SO MANY THINGS TO DO, YET SO LITTLE TIME..

.. and I wonder if I can ever blog again. This is only the second post for 2017 and we are already in April. It was 5 posts for 2016 and 8 posts the year before. It will be just a matter of time before I stop blogging for sure. SIGH. 

I don't like to copy materials from other sources like many bloggers do, and I rely mostly on my own chess experience in order to write something, therefore, the posts will be lesser and lesser as I play lesser and lesser each year. It doesn't help much that I am newly appointed as the head arbiter for MSSK this year, and is re-elected during the Annual General Meeting on 28 January as the PCNK president which means I can no longer play as much as organising chess events in Kelantan. 

At the time of writing, PCNK had already organised and co-organised several tournaments and a coaching clinic:

28 January - Kelantan Closed & Kelantan Age Group

11 February - UiTM Open

25 February - SMK Pahi Open

25 February - Coaching Course (Beginners)

4 March - Chess2Care Open

31 March - Kuala Krai Junior Open

1 April - Kuala Krai Open (FIDE rated event)

In the mean time, Kelantan was chosen as the home of this year's Malaysian Chess Championship. The ultimate event was co-organised with MCF and it was held at Al-Khatiri Multi-purpose Hall, Kubang Kerian from 22 - 27 March. The event was nearly called off due to H5N1 outbreak, but with the cooperation of all parties involved, it continued as scheduled. 

With lots of tournaments and courses coming up throughout this year, I would really have to search for suitable time to continue blogging. 

 

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!

CERDIK CATUR COLLABORATED CHESS

This Saturday marks the first collaboration between PCNK (Kelantan Chess Association) with Cerdik Catur Enterprise (CCE). We have collaborated with many organisations before (UiTM, KTD, SMACH) and this only adds to it. 

CCE is managed by Stonemaster Mohd Fadhli Zakaria (FIDE 2024) and is currently one of the most active chess organisations in Malaysia. So far, they have organised many tournaments around the peninsular and now they try to spread their wings towards organising chess events in Kelantan also. 

PCNK is only too happy to make collaborations like this and is looking forward to this event. The details:

Date: 15 August 2015 (Saturday)

Venue: Kolej Teknologi Darulnaim, Pengkalan Chepa, Kelantan.

Time: 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. 

 

Hopefully we will see you there this Saturday. 

NEW RESPONSIBILITY

In the recent Annual General Meeting held during the ZADANO Kelantan Open, PCNK members who were present unanimously voted me to be the new president for 2015-17. This shocked me as I predicted Dr. Nasrul or even Mr. Nik Azrihan to fill the post vacated by Dato' Zaimi. Although I found it hard to take at first, I came to term to their beliefs and will carry on with it as responsibly as I can. I will have to juggle my time wisely between the tasks I already have with the hope that I will not disappoint those under my care. 

Coach of SMK Chabang Empat, Tumpat

I managed only 4 district representatives this year, with the fifth player declined the opportunity to play for Tumpat merely because he did not want to get behind in his studies. Maznie, Nur Asyikin, Nor Muniera Farhin and Muhammad Syahiran Nazwa were the players who trained with me everyday and I was proud of them for getting into the district team. 

Chairman of Tumpat District Chess Technical Committee

It was an unfortunate last day for the Tumpat team as Maznie and Mursyid, who were both on 5.5 points, needed at least a draw to cement the place in the state team. Instead, they lost to their respective opponents and forfeited the golden opportunity. No words could describe my disappointment that day but I know they had fought tooth and nail. It is still a mountain to climb for Tumpat team to be on par with the likes of Kuala Krai and Kota Bharu teams, but it is possible with the proper management of the human resources and talents I currently have. 

President of Kelantan Chess Association (PCNK)

This is my new responsibility. So far, PCNK had organized, or co-organized, at least an event each month, and this should be good for PCNK members or chess enthusiasts in Kelantan on the whole. The Junior Rapid, UiTM Open and ZADANO Kelantan Open in February, KTD Open in March and SMACH Open in April were among the tournaments held to satisfy chess players in Kelantan. Hopefully, with the new selected committee members of PCNK, we will continue to hold tournaments, workshops and will collaborate with any organizations in holding chess related activities. 

  

Kelantan State Player (The Red Knights)

So far, I was disappointed with my performance in the National Closed, and I feel that I have also let Kelantan team down. Although it was not a team game, still it was a tournament where the players fought under the state name. My next task would be the MAKSAK Team Tournament which will be held in Alor Star at the end of this month, and I hope I will do better this time.

BORNEO BLAST

I was in Sabah for 4 days. It was my first time on Borneo soil, and it was enjoyable beyond words. The Kota Kinabalu airport was by the sea while the journey towards the tournament venue in Likas Masterskill was also along the seaside. Although I was not a seafood lover, and I, by personality, do not have taste bud,  I could still see that the food there was delicious, judging by my friends' reaction during our dinners. The people were friendly, especially the committees of Sabah Chess Association who tried to cater to all our needs during our stay there. The tournament was also smoothly organised, and the seven rounds agreed upon by the managers during the managerial meeting were thoroughly satisfying. All the cheerful experience can be read in PCNK website here.

