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.

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?

COACHING STUDENTS

I like to share some tips for coaching primary (under-12 category) or secondary (under-15 and under-18) school students. There are several fun ways to coach them. Many of these training devices I revise from what I took from this interesting website.

1. Use time odds.
I give them 10 minutes to my 1 minute. There are many times where I lose on time, but mostly, I manage to survive. Nevertheless, some of them really use the given time wisely and think hard in order to beat me (I used their thinking time also for my replies). The merits of this device - using time wisely and handling the clock correctly.

2. Play pawn games.
I set up all the white and black pawns on their original squares, minus all the other pieces. Using a simple rule of those who manage to get a passed pawn first wins, I let them play against each other. The merits - learn to get passed pawns with correct handling of pawn formations.

3. Checkmate me.
I set up basic checkmate materials such as Queen and King vs lonely King, Rook and King vs lonely King etc. and ask them to checkmate me in only one minute. Of course most of them manage to checkmate me using the Queen, but many stumble when using a Rook. The merits - learn checkmate patterns, and most importantly, learn to think fast.

4. Puzzles.
I give them positions containing certain lessons learned earlier, e.g. pin, double check, double attack, en passant, and ask them to solve it. This device should be done in groups, so that they will try to beat the other groups for the solution. The merits - learn the fundamental tactics in chess.

5. Simuls.
All the students play against me simultaneously. Students must keep score of their game, and must not consult anybody throughout. Touch move only applies to the students, not me. During 2008 centralised training with the Gua Musang team, I played against all 36 students from all the age categories, winning all but 1 when I lost to a form 5 student from Sungai Asap. The merits - use all that have been learned in a competitive game.

CHESS LESSON LINKS

My colleague from MSSD Tumpat asked me to list some links to good chess lessons for him so that he can teach his students better chess. Here are the links which I think would be helpful for him:

Logical Chess
Chess Teacher Lessons
Teaching Your Child Chess
Chess Teaching Manual
Chess Corner

However, the coach must know how to effectively use these materials for the benefits of his charges. Examples should be taken from his/her own games so that the students will feel involved in the lessons.

Happy coaching!

SELECTION FOR SMKCE CHESS PLAYERS

This Saturday (30th January 2010) there will be a selection for SMKCE students who want to represent their school in this year's competition. I don't know whether there will be a good turnout, but I will train only those who are willing to sacrifice their time. I am told that last year's representative already finished his study, so I have to find new talents. The format of the selection will be chosen according to the number of students.

HOW TO COACH YOUNGSTERS

I am the coach for my school, and also the head coach for the Gua Musang team for MSSM, but I am still finding the best approach to coach these youngsters. No doubt that there are many potentials in the school team, and many more will be discovered when the district tournament is over next week, but all these will account to nothing if I could not find the best practical way to improve their skills and techniques. Last year I tried to instill everything from the opening to the ending part of the game, but still the younger ones, especially under-12s, made unnecessary moves, or moved against all that been taught. This year, with limited time for the central training compared to last year, I will try to focus only on what I think is necessary for their development. Moreover, I will try to personally coach only several who I think have the most potentials to make any inroads in the state championship.

CHESS CLUB IS NO MORE

This new year brings sadness to SMKTIP(2) Chess Club. Apart from being a club, it is now regarded as only a sport, thus no chairman or committee members are required. On the bright side, it is good for us that no annual meeting is needed. But, the downside is that it is hard to organise programmes, internally or externally, when there is no board members to do the work. However, for me as the advisor, or now called as a coach, I welcome this change as I have so many things to do. Handling a club requires more of my time than coaching a sport, which merely requires finding the talents and grooming them to participate in tournaments.

MY FIRST COACH

In my previous post, I told you about how I started to play this game, at the age of 15. However, my chess adventures really started with a coach when I was at IIUM Matriculation Centre (now called Centre for Foundation Studies). He is Mr. Ismail Ahmad (already mentioned about him in one of my post). Mr. Hairulov took the liberty to interview him during his Hari Raya open house recently. Thank you very much. Here is some facts about my first coach (taken from Hairulov's blog) :

1. Although not yet a Grandmaster (GM), Ismail must be proud to achieve the Grandfather (GF) title ! He has two GF norms already (two lovely grandson!) and only need one more "norm" to confirm the title.

2. He won the World Police Chess Champion in Barcelona in 2003. One incident happen before the prize giving ceremony when the organiser refuse at first to award Ismail the prize because there's a dispute about Ismail nationality. Some players claim that Ismail is a Philipines or Indonesian (two strong chess countries) illegally play for Malaysia which is not so strong country (generally known). They ask for Ismail Identity Card ( I.C) to prove his nationality which is ridiculous because Ismail's passport should be good enough to prove it. Eventually after some clarification, they award the prize to Ismail anyway.

3. Ismail said that he is a chess maniac, sometimes he will read chess book in a restroom (when nature calls!) which is quite a common habit among chess fanatics.

4. In one case, while waiting for his wife meeting the doctor in the clinic...Ismail wait outside in his car and play chess online!

