Tariq - Yeoh Li Tian 1-0 : Round 9, National Junior Champion 2008

National Junior Championship conclude today and the first player to win the National Junior Master (NJM) title is Muhammad Tariq Amru (photo left) .

Below are the final round game between the 2008 National Junior Champion - Muhammad Tariq Amru vs Yeoh Li Tian.








Analyzed by Hairulov and Fritz 11


Muhammad Tariq Amru - Yeoh Li Tian [B18]
National Junior Championship 2008 (Round 9), 14.12.2008

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Nc5

An unusual Classical Variation of the Caro Kann Opening. The main line is of course 5.Ng3 but Tariq probably choose not to test Li Tian preparation . 5...Qc7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Nf3 e6 8.Nb3 Bd6 9.Bd3 Bxd3 10.Qxd3 Nbd7 11.0–0–0 0–0–0 12.Qe2 Rhe8 13.Rhe1 Kb8 14.g3 Nd5 15.Ng5 N7f6 16.f4 h6 17.Nf3 Ne7 18.c4 Nf5 19.Rd3 g6 20.Red1 Nh5 21.Kb1 Nf6 22.Ne5 h5 23.Qf3 Nh6 24.h3 Nf5 25.Bf2 Rh8 26.Rh1 Ng7 27.Rdd1 Rdf8 28.g4 Rd8??

The desicive mistake . Black let his knight being pin by white's bishop after 29.Bh4 Nge8 30.c5 Bf8 31.f5!

A double edged move. White not only threaten the obvious fxg6 but he also plan to play Bg3 - pointing at black Qc7 and Kb8 who leave in a dangerous h2-b8 diaganol! 31... hxg4 32.hxg4 Rxh4 33.Rxh4 gxf5 34.gxf5 Be7 35.fxe6 fxe6 36.Rh6 Rd5 37.Qe2 Bf8 38.Rhh1 Bg7 39.Rhg1 Rd8 40.Qg2 Qe7 41.Qxc6

A fancy way to finished the tournament. Interestingly - Fritz 11 a deadly tactician prefer "safer" move 41.Na5 probably because after 41.Qxc6 black is actually not force to take on c6 as Li Tian probably think. Black can continue with more stubborn defense 41...Nd5 but white would still mantain his winning advantage after 42.Qa4 1–0

Tariq and Nur Nabilla is the 2008 National Junior Champion !

Muhammad Tariq Amru (photo right) create an upset by winning the first National Junior Champion which concluded today at the Pearl Shopping Mall, Jalan Kelang Lama, Kuala Lumpur. There was a tie between Tariq and Sumant Subramaniam who both finished with 7.5 points from 9 round but Tariq won the title based on superior tie-break .

In the women section , Nur Nabila Azman Hisham (photo left) won the National Junior Master(Girl) title after finishing with 7.5 points.









Tariq victory is quiet an upset considering that the tournament features top favourites such as the current National Champion and Dresden Olympiad player - NM Edward Lee and 2007 Singapore International Challenger Open Champion - Justin Ong ! Edward had to settle with the best under 16 prize after finishing with 7 points while Justin finished with 6.5 points to win the 4th place in overall standings.

The closing ceremony was officiated by the President of Malaysian Chess Federation (MCF) - Tan Sri Dato' Seri Diraja Ramli Ngah Talib .

Special thanks to Mr.Desmond from the Pearl Shopping Complex management who provide the place for the tournament and the MCF officials such as Mr. Ibrahim Abu Bakar (Deputy President) , Gregory Lau (Hon Secretary), Mr.Hamid Majid (MCF) and others like Marcus Yeoh and Jax Tham who successfully organised the tournament. I missed Uztaz Abdul Rahman name who according to Marcus, the tournament will not run smoothly without him.

The winners posed with the VIP's

For complete result visit MarcusYeoh blog.


p/s : I'll posted selected last round games with photo reports soon !

Kaushal Khandhar vs Justin Ong : Round 7

Below is the top table clash in round 7 , 2008 National Juniors Championship. It is a game between Darth Maul ( left) ..ooops sorry....Kaushal Khandhar (right) vs Justin Ong.

