Tournament: 15th Kepong Juniors Open Update

Registered pax in each group as at 1st Sept 2009 as below:
Under-8 >> 56
Under-10 >> 74
Under-12 >> 70
Under-14 >> 43
Under-16 >> 14

The school had a PIBG meeting on 1st Sept to decide that "No more entry is to be accepted after 1st Sept 2009. Also, the school management will not entertain any walk-in entry on the tournament day".

This decision was made due to sufficient period (2 full months) was given for registration to be submitted to the school and the school sees no reason why children who want to take part in this event cannot get themselves register before the deadline. Also, the school would like to start at the earliest possible time on Sunday. So, the school would like to remind all registered participants to reach the school venue BY 8.30AM on this Sunday (13th Sept).

All participants who have registered can contact Mr. Lim Tse Pin @ 012-2984922 for confirmation.

Tournament: 15th Kepong Juniors Open Update

Registered pax in each group till 3rd Aug as below:
Under-8 >> 46
Under-10 >> 57
Under-12 >> 47
Under-14 >> 29
Under-16 >> 4

For those who have yet to register yourself for this event, please do so as soon as possible especially for the U8, U10 and U12 category. Any registration above the 64 pax quota per category will be moved to higher age-group category.

Kepong Juniors Open Chess Tournament

Once again, SJK(C) Kepong 2 continues to organise the annual age-group chess tournament for 15th consecutive years since 1995. This year edition is to be held on 13th September 2009 at the school hall.

It is expected to attract more than 200 players for the 5 categories namely Under-08, Under-10, Under-12, Under-14, and Under-16. This is a national-rated event. For children who yet to have a national rating, this is a very good opportunity to get your first national rating. While, those who already possess a rating can pit against fellow nationally-rated friends to see how far have they improve in their game.

Attactive prizes e.g. hampers, and trophies are awaiting all top 10 winners, while the top 5 winners in each category will receive cash too. Hampers will be given away to 4 players who come from the school that walk away with Best School title (highest acculmulated points from 4 player) in each category. Also, the Best Girl in each category will receive a hamper and trophy.

Closing date for this event: 1st September 2009. You may download the entry form here. All entry forms must have payment (cheque only) enclosed and to be sent to SJK(C) Kepong 2 before the Closing Date.

35 Years of Achievement - Paid and Pre-Registration Namelist

As of 17th May, 4 people have made payment and another 15 people have pre-registered for this event. The list as follow:-
35 yrs of achievement (Paid)
1. Shamsuddin Sabri
2. Dr. Paul Sega
3. N. Annadurai Narayanasamy
4. Sri Shiva Kumar Narayanan


35 yrs of achievement (Pre-Registration)
1. Mark Siew Kit-Tze (U18)
2. Fariz Shafruddin
3. Chew EeWen (U12G)
4. Chew ESheng (U12)
5. Abdullah Che Hassan
6. Muhd Aidil Idrus Yusuf Piman
7. Sim Chung Seng
8. Yeoh Chin Seng
9. Yeoh Li Tian (U12)
10. Haslindah Ruslan (G)
11. Low Jun Jian (U18)
12. Low Jun Keat (U18)
13. Vinton Wong Hsien Loong (U18)
14. Ethan Wong Hsien Aun (U12)
15. Kamaluddin Yusof
16. Tan Kah Chun (U18)
17. Colin Chan Guo Gin (U18)
18. RAZALI HAMZAH
19. Goh Xin Yen (U18G)
20. Kamalarifin Wahiduddin
21. Mohd Faizal Roslan (U12)
22. Chin Shun Yi (U12G)
23. Chin Yi Hao (U12)
24. Tan Yi Yao (U12)
25. Tan Yi Huang (U12)
26. Cheong Jie Yao (U12)
27. Cheong Keat Zhen (U12)
28. Mohd Fadli Zakaria
29. Ismail Ahmad
30. Mat Zaki Yeop

For those CAS members who have yet to register for the event, we have extended the DEADLINE to 22nd May (FRIDAY) by sending an email to selangorchess@gmail.com or sms your name to +6012-298 4922 (Lim Tse Pin). Also, there is a very high possibility we will add 5 more additional prizes to the Open Category. This means up to 22 people will be receiving prizes!!!

Lunch, drinks, snacks will be provided for all participants. Also, RM 1,300 cash prize fund is allocated specially for this special celebration. Hope you guys can come out in force to support the 35 Years of Achievement.

Source: Chess Association of Selangor blogsite

35 Years of Achievement

CAS is celebrating her 35 years of Achievement in Malaysian Chess with one tournament for members only on 24th May 2009. This year marks the 35th anniversary for CAS, a milestone that we have seen many people contributed towards CAS directly or indirectly for the success of Malaysian Chess.

Among some notable achievements by CAS are
(i) Creating a score of teenagers dominating the Malaysian chess senior scene in the last 13 years e.g. Lim Yee Weng (Subang Jaya, Selangor) became National Men Champion at the age 14 in 1996, and successfully defended the title in 1997. In 1998, he did not take part to makeway for Ng Ee Vern (PJ, Selangor) to become the 1998 Men Champion. Many years later, two brothers from Subang Jaya namely Nicholas Chan and Marcus Chan continues Selangor domination in the National Closed, followed by Edward Lee (PJ, Selangor) in 2008.

(ii) Creating an overwhelming numbers of National Age-Group Champions in the last 10 years.

(iii) Successful in organising the longest continuous chess event in Malaysia for a record of 36 years in a row. [Certified by Malaysian Book of Records during the 27th edition in 2000]

(iv) Financially the best manage Chess Association in the country since mid-80's.

(v) Championing the creation of Allegro to spearhead the chess movement in Klang Valley since the late-1980's.

