Kelantan vs Terengganu

MAKSAK 2009 FINAL GAME

The situation was tense. Terengganu needed a 4 - 0 whitewash in order to retain their title (even then their hopes would still be in the hands of Sarawak, in the only other match of the last round against Pahang). They also needed at least 3.5 - 0.5 scoreline to overtake KL to the second place. With KL receiving a bye in the crucial last round, it was up to Kelantan to produce their own magic and realize their dream to become a medal winner in this year's MAKSAK edition. Therefore, KL sponsored me, as Kelantan's first board player, a Power Root Isotonik drink in order to secure the important point. Hairulov also commented on this so called 'Armageddon Match' in his blog.

Hashim Jusoh - Yours Truly
MAKSAK (Round 9), 18.07.2009
A17: English Opening

1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6 3.g3 d5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.d4 Be7 6.Bg2 0-0 7.Nf3 c6 8.0-0 Nbd7 9.b3 Re8 10.Bb2 Bd6 11.Re1 h6

I should have seen White's intention to push the e pawn. Black could make it more difficult by 11...Nb6 12.Qc2 Bg4

12.Nd2 Nf8 13.e4 dxe4 14.Ndxe4 Bf5 15.Nxf6+ Qxf6 16.Qd2 Qg6 17.d5

This move disrupts Black's pawn structure and frees both White's Bishops. I faced a tough decision whether to exchange the pawn and withstand the onslaught or give White a passed pawn and try to blockade it. I chose the latter.

17...c5 18.Nb5 Red8 19.Nxd6 Rxd6 20.Be5 Rd7 21.Qc3 Rc8 22.Rad1 b6 23.Qc4 Rcd8 24.Rd2

I did not know what was his plan with this move, but it sure did not stop Black's knight from coming out of his hiding.

24...Ne6 25.Rdd1

White should have tried 25.h3 when Black has to think about his Bishop.

25...Nc7

My idea was to place this Knight as a blockader at d6, but will gladly accept a better trade for White's dark square Bishop.

26.Bxc7 Rxc7 27.Qf4 Rcd7 28.Re5 Bc2 29.Rde1 f6 30.R5e2 Qf5

I think Black could hold better with Queens off the board. Black will then round up the isolated d pawn with both the Rooks and the Bishop.

31.Qxf5

White should have avoided the Queen exchange, but time really was the factor for this decision.

31...Bxf5

and I went on to win during the time scramble when White blundered away a Bishop.

0-1

Alexandra Kosteniuk

VOTE FOR MISS UNIVERSE CHESS!

The whole chess universe are currently voting for the most beautiful female chess player in the world. For those who want to cast their vote can do so at this website. There are links for each candidates with their pictures, biodata and game. You can carefully read all of them and make your choice.

Guess who I vote for?

KELANTAN CLOSED UPDATE

According to the organizer, there will be two categories. Open and Student. Here are the details and the prizes:

Organizer : Persatuan Catur Melayu Kelantan
Date : 1st August 2009 ( SATURDAY )
Format : 25 minutes & 6 round/player
Venue : Dewan Auditorium MARA, Tingkat 3, Bangunan MARA, Kota Bharu
Contact : Nadzri - 012 6767020, Adzlin - 013 9223707, Rozlisham - 013 7238898


Prizes

1. Open :

1. RM200.00
2. RM150.00
3. RM100.00
4. RM80.00
5. RM70.00
6. RM50.00
7. RM30.00
8. RM30.00
9. RM30.00
10. RM30.00

2. Student :

1. RM100.00
2. RM80.00
3. RM70.00
4. RM60.00
5. RM50.00
6. RM40.00
7. RM30.00
8. RM20.00

Fee

1. Open - RM15.00
2. Student - RM10.00

(Up to 100 players only)

MAKSAK 2009 (UPDATE)

The prizes was given in a ceremony held at the Kelantan Trade Centre hall by Kelantan MAKSAK chief, Dato' Mohd Aiseri bin Alias. Apart from the chess event, Kelantan also won an individual prize in the female dart event.

