My Chess Life

2012-02-05T07:54:00.005+08:00

TWO RED KNIGHTS

The Kelantan Closed 2012 had successfully ended. Nik Ahmad Farouqi had defended his title brilliantly, which include a win against our IM Mas Hafizulhelmi and of course, against Yours Truly. Our game was the highlight of Round 6, where most of the games had already finished.

Kelantan Closed 2012
Date: 28.01.2012
Round 6

White: Nik Ahmad Farouqi
Black: Yours Truly

1.e4 d6

I took 5 minutes to register this move, merely because I wanted to surprise Nik Ahmad Farouqi (NAF). It was not prepared specially for him, just that I nearly lost many of my games in this 45-minutes-to-the-finish tournament that I chose The Pirc to test his attacking ability.

2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 c6

Not a true Pirc with a Kingside Bishop fianchetto, where NAF would probably storm my castled position with his foot soldiers like many of his wins in this tournament.

4.h3 Nbd7 5.Nf3 e5 6.Be2 Be7 7.O-O O-O

Both sides had castled. The centre was still fluid as White did not state his intention of either to close the position or to open it up, yet.

8.Be3 Qc7 9.Re1 Rd8 10.Bf1 Nf8 11.a3 Ng6 12.Qc1 Nh5 13.dxe5 dxe5 14.g3

White stopped Black from infiltrating with a Knight at f4 square.

14... Be6 15.Rd1 f6 16.Rxd8+ Rxd8 17.Qe1 b6 18.Rd1

It was clear that White's intention was to simplify the game by exchanging the heavy pieces. Therefore, I tried to find something to play with the minor pieces after the imminent exchanges.

18... Bf8 19.Rd2 Ne7 20.Qd1 Rxd2 21.Bxd2 g6 22.Kh2 Nc8 23.Be3 Nd6

My plan was easy. Exchange as many pieces as I could, starting with the Bishops. This Knight jump was to exchange a pair of Bishops at c4 square.

24.Nd2 Nf7 25.Bc4 Qd7 26.Bxe6 Qxe6 27.Qe2 Bh6 28.Nc4 Bxe3 29.Nxe3 Ng5

After swapping all the Bishops, Black started the attack with his Queen and Knights. However, this plan was short lived as the King position was dreadful where White managed to tame the attacking Queen.

30.Qc4 Ng7 31.Kg2 Kf7 32.h4 Qxc4 33.Nxc4 N5e6 34.Nd6+ Kf8 35.Nc8 Ke8

NAF told me after the game that he did not want to calculate the consequence of taking a pawn at a7 where his marauding Knight might be trapped.

36.Nd6+ Kd7 37.Nc4 Nd4 38.Ne3 Nge6

Black Knights started to take centre positions to influence the game.

39.Na2 h5 40.Nc1 Nc5 41.f3 Kd6 42.Kf2 b5 43.c3 Nde6

44.g4 Nf4 45.gxh5 Nxh5 46.b4 Na4 47.c4 a6 48.Nb3 Nf4 49.c5+ Ke6 50.Na5 Kd7 51.Ng4 Nh5 52.f4

NAF started to play aggressively after seeing that I had not much time left. True enough, this move forced me to pause and think even though I was already in severe time trouble.

52... exf4 53.e5 fxe5 54.Nxe5+ Ke6 55.Nxg6 Kd5 56.Ne7+ Kd4 57.Naxc6+ Ke4 1-0

The game actually went on for some more moves before my flag was up.

Final top 10 standing (Open Category):

1	Nik Ahmad Farouqi	MAS	2069	7.5	42.5	39.75	35.5
2	IM Mas Hafizulhelmi	MAS	2388	7.0	41.0	34.00	31.0
3	Nik Mohd Nazri	MAS	1835	6.0	43.0	28.50	27.0
4	Yours Truly	MAS	2068	6.0	37.5	25.00	26.0
5	Muhd Al Firdaus Md Nazir	MAS	1505	5.5	39.0	24.75	24.5
6	Mohd Ezmi Mahmood	MAS	1805	5.5	28.0	19.50	22.0
7	Wan Mohamad Amirul	MAS	1435	5.0	38.5	24.00	23.5
8	Mohd Amin Mohd Noor	MAS	1835	5.0	38.0	17.50	29.0
9	Azudin Abdullah	MAS	1466	5.0	35.0	18.00	23.0
10	Norazlin Juarih	MAS	1521	5.0	34.5	17.00	22.0

You can read the full results at PCNK website or chessresults.com

2012-01-18T20:27:00.010+08:00

JANUARY 2012 RATING REVIEW

The newest MCF rating is here. There are so many changes for Kelantan players, so I just like to review them briefly. You can see your rating at the right hand corner of my blog. Overall, there are ups and downs. There are also so many new players, many of them juniors, entered this January.

However, one obvious mistake from this January list is that not all the players have the abbreviation for Kelantan 'KLT' beside their names. All of the juniors are given the KLT, but most of the adults are not. There are senior players playing for Kelantan recently voice this out, and I would like to help them getting this 'title' also. I am the highest player who have this 'KLT' title, and it is perplexing that even our IM does not have it beside his name. Not to mention the PCNK secretary himself, Mr. Nik Ahmad Farouqi, who also is not given the recognition. So, in order to correct this mistake, I implore all the Kelantan players to be registered with the PCNK so that I, as the one who is responsible for the database, can update the list and send it to the MCF.

Another mistake is that there are still double entries. I found that Mohd Ezmi Mahmood, rated 1706 is the same person with Muhd Ezmi Mahmood (1549). One more person is Muhd Muhaimin Muhd Tarizi (1293) who is the same person with Mohd Muhaimin Mohd Tarizi (1221). You can also inform me of the duplication when you come across one of them.

2012-01-16T19:14:00.003+08:00

1746

At last, one of my last year's resolution was actually achieved. I reviewed them in my previous post before the January rating comes out, so I thought that I failed to achieve all of them. Therefore, I had to adjust my resolution for this year, especially pertaining the MCF rating:

I want to achieve 2100 FIDE rating.
I want to attain 1800 MCF rating.
I want at least 3 students from Tumpat representing Kelantan.

I will review the rating changes for Kelantan players in my next post. If you are that anxious, you can see your rating here.

2012-01-14T06:21:00.005+08:00

WHAT IS THE BEST PLAN?

I'm sharing with you here an ongoing game against an online opponent in chess.com. We can see that Black just endured a 'wait and see' policy by placing his pieces on the first three rows of his kingdom. How can I (playing White) continue from this diagram?

2012-01-07T18:00:00.003+08:00

TERTUTUP KELATE 2012

Akhirnyo ado pulok petandinge kat Kelate nih. Meme hok kito tunggu2 doh ni Tertutup Kelate. Mace hok kito janji doh, petandinge ni jadi acaro tahune doh. Tahniah PCNK atah usoho murni nih. Jadi, jange tunggu lamo2, daftar selaluh! Segalo maklumak hok perlu kawe letok bowoh ni:

Formak: 9 pusinge Swih
Maso: 45 menek soghe
Tepak: Blok A, UiTM Mache, Kelate
Haghi: 27 & 28 Januari (Jumaat & Sabtu)
Yure: ikok ketegori

Tebukok Jate nga Tino samo2 RM30 (tapi kalu jadi ahli PCNK RM20 jah)
Bowoh 18 nga bowoh 12 RM20 (tapi kalu jadi ahli PCNK RM10 jah)

Pah lagu mano nok jadi ahli? Sene jah, isi bore, baya RM5. Tapi keno tengok la syarak2 duluh:

1. Beranok di Kelate, IC 03, 28 nga 29.
2. Dok Kelate, belaja atau kijo (sekure2nyo 2 tahun)
3. Penoh wokel Kelate
4. Ayoh atau mok ada IC 03, 28 nga 29 (ghasonyo oghe tuo takdok IC 28 nga 29 nih)
5. Alamak Kelate dale IC.

Pah lagu mano nok tahu ketegori? Selaing dari tengok umor dale IC dan jengok dale seluar, syarak2 khas untuk budok2 ado jugok. Mano2 budok jate hok rating MCF lebeh dari 1599 keno maing ketegori Tebukok Jate. Mano2 budok tino hok rating MCF lebeh dari 1299 pulok keno maing ketegori Tebukok Tino.

Maklumak lanjot gi la jengok blog PCNK.

2012-01-07T09:42:00.000+08:00

CONFIRMED! It is a Scam

EASY! Complete this survey and you will get up to RM150 a day!

CLICK HERE

I put the above ad in my blog for nearly 3 weeks. The purpose was just to test whether it is a scam or not. I wanted to experience it myself because it sounded just too good to be true when you just have to complete a survey and earn some money. I also implore my friends in Facebook to join it, because I want to beat the minimum requirement of drawing the money in the fastest time possible. Today, I reached the minimum sum of USD1000 required for the payment. I pushed the payment button and, as predicted, nothing actually happened, apart from 'The (payment) application was created. Please, wait....'

Sorry for my friends who were involved in this scam because of me. I was duped myself before start googling for 'survey faq scam' and found many websites on this matter.

http://earnic.com/2011/12/survey-faq-com-scam/

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20111209144355AAWXRbK

http://jobsearch.about.com/od/workathomejobs/a/paidsurveys.htm

2012-01-03T21:00:00.005+08:00

KELANTAN PLAYERS IN FIDE RATING 2012

I'm very pleased to see that the 1st Kelantan FIDE Rated Round Robin tournament had produced several more FIDE rated players from Kelantan. Below are the lists taken from PCNK website:

Kelantan players in Top 100 Malaysia

1. IM Mas Hafizulhelmi - 2388

2. Md Nor Azahari - 2120

3. Mohd Irman Ibrahim - 2104

4. Abdul Haq Mohamed - 2100

5. Nik Ahmad Farouqi - 2069

6. Mohd Azizul Mat Daud - 2068

7. Abdullah Che Hassan - 2065

8. Nasrul Humaimi Mahmood - 1917

9. Syed Azizi Abd Rahman - 1876

Other active Kelantan FIDE Rated players

Baharuddin Hamzah - 1862
Wan Mahadzir Wan Sulaiman - 1848
Marzuki Yaacob - 1842
Nik Mohd Nazri Nik Hassan - 1835
Mohd Amin Mohd Noor - 1835
Mohamad Ezmi Mahmood - 1805
Muhd Ariez Azman - 1750
Norazlin Juarih - 1521

Inactive Kelantan FIDE Rated players

Ahmad Maliki - 2254
Mohd Musa Al-Ashaari - 2005
Mohd Bukhari Yahya - 1837
Izuddin Ahayat - 1742

However, there are several others who maybe are overlooked by PCNK:

Muhd Aizuddin Che Hassan - 2155
Muhd Suhaib Mohd Azmi - 2030
Ahmad Nurdin Mohd Azmi - 2012
Wong Yinn Long - 1696

2011-12-26T19:16:00.004+08:00

A BLAST FROM THE PAST

I was rummaging the store where I put the boxes containing my chess books and materials, and I found this game which is played way back in 2003. I was very obsessed with attacking style then, and the game versus a well-known GM from the U.S.A. was no exception. In the end, my knight sacrifice was not sound, and my position was blown away efficiently. The only good thing was I got to take away the board I was playing on and I asked him to sign on it.

The board with GM Yaseer's autograph

2011-12-24T23:37:00.003+08:00

KPI REVIEW

At the start of this year, I stated the KPI for my chess life. In my own words from the original post,

Hopefully this year, I can achieve 2100 FIDE rating and 1700 MCF rating. In terms of coaching, I intend to have at least 3 students from my district (Tumpat) representing Kelantan in MSSM, insha Allah.

Sadly, all the targets will not be achieved by the end of this year, which is just around the corner. In terms of FIDE rating, insha Allah, I will see an increase of 3 points to 2068 from previous 2065. This is accumulated from the only FIDE rated tournament I entered this year - 1st Kelantan FIDE Rated Round Robin Tournament. Meanwhile, instead of increasing to 1700, my MCF rating dropped to 1665. Losses in at least 2 National rated events helped in this matter. My final resolution also was not materialised, as I only had 2 students from Tumpat representing Kelantan in MSSM.