Actually i'm not the first to label him with name of fictional character of the Star Wars Movie. Read here.

Analysis by Hairulov and Fritz 11

Kaushal Khandhar - Justin Ong [B51]
National Junior Championship 2008 (7), 13.12.2008

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Nd7 4.d4 a6 5.Be2 cxd4 6.Qxd4 Ngf6 7.0–0 Qc7 8.Nc3 e6 9.a4 Ne5 10.Bg5 Be7 11.Rfd1 Bd7 12.h3 h6 13.Bh4 Ng6 14.Bg3 e5 15.Qe3 Be6 16.Ne1 Rc8 17.Nd3 Qa5 18.Bf3 0–0 19.Qe2 Rc4 20.Nc1 Rfc8 21.Nb3 Qc7 22.Qe1 h5 23.Be2



23...Rxc3 ! A strong typical exchange sacrifiece in the Sicilian game. Black will demolish white's quuenside and centre pawn in a few moves. 24.Qxc3 24.bxc3 is probably better for e.g 24...Nxe4 25.Bxh5 although black position is more fun to play 24...h4 ?! black should play 24...Qxc3 straight away 25.Bh2 ? Kaushal return the favour. He should have played the in between move 25.Qxc7! Rxc7 26.Bh2 Rxc2 27.Nd2 Rxb2 28.Rab1 and white will have better position then the actual game. 25...Qxc3 26.bxc3 Nxe4 27.Bd3 Nxc3 28.Re1 f5 ?!



Probably Justin missed white next move 29.Nd4 ! A strong and young tactician like Kaushal will not missed this tactical move. Black bishop on e6 is hanging. 29...Kf7 Justin can't afford to give white active play with 29...exd4? because 30.Rxe6 Kf7 31.Rae1 ! Ne4 32. Bxe4 ! 30.Bxf5 In open position, preserving the bishop pair with 30.Nxf5 is probably wiser 30...Bxf5 31.Nxf5 Rc4 32.a5 Bf8 33.Ra3 Ke6 Black rook on c4 look overburden . The knight on c3 should retreat back with 33...Nd5 to release the burden of his rook . 34.Ne3 Rc5 Guarding the b7 pawn straight away with 34...Rc7 should be better 35.Rb3 Rc7? Black realised his mistake, however he should forget the b7 pawn and play actively with 35...Nd5 36.Nxd5 (36.Rxb7 Nxe3 37.fxe3 Be7 38.Ra1) 36...Kxd5 37.Ra1 Rc7 36.f4!
Kaushal have an eye of the eagle. The initiative is now on white side. 36...Ne7 37.fxe5 d5!
Justin (Photo left) brilliantly used white's own pawn on e5 as a sheild. Capturing with 37...dxe5 will be sucidial after 38.Ng4 38.Kh1 Kaushal missed the stronger move 38.Rf1! Ne2+ ( 38...Ng6 39.Rb6+Rc6 40.Rxc6 bxc6 41.Nf5 Bc5+ 42.Kh1 and black have problem guarding his pawns on g7 and h4!) 39.Kh1 d4 40.Rd3! Rc8 ( 40...dxe3 Rd6+# checkmate!) 41.Rd2 Nc6 42.Nf5 Ng3+ 43.Bxg3 hxg3 44.Nxd4+ And white has the better game. If you has the same opinion like Alexander Morozevich who doesn't trust long variation , check it with your own chess programme! 38...Nb5 39.Bg1? This move cost white his c2 pawn. 39...d4 40.Ng4 Rxc2
Now black's passed d-pawn look dangerous ! 41.Nf2 ?! The desicive mistake that cost the game. White should have attack the f8 bishop with 41.Rf1 and force 41...Ng6 and now black knight on g6 is less active then on c6. Both side should have equal chance . 41...Nc6 Now black's knight pair look menacing ! 42.Nd3 g5 43.Rf1 Be7 44.Ne1 Rc1 45.g3 Nxa5 46.Rxb5? A desperate move which failed to change the outcome of the game. Black can give more resistance with 46.Rd3 46...axb5 47.gxh4 d3 Black strong d pawn will decide the game ! 48.Be3 Rd1 49.hxg5 d2 50.Bxd2 Rxd2 51.Nf3 Rd8 52.Kg2 Nc4 53.h4? a blunder in already difficult position 53...Ne3+ forking white king and rook 0–1 A rollercoaster but intertaining game from both youngster.

