MAY ALLAH BLESS YOU, IA ABDUL LATIF MOHAMAD

I knew competitive chess in 1996 when I was in IIUM Matriculation in Lembah Pantai. The first tournament I entered was IIUM Open held at IIUM Main Campus Petaling Jaya. There I had my first tournament game (a draw against Azhari Mohd Nor) and there also I knew the late IA Abdul Latif Mohamad.

Then, there was no computer pairing system. It was manually done and he was among the experts at that. It was the first of my many encounters with him throughout the years because he was really close with the IIUM Chess Club members, especially Rizal Ahmad Kamal (one of my coach) and his gang.

Fast forward 20 years later, his health deteriorated which limited his participation in chess. I hardly ever met him from 2006 onward, mainly because I had already returned to my hometown to become a teacher. News about him came either from reading in the media or through social interaction with chess friends.

On 20 September 2018, the final news came in sadness. He passed away at approximately 9 p.m. As fellow Muslim, I was grateful because passing away in the eve of a Friday is considered a dream of many Muslims.

May Allah bless you, IA Abdul Latif Mohamad.

* I'm still searching for my old chess files because I might have something original to be shared here. As for now, I'll settled with a profile picture taken from his blog SIFU.mycatur.

MAY ALLAH BLESS YOU, CM AHMAD FADZIL BIN NAYAN

CM Ahmad Fadzil bin Nayan

Died 18 January 2015, 9.08 p.m.

I had high hopes for him. I regarded him as one of the candidates to ever get a Grandmaster title for Malaysia. Even though I never had a chance to play against him in tournaments, I know that he was a very gifted player. I really like him as a person, even more so because he represented the very same team I once represented - the IIUM chess team. Although the name has been changed into IIUM Mustangs (IIUM Knights previously), it is of the same honour. I once pictured a contest between the current IIUM Mustangs versus IIUM Knights in my post but now, the Mustangs team will never be the same again.

The latest news I have heard about him was when he fell sick in the Malaysian Chess Festival held here in Kuala Lumpur after drawing with Grandmaster Zhang Zhong. He recovered but his death came as a surprise to me. Leaving the world at a very young age is not in anybody's plan yet God's plan is greater. Let us pray together so that Allah grants his place in the heaven.

Here are some pictures taken from fellow chess players in tribute to him:

If you want to share your stories or your pictures with him in this post, please do so in the comments below. THANK YOU.

IIUM OPEN

IIUM Sports Development Centre in collaboration with Ministry of Education (MOE) and Malaysian Chess Federation (MCF) will be organizing the 6th IIUM Chess Invitational Tournament 2014 scheduled to be held on 18th October 2014 at Multipurpose Hall, Female Sports Complex, International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), Gombak.

This tournament will be divided into three categories which are Open Category, Under-21 Category and Under-12 Category.

 

Please register before the closing date stated. Late entry registration will not be entertained. 

 

Entry fee must be paid before the registration day. Payment by cheque should be written in the name of BENDAHARI UIAM. Or you can bank in to Maybank Account No. 158284093811 (Miss Nurul Najmi Bt. Bakar). Please provide the proof of payment or bank in slip during the registration day.

 

Any inquiries, kindly contact the Secretariats:-

Mrs. Norsharmila Zabani
Tel.: 016-3332207
E-mail  : sharmila@iium.edu.my

Miss. Nurul Najmi Bakar
Tel.: 016-4452501
E-mail  : nurulnajmibakar@gmail.com

Mr. Ahmad Azfar Azmi
Tel.: 017-6709644
E-mail  : azfar64master@yahoo.com

Mr. Wan Muhammad Shafiq Mohd Shukri
Tel.: 017-8172998
E-mail  : kingafiq@yahoo.com.my

A BLAST FROM THE PAST

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

BLOGGERS AT WAR!

Today I was at SMK Chengal to watch Kota Bharu players battle it out to be the district reps. I bumped into Bad Bishops (BB), who went to cheer for his students. Unfortunately, my camera was not available and I did not take any pictures. The selection was held for two days (3-4 April 2010) and the winners will be announced tomorrow.

In the mean time, BB and I played a game while waiting for the third round to commence. It started as a French (I played Black), and after a series of exchanges, BB was true to his name when he had two Bishops against my two Knights (I was captain of IIUM Knights several years back, before they change the name to IIUM Mustangs nowadays). Consequently, further exchanges leads to an interesting pawn endgame where Black had double f-pawns.