(vi) Championing the Chess Training Excellence Programme concept which started back in 1996.


Also, CAS will be holding the 32nd Annual General Meeting on the same day. Lunch will be served to all members who attended the AGM during the tournament day. CAS will accept new membership registration on tournament day. For new adult membership is RM 40 for 1st year plus RM 15 as tournament entrance fee, however, you must send an email to selangorchess@gmail.com on your intention to join the event before closing date on 20th May 2009. CAS will not accept any walk-in registration on tournament day.

36th Selangor Open: Updated Pre-Registration Namelist

This is the updated list where players have pre-registered by the deadline for this tournament. Anyone who yet to pre-register but would like to join this event, please sms your name to 012-2984922, there is 4 more places left and subject to an extra RM 10 late administrative fee. Also, for those players in the list who wish to withdraw from the event, please sms ASAP for your name to be removed so that more places can be made available to others who wish to join.

No Names
1 Abdul Aziz Abdul Shukor
2 Abdul Kadir Jailani Ramli
3 Abdullah Che Hassan
4 Ahmad Eizran Ezra
5 Ahmad Fadzil Nayan
6 Ahmad Faizal Ahmad Fahmi
7 Ahmad Idzuan Rosli
8 Ahmad Rizal Othman
9 Aidi Ahmad Ghazi
10 Ainul Hakim Abdul Razak
11 Amier Hamzah Mohd Zuhri
12 Anis Fariha Saleh (G12)
13 Bakri Abdul Karim
14 Chan Tze Chen
15 Chew Chin Shen (18)
16 Chew Eewen (G12)
17 Chew Esheng (12)
18 Collin Ng Kiang Kai
19 Dr Paul Sega
20 Ee Sun-Xin (G12)
21 Entry To Datcc (Paid)
22 Eric Choong (12) (Paid)
23 Ethan Wong Hsien Aun (12)
24 Fahmi (? Mohd Isa)
25 Fairul Yusuf
26 Fariz Shafruddin
27 Fikri Saleh (18)
28 Francois Wolfaardt
29 George Siew Thain Yong (V)
30 Gerald Soh Han Loong
31 Goh Xin Yen (G18)
32 Haslindah Ruslan (G)
33 Heng Fook Liang
34 Ian Udani
35 Iskandar Rashid (D)
36 Ismail Ahmad
37 Justin Ong Way
38 Kamalarifin Wahiduddin
39 Kamaluddin Yusof
40 Kaushal Khandhar
41 Khairul Azam Mastuki
42 Khushal Shah (12)
43 Kumaraguru Poobalan
44 Lee Boon Why
45 Lee Say Siong John
46 Lim Jun Hong (12)
47 Lim Kian Hwa
48 Lim Yee-Weng
49 Mark Siew Kit-Tze (18)
50 Masrin Erowan
51 Mat Zaki Yeop (V)
52 Mohd Faizal Hafizie Shukri
53 Mohd Faizal Roslan (12)
54 Mohd Firdaus Ahmad Johari
55 Mohd Izwan Mohd Zolhanafiah
56 Mohd Khair Wahiduddin
57 Mohd Khairul Nazrin A Nashir
58 Mohd Zullghafari Saparmin
59 Muhammad Arshad
60 Muhd Ariez Azman (18)
61 Muhd Asyraf Zakaria
62 Muhd Syazwan Zulkifli
63 N.Annadurai Narayanasamy
64 Nicholas Chan
65 Nor Ilhamuddin Shaikh Ali
66 Norazlin Juarih
67 Norazman Ismail
68 Pereira, Johnharry
69 Pirrard, Joachim
70 Poon Jit Wai (18)
71 Razali Hamzah
72 Rizal Ahmad Kamal
73 Sarika Subramaniam (G18)
74 Shamsuddin Sabri
75 Shaun Sik Kuan Ming (18) (Paid)
76 Shreyes Subramaniam (12)
77 Siddiq Husainy Hasbullah
78 Sim Chung Seng
79 Sri Shiva Kumar Narayanan
80 Sumant Subramaniam (18)
81 Syazrin Abd Rahman
82 Syed Abdul Rahman Syed Mohd
83 Syed Iskandar Shah
84 Tan Ken Wei (18) (Paid)
85 Tan Khai Boon
86 Tan Yong Zhao (12) (Paid)
87 Vinton Wong Hsien Loong (18)
88 Wan Aizuddin Wan Razali
89 Winston Chieng Kai Chiong
90 Yap Egin (12) (Paid)
91 Yat Guo Jie (18)
92 Yeap Eng Chiam (18)
93 Yeap Khuan Yee (G18)
94 Yeoh Chin Seng
95 Yeoh Li Tian (12)
96 Zakaria Abdul Salam

36th Selangor Open: Pre-registration Namelist

This is the pre-registration namelist that CAS has received as of 22nd April 2009, it contains 24 FIDE-rated players and 41 non-rated players as follows:

1. Abdul Aziz Abdul Shukor
2. Abdul Kadir Jailani Ramli
3. Abdullah Che Hassan
4. Ahmad Eizran Ezra
5. Ahmad Fadzil Nayan
6. Ahmad Faizal Ahmad Fahmi
7. Ahmad Idzuan Rosli
8. Aidi Ahmad Ghazi
9. Ainul Hakim Abdul Razak
10. Anis Fariha Saleh
11. Bakri Abdul Karim
12. Chan Tze Chen
13. Chew Chin Shen
14. Chew Eewen
15. Chew Esheng
16. Collin Ng Kiang Kai
17. Dr Paul Sega
18. Ee Sun-Xin
19. Ethan Wong Hsien Aun
20. Fairul Yusuf
21. Fikri Saleh
22. Francois Wolfaardt
23. George Siew Thain Yong (V)
24. Gerald Soh Han Loong
25. Ian Udani
26. Iskandar Rashid
27. Ismail Ahmad
28. Kaushal Khandhar
29. Khushal Shah
30. Lee Boon Why
31. Lim Yee-Weng
32. Mark Siew Kit-Tze
33. Masrin Erowan
34. Mat Zaki Yeop
35. Mohd Faizal Hafizie Shukri
36. Mohd Faizal Roslan
37. Mohd Khairul Nazrin A Nashir
38. Mohd Zullghafari Saparmin
39. Muhammad Ariez Azman
40. Muhammad Arshad
41. Muhd Asyraf Zakaria
42. Muhd Syazwan Zulkifli
43. Nor Ilhamuddin Shaikh Ali
44. Norazlin Juarih
45. Norazman Ismail
46. Pereira Johnharry
47. Pirrard, Joachim
48. Razali Hamzah
49. Rizal Ahmad Kamal
50. Shamsuddin Sabri
51. Shawn Sik Kuan Ming (Paid)
52. Siddiq Husainy Hasbullah
53. Sim Chung Seng
54. Sri Shiva Kumar Narayanan
55. Syazrin Abd Rahman
56. Syed Abdul Rahman Syed Mohd
57. Syed Iskandar
58. Tan Ken Wei (Paid)
59. Vinton Wong Hsien Loong
60. Wan Aizuddin Wan Razali
61. Winston Chieng
62. Yap Egin (Paid)
63. Yeoh Chin Seng
64. Yeoh Li Tian
65. Zakaria Abd Salam

Tournament: T.I.Z. Premier Rapid (Terengganu) on 4th July 2009

This 1-day tournament is to be held on 4th July in Dungun, Terengganu. This event is organised by En. Sabirin Sulaiman, SMK Tengku Intan Zaharah. Anybody who is interested to join this event can email your name to ibnsulaiman@inbox.com.

Pre Registration: 36th Selangor Open Chess Tournament

Todate, there is only a mere 40 players have pre-registered for the event. A number of regulars [based on past years entries] have yet to register themselves for this event. I hope anyone who read this article, please share with your chess friends. CAS is hoping for a strong support to this event, else this may well be the last Selangor Open with RM 6,750 prize fund. Without sponsorship, the Association will incur massive losses with the kind of prize fund put up for the event.

In the past, many chess players used one or more of the following reasons on why that cannot take part in Selangor Open:-

1) Cannot take 2 days off from office ==> This year, we accomodate this reason with 0.5 day off from office because the other 3 days are non-working day. Alternatively, inform the organiser that you will missed Rd 1, and play from Rd 2 then can't take leave is no longer an issue.

2) Cannot take 2 days off from school ==> This year, we accomodate by starting the event at 2.30pm on Thurs and the other 3 days are non-schooling day. Alternatively, inform the organiser that you will missed Rd 1, and play from Rd 2 then can't miss school [Afternoon session students] is no longer an issue.

3) Venue lacks public transportation ==> This year, we accomodate by organising it in the heart of KL city. [LRT and public bus are nearby]

4) Prize fund not attractive ==> This year, we accomodate by having a slightly higher total prize fund DESPITE having no sponsorship at all.

5) No cheap hotel nearby for convenient of players who does not want to travel ==> This year, the venue has many cheap hotels nearby within walking distance.

6) Too few prizes on offer e.g. No prizes for Veteran, Ladies, the Disabled ==> This year, we accomodate all these factors and all-in-all there are 15 category prizes on offer , excluding the existing top 10 prizes. [To date based on the pre-registration list, I've not seen real support from these 3 groups of people registering themselves]. What happen?

7) Clash of event ==> This year, we work with other active organisers to make sure there is no clash of event. This is a win-win situation.

[P/s: "we" represents Chess Association of Selangor (CAS)]

For those who wish to participate in this event, Please email your name to selangorchess@gmail.com for pre-registration. Closing date: 25th April 2009. Thereafter, a late administrative fee shall be charged.

Warm regards,
Lim Tse Pin
Hon. Secretary of CAS

36th Selangor Open Countdown

The oldest tournament in the country is scheduled to begin on 30th Apr 2009. All those who are interested to take part, please download the form from this link.

Please email your name to selangorchess@gmail.com for pre-registration.

NAG 2009 Experiences

I'm reluctant to write this article at first, however, I change my mind after reading Marcus's article.

I first got involved as an Arbiter was way back in 1995 when pairing is done in manual way. No such thing as computer pairing. I learn on how to do simple pairing from Mr. Wong Fook Loy, husband to former CAS Secretary, Jackie Wong. It is not easy to do pairing the manual way especially when there is no exact guidance on how best to produce a good pairing. I always tell myself since then, a good pairing will decide the fairness of a competition. I've seen with my eye as a chess player prior to 1996, how other Arbiters (even with IA title to their names) can manipulate pairing easily and had pairing done at the expense on me (to give others a better chance of winning I guess). Hence, as a matter of principle I tell myself I must produce a fair pairing whenever I'm put in charge to the the pairing job. This is one reason I decided to quit as a player to turn Organiser to help promote fair play in Malaysian chess. (P/S: A number of Arbiters have taken our chess players for a ride when comes to pairing during those days in manual pairing)

In those days, people can say how good are their arbitering/pairing skills but the ONE AND ONLY reputable Malaysian Arbiter in manual pairing is IA Abdul Hamid Majid . You may think that I may be indebted to Hamid for me to say that but I'm proud to announce my pairing lesson did not comes from Hamid at all. I learnt the inside-out on how pairing system works all by myself through computer pairing program, Swiss-46, which is introduced to me in 1998. By 2000, I believe my ability in manual pairing and using computer pairing is no inferior than any Arbiters in Malaysia.