The players namelist:


My individual performance:

1. beat Mohd Sakri Mohd Amin
2. beat Nasrul Humaimi Mahmood
3. drew Khairul Azmeel Mohd Sukery
4. drew Kamal Arifin Wahiduddin
5. beat Abang Mohamad Reduan
6. beat Mohd Jamal Jamaluddin
7. lost Ismail Ahmad
8. beat Wan Azmi Wan Othman
9. beat Hashim Jusoh


Kelantan chess team performance:

1. Kelantan vs Penjara 4 - 0
2. Kelantan vs Johor 1.5 - 2.5
3. Kelantan vs Negeri Sembilan 2 - 2
4. Kelantan vs Kuala Lumpur 2 - 2
5. Kelantan vs Sarawak 2 - 2
6. Kelantan vs Pahang 1.5 - 2.5
7. Kelantan vs Royal Malaysian Police 1 - 3
8. Kelantan vs Perak 3.5 - 0.5
9. Kelantan vs Terengganu 3 - 1

Results can also be read at chess-results.com uploaded by Muhammad Arshad.


Here are the results of best board prizes:

Board 1: Ismail Ahmad (Royal Malaysian Police)
Board 2: Lim Kian Hwa (Sarawak)
Board 3: Mohd Hezri Che Aziz (Negeri Sembilan)
Board 4: Morsin Ahmad Bahari (Sarawak)
Board 5: Izaruddin Ahmad (Pahang)
Board 6: Kamal Arifin Ishak (Pahang)

Some pictures from the event:

The Kelantan chess team - (from left) Nik Md Nazri, Baharuddin, Nik Mazlan, Sahadi, Anis Rahimi and Yours Truly

Kelantan male dart team

Kelantan female dart team

Ready for the ceremony

The Kota Darulnaim choir team

The Kelantan contingent

KELANTAN BEATS TERENGGANU TO CLAIM 4TH

Kelantan defeated Terengganu in the final round against all odds to clinch 4th place in the MAKSAK Chess tournament held in Kelantan Trade Centre, Kota Bharu. The team, which were nearly kept out of contention after uncharacteristically lost to Pahang in the 5th round, needed to win against last year's champions in order to get a placing. However, boosted by the terrific performance by their first board player, Kelantan, with Yours Truly, Anis Rahimi, Baharuddin, Nik Mazlan, Nik Mohd Nazri and Sahadi in their ranks, got past Terengganu with the likes of Hashim Jusoh, Hisamullah Harun, Norazmi Mohd Nor and Abdul Rahim Ramli with the score of 3-1 which gave them valuable points to leapfrog their opponent. The highlight of the night was the game between Yours Truly and Hashim Jusoh where the latter succumb to time trouble to give Kelantan the most sought after point to overtake them in the final standings.

The final standings (Winners' Pool)

1. Sarawak (18 points)
2. Kuala Lumpur (16)
3. Pahang (14.5)
4. Kelantan (14.5)
5. Terengganu (14)
6. Royal Malaysian Police (11.5)
7. Johor (11.5)
8. Perak (11.5)

The final standings (Losers' Pool)

1. Negeri Sembilan (14 points)
2. Melaka (13.5)
3. Perlis (11)
4. Pulau Pinang (9)
5. Penjara (8.5)
6. Armed Forces (4)

Stay tuned for more results and pictures in the next post.

MAKSAK TRAINING

The Kelantan chess team has been training for MAKSAK at the PKINK building in the heart of Kota Bharu. The six of us gathered together after working hours to polish our tactical and strategical skills. There are also the carrom and dart teams training together in the same room. We are going to make Kelantan proud, insha Allah.

I'm sorry guys, but no pictures this time because the training is TOP SECRET! :) However, we can share with you a position (picture below) occurred today between the top two players. Both sides had a bishop each (different colours) with equal number of pawns. Guess what was the result?