I think, for next year, I will stick to these KPIs.

2011-12-19T02:58:00.005+08:00

MSSM CHESS 2012

Information taken from the MSSM calendar for 2012, Terengganu will hold next year's MSSM chess, scheduled from 5 - 9 June. Hopefully, I will have some quality time to prepare and train my students for the event.

You can view the calendar here.

2011-12-13T00:15:00.004+08:00

NIK AHMAD FAROUQI IN SARAWAK OPEN

Nik Ahmad Farouqi is the sole representative for PCNK in Sarawak Open which will be held from 12 - 16 December 2011. The field consists of 94 players, some of them from outside the country, with an Indian IM as the first seed. NAF is the 8th seed and so far he had already collected 2 points from his two games. You can view his progress by clicking his name at the start of this post.

GOMO, NIK AHMAD FAROUQI, GOMO!

2011-12-09T05:45:00.003+08:00

HAQ IS THE CHAMPION!

Abdul Haq

Abdul Haq becomes the first champion for the inaugural Kelantan FIDE Rated Round Robin Chess Tournament even though there are three more games to be played. With the victory against Baharuddin and 9.5 points, he leapfrogs Nik Ahmad Farouqi who becomes second with 9 points. Third place belongs to Mohd Azizul after a painful defeat in his last game against Nasrul Humaimi and finishes with 8 points. He will not be caught by Syed Azizi even if the latter won his two remaining games against Ariez and Wan Mahadzir this Saturday.

2011-12-07T09:33:00.009+08:00

PREVIEW - 1st KELANTAN FIDE RATED

This Saturday, the remaining games will be played to complete the tournament. Two games in particular will determine the top three. The games are between Abdul Haq vs Baharuddin and Yours Truly vs Nasrul Humaimi.

versus

Haq, 2nd in the current standing with 8.5 points, has to win against the gritty, 'roti-canai' eating Baharuddin to win the tournament. Playing white, Haq would probably start with 1.e4, his favourite move. Meanwhile, Baharuddin will be unpredictable because he has not played with black except against Nik (who started with 1.Nf3) and Ezmi (Grob, obviously). A loss will give the title to Nik Farouqi and a possibility for Yours Truly to leapfrog him to second place. A draw, however, is subject to the other game's result.

versus

On the other hand, Yours Truly, 3rd in the current standing, has to win against Nasrul for a chance to finish second. A win is unlikely to make him the champion because he had already lost against the tournament leader, Nik Farouqi, who finishes with 9 points. However, Nasrul will not give Yours Truly an easy ride since he was the best performer for Kelantan in the recently concluded Asian Amateur, ahead of Abdul Haq in particular. So far, Yours Truly has played all the standard opening moves 1.e4, 1.d4 and 1.Nf3. It is interesting what will be played this Saturday, so stay tuned for updates.

Current standing

2011-12-02T19:37:00.005+08:00

1st FIDE RATED CONTINUES..

The inaugural tournament will continue tomorrow with 4 more games to be played. The players are:

9 a.m.

Ariez vs Nik Nazri
Wan Mahadzir vs Yours Truly

2 p.m.

Ariez vs Yours Truly
Nik Nazri vs Wan Mahadzir

Current standings

2011-11-28T23:48:00.004+08:00

SOME GAMES FROM ASIAN AMATEUR (PCNK ONLY) - CREDITS TO NG6

After browsing through Ng6 blog, I found some games involving our players. Here I compiled the links.

Abdul Haq vs Wong Jianwen
Marzuki vs Ismail Ahmad
Ezmi vs Fairul Yusoff
Ahmad Fadzil Nayan vs Abdul Haq
Mohd Nabil Azman Hisham vs Ezmi
Nasrul Humaimi vs Mohd Khair Wahiduddin

2011-11-28T02:28:00.004+08:00

ASIAN AMATEUR UPDATE (PCNK ONLY)

I visited the venue today, and was in awe when I saw that all of the PCNK players cut quite a dash in the PCNK vests, while Nik Farouqi was another person altogether in the peach suit. So far from 4 rounds played:

12. Mohd Ezmi Mahmood 3.0 points
25. Marzuki Yaacob 3.0 pts
30. Abdul Haq Mohamed 2.5 pts
50. Nasrul Humaimi Mahmood 2.0 pts
58. Mohd Ariez Azman 2.0 pts
65. Syed Azizi Abd Rahman 2.0 pts
67. Norazlin Juarih 2.0 pts
71. Wan Mahadzir Wan Sulaiman 1.5 pts
93. Harun Bustaman 1.0 pts

For the details, please visit my previous post here or chess-results website.

2011-11-24T20:33:00.006+08:00

GOOD LUCK TO PCNK IN ASIAN AMATEUR 2011

PCNK has sent a team of players sponsored by InstaForex to the Asian Amateur which starts today. The players are (click on the players' name for updates):

1. Abdul Haq Mohamed - 2096

2. Dr. Nasrul Humaimi Mahmood - 1951

3. Marzuki Yaacob - 1916

4. Syed Azizi Abdul Rahman - Kelantan Open Champion 2010

5. Ariez Azman

6. Ezmi Mahmood

7. Norazlin Juarih

8. Wan Mahadzir Wan Sulaiman

9. Harun Bustaman

GOOD LUCK!

2011-11-23T09:37:00.008+08:00

CLASH OF THE TITANS

Tonight, a top of the table clash will be held at Shah Alam between the incredible Hulk (picture left) and the English teacher, Yours Truly (picture right). Hulk, fresh from winning the Insofar, will want to continue his winning streak against the unpredictable Sir, who has just lost a game against Nik last weekend. The outcome of the duel will shape the complexion of the top three where a win for Yours Truly will give him another chance to go for the championship while a win for Hulk will put him in the driver seat in the two-way race between him and Nik Farouqi.

The game is scheduled to start at 8 p.m.

Current standing:

2011-11-19T23:48:00.005+08:00

NIK FAROUQI NEARLY GOT 4 FLAT!

From 4 games, Nik Ahmad Farouqi won three and drew against Nik Nazri which consequently made him top the current standing. However, this was done not without luck. In his game against Yours Truly, Nik, who was duped to play against the Morra Gambit, got away from being crushed in the opening when his opponent failed to see 12.Bxe6 check! (see diagram 1) While in the game against Bad Bishop, Nik once again got away from being a piece down when his opponent missed Bxa6.

On the other hand, Mohd Ezmi won a game against the rated Marzuki convincingly (see diagram 2). Marzuki, who was called upon to replace the 'injured' Syed Azizi in the original schedule, lost both games with the KL based players.

Diagram 1: Yours truly missed 12.Bxe6+

Diagram 2: Final position between Marzuki - Ezmi

All results and standing can be read at the results and standing page.

2011-11-18T10:31:00.004+08:00

White to move

QUIZ

Black's King was being too adventurous and went surprisingly forward after a Knight check at e5. Was it a journey to remember or a point of no return?

2011-11-17T18:04:00.004+08:00

1ST FIDE RATED CONTINUES THIS WEEKEND

Nik Ahmad Farouqi and Mohd Ezmi return home to face the Kelantan based players this weekend. They will stop to play Nik Nazri and Baharuddin at Kuala Krai before continuing their journey north to the Kelantan capital to take on Syed Azizi and Yours Truly.

Schedule:

Friday (18 Nov 2011)

9 a.m.

Nik Nazri vs Mohd Ezmi Mahmood
Nik Farouqi vs Baharuddin Hamzah

2 p.m.

Nik Nazri vs Nik Farouqi
Mohd Ezmi Mahmood vs Baharuddin Hamzah

Saturday (19 Nov 2011)

9 a.m.

Mohd Azizul Mat Daud vs Nik Ahmad Farouqi
Syed Azizi vs Mohd Ezmi Mahmood

2 p.m.

Nik Ahmad Farouqi vs Syed Azizi
Mohd Ezmi Mahmood vs Mohd Azizul Mat Daud

2011-11-13T06:32:00.004+08:00

KELANTAN IN DATCC TEAM EVENT

DATCC Senior vs Kelantan

Kelantan sent a team to compete in the ongoing DATCC Team Event comprising of quite a strong lineup:

IM Mas Hafizulhelmi
Ahmad Maliki Mohammad
Abdul Haq Mohammad
Abdullah Che Hassan
Azahari Mohd Nor
Mohd Amin Mohd Noor
Mohd Ezmi Mahmood
Mohd Bukhari Yahya
Izzudin Ahayat
Nik Ahmad Farouqi Nik Abd Aziz

Four rounds have already been played:

Round 1: Kelantan beat 17 Chess Club 2.5 - 1.5
Round 2: Kelantan drew Najib's Rojak Team 2 - 2
Round 3: Kelantan beat DATCC Senior 3.5 - 0.5
Round 4: Kelantan beat Seahorse PETRONAS 3 - 1

For Round 5 this Tuesday (15 Nov 2011), Kelantan, currently third, will play Too Less Ordinary which is currently second in the standing.

All the pictures, results and games can be viewed at PCNK's website.

2011-10-29T05:06:00.002+08:00

SHOUTBOX

After weighing the pros and the cons, for the second time, I close my shoutbox. I hate it when irresponsible people put advertisements in it. However, those who likes to comment on my post still can use the comment button below each post. I think this is better, for I will know which comment is for which post, unlike the comments in the shoutbox.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

2011-10-25T22:32:00.010+08:00

LATEST RANKING

This is the latest ranking after Nik Farouqi and Abdul Haq draw. However, I was informed that Nasrul has beaten Marzuki late this afternoon, and Nasrul, being the winner, promptly uploaded the game on the 'official website'.

The result has been updated on the results (Grand Finale) page.

This event is so special as it is very flexible with games being played in various venues which includes the DATCC, KL, the Insta Forex, Kubang Kerian, the PPAS, Shah Alam and also at one of the players home.

DATCC

Insta Forex

PPAS

Marzuki's home

2011-10-21T06:22:00.004+08:00

QUEEN ENDING

White to move

I like endings. But endings like this will burst our heart, especially if played in time trouble. Queen controls so many squares, but which squares are more important? And then the exchange to pawn endings. Is it advantageous? All this questions must be answered before you make your move.

2011-10-08T13:18:00.008+08:00

DRAW

.. against Marzuki Yaacob (picture) has taken away my 100% record. Not to take the credits away from him; he is actually a good player; but I should have managed my time more efficiently so as not to land in time trouble when it matters the most. I tried to transpose his English into a Nimzo-Indian, but he refused by not playing 3.d4. The middle game was slightly in White's favour, until his Kh2 forced him to take 2 steps back. From there, I took the initiative by placing my pieces towards his King. An exchange of Knights put his other Knight at h4, and I decided to chase it at the expense of opening up my castle. He complicated the game with a d5 push and the game was drawn during the time trouble.

The d5 push

Final position

The were also several other games played, and, at the time of writing, Baharuddin would be playing his third game for today. On the other hand, Nik Nazri managed to get his first point against Norazlin. So far, Yours Truly still tops the standing with 4.5 points, followed by Marzuki and Syed Azizi with 3 points each, Baharuddin with 2 points, Nik Nazri with a point and finally Norazlin with 0.5 point.

The results can be read at the results page, and my game today will be published later in the tournament website.

Update:

Baharuddin held FIDE rated Marzuki for a draw.

2011-10-07T09:36:00.003+08:00

PROPOSED SCHEDULE FOR THE GRAND FINAL

I just made my proposed schedule for the Grand Final this November. I supposed that all the postponed games involving Baharuddin and Nik Farouqi will have been finished by then.

2011-10-01T19:04:00.007+08:00

ROUND 3 AND 4 (KELANTAN BASED)

Yours Truly won 2 more games to amass 4 points overall and head the standing in Kelantan. This time, he won against Syed Azizi and Nik Nazri. He is followed by Marzuki with 2.5 points, Syed Azizi with 2 points, Baharuddin with 1 point, Azlin with 0.5 point while Nik Nazri is still searching for points. Unfortunately, all games against Baharuddin were postponed. Results can be achieve at the results page.