Nonetheless, there were two incidents happened which I felt rightly forgettable. They involved cheating. Although I really like to distance myself from this topic after receiving some beatings for my previous post on the topic, I felt that without at least mentioning about them, these kind of immoral actions will go on unperturbed. Don't get me wrong, I really am not contesting the results, which I think were quite fair, but I am troubled by these two incidents which should not happen in the game of gentlemen. 

First and foremost, a deal before a game should not be made whatsoever for whatever reason. Certainly not for the chance of winning certain prizes or best board medals. In this case, it lead to quick results and it killed the excitement and thrill of the game, completely. Ten minutes were all that they took to finish the games, and my word, I was down a little because of that. Granted, final games sometimes finished with draws, particularly in games which did not deter the outcome of the winning prizes, but for this one I knew that some deal were agreed beforehand. 

Another inappropriate event happened to me. Even though I applaud the organiser's attempts to curb cheating, I saw that there was a certain loophole which was used in great effect for cheating purpose. Players were prohibited in certain parts of the venue when they were still playing, and they were to leave the playing hall if they had finished the game. This particular incident happened during the game, and all involved were still playing. It happened inside the playing hall, and it was subtle enough that nobody detected it except me. I noticed it when I made a gross mistake in my game, a member of the team appeared shocked, stood up and went to see a game played by another team. Then, my opponent stood up and slowly went towards the first member. Although the 'meeting' was brief, it was enough for at least recommending a move, or agreeing to a move.

REMEMBER! All these were taken from my observations and all that I had said were my judgments. I know that the two incidents mentioned might not be like I had observed. They might be the other way around and I would end up whining about nothing. I was careful enough by not mentioning any name, and only those involved know what I was talking about. If they are true, stop them at once! And if they are not like what I had mentioned, so be it. Nobody knows about it.

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.

PERFECT IM MAS HAFIZUL

The Tournament

IM Mas Hafizulhilmi is still dodging from playing against me in a tournament. No, no. Actually, I should say that I am still not 'up there' to play against such a complete player like him. Last year in Kelantan Closed, I wasn't paired against him although I managed to finish fourth. This year in Kelantan Open, unfortunately, I still did not cross path with him on my way to finish seventh. He was such a celebrity that day; signing autographs for his fans who were mainly under aged players. Winning all 9 games showed exactly why he was rated 2354 FIDE, almost 300 points away from me who was second highest rated player with my 2068 FIDE. Calmly, he sprinted away and left the second place winner with a mere 7.5 points.

A TOURNAMENT TO REMEMBER, A TOURNAMENT TO FORGET

I really don't know where to start. Well, I think it started a week ago after the tsunami warning. That night, I dreamt of tsunami drowning me. I woke up frightened and told my wife. To my surprise, she told me that she heard dreams like that mean that I would 'get something big'. Well, I really don't believe in dreams. Especially not when I have never get anything big in my life.

A Tournament to Remember

Initially, I didn't want to play in SMACH Open. My purpose was just to give tournament experience to my charges, particularly Maznie, Elanie and Syikin who are going to the MSSK Selection in May as the Tumpat representatives. However, circumstances had another idea, and I ended up playing in the Open Category. There were so many times when I was denied the championships before - Kelantan Closed in 2009, Kelantan Closed in 2010, and SMACH Open in 2010 just to name a few - by losing my last game to the eventual champions, but this time I kept my cool and claimed the number 1 spot convincingly. Receiving the trophy from the namesake - the trophy was named Zaaim Redha after him - was just a bonus for me. That night, I shared my joy with my students at Kok Lanas KFC. 

Today, I sit in my room staring at the trophy wondering whether the interpretation of the dream given by my wife is really true. 

The Final Standings

1. Yours Truly 6 points from 6 games

2. Wan Mohd Amirul 5.5

3. Nasrul Humaimi 5

4. Fairul Yusoff 5

5. Sahadi Ismail 5

6. Marzuki Yaacob 5

7. Abdullah Che Hassan 4.5

8. Nik Mohd Nazri 4.5

9. Baharuddin Hamzah 4.5

10. Mohd Khairul Ikmar 4.5

The Games

They were quite interesting, the last three in particular. The opponents kept giving me the advantage though; I got a Bishop in Round 3, a Queen in Round 4 and I managed to screw a checkmate in Round 5. Only in the last round the opponent was able to take me to a time trouble ending spree. Eventually, he gave me a Bishop as well.