White to move

MAKSAK CHESS

I will again be involved in MAKSAK chess this year, inshaAllah. Kelantan will be the host for the event, which will be held from 16th-19th of July, and I will do my best to steer the team to success. Last year's outing in Penang was a personal disaster for me, mainly because I did not involved in team events for a very long time prior to that event. I yet to know the full team names for Kelantan this year, but I reckon there will be a little adjustment from last year's. A surprise maybe, but I hope that we will do better this year. All Kelantanese, pray for us!

KELANTAN CLOSED CHESS TOURNAMENT

Date: 1 August 2009 (Saturday)
Venue: Level 3, MARA Auditorium Hall, MARA Building, Kota Bharu, Kelantan.
Organizers: MARA and PCMK

Persatuan Catur Melayu Kelantan (PCMK) will jointly organize a closed chess tournament with MARA in the first day of August this year. The tournament will be opened to those who were born or live in Kelantan only. There will be two categories: open and under 16.

For those who are interested, please contact these persons:

Ahmad Nadzri (012-6767020)
Adzlin (013-9223707)
Rozlisham (013-7238898)

COLIN EXPLAINS HIS SIMUL

From left to right: Tan Eng Seong, Lee Siew Fai (Seremban), Mr. Loh (Seremban),
International Master Jimmy Liew, Raymond Yap (CFO, SP Setia Berhad),
Collin Madhavan, Lim Teck Hoe (Asian Memory Record Holder),
American Master Larry Parr and PS Lim.

Here Colin explains his simul to me through email:

Explanation & Rules for 'The Most Consecutive Chess Games Played'.

As with any other simultaneous chess matches, there will be one player (chess master or expert) who will play against a number of opponents simultaneously. The Chess master/expert will play the White pieces on all boards unless the he decides to play with the Black pieces on selected or all the boards.

Unlike the record for the Most Simultaneous Chess Opponents, the record for the 'Most Consecutive Chess Games Played' will be done as follows:

A) The number of chessboards will be fixed. For example, 80 boards.

B) However, with this record, after a player has lost his/her game, he/she will have the option to start another game or give up the seat for another player to start a new game.

C) So for this record, the number of games start to increase though the chessboards are fixed at 80. That is the reason why the number of games will be higher than the number of players. Some players will play more than 1 game. For my recent match, 14 players played more than 1 game against me.

An good example is Susan Polgar’s match in 2005. She played 326 Simultaneous Chess Opponents (Record - Most Simultaneous Chess Opponents) while her record for 'Most Consecutive Chess Games Played' was 1,131!!

Question:

Why I like this kind of match?

Answer:

Because I think it is very fair to the participants. See below for a comparison between the 2 types of simul matches.

For Most Simultaneous Chess Opponents, some players who started the match against the master/expert, will still be there at the end of the match. In my match against 88 players in May 2008, the last player to finish against me (6.30pm) began playing against me at 9 am!!!

However for Most Consecutive Chess Games Played, the players can leave the moment their game is over. For example, in my recent match, the last player from the morning session left the hall at around 2.15pm, while players who joined the match at 1.30 pm, finished latest by 6.40pm.

Question:

Is it more difficult for the master with the record for Most Consecutive Chess Games Played?

Answer:

Yes, it is mainly because the master/expert is still on his feet playing chess for about hours or so. However, the participants who come in later in the match are fresh and rested. The master will tend to be less sharp than at the start of the match. Furthermore, most of the experts/masters playing in such matches DON’T EAT. Drinking some fruit juice and water is recommended.

For more pictures and info, visit Colin's website.

ASAT KELANTAN 2009

SMK Dato' Perdana

Venue: SMK Dato' Perdana, Bachok, Kelantan
Date: 19th June 2009
Time: 9.00 am - 5.00 pm
Format: 5 rounds Swiss system

Wan Mohd Alif from PPD Tumpat and Noraihan from PPD Kuala Krai conquered the ASAT Chess Competition held today at SMK Dato' Perdana, Bachok. Wan Mohd Alif won all his games, including against the more fancied Mohd Fadhil from PPD Kota Bharu. The main highlight of the competition was in Wan Mohd Alif's game against Mohd Fadhil where his opponent blundered away a rook in a winning position. Surviving from the scare, he won against his last opponent to clinch the title. Meanwhile, Noraihan needed her last game to take the throne. In a more competitive field, she lost a game against Halimatul Saadiah from PPD Gua Musang in round 4 before winning her last game. Another PPD Gua Musang player, Khairul Anwar, failed to make his presence felt when he only managed to win two games and lost the rest.