5. He won US Army Open (open for uniform organisation - police,army,etc..) in 2004 for both category (classical and blitz!).

6. He is lately sponsored by his sister in law who own a motorcycle shop - JEFFOLEA in Sungai Petani, Kedah. The company sponsor his tournament expenses such as his tournament fee, accommodation, notebook, transport, t-shirt and jacket.

7. Beside doing some private chess coaching, Ismail is appointed as JEFFOFLEA chess coach.


Below are some of his chess achievements :-

• 1990 - Allegro Kedah - Champion
• 1991 - PAMERAN BUKU ANTARABANGSA - Champion
• 1992 - Malay Open - Runners up
• 5 times Selangor Champion.
• 1999 - Malay Master Champion (I was the co-organiser when I was the president of IIUM Chess Club)
• 2001 - National Closed runners up
• 3 times MERDEKA OPEN Champion
• 2003 - UNIVERSITY of CYBERJAYA Open Champion
• 3 times PDRM sportsman nominees
• 5 times MAKSAK best board winner
• 2 times MAKSAK sporstman nominees
• 2003 - WORLD POLICE CHESS CHAMPION - Barcelona, Spain
• 2003 - Bronze Medalist - SEA Games - Vietnam
• 2003 - Terengganu Open - runners up
• 2003 - MERDEKA Team Champion
• 2004 - PINGAT B.P.P. SEMPENA KEPUTERAAN YG DI PERTUAN AGONG
• 2004 - US Army Open (Classical)
• 2004 - US Army Open ( Blitz)
• 2006 - UIA Open - Runners up
• 2006 - ROYAL SELANGOR CLUB OPEN -runners up
• 2007 - FIDE Rating MCF InvitationTournament - Champion
• 2007 - MERDEKA Team (STANDARD) - Champion
• 2007 - GERAK KHAS Open (MELAKA) -Runners up
• 2008 - KLUANG(JOHOR) Open - Champion
• 2008 - BANDARAYA JOHOR Open - runners Up
• 2008 - TOP 3 National Closed
• 2008 - Malaysian Best Team (MERDEKA Rapid)
• 2008 - best Board (MERDEKA rapid)
• 2008 - Kuala Langat Open Champion

One of my game against him while he was still my coach (I have one more recent encounter with him at Royal Selangor Open, but unfortunately it is still on the scoresheet in my home at Gua Musang. I will post it next time).

Ismail Ahmad - Yours Truly
IIUM Convo Simul, 22.11.1997
Veresov Opening

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d5 3.Bg5 Nbd7 4.f3 h6 5.Bh4 c6 6.e4 g5 7.Bf2 Bg7 8.e5 Nh7 9.Bd3 e6 10.Qd2 a6 11.a4 Nhf8 12.Nge2 c5 13.dxc5 Nxe5 14.0-0 Bd7 15.Ng3 h5 16.Rfe1 h4 17.Nge2 h3 18.Ng3 hxg2 19.Kxg2 Rxh2+ 20.Kf1 Nxf3 21.Qe2 Nxe1 22.Rxe1 Bxc3 23.bxc3 Bxa4 24.Nf5 Nd7 25.Ng7+ Kf8 26.Nxe6+ fxe6 27.Qxe6 Qf6 28.Qxf6+ Nxf6 29.Kg1 Rh6 30.Bd4 Re8 31.Rf1 Kf7 32.c4 Bc6 33.cxd5 Bxd5 34.c4 Rh1+ 35.Kf2 Rxf1+ 36.Bxf1 Bc6 37.Bd3 a5 0-1

MEMORABLE COMBINATIONS

Yours Truly - Lim Yeang Khee
GACC III (Round 6), 28.10.1998

This position arose from the Pirc Defense, and both sides were attacking their opponents King vigorously. Black has just played 26...Nd5, attacking my Queen. Do I run away, or do I plot another move?

27.Rxh7+
My first coach was an ex-National player who drills everybody into sacrificing, sacrificing and sacrificing your pieces in order to gain an advantage, or to burn your opponent's castle. Moves like this were filling my head during that time due to many exercises he gave us during the training sessions. Actually, if you really look into the position deeply, you can see that there is a possibility of a King hunt. You only have to pry open the castle's door by sacrificing a piece.

27...Kxh7 28.Qf7+ Kh6 29.Rh1+ Kg5 30.f4+ Nxf4
Even 30...Kg4 cannot help in view of 31.Qxg6+ Kxf4 32.Rh5 and mate is not that far away. I cannot help but smiled when he moved the Knight and captured the sacrificed (yes, another sacrifice, and its called 'clearance sacrifice' - according to some books) little pawn. It only made my task easier. By now there were many spectators gathering around our table; our teammates included.

31.Nf3+ Kg4 32.Rh4+ Kg3 33.Qxf4+ Kf2 34.Nd4+ 1-0
Boy, what a great feeling to come out victorious after the see-saw battle! Black surely had nightmares afterward, I know I will after being defeated by a junior like me (I was still in matriculation when summoned to play for the University team).

Final position