Kelantan vs Terengganu

MAKSAK 2009 FINAL GAME

The situation was tense. Terengganu needed a 4 - 0 whitewash in order to retain their title (even then their hopes would still be in the hands of Sarawak, in the only other match of the last round against Pahang). They also needed at least 3.5 - 0.5 scoreline to overtake KL to the second place. With KL receiving a bye in the crucial last round, it was up to Kelantan to produce their own magic and realize their dream to become a medal winner in this year's MAKSAK edition. Therefore, KL sponsored me, as Kelantan's first board player, a Power Root Isotonik drink in order to secure the important point. Hairulov also commented on this so called 'Armageddon Match' in his blog.

Hashim Jusoh - Yours Truly
MAKSAK (Round 9), 18.07.2009
A17: English Opening

1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6 3.g3 d5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.d4 Be7 6.Bg2 0-0 7.Nf3 c6 8.0-0 Nbd7 9.b3 Re8 10.Bb2 Bd6 11.Re1 h6

I should have seen White's intention to push the e pawn. Black could make it more difficult by 11...Nb6 12.Qc2 Bg4

12.Nd2 Nf8 13.e4 dxe4 14.Ndxe4 Bf5 15.Nxf6+ Qxf6 16.Qd2 Qg6 17.d5

This move disrupts Black's pawn structure and frees both White's Bishops. I faced a tough decision whether to exchange the pawn and withstand the onslaught or give White a passed pawn and try to blockade it. I chose the latter.

17...c5 18.Nb5 Red8 19.Nxd6 Rxd6 20.Be5 Rd7 21.Qc3 Rc8 22.Rad1 b6 23.Qc4 Rcd8 24.Rd2

I did not know what was his plan with this move, but it sure did not stop Black's knight from coming out of his hiding.

24...Ne6 25.Rdd1

White should have tried 25.h3 when Black has to think about his Bishop.

25...Nc7

My idea was to place this Knight as a blockader at d6, but will gladly accept a better trade for White's dark square Bishop.

26.Bxc7 Rxc7 27.Qf4 Rcd7 28.Re5 Bc2 29.Rde1 f6 30.R5e2 Qf5

I think Black could hold better with Queens off the board. Black will then round up the isolated d pawn with both the Rooks and the Bishop.

31.Qxf5

White should have avoided the Queen exchange, but time really was the factor for this decision.

31...Bxf5

and I went on to win during the time scramble when White blundered away a Bishop.

0-1

Alexandra Kosteniuk

VOTE FOR MISS UNIVERSE CHESS!

The whole chess universe are currently voting for the most beautiful female chess player in the world. For those who want to cast their vote can do so at this website. There are links for each candidates with their pictures, biodata and game. You can carefully read all of them and make your choice.

Guess who I vote for?

KELANTAN CLOSED UPDATE

According to the organizer, there will be two categories. Open and Student. Here are the details and the prizes:

Organizer : Persatuan Catur Melayu Kelantan
Date : 1st August 2009 ( SATURDAY )
Format : 25 minutes & 6 round/player
Venue : Dewan Auditorium MARA, Tingkat 3, Bangunan MARA, Kota Bharu
Contact : Nadzri - 012 6767020, Adzlin - 013 9223707, Rozlisham - 013 7238898


Prizes

1. Open :

1. RM200.00
2. RM150.00
3. RM100.00
4. RM80.00
5. RM70.00
6. RM50.00
7. RM30.00
8. RM30.00
9. RM30.00
10. RM30.00

2. Student :

1. RM100.00
2. RM80.00
3. RM70.00
4. RM60.00
5. RM50.00
6. RM40.00
7. RM30.00
8. RM20.00

Fee

1. Open - RM15.00
2. Student - RM10.00

(Up to 100 players only)

MAKSAK 2009 (UPDATE)

The prizes was given in a ceremony held at the Kelantan Trade Centre hall by Kelantan MAKSAK chief, Dato' Mohd Aiseri bin Alias. Apart from the chess event, Kelantan also won an individual prize in the female dart event.