Here is the position; Black to move and end the game:

Answer: 1...f5! 0-1

HANIF vs IIUMCHESSMASTER, FINAL POSITION

Final position

At last, White resigns. After more than a year playing the game, White decides that it is best that he does not continue the pain. The game started on December 7th, 2008 as a Morra Gambit, his pet line, against my Sicilian. He skillfully mixed up the order of the opening moves, but I maintained my composure and went along with him. However, the game became interesting when he blundered away a central pawn with 25.Rd2? and I took advantage. The resulting Queen + Rook + Pawns endgame was still dangerous play, however, and I managed to force the exchange of Queens with 29...Qc7+ to enter the Rook endgame with a passed d-pawn. He created a Queenside passed pawn, in order to get a counterplay, but the death of this pawn signaling the demise of any hope.

RAKAN MUDA GACC 2009 - 14th EDITION

University of Calcutta won the this year's Rakan Muda GACC ahead of 19 other teams held recently at the Tuanku Bahiyah Residential College, UM. Nanyang Technological University was second with International Islamic University Malaysia (team A) finished third. Kudos for my former teammates for becoming a strong team after training under a formidable coach, Mr. Fadli 'Stonemaster' Zakaria.

However, this weak edition of GACC makes an interesting observation - has GACC lost its prestigous charm? Looking at the participating teams, there were no more than 4 oversea universities which came to play in the team category. There were no teams from Iran, and regrettably none from our ASEAN countries apart from a university from Singapore. Most of them prefer to participate in the open individual category or ladies category. I missed the time when the format of the championship was solely for teams (GACC 1 - 3) way back in 1996. Nowadays, we hardly feel the pressure playing for teams anymore as the format changes to individual plays.

Not to take the credits away from current IIUM team members, because it is still hard playing in this format. To get 5.5 points from possible 9 is quite an achievement; my best was 5 points in GACC 5 (if I'm not mistaken). It is still the best chance for students to get rating norms freely because their respective universities are paying for that. My rating calculation included GACC games, and with the outstanding fees involved to play an open rated game it is advisable to take part in GACC, if you are still legally capable.

Nevertheless, these are the current IIUM team members:

1. Wan Mohd Fazli bin Wan Nawawi
2. Ahmad Fadzil bin Nayan
3. Abdullah Khairi bin Kamarul Zaman
4. Mohd Musa al-Ashaari bin Mohd Azmi
5. Che Muhammad Hafiz bin Che Ismail
6. Nurul Najmi binti Bakar



Final results:

Team Category

Open Category

Ladies Category

2nd IIUM INVITATION CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP

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

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

Fax: 03-6196 4749

Email: alan_ruruka@yahoo.com


Under 21 Category/Under 12 Category

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

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


Open Category

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

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

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

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

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

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

COLIN SURVIVES MARATHON, LOSES ONLY ONCE

Thanks for the mention in your blog. The final number of games played was 151. I won 116 games, drew 34 and lost 1. My playing performance was 88%. The match lasted 9 hours 50 mins. The actual number of players was 137. Thanks again.

This is the results for Colin Madhavan's record breaking simul. As mentioned by him personally above, he lost only once from 151 games. Even though I did not fully understand what he said, but we should salute this guy who has a very strong stamina. I myself did simuls when I was at the university (my best there was 15 in a go, beating all of them, university teammates) and in central trainings for the Gua Musang MSSM team (36 students, lost 1), I knew that it was a very demanding task, testing your body to the limit, especially your legs.

WHEN I WAS...

... still at the IIUM Matriculation Centre, I entered many rapid tournaments in order to gain some experience. One of the tournament I went to was the UKM Convocation Open Chess in 1998. I registered early through my friend who happened to be the tournament committee member, but I was late on the tournament day. I lost the first game by default, but I quickly recovered and won the other 5 games and drew one to get 7th placing.

Here is a game between me and my fellow blogger, Nassero, whom I stumbled upon in the last round. He practically begged me to post this game, maybe because there was no score sheet at the time, and I was crazy enough to return home and record the game afterwards. The game was marred with inaccuracies because I was still new at chess, and, of course, I was, and still, not a chess master.

White: Yours Truly
Black: Nassero
UKM 26th Convo Open (Round 7)
27.06.1998

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Nxd5 6.d4 Be6 7.Nxe6 fxe6 8.0-0 Qd7 9.Nc3 0-0-0 10.Re1 exd4 11.Nxd5 exd5 12.Bb5 Bc5 13.Bf4 Rhf8 14.Bg3 a6 15.Bd3 g6 16.a3 Bd6 17.b4 Bxg3 18.hxg3 Ne7 19.a4 c6 20.Qd2 Nf5 21.b5 Kb8 22.bxa6 b6 23.Rab1 Ka7 24.a5 b5 25.Bxf5 Rxf5 26.Qxd4+ Ka8 27.Re3 Qa7 28.Qb6 Qd7 29.Rbe1 Rb8 30.Re8 Rf8 31.Qxb8# 1-0

CONGRATULATIONS, ALIZA!