My manual pairing skills ability is put to the test at the highest level when M'sia hosted World Youth Olympiad in 2002. For your information, the team event is using manual pairing. I was made the Pairing Arbiter to reputable IA Cathy Rogers (wife of GM Ian Rogers, Australia) who was the Chief Arbiter for the event. I was given a free hand to do the pairing for each round and Cathy will confirm / reject my pairing decision before publishing it as official pairing for the next round. I'm proud to have pass the test with flying colours without any rejection and receive a very high acknowledgement from IA Cathy on my Arbitership.

Finally, I told myself with the acknowledgement I received from WYO 2002, I have achieved what I'm aiming to achieve when I started in 1995 that is providing a fair pairing at the highest level to any tournament I'm put charge to do. Since then, I was in-charge as Chief Arbiter in Merdeka Team Championship and National Age-group from 2002 onwards. Also, I think I'm one of the very few Arbiters in the World who is willing to do the job all by myself (to input, check, double confirm and generate) for 10 categories pairing encompassing close to 500 players with an interval of 30 minutes between rounds.

For the first time in 14 years as an Arbiter and 8 years as Chief Arbiter for NAG, there was rumours that spread on Day 2 that I've tampered with the computer pairing manually to affect children chances. When I first heard of it, I did not care much as I've explained to the child parent on Day 1 that the reason for his daughter to be floated down in a group of 6 players with same points despite being the highest seed because the girl was floated up in previous round (Rd 4), hence the computer pairing program (Swiss-Manager: The only official pairing programme endorsed by FIDE in top level tournaments) automatically even up the floating rule. Also, the computer has floated up 1 person from this group of six in Rd 5. For your info, I did not know the girl was floated down in Rd 5. He has accepted the explaination, however, the following day he went round the hall actively meeting with other parents and posted several questions to them which basically questioning on my credibility, professionalism, instigating other parents by telling stories, making slanderous accusations over what I think is non-issue. This is what I get after 14 years of serving my chess community to see a betterment for Malaysian Chess.

First of all, I did not write this pairing programme, and secondly the programme is endorsed by FIDE as the ONLY official pairing program. Even if it is found that there is any wrong in programming algorithm with this pairing programme, no Arbiter will change the pairing manually unless the directive comes from FIDE to stop using it. Today, Chess Organizers from Trengganu, Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Pahang who knows how to use this Swiss Manager programme and inside-out of the programme because of my training to them done during NAG 2008.

Personally, I'm very disappointed with these parents who either have little knowledge but act to know everything or just follow what others said without checking the facts from qualified people or assume things or selfish act or who cares it is not my problem or playing chess politics. Am thinking seriously of retiring from Arbitering?

Around the Blogs: National Age Group My Last Arbitering & 'Retire' Local Comp

I pick up this article entitled National Age Group My Last Arbitering & 'Retire' Local Comp from one of our active chess bloggers. It is sad to note that one of the very few Arbiters who believe highly on fair play spirit in Malaysia chess scene is retiring from Arbitering work. As he has pointed out, the attacks on him were done even though his actions on subject matters were accordance to FIDE Laws of Chess. Why has this happen? 1. Selfish parent who think only of their children and quickly point fault at Arbiter whenever the decision is not in their children favour; 2. Parent defines their own rule and care less about FIDE Laws of Chess; 3. Instigation by other parents who like to play-up non issue to "create situation" of no confidence against Organisers.

All the racist remark was thrown as a result they could not find any other better reasons. Luckily, Marcus did not have children in that group (or any other groups), no student that he is coaching in that group, else one of this 2 factor may be used as the excuse instead of racist remark.

As the Chief Arbiter in the event, I'm very sadden that Malaysia has lost one dedicated Arbiter. Believe me, there will be more similar Arbiters to leave the chess scene in near future.

NAG 2009: Final Results

Pearl Point National Age Group Chess Championship 2009 is over and we witness the emerging of 10 Age-Group Champions for the year 2009. I would like to take the opportunity to thanks all my colleagues from MCF, University Malaya students, chess community in making this event a big success with 482 players registered, the highest ever recorded NAG number in Malaysia.

[Under-08 Girls]
Puteri Munajjah has emerged as Champion when 2nd scenario happen that I posted in my earlier post. She won the Championship on P/E tie break over Teh De Zen after both players finishes with 6 pts from 7 games. Next 3 winners are Teh Ming Min (5.5pts), Mok Shu Zing (4.5pts) and Nur Islamurni (4pts).

[Under-08 Boys]
Wong Yinn Long has emerged as Champion when he pull off a major upset by defeating Amier who had a clear 1 pt lead into this game to finish on same points (6pts) alongside with Teh De Juan. All 3 players do not have a complete Round-robin table score, so Solkoff is used to decide the Championship. Wong has the highest Solkoff, followed by Amier and Teh. The others who make it to the top 10 list as follows: [4th to 8th (5pts)] Danish Hamzah, Ng Jen Sheng, Benjamin Lee, Wong Zi Quan, Sean Ooi,[9th and 10th (4pts)] Yee Jian Yang and Muhd Zulfikri.

[Under-10 Girls]
Nur Najiha has emerged as Champion and defended the title she won last year successfully despite her last round lost to Puteri Rifqah. The former finishes with 6 pts, followed by latter with 5.5 pts. Nithyalakshmi, Maisarrah, and Tan Jia Yun with 5 pts each finishes 3rd, 4th and 5th respectively.

[Under-10 Boys]
Yeoh Li Tian has defended the title he won last year successfully with a perfect score of 7 points from 7 games. The others who make it to the top 10 list as follows: [2nd and 3rd (6pts)] Muhd Sirajuddin and Muhd Aziz Farhan,[4th and 5th (5.5pts)] Teoh Ern Sheng and Tan Yong Zhao, [6th to 10th (5pts)] Ooi Zhi Yang, Lee Zhi Wei, Muhd Ihsan, Tang Wei Kit, Mohd Noor Azam.

