Merdeka Age Group Open Rapid Chess Championship (Part 2)

Below are the final ranking of the four age group sections.

U8

U10

U12

U14

U16

In each age group section, both boys and girls played in one category but the prizes were seperate. In U4 category, a Thai youngster named Suvich Tachaplalert, emerged champion and won all his rounds including beating Fikri, GiLoCatur's son in a critical time pressure. The U10 age group category attracted the most number of participations of 78.

Merdeka Age Group Open Rapid Chess Championship (Part 1)

Yesterday (Sunday, 5th September) GiLoCatur was at the Citil Midvalley Hotel because GiLoCatur's two boys - Fikri and his younger brother, Fahim, were participating in the Merdeka Age Group Open Chess Championship. Actually, it was the free day for the DAT Malaysian Open, Ambank Chess Challenge and the Seniors Open. That means Encik Hamid and his arbiter crews do not rest since 28th August. Actually, it is the first day that GiLoCatur set foot at the hotel during this year Malaysian Chess festival.

In the championship, there are five age groups contested, U16, U14, U12, U10 and U8. Fikri contested in the U14 age group category while Fahim competed in the U8 age group section. What was the number of participants?

U8 age group category

total participants = 57

the top 3 seeds

1. Jagathees a/l Gunabalan (nat. ratings, 1366)
2. Muhammad Faqih Aminuddin (1285)
3. Zainoor Ikmal Maisarah Mohd Noor (1263)

U10 age group category

total participants = 78

the top 3 seeds

1. Tan Yong Zhao (nat. ratings, 1469)
2. Teh De Juan (1460)
3. Lim Ming Kang (1417)

U12 age group category

total participants = 53

the top 3 seeds

1. Ooi Zhi Yang (nat. ratings, 1607)
2. Puteri Rifqah Fahada Azhar (1604)
3. Shreyes Subramaniam (1477)

U14 age group category

total participants = 34

the top 3 seeds

1. Mohd Irfan Haqqim Azhar (nat. ratings, 1619)
2. Tan Wei Hao (1616)
3. Fikri Saleh (1558)

U16 age group category

total participants = 11

the top 3 seeds

1. Mohd Syakir Shazmeer Azhar (nat. ratings, 1779)
2. Yat Guo Jie (1611)
3. Patrick Lim Kong Hui (1565)

Global Indian International School had come to the tournament in a big group. Its students were wearing yellow shirts as in the above pictures. Their participation had made the tournament become more interesting and alive.

The boys and girls who participated in the one-day event must thank their dedicated parents for their strong support and huge effort to make them become good chess players.

The First National Rapid Chess Championship in UTP, Tronoh

Wow! In August and September, the Malaysian chess community have chess festival in Cititel Hotel, Mid Valley. Come the month of October, they will have chess festival in Perak - namely Tanjong Malim and Tronoh. 9th, 10th, 23rd and 24th October are four days full of chess actions. UPSI Chess Open is scheduled on the 23rd & 24th, will suit for long or classic chess lovers and players since the games are G/60 which time control is 60 minutes per player. While the 1st National Rapid Chess Championship to be held in Universiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP) on 9th and 10th October will make rapid chess enthusiasts smile and happy. The format will be G/25 + 10 seconds of eight SWISS rounds.

BOOK YOUR DATE! LET'S PLAY CHESS IN PERAK!

Don't know where to stay near the UTP? Check out the following URL for accommodation and lodging : http://www.cuti.com.my/Sub/Perak/prk_hotel.htm

UPSI Chess Open - 23rd & 24th October 2010

GiLoCatur just received the details of the UPSI Chess Open or Kejohanan Catur Terbuka Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris from the organizer that will be held on 23rd and 24th October 2010.

Click here to download the form or contact the organizer.

1. SEMUA PESERTA AKAN DIBERI SIJIL PENYERTAAN
2. 10 CABUTAN BERTUAH UNTUK DIMENANGI!!
3. PENYERTAAN TERHAD KEPADA 200 PESERTA SAHAJA. PENYERTAAN SELEPAS TARIKH TUTUP AKAN DIKENAKAN DENDA RM 5

TARIKH TUTUP : 18 OKTOBER 2010.

HADIAH WANG TUNAI KESELURUHAN RM6000.00!!

Tournament entry fees must be paid on registration days. For further details call: HUZAIRI (013-5959350), email:mohdhuzairi89@yahoo.com OR IZZA 012-7412326, OR Fax 05-4585137 U/P MOHD HUZAIRI BIN HUSIN

Click here to view previous posts on UPSI chess tournaments.

Below is the list of the lodgings or hotels nearby:

SENARAI HOTEL DI SEKITAR TANJONG MALIM, PERAK MALAYSIA

HOTEL CAHAYA

No. 5 Jalan Cahaya, Taman Anggerik Desa 2

35900 Tanjong Peti, Perak

Tel/fax : 05-4584331 / 05-4594454

HOTEL ANGGERIK DESA SDN BHD

No 4-4A, Taman Anggerik

Jalan Besar, 35900 