THE RED KNIGHTS FAILED AGAIN

 

For the umpteenth time The Red Knights (TRK) have failed to land their hands on the eluded National Closed Championship trophy and nobody except one Kelantanese has the National Master title in front of his name. I am not in the position to condemn any of TRK because I myself is not a National Master, but I can only comment according to their performance in the UMT.

IBCA RULES FOR THE VISUALLY IMPAIRED

Below are the rules I have taken directly from IBCA (International Braille Chess Association) website pertaining to the game which involved visually impaired. It was used in the recently concluded KL'09 ASEAN Para Games.


Rules of Chess

These rules are to be applied as a supplement to FIDE Rules to accommodate the needs of the visually impaired in competitive games between visually impaired and sighted players, and between visually handicapped players.

Tournament directors shall have the power to adapt the following rules according to local circumstances. In competitive chess between sighted and visually handicapped players (legally blind) either player may demand the use of two boards, the sighted player using a normal board, the visually handicapped player using one specially constructed. The specially constructed board must meet the following requirements:

• At least twenty centimetres by twenty centimetres.
• The black squares slightly raised.
• A securing aperture in each square.
• Every piece provided with a peg that fits into the securing aperture.
  
• Pieces of Staunton design, the black pieces being specially marked.

GENERAL RULES

1. The moves shall be announced clearly, repeated by the opponent, and executed on his board. To make the announcement as clear as possible, the use of the following names are suggested instead of the corresponding letters, the algebraic notation to be used:
   A~Anna B~Belia C~Ceasar D~David
   E~Eva F~Felix G~Gustav H~Hector
   Ranks from white to black receive the German numbers:
   1~Eins 2~Zwei 3~Drei 4~Vier
   5~Fnf 6~Sechs 7~Sieben 8~Acht
   Castling is announced Lange Rochade (German for long castling) and Kurtze Rochade (German for short castling). The pieces bear the names: Koenig, Dame, Turm, Laeufer, Springer, Bauer. When promoting a pawn the player must announce which piece is chosen.


2. On the visually handicapped players board a piece shall be considered touched when it has been taken out of the securing aperture.


3. A move shall be considered executed when:
   
   • In the case of capture, the captured piece has been removed from the board of the player whose turn it is to move.
   • A piece is placed into a different securing aperture.
   • The move has been announced.
   
   
Only then shall the opponents clock be started.
As far as points 2 and 3 are concerned the normal rules are valid for the sighted player.


4. A specially constructed chess clock for the visually handicapped shall be admissible. It shall incorporate the following features:
   
   • A dial fitted with reinforced hands, with every five minutes marked with one dot, and every fifteen minutes by two raised dots.
   • A flag that can be easily felt. Care should be taken that the flag is so arranged as to allow the player to feel the minute hand during the last five minutes of the full hour.
   
   
5. The visually handicapped player must keep score of the game in Braille, or longhand, or record the moves on a tape recorder


6. A slip of the tongue in the announcement of a move must be corrected immediately and before the clock of the opponent is started.


7. If during a game different positions arise on the two boards, they must be corrected with the assistance of the controller, and by consulting both players game scores. If the two game scores correspond with each other, the player who has written the correct move, but executed the wrong one, must adjust his position to correspond with the move on the game scores.


8. If, when such differences occur and the game scores are found to differ, the moves shall be retracted to the point where the two scores agree, and the controller shall readjust the clocks accordingly.


9. The visually handicapped player shall have the right to make use of an assistant who shall have any or all of the following duties:
   
   • Make either players move on the board of the opponent.
   • Announce the moves of both players.
   • Keep the game score of the visually handicapped player and start his opponents clock (Note Rule 3.c).
   • Inform the visually handicapped player, only at his request, of the number of moves completed, and the time used up by both players.
   • Claim the game in cases where the time limit has been exceeded and inform the controller when the sighted player has touched one of his pieces.
   • Carry out the necessary formalities in case the game is adjourned.
   
   
10. If the visually handicapped player does not make use of an assistant, the sighted player may make use of one who shall carry out the duties mentioned under points (9.a) and (9.b).

KL '09 ASEAN PARA GAMES

Thank you coach Rizal for enlightening me about the Chess Para Games. Here are the details:

B1 Men - 6 rounds swiss (8 players)
B1 Women - 5 rounds round robin
B2/B3 Men - 5 round robin
B2/B3 Women - Double round robins (4 players)
Physical handicapped men - 6 swiss
Physical handicapped women - double round robins (4 players)
Combine B1/B2/B3 Men 6 rounds swiss
Combine B1/b2/B3 Women 6 rounds swiss

*B1 (means total blind), B2/B3 (means partial blind)


As for the overall medal tally, Malaysia won 8 gold medals, surpassing the initial target of 6 gold medals. It was quite an achievement, and it should be repeated in the next Para Games, inshaAllah.

Here is the link for the overall medal tally for chess.

Mah Hassan and NM Choo Min Wang talking team strategy

MALAYSIA WINS 4 GOLD MEDALS AT KL PARA GAMES '09

Bernama reported that Malaysian Nur Feiqah Maulud Mohd Halil and Choo Min Wang won the gold in the individual events before helping their teams to another gold in the chess competition held on the final day of the ASEAN Para Games at the National Sports Council's Commonwealth Hall. Nur Feiqah, along with Athirah Azman and Teo Suat Mui swept aside other teams while Choo Min Wang teamed up with Mah Hassan Omar and Shahruddin Sidek in the men's team event.

Nur Feiqah

I want to detail their results, but I could not understand what pairing system they used. You can try to figure it out yourself by reading the official website here.

(pictures contributed by Colin Madhavan)

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