[Under-12 Girls]
NJM Nur Nabila has emerged as Champion and defended the title she won last year successfully with 6 pts. Tan Li Ting is placed 2nd over Camilia due to Solkoff tie break. Both players score 5.5 pts each. The 2 other players to make into the winner list are Fairuz Hamizah and Seri Aisyah. Both players have 5 pts.

[Under-12 Boys]
Tan Wei Hao has defended the title he won last year successfully when he finishes 6.5 pts from 7 games. Lim Winsen, Derek Poon and Jerome Yong scored 6 pts each. The others who make it to the top 10 list as follows: [2nd and 3rd (6pts)] Muhd Sirajuddin and Muhd Aziz Farhan,[5th and 6th (5.5pts)] Subramanian and Muhd Irfan, [7th to 10th (5pts)] Roshan Singh, Mohd Faizal, Mirnash and Muhd Nuriman.

[Under-14 Girls]
Amira Syahmina has emerged as Champion. She won the Championship on Solkoff tie break since P/E did not separate her with Hoh Tjin Li since they drew with each other in Rd 5. The other 3 winners who finish with 5 pts are Laila Husna, Pavitranayagi and Tang Kar Khei.

[Under-14 Boys]
Yeap Eng Chiam too score a perfect 7 points from 7 games. He is previous dubbed the Wonderboy of Malaysia with his 6th place finishing in World U-10 in 2005. 4 other players who have 5.5 pts are Wong Jianwen, Tan Jun Feng, Nicholas Chong and Joshua Teo. The others who make it to the top 10 list as follows: [5th to 10th (5pts)] Wong Hao, Elgin Lee, Deon Low, Quah Fu Yong and Chen Pei Xian.

[Under-16 Girls]
NWM Alia Anin Azwa Bakri also had a perfect 7 points from 7 games. Latifah Kaiyisah grabs sencond placing with 5 pts. The other 3 winners with 4.5 pts are Teh Kai Wen, Winnie Hong and Choong Sy Yiing.

[Under-16 Boys]
Evan Timothy has emerged as Champion despite his lost to Muhd Izz in the last round. This result has made Sumant to finish on the same level with 6 pts from 7 games. All 3 players do not have a complete Round-robin table score, so Solkoff is used to decide the Championship. Evan has the highest Solkoff, followed by Sumant and Izz. The others who make it to the top 10 list as follows: [4th (5.5pts)] NM Edward Lee, [5th to 10th (5pts)] Muhd Syakir, Fong Wei Chern, Mohd Hazzafri, Lim Wei Kang, Mohd Khairul and Lim Kong Hui.

Under-16 Category in Action

Rd 5 Updates (Girls): NWM Alia Anin Azwa is on the verge of capturing the title with her win over Afifah. Her closest rival is 1.5 points behind with 2 games remaining. Top boards in action for Rd 6: Winnie Hong vs Alia, Lynette Wong vs Teh Kai Wen, Latifah vs Afifah.

Rd 5 Updates (Boys): There were 3 overnight joint leaders, however, Evan (seeded 4th) has taken the sole lead after this round when the other joint leaders drew their game. Top boards in action for Rd 7: Evan vs Syakir, Sumant vs NM Edward Lee, Muhd Hazzafri vs Muhd Izz.


Rd 6 Updates (Girls): NWM Alia is the first person to check-in to the Championship throne with the win over Winnie. She has 1.5 pts lead over her nearest rival, Teh who defeated Lynette. Latifah too has consolidated her position with objective to finish second behind Alia. Top boards in action for Rd 7: Alia vs Teh, Wan Aemellia vs Latifah, Choong Sy Yiing vs Lynette.

Rd 6 Updates (Boys): Evan continues to consolidate his position by winning against Syakir. While, Sumant drew with NM Edward which has given Izz Saifuddin a chance to close the gap with him. Top boards in action for Rd 7: Izz vs Evan, Ahmad Zulhilmi vs Sumant, NM Edward vs Muhd Nabil.

Under-14 Category in Action

Rd 5 Updates (Girls): Overnight leader, Hoh Tjin Li, drew her match against pre-tournament favourite Amira Syahmina. While, Laila Husna had defeated Dhanusya to become the joint leader with Hoh into the next round. Top boards in action for Rd 6: Laila vs. Hoh, Amira vs Nurul Adlina, Vickie vs Pavitranayagi.

Rd 5 Updates (Boys): Yeap Eng Chiam has defeated his rival, Kiu Toh She, who had shared the same points with him. He nows enjoy a 0.5 pt leads over the field. On other result, Elgin Lee defeated Wong Jianwen. Top boards in action for Rd 6: Elgin vs Yeap, Nicholas Lee vs P'ng Ren Chi, Fikri Saleh vs Wong Hao.


Rd 6 Updates (Girls): The top of the board drew their match. This has throw a lifeline to Amira to equal on points after this round with her wins against Nurul. Also, Vickie consolidates her position by trailing the leader 0.5 pt behind. Top boards in action for Rd 7: Dhanusya (4.5pts) vs Amira (5pts), Hoh (5pts) vs Vickie (4.5pts), Pavithranayagi (4pts) vs Laila (5pts). All the 3 leaders have played each other with getting 2 draws from each other. Hence, all three leaders are playing with lower point scorer in last round.

Rd 6 Updates (Boys): Yeap is almost there with 1 point lead over his closest rival with his six wins in a row. P'ng drew against Nicholas Lee and both players blew away their chances on the title. Wong Hao won his game too. Top boards in action for Rd 7: Yeap vs Wong Hao, Nicholas Chong vs Tan Jun Feng, Wong Jian Wen vs Kiu Tok Shen.

