WINNING BY ILLEGAL MOVES

 Nowadays I become an arbiter more than being a player. I have arbitrated the Kelantan Closed back in January, the Kelantan Age Groups 1.0 - 3.0, the Mahabbah blitzes, the MSSK in Kuala Krai and the MSSM in Kota Bharu (although being only a pairing arbiter), UiTM Open in August, Cobra Blitz and SK Temangan Open in September. In two more days, I will be arbitrating the National Sports Day Open.

I admit that during my arbitration, there were many instances where I made a wrong call. Most recently in Cobra Blitz, I gave a win to the opponent when the other player made an illegal move, retracted it and played a legal move before pushing his clock. When I checked The Official Rules of Chess written by Eric Schiller, page 77, it clearly states that 'An illegal move is completed once the opponent's clock has been started. The opponent is then entitled to claim a win before making a move. Once the opponent has made a move, an illegal move cannot be corrected.'

This is of course a special rule for the blitz only, whereas in standard games, an illegal move must be replaced with a legal move once the position immediately before the illegal move is reinstated. Of course, it comes with time penalty for the offender. (Article 7.4)

Most of the tournament held nowadays in Kelantan are rapids, so coaches make it compulsory to equip their players, especially the young ones, with 'the illegal move arsenal'. I've seen a lot of these players won their games after the opponents made illegal moves. They were quick to raise their hands and claim it; you could even see many hands raised at the same time in Under 12 category.

My advice is, to coaches out there, please teach your players about the illegal move. Although according to this article it is one of the most difficult concepts to explain to beginners, at least you can teach them this simple rule: a king must never be moved into check, or left in check.

TUMPAT DISTRICT SELECTION

After a week long of Hari Raya holidays, Tumpat chess players started up their engines and, for the first time ever, headed to SMK Sungai Pinang for the selection. It was a good venue for chess, and a good additional choice of venue for next Tumpat selections. As far as I know, the selections have so far been held at SK Kampong Laut, SMKA Falahiah and also SMK Chabang Empat. For your information, other districts have also held, or are currently holding, their selection: 

Tanah Merah (12-13 July 2016)

Pasir Puteh (13-14 July 2016)

Kota Bharu (16-17 July 2016)

Tumpat selection was held for only one day (13 July 2016) and all categories recorded very satisfactory attendance amidst the exams and school programmes:

U12 Boys (34 players)

U12 Girls (25 players)

U15 Boys (25 players)

U15 Girls (21 players)

U18 Boys (34 players)

U18 Girls (23 players)

Total : 162 players

There were 9 secondary schools and 7 primary schools sending their players for the selection: 

SMK Chabang Empat

SMK Kampong Laut

SMK Sungai Pinang

SMK Kutan

SMK Mahmud Mahyiddin

SMK Geting

SMK Tumpat

SMKA Falahiah

MRSM

SK Berangan 1

SK Kutan

SK Kampong Laut

SK Palekbang

SK Pulau Beluru

SK Pengkalan Kubor 2

SK Padang Pohon Tanjung

The Tumpat District Officer himself handed the prizes to the winners after his motivating speech of urging the sports glory to rival Tumpat being the number one district in Kelantan in the academic achievement.  

Personally, only one player from my school won the top prize in her category. Nor Muniera Farhin, a fifth former, made it a priority to win the chess selection even though she is a target SPM student for this year. The others were first timers and did not make the Tumpat team. 

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!

EVERYTHING IS 8 IN KB BLITZ TOURNAMENT

Kota Bharu Blitz Chess Tournament was truly a unique event, held in conjunction with the National Sports Day on 10 October 2015. 8 minutes per player, 8 Swiss System rounds with prize money starting from RM188 for the champion, RM88 for the runner up and RM28 for the 10th placing. The Under 12 category was also true to the spirit with RM48 set aside for the winner. Even the dateline for registration was 8 October 2015.

Kelantan Youth and Sports Department was the venue for the event. It started at 2 p.m. to give way for other events such as cycling, running and aerobics to be held in the morning. Millions of Malaysians were involved on the whole in various sports and we were excited to be among the 17648 events which made it into the Malaysian Book of Records. 