 

A Tournament to Forget

I departed from my home at 6.30 a.m. and reached my school at 7.05 a.m. When my students said that they wanted to have breakfast, I gave them until 7.30 a.m. Then we sped towards the venue 45 kilometres away and managed to arrive there before 9 a.m. I thought I was already late, so I rushed to complete the registration. However, we were among the first to arrive, and I even managed to park my car under the garage. Then, it became a waiting game after that which went on for nearly 3 hours! Finally, we started our first round barely before noon. As a consequent, the first two rounds were played with a 10 minutes time allocation (actually, my first round was 11 minutes/player, a mistake, perhaps) and the players were given 20 minutes each for the last 4 rounds after the Friday prayer. Then there was another waiting game before the prize giving ceremony at 7.30 p.m. 

More surprises happened in the Female Category. I waited for the arbiter to announce the pairing for my students, but I found that the round had started without our knowledge and we had to play against each other at the back tables. Then, the unexpected happened. After the Friday prayer, the game restarted anew, and the results for the first game before that were annulled. However, the tournament kept getting worse. Round 4 and 5 were played with only 3 minutes/player, and I saw one of my students cried when she lost on time while leading in materials. 

The Problems and some Suggestions

I asked the arbiter what actually happened, and he told me that the problem stemmed from the double entries. There were names keyed in twice, and the pairing programme used could not rectify the mistakes. And then, there was the usual problem - the late registration. The players were still behaving the way the shouldn't, letting it late to register their participation. 

Personally, I have some suggestions for the organiser. Not that I think I can do better if given the opportunity, but these suggestions are really my humble opinion. 

1. The double entries should be minimized by assigning only one person to handle the registration. One email, one phone number, simple. This way, the person will surely manage to keep track on the names given to him by the participants.

2. The late participation should be minimized by fining the registration confirmed after the deadline. Not the initial registration, but the paid registration. There is no problem in paying for the fees before the deadline; there are plenty of cash deposit machines (CDM) around. Fining an extra RM5 or RM10 will surely make these people think twice before doing what they usually do.

3. Try another arbiter. It is always a good policy trying new means in order to find the best. What more Kelantan already have three International Arbiters who surely can do the job. 

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

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!

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.

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:

1. Elite Category (with national rating 1300 and above) - RM15.00
2. Secondary School (under 18 & under 15) - RM10.00
3. 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:

1. Nik Ahmad Farouqi
2. Nik Muhd Nazri
3. Mohd Amin Noor
4. Mohd Bukhari Yahya
5. Mohd Ariez
6. Baharuddin Hamzah
7. Wan Muhd Amirul
8. Wan Muhd Adli
9. Siti Nur Afiqah Haslam
10. Aliff Omar Saufi
11. Projek Jejak Juara PPD Kuala Krai 2012 squad
    
12. Under 18, 15 dan 12 from the first series Champions
    

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

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.

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!

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.

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

WHERE HAVE ALL THE 'RED KNIGHTS' GONE?

I was under the radar for quite some time, watching the national chess development, especially the Kelantan players. Sadly, the Kelantan's players achievement, or the state chess news were few and far between. There was no Kelantan players representing the country in the recent Asian games, and there was no Kelantan players also winning tournaments around the country during my 'hibernation'. One notable news, however, only of that Mas Hafizulhelmi, who was recovering from dengue.


Equally disappointing was the demise of the Kelate Chess Network, a site supposedly to gather the Kelantan players, due to inactivity. This leads to a question, where have all the players gone? Aren't they internet savvy enough? Apparently not, because the network, created by Nasero, has less than 10 members to date. However, I surely like to think that the 'marketing' of the network was poor, announced only in this blog and Bad Bishop's. It was alarming that many of the chess bloggers or netizens are from other states, and Kelantan players, mainly consisting of MSSM players, were reduced to becoming Facebook users only.

The Persatuan Catur Negeri Kelantan is also in a sorry state. Apart from organising the Kelantan Closed last May, the PCNK is largely ineffective in terms of organising tournaments or receiving memberships and sponsorships. For a chess association, or any association for that matter, to operate fully, they must have support from many members, as well as sponsors, and PCNK right now has none of both.

Therefore, I would like to 'beg' all the state players, please register yourself to be in PCNK. The advantage of being in an association need not to be mentioned, for there are many. Let us all put our efforts together to make Kelantan a heaven for chess activities and networking, and the first step we must take is to make the state association a successful one.

KELANTAN CLOSED 2010 BULLETIN

I am finalizing the official bulletin for the Kelantan Closed 2010 held last May. It contains all 70 games played at the first event organized by PCNK this year. Alhamdulillah, in the midst of my hectic schedule, I finally managed to complete the keying in of all the games. It was hard work reading some of the handwritings, but my experience in teaching helped very much. Wait for it in the next PCNK event, insha Allah.

Here is one game from the bulletin between the eventual champion and nearly crowned NM, Nik Ahmad Farouqi. Enjoy!

KELATECHESS NETWORK

Thanks Naserov for his efforts to create a network for Kelantan chess players. It is hoped that Kelantan players make full use of this network to exchange latest news, pictures and also chess knowledge among them. Together let us make PCNK the best chess organization in Malaysia, insha Allah.

So, Kelantan players. Don't waste your time. Register here.