-10 November 2010.  The Malaysian contingent was greeted to a ceremony held at the Deputy Prime Minister office right after they arrived from KLIA yesterday. Malaysia won 9 golds to overcome host country - Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Philippines and Vietnam.

Our chess players produced a memorable performance and was  the main contributor to our overall medal tally. Chess won  4 golds and 2 bronzes. Other sports who won golds is football (1), badminton (3), and  athletics (1).

According to Gregory Lau,   chess actually won 6 golds but blitz events was not counted in the overall medal tally. Yeoh Li Tian is the hero of the contingent with 6 golds ( including blitz individual and team).

In front- from left: Ee Hong (Director of Department of Sports, Arts and Co-Curriculum, Ministry of Education), Y.Bhg. Dato' Abd. Ghafar bin Mahmud (Director General of Education Malaysia), Nur Najiha Azman Hisham, Yeoh Li Tian and Harlieff Haniff
Back - from left: Haslindah Ruslan (Vice President of MCF), Gregory Lau (Honorary Secretary of MCF), Hj Wan Zid Wan Ismai (team manager)l, Mohd Faizal bin Roslan, and  unidentified person.

From left: Yeoh Li Tian , Mohd Faizal  Roslan,  Harlieff bin Haniff and WFM Nur Najiha Azman Hisham

Malaysia mainstream  newspaper - Utusan Malaysia cover the report about this success and Yeoh Li Tian photo with the Deputy Prime Minister was publish in the online version here.

Deputy Prime Minister have a look on Yeoh Li Tian's medal. Photo from Utusan Malaysia 

Photo source: Haslindah Ruslan