Remember the girl in my drawing in my previous post? Well, recently I visited her at her new house in Bandar Sunway, Semenyih with my wife. We went to see her newborn baby, Aqif Naufal. He is a healthy boy, born 3.1 kg, three months ago. Aliza was a chess player for IIUM team. She is still actively involve in chess, albeit only as a coach at school level. I hope her students will one day become good chess players also, representing their states in MSSM tournaments.

Some of her pictures while still playing for IIUM:


Here is a game I played against her in one of our training sessions:

Yours Truly - Aliza
Training, 03.12.1997

1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.Bc4 e5 5.Nge2 Be6 6.d5 Na5 7.dxe6 Nxc4 8.exf7+ Kxf7 9.Bg5 Nb6 10.f3 Be7 11.Qd2 Nfd7 12.Bxe7 Qxe7 13.0-0-0 Rad8 14.Nb5 Nc5 15.Ng3 g6 16.h4 h5 17.Nf1 a6 18.Nc3 Nba4 19.Nd5 Qe6 20.Nxc7 Qxa2 21.Qd5+ Qxd5 22.Nxd5 Nd7 23.Nfe3 Rc8 24.Rd2 Rhd8 25.c4 Ke6 26.b3 Nac5 27.Kb2 Rf8 28.b4 Na4+ 29.Kb3 b5 30.Rhd1 Rfd8 31.cxb5 axb5 32.Rd3 Nac5+ 33.bxc5 Nxc5+ 34.Kb4 Nxd3+ 35.Rxd3 Rb8 36.Nc7+ Kd7 37.Ned5 Rf8 38.Ra3 Rb7 39.Ra6 Rfb8 40.Ra1 Kc6 41.Ne6 Kd7 42.Nec7 ½-½

MORRA GAMBIT AGAIN, HANIF ARKURNI?

Morra Gambit surfaces again. According to Rizal Ahmad Kamal, the ladies team of the Malaysian Para Games Contingent used it to claim the gold medals in the Para Games in Korat, Thailand in 2008. I used to think that this is an opening for those who are very lazy, but I forgot to reason that even Morra Gambit has its various lines to consider, depending on the Black's position. One of my colleague in IIUM used it effectively as his main arsenal. He continues using it now in our on-going correspondence game. We have reach the position below:

Black just moved 13... Bd7

CURRENT IIUM PLAYERS vs EX-IIUM PLAYERS

I had this vision for a long time now, but do not have the tools and means to make it happen. I cannot help but think whether the current batch of players are stronger than before, but I know that any comparison is unfair to both side of players. The only means to test this idea is to put those players on the table and battle it out. Currently, there are several players worth mentioning -- Ahmad Fadhil Nayan, Abdullah Khairi KZ, Bakri Abdul Karim and Wan Mohd Fadli. While on the other side we had Rizal Ahmad Kamal, Mohd Hanif Arkurni, Mohd Azizul, Mohd Rezal Che Man and 'Abdu ur-Rahman. I wonder who will come on top?

BLINDFOLD CHESS

Blindfold means playing chess without looking at the board. It requires the player to memorize chess positions until the end of the game. It strengthen the chess player's memory, as well as stamina as playing it will double the task for the brain. First you have to remember the current position, before thinking about the reply for your opponent's move. I tried to play simultaneous blindfold games with only three of my 'students' during my coaching time at IIUM, and I managed a win, a draw, and a defeat. I enclose here my first blindfold game when I was still at a secondary school in Kelantan. Even though I lost the game, there were several interesting moves made by both of us, in the 3-hour long game!