Kelantan chess enthusiasts came from all over Kelantan to be involved in this event. Baharuddin, who came from Kuala Krai, won the Open Category while Faridzul Asyraf was second, albeit with the same score. Ariez was half a point behind to take the third prize. 

The champion

Open Category

1. Baharuddin Hamzah - 5 points

2. Mohd Faridzul Asyraf - 5

3. Muhd Ariez Azman - 4.5

4. Abdul Khair Jusoh - 4.5

5. Ghazali Che Cob - 4

6. Muhd Ariji Hasan Basri - 4

7. Norazlin Juarih - 4

8. Marzuki Yaacob - 4

9. Mohd Noor Khairullah - 4

10. Ahmad Mujahid - 4

In the Under 12 Category, Muhammad Ajwad proved to be too hot to handle by his peers when he won all his games effortlessly leaving Mohd Syakir Aiman (second) and Adi Safiuddin (third) two points behind. 

Under 12 Category

1. Muhd Ajwad Md Amin - 6 points

2. Mohd Syakir Aiman - 4

3. Adi Safiuddin - 4

4. Nik Abd Qayyum - 4

5. Wan Nurul Aisyah - 4

The winners with PCNK committee members

On the somber note, the KB Blitz was not without blunders, to use a chess term. The invitation letter to the school students was rejected 3 days before the event by the State Education Department merely because of the RM5 fee. Curiously, it was approved by the director on Sunday before being blocked by his committee three days later. That seriously hampered our effort to reach the primary school students to boost our participants in the Under 12 Category. Personally, I don't see any harm in imposing the fee as we don't want to make them disregard the tournament if they play without any payment. Time and time again we see players leaving tournaments before the last rounds if they think that they couldn't get any prize. At least by imposing some fee, they will finish the tournament to make what they paid worthwhile. 

As for me, my appointment letter as the arbiter never reached the school where I work. The day being a school day, I couldn't leave as I please, thus making me late to arrive at the tournament hall because the distant between the hall and my school is around 25 kilometres. The State Education Department, again, said that I had to apply for it through e-Pelepasan, upon which, when checked, has to be made 14 days prior. This is totally new to me; I never really know about this before that phone call I made to the department. I tried to follow the correct procedure in applying for my leave, but it seemed that the correct procedure was never really clear to me. 

In the last round, there was an incident where a player claiming for the illegal move. As the arbiter, I was summoned to the table to look at the dispute. He claimed that his opponent pressed the clock before adjusting a fallen Bishop of his. His opponent, on the other hand, claimed that the Bishop fell after he had pressed the clock. To settle the matter, I asked both of them to continue, as there was no chance that I would know who among them was telling the truth. Angrily, the claimant told that he would settle for a draw instead, but that was another matter whatsoever, because he had to offer the draw and his opponent had to accept it for the game to be declared a draw. Fortunately, his opponent accepted the draw without further ado. 

And then there was time when the printer's ink was going out, and the technical problem when my laptop which I used to make the pairings failed to respond accordingly, the tournament finished later than expected. Luckily, we only had to play for six rounds, which preciously saved some time. We were able to give out the prizes before 6.15 p.m. which, in my opinion, quite on schedule. 

So, there were plenty of pluses and minuses which can be taken for holding future tournaments. 

 

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. 

VENUE CONFIRMED FOR ZADANO KELANTAN OPEN 2014

Google Street View of SMKA Naim Lilbanat, Kota Bharu

The venue for Zadano Kelantan Open has been confirmed. It will be held at Haji Yaacub Hall, SMKA Naim Lilbanat, Kota Bharu. It is situated at Jalan Sultan Yahya Petra and is easily accessible by any kind of transportation. 

Some of the hotels and accommodations nearby:

1. Renaissance Hotel

2. Leo Mutiara Hotel

3. Kami Hotel

4. MCna Homestay

5. D' Naja Inn

6. Tune Hotel
7. Perdana Hotel
8. Al-Quds Hotel
9. Saf Inn
10. BBP Hotel

For reminders:

The closing date is 22 December 2014.

