KELANTAN CLOSED CHESS TOURNAMENT

Date: 1 August 2009 (Saturday)
Venue: Level 3, MARA Auditorium Hall, MARA Building, Kota Bharu, Kelantan.
Organizers: MARA and PCMK

Persatuan Catur Melayu Kelantan (PCMK) will jointly organize a closed chess tournament with MARA in the first day of August this year. The tournament will be opened to those who were born or live in Kelantan only. There will be two categories: open and under 16.

For those who are interested, please contact these persons:

Ahmad Nadzri (012-6767020)
Adzlin (013-9223707)
Rozlisham (013-7238898)

COLIN EXPLAINS HIS SIMUL

From left to right: Tan Eng Seong, Lee Siew Fai (Seremban), Mr. Loh (Seremban),
International Master Jimmy Liew, Raymond Yap (CFO, SP Setia Berhad),
Collin Madhavan, Lim Teck Hoe (Asian Memory Record Holder),
American Master Larry Parr and PS Lim.

Here Colin explains his simul to me through email:

Explanation & Rules for 'The Most Consecutive Chess Games Played'.

As with any other simultaneous chess matches, there will be one player (chess master or expert) who will play against a number of opponents simultaneously. The Chess master/expert will play the White pieces on all boards unless the he decides to play with the Black pieces on selected or all the boards.

Unlike the record for the Most Simultaneous Chess Opponents, the record for the 'Most Consecutive Chess Games Played' will be done as follows:

A) The number of chessboards will be fixed. For example, 80 boards.

B) However, with this record, after a player has lost his/her game, he/she will have the option to start another game or give up the seat for another player to start a new game.

C) So for this record, the number of games start to increase though the chessboards are fixed at 80. That is the reason why the number of games will be higher than the number of players. Some players will play more than 1 game. For my recent match, 14 players played more than 1 game against me.

An good example is Susan Polgar’s match in 2005. She played 326 Simultaneous Chess Opponents (Record - Most Simultaneous Chess Opponents) while her record for 'Most Consecutive Chess Games Played' was 1,131!!

Question:

Why I like this kind of match?

Answer:

Because I think it is very fair to the participants. See below for a comparison between the 2 types of simul matches.

For Most Simultaneous Chess Opponents, some players who started the match against the master/expert, will still be there at the end of the match. In my match against 88 players in May 2008, the last player to finish against me (6.30pm) began playing against me at 9 am!!!

However for Most Consecutive Chess Games Played, the players can leave the moment their game is over. For example, in my recent match, the last player from the morning session left the hall at around 2.15pm, while players who joined the match at 1.30 pm, finished latest by 6.40pm.

Question:

Is it more difficult for the master with the record for Most Consecutive Chess Games Played?

Answer:

Yes, it is mainly because the master/expert is still on his feet playing chess for about hours or so. However, the participants who come in later in the match are fresh and rested. The master will tend to be less sharp than at the start of the match. Furthermore, most of the experts/masters playing in such matches DON’T EAT. Drinking some fruit juice and water is recommended.

For more pictures and info, visit Colin's website.

ASAT KELANTAN 2009

SMK Dato' Perdana

Venue: SMK Dato' Perdana, Bachok, Kelantan
Date: 19th June 2009
Time: 9.00 am - 5.00 pm
Format: 5 rounds Swiss system

Wan Mohd Alif from PPD Tumpat and Noraihan from PPD Kuala Krai conquered the ASAT Chess Competition held today at SMK Dato' Perdana, Bachok. Wan Mohd Alif won all his games, including against the more fancied Mohd Fadhil from PPD Kota Bharu. The main highlight of the competition was in Wan Mohd Alif's game against Mohd Fadhil where his opponent blundered away a rook in a winning position. Surviving from the scare, he won against his last opponent to clinch the title. Meanwhile, Noraihan needed her last game to take the throne. In a more competitive field, she lost a game against Halimatul Saadiah from PPD Gua Musang in round 4 before winning her last game. Another PPD Gua Musang player, Khairul Anwar, failed to make his presence felt when he only managed to win two games and lost the rest.

Personally, I hope that the two Kelantan representatives will play their hearts' out in the upcoming national ASAT which will be held in Perak.

Boys Category

Girls Category

Khairul Anwar (with Wan Mohd Alif sitting to his left)

Halimatul Saadiah (with Noraihan sitting to her right)

In related story, two chess players from Jeli did not show up at the competition because of an accident. Mohd Rosdi Ahmad and Norazlina Che Hassan were involved in a head-on collision between a Proton Iswara and a Perodua Viva, where the two students were in with their two teachers en route to Bachok for the ASAT Chess Competition. The Proton Iswara driver, Chong Lian Hee, died on the spot while the others suffered serious and minor injuries. The other players were shocked to read the Sinar Harian newspaper, which ran the story on Friday, at the tournament hall (notice that in the first and second pictures there is an empty seat for each category).

You can read the story here.

LATEST POSITION

White just moved 29.Qd4

This is the latest position in the battle between Arkurni vs IIUMChessmaster. Black is a pawn up, but in Queen - Rook ending, anything could happen. What both sides can do now is to improve piece position. It is quite disturbing for Black that White's Queen is positioned neatly in the middle of the board. The plus for Black is that he has a passed pawn and White's pieces are not so coordinated. So, how do you think Black will reply?