Yours Truly - Hanif Arkurni
Casual (Blindfold)
SMU (A) Al-Ma'ahad Al-Muhammadi, Pengkalan Chepa, Kota Bharu, Kelantan.
1995

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Qxd4 Nc6 5.Bb5 Bd7 6.Bxc6 bxc6 7.c4 Nf6 8.Nc3 g6 9.Rb1 Bg7 10.b3 Nh5 11.Qd2 Qa5 12.Bb2 0-0 13.0-0 Bg4 14.Nd4 Rac8 15.Kh1 Qe5 16.Nce2 c5 17.Nf5 Qe6 18.Nxg7 Nxg7 19.f3 Bh5 20.Qh6 f6 21.Nf4 Qd7 22.Nh3 e5 23.Rbd1 Rcd8 24.Bxe5 fxe5 25.Rxd6 Qxd6 26.Ng5 Rf7 27.Qxh7+ Kf8 28.g4 Qf6 29.gxh5 Qxg5 30.hxg6 Rd2 31.Rg1 Qf6 32.Qh8+ Ke7 33.Rg3 Rf8 34.Qh3 Nf5 35.exf5 Rh8 36.Qg4 Rhxh2+ 37.Kg1 Rhe2 38.Kf1 Rh2 39.f4 Rd1+ 40.Qxd1 Rh1+ 41.Ke2 Rxd1 42.Kxd1 Qh4 43.Rg5 Qxf4 44.Rh5 Qf3+ 45.Kd2 Qxh5 46.g7 Qg5+ 0-1

SMS CHESS

A friend of mine ask me to put in my blog the game we played through short message service (SMS) for the duration of nearly one year. Yes, for chess enthusiasts like both of us, we can play chess using anything, including our handphone. I remembered when we were in our secondary school (SMU Ma'ahad Muhammadi, Pengkalan Chepa), we used to play blindfold chess. The reason was because chess was prohibited by the discipline teacher, and he confiscated all the chess sets brought by the students to the school. The safer option was to play the beloved game blinfolded, thus avoiding from getting our chess sets being taken.

Back to the game, it was a game of correspondence nature, using all the means available eg. books or even computer programme, to analyse the game before making a move. Thus, silly mistakes were avoided, and strong moves were made which ended the game with a draw. How true a quote by Fischer, "I think it's almost definite that the game is a draw theoretically."

Yours Truly - IIUM Top Player [B00]
SMS game, 31.12.2005 - 25.11.2006
Owen Defence

1.e4 b6 2.d4 Bb7 3.Nd2 e6 4.Ngf3 Nf6 5.Bd3 Be7 6.Qe2 d5 7.0-0 c5 8.c3 Qc7 9.Re1 0-0 10.e5 Nfd7 11.Nf1 Nc6 12.Bf4 cxd4 13.cxd4 Rfc8 14.Rac1 Qd8 15.a3 a6 16.Qe3 Na5 17.Bg5 Nc4 18.Bxe7 Qxe7 19.Qe2 b5 20.Ne3 a5 21.Rc2 Ba6 22.Rec1 Ndb6 23.Nd1 b4 24.axb4 axb4 25.b3 Na3 26.Rc5 Bxd3 27.Qxd3 Qd8 28.h4 h6 29.Qd2 Nd7 30.Rxc8 Rxc8 31.Rxc8 Qxc8 32.Qxb4 Qc1 33.Kh2 Nc2 34.Qe7 Qf4+ 35.Kh1 Nf8 36.Ne3 Nxe3 37.fxe3 Qxe3 38.b4 h5 39.Qc7 g5 40.hxg5 h4 41.Qc2 h3 42.Qd2 Qb3 43.Kh2 hxg2 44.Nh4 ½-½

UNSUCCESSFUL OUTING

Venue: CAC Hall, IIUM
Date: 16th November 2008
Format: 8 rounds Swiss
Time control: 20 mins

Utterly disgusted. Two walkovers, two nearly wins, one fighting draw, and three lame losses were not what I'm looking for in my return to IIUM. I'm not going to blame it on the time control, which was slashed from 25 mins to 20 mins only, but for my incapability of competing among the best. Two losses against Fairin and Saprin were not even close to my real capabilities. That and the loss against Mohan Raj which was due to underestimation and succumbed to mate with his one and only hopeful attack, were uncharacteristic of me. However, I can take heart from the fact that I nearly beaten one of my coaches, Mr. Rizal Ahmad Kamal, before accepting his hand for a draw in game 5. The other one, Sargeant Ismail Ahmad, went all the way to the podium for second placing after drawing his last game against the eventual champion Ian Udani.

Here are the top 10 for the Open Category

1. Ian Udani (7.0 points)
2. Ismail Ahmad (7.0)
3. NM Zarul Shazwan (7.0)
4. Mohd Saprin Sabri (6.5)
5. Rizal Ahmad Kamal (6.5)
6. Nor Ilhamuddin (6.5)
7. NM Mohd Kamal Abdullah (6.0)
8. Nik Ahmad Farouqi (6.0)
9. Mohd Khair Wahiduddin (6.0)
10. Muhd Syakir Shazmeer (6.0)
45. Yours Truly (4.5)

Full results can be found here.