BARBAT BLITZ 2014

New Castle Chess Solution (NCCS) was instrumental in gathering several Kelantan hardcore chess players prelude to the Kelantan Open by holding a blitz chess tournament. Like the previous Deepavali Blitz, this tournament was also held at a football playing venue - a futsal court. It really strengthens the notion that chess is indeed a sport, not merely a recreation game like some argue. The tournament details are as follows:

Date: 6 December 2014

Time: 3 - 6 pm

Venue: 7F Futsal Centre, Kg Seterpa, Peringat, Kota Bharu, Kelantan

Format: 7 Swiss Rounds

Time Control: 10 minutes per player per game

Fees: RM5.00

Sponsored by several other individuals apart from the NCCS, which include Rozhisham with the medals, Azlin with the Detox patches and Nik Azhan with MILO packets, the tournament attracted 24 players:

1. Alif Omar Mohd Saufi

2. Mohd Saufi Deraman

3. Muhd Khairul Ikmal

4. Norazlin Juarih

5. Wan Mahadzir

6. Nasrul Humaimi

7. Najihah Mohd Saufi

8. Muhd Haziq Rhozisham

9. Asomuddin Mohd Safi

10. Mohd Faridzul Asyraf

11. Nik Nur Nadzirah

12. Nik Anisy Syakirah

13. Roslee Alias

14. Marzuki Yaacob

15. Muhd Zudi

16. Nik Mohd Nazri

17. Muhammad Ariez Azman

18. Wan Tarmizi

19. Wan Mohd Azmie

20. Syed Azizi

21. Faiz Zakaria

22. Yusnizam

23. Azfarziyad

24. Yours Truly

In the end, Yours Truly managed to claim top spot by holding the Deepavali Blitz chess champion, Nasrul Humaimi, to the draw and winning the rest. I was extremely lucky to be able to hold my pieces together in the fast games as I really do think that I am only suited for classical time control nowadays. Nevertheless, the games were enjoyable enough and you readers are lucky I am able to recall all the 7 games. 

Click on the game headers to view the games.

Round 1: Asomuddin Mohd Safi vs Yours Truly

It started as a Najdorf but it quickly turned into a Sveshnikov, albeit with the White knight on b3 instead of a3. After I was able to force White to take with a pawn on d5, Black controlled the centre viciously. 

Position after 24...Qb6

Round 2: Yours Truly vs Roslee Alias

I was trying to be clever by taking the Black undeveloped Knight at b8 but was foiled by a check by the Black Queen at a5. Black should have punished my mistake, but instead he blundered away two minor pieces. The rest was history.

Position after 7... Qa5+

Round 3: Najihah vs Yours Truly

Morra Gambit revisited. I used my preferred line, but was nearly crushed by the young Kelantan scholastic champion. The push f5 was uncalled for, and I barely survived the onslaught. Luckily, I was saved by an illegal move with 1 second to spare.

Position after 17...f5

Round 4: Marzuki Yaacob vs Yours Truly

English is Marzuki's specialty, and playing it against an English teacher can be considered 'cocky'. However, I chose a wrong timing to push d5 and was hit by an avalanche of pawns. However, he wrongfully adjudged the exchange sacrifice and crumbled badly. 

Position after 10...d5

Round 5: Yours Truly vs Dr. Nasrul Humaimi

I made a mistake by placing a Bishop at the vulnerable d6 square and was punished by an alert Dr Nasrul. He took the opportunity to double his Rooks on the c-file and nearly got away with the point. However, I managed to secure the draw by leaving the opposite coloured Bishop on board. 

Position after 14.Bd6

Round 6: Yours Truly vs Nik Mohd Nazri

I was able to develop quickly because of his opening choice but it was not decisive until he decided to give away a pawn on e7. Latching onto the opportunity, I quickly doubled the Rooks on the e-file and put him under intense pressure. Sure enough, another crucial pawn in front of the King was given, and with it, the game.

Position after 23.Nxg6

Round 7: Muhammad Ariez vs Yours Truly

I always try to prove that the Trompovsky Bishop should not be surrendered because it will leave the b-pawn unguarded, and I usually accept a doubled pawn to lure its demise. My Queen and dark-squared Bishop were bossing the dark squares and White found it hard to develop his pieces because of this. As a result, White gave away a centre pawn in the middle game and this proved to be enough for me to win the endgame and the tournament. 