Some pictures from the event:

Current standing (taken from PCNK website):

2011-09-24T19:03:00.003+08:00

AFTER TWO GAMES..

.. Yours Truly leads the standing in Kelantan. He won both the morning and afternoon games against Baharuddin and Bad Bishop, respectively. Trailing closely are Marzuki Yaacob and Syed Azizi, both with 1.5 points, Baharudin with a point and finally Nik Mohd Nazri and Bad Bishop who lost both of their games. Results can be read at the results page.

2011-09-23T18:57:00.005+08:00

ARE YOU READY?

Tomorrow the Kelantan-based players will lock their horns on the chess boards at Waja Timur Technology, Instaforex, near D'Klasik, Kubang Kerian.

GOOD LUCK!

2011-09-18T11:53:00.000+08:00

1ST KELANTAN FIDE RATED (KELANTAN BASED)

The 6 Kelantan-based players will start their games next week. The proposed venue is Instaforex, Kubang Kerian.

The schedule:

KELANTAN BASED PLAYERS

RND 1	24/09/2011 (9 am)

	Name	Res.	Name
	Mohd Azizul Mat Daud	-	Baharuddin Hamzah
	Norazlin Juarih	-	Marzuki Yaacob
	Syed Azizi Abd Rahman	-	Nik Mohd Nazri

RND 2	24/09/2011 (3 pm)

	Name	Res.	Name
	Baharuddin Hamzah	-	Nik Mohd Nazri
	Syed Azizi Abd Rahman	-	Marzuki Yaacob
	Mohd Azizul Mat Daud	-	Norazlin Juarih

RND 3	1/10/2011 (9 am)

	Name	Res.	Name
	Baharuddin Hamzah	-	Norazlin Juarih
	Mohd Azizul Mat Daud	-	Syed Azizi Abd Rahman
	Nik Mohd Nazri	-	Marzuki Yaacob

RND 4	1/10/2011 (3 pm)

	Name	Res.	Name
	Baharuddin Hamzah	-	Marzuki Yaacob
	Mohd Azizul Mat Daud	-	Nik Mohd Nazri
	Syed Azizi Abd Rahman	-	Norazlin Juarih

RND 5	8/10/2011 (9 am)

	Name	Res.	Name
	Baharuddin Hamzah	-	Syed Azizi Abd Rahman
	Nik Mohd Nazri	-	Norazlin Juarih
	Marzuki Yaacob	-	Mohd Azizul Mat Daud

2011-09-16T22:34:00.006+08:00

REPORT ON THE FIRST DAY

4 games were played today. There were 4 players available, while Wan Mahathir will be joining the fray tomorrow. The players who managed to complete their games today were Abdul Haq, Ariez Azman, Mohd Ezmi and Nasrul Humaimi.

Round 1

Mohd Ezmi Mahmood lost to Abdul Haq Mohamed
Ariez Azman drew with Nasrul Humaimi Mahmood

Round 2

Mohd Ezmi lost to Ariez Azman
Abdul Haq won against Nasrul Humaimi

Special thanks to arbiters Mr. Greg and Mr. Najib, and also to DATCC for preparing the venue. Hopefully tomorrow more intense battles will ensue.

Some pictures (taken from the official website):

Update:

The results after 2 days of play (Kuala Lumpur players) have been updated in the pages. All the games involving Nik Ahmad Farouqi are postponed. This is due to his mother's death sometime today (17 September 2011). May Allah bless her soul.

2011-09-15T21:12:00.002+08:00

1ST KELANTAN FIDE RATED OFFICIALLY STARTS TOMORROW

At last, the long awaited tournament will hit the board starting tomorrow. The 12 players have been divided into two camps based on the players' whereabouts. The KL-based players will start hitting the clock tomorrow, while the Kelantan-based players will hit the ground running next week.

The KL-based Players

Abdul Haq Mohamed (FIDE 2096)
Nik Ahmad Farouqi Nik Abdul Aziz (2055)
Nasrul Humaimi Mahmood (1951)
Ariez Azman
Mohd Ezmi Mahmood
Wan Mahadzir Wan Sulaiman

The Kelantan-based Players

Mohd Azizul Mat Daud (2065)
Marzuki Yaacob (1916)
Baharuddin Hamzah
Nik Mohd Nazri
Norazlin Juarih
Syed Azizi Abdul Rahman

GOOD LUCK!

Tomorrow's schedule:

RND 1	16/9/2011 9 pagi

SNo.	Name	Res.	Name	SNo.
1	Ariez Azman	-	Nasrul Humaimi Mahmood	6
2	Abdul Haq Mohamed	-	Wan Mahadzir Wan Sulaiman	5
3	Nik Ahmad Farouqi Nik Abdul Aziz	-	Mohd Ezmi Mahmood	4

RND 2	16/9/2011 3 ptg

SNo.	Name	Res.	Name	SNo.
6	Nasrul Humaimi Mahmood	-	Mohd Ezmi Mahmood	4
5	Wan Mahadzir Wan Sulaiman	-	Nik Ahmad Farouqi Nik Abdul Aziz	3
1	Abdul Haq Mohamed	-	Ariez Azman	2

Full schedule can be read in the official website.

2011-08-23T18:50:00.008+08:00

NO GM FOR MAS

IM Mas Hafizulhelmi finished with 5 points from 9 games to end his quest for GM norm without success. He played 2 GMs and lost both of the games. This is yet another failed attempt which Mas must improve on in order for him to get the elusive title and be the first Malaysian GM.

The official site offers no such thing as a free viewer to the games. You must log in as a Platinum member of the Chess.com for you to watch the live games. I had to wait for the result to be keyed in the schedule page before updating it in My Chess Life. Nevertheless, here are Mas' full result:

Round 1 : win vs Adarsh Jayakumar (2177) USA
Round 2 : lost vs GM Micheal Adams (2715) England
Round 3 : draw vs Dereque Kelley (2203) USA
Round 4 : draw vs Eric Rosen (2216) USA
Round 5 : win vs Jeff Phillips (2071) USA
Round 6 : win vs Timothy Taylor (2279) USA
Round 7 : draw vs IM Andranik Matikozyan (2451) Armenia
Round 8 : draw vs Michael Lee (2395) USA
Round 9 : lost vs GM Varuzhan Akobian (2613) USA

Points : 5/9

2011-08-20T01:20:00.013+08:00

MAS VS MICHEAL ADAMS, AGAIN

Mas Hafizulhelmi (FIDE 2416), who is currently playing in the 1st Metropolitan Chess, already won his first game against Adarsh Jayakumar (2177) from the USA. For the second round, he played against English GM Micheal Adams, again. He has already drew against Adams in the Olympiad, but this time, he lost. Don't be upset, Mas. We Kelantanese are with you all the way.

GOMO, MAS, GOMO!

2011-08-16T19:09:00.004+08:00

1st KELANTAN FIDE RATED TOURNAMENT

At last, after a series of MCF rated events, PCNK has managed to organize a FIDE rated tournament where 12 selected players will play a round robin event. The tournament will be played from October to December this year. The selected players are:

Abdul Haq Mohamed (FIDE 2096)
Mohd Azizul Mat Daud (2065)
Nik Ahmad Farouqi Nik Abdul Aziz (2055)
Nasrul Humaimi Mahmood (1951)
Marzuki Yaacob (1916)
Ariez Azman
Baharuddin Hamzah
Mohd Ezmi Mahmood
Nik Mohd Nazri
Norazlin Juarih
Syed Azizi Abdul Rahman
Wan Mahadzir Wan Sulaiman

For more information, tune in to the 'official website' created by Dr. Nasrul Humaimi, one of the players. Hopefully he has time to update the website once the tournament gets under way.

2011-08-11T16:14:00.002+08:00

IM MAS HAFIZUL GM QUEST CONTINUES

Kelantan's top player, IM Mas Hafizulhelmi, will be playing in the 1st Metropolitan International which will be held in Los Angeles, US, alongside illustrious GMs such as GM Micheal Adams (whom he drew in the recent Olympiad), GM Loek van Wely, GM Ilya Smirin, GM Mark Paragua and GM Dmitry Gurevich. The tournament will offer norms for GM, IM, WGM and WIM as there are 50 titled players registered which include 11 Grandmasters. I sure hope that fasting will not deter Mas' games and that he will return with the coveted norm.

The full list of the participants can be read at the official website.

2011-08-06T00:29:00.005+08:00

FUHH....

I just creamed somebody rated higher than me. I managed to checkmate him when my clock was running out of time. At the final position, he had 0:15.6 secs to my 0:00.1 secs. Maybe I had 2 Queens in the end, but it was balanced until he made a crucial mistake on move 43. It started as a Sicilian, albeit without the normal move order, and Black skillfully transposed into the Dragon variation. After the exchange of a pair of Rooks, White started to attack the centre. Black then blocked the centre, and stole the loose a-pawn. However, White quickly regained the pawn, and gained the initiative afterwards with the Queen dominating the board consisted of 5 opposing pawns and a dark-coloured Bishop each. Finally, the final mistake was made, and the rest was a matter of technique.

2011-08-01T18:12:00.006+08:00

NIK NAZRI WINS 2ND KUALA KRAI CLOSED

Nik Ahmad Nazri (picture right) capped the good news of his wife's pregnancy with energetic displays to dislodge the tournament favourite Nik Ahmad Farouqi in the recent 2nd Kuala Krai Closed. Both players were among the invited to play in the Elite Category together with junior players with ratings above 1300. Other winners were Mohd Amin, Baharuddin and Mohd Ariez. The full results (for the Elite Category):

Nik Mohd Nazri Nik Hassan (1776)
Nik Ahmad Farouqi Nik Abd Aziz (1894)
Mohd Amin Mohd Noor (1702)
Baharuddin Hamzah (1566)
Mohd Ariez Azman (1612)
Mohd Faiz Zakaria (1448)
Norazlin Juarih (1504)
Mohd Nusyafiq Yahya (1376)
Mohd Bukhari Yahya (1586)
Wan Mohd Amirul Wan Yusoff (1435)

Other results, please visit PCNK's blog.

2011-07-27T16:26:00.002+08:00

KUALA KRAI CLOSED

After the success of the first series, Kuala Krai Chess Club will be organizing its second this Saturday. The details of the tournament are as follows:

Date: 30 July 2011 (Saturday)
Time: 9 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Venue: Sekolah Menengah Sultan Yahya Petra 2, Kuala Krai
Format: 6 rounds SWISS
Fees:

Elite Category (with national rating 1300 and above) - RM15.00
Secondary School (under 18 & under 15) - RM10.00
Primary School (under 12 & under 9) - RM10.00

The tournament offers National ratings for each categories. For this purpose, several national rated players have been invited. Among those in the Elite Category are:

Nik Ahmad Farouqi
Nik Muhd Nazri
Mohd Amin Noor
Mohd Bukhari Yahya
Mohd Ariez
Baharuddin Hamzah
Wan Muhd Amirul
Wan Muhd Adli
Siti Nur Afiqah Haslam
Aliff Omar Saufi
Projek Jejak Juara PPD Kuala Krai 2012 squad
Under 18, 15 dan 12 from the first series Champions

Any enquiries, please contact:
Cikgu Nik Azrihan at 010-9245096

2011-07-15T23:56:00.000+08:00

QUIZ TIME

What is Black's best move from this diagram?

2011-07-14T22:41:00.005+08:00

KELANTAN HAS TWO FIDE RATED ARBITERS!

The bleak moments of chess activities in Kelantan had been replaced somewhat with the news that two of our own had passed an arbitration seminar held by FIDE and were awarded a norm of a FIDE Arbiter title. Nik Ahmad Farouqi and Nik Mohd Azrihan, both were among the 23 Malaysians who succeeded in the examination test, held after the end of the lectures.

It is hoped that these two, widely considered as the new chess powerhouses in terms of chess managing activities (mainly held in Kuala Krai), will bring their new experience to upgrade the status of Kelantan chess arena.