Below are pictures from the event.

Waiting for the opponent, who never came, in round 1

146 participants in the lovely CAC Hall

Ian Udani pondering upon his moves (the first board game shown at the screen)

Battling draw against former coach, Rizal AK

WHERE IT ALL BEGAN

Do you still remember where your chess life began? Well, I do. The game below was the very first game where I learned chess notation, all by myself. I found this game in JAGUH (a small section in Berita Harian newspaper, now non-existent) then I figured out what the Q, B, K means. It influenced me so much I quickly changed my repertoire into Sicilian (previously I was playing French). Then, the irony was that the first game in my first tournament in 1996 at IIUM PJ was against Azhari, where I drew large crowds when I drew with him!

Agus Salim - Azhari Md Noor
Bestari Open 1993 (Round 5), 1993
Sicilian Defense

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bg5 a6 8.Na3 Be6 9.Bc4 b5 10.Bxe6 fxe6 11.Ne2 Be7 12.Qd3 0–0 13.0–0 d5 14.Bxf6 Rxf6 15.Rad1 d4 16.Kh1 Qf8 17.f3 Rd8 18.Nb1 Nb4 19.Qb3 Rh6 20.f4 Qf6 21.f5 Qh4 22.h3 Qxe4 23.f6 Bxf6 24.Qxe6+ Kh8 25.Ng3 Qd5 26.Qxd5 Nxd5 27.Nf5 Rh5 28.c3 Rxf5 29.Rxf5 Ne3 30.Rxf6 gxf6 31.Rd3 Kg7 32.Nd2 Nc4 33.Ne4 Nxb2 34.Rg3+ Kh8 35.cxd4 exd4 36.Nd2 d3 37.Rf3 Nc4 38.Rf2 Re8 39.Kg1 Re1+ 40.Kh2 Rc1 41.Ne4 0–1

My game against Azhari (pardon the quality of my game because it was my first tournament game).

Me - Azhari Mohd Nor
IIUM Convo Speed Chess (Round 1), 18.08.1996
Petroff Defense

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d4 d5 6.Nc3 Bb4 7.Bd2 Bxc3 8.bxc3 0-0 9.Bd3 Re8 10.0-0 Bg4 11.Be2 Nd7 12.h3 Bh5 13.Rb1 f5 14.Rb3 g5 15.g4 fxg4 16.Ne5 Nxe5 17.dxe5 Rxe5 18.hxg4 Bg6 19.Be3 Qe7 20.Bd4 Re6 21.Rxb7 Nd6 22.Bc5 Rxe2 23.Bxd6 Qe6 24.Bxc7 Qxg4+ 25.Bg3 Be4 26.Qd4 Qxg3+ 27.fxg3 Rg2+ 28.Kh1 Rd2+ 29.Kg1 Rg2+ 30.Kh1 Rd2+ 31.Kg1 Rxd4 32.cxd4 Bxc2 33.Rc1 Be4 34.Rcc7 a5 35.Rg7+ Kh8 36.Rxg5 a4 37.Rgg7 Rc8 38.Rgc7 Rf8 39.Rf7 Rg8 40.Kf2 Bg6 41.Rfe7 Rf8+ 42.Ke3 Rc8 43.Rbc7 Rb8 44.Ra7 Bc2 45.Kd2 Be4 46.Rxe4 dxe4 47.Rxa4 Kg7 48.Ke3 Re8 49.d5 Re5 50.Rd4 Kf7 51.a4 Ke7 52.d6+ Kd7 53.Rxe4 Rg5 54.Kf4 Ra5 55.Re7+ Kxd6 56.Rxh7 Rxa4+ 57.Kf5 Ra3 58.g4 Rf3+ 59.Kg5 Rg3 60.Kf4 Rg1 61.g5 Rf1+ 62.Kg4 Ke6 63.Rh6+ Kf7 64.Rf6+ ½-½

1st IIUM CHESS INVITATIONAL TOURNAMENT

Venue: CAC Hall, IIUM
Date: 16th November 2008

Insha Allah, barring any obstacles, I plan to enter the tournament. However, I do not expect to win because it is my first individual tournament since July. Those came from the capital are pump up for it because the prizes are quite alluring. They have plenty of tournaments to practice compared to me who live in Kelantan (Gua Musang, for that matter!). Another reason is that IIUM was my study place for about 6 years and I would love to set my foot again in the beautiful surrounding. Maybe it is good for my preparation towards the rated tournament in Terengganu this coming December.

Further information see Stonemaster's website.

CAC Hall

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