Position after 19...Bxe4

The final results:

Some pictures courtesy of Rhozisham and also Empty Bench:

Family duel between siblings living miles apart

Cozy playing venue

The passing of the mantle

The prizes

   

The matching attires tell us what we need to know

Laksa for everybody

A doctorate and a soon-to-be doctor

 This successfully held event showed several important observations:

1. Kelantan chess players are hungry for chess tournaments which are a rarity in Kelantan nowadays.

2. It does not require a huge amount of money to gather enthusiastic chess players - they just want to play.

3. PCNK really needs the right people to lead it towards glory and success.

DEEPAVALI BLITZ TOURNAMENT

After a long wait for a tournament in Kelantan, one of Kelantan Chess Association (PCNK) members organised a small scale blitz chess tournament on invitation basis to fulfill a lengthy holiday in conjunction of Deepavali. At first, 10 Kelantan players were invited to play a round robin tournament at the Sultan Muhammad IV stadium, but in the end, there were 14 players turning up: 

1. Nasrul Humaimi (the organiser)

2. Khairul Aznan

3. Muhammad Ariez

4. Marzuki

5. Nik Mohd Nazri

6. Haziq Rozhisham

7. Norazlin

8. Rozhisham

9. Irfan

10. Mohd Azizul

11. Hilmi

12. Khairul

13. Wan Mohd Adli

14. Wan Mohd Amirul

After the customary 13 rounds of play, the organiser emerged as champion by defeating almost everybody. Even Yours Truly was checkmated without any mercy as he was in demolition mode. Second and third were taken by siblings Wan Mohd Amirul and Wan Mohd Adli, respectively while Yours Truly was fourth after losing to all three mentioned and winning the rest. The full results are shown below:

  

Although youthfulness of the siblings proved to be the catalyst for them to excel in the fast paced chess that night, the youngest player in the tournament, Haziq, has a lot to do after losing all his games. It turned out that he could not muster his moves quickly enough to counter his opponents, and this is quite perplexing. Hopefully he will do better in the upcoming UTP blitz tournament in November.

Some pictures from various sources (credit to Nasrul and Ariez rare CANON camera):

 

TUMPAT DISTRICT SELECTION

Tomorrow, Tumpat will hold its selection at SMKA Falahiah. 174 players will be competing in 6 categories to be the district representatives this year. They will surely strive hard to have a go at breaking into Kelantan top 36 in order to fly towards the nationals which will be held in Sarawak next month.

The schools involved are: 

SMKA Falahiah

SMK Sungai Pinang

SMK Wakaf Bharu

SMK Dato Bijiwangsa

SMK Chabang Empat

SMK Geting

SMK Mahmud Mahyiddin

SMK Kampung Laut
SMK Berangan
SMK Tumpat

SK Palekbang

SK Pulau Beluru

SK Kampung Laut

SK Kutan

SK Berangan 1

SK Chenderong Batu

We are surely missing MRSM because of technical problems. However, it is hoped that the players selected will proudly represent the district and uphold its name by improving on last year's achievement of 1 state representative. 

3rd UiTM OPEN CHESS TOURNAMENT

C'STA UiTM is becoming increasingly active in organising tournaments in Kelantan, including last year's Kelantan Closed. The third installment of the UiTM Open will be held tomorrow (7 September 2013). I will be participating in this tournament to warm up before the big Inter State 4 days after that. Hopefully all my teammates will also be there to flex some rusted muscles and freshen the clogged mind.

CHESS WITH ME

WALK WITH ME programme enters its third year this time around. The carnival starts from 13-15 June with lots of events being lined up for all which includes Auto Show, Cultural Show, booths and of course, the Walkathon with the Sultan.

THE RED KNIGHTS ARE OFF TO TERENGGANU

Before the Red Warriors are scheduled to finish off Terengganu's chances in FA Cup after seeing off the first leg with a dramatic 4 - 1 win, our own Red Knights are marching towards Terengganu capital, Kuala Terengganu to fight for the National Closed Championship crown which will be contested from 28 May - 1 June 2013 at Universiti Malaysia Terengganu.

