New dates for event

By Quah Seng Sun

THE Malaysian Chess Federation has fixed July 4 and 5 for this year's national age-group chess championship. This event, which was originally supposed to have been held in Shah Alam, Selangor, earlier this month, will now be played at the Putra World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur.

There will be five categories of play for the event: the under-10, under-12, under-14, under-16 and under-18 sections. Each participant will be charged an entry fee of RM10. Although there are no cash prizes, winners will get the opportunity to be selected for the world age-group championships later in the year.

Those interested in playing in this event should be in PWTC's foyer by 8am on July 4. For more details, contact Malaysian Chess Federation secretary Hamid Majid ( 03-421 9576).

Other matches coming up include the first leg of the Penang Chess Association's second Penang grand prix chess circuit . It will be held on June 28 at the clubhouse of the Bayan Baru Residents' Association in Bandar Bayan Baru. Only paid-up members of the PCA are allowed to take part in this circuit.

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 those placed third. There are five other minor cash prizes, and also prizes for the best junior and woman players. The entry fee is RM10 per player.

Besides the cash prizes, the top players from each leg will be awarded Grand Prix points. Ten finalists will be selected according to the total GP points accummulated from the 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/ ).

Bayview chess league results

In the second round of the eighth Bayview Chess League last Sunday, Penang Free School "A" took a significant lead in the Premier Division after scoring a 3 1/2-1/2 victory over Pessca.

Their two nearest rivals were Chung Ling High School "A" and Chung Ling Old Boys Association. The CLHS team played the Old Frees Association "A" to a 2-2 draw, while the CLOBA beat Universiti Sains Malaysia 3-1.

Two other matches also ended with the same 3-1 scoreline: Methodist Boys School beat Chung Ling High School "B", and the MSSPP (Penang Schools' Sports Council) Juniors pulled off a surprising win against the Old Frees Association "B".

The Division One results saw Penang Free School "B" taking a slim lead after whitewashing their "C" team 4-0. CLHS "C" also scored 4-0 against Chung Hwa Confucian School "A".

The matches between CLHS "D" and Hewlett-Packard, St Xavier's Institution "A" and Penang Development Corporation, and the Penang Chess Association Novices and Union High School all ended in 3-1 results.

In Division Two, the MSSPP Girls scored a thrilling 4-0 win over Westlands Secondary School, Chung Hwa Confucian School "B" handily despatched Dynacraft 4-0, and St Xavier's "B" beat Penang Chinese Girls High School 4-0. Polis Di Raja Malaysia scored a 3-1 win over Methodist Boys School "B" 3-1, while PFS "D" narrowly beat CLHS "E" by 2 1/2-1 1/2.

Standings

Premier Division: PFS "A" 7 1/2 pts; CLHS "A", CLOBA 6 pts each; OFA "A" 5 1/2 pts; MSSPP Juniors 5 pts; MBS "A" 4 pts; Pessca 2 1/2 pts; OFA "B" 1 1/2 pts; USM and CLHS "B" 1 pt each.

Division One: PFS "B" 7 1/2 pts; SXI "A", CLHS "C" 7 pts each; PDC, CLHS "D" 4 pts each; PCA Novices 3 1/2 pts; CHCS "A" 3 pts; HP 2 pts; PFS "C", UHS 1 pt each.

Division Two: MSSPP Girls 7 pts; Polis, CHCS "B" 6 pts; SXI "B" 5 pts; CLHS "E" 4 pts; PFS "D" 3 1/2 pts; MBS "B" 3 pts; Dynacraft, PCGHS 2 pts each; Westlands 1 1/2 pts.

The third round of the chess league will be played this Sunday beginning at 10am at The City Bayview Hotel's revolving restaurant on the 15th floor. The hotel is sponsoring the use of its premises for the weekly games.

GAMES OF THE WEEK

ALEXEI Shirov displayed flashes of brilliance in beating Vladimir Kramnik 5 1/2-3 1/2 in a match held in Cazorla, Spain, earlier this month. Events came to an abrupt end after Shirov won the ninth game to take an unassailable lead in a match which had originally been scheduled for 10 games.

The win over Kramnik, whom many people had predicted would prevail in this match, means that Shirov is poised to collect his biggest ever paycheck when he meets Gary Kasparov in a match this October. This match will be organised by the so-called World Chess Council, a body formed by Kasparov and Luis Rentero to provide Kasparov with a channel to play.

We left off two weeks ago when the score was 3 1/2-2 1/2 in Shirov's favour after six games. Shirov, a former world junior champion, had won the fourth game with the other games ended drawn. Two further draws ensued in the seventh and eighth games, then Shirov won again in the ninth game. Here are the remaining three games of the match.

Kramnik - Shirov, Game 7

------------------------

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 c6 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Nc3 d5 6.Qb3 0-0 7.Bg2 Qb6 8.0-0 Bf5 9.Ne5 e6 10.Bf4 Nbd7 11.Qxb6 axb6 12.f3 Nxe5 13.Bxe5 g5 14.e4 Bg6 15.b3 Rfd8 16.Rfd1 dxe4 17.fxe4 Ng4 18.Bxg7 Kxg7 19.Bf3 h5 20.Rd2 Ne5 21.Bg2 c5 22.d5 Nc6 23.Rad1 Nd4 24.e5 exd5 25.cxd5 Re8 26.Re1 Nc2 27.Ree2 Nd4 28.Re1 Nc2 29.Rxc2 Bxc2 30.d6 Bf5 31.Bxb7 Rad8 32.Bc6 Re6 33.Bd5 Rdxd6 34.Bxe6 1/2-1/2

Shirov - Kramnik, Game 8

------------------------

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Qe2 Qe7 6.d3 Nf6 7.Nc3 Qxe2+ 8.Bxe2 g6 9.Nd4 a6 10.h3 Bg7 11.g4 Bd7 12.Bf3 Nc6 13.Nxc6 Bxc6 14.Bxc6+ bxc6 15.Bd2 h5 16.g5 Nd5 17.Nxd5 cxd5 18.0-0-0 Kd7 1/2-1/2

Kramnik - Shirov, Game 9

------------------------

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.f3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nb6 6.Nc3 Bg7 7.Be3 0-0 8.Qd2 e5 9.d5 c6 10.h4 h5 11.Be2 cxd5 12.exd5 N8d7 13.d6 Nf6 14.Bg5 Re8 15.Rd1 Be6 16.Nh3 Nc4 17.Bxc4 Bxc4 18.b3 Ba6 19.Nd5 e4! 20.Nxf6+Bxf6 21.d7 Qb6!! 22.dxe8=Q+ Rxe8 23.Qe3 Bxg5 24.Qxb6 Bxh4+ 25.Kd2 axb6 26.fxe4 Rxe4 27.Kc2 Rg4 28.Rd2 Be7 29.Rg1 Kg7 30.Nf2 Rf4 31.Nd3 Re4 32.Rgd1 Bb5 33.a4 Bc6 34.Re1 Rxe1 35.Nxe1 Bb4 36.Re2 Bxe1 37.Rxe1 Bxg2 38.Kd2 h4 39.Ke3 Bd5 40.b4 h3 41.Re2 f5 42.Rd2 Be4 43.Kf4 Bg2 44.Rd7+ Kf6 45.Rh7 g5+ 46.Kg3 f4+ 47.Kg4 Ke5 48.b5 0-1