QUEEN'S GAMBIT DECLINED: EXCHANGE VARIATION

My former teammate, Armanov, explained this variation beautifully in MSSM blog exampling a game between NWM Tan Li Ting vs WFM Nur Najiha Azman Hisham played in this year's MSSM. The variation, played at move 5, has lead to a promising position for White. However, several self-destructive moves were played carelessly by the newly crowned NWM, and Black capitalised these mistakes masterfully. For further reading, please visit the post here.

Here is a game where White won convincingly using the exchange.

Sorry for not updating the blog regularly this Ramadhan. This is because I am busy marking the papers for SPM trial. Hopefully I will update more frequently after raya, insha Allah. May you have a prosperous Ramadhan, ameen.

RIZAL vs MD ANIS, MAKSAK 2010

Kelantan were crushed 1-3 in the final game against the eventual champions Kuala Lumpur, but the game between my former coach, Rizal Ahmad Kamal and my teammate, Md Anis Rahimi deserved some attention. Both played to the time trouble, and in the scramble, Rizal managed to somehow checkmate his opponent using a pawn. However, the result should be quite different had my Kelantan teammate found the correct reply on move 40. Here is the original position:

White's Queen sits passively at the edge of the board guarding the unfortunate g4 pawn, and Black replies meekly with 40...e4 attacking the Bishop.

The game will take a different course should Black found a more active 40...Qd4!, attacking the pawn once again, and after the exchange of Queens, Black should come out on top.

Any objection?

MAKSAK FINAL RESULT

Kuala Lumpur took the advantage of playing as a host to become the latest champions of MAKSAK. They pipped Terengganu to second placing, Sarawak (3rd) and Pahang (4th). Possessing quality all across the boards, Kuala Lumpur cruise to the pole position by beating their arch rival Kelantan 3-1 in the final game. Half of their players claimed best board prizes, showing why KL is the team to beat in MAKSAK next installment.

As for Kelantan team, they only managed sixth placing after the calamitous defeat against KL. Yours truly did not make it to the tournament because of the demise of his father who lost the battle with stroke. However, it is wrong to say that Kelantan did not win solely because of his absence, for Kelantan have quality players compared to most of the other teams.

The final results (taken from TerengganuChess):

Team performance

1. Kuala Lumpur

2. Terengganu

3. Sarawak

4. Pahang

Individual performance

Board 1 - Ismail Ahmad (Police)

Board 2 - Kamal Ariffin Wahiduddin (KL)

Board 3 - Rizal Ahmad Kamal (KL)

Board 4 - Baharuddin Hamzah (Kelantan)

Board 5 - Roslan Sulaiman (Selangor)

Board 6 - Muhammad Rizal Jusah (KL)

Team compositions

Group A

Group B

Group C

Results crosstable

Winners' Pool

Loosers' Pool

Some pics of the event taken from Naserov and Sifu blogs.

MAKSAK TRAINING AT SUK

Today we started our training for MAKSAK. It is being held at Kota Darulnaim. Most of the players came, with the exception of two of our most important players from afar. The training was successful; we corrected each others' mistakes and tried to find each others' strengths. It is compulsory that we gather as a team to discuss the strategies. Our manager was helpful enough; all the players need not worry about getting their stomach full! There will be another training tomorrow before we depart for KL.

NATIONAL RATING REVIEW FOR KELANTAN PLAYERS

National rating July 2010 is out. There are three additions for Kelantan players emerging from Kelantan Closed held last May. Syed Azizi starts strongly at 1799, while two others - Rosmizal and Mohd Hafidz start at 1588 and 1506 respectively. There are also players who increase their ratings, most notably Abdul Haq who increases his rating 113 points from 1829 to 1942 and Nik Mohd Haziq Najmuddin who increases 121 points to stand at 1306 from 1185 previously. However, there is a Kelantan player who gets the most points increment - 182 points! - provided that her name is spelled correctly. This is because previously she was named only Norazlisa with 1141 rating, and now she becomes Norazlisa Ramli with 1323 points (and Norazlisa is not in the July list). In contrast, the most rating decrease suffered by Wan Tarmizi, who went down from 1588 to 1474, a hefty 114 points decrease. Even yours truly drops 9 points to stand at 1672.

It is important to note here that there are two possible double entries:

1. Mohd Fadhil Mohd Saufi (1068) with Muhd Fadhil Saufi (1305)
2. Nor Aifaa (1349) with Nur Aifaa (1263)

One more thing, I thought that MSSM tournament is nationally rated, but there is no results when I typed my students' names who went to this year's tournament.


Nevertheless, you can check your July 2010 rating here (many thanks to gilachess).