MAKSAK 2012 in Penang!

The 2012 Majlis Sukan dan Kebajikan Anggota-Anggota Kerajaan (MAKSAK) Catur, Dart and Karom Tournament will be held from 27th-30th September 2012 in Penang. The defending champion - Kuala Lumpur will try to make a new record by winning the chess team event  for the third consecutive time.  Kuala Lumpur won the past two edition - 2010 and 2011.

Malaysia finish on 64th place in both 2000 and 2012 Istanbul Olympiad!?

I found an interesting fact. Istanbul have host the chess Olympiad two time, in 2000 (34th Chess Olympiad) and 2012 (40th Chess Olympiad). Malaysia have finish in the same place - 64  in both edition.  64  is also the number of squares on a chessboard!

Malaysia finish on high note in 2012 Istanbul Olympiad!

FM Lim Zhuo Ren reading FB messages!? after he secured the IM norm in the last round win. Photo from IM Jimmy Liew's FB

Open Section

Malaysia Men (seeded  86th) team finish on 64th place from 157 country in the Open Section of 2012 Olympiad, Istanbul. They scored  12 match points ( 5 win, 2 draw and 4 lost),  24 game points (54.5%) which is a record for Malaysia. The previous record in term of game points percentage is 52.7% at Dubai Olympiad 1986.

 Among ASEAN countries, our men team is 4th behind Vietnam (7th), Philippines  (21st).and Singapore (59th). We create history by finishing above Indonesia (73th) for the first time in the history of Olympiad.

Women Section

The women team (seeded 66) lost their last round match against Estonia 1-3 to finish on 61st place from 127 country. They scored  11 match points ( 5 win, 1 draw and 5 lost),  22 game points(50%).

Among ASEAN countries, our women team is 4th behind Indonesia (24th), Vietnam (26th)and Philippines  (43rd).

In term of title acheivement, this edition is probably the most succesfull one because we get three titles plus a norm:-

(i) Lim Zhuo Ren  get  FIDE Master (FM) title + International Master (IM) norm;

(ii) Camilia Johari get Women FIDE Master (WFM) title; and

(iii) Tan Li Ting get Women Candidate Master (WCM) title.

Source: official site

Malaysia Boleh!

Malaysia beat Thailand 3-1 (Open), Malaysia lost to Estonia 1-3 (Women)

Open Section

Women Section

Source: official site

Kongsee Uaychai- Lim Zhuo Ren : 0-1 !

Kongsee Uaychai (2273)- Lim Zhuo Ren (2120)
Istanbul Olympiad, Round 11, 9.8.2012

Analyzed by Centaur (Hairulov + Ryba 4)

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.c3 

Alapin ( pronounce: ah-LAH-peen) variation though my MAKSAK's teamate like to call it "Ayah  Pin" variation?! 3...Nf6 the best continuition because it prevent white to estabalish a big center for e.g. 4.d4? Nxe4

Istanbul Chess Olympiad 2012: Adly Ahmed vs Lim Yee Weng on Youtube!

I found that Yee Weng's brilliant victory against Egyptian GM - Ahmed Adly in round 3, Istanbul Olympiad 2012 has been publish with analysis by MatoJelic on youtube.  Enjoy it!

My analysis of the game is here

Can 2012 Istanbul Olympiad be the greatest achievement ever for our men and women team?

Open Section

The men team beat Japan 3-1 last night. Tonight Tomorrow night, they will meet our neighbour - Thailand in the penultimate round. On paper , Malaysia should not have much problem to win against the Siamese because we are superior by average rating but as proven in this team event - anything can happen.

In the overall standings, Malaysia is in 78th place. If we won the final round, we might end somewhere around  34th-77th place  - of course it depends on others team result.

If we compare between ASEAN country, we are 4th behind Philippines, Vietnam and Singapore. Surprising Indonesia is now behind us and if both country  win tonight  tomorrow, Indonesia will never overtake  Malaysia because we will have superior match points ( 12 to 11). So what we have to do tonight tomorrow is just win even at the smallest margin 2.5-1.5 and we will probably create history for finishing above Indonesia for the first time in Olympiad history.

Ok here come another interesting fact, in term  of the percentage of total games points,  1986 Dubai Olympiad is our highest achievement with 52.7% result. We can break that record tonight  if we beat Thailand with any score. For e.g. winning 2.5-1.5 would be total game points 23.5 out of 44 = 53.4%!


Women Section

Interestingly our women also had the chance to break their 2006 record (52.6%). After 10 rounds, they are now with 21 game points and they need to beat their last round opponent - Estonia with at least   2.5 - 1.5 score and will  finish with 23.5 game point ( 53.4%).

Our women now is on 52th place in the overall standing. They draw 2-2 against the Philippines last night!

Round 6 : Malaysia draw Tunisia 2-2

Malaysia was held 2-2 by the Tunisian in round 6 last night. The lower boards ( Yeoh Li Tian : Board 3 and Lim Zhuo Ren : Board 4) save  the blushes for Malaysia. My prediction that Malaysia will win with a score 2.5-1.5 went wrong. I predict our top boards ( IM Mok : Board 1 and IM Yee Weng : board 2) will secure two points without very much problems and anoher half point should come fom either Li Tian or Zhuo Ren but what happen is both Mok and Yee Weng were soundly beaten.

Source: official site

Round 6 : Lim Zhuo Ren - Mohamad Ali Boudriga : 1-0

Lim Zhuo Ren (2120) - Mohamad Ali Boudriga (2191) 
Istanbul Olympiad, Round 6, 3.9.2012

Analysed by Centaur (Hairulov + Rybka 4)

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 e6 4.g3 Lim Zhuo Ren (LZR) favourite Catalan  set-up.He play this against almost all black reply.  4...Nf6 5.Bg2 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Be7

Black play the Closed Catalan. Top GMs nowadays usually preferred the Open Catalan with dxc4 early.

Round 6 Preview

After having a rest day yesterday ( did our men team  attend the famous traditional Bermuda Party :) ? ) , our players should be fresh  for tonight round 6 battle against the young Tunisian team ( average age 26 compare to Malaysia 32 ) . On paper, Malaysia seeded 86th should have the edge against Tunisia - seeded 94th. Another point is Tunisian is playing with the same 4 players for the whole tournament because they didn't bring their reserve. However as proven before, no team should be taken lightly  in this team event.

On board 1 , IM Mok Tze Meng (2354) who has score 2.5 out of  4 GMs so far,  will meet 30 years old -FM Kamel Njili (2357). Mok, with the white piece should have the upper hand in this game.

On board 2, IM Lim Yee Weng is pair against 25 years old - Zoubaeir Amdouni. With Yee Weng experience, i bet he wont lose this game.

On Board 3: Yeoh Li Tian is up against 24 years old CM - Amir Zaibi ( 2214). Li Tian who made his debut in this Olympiad have only scored 1 out of 4 so far but the point he earn is  from the latest round  so it should build  his confident for tonight game. His opponent however will not be an easy one, Amir draw against GM Zybnek Hracek (2619) in round 1!

On Board 4 : NM Lim Zhuo Ren is pair against 27 years old - Mohamed Ali Boudriga (2191). Ali beat Uzbek IM - Djurabek Khamrakulov (2454) in the previous round so LZR should be ready for a tough battle tonight.

My Prediction :  Malaysia win 2.5-1.5 ( 2 points from the top two board and 0.5 points from board 3 or 4)

Istanbul Olympiad Round 4 and Round 5 Results

Source: Official site