AL-FIRDAUS WINS SMACH OPEN 2013

Muhammad Al-Firdaus stopped the Terengganu players from bringing home the Zaaim Redha challenge trophy by winning the SMACH Open 2013. He finished with the same score as Muhammad Arshad, but his Berger tie break gave him the edge after the Bucholz tie break could not determine the winner. The tournament also saw a comeback by Syed Azizi and Bakri Jusoh who were last seen in the Kelantan tournament earlier last year.

SMACH OPEN 2013

For a year, the Zaaim Redha trophy sits proudly on my chess rack. This Saturday, I have to bring it to SMACH again to be defended against those who aspire to be the next champion. Players who want to enter this tournament, though, have to register their names by today (18 April 2013) or risk paying the penalty. The organiser really wants to change the mindset of Kelantan chess players who like to register late and thus delay the start.

KELANTAN OPEN IS A FIDE RATED EVENT!

After the postponement of this event last December due to the flood, it is now confirmed that it will be held this Chinese New Year. Actually, it will be a dual event where the open category will be an International event while the age group category will be a national event.

KELANTAN OPEN

At last, the long overdue Kelantan Open tournament will actually be held at the end of this month. This is the first time the PCNK will be involved in organising an open tournament after successfully held the Kelantan Closed several times. It will be co-organised with the Politeknik Kota Bharu, MCF and also the MSSK.

The details of the tournament can be achieved at the PCNK website.

KaSUGI

Kelantan has sent 2 state teams to the recently concluded KaSUGI Chess Team Championship. Kelantan A fared better than Kelantan B when they managed to become the third best Malaysian team after securing the tenth place in the final standing. Only Penang A and Penang B were above Kelantan in the state standing.

Interestingly, Ismail Ahmad, my former coach, played for Kelantan A. He was stationed in Kelantan for three months, and that makes him eligible to play for Kelantan. Both Ismail and Farouqi were the points winner for the team when they finished with 6 points. Other team members were Ezmi and Bukhari. 

Whereas team B comprised of Khairul Nizam, Alfirdaus, Izuddin Ahayat and the evergreen Harun Bustaman a.k.a. Abe Mei. 

Below are the personal performances of Kelantan players.

Kelantan A

10. KELANTAN A (RtgAvg:1876, Captain: Farouqi / TB1: 19.5 / TB2: 11) Bo. Name Rtg FED 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Pts.  Games RtgAvg 1 Nik Ahmad Farouqi  2087 MAS 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 6 8 1773 2 Ismail Ahmad   2007 MAS 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 6 8 1805 3 Mohd Ezmi  Mahmood 1805 MAS 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 ½ 3.5 8 1785 4 Mohd Bukhari Yahya  1606 MAS 0 ½ 1 0 ½ 0 1 1 4 8 1691

Kelantan B

46. KELANTAN B (RtgAvg:1635, Captain: Bustaman Harun / TB1: 14 / TB2: 6) Bo. Name Rtg FED 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Pts.  Games RtgAvg 1 Md Khairul Nizam Johariy  1667 MAS 0 1 1 0 1 ½ 1 1 5.5 8 1602 2 Muhd Alfirdaus Md Nazir  1587 MAS 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 4 8 1542 3 Ahayat Izuddin  1742 MAS 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 8 1577 4 Harun Bustaman  1545 MAS 0 0 0 ½ 1 0 1 0 2.5 8 1544

However, there was another team from Kelantan which is C'STA UiTM Kelantan. It consisted of players playing for UiTM Machang, Kelantan under their coach, BadBishop.


C'STA UiTM Kelantan

51. C'STA UiTM KLTN (RtgAvg:1358, Captain: Norazlin / TB1: 13 / TB2: 5)
Bo.	Name	Rtg	FED	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Pts.	Games	RtgAvg
1	Ahmad Arif Abdul Rahim	1469	MAS	1	0	1	1	1	1	1	0	6	8	1543
2	Ahmad Da'i Md HJa'afar	1400	MAS	0	0	0	0	½	0	1	0	1.5	8	1587
3	Muhd Afiq Aiman	1041	MAS	0	½	0	1	½	0	1	0	3	8	1572
4	Juarih Norazlin	1521	MAS	0	0	0	½	0	½	1	½	2.5	8	1622

Congratulations to all teams for making Kelantan proud!

Kelantan A

Kelantan B

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