The players namelist:


My individual performance:

1. beat Mohd Sakri Mohd Amin
2. beat Nasrul Humaimi Mahmood
3. drew Khairul Azmeel Mohd Sukery
4. drew Kamal Arifin Wahiduddin
5. beat Abang Mohamad Reduan
6. beat Mohd Jamal Jamaluddin
7. lost Ismail Ahmad
8. beat Wan Azmi Wan Othman
9. beat Hashim Jusoh


Kelantan chess team performance:

1. Kelantan vs Penjara 4 - 0
2. Kelantan vs Johor 1.5 - 2.5
3. Kelantan vs Negeri Sembilan 2 - 2
4. Kelantan vs Kuala Lumpur 2 - 2
5. Kelantan vs Sarawak 2 - 2
6. Kelantan vs Pahang 1.5 - 2.5
7. Kelantan vs Royal Malaysian Police 1 - 3
8. Kelantan vs Perak 3.5 - 0.5
9. Kelantan vs Terengganu 3 - 1

Results can also be read at chess-results.com uploaded by Muhammad Arshad.


Here are the results of best board prizes:

Board 1: Ismail Ahmad (Royal Malaysian Police)
Board 2: Lim Kian Hwa (Sarawak)
Board 3: Mohd Hezri Che Aziz (Negeri Sembilan)
Board 4: Morsin Ahmad Bahari (Sarawak)
Board 5: Izaruddin Ahmad (Pahang)
Board 6: Kamal Arifin Ishak (Pahang)

Some pictures from the event:

The Kelantan chess team - (from left) Nik Md Nazri, Baharuddin, Nik Mazlan, Sahadi, Anis Rahimi and Yours Truly

Kelantan male dart team

Kelantan female dart team

Ready for the ceremony

The Kota Darulnaim choir team

The Kelantan contingent

KELANTAN BEATS TERENGGANU TO CLAIM 4TH

Kelantan defeated Terengganu in the final round against all odds to clinch 4th place in the MAKSAK Chess tournament held in Kelantan Trade Centre, Kota Bharu. The team, which were nearly kept out of contention after uncharacteristically lost to Pahang in the 5th round, needed to win against last year's champions in order to get a placing. However, boosted by the terrific performance by their first board player, Kelantan, with Yours Truly, Anis Rahimi, Baharuddin, Nik Mazlan, Nik Mohd Nazri and Sahadi in their ranks, got past Terengganu with the likes of Hashim Jusoh, Hisamullah Harun, Norazmi Mohd Nor and Abdul Rahim Ramli with the score of 3-1 which gave them valuable points to leapfrog their opponent. The highlight of the night was the game between Yours Truly and Hashim Jusoh where the latter succumb to time trouble to give Kelantan the most sought after point to overtake them in the final standings.

The final standings (Winners' Pool)

1. Sarawak (18 points)
2. Kuala Lumpur (16)
3. Pahang (14.5)
4. Kelantan (14.5)
5. Terengganu (14)
6. Royal Malaysian Police (11.5)
7. Johor (11.5)
8. Perak (11.5)

The final standings (Losers' Pool)

1. Negeri Sembilan (14 points)
2. Melaka (13.5)
3. Perlis (11)
4. Pulau Pinang (9)
5. Penjara (8.5)
6. Armed Forces (4)

Stay tuned for more results and pictures in the next post.

MAKSAK TRAINING

The Kelantan chess team has been training for MAKSAK at the PKINK building in the heart of Kota Bharu. The six of us gathered together after working hours to polish our tactical and strategical skills. There are also the carrom and dart teams training together in the same room. We are going to make Kelantan proud, insha Allah.

I'm sorry guys, but no pictures this time because the training is TOP SECRET! :) However, we can share with you a position (picture below) occurred today between the top two players. Both sides had a bishop each (different colours) with equal number of pawns. Guess what was the result?

White to move

MAKSAK CHESS

I will again be involved in MAKSAK chess this year, inshaAllah. Kelantan will be the host for the event, which will be held from 16th-19th of July, and I will do my best to steer the team to success. Last year's outing in Penang was a personal disaster for me, mainly because I did not involved in team events for a very long time prior to that event. I yet to know the full team names for Kelantan this year, but I reckon there will be a little adjustment from last year's. A surprise maybe, but I hope that we will do better this year. All Kelantanese, pray for us!