MISTAKES IN FIDE RATING CALCULATION

I haven't played FIDE rated tournament for donkey's years, and when I finally played one last month, I made an effort to find out about the way to calculate FIDE rating. After browsing through the materials, I found a website, ELO Calculator, which really helped me in this aspect. My calculation showed that I lost 3 points from my FIDE rating after the tournament. 

When the latest FIDE rating was published last September, I found mistakes, at least involving me and my teammates ratings. Here are the mistakes:

Yours Truly

According to chess results, I played against 5 rated players with 4/5 results. However, according to FIDE rating website, I only played against 4 rated players with 3/4 results. My rating changed from 2014 into 2011.

Baharuddin Hamzah

According to chess results, Baharuddin played against 3 rated players with 1/3 results. However, according to FIDE rating website, he played against 4 rated players with 1/4 results. This leads to him being deducted up to 16 points for losing to lower rated player whom he didn't meet at the tournament (Syed Abdul Rahman Syed Mohd)! I don't have to stress that this player gets 10 points for defeating Baharuddin then.

There are others who are affected also because of these mistakes. I hope the organiser and FIDE will rectify this promptly.

IM YEOH LI TIAN vs GM VISWANATHAN ANAND TBILISI 2017

FIDE World Cup had my attention this year. It is held in Tbilisi, Georgia and it featured one of the best current Malaysian player, IM Yeoh Li Tian. 

I was on holidays but I still found some time to watch the games.

It only lasted two games, but our own IM made them very eventful. I don't have anything but praise for the way IM Yeoh Li Tian took GM Anand in the games. In fact, many of his moves surprised me as they were really energetic. Going for the Queen sacrifice in Round 1 and taking the initiative with the Black pieces in Round 2 gave me goosebumps. It was clear that the ex-World Champion was going for the draw by choosing the exchange variation so Yeoh was forced to play aggressively. In the end, he went down fighting. 

Congratulations. 

The games

Round 1

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1884627

Round 2

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1884695

Some video coverage on the games from Youtube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHOEMp5dhQA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95SEXiMc9dI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFs-2TpUM_4

NEW YEAR, NEW TARGET

It has been a week into the new year and it has been very stimulating in terms of my chess life. Workloads prevent me from blogging all this while, but I try to take some time writing for the start of the year. Sitting at the helm of the PCNK pressures me to become very active in order to deliver the promise that PCNK will be better compared to last year. On top of that, the usual task of arranging teachers' teaching schedule at my workplace has also made it paramount to divide my responsibilities equally. 

On the PCNK side, we have started a revolution of sorts by publishing a calendar of PCNK programmes for this year. We also collect the annual fee in order to determine the eagerness of the members to be actively involved in the activities. The method of the payment for chess tournament organized by PCNK has also been upgraded. We do not want any delay in tournament schedule anymore and this can be greatly achieved by not accepting any payment on the tournament day. 

I've recently managed to get in touch with some old friends from IIUM days and they, being Kelantanese, too want to get involved with PCNK programmes this year. It is heartwarming to actually receive some help from them in organizing the planned events as PCNK is a non-profit organization and it is run by committees with other commitments like myself. 

Performance wise, I would like to set myself a target of regaining 2000 FIDE rating for stardard games that I've lost last year and to achieve 1800 National Rating. In order to do that I must strive to get some FIDE rated events under my belt while keeping National Rated events also in check. 

I could see exciting times ahead. MOVE ON!

MERDEKA TEAM CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP

In conjunction with 12th Malaysian Chess Festival, a team tournament will be held this Friday at Mid Valley, KL. It is organized by Dato' Athur Tan Chess Centre (DATCC), a prominent name in chess organising in KL area. The details are as follows:

Date: 18-19 September 2015 (Friday-Saturday)

Format: 9 rounds Swiss system with 25 minutes time allocation to the finish for each player. 

Venue: Mid Valley, Kuala Lumpur

It will be a FIDE Rated Rapid event and is already mentioned in FIDE website. 

PCNK will be sending two teams to the event. I am fortunate enough to be in the team as my current performance is not something I am proud of. However, I will do my best so as not to let the other teammates down. They are currently on a high after getting podium finish here and there, notably in Pahang recently, and they surely don't want me to disturb the ongoing flow. 

As for me, after a mistake which deprived me of taking my students to the UiTM Open this month, the same mistake might cost me a rest day ahead of the journey to KL. The letter which supposedly arrive at my department this week is yet to be seen, thus, I might have to go to school tomorrow before departing.

Hopefully I will get the rest I need before the first round game.

