A busy month ahead

By Quah Seng Sun

JUDGING from the number of chess organisers who have contacted me this past week or so, August is starting to look like one very busy month indeed.

The month begins with some tournaments in Kuala Lumpur, then the action moves south to Johor before switching back to Kuala Lumpur at the end of the month for the traditional Merdeka team championship. Of course, during the month itself, the Penang Bayview Chess League continues, although it will wind down in about three weeks.

All right, let's see what are the tournaments in store for players next month.

• Endah Parade Challenge, Kuala Lumpur (Aug 1): For starters, there will be the Endah Parade Chess Challenge in Bandar Baru Sri Petaling, jointly organised by the Endah Parade and the Malaysian Chess Federation. The Endah Parade blitz tournament will start in the afternoon; registration for players will open at 1pm, with the first round scheduled to start at 2pm. This blitz event is a 13-round Swiss, and the champion will receive a trophy and RM200. The runner-up will get RM100 while the third prize is RM50. Entry fee is RM10 per player.

• Endah Parade Age Group Open, Kuala Lumpur (Aug 2): These under-16 and under-12 events will be played in a six-round Swiss, and participants are required to register at 9am. For both age groups, the champion will get a trophy and RM200, and the runner-up RM100. The prizes for third and the best girl player are RM50 each. Entry fee is RM10.

• Endah Parade Computer Challenge, Kuala Lumpur (Aug 8): The organisers of the Endah Parade events hope to have a competition between human players and computer chess programs like Chessmaster and Fritz. However, the format has not been finalised and the only information released to date is that the event will be played over six rounds beginning 1pm. There are five non-cash prizes. Entry fee is RM5 per player.

• Endah Parade Open, Kuala Lumpur (Aug 9): This open chess tournament will complete the Endah Parade chess challenge. This is a six-round Swiss, and registration begins at 9am. Entry fee is RM10 for players who are under 12 years old, and RM15 for others. Ten cash prizes are on offer, including a RM250 first prize, a RM200 second prize and a RM150 third prize. Fourth and fifth will receive RM100 each, and those who finish sixth to 10th will get RM50 each. In addition, there are RM50 prizes for the best under-16, under-14, under-12 and girl players.

  Entry forms for the events can be obtained from, and submitted to, the information counter at Endah Parade. However, entry fees will only be collected on the day of registration. Would-be participants should submit their entry forms early because each of the events would be limited to the first 100 participants. For more details, contact Zac, Yuonne or Soo Kee (03-583 0100).

• MSE Silver Jubilee, Johor (Aug 9): This year is the 50th anniversary of Malaysia Shipyard and Engineering Sdn Bhd, and to mark the occasion, the company will organise a silver jubilee open chess tournament at their training centre in Pasir Gudang. This event will be played in two sections -- open and under-16 -- and there will be a total of RM3,000 in prizes.

  For the open section, the entry fee will be RM20 while RM10 will be collected from the players of the under-16 section. The winner of the open section will receive RM300, and the second-placed player will get RM250. Other main prizes include RM200 for third, RM150 for fourth and RM100 for fifth. The sixth to 10th prizes range from RM80 to RM40.

  As for the under-16 section, the winner will get RM150 and the runner-up RM120. There are also prizes for the third to 10th-placed winners, including a RM100 third prize and a RM80 fourth prize. For registration or information, call M. Said Husin (07-259 3784) or Shamsuddin Taimain (07-259 2332).

• Merdeka Team Chess Championship, Kuala Lumpur (Aug 28-30): The highlight of the month will be the Merdeka team chess championship. Instead of Wisma Belia, the venue of this year's Merdeka championship will be the Putra World Trade Centre.

  Like in previous years, cash prizes and trophies will be awarded to the winners of the State, youth and open sections. Entry fees are RM150 for teams playing in the State and open sections, and RM80 for the youth section. The closing date for entries is Aug 23.

  The organiser Malaysian Chess Federation will provide accommodation for only the official State and youth teams. They will be housed at the nearby Dynasty Hotel, the official hotel for the event, which is about five minutes' walk from the PWTC. There will be more details on the championship next week. In the meantime, readers can also contact Ibrahim Bakar (03-559 5442) or Ibrahim Yaacob (03-636 3082) after 7pm if they have enquiries.

The Perak International Chess Association will hold the seventh stage of their nine-leg chess grand prix at the Tun Razak Library in Ipoh this weekend.

Six rounds are scheduled for the two-day event, and the time control will be 60 minutes per player for each game. This event is open to all chess enthusiasts in the State. Three rounds will be played tomorrow and the remaining rounds will be on Sunday.

The overall grand prix standings will be based on the best five tournament performances of each player and the top 24 players at the end of the series will qualify for the Perak state championship in September. The interim grand prix standings will also be used for selecting Perak players to national events like the Merdeka team championship.

Those interested in playing this weekend must register at the playing venue by 1pm tomorrow. For more details, contact W.K. Wong (05-366 1692).

BAYVIEW LEAGUE RESULTS

In the sixth round of the eighth Bayview Chess League last Sunday, Penang Free School 'A' whitewashed Chung Ling High School 'B' 4-0 to take a commanding lead in the Premier Division. Their nearest rival, Old Frees Association 'A', beat MSSPP Juniors 3 1/2-1/2, while Chung Ling High School 'A' could score only 2 1/2-1 1/2 against Pessca.

In other matches, Chung Ling Old Boys Association beat Old Frees Association 'B' 3-1, and Universiti Sains Malaysia beat Methodist Boys School 3-1.

The Division One results saw Penang Free School 'B' beating Chung Ling High School 'D' 3 1/2-1/2, Hewlett-Packard beating Penang Chess Association Novices also by the same score line, and Chung Ling High School 'C' thrashing Penang Free School 'C' 4-0. Penang Development Corporation beat Union High School 3-1, while St Xavier's Institution 'A' beat Chung Hwa Confucian 'A' 2 1/2-1 1/2.

In Division Two, MSSPP Girls beat Methodist Boys School 'B' 3-1, Penang Free School 'D' beat Dynacraft 3-1, St Xavier's Institution 'B' beat Westlands Secondary School 3-1, and Police beat Chung Hwa Confucian 'B' 3-1. Chung Ling High School 'E' scored a narrow 2 1/2-1 1/2 win over Penang Chinese Girls High School. Standings:

Premier Division: PFS A (21 points); OFA A (17 1/2); CLHS A (16); CLOBA (15 1/2); MBS A (10 1/2); Pessca (10 1/2); USM (8); MSSPP Juniors (7 1/2); OFA B (7 1/2); CLHS B (6).

Division One: PFS B (20); CLHS C (20); SXI A (16 1/2); PDC (16); CLHS D (13); Hewlett-Packard (12 1/2); PCA Novices (6 1/2); Chung Hwa Confucian A (6 1/2); PFS C (6); Union (6).

Division Two: MSSPP Girls (17); PFS D (17); Police (16 1/2); SXI B (15); Chung Hwa Confucian B (14); CLHS E (13); MBS B (10 1/2); Dynacraft (9 1/2); PCGHS (5); Westlands (2 1/2).

The round-by-round results of the Bayview Chess League can be viewed at the Penang Chess Association homepage
( www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Stadium/2379/ ).

Meanwhile, there are no games this Sunday and the seventh round will only be played on Aug 2 at The City Bayview Hotel. The hotel is sponsoring the use of their premises for the weekly games.