2nd IIUM INVITATION CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP

IIUM, in conjunction with the university's convocation festival, will hold its 2nd Invitation Chess Championship. The details of the tournament as below:

Date: 3 - 4 October 2009
Venue: Kulliyah of Architecture (KAED) Gallery
Dateline: 30 September 2009 (Registration after the dateline will be doubled)
Contacts:
Norsharmila Zabani (03-6196 5393), Ahmad Fadzil Nayan (013-953 1278), Nurul Azlina Bakrin (017-462 5224)

Fax: 03-6196 4749

Email: alan_ruruka@yahoo.com


Under 21 Category/Under 12 Category

Date: 3 October 2009 (Saturday)
Fee: RM20
Prizes:

1st RM250 + medal
2nd RM200 + medal
3rd RM150 + medal
4th RM100 + medal
5th RM80 + medal
6th - 10th RM50 + medal


Open Category

Date: 4 October 2009 (Sunday)
Fee: RM30
Prizes:

1st RM1000 + medal + trophy
2nd RM750 + medal
3rd RM500 + medal
4th RM300 + medal
5th RM200 + medal
6th - 10th RM100 + medal
11th - 15th RM70

Best IPTA/IPTS RM75 + medal
Best Woman RM80 + medal
Best Under 21 RM70 + medal
Best Under 12 RM70 + medal

Best IIUM
1st RM80 + medal
2nd RM70 + medal
3rd RM60 + medal

So, if you happens to be there attending your family's convocation, or just visiting, you are invited to participate in this prestigious tournament. And if you are still under 21 or under 12, you can double your success by entering both tournaments.

Download the tournament form here. More details at stonemaster's blog.

IBCA RULES FOR THE VISUALLY IMPAIRED

Below are the rules I have taken directly from IBCA (International Braille Chess Association) website pertaining to the game which involved visually impaired. It was used in the recently concluded KL'09 ASEAN Para Games.


Rules of Chess

These rules are to be applied as a supplement to FIDE Rules to accommodate the needs of the visually impaired in competitive games between visually impaired and sighted players, and between visually handicapped players.

Tournament directors shall have the power to adapt the following rules according to local circumstances. In competitive chess between sighted and visually handicapped players (legally blind) either player may demand the use of two boards, the sighted player using a normal board, the visually handicapped player using one specially constructed. The specially constructed board must meet the following requirements:

• At least twenty centimetres by twenty centimetres.
• The black squares slightly raised.
• A securing aperture in each square.
• Every piece provided with a peg that fits into the securing aperture.
  
• Pieces of Staunton design, the black pieces being specially marked.

GENERAL RULES

1. The moves shall be announced clearly, repeated by the opponent, and executed on his board. To make the announcement as clear as possible, the use of the following names are suggested instead of the corresponding letters, the algebraic notation to be used:
   A~Anna B~Belia C~Ceasar D~David
   E~Eva F~Felix G~Gustav H~Hector
   Ranks from white to black receive the German numbers:
   1~Eins 2~Zwei 3~Drei 4~Vier
   5~Fnf 6~Sechs 7~Sieben 8~Acht
   Castling is announced Lange Rochade (German for long castling) and Kurtze Rochade (German for short castling). The pieces bear the names: Koenig, Dame, Turm, Laeufer, Springer, Bauer. When promoting a pawn the player must announce which piece is chosen.


2. On the visually handicapped players board a piece shall be considered touched when it has been taken out of the securing aperture.


3. A move shall be considered executed when:
   
   • In the case of capture, the captured piece has been removed from the board of the player whose turn it is to move.
   • A piece is placed into a different securing aperture.
   • The move has been announced.
   
   
Only then shall the opponents clock be started.
As far as points 2 and 3 are concerned the normal rules are valid for the sighted player.


4. A specially constructed chess clock for the visually handicapped shall be admissible. It shall incorporate the following features:
   
   • A dial fitted with reinforced hands, with every five minutes marked with one dot, and every fifteen minutes by two raised dots.
   • A flag that can be easily felt. Care should be taken that the flag is so arranged as to allow the player to feel the minute hand during the last five minutes of the full hour.
   
   
5. The visually handicapped player must keep score of the game in Braille, or longhand, or record the moves on a tape recorder


6. A slip of the tongue in the announcement of a move must be corrected immediately and before the clock of the opponent is started.


7. If during a game different positions arise on the two boards, they must be corrected with the assistance of the controller, and by consulting both players game scores. If the two game scores correspond with each other, the player who has written the correct move, but executed the wrong one, must adjust his position to correspond with the move on the game scores.


8. If, when such differences occur and the game scores are found to differ, the moves shall be retracted to the point where the two scores agree, and the controller shall readjust the clocks accordingly.