Under-12 Category in Action

Rd 5 Updates (Girls): Defending Champion NJM Nur Nabila has lift-up to the tournament top billing by disposing Tan Li Ting (seeded 2nd) to enjoy 1 pt adavantage going into next round. Fairus, another title contender continues to stay in the hunt win Rd 5, however, Ee Sun Xin has dropped out virtually from the title race whenshe secure only a draw in this round. Top boards in action for Rd 6: Fairus vs Nabila, Tan vs Camilia, Ee vs Anis Fariha Saleh.

Rd 5 Updates (Boys): Defending Champion Tan Wei Hao is on track to defend his title. Roshan keeps up the heat by winning against Muhd Ifran. They will be pitted aganist each other in the next round and the winner is likely to win the title. Any slip up by these 2 players will likely to see the Championship blows wide open with 12 players who are 1 point behind the 2 leaders. Top boards in action for Rd 6: Roshan vs Tan, Subramanian vs Arif, Shreyes vs Jerome Yong.


Rd 6 Updates (Girls): A big upset had happened where Fairus toppled Nabila who is the Defending Champion, how this has happenned? It is sad to see a very dedicated and hardworking girl to lose. Both Tan and Camilia drew with each other. While, Ee won her game. Top boards in action for Rd 7: Nabila vs Ee, Tan vs Fairus, Camilia vs Najihah.

Rd 6 Updates (Boys): Defending Champion Tan is getting closer to defend his title when he won against his other fellow contender, Roshan. Subramanian, Jerome and 4 others are chasing Tan with their respective wins but 1 pt behind the leader. Top boards in action for Rd 7: Tan vs Subramanian, Jeremy Yong vs Roshan, Lim Winsen vs Mirnash Chandran, Muhd Nuriman vs Derek. Any slip-up by Tan may blow the title wide open with a possibility of 5 players ended up with 6 pts from 7 games.

Under-10 Category in Action

Rd 5 Updates (Girls): Defending Champion Nur Najiha has consolidated her position by winning aganist her nearest rival, Nurul Aina, to open up a 1 pt lead in the field. Nithyalakshimi bounce back from her lost to Najiha yesterday with a win against Nurulhana and stay in the hunt for Championship (only if Najiha slip-up in her last 2 rounds). Siti Khadijah title hunt sufferred a setback when she secure only a draw against Chua Yee Ler (seeded 10th). Another player with Championship possibility is Tan Jia Yun. She suffered an early round lost to Nithyalakshmi, but bounce back with 2 wins in a row. Top boards in action for Rd 6: Najiha vs Jia Yun, Puteri vs Nithyalakshmi, Chua vs Nurul Aina.

Rd 5 Updates (Boys): Defending Champion Yeoh Li Tian has cleared one of his other centender, Muhd Sirajuddin. While, Muhd Aziz won against fellow contender Tan Yong Zhao. Muhd Noor Azam eho lost his game to Yeoh yesterday did not recover in time and lost to Teoh Ern Sheng in this round which ultimately ends his title hunt. Also, both Sirajuddin and Tan have mathematical chances left in the race. Teoh who is 0.5 pt behind could snatch the title from Yeoh or Aziz if can wins the remaining 2 rounds. Top boards in action for Rd 6: Aziz vs Yeoh, Sirajuddin vs Teoh, Chuah Hao Feng vs Tan.


Rd 6 Updates (Girls): Defending Champion Nur Najiha is the 2nd person to check-in to the Championship throne when she won against Tan. While, Puteri has helped her by stopping Nithyalakshmi (the only other player left in the race with mathematical chances to upset Najiha's quest). Nurul Aina is closing gap with her win against Chua. Top boards in action for Rd 7: Puteri vs Najiha, Nurul vs Nithyalakshmi, Wong Yi Chee vs Maisarrah.

Rd 6 Updates (Boys): Defending Champion Yeoh cleared a major hurdle with a win over Muhd Aziz who also share the same lead. He has open a 1 pt lead over the field with 5 players trainling him. Sirajuddin won his game. While, Chuah and Tan game ended in draw. Top boards in action for Rd 7: Ooi Zhi Yang vs Yeoh, Lee Zhi Wei vs Aziz, Shahen Kumar vs Sirajuddin.

Under-08 Category in Action

Rd 5 Updates (Girls): Teh Ming Min fails in her attempt to continue her giant killing feat when she lost to 2nd seed Teh De Zen. This has thrown the Under-08 Girls category wide open where 5 players have 4 points. Another player that is making wave in this tournament is Mok Shu Jing who so far has defeated 3 players seeded higher than her to share lead with two other contenders namely Puteri and Nur Islamurni. Top boards in action for Rd 6: Nur Islamurni vs. Puteri, Teh De Zen vs Mok, Teh Ming Min vs Zainoor.

Rd 5 Updates (Boys): Amier (seeded 2nd) had caused a major upset by defeating pre-tournament favourite Danish Hamzah. He has established a 1 pt lead over the field. Another overnight joint leader, Ng Jen Sheng, lost his game to Wong Yinn Long (seeded 8th). Top boards in action for Rd 6: Amier vs. Chuah Hao Min, Wong vs. Yee Jian Yang, Teh De Juan vs Ng.