The Red Knight jersey we will be wearing

 

A TOUCH OF REALITY

Reality hurts. A lot. I must accept the fact that I am not as strong as I once was. Losing to lower rated opponents repeatedly confirms that I am now on the decline. I just could not see what was happening on the board anymore. I developed the pieces and then lost my way in the calculations. I thought finishing marking my students' papers would help me focus on the task, but it did not. The downfall was apparent since game number one where I could not finish off my opponent in an easy endgame.

10 years elapsed since my first FIDE rating of 2065 which eventually went up to 2068 in 2011, and now it stands at 1943, a massive 125 points drop because of a single tournament, The National Closed. This was a tournament I never entered before, and this will be a tournament I will hardly play in the future, considering that I could not even beat a 16++ opponent which will make my task in the upcoming selections harder.

Diagnosing on the factors, I do believe the inability to successfully solve the problems I currently have is the numero uno. Even though I hid them in the back of my head, they still unconsciously disturbed my calculations. Until I am free from these disturbances, I can never play my best games. Sadly, I cannot see a solution to these problems in the near future, which will mean that my best games are still going to be far, far away.

Hopefully, I could drag myself out of these mess sooner rather than later.  

The Red Knights

The Red Knights

As for my teammates, I am glad that they had fared better. Two of them (Dr. Nasrul and Nik Ahmad Farouqi) were among the top 15 in the Open Category while Najihah was 11th in the Female Category. Even though none of the Red Knights managed to become national flag bearer this time, we were proud of our achievement.

You can read more about this in PCNK website.
 

MY CHESS ACTIVITIES FOR 2015

In 2015, Kelantan chess fans are treated with tournaments for all levels of play, starting with NCCS Rapid Chess Series for age groups, which was held on 19th February at SMK Raja Sakti, Kota Bharu and the much awaited ZADANO Kelantan Open, an international FIDE-rated event, a day later. A turn-out of more than 160 players for each tournament means that Kelantan chess enthusiasts are really craving for playing time after nearly tournament-less year of 2014. 

Personally, I was involved in both. Here are my views on each :

NCCS Rapid Chess Series

Youth players competed in three categories of Under 12, Under 15 and Under 18, respectively. The tournament was a great sparring prelude for the upcoming MSSM which will be in June, as well as respective district and state selections. I was told that there will be other similar tournaments (hence the word SERIES) which will be held at the same venue. I think this is very good for the target group as there will be plenty of tournaments to toughen them up before the big game. 

I brought some of my Project Squad from Tumpat, and one of them did very well in winning the best female under 12 category. 

ZADANO Kelantan Open

I was personally involved with this one, as the organizer and also a player. It was daunting, but it was rewarding. Objectively, the tournament was held to fund the purchase of chess clocks for PCNK. We got what we wanted, and we also got more than we bargained for. Bonds with SMKA Naim and also the Kelantan Sports & Youth Department were sealed, as well as ties with players from Lipis and Kuantan. There will also be new FIDE rated Kelantan players to be added to the existing ones.

The list of ZADANO winners can be read here.

PCNK General Meeting was also held in the eve of the first day, but the turnout was still far from satisfying. Nonetheless, new committee was formed and, reluctantly, I was chosen as the new President for 2015 - 2017 (read about the new committee here).

Anonymously, the meeting agreed that the representatives for the National Closed (a) would be taken from the best in this very tournament, while (b) taking into account their rating qualification. After the final round, this is the final verdict : 

1. Nik Ahmad Farouqi

2. Wan Mohd Adli

3. Yours Truly

4. Nik Mohd Nazri

5. Bakri

There are two slots for State Representatives for the Open Category and another two slots for Female Category. With the FIDE rating of 2063 and National Rating of 1979, Nik Ahmad Farouqi qualified hands down for the first slot. Wan Mohd Adli, with National Rating of 1485, on the other hand, did not qualify because of (b) rating qualification. Therefore, the next best was Yours Truly with the FIDE rating of 2068 and National Rating of 1696, who qualified based on both (a) and (b). Najihah and Nurwahida Atira completed the remaining slots. 

So, here I am, on the verge of competing in a FIDE rated classical time control for the first time since 2011. Hopefully I can do something in this National Closed. I already completed marking for all my students for March test to focus on this tournament. My games at ZADANO were far from convincing, yet, I still believe.

VENUE CONFIRMED FOR ZADANO KELANTAN OPEN 2014

Google Street View of SMKA Naim Lilbanat, Kota Bharu

The venue for Zadano Kelantan Open has been confirmed. It will be held at Haji Yaacub Hall, SMKA Naim Lilbanat, Kota Bharu. It is situated at Jalan Sultan Yahya Petra and is easily accessible by any kind of transportation. 

Some of the hotels and accommodations nearby:

1. Renaissance Hotel

2. Leo Mutiara Hotel

3. Kami Hotel

4. MCna Homestay

5. D' Naja Inn

6. Tune Hotel
7. Perdana Hotel
8. Al-Quds Hotel
9. Saf Inn
10. BBP Hotel

For reminders:

The closing date is 22 December 2014.