9. The visually handicapped player shall have the right to make use of an assistant who shall have any or all of the following duties:
   
   • Make either players move on the board of the opponent.
   • Announce the moves of both players.
   • Keep the game score of the visually handicapped player and start his opponents clock (Note Rule 3.c).
   • Inform the visually handicapped player, only at his request, of the number of moves completed, and the time used up by both players.
   • Claim the game in cases where the time limit has been exceeded and inform the controller when the sighted player has touched one of his pieces.
   • Carry out the necessary formalities in case the game is adjourned.
   
   
10. If the visually handicapped player does not make use of an assistant, the sighted player may make use of one who shall carry out the duties mentioned under points (9.a) and (9.b).

KL '09 ASEAN PARA GAMES

Thank you coach Rizal for enlightening me about the Chess Para Games. Here are the details:

B1 Men - 6 rounds swiss (8 players)
B1 Women - 5 rounds round robin
B2/B3 Men - 5 round robin
B2/B3 Women - Double round robins (4 players)
Physical handicapped men - 6 swiss
Physical handicapped women - double round robins (4 players)
Combine B1/B2/B3 Men 6 rounds swiss
Combine B1/b2/B3 Women 6 rounds swiss

*B1 (means total blind), B2/B3 (means partial blind)


As for the overall medal tally, Malaysia won 8 gold medals, surpassing the initial target of 6 gold medals. It was quite an achievement, and it should be repeated in the next Para Games, inshaAllah.

Here is the link for the overall medal tally for chess.

Mah Hassan and NM Choo Min Wang talking team strategy

MALAYSIA WINS 4 GOLD MEDALS AT KL PARA GAMES '09

Bernama reported that Malaysian Nur Feiqah Maulud Mohd Halil and Choo Min Wang won the gold in the individual events before helping their teams to another gold in the chess competition held on the final day of the ASEAN Para Games at the National Sports Council's Commonwealth Hall. Nur Feiqah, along with Athirah Azman and Teo Suat Mui swept aside other teams while Choo Min Wang teamed up with Mah Hassan Omar and Shahruddin Sidek in the men's team event.

Nur Feiqah

I want to detail their results, but I could not understand what pairing system they used. You can try to figure it out yourself by reading the official website here.

(pictures contributed by Colin Madhavan)

REAL CHESS IN MOVIES

I totally agree when Mr. Jeremy Silman said that 'movies and TV shows make a joke of real chess positions and real chess lingo.' (1) Sparring those chess movies which really portray chess as the main theme or plot, those scenes where the characters played chess just to show that they are geniuses, are filled with fake chess positions and unthinkable chess situations (2) - the boards were not correctly set; the pieces were put in impossible positions; and (the one which I hated the most) the supposedly winners said 'checkmate!' when hardly anybody said that in real life chess games!

I do not want to write about all the chess movies or chess scenes which I have seen or yet to watch, you can read about it in an excellent article at Chessville (3) or watch the pictures at Chess in the Cinema (4), but I want to share here real chess positions from the movies which can actually be set up when chess masters are consulted whenever a chess movie or a chess scene is to be made. Three chess scenes fascinate me because of their authenticity, and I tried my best to pause the movie in order to recreate the positions on my chess board:

1. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

This position was created by Jeremy Silman, but it was cut by the director for the sake of character developments and therefore lost its chess value. (5)

2. The Luzhin Defense


The credits for the chess scenes goes to GM Jonathan Speelman. This final game between Luzhin and Turatti captured the chess audience completely. (6)

3. The Innocent Moves (Searching for Bobby Fischer)


This is the final game between Waitzkin vs Poe. The position was contrived by Josh Waitzkin himself with the help of Bruce Pandolfini specifically for the film. (7)

Bakri vs Nik Nazri

BAKRI WINS KELANTAN CLOSED

Bakri Jusoh won the inaugural Kelantan Closed held today at the MARA auditorium, Kota Bharu ahead of 29 other participants. He held his nerve and overcame the likes of MAKSAK players Nik Nazri, Baharuddin and yours truly, and also the veterans such as Azahari Mohd Noor and Ghazali Che Cob. He played a steady game and gave me my only defeat when we met in Round 3. The tournament was a disappointment in terms of participation when there seemed to be very few students came. Thus, the organizers had to scrap the students category and put them to play with the others.

The final standings:

Open

1. Bakri Jusoh
2. Nik Mohd Nazri Nik Hassan
3. Azahari Mohd Noor
4. Yours Truly
5. Rosmizal Ibrahim
6. Baharuddin Hamzah
7. Ghazali Che Cob
8. Khairullah Anuar Saidy
9. Syed Azizi Abdul Rahman
10. Rahsliminiza


Under 16

1. Aliff Omar Mohd Saufi
2. Wan Muhd Adli
3. Wan Muhd Aqli


Results and pictures can be read at Bad Bishops blog.