Rd 6 Updates (Girls): Puteri leads the way to alongside with 2 other joint leaders namely Teh De Zen and Teh Ming Min had won against their respective opponents. All three of them had pitted against one another in previous rounds where Puteri defeated De Zen, De Zen in turn defeated Ming Min, while Ming Min defeated Puteri. This creates a high drama in the last round because all three of them will be floated down to play with weaker opponents. Possible scenario: 1) All three of them win their last round ==> P/E cannot decide outcome since they tie with 1 pt from round-robin table, then their Solkoff (BH) is the deciding factor, even BH may be same, then SB will be used; 2) Puteri and De Zen wins, then Puteri is crowned as Champion due to P/E; 3) Ming Min and De Zen wins, then De Zen is crowned as Champion due to P/E; 4) Puteri and Ming Min wins, then Min Ming is crowned as Champion due to P/E; 5) All lost their game, then we may witness a 7-way tie for top spot. Top boards in action for Rd 7: Puteri vs. Low Wen Jun, Sasithra Avadiar vs De Zen, Mok Shu Zing vs Ming Min.

Rd 6 Updates (Boys): Amier is a step closer to the title with a win over Chuah. Wong and Teh also chalked up respective wins over their opponents. Another player, pre tournament favourite, Danish, bounce back from his earlier round lost to Amier to win this round. Top boards in action for Rd 7: Wong (5pts) vs. Amier (6pts), Danish (5pts) vs. Benjamin (4pts), Muhd Aqil vd Teh (5pts). Both Danish and Teh had played each other in Rd 4 where the former chalked up a win.

NAG 2009 Under-16: Top 5 In Rating List

Boys Category
1. NM Edward Lee Kim Han (DC) 1902
2. Sumant Subramaniam 1870
3. Muhd Syakir Shazmeer Azhar 1840
4. Evan Timothy Capel 1772
5. Muhd Izz Saifuddin 1763

NM Edward Lee had suffered an unexpected lost to Evan (seeded 4th) in Rd 4. The leaders after 4 rounds are Sumant, Syakir and Evan. Izz too had dropped a point. Rd 5 action is Syakir vs Sumant, Evan vs Low Jun Jian.

Girls Category
1. NWM Alia Anin Azwa Bakri 1703
2. Winnie Hong Wee Ni 1508
3. Teh Kai Wen 1464
4. Latifah Kaiyisah Latib Said 1428
5. Lynette Wong Xun Peng 1356

NWM Alia had one clear point in the field. Her neareast opponent is Latifah at 3pts, while the other contenders in this list have 2.5 pts only which means three of them are out of the race for championship.

(DC) means Defending Champion for the same age-group. Defending Champion shall be seeded as "No. 1 player" regardless of their current MCF Chess rating.

NAG 2009 Under-14: Top 5 In Rating List

Boys Category
1. Yeap Eng Chiam 1836
2. Wong Jianwen 1647
3. P'ng Ren Chi 1637
4. Elgin Lee Kah Meng 1611
5. Wong Hao 1608

Yeap continues his dominance in this category by collecting full points and is paired against Kiu Toh Shen (seeded 6th), the only other player with 4 pts. The other 4 contenders in this list are 0.5 pt behing the leaders.

Girls Category
1. Amira Syahmina Zullkafli 1615
2. Vickie Hong Wee Ki 1579
3. Hoh Tjin Li 1533
4. Sarika Subramaniam 1496
5. Laila Husna Sahadi 1420

Amira drew her 4th round game against Laila to be placed 0.5 pt behind sole leader, Hoh Tjin Li, and both of them are pitted against each other in Rd 5 today. Other two contenders in this list are virtually out of the Championship race.

NAG 2009 Under-12: Top 5 In Rating List

Boys Category
1. Tan Wei Hao (DC) 1635
2. Muhd Irfan Haqqim Azhar 1720
3. Mohd Faizal Roslan 1603
4. Tan Ri Hong 1492
5. Daniel Iskandar Arif Noor Akbar 1485

Tan Wei Hao continues in his quest to defend his title by sweeping the first 4 games easily. In this list, only Irfan with 3.5 pts has a realistic chance to stop Tan's quest. Faizal still have a mathematical chance although he had suffered lost in early rounds. Other contenders in the list are virtually out of Championship contention with both Ri Hong and Daniel had suffered 2 losses respectively. Roshan Singh (seeded 7th) and Shreyes (seeded 8th) are the other two players with 4 pts from 4 games.

Girls Category
1. NJM Nur Nabila Azman Hisham (DC) 1731
2. Tan Li Ting 1583
3. Fairuz Hamizah Ahmad Fuad 1470
4. Chew Eewen 1428
5. Ee Sun-Xin 1387

NJM Nur Nabila and Tan Li Ting are the leaders after 4 rounds of competition. They are pitted against each other this morning which is likely to decide the fate of this Championship. Both Fairus and Ee had suffered one lost game. While, Chew is basically out of the race.

(DC) means Defending Champion for the same age-group. Defending Champion shall be seeded as "No. 1 player" regardless of their current MCF Chess rating.

NAG 2009 Under-10: Top 5 In Rating List

Boys Category
1. Yeoh Li Tian (DC) 1837
2. Muhd Aziz Farhan Noor Akbar 1542
3. Tan Yong Zhao 1495
4. Muhd Sirajuddin Munawwir 1426
5. Mohd Noor Azam 1396

The top 4 players in this list are pitted against each other in Rd 5 action. After this round, the picture will be much clearer for the title race. Mohd Noor Azam only left with mathemathical chances in the race.

Girls Category
1. Nur Najiha Azman Hisham (DC) 1537
2. Puteri Rifqah Fahada Azhar 1566
3. Nithyalakshmi Sivanesan 1439
4. Maisarrah Noor Akbar 1386
5. Siti Khadijah Sabirin 1341

Denfending Champion Nur Najiha is the sole leader with 4 pts. Puteri and Maisarrah are out of the race by dropping 1.5 and 2 pts respectively. Nithyalakshmi and Siti still in the race although both has dropped a point yesterday. 9th Seed Nurul Aina (3.5 pts) is pitted against Najiha in Rd 5 action.

