May's many events

By Quah Seng Sun

THERE are a number of local events to report on this week, and I shall start with the Royal Selangor Open which was played in Petaling Jaya late last month.

The tournament was taken by local schoolboy Lim Yee Weng who won the nine-round event handily. He had a slow start, suffering a shock second round defeat at the hands of Terengganu's Mohamad Arshad, but as the tournament progressed, Lim showed enough resilience in his games.

He kept pace with the tournament leaders and by the eighth round, had hauled himself within reach of the winner's purse. He defeated Ismail Ahmad in the final round of the tournament to finish with 7 1/2 points. Along the way, he had also defeated Khor Shihong, Agus Salim, Ng Ee Vern and last year's winner, Mok Tze Meng. Lim's only draw was with Kamaluddin Yusof.

Mok had a breezy start, winning his first five games before being held to draws in the sixth and seventh rounds by Julian Navaratnam and Ahmad Maliki. However, a loss to Lim in the eighth round effectively ended his quest for another Royal Selangor chess title. Mok had to settle for a third draw with Jimmy Liew in the final round to take the second prize with 6 1/2 points.

Four other players -- Ng Ee Vern, Ismail Ahmad, Kamaluddin Yusof and Ghalam Sani -- also scored 6 1/2 points while Jimmy Liew, Law Zhe Khang and Mustafa Kamal Huri obtained six points each. This tournament must have been a disappointment for Liew; apart from a loss to Ghalam Sani, he was held to draws in four games.

The Royal Selangor open tournament was just one of several events organised by the Chess Association of Selangor (CAS) to commemorate its silver jubilee. At the start of May, CAS had held its Royal Selangor Juniors Open for the under-10, under-14 and under-18 age groups. The under-12, under-16 and under-20 events have been organised in mid-May.

The under-12 event which attracted 74 entries was won by Jonathan Chuah who swept all his seven games for maximum points. In joint second place were Wong Zi Chuang, Lim Choo Seng and Chan Tze Wei with six points each, while five points went to Effazuwan Farid, Ooi Ching Chung, Ahmad Hafiz, Low Chung Peng, Lim Han Ying, Nishaah, Ungku Iskandar, Kow Wen Fey, Lim Tao Sheng and Mohd Irman.

In the under-16 section, Lim Yee Weng again proved a notch over the rest of the players by winning the event with 6 1/2 points from seven games. Second was Law Zhe Khang with six points, while in joint third to seventh places were Lee Su Ann, Effawira Farid, Soh Hui Siang, Effahrin Farid and Thaw Chee Yin with five points each. There were 41 participants.

There were only 28 players in the under-20 event and this was won by Mak Weng Yee with six points. Joint second to fourth were Chua Lin Kiat, Lim Kweng Seng and Premnanth with five points each.

CAS also held a round-robin team event for institutions of higher learning, and the champion team was the International Islamic Universiti A which scored 24 points. In second place was Universiti Malaya with 22 1/2 points.

Bayview League

THE eighth Penang Bayview Chess League squared off last Sunday at the City Bayview Hotel with a record 30 teams taking part. The teams will be locked in a nine-round contest which is played on Sundays until Aug 16. The City Bayview Hotel is sponsoring the use of their hotel premises for the games.

In the first round of the Premier Division last Sunday, Chung Ling High School A crushed their B team 4-0, while Penang Free School A also won 4-0 against Universiti Sains Malaysia. Old Frees Association A beat their B team by 3 1/2-1/2, while methodist Boys School A defeated Chung Ling Old Boys Association 3-1. The match between MSSPP Juniors and Pessca was drawn 2-2.

The Division One results saw St Xavier's Institution A beating Union High School 4-0, and Penang Free School B winning 3 1/2-1/2 against the Penang Chess Association Novices team.

The other three matches in this division -- Chung Hwa High School A vs Penang Free School C, Penang Development Corporation vs Hewlett Packard, and Chung Ling High School C vs their D team -- all ended in 3-1 scores.

In Division Two, the MSSPP Girls team beat St Xavier's Institution B and the Police beat Penang Free School D by 3-1 results. Chung Ling High School E narrowly beat Westlands Secondary School 2 1/2-1 1/2, while two matches -- Chung Hwa B vs Methodist Boys School B and Penang Chinese Girls High School vs Dynacraft -- were drawn 3-1.

The second round will be played this Sunday morning beginning 10am at the hotel's Revolving Restaurant on the 15th floor.

Klang team event

THERE will be a two-day open team chess tournament for school students starting tomorrow at the SM Tengku Ampuan Rahimah in Klang. This is a six-round event with a time control of 45 minutes per player for each game. Each team can have only four players.

Registration of teams will be from 8am tomorrow and the first round is expected to start at 9.30am. For more details, contact Lee Kok Foong (03-332 1020), Law Zhe Khang (03-331 4160) or Edwin Lam (03-343 4792).

Penang GP

THE Penang Chess Association will organise their second Penang grand prix chess circuit this year, and the first of four legs will be held on June 28 at the Bayan Baru Residents Association clubhouse. Only paid-up members of the PCA can take part in this circuit.

According to organising secretary Goh Yoon Wah, the circuit is to provide playing opportunities and training to PCA members throughout the year, as well as rating and selecting players for representing the state.

The circuit is divided into four preliminary legs and a final. Each of the preliminary legs will be a six-round event using a 30-minute time control.

For these legs, the prizes include RM200 for the winner, RM120 for the runners-up and RM80 for the third-placed. There are five other minor cash prizes, and also prizes for the best junior and woman players. Entry fee is RM10 per player.

Besides cash prizes, the top players from each leg will be awarded GP points. For example, the winner will be given 1,000 GP points, the second-placed 900 GP points, and so on until the 10th-place winner who shall receive 100 GP points.

The 10 finalists are determined by the total GP points accummulated by the players from their best three legs. Entry to the final will be by qualification only. The final will be a round-robin tournament with a one-hour time control. The winner will receive RM400 and a challenge trophy; the second-prize is RM200; third, RM100; and fourth and fifth, RM50 each.

Details of this circuit can also be obtained from the PCA homepage at www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Stadium/2379/

Chess enthusiasts can contact Quah Seng Sun via e-mail (ssquah@schach.pc.my). His chess articles are archived at Malaysia On-Line which readers can visit at http://www.mol.com.my