My Chess Life

KELANTAN OPEN 2008

Date: 11th - 12th July 2008
Venue: State Stadium, Kota Bharu
Format: 6 rounds Swiss

Open chess tournaments are a rarity in Kelantan these days. Therefore, you must take the opportunity whenever there is one. Last weekend (11th - 12th July 2008), an open chess tournament was held at the state stadium, and I was never going to miss it. Fortunately, it is this Saturday that I have to attend a course at my school, thus enabling me to participate in the tournament. I was eager to test my competitive chess nerve as well as my knowledge in chess theories, whether I still have it or I already lost it in a drain. That and the added motivation of dubbing this tournament as a selection for MAKSAK which will be held at Penang earlier next month made it necessary for me to participate in it. Given the 9th seed among the 50 odd players in the Open category made my path easier for the first 3 rounds. The 4th round pitted me against a former national player Azhari whom I beat before going down fighting to Abdullah Che Hassan (picture below).

The last round was an anti-climax as my opponent blundered away 2 pawns in the opening which he never got back. Finishing with 5 points placed me 4th, but considering that 4th place's prize money was RM100 shorter than Kelantan's Best Player, I was given the latter. It was really so, as the first to third came from Johor, Terengganu dan Pahang, respectively.

See also Muhammad Arshad's blog on this tournament here.


Final Standings

Open Category

1. Abdullah Che Hassan
   
2. Muhammad Arshad
3. Mohd Khair
4. Yours Truly (Best Kelantan Player)
5. Azahari Mohd Nor
6. Kamal Azmi
7. Abd Khalid Musa
8. Ali Akbar Kuning
9. Mohd Zainuddin
10. Fairul Yusoff
11. Hamidi

Under-15 Category

1. Ahmad Zulhilmi
2. Laila Husna
3. Wan Emilia Elisha
4. Fadhil Aiman
5. Mohd Afiq Aiman
6. Mohd Muhaimin
7. Najihah
8. Mohd Fadhil
9. Mohd Afham
10. Mohd Ahza