Personally, I hope that the two Kelantan representatives will play their hearts' out in the upcoming national ASAT which will be held in Perak.

Boys Category

Girls Category

Khairul Anwar (with Wan Mohd Alif sitting to his left)

Halimatul Saadiah (with Noraihan sitting to her right)

In related story, two chess players from Jeli did not show up at the competition because of an accident. Mohd Rosdi Ahmad and Norazlina Che Hassan were involved in a head-on collision between a Proton Iswara and a Perodua Viva, where the two students were in with their two teachers en route to Bachok for the ASAT Chess Competition. The Proton Iswara driver, Chong Lian Hee, died on the spot while the others suffered serious and minor injuries. The other players were shocked to read the Sinar Harian newspaper, which ran the story on Friday, at the tournament hall (notice that in the first and second pictures there is an empty seat for each category).

You can read the story here.

LATEST POSITION

White just moved 29.Qd4

This is the latest position in the battle between Arkurni vs IIUMChessmaster. Black is a pawn up, but in Queen - Rook ending, anything could happen. What both sides can do now is to improve piece position. It is quite disturbing for Black that White's Queen is positioned neatly in the middle of the board. The plus for Black is that he has a passed pawn and White's pieces are not so coordinated. So, how do you think Black will reply?

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.

ASAT GUA MUSANG RESULTS

Here is the full results for ASAT Gua Musang 2009. Complete with tie-breaker taken from ASAT Kebangsaan. Congratulations to the winners! Khairul Anwar and Halimatu, please do your best at ASAT Negeri in Bachok.

Boys


Girls

ASAT GUA MUSANG

I think it's about time I teach them how to use Swiss Perfect. As for now, I am the only one in Gua Musang who knows how to use this pairing programme. Even though I am sick, I do the pairing from my home, and send the result and the pairing using SMS. However, this will not stop PPD Gua Musang from having a successful ASAT Chess. Hopefully next time when I am not available, somebody will step up as the arbiter.

Venue: SK Limau Kasturi 1
Time: 9.00 - 12.00pm
Format: Swiss 3 Rounds

ASAT boys

Ahmad Wafi (SMK Paloh)
Md Faizzuddin (SMK Tengku Bendahara)
Md Zul Husni (SMK Tengku Indra Petra 2)
Che Md Sallehuddin (SMK Chiku 2)
Md Khairul Anwar (SMK Tengku Indra Petra 2)
Md Zaidi (SMK Tengku Indra Petra 1)
Afik Affendi (SMK Sungai Asap)
Tn Md Shafiqie (SMK Bandar Chiku)

ASAT girls

Norhayati (SMK Paloh)
Safinah (SMK Sungai Asap)
Norlaila (SMK Tengku Bendahara)
Halimatu (SMK Sungai Asap)
Nurhayati (SMK Chiku 2)
Syazana (SMK Tengku Indra Petra 2)
Nor Syafini (SMK Tengku Indra Petra 1)
Siti Nurain (SMK Bandar Chiku)

Colin in his previous simul

123 PLAYERS FOR RECORD BREAKING SIMUL

Candidate Master Colin Madhavan (FIDE 2220) will play against 123 players in a simultaneous chess event which will be held at Setia Alam, Shah Alam at the end of this month. The event is organized by SP Setia Berhad. The details of the programme:

Date: 24th May 2009
Time: 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Venue: Setia Alam Welcome Centre, No. 2 Jalan Setia Indah AD U13/AD, Setia Alam Seksyen U13, 40170 Shah Alam.

Those who are interested please contact 03-3343 2255 or download the form here.