(DC) means Defending Champion for the same age-group. Defending Champion shall be seeded as "No. 1 player" regardless of their current MCF Chess rating.

NAG 2009 Under-08: Top 5 In Rating List

Boys Category
1. Danish Hamzah Al-Hadi Noor Akbar 1438
2. Amier Hamzah Mohd Zuhri 1324
3. Muhd Najwan Azman Hisham 1319
4. Muhd Zulfikri Mohd Sulkifly 1240
5. Hee Zi Qi 1203

The top 2 seeds will cross action in Rd 5 today. This match is likely to be the title decider for this category. Muhd Zulfikri still has some chance left in his quest with 3 pts from 4 games. The other two contender in the list are out of the race after suffering 2 losses yesterday.

Girls Category
1. Puteri Munajjah Az-Zahiraa Azhar 1502
2. Teh De Zen 1228
3. Sim Mei Shan 1150
4. Nur Islamurni Yahaya 1121
5. Zainoor Ikmal Maisarah Mohd Noor 1081

This group has the most upset result. All except Sim has dropped 1 point. While Sim dropped 3 points. The unexpected sole leader is unseeded Teh Ming Min who created the biggest upset by defeating Sim, Puteri and Nur Islamurni. With the way she played, it seems no one in this group can stop her giant killing act.

36th Selangor Open Chess Tournament

Chess Association of Selangor (CAS) is organising the longest running event in Malaysia without any sponsorship. This is a case on the effect from global recession that already hit Malaysia shore. We no longer can be in a state of denial that corporate-sponsored events will not be reduced over the months if economic situation in Malaysia did not see significant improvement in near future.

For the sake of the survival on this longest continuous event in Malaysia, CAS has made a decision to continue the event at least for this year with RM 6,750 prize fund using CAS fund accumulated over the years while cap the entrance fees at RM 90 just like last year. CAS hopes there are 80 players from the chess faternity can come out to support the survival of this long standing event and help CAS to make a smaller losses.

Date: 30th April (Thursday) to 3rd May 2009 (Sunday)
Venue: DAT Chess Centre, 4th Floor, Wilayah Complex, Jalan Munshi Abdullah, KL
Time Control: 90 minutes plus 30 seconds increment from move 1

(30/4) Registration 12.30 pm - 01.30 pm
(30/4) Round 1 @ 02.30pm, Round 2 @ 07.45pm;
(01/5) Round 3 @ 09.00am, Round 4 @ 02.30pm;
(02/5) Round 5 @ 09.00am, Round 6 @ 02.30pm, Round 7 @ 07.45pm;
(03/5) Round 8 @ 09.00am, Round 9 @ 02.30pm.

Congratulation to all 18 students in MSSM

With here, I would like to congratulate 18 of my current and former students who have qualified themselves in MSSM 2009 via Kuala Lumpur (11 pax) or Selangor (7 pax) representation. For the record, each State is allowed to send 36 players to MSSM with the host can add another player to any Individual Category to even up the number of players in the Category.

This year, I've spent the March school holiday helping those who did not make it to MSSM in improving their game for the coming National Age-Group schedules on 4th and 5th April 2009.

I seldom get myself involve with MSSM players during MSSM because I believe preparation towards MSSM must be done prior to the event itself. As an example, I conducted a 15-member elite group training in Dec 2008 and am happy to see many of them qualified into MSSM 2009. My duty as a coach is to provide the basic necessary skills for them to compete against their peers for a place into MSSM. My vision is to see those who have put in effort in improving their games eventually qualifying themselves to MSSM. In over the years, I've always try my VERY best to stay neutral without taking any side to win the MSSM championship as I always tell them the best players (collectively) will win the MSSM Championship.

This year edition saw my students help KL and Selangor to win (1 gold - 1 silver - 1 bronze) from the Individual category, and (2 golds - 3 silvers - 1 bronze) from the Team category. This give a total of 3 golds, 4 silvers, and 2 bronzes. For the record, KL and Selangor won a total of 8 golds, 6 silvers and 3 bronzes from 12 categories contested.

Will they improve their performance in MSSM 2010? Time will tell........

MBSSKL is U-18 Boys Team Champion in MSSMKL 2009

I've not been updating this blog for a very ...... long time due to various commitments in the past 1 year. Let starts with this article.

Methodist Boy's Secondary School KL (MBSSKL) was declared as a cluster school of excellence on 2 April 2008. There are three niche areas to be developed under this program: ICT, English and Chess. As for the chess programme, the school has engaged me as the chief coach to take charge on developing chess excellency for the school.

In this year competition, MBSSKL sent two national players to represent them on the top 2 boards. Yeap Eng Chiam (14 y.o.), MSSM U-15 champion and 7th strongest U-18 player in Malaysia (based on National Rating release Jan 2009), had spearheaded the school campaign to capture the chess team title for the first time at state level competition. He won all his 5 games on Board 1.

Next, Albert Ang Keliang (13 y.o.) who began learning chess from me when he was 8 years old. Within 2 years, he won the National U-10 title, 2-time MSSM player and have been representing Malaysia in International Age-group event in the past 4 years. He's currently ranked 51st among the Juniors in Malaysia. Playing on Board 2 for this event, he won 3 games and drew 2 games including one against a fellow MSSM player from SMK Kepong Baru.

Jonathan Yap, a very enthusiastic learner in the game, had scored 3 wins in 5 games on Board 3. It's a pity that this will be his last outing in MSSMKL since is taking his STPM later this year.

While, Nixon Saw, a fifth former, had 2 wins and a draw from 5 games played to help the school scored 14.5 points from 5 matches. This outing may also be his last outing in MSSMKL.

Will MBSSKL continues to dominate the KL chess scene in future?