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.

MY APOLOGIES

My recent post has caused some debate. In my hastiness, I reached a conclusion on a matter of which I was not on-hand to witness. Listening on a side of story is never enough to make a decision, and I will painfully learn that the hard way. The conclusion I made 'my personal opinion is that the person in Rizal's case should be banned from local chess scene' is deemed one-sided, thus another look is mandatory. I found here the other side, and I will refrain myself from judging, and leave it to the readers to make their own. The subject of cheating will always be vague, unless it can be proven with facts. In both my stories, I wrote it as my own humble opinion, and it is subject to contradiction from other side of views. No need to go barging in the shoutbox and naming names, as I did not, and will not, reveal the names. It is true that in both cases I felt cheated, thus the title of the post, but others may find it offensive. Nevertheless, I stand by that everybody is to his own opinion, or we should have not been given the brain for it.

Again, my sincere apology to all.

CHESS CHEAT = BLACKLIST?

There are cheaters in Malaysian chess scene after all! Reading Rizal's and Sifu's blogs confirmed what I feared most. And it happened to me before in my early chess experience.


My First Story

Several years ago I was cheated by a good Malaysian chess player, but part of it was due to my naivety. It was a three-fold-repetition, watched by many spectators, but in the end what really matters were the players themselves. I should have claimed the repetition before I moved my King at the same place for the third time. What happened was after I moved the King, stopped the clock and raised my hand to call the arbiter, he promptly moved his pawn and pressed the clock before the arbiter arrived. When the arbiter finally came, the pawn structure had already changed, thus the three-fold-repetition claim was no longer valid. A sporting and gentleman player would have accept the draw, but not this man, who went on to win the game amidst my confusion. After the game, somebody told me that I still had the opportunity to claim the draw after the pawn move, because I was the one who stopped the clock (can somebody with knowledge of the chess rule confirm this, please?).


My Second Story

It was at a rapid game, with 25 minutes per person. I was still an amateur then, a matriculation student at IIUM, with only several tournaments of experience to boast. I was waiting at the table for over 20 minutes now, and my opponent has yet to show his face. When it was certain (I checked the clock several times, mind you!) that there was only around 2 minutes left of his clock, I stood up and stopped to watch my friend's game on my way to the arbiter's table. Not long after that, a guy touched me at the back and asked me to make my move. I was perplexed and duly went to the table with him. I noticed that there was still 5 minutes remaining on his clock! As I was a junior then, I did not have the courage to ask him where did the 5 minutes come from as I was certain that he had lost on time and I was on my way to the arbiter's table. I played on to his Alekhine Defense and lost.


So, should these guys be banned? Not likely. Nobody probably will do anything until it happen to them personally. Nevertheless, my personal opinion is that the person in Rizal's case should be banned from local chess scene, as it will tarnish its image.

In Islam, chess is permitted with strict rules, one of which involved using vulgar words throughout the game. Cheating can be included in this rule, IMHO, because it is more dangerous than merely speaking some nasty words which probably do not alter the outcome of the game. Moreover, I agree with Rizal that the winnings (nowadays in the form of money) would not be advisable to feed the loved ones as it is after all acquired from incorrect means.