CARLSEN vs ANAND 2014

Sochi will witness the rematch of last year's World Championship match between the reigning World Champion, Magnus Carlsen and the challenger Viswanathan Anand. Will there be something new from Anand's camp? Or will it be same old, same old for Carlsen? Currently at the time of writing, Carlsen has just won the second game with the white pieces after drawing the first game with black. Hopefully Anand will bounce back because the whole world want to see a fair fight. 

You may witness the duel on the official site here.

ps: Carlsen looked very old in the above picture taken from the official site :)

ANAND vs CARLSEN - Final Episode

Anand finally started with 1.d4. A Nimzo-Indian ensued and we quickly found that Carlsen was under pressure right from the start. He was behind in time and also space and was in danger of being checkmated. However, with nerves of steel, he counter attacked on the opposite wing and got a passed pawn. In the end, this passed pawn contributed to the demise of a champion. 

I really feel sad for Anand. He must win the remaining 3 games to go level and bring the championship into tie breaks. It will be amazing if he really pulls that out, though. If today's game ends in a draw, he will surely regret the draws he had wasted in the first and second games.

Click on the picture to browse the gallery and click on the caption below for the 'live' video. Credit goes to the official website.

Game 9 Game 9 (Press Conference)

Game 10 (Part 1) (Part 2)
(Press Conference)

ANAND vs CARLSEN - Episode 2

At last, the first win goes to Carlsen. I kind of expected the result after seeing that Carlsen has managed to gain momentum, especially in Game 4. He might have accustom himself with the climate and atmosphere of Chennai, as well as to its people. Slowly, he took out his arsenal and started firing, although I must admit that part of Anand's weak defending led to his downfall today. He should have probably known by now that messy positions suit Carlsen very well, and they should be avoided if possible. 

On the bright side, they will be plenty of games to go. I personally think that there are still exciting games coming, much to the delight of chess fans worldwide. We have seen Reti, Caro Kann, Berlin and Queen's Gambit Semi Slav (if I'm not mistaken, as shown by my chess programme). Being Carlsen, he might come out with more openings in the course of the 12 games. 

Click on the picture to browse the gallery and click on the caption below for the 'live' video. Credit goes to the official website.

Game 5 Game 5 (Press Conference)

Game 6 Game 6 (Press Conference)

Game 7 Game 7 (Press Conference)

Game 8 Game 8 (Press Conference)

ANAND vs CARLSEN - Episode 1

I, like the rest of the chess world right now, am following the Chennai World Chess Championship where the current World Champion, Viswanathan Anand is playing the highest rated player of all time, Magnus Carlsen. This is the sternest test yet for the World Champion, as Carlsen is not a pushover. He is up there, by the way, and will strive to justify his rating by winning this battle between two generations. 

During my early chess days, I like Anand very much. Then, he was dubbed 'The lightning kid from Madras'. I was inspired by one of his rapid games featured in JAGUH (a chess column in Berita Harian a long time ago) that I took up French Defense as my first opening. I still like him, though. He is arguably the best prepared chess player for this kind of world class tournament, as his five world championship titles show. He even has the home advantage this time.

As for Carlsen, I first heard about him when he nearly beat Kasparov in 2004, the one and only time they faced each other in a competitive chess match. I thought that, 'Wow! I would like him to replace Kasparov in the near future'. Nearly 10 years later, he has the chance to prove that he should be the one holding the title. He did a lot of interviews, and I watched some of them. As a thirteen-year-old boy, interviewed after his game against Kasparov, he did say that he wanted to be the world champion. I was in awe! He showed maturity beyond his age in most of the interviews. 

After two opening games, they are still even. I suspect that both are still studying each other's preparation. Although some of the viewers have already labeled this match as 'boring', I still think that there is so much more to come. As much as I want Anand to win this, I also want Carlsen to get his wish. 

What do YOU think?

Can you imagine these videos airing at ASTRO? I sure can't. Nevertheless, enjoy! (Click on the picture to browse the gallery and click on the caption below for the 'live' video. Credit goes to the official website)

Game 1

Game 2

Game 3

Game 4 (Part 1) Game 4 (Part 2)

SHOULD CHESS BE POLITICISED?

What's with the infighting? As a developing chess nation, we absolutely do not need this kind of problem. Instead, every chess player in this country should be working hand in hand to upgrade the level of chess in terms of quality and also quantity. Quality wise, we desperately need a Grand Master. Quantity wise, we need lots of them! It does not matter what race will our first Grand Master be - Malay, Chinese, Indian or even Iban - as long as we have one. The last thing I want to hear is the turbulence in the stewardship of our country's main chess federation.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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!