National Junior Championship 2008 - Day 4

Today i attend the 4th day of the National Junior Championship 2008 held at the Pearl Point Shopping Mall, Jalan Kelang Lama, Kuala Lumpur . Two rounds was scheduled today ( round 7 and round 8) . Below are the photos report of round 8.

Justin Ong (left) battle against Muhd Tariq (right) in round 8

Table 1 (Girls) , Round 8 saw a " peace battle " (draw 1/2-1/2) between two sisters - Nur Najiha Azman Hisham (left) vs Azman Hisham (right)

Below are my favourites scene from the event. It's a round 8 game between youngster - Yeoh Li Tian against his round 8 opponent. Li Tian Won.

Photo 1: Yeoh Li Tian(above) in his usual pose.

Photo 2 : Yeoh Li Tian in his "unusual" pose

Photo 3 :.... minutes later... now he's wearing spectacles !

Another interesting moment is when 4 chess bloggers meet and posing for a photo session !? However it's pity that another bloggers - Marcus Yeoh where not there during the photo session because he is attending a class. If he was there, it will be 5 chess bloggers at the same time!

Standing from left : Gilachess, Stonemaster, Gilocatur and sitting in front is yours truly- Hairulov

p/s: I will post annotated game of Kaushal Khandahar vs Justion Ong (round 7 shortly) . Stay Tune !

Lot of "Sacrifices" in National Juniors !

Thanks to Marcus Yeoh and Andrew Ooi who is doing a great coverage of the ongoing Pearl Point National Junior Chess Championship held from 10th December - 14th December 2008 at The Pearl Point Shopping Mall , Kuala Lumpur.

After 4 round have been played, a few shocking results has been produced. Among them is Sumant Subramniam (photo left) victory against current National Champion and Dresden Olympiad player - NM Edward Lee.

Sumant Subramaniam - NM Edward Lee [B00]
National Junior Chess Championship (Round 4), 11.12.2008

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Qc7 8.Qf3 b5 9.0–0–0 b4 10.Nd5 With hindsight, this move is not that surprising because it's still theory. However Sumant must be given credit for having gut to play an unclear sacrifiece against current National Champion...not boys champion but... ADULTS National Champion !

10...exd5 11.Bxf6 gxf6 12.exd5 So far so theory . However with his next move, Edward choose a novelty 12...Bg7 Fritz gave three alternative 12...Qc5; 12...Ra7; and 12...Bb7. The idea behind all that move is to move the king to the queen side starting with..Kd8 .Black's king should find a better shelter there compare to his king side. So Edward 12...Bg7 with the idea of later ...Kf8 probably is not a good choice. 13.Bd3 f5 14.Rhe1+ Kf8 15.Ne6+ ?!? a nice bluff however as i mentioned before Sumant should be credit for playing bravely, more in the spirit of the former World Champion - Mikhail Tal (photo right) . I remember one of his interesting quote regarding his own play- "There are two kinds of sacrifices: sound ones, and mine."

15...fxe6 16.dxe6 Bb7 17.Qh5 Qe7 18.Bc4 Be4 According to Fritz, Black still have significant advantage but 18...Bf6 adding more control over the important blockading square on e7 is probably better 19.Rxd6 another sacrifice! Mikhail Tal grave must be shaken !

19...Ra7 20.Red1 Qf6?? A desicive blunder. Edward probably cracked under pressure. It's difficult to defend patiently especially when your opponent has sacrifiece three times and still alive ! Black have defend almost perfectly but as what chess teachers always said- "The players who lost a game is the player who make the last mistake "

21.e7+ 1–0 White will have to many material advantage after 21...Qxe7 (21...Kxe7 22.Rxf6) 22.Rd8+ Qxd8 23.Rxd8+ Ke7 24.Rxh8 Bxh8 25.Qxh7+ 1–0

A beautiful performance by the youngster !