Let us all Kelantanese pray that they will get their full norms soon, insha Allah.

Source hairulov and FIDE official website.

2011-06-24T22:26:00.005+08:00

A BLEAK TIME FOR KELANTAN CHESS

The chess activities in Kelantan is slowing down. Even the bloggers do not update their blogs with news and information. The culmination of which, the non-participation in the upcoming MAKSAK chess tournament which will be held in Perak next month. I received a text from my fellow Johor MAKSAK player, that he was shocked when he saw that Kelantan did not take part in the draw for the group matches. I asked our captain, and he confirmed that Kelantan would not send a chess team this year, the state opted to alternately send the carrom team this year when the honour had been given to chess and dart teams last year, which I unluckily dropped out because of my father's death. Now I have to train for next year, hopefully it will be the chess team's turn.

Let me mourn this decision alone.....

2011-06-17T01:01:00.005+08:00

MSSM ALL RESULTS

I downloaded all the results from Terengganu Chess Association's site. Looks like Kelantan players were still far away from other states' level. The two reps from Tumpat also did not perform well. Congratulations to both Wan Mohd Adli (10th in Boys Under 18) and Nik Mohd Haziq (9th in Boys Under 12).

2011-06-08T18:58:00.006+08:00

DEATHNOTE 2 (THE LAST NAME)

I just watched Deathnote 2 again, because I was not satisfied with the chess position where L was playing alone while waiting for his death. And sure enough, I found that the position was not in the liking of any good chess player.

From the position, L moved the Black Knight to f6, then the White pawn to d4. It was also hard to determined whether the Black King had already moved or just plain misplaced.

I am really against the film makers who do not consult any chess players when setting up the board and expect us to believe that the character is truly a genius!

2011-06-04T02:38:00.002+08:00

SECRET PREPARATION?

Actually, I wanted to put 'Does My Chess Life blog destroy Kelantan's chances in MSSM?' as the topic for this post, but after due consideration, I acted against it.

Admittedly, I, pretty much like all Kelantan chess enthusiasts, am feeling a little anxious right now as to how our MSSM team is doing in Penang. However, we are lucky because Gilacatur is there to update the results of the ongoing championship in the MSSM 2011 blog.

Nevertheless, the purpose of this particular post is not to update the result, rather to write whether My Chess Life (MCL) really is destroying the team's chances in MSSM.

As we all know, MCL posts about Kelantan's chess developments and news, and sometimes posts games played by Kelantan players completed with notes and analysis.

I was called to write on this topic because recently, there was a person who badly wanted the Kelantan Closed 2011 bulletin, which I think would be used as a preparation for his team if paired against the Kelantan team.

In my humble opinion, we, as a chess player, must always improve ourselves. We don't need to worry about somebody studying our games because we must always have something in our sleeves so that we will not become too predictable. There really is no question of 'revealing too many secrets' when we are really prepared for the games.

2011-05-25T17:16:00.000+08:00

The front cover

KELANTAN CLOSED 2011 BULLETIN

Kelantan Closed 2011 Bulletin is here! It contains more than 100 games in its 52 pages, complete with diagrams, starting list and final crosstable. Among the players are Nik Ahmad Farouqi (1914 National rating), Nik Mohd Nazri (1789), Syed Azizi (1788), Mohd Amin (1654), Muhammad Ariez (1605) and Baharuddin Hamzah (1533).

For more information on how to get this bulletin, please log on to PCNK website or for some of the games, please log on to Kelantan Chess Network.

2011-05-22T17:05:00.004+08:00

CENTRALIZED TRAINING FOR MSSM

SJK (T) Pasir Gajah, Kuala Krai

Kelantan's MSSM chess contingent is now having its centralized training at SJK (T) Pasir Gajah, Kuala Krai. The training will be held until this Saturday. The players will be coached by formidable coaches coming from all over Kelantan. It is hoped that they will bring the best out of these players so that the contingent will become a real challenge for the other states.

We Kelantanese wish you

ALL THE BEST!

2011-05-12T23:38:00.012+08:00

PPD TUMPAT MAINTAINED 2 STATE REPS

At last, the state selection ended. PPD Tumpat, like last year, managed to send two of its players to represent the state in the MSSM. The players are:

Wan Muhammad Zikri Wan Mohammad (Boys Under 18 Category)
Wan Nur Fatin Athirah (Girls Under 12 Category)

The selection, held at MRSM Kuala Krai from 5 - 7 May 2011, saw 64 participants in every categories totaling to 384 junior chess players competing to be the state representatives. The Kota Bharu contingent returned home with the most golds - 5 from 6 categories! Even though the contingent was divided into two - Northern KB and Southern KB - with 12 winners overall, it did not deter the fact that the other contingents still have a lot of catching up to do. Kuala Krai was next with 9 winners in all categories, while Pasir Puteh came third with 5.

Kuala Krai (9)
Northern Kota Bharu (8)
Pasir Puteh (5)
Southern Kota Bharu (4)
Pasir Mas (4)
Tumpat (2)
Machang (2)
Tanah Merah (1)
Jeli (1)

Uniquely, the Boys Under 18 Category saw 6 participants from 6 different contingents, whereas the Boys Under 12 Category was dominated by Kuala Krai. Gua Musang and Bachok did not have a single representative. The names of the winners:

Boys Under 18

Wan Mohd Adli (KBU)
Mohd Fadhil (PPH)
Wan Mohd Zikri (TPT)
Nik Muhd Sharifudin (MCH)
Fadhil Aiman (KKR)
Muhammad Syahmi (JEL)

Boys Under 15

Wan Mohd Amirul (KBU)
Muhd Ikmal Hakimie (PMS)
Alif Omar (PPH)
Wan Muhd Imran (KBU)
Muhammad Adam Hafiz (KBU)
Muhamad Izani (KKR)

Boys Under 12

Nik Muhd Haziq (KKR)
Muhammad Syakir (KKR)
Mohd Firdaus (KKR)
Abdul Manaf (KKR)
Muhamad Akram (MCH)
Muhamad Irfan (KBU)

Girls Under 18

Wan Aemellia Elisha (KBS)
Ayu Anabihah (TMH)
Nabilah (KBS)
Wan Zarif Sofea (PPH)
Norazlisa (KKR)
Aisyah Nabilah (PMS)

Girls Under 15

Siti Nur Afiqah (KBU)
Najihah (PPH)
Laila Husna (KBS)
Nur Ain Syahirah (PPH)
Nik Nur Ain Sabrina (KBU)
Nur Hanis Natasha (KBS)

Girls Under 12

Nur Fatini (KBU)
Nurfatin Aisyah (PMS)
Nik Nur Nadzirah (KKR)
Wan Nur Fatin Athirah (TPT)
Nik Anisy Syakirah (KKR)
Nur Anis Fazliyana (PMS)

Pictures from the event:

The Tumpat Team

Sending a full force in each category, the Tumpat team managed to make the other contingent run for their money. The targets were Wan Nurhazirah (Girls Under 18), Wan Muhammad Zikri (Boys Under 18), Abdul Haiyi (Boys Under 18) and Wan Nur Fatin Athirah (Girls Under 12).

Heartbreak for darling, she only managed to get 7th in her category. She won her games before losing to Aemellia, the eventual champion, in Round 4. Then, she drew all her games before winning her last. Finishing 5.5 points with the strongest tie break did not ensure her a place in the state team.

While Abdul Haiyi only managed to finish 11th when he lost to a player from Machang in Round 7. Although he won his last game, 5.5 points were never enough to secure a top 6 finish.

2011-05-03T21:28:00.002+08:00

PPD TUMPAT CENTRALIZED TRAINING HAS FINISHED

After a gruelling 5 days (or half days), the centralized training for the PPD Tumpat chess team has ended. The module for the u-12, u-15 and u-18 has been successfully implemented. The climax - a simultaneous chess display by Cikgu Azizul - was held on the last day against 24 players (u-15 and u-18). The result was never in doubt, but at least all had given their best before succumbing to the head coach. Nevertheless, one managed to squeeze a draw, showing maturity beyond his age. Hopefully, PPD Tumpat will provide more ammunition for the state team, as it already had by providing two of its own, last year. This year, the darling is still hungry for more success, but she is not the only one who is targeted to wear the state colours. But time will tell, whether the PPDT will become more successful than previously.

2011-04-22T02:46:00.006+08:00

APRIL 2011 RATING REVIEW

The rating review is back! This is where you know whether your rating changes or not. Although sometimes I feel that my effort is not appreciated - those reviewed not even bothered to see their rating change - but I continue anyway because I honestly hope that Kelantan players will use this review as a stepping stone for them to achieve greater heights in the chess.

Overall, there are a lot of changes happened in both ways - an increase of the January rating or a decrease. From my observation, the veterans, which include me, are heading a little downward. Myself, Farouqi, Nik Nazri and even Mas Hafizulhelmi had a slight rating decrease. The reason, IMHO, relates to our increased responsibilities outside the chess board. For me, at least, during the only tournament I entered during this rating period - the Kelantan Closed - I was worried about my wife's departure to KL which was delayed for 6 hours! (she was supposed to depart at 9 a.m. but the bus only departed at 3 p.m.) Now you may argue that this thing is not related to chess, but still, constantly on the phone while the tournament was still ongoing would become a distraction somehow, right?

The younger generation, on the other hand, are on the up. Some of them even shoot up the ranking, gaining more than 100 points! Muhd Faiz Zakaria, Siti Nur Afiqah Mohd Haslam (picture left), Wan Muhd Amirul and Muhd Izani Muhd Tarizi had an increase of +192, +140, +135 and +123 respectively to overtake even the likes of BadBishop and Mumtaz Muhammad. This is a very good trend and it should give them more confidence for the future. I played against Muhd Izani, Mohd Ahza Daisam and Alif Omar in the recent SMACH Open, and I found that their games were not that bad after all. Even though the opening mistakes were still there, a proper training with a proper coach will surely eliminate them. My advice - don't be lazy to study your own games to find the mistakes. This can be achieved by reading your score sheets or the tournament bulletin (For your information, the Kelantan Closed Bulletin will come out soon).

To conclude, I am clearly happy with the direction of where Kelantan chess is going right now. All that we need now is for everybody to support our very own chess association - Persatuan Catur Negeri Kelantan (PCNK). Everybody MUST gel together in one group and Kelantan chess will be strong, insha Allah.

You can view the complete list here or search your rating here or just look at the right hand side of this blog.

2011-04-18T19:27:00.005+08:00

SMACH OPEN RESULT

This is the first time I ever got a top 10 result but was not rewarded. Looking at the final standing of the recent SMACH Open, I was left reeling when it was clear that I would not get anything because the organizer allocated the final spot to a female. Here is the final standing in the Open Category:

Ahmad Fadzil Nayan
Kamaluddin Yusof
Nor Azmi Mohd Nor
Abdul Rahim Ramli
Fairul Yusuf
Nik Ahmad Farouqi
Muhd Syazwan Zulkifli
Baharuddin Hamzah
Nik Mohd Nazri Nik Hassan
Yours Truly

Nevertheless, I'm truly happy with my performance (except for the 2 losses, anyway) and also the performance of my students I brought with me from SMK Chabang Empat, Tumpat. Their final standings:

74. Wan Mohd Amim Mohd Nasir

89. Muhd Syahrul Ahamad

91. Wan Abu Bakar Samaun

97. Noor Sahida Anuar

100. Nurul Asyikin Anuar

101. Nik Shamiera Adnan

105. Maznie Madri

Now for some pictures:

2011-04-16T21:07:00.012+08:00

INFERIORITY COMPLEX (cont.)

From this position, White continues with 21.f4!.

Black's reply 21... exf3 en passant is practically forced so as not to lose a piece without any compensation. 22. Rxe5 fxe5 23.Bxf5+ Kc7

Now, Black has to rely on his passed pawns on e and f files to counter White's extra piece. White, on the other hand, has to find the way to exchange the Rook, or else, he has to play accurately using the combination of his Bishop and Rook (and his King, if needed) to stop the pawns. But first, White has to disrupt Black's pawn formation while at the same time solving his problematic double c-pawns.

24. c4 e4 Black continues his pawn march. Any of 24... d4 or 24... dxc4 will cost him the passed pawns. 25. cxd5 e3

The pawns look menacing, but in actual, it can easily be stopped by the Bishop. All White has to do now was to exchange the Rooks. White continues 26.d6+ Rxd6 27.Rxd6 Kxd6 28.Bg4

The pawns are stopped. 28... f2 29.Be2 Ke5 30.c3 Ke4 31.Kc2

White has to bring his King to visit Black's Queenside pawns. For this, he has to use his a-pawn to help the King. If Black scurries back to defend the pawns, White can switch the plan by attacking the passed pawns instead. 31... h5 32.Kb3 h4 33.Kb4 b6 34.a4 Kd5 35.Kb3 a6 36.Kc2 Ke4 37.Kb3 b5

38.Kb4 bxa4 39.Kxa4 Kf4? Black misses his chance to draw. He should try 39... f1=Q! and the game should draw. For example, 40.Bxf1 Kf3 41.Bxa6 e2 42.Bxe2+ Kxe2 43.Kb4 Kf2 44.Kc5 Kg2 45.Kxc6 Kxh3 46.Kd6 Kxh2 47.c4 Kg3 48.c5 h3 49.c6 h2 50.c7 h1=Q 51.c8=Q 1/2-1/2

40.Ka5 Ke5 41.Kxa6 Kd6 42.Ka5 Kc5 43.Ka4 Kd5 44.Kb4 c5+ 45.Kb5 Kd6 46.Kb6 Kd5 47.Kc7

White has a luxury of time in targeting any of the Black's pawns at c5, h4, e3 and f2. While Black has to constantly guard the squares around them in order to stop White's King. Still, Black's best chance is to queen the f pawn and escorts his e-pawn to force the exchange of White's Bishop. 47... c4

A big mistake. Now White switches his target for the c-pawn. The end is near. 48.Kb6 Kd6 49.Kb5 Kd5 50.Bxc4+ Ke4 51.Be2 1-0

Final position

2011-04-12T18:18:00.004+08:00

KOTA BHARU SELECTION

Kota Bharu district will hold its selection at the end of this month. The details:

Date: 21-23 April 2011

Time: 8.00 a.m. - 5.00 p.m.

Venue: SMK Padang Kala

Hopefully, we will see the best of Kelantan's talents in this selection. Many of the Kelantan's state players came from this district last year. Players such as Laila Husna (SMK Zainab 1), Siti Nur Afiqah (SMS Tg Faris Petra), Wan Aemellia Elisya (SMKA Naim Lilbanat), Ihab Fitri (SK Padang Mokkan) and Wan Muhamad Adli (SMIP) need no introduction as they are players with national ratings and actively involved in chess tournaments.

Last year's winners can be read at BadBishop's blog here.

2011-04-11T04:21:00.004+08:00

SMACH 2011

SM Sains Machang will hold its annual open chess tournament this week. Those who are interested kindly refer to the details below:

Date: 15 April 2011 (Friday)
Time: 8.00 a.m. - 6.00 p.m.
Venue: Gymnasium, SM Sains Machang

Fees: Open RM15 (Kelantanese) RM20 (Non-Kelantanese) RM10 (Secondary school students) RM5 (Primary school students)

Prizes: There are more than RM1000 to be won in the Open category, while top 4 students in each under-18, u-15 and u-12 (Boys & Girls) will receive cash.

All participants will receive a certificate.

Contact person: Wan Rozuhan (013-938 9819), Muhammad Arshad (012-921 0841)

Last year's winner can be read here.

2011-04-10T00:34:00.003+08:00

THE THREE PRINCESSES

The selection had already ended. 3 new faces emerged to represent SMKCE to the state selection early next month. Interestingly, one of them is a beginner, learning the moves just last week, while the two others have played before this, although with limited skills. Now, my task is to hone them to become formidable chess players within a month time. Hopefully, one of them will start playing with the best at the nationals by flying the state flag high.

1. Maznie Madri (1 Arif)

This girl also plays hockey, and was just coming back from a hockey tournament that evening to become third in her chess category. What a glorious day for her as the hockey team also managed to win their game. She has a very aggressive style; I saw her attacking with the Black pieces!

2. Nurul Asyikin Anuar (1 Arif)

A very quiet girl, but unpredictable at the board. She always asks me questions in training whenever she does not understand the position. With time on her side, she will get even better with this studious attitude.

3. Nik Shamiera Adnan (5 Arif)

A complete beginner and an unpolished gem. She has the tendency for quick learning, eventhough she always asks me to become patient for her slowness. However, time is her enemy, because she is already in Form 5. I regret overlooking her last year, but am happy to push her as far as she can go this year.

2011-04-09T09:53:00.003+08:00

INFERIORITY COMPLEX

The above position is a game between me and an online opponent. White's position is a nightmare with inferior pawn positions - two doubled pawns, 4 pawn islands and on top of that, a pawn less than Black. However, Black's last move 20... c6 was a mistake. He failed to see White's dangerous threat. I'll let you work out White's 21st move.

2011-04-08T07:12:00.010+08:00

Is one of these lovely girls the new 'darling'?

FROM ZERO TO HERO(IN)

Unbelievable! Learnt the moves last week; the rep for PPD Tumpat today! This 17-year-old-to-be was a revelation from the start. She controlled the pieces like she has been playing the game for years. She impressed even me, her first coach, by showing marked improvements from the very first game she played against her fellow beginner friend. It is true after all, that we tend to do something wholeheartedly if we have very high interest in that something. But, on the other hand, if we do something because of others, be it following our friends or adhering to our parents, we will do it disingenuously. This will lead to incomplete work, or work which is below par.

So, has Tumpat got a new 'darling'? We'll wait and see..

As for the selection tournament, it went smooth as planned. The list of representatives for each categories:

Boys U-18

Arif Mokhtar (SMKA Falahiah)
Wan Muhammad Zikri Wan Mohammad (SMK Tumpat)
Abdul Haiyi Ismail (SMK Mahmuh Mahyiddin)
Muhammad Ridhauddin Ab Rashid (SMKA Falahiah)
Muhammad Alif Azmi (SMK Wakaf Bharu)
Wan Muhamad Azmie Wan Abd Rahim (SMK Mahmud Mahyiddin)

Boys U-15

Mohd Syazwi Rahman Mohd Rozi (MRSM Tumpat)
Mohamad Zaiful Zulhizman Mohd Zaney (MRSM Tumpat)
Mohamed Kamal Irfan Mohd Asri (SMKA Falahiah)
Mohd Nasrul Azim Abdullah (SMK Tumpat)
Mohd Asyraf Mokhtar (SMKA Falahiah)
Abdul Azim Ismail (SMKA Falahiah)

Boys U-12

Che Mohd Suhaili Saifuddin (SK Chenderong Batu)
Nasrul Ubaidillah Ab Aziz (SK Kampung Laut)
Muhammad Danial Adnan (SK Chabang Empat)
Mohd Adnin Ramli (SK Chenderong Batu)
Mohd Lukman Yahya (SK Chenderong Batu)
Wan Muhamad Hilmi Wan Zaki (SK Chenderong Batu)

Girls U-18

Marlida Md Nor (SMK Mahmud Mahyiddin)
Wan Naemah Wan Mahmood (SMK Mahmud Mahyiddin)
Nur Faizzeen Mahad (SMK Wakaf Bharu)
Auni Maisarah Rumaizi (SMK Mahmud Mahyiddin)
Siti Sarah Ibrahim (SMK Tumpat)
Nik Shamiera Adnan (SMK Chabang Empat)

Girls U-15

Athirah Mohd Bakri (SMK Tumpat)
Amyra Jasmine Mohammad Rafi (MRSM Tumpat)
Maznie Madri (SMK Chabang Empat)
Nur Rosyahirah Rosman (MRSM Tumpat)
Nurul Asyikin Anuar (SMK Chabang Empat)
Nurul Emiyana Abdul Jamal (MRSM Tumpat)

Girls U-12

Wan Nur Fatin Athirah (SK Kampung Laut)
Zil Ismatil Husna Zahari (SK Kutan)
Anis Nadhirah Mohd Zuki (SK Kampung Laut)
Nik Nur Shameera (SK Kampung Laut)
Siti Nur Farahim Syahira Mohd Asri (SK Kutan)
Wan Nur Nadira Wan Adnan (SK Palekbang)

Some pictures from the selection (click for bigger view):

2011-04-06T22:49:00.007+08:00

WHERE'S DARLING?

I was shocked to learn that the darling of Tumpat was not at the venue today. A miscommunication has led to her being left behind at her school. The only Tumpat player (the other was Alham Zuhri, who already transferred to represent Machang) who represented the state last year cannot do so this time around because of this unexpected mishap. So, hopefully, we will have another (or maybe two) darling this year in the upcoming state selection.

Nevertheless, this year, we have more participants compared to last year. The boys under-18 comprises of 38 players, while the under-15 sees 23 players trying to be the district reps. The boys under-12, meanwhile, has 31 players taking part. On the other hand, the girls under-18 reps can be chosen from 17 players and the girls under-15 category is a battle among 15 players. The girls under-12 playing field hosts 16 players.

Some pictures from the first day:

Drama:

One of my beginner students managed to get this position where she missed the opportunity to checkmate her opponent. Unluckily, she went on to lose the game. This is the position where she (playing White) had the move:

What was the move that she missed?

2011-04-05T19:30:00.009+08:00

TUMPAT DISTRICT SELECTION

MSSM is around the corner. Every district in Kelantan now are having, or already had, their own tournament to select their best players. Tumpat will hold its own at SK Kampung Laut starting from tomorrow. So far, players from 6 primary schools and 8 secondary schools have confirmed their participation. The schools are:

Primary Schools:

SK Chabang Empat
SK Kampung Laut
SK Berangan (1)
SK Chenderong Batu
SK Kutan
SK Palekbang

Secondary Schools:

SMK Chabang Empat
SMK Tumpat
SMK Wakaf Bharu
SMK Dato Bijiwangsa
SMK Geting
SMK Mahmud Mahyidin
SMK Sungai Pinang
MRSM Tumpat

My school will send 13 players for 3 secondary school categories.

Boys U-18

Muhammad Badrul Hafiz bin Ibrahim
Mohamad Firdaus bin Razali
Wan Abu Bakar bin Samaun
Mohamad Faqih Hazim bin Mohd Yusoff
Mohammad Khaidir bin Mahmud Kamaruddin
Wan Mohamad Amim bin Mohd Nasir

Girls U-18

Nik Shamiera binti Adnan
Noor Sahida binti Anuar
Nur Diyana binti Mohd Azlan

Girls U-15

Nor Izzatul Elanie binti Mustafah
Nurul Asyikin binti Anuar
Maznie binti Madri
Noor Fadhillah binti Ismail

2011-03-26T00:18:00.002+08:00

HOW MUCH DOES A QUEEN WORTH?

This position is taken from a game I played last night at chess.com. Black just moved 23...Bg7. What is the best move for White?

2011-03-20T19:46:00.003+08:00

NATIONAL CLOSED - A REVIEW

At last, the National Closed ended. The champion applauded. The representatives selected.

But, a closer review will reveal that Malay players' names started at number 18 (with the exception of Muhammad Syakir Syazmeer) downwards. What happened to our Malay players?

I bet that many of you will be furious with my post.

2011-03-19T16:32:00.002+08:00

KELANTANESE IN MCF RATING LIST REACHED 100!

Well, according to my knowledge, Kelantanese in MCF rating list have reached 100. I know there are more, but you have to inform me in order for your name (or your friend's name) to be put in my blog's rating list. Here is the list (as of 19th March 2011):

2275 Mas Hafizulhelmi
2126 Azahari Mohd Noor
2112 Ahmad Maliki Mohamed
1914 Nik Ahmad Farouqi Nik Abdul Aziz
1914 Abdul Haq Mohamed
1835 Mohd Irman Ibrahim
1800 Mohd Musa Al-Ashaari Mohd Azmi
1789 Nik Mohd Nazri Nik Hasan
1788 Syed Azizi Abdul Rahman
1672 Mohd Azizul Mat Daud
1654 Mohd Amin Mohd Noor
1628 Muhd Bakri Jusoh
1608 Nasrul Humaimi Mahmood
1605 Muhd Ariez Azman
1597 Shahril Sulaiman
1589 Izuddin Ahayat
1588 Rosmizal Ibrahim
1579 Marzuki Yaacob
1578 Wan Mahadzir Wan Sulaiman
1572 Ghazali Che Cob
1561 Norazlin Juarih
1559 Mohd Fauzan Ahayat
1553 Mohd Rezal Che Man
1545 Sahadi Ismail
1540 Muhd Nor Khairullah
1538 Noor Hisyam Ahayat
1537 Anuar Ahayat
1533 Baharuddin Hamzah
1529 Mohd Bukhari Yahya
1527 Azmizi Abdullah
1509 Khairul Aznan Mohd Kamal
1506 Mohd Hafidz Mat Daud
1495 Mohd Faizal Hafizie Shukri
1476 Azudin Abdullah
1476 Mohd Hakimi Zohari
1476 Mumtaz Muhammad
1474 Wan Tarmizi Wan Sulaiman
1473 Ahmad Termizi Abdullah
1466 Mohd Zaki Mohd Yusoff
1449 Zainal Abidin Mat Noor
1448 Muhd Bukhari Mohd Sulkifly
1441 Muhd Muhaimin Muhd Tarizi
1440 Mohamad Mat Isa
1440 Ahmad Zulhilmi Sahadi
1423 Mohd Sulkifly Ibrahim
1415 Ahmad Hafiza Yusoff
1405 Alif Omar Mohd Saufi
1401 Nik Zaharuddin Nik Hasan
1398 Mohd Hafiz Mohd Noor
1397 Muhd Zuhari Mohd Sulkifly
1394 Laila Husna Sahadi
1383 Fatih Nor Sahariah Abd Jalil
1372 Nurulhana Syuhada Mohd Sulkifly
1366 Siti Nur Afiqah Mohd Haslam
1358 Wan Muhd Adli Wan Muhd Yusuf
1349 Nor Aifaa Zulkifli
1345 Mohd Lokman Mat Daud
1339 Wan Aemellia Elisha Wan Azzlan
1337 Mohd Syazwan Mohd Zin
1324 Wan Muhd Amirul Wan Muhd Yusuf
1319 Nuraihan Zaidi
1314 Ihab Fitri Ziad
1309 Muhd Nursyafiq Yahya
1305 Muhammad Azmanizam Azmi
1292 Nurul Adlina Mohd Sulkifly
1286 Najihah Mohd Saufi
1283 Mohd Izani Mohd Tarizi
1270 Nurwahida Atira Nordin
1261 Fariz Hakimi Yahya
1261 Norazlisa Ramli
1256 Muhd Faiz Zakaria
1254 Nik Muhd Haziq Najmuddin
1240 Nur Hanis Natasha
1238 Muhd Ahza Daisam Ruslan
1232 Wan Zarif Sofea Sazali
1227 Wan Ainul Basirah
1224 Muhd Zulfikri Mohd Sulkifly
1222 Wan Mohd Alif
1215 Mohd Abhar Akmal Hamid
1214 Wan Mohd Aqli Wan Mohd Yusoff
1200 Nik Zulhisyam Zulkifli
1195 Mohd Noor Al-Maarif
1195 Zulhashime Sulkefli
1177 Hammad Burhanudin
1175 Nur Ain Syahirah
1149 Nor Safura
1146 Nik Syazwan Asyraf Mat
1146 Jamidah Dzurie Nasuhah Yahya
1144 Muhd Alif Fitri Hanipa
1137 Wan Nur Farzana Wan Rozuhan
1135 Nabillah Muhd Najib
1131 Wan Nurul Adibah Wan Tarmizi
1127 Nik Nur Nadzirah Nik Azrihan
1120 Ahmad Wafi Razali
1100 Nor Elisa
1096 Ikmal Hakimi Roeslan
1083 Ahmad Amar Aiman Zulkifli
1068 Mohd Fadhil Mohd Saufi
1046 Mohd Hilmey Rosli
1041 Mohd Afiq Aiman

2011-03-18T15:11:00.005+08:00

OPENING, MIDDLEGAME or ENDGAME?

There are three widely accepted phases in a chess game - opening, middlegame and endgame. Which of these should be taught to our students first, especially those beginners? Well, my first coach, Mr. Ismail Ahmad, taught me middlegame tactics first. What I basically did in our training sessions were finding solutions to those never ending supplies of chess problems he gave me. My second coach, on the other hand, taught me the openings. Mr. Rizal Ahmad Kamal showed me some openings I was interested in and revealed the sense behind the moves.

However, I personally coach my students the ending first. This is because they are mostly beginners, thus I believe that they should be able to handle each piece individually before handling all the 16 men. Yes, they will learn not only how to move each piece, but how to move them meaningfully across the board. As the checkmate is the common purpose of this game, moving the King meaningfully to escort the Queen/Rook in checkmating a lone opponent King should be very useful. They will also learn how to use the Queen/Rook to usher the opponent's King to the corner.

For the training on how to handle the Knights, I ask them to use their Knights to banish all the opponents pawns in the most efficient way possible. They can also do this against their fellow friends by being the first to execute all their friend's immovable pawns before theirs.

The pawn war should be the best way for them to learn how to best move their pawns. For the sole target of being the first to land one of their pawns at the promotional squares, they will, in the process, learn how to move, to exchange, and how to make a passed pawn.

And I'm still searching for the best way to coach my students how to handle the Bishops. Any ideas?

2011-03-17T21:30:00.002+08:00

THE RED KNIGHTS AT NATIONAL CLOSED 2011

The Red Knights at the National Closed 2011 consists of:

1. Nik Ahmad Farouqi Nik Abdul Aziz

2. Mohd Ezmi Mahmood

3. Najihah Mohd Saufi (female)

It is hoped that they will play their heart's out in this year's NC in order to get the NM title or to be one of the selected 8 to represent Malaysia in the SEA Games 2011.

As for the end of Round 6, Nik Ahmad Farouqi manages to collect 4.5 points, wihle Mohd Ezmi 2.5 points and Najihah 2 points. In Round 7, NAF will meet the tournament favourite, IM Jimmy Liew. We will pray that NAF will defeat IM Jimmy so that he will not miss on the NM title again this year.

GOOD LUCK, RED KNIGHTS!

2011-02-22T19:09:00.018+08:00

ROMANCING THE GACC

GACC is the trademark for Tuanku Bahiyyah College, UM (or the 2nd Residential College). It started as a team event, before changing its status in 1999 (GACC IV). 'A' stands for 'ASEAN' but it was widen to stand for 'ASIAN' in GACC III, before standing for nothing when the playing field was widen again to invite universities worldwide in 2002. I was lucky enough to have played in 6 GACCs because I was summoned to play for IIUM even before I entered the main campus in 1998. Here are the GACCs where I did play, and a game taken from each GACC just for romance's sake.

GACC II
Points: 2.5/5

Playing 1st board for IIUM 'B'

Venue: UM Main library

Winners: University of Gunadarma, Indonesia

I was chosen to captain IIUM team B. I played at the first board and was lucky to be paired with IM Bobby Kurniawan (picture right with IIUM girls), the eventual first board winner.

Yours Truly (IIUM B) - IM Bobby Kurniawan (ITB) [B78]

GACC II (1), 10.11.1997

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 Nc6 8.Qd2 0-0 9.Bc4 Bd7 10.0-0-0 Ne5 11.Bb3 Rc8 12.h4 h5 13.Bg5 Rc5 14.Kb1 b5 15.a3 Nc4 16.Bxc4 bxc4 17.Nde2 Qb8 18.Nf4 Re8 19.Bxf6 Bxf6 20.g4 Qb6 21.b4 cxb3 22.Nfd5 bxc2+ 23.Kxc2 Bxc3 24.Nxb6 Bxd2+ 25.Kxd2 axb6 26.gxh5 Rxh5 27.Rb1 b5 28.Kd3 Ra8 29.Rb3 d5 0-1

GACC III
Points: 4/6

5th board for IIUM

Venue: Engineering Faculty

Winners: University of Khorassan, Iran

Still a team event, GACC, however, was 'upgraded' to Asian level while I was 'upgraded' to be in the IIUM team (I forgot whether there was IIUM 'B'). The game below is the first time I played Saifuddeen from UNITELE in the GACC, ending with a threat of checkmate which cost him a whole rook. Eliza Hanim (picture left with her sister, Eliza Hanum), Saifuddeen's teammate, said that he was a beginner. Yeah, right.

Saifuddeen (UNITELE A) - Yours Truly (IIUM) [D05]

GACC III (5), 28.10.1998

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.e3 d5 4.Bd3 Bd6 5.Nbd2 Qe7 6.e4 e5 7.dxe5 Bxe5 8.Nxe5 Qxe5 9.Nf3 Qh5 10.e5 Ne4 11.Bf4 Bg4 12.Qe2 Bxf3 13.gxf3 Nc5 14.0-0-0 Ne6 15.Bg3 c6 16.Qe3 Nd7 17.Be2 Ndc5 18.f4 Qf5 19.Bd3 Nxd3+ 20.Rxd3 h5 21.f3 h4 22.Be1 Qxf4 23.Qxf4 Nxf4 24.Re3 Kd7 25.Rg1 Ke6 26.c3 g5 27.Kc2 Kf5 28.Bd2 Rae8 29.Ree1 Re6 30.Bxf4 Kxf4 31.Rg4+ Kf5 32.Kd3 Rhe8 33.Kd4 f6 34.Reg1 Rxe5 35.b4 b6 36.h3 Re2 37.R1g2 R8e5 38.a4 Rxg2 39.Rxg2 Kf4 40.Rg1 Kxf3 41.Rf1+ Ke2 0-1

GACC IV
Points: 3.5/9

Individual event

Venue: Engineering Faculty

Winners: Mongolian State Pedagogical University, Mongolia

The Mongolian team came and conquered with a couple of GMs and a WIM (Battsetseg Thuvshintugs - picture right). I managed to get a picture taken with her at the residential hostel after watching her creaming everybody with her chess prowess that night. The game below is the second time I played Saifuddeen in the GACC.

Yours Truly (IIUM) - Saifuddeen (UNITELE B) [C44]

GACC IV (3), 25.10.1999

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 d6 5.0-0 Ne5 6.c3 Nxc4 7.Qa4+ c6 8.Qxc4 dxc3 9.Nxc3 Be6 10.Qe2 Nf6 11.Rd1 Qc7 12.Nd5 Qc8 13.Bg5 cxd5 14.Rac1 Qd7 15.exd5 Be7 16.dxe6 Qxe6 17.Qxe6 fxe6 18.Rc7 Rb8 19.Bxf6 gxf6 20.Nd4 Kf7 21.Nb5 d5 22.Rdc1 Rhd8 23.Nxa7 Ke8 24.Nc8 Bf8 25.a3 Rd7 26.Rxd7 Kxd7 27.Nb6+ Kd8 28.Re1 e5 29.Nxd5 Bg7 30.Rd1 Ke8 31.Nb6 Rd8 32.Rxd8+ Kxd8 33.Kf1 Kc7 34.Nc4 f5 35.f3 e4 36.b3 b5 37.Ne3 exf3 38.gxf3 Bb2 39.a4 bxa4 40.bxa4 f4 41.Nc4 Bc3 42.Ke2 Bf6 43.Kd3 Kc6 44.Nd2 Bd8 45.Kc4 h5 46.Nb3 h4 47.h3 1-0

GACC V
Points: 5/9

Individual event

Venue: Perdana Siswa

Winners: University of Gunadarma, Indonesia

My best GACC. In the first round, Almario Marlon (picture left), an individual player from Rizal Technological University, Philippines, came late from a flight. Jet-lagged, Marlon was beaten by me in a single Bishop ending. Not to be deterred, he went on to clinch 9th placing with 7/9. He said that whenever we meet again, he wanted to see me with a title. However, here I am now, with a lowly FIDE rating compared to him, a US master. Hope that we do not meet again, Marlon :)

Almario Marlon (RTU) - Yours Truly (IIUM) [A05]

GACC V (1), 14.10.2000

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 b6 3.Bg2 Bb7 4.0-0 e6 5.d3 d5 6.Nbd2 Be7 7.e4 c5 8.e5 Nfd7 9.Re1 Nc6 10.Nf1 h6 11.Qe2 Qc7 12.h4 0-0-0 13.Bf4 Kb8 14.Ne3 Nd4 15.Nxd4 cxd4 16.Ng4 g5 17.hxg5 hxg5 18.Bc1 Rh7 19.Qd1 Rdh8 20.Bd2 Qd8 21.f3 Qf8 22.Kf2 Qg7 23.Qe2 Ka8 24.Rac1 Qg6 25.Rh1 Rxh1 26.Bxh1 f5 27.exf6 Nxf6 28.Nxf6 Qxf6 29.Re1 Bc8 30.Bg2 Bd6 31.c3 Rh2 32.Rh1 Qh6 33.Rxh2 Qxh2 34.g4 Bg3+ 35.Kf1 Qh6 36.c4 Bb7 37.cxd5 Bxd5 38.f4 gxf4 39.Bxd5+ exd5 40.Qe8+ Kb7 41.Qd7+ Ka6 42.Qxd5 Qh3+ 43.Ke2 Qxg4+ 44.Qf3 Qe6+ 45.Kd1 Qxa2 46.Qc6 Qb3+ 47.Ke2 Qf7 48.Kd1 Qb3+ 49.Ke2 Qf7 50.Kf1 Qf5 51.Kg2 Qg4 52.Qf3 Qxf3+ 53.Kxf3 Kb5 54.Ke4 a5 55.Kxd4 f3 56.Ke3 Bf4+ 0-1

GACC VII
Points: 5/9

Individual event

Venue: Perdana Siswa

Winners: Islamic Azad University

The first GACC opened to world universities. I lost the first game by default because of an exam. I actually came to the tournament venue, and managed to see that I was out of time just several minutes earlier. Nevertheless, I was able to equal my performance in GACC V. En route, I crushed Ian Lee of MMU A, the former 1st board winner in GACC III.

Yours Truly - Ian Lee Wen Chun (MMU A) [B92]

GACC VII (5), 14.10.2002

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 e5 7.Nb3 Be6 8.f4 Qc7 9.Be3 Nbd7 10.f5 Bc4 11.a4 Be7 12.0-0 0-0 13.Kh1 Kh8 14.a5 Rfc8 15.Bxc4 Qxc4 16.Ra4 Qc6 17.Rf3 b5 18.axb6 Nxb6 19.Bxb6 Qxb6 20.Rd3 Qb7 21.Nd5 Nxd5 22.Rxd5 h6 23.c3 Kg8 24.Rb4 Qa7 25.Qe2 Rab8 26.Rxb8 Qxb8 27.Qxa6 Rc7 28.Rb5 Qe8 29.Na5 Rc5 30.Rxc5 dxc5 31.Nc4 Qd7 32.Qa8+ Kh7 33.Qd5 Qa4 34.g3 Qa1+ 35.Kg2 Qe1 36.Qd3 f6 37.Ne3 Bd6 38.Nd5 c4 39.Qxc4 Qd2+ 40.Kh3 Qg5 41.Qe2 1-0

GACC IX
Points = 4/9

Individual event

Venue: Tunku Cansellor Main Hall, UM

Winners: Nan Kai University A

My last GACC and I was woeful. Two draws with two Japanese students in the last two rounds sums my performance up. Nonetheless, there was still a game to remember. A draw with a WIM was the highlight of my GACC that year.

Yours Truly - WIM Anzel Laubscher (URSA) [A08]

GACC IX (3), 03.11.2004

1.e4 e6 2.d3 d5 3.Nd2 c5 4.Ngf3 Nf6 5.g3 Nc6 6.Bg2 dxe4 7.dxe4 e5 8.h3 Be7 9.0-0 0-0 10.Re1 Qc7 11.c3 h6 12.Qc2 Be6 13.Nf1 Rfd8 14.Ne3 b5 15.Nh4 Rac8 16.Nhf5 Bf8 17.g4 Ne7 18.Bf1 a6 19.Ng2 Ng6 20.g5 hxg5 21.Bxg5 Ne7 22.Bxf6 gxf6 23.Nge3 Nxf5 24.exf5 Bd5 25.Bg2 Bxg2 26.Kxg2 Bh6 27.Rad1 Qc6+ 28.f3 Bxe3 29.Rxe3 Rxd1 30.Qxd1 Kf8 31.Re4 Ke7 32.Qc2 c4 33.h4 Qd5 34.Re2 Rg8+ 35.Kf2 Qc5+ 36.Re3 Rg2+ 37.Kxg2 Qxe3 38.Qf2 Qf4 39.Qc5+ Ke8 40.Qc8+ Ke7 41.Qc5+ ½-½

2011-02-14T00:38:00.008+08:00

KELANTAN NATIONAL RATED PLAYERS

It is so heart-warming to see that there are actually many Kelantan chess players who have National rating (see the right hand side of my blog). However, many of them are included only because I read about them in blog posts, or I was told to include them by their friends. Even the rating list provided by the MCF does not mention the players' state, making it harder for me to track down Kelantan players. As the PCNK committe who is responsible for players database, I have taken a step in compiling the names of all the Kelantan chess players, whether they have a rating or not, for easier reference in future tournaments or events. I created, with the help of my brother who is also a Kelantan chess player, a weblog where they can register their names. Now, I know that this will not result in listing all the players who can claim to be Kelantanese (born in Kelantan, or any requirements as per stated in PCNK blog), mainly because most of them are not Internet-savvy, but it is the first step of completing the database. Nevertheless, the weblog is still short of visitors, or registrants, and I do not see any improvement in the near future. As for now, I welcome any effort you, my fellow readers, can think of for completing this task.

As for My Chess Life, it is the place where I post anything involving my chess activities, hence the title of the blog, and I will use English in conveying my message mainly because there are other blogs such as the PCNK, BadBishop, Naserov or Barbat which are already using the Kelantanese dialects. Don't be put off by reading the posts in English, because I am not only targeting my audience to be from Kelantan only, for that matter, but I am posting for everybody interested in reading it, be it from outside of Kelantan, or worldwide. I want them to also know about our chess activities, as a form of publicity.

Please, help me and I thank you in advance.

2011-02-10T22:59:00.005+08:00

MONEY CASH FULUS..

I maybe am a little incensed right now, hence the title of this post, but I think that my anger is justified. The cutback of sponsored quota for state representatives in the upcoming National Closed is demoting Malaysian chess to an all time low. Now I began to think that holding a two-day tournament in order to choose only ONE state representative is a waste of time and energy. I don't want to start on the permissibility of playing chess with the involvement of money in Islam as I had already wrote about it in my earlier post, but I found it difficult to distance Malaysian chess from the word Money, or Cash, or Fulus. Yes, the involvement of money, be it as the prizes or as the maintenance fees, is a must, but surely there are other means to support this need. Where is the federation when we need them the most? What is the privilege of being in a federation if it cannot help those under it?

Now I don't want to put a blame on one side of the argument, and I don't want to post questions without the answers. But bear in mind that these answers are solely my opinions, as everybody is entitled to one:

1. Chess federations, actively do your job. You are expected to take care of your members, not oppress them.

2. Chess players, play your part! Dismiss your desire to play for money, and put the stake of representing the states (or the country, for that matter) in front of anything.

3. Send best players to represent the country. Maybe in 3 or 4 years Malaysian chess will climb up the ranking and open the sponsors' eyes. (Note that I don't want to discuss the selection criteria, as long as the reps are the best that the country can offer)

2011-02-08T21:46:00.004+08:00

FAROUQI IS OUR NEW CHAMPION!

It was all down to the wire. They needed the play off match to determine who will become the winner. Both Farouqi and Syed Azizi are worthy champions. Kelantan will be very proud to have you as our representatives in the coming National Closed.

Full results taken from chess-results.com here.

2011-02-05T00:00:00.008+08:00

KC2011 - DAY ONE

There are 97 participants for the Open category, vying to be the state representatives in this year's National Closed. The format is 7 rounds Swiss, with the time control of 30 minutes and 30 seconds increments for each move per player.

Speaking of time, one of the junior players played a very interesting ending against me in Round 3. He did not use his time wisely, taking less than a minute for each of his moves. By the time the game was over, he had 35 minutes to my 2 minutes. Here is the position with Black to move:

Speculatively, I moved the pawn to e3. I knew it was not the best move, yet my time management was so off that I had to try something for a win. Now, instead of chasing the pawn with Kd3, he blundered by putting his King to d4, thinking that he supposedly had to cover his Knight at d5. If he had thought more deeply, he would have known that the Knight at d5 was immune because of the hanging Bishop at b7. Nevertheless, being who he is (I saw him played fast many times), he succumbed to the crushing blow of e2!, leaving no chance of him getting the queening pawn.

Here is some pictures from the first day:

All the results and pairings are uploaded at chess-results.com

2011-02-02T08:04:00.010+08:00

REGISTERED PARTICIPANTS FOR KELANTAN CLOSED

Please check your name and your rating in Kelantan Chess Network here.

One noticeable presence is Abdullah Che Hassan. According to the rules and regulations, the participants must be in either of these conditions (and prove it with documentations):

1) born in Kelantan

2) one of the parents was born in Kelantan

3) live / work / study in Kelantan

So, Abdullah, whose father is a Kelantanese, IS ELIGIBLE to play for Kelantan.

I also received news that Muhammad bin Arshad (Yes, THAT Muhammad bin Arshad) had asked to play in this Kelantan Closed, because of that second condition. This sparks a debate what if he is ever selected, and if Terengganu also comes calling? Thus, we had a meeting between the organising committees and we conclude that he IS ELIGIBLE to play for Kelantan also.

A condition is added to both players though - that they will not play for other state this year. If the added condition is breached, they will not be permitted to play in Kelantan Closed ever again.

2011-01-29T01:30:00.004+08:00

KELATE CLOSED IS HEATING UP..

There are already 68 Kelantan chess players registered for this event, making it more prestigious than last year's event. For the full list of registered players, please visit PCNK's blog here. Naserov already looked into the water and predict the winners in his blog here.

Apart from that, there is news about Kelantan female players at last year's National Junior Championship. The blog Biro Catur Wanita MCF commented on the involvement of 5 Kelantan junior female players playing in the event (picture above). Remember my post about their rating drop? Well, apparently, this was the event where they did drop a lot of rating points. You can read the post here.

2011-01-23T16:06:00.000+08:00

MISSED OPPORTUNITY

I missed a strong continuation today, chose a weak reply and nearly lost the game.

Black to move from the diagram. The game was balanced until Black decided to go on the offensive and obtained a menacing pawn march. But, I failed to see a strong continuation, where White will be in a really deep trouble. Instead, I took the a-pawn with my a8 rook, and the game was drawn a little later.

What did I missed?

2011-01-22T05:24:00.007+08:00

GILOCATUR'S RESPONSE TO KELANTAN RATING REVIEW

This is his review for us to ponder upon. You can read the original post here.

For all the four Kelantan juniors (2 boys and 2 girls) who experienced national ratings drop ONLY played in ONE nationally-rated chess tournament which is the NJCC for the 2011 JAN MCF ratings. So, it is very important for them to make good and enough preparation for such tournament. Otherwise, their national ratings will be affected significantly. GiLoCatur hopes they will participate in many more rated events to have more consistent ratings.

Even for that ONE rated event, their performance is not that very bad as GiLoCatur sees it. Let's see below.

Seeded 54th with Oct 2010 ratings of 1285, Nik Muhd Haziq won both his games against unrated opponents in the 2nd and 5th round respectively. Even he managed to win against one higher-rated opponent in the 6th round. In order for him to improve his ratings, he should had won his last two 1300-rated opponents which ratings gap is relatively small. By the way, she (sic) dropped 31 rating points from 1285 to 1254.

For Muhd Faiz Zakaria, he just lost two out of five lower-rated opponents. For sure, his 7th round opponent had participated in many more chess tournaments than him. GiLoCatur strongly believes that Faiz can challenge both 1300-rated and 1400-rated players if he can participate at least three to five tournaments in a month or if he can spar once a week against stronger players. Maybe PCNK can set the sparring activities for Kelantan juniors like him?

Fatih lost only to two lower-rated opponents - Latifah Syamimi and Zainoor Ikmal Maisarah. Syamimi is a strong player actually and if not mistaken was once MSSM KL player. She is the elder sister of Kaiyisah. While Maisarah, eventhough just 8-years-old, has participated in several international chess tournaments like ASEAN and World Youth. In fact, she won against Nur Farihah Aminuddin, a strong player and among the latest top 20 most improved ratings in the sixth round. So, her performance is not that bad GiLoCatur thinks. She just lost 27 points for her national rating points.

As for Norazlisa Ramli who had MCF rating of 1323 in October 2010 losing one game to unrated opponent and another to Zainoor Maisarah, She had lost 62 points in a single rated tourney, to 1261.

The above is only humble opinion and analytical observation of GiLoCatur. GiLoCatur really hopes that all the Kelantan young players are given the chance and opportunity to play many more rated chess tournaments to shine and show their real talents. GiLoCatur also hopes that they will take the opportunity to participate in the coming Kelantan Closed event since it will be a nationally-rated tourney.

2011-01-19T21:36:00.006+08:00

RATING REVIEW 2011

The January MCF rating has been published. There are several Kelantan players who were active and they either gained points or lost them.

IM Mas gathered 5 points to still head the pack at 2275.

Nik Ahmad Farouqi lost a point and now stand at 1914, the same rating as the inactive Abdul Haq.

Nik Ahmad Nazri, who is now at 1789, gained 9 points to go above Syed Azizi.

Another active player, Ariez, was down 2 points from previous rating. He is now at 1605.

Izuddin Ahayat gain 10 points from the previous 1579 to overtake Rosmizal

However, nobody can deny that Norazlin Juarih (BadBishop) is the most progressive player in the period of October to January to gain 70 points to become 1561 from his previous 1491.

There is also a new entrant: Mohd Izani Mohd Tarizi starting at 1283.

Nevertheless, our junior players lost so many points, in particular:

Fatih Nor Sahariah lost 67 points from 1410 to stand at 1383.

Norazlisa lost 62 points from 1323 to 1261.

Nik Muhd Haziq lost 52 points from 1306, and

Muhd Faiz Zakaria lost 58 points from 1314 to stand at 1256.

I don't want to speculate, but there must be something wrong with our junior players. The lost of more than 50 rating points in the period of three months is not acceptable. We must address the problems quickly if we do not want to be too far behind of other states where the junior players are challenging the senior players regularly in big tournaments. I think it must be either the attitude of the players themselves who are not very keen to make self improvement, or the training methods which can not get their full potentials out. It is useless to point fingers at anybody in particular, but we must solve this problem together so that Kelantan will be a force to be reckoned with in the near future.

GOMO KELATE GOMO!

2011-01-15T08:51:00.004+08:00

KELANTAN CLOSED

PCNK's first event for 2011 will be a closed tournament for the state's born players. The tournament details are as follows:

Date: 4 - 5 February 2011

Venue: SMK Pahi hall, Kuala Krai

Overall prizes amount to RM3000 will be handed out to more than 30 winners divided into 6 categories. The tournament will be nationally rated event.

Further inquiries, please contact Nik Mohd Azrihan at 019-9866428

2011-01-11T21:24:00.003+08:00

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATOR (KPI)

Everybody now talks about KPI. It is a measurable target for each and every individuals in an institution; in accordance to their respective position. The KPI for a manager, for example, is different from an office boy and your KPI is different from mine. Even my KPI in chess is different from my KPI in my work. It is used to assess the success of our targets in every field.

Enough about the jargon. I just want to share my targets this year in my chess life. In chess, the indicator is obviously the rating. I have both FIDE rating and MCF rating, and I intend to increase both of them. Hopefully this year, I can achieve 2100 FIDE rating and 1700 MCF rating. In terms of coaching, I intend to have at least 3 students from my district (Tumpat) representing Kelantan in MSSM, insha Allah.

2010-12-31T07:34:00.005+08:00

MY GAMES AT CHESS.COM

Currently, I am a regular player at Chess.com. This is mainly because of its simple interface which is easy to use, and the opponents are really challenging. There are 4 categories of play - the blitz (anything from 3 minutes to 15 minutes), the standard (more than 15 minutes), the bullet (below 3 minutes) and the online chess, which is often mentioned as the correspondence chess. As for the end of this year, my ratings for each categories are:

2010-12-30T22:22:00.013+08:00

MSSM GAME ANALYSIS : TAY YI WEN vs SITI NUR AFIQAH

White: Tay Yi Wen (Sarawak)
Black: Siti Nur Afiqah (Kelantan)
Event: MSSM Perlis 2010

1. d4 d6 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 g6 4. g3 Bg7

Siti Nur Afiqah played the Pirc and won in the previous round against Pahang, so it is understandable she tried it again in this round. Likewise, her opponent did not choose the best defense by playing the g3 setup.

5. Bg2 b6

Afiqah wanted to put her Bishop at the long diagonal, but this is not the correct way to do it. It is not recommended to succumb oneself to open attacks, especially when the opponent's Bishop is pointing straight at our Rook! Luckily, her opponent did not find the best move, or else Afiqah would be in a big trouble. Here, Afiqah should continue with castling and only after that play c6, Qc7, b6 and Bb7.

6. Ng5

Better is 6.Ne5 when the best black can do is push 6... d5 or lose a pawn. 6... dxe5 is messy when 7.dxe5 leaves Black an exchange and a pawn down. 7... Qxd1+, 8.Nxd1 Ng4, 9.Bxa8 c6, 10.f4

6... c6 7. d5 Bb7 8. dxc6 Bxc6 9. Nge4 O-O 10. Nxf6+ Bxf6 11. Bxc6 Nxc6

White should have not made wholesale simplifications which made life easier for Black. There is no weakness in Black's fortress; her Bishop is still guarding the fort whereas White's Bishop had been exchanged with its counterpart.

12. O-O Bg7 13. e4 Rc8 14. a3 f5

A good move, opening up an attacking line towards White's King.

15. Re1 Qd7 16. Rb1 Rf7 17. Be3 Ne5 18. Bd4 fxe4

By hook or by crook, White has to part ways with her Bishop with absolutely no chance to exchange Black's g7 Bishop with its demise.

19. Rxe4 Nf3+ 20. Kg2 Nxd4 21.h4?

A mistake. White should take the Knight and accept the material deficit. 21.Rxd4 Bxd4, 22.Qxd4

21...Ne6 22. Qg4 Nc5

Now all Black has to do is exchanging off all the pieces.

23. Qxd7 Nxd7 24. Nd5 e5 25. f4

Another mistake, but it is understandable when White is on the verge of resigning.

25...Rxc2+ 26. Kh3 Nf6 27. Nxf6+ Bxf6 28. fxe5 Bxe5 29. b4 Rc3 30. Rg4 Rxa3 31. h5 Kg7 32. Rg1 Rf5 33. hxg6 hxg634. Kg2 Ra2+ 35. Kh1??

The final mistake. Black mates in three.

35...Rh5+ 36. Rh4 Rxh4+ 37. gxh4 Rh2# 0-1

Final position

2010-12-26T23:30:00.007+08:00

Laila Husna vs Hoh Tjin Li (Penang)

MSSM GAME ANALYSIS: LAILA HUSNA vs HOH TJIN LI

White: Laila Husna (Kelantan)
Black: Hoh Tjin Li (Penang)
Event: MSSM 2010 at Kangar, Perlis
Date: 7 June 2010

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e3

A wise move to sidestep the main line.

4... d6 5. Bd3 O-O 6. h3 Nbd7 7. Nf3 b6

The Bishop is seeking a greener pasture after the blockade at h3.

8. O-O Nh5 9. Be4!

Taking advantage of the absence of Bishop from the diagonal.

9... Rb8 10. b3?

Not quite in line with the previous move. A Queen move to a4 to insert pressure on a7 is the better option.

Analysis diagram after 10.Qa4

10... Bb7 11. Bxb7 Rxb7 12. Bb2 e6 13. Rb1 f5 14. Qd2 g5 15. e4

Attacking g5. White is not afraid of the push g4 when she can reply with Ng5 aiming for the weakness at e6.

15... h6 16. d5

A slight mistake. This move enables Black to recover from the weakness at e6. Better is 16.exf5 followed by 17.Nh2 to guard against the g4 push. Black must also consider two of her hanging pieces at h5 and b7.

16... e5 17. Qd3 g4 18. Nh2 Nf4 19. Qd1 gxh3 20. g3 Qg5 21. Bc1 Qg6 22. Kh1 fxe4 23. Qg4

A good move which forced the Queen exchanges, thus leaving the pawns at e4 and h3 susceptible to attacks.

23... Qxg4 24. Nxg4 Nh5 25. Nxe4 Nc5 26. Re1

26.Nxc5 loses immediately to 26... Nxh3+

26... Rbb8 27. Nxc5 bxc5 28. Re2 Kh7 29. Kh2 Nf6 30. Kxh3 Nxg4 31. Kxg4 Kg6 32. Be3 Rf5 33. Rh1 h5+ 34. Kh3 Rh8 35. Kg2 Bh6 36. Bxh6 Rxh6 37. Re4 Kg5 38. Reh4 Rf8 39. g4 Rfh8 40. gxh5 Rxh5 1/2-1/2

Final position

The final position is playable for white. After exchanging all the major pieces, white's King should be the more active. But with correct defense, black can hold its water. The game might continues

41.Rxh5+ Rxh5, 42.Rxh5+ Kxh5, 43.Kf3 Kg5, 44.Ke4 Kf6, 45.f4 exf4, 46.Kxf4 Kg6, 47.Kg4 Kf6, 48.Kh5 Kf5

which should be a draw. However, if black wants to be adventerous with 48...Ke5, 49.Kg5 will spell trouble because black needs at least 10 moves to white's 9 to promote the pawn. A sample line might run

49... Kd4, 50.Kf5 Kc3, 51.Ke6 Kb2, 52.Kd7 Kxa2, 53.Kxc7 Kxb3, 54.Kxd6

a) Now if black continues with the pawn advance, he will get the Queen. But after white gets the chance to exchange it, the extra pawn will become another Queen and checkmates black.

54... a5, 55.Kxc5 a4, 56.d6 a3, 57.d7 a2, 58.d8=Q a1=Q

b) If black chooses to take the c-pawn first, he will not get a chance to promote the pawn

54... Kxc4, 55.Kc6 a5, 56.d6 a4, 57.d7 a3, 58.d8=Q a2, 59. Qg8+

2010-12-08T01:43:00.001+08:00

IM MAS AND NAF AT PENANG OPEN

Two Kelantanese are flying the state flag at the Penang Open held from 8 - 12 December 2010. IM Mas Hafizulhelmi, ranked third in the event, started well with 2 wins out of 2 games by defeating Limono Handjojo (1845) and NM Tan Khai Boon (2126). Tomorrow he will face Ian Udani, a Pinoy who won lots of tournament in Malaysia. Meanwhile, Nik Ahmad Farouqi (picture above) also started well with a win and a draw. Tomorrow he will face a tough test against IM Ranola Yves, also from the Philippine. We hope that both of them will 'bring back the medals' along with out blessings.

The tournament results can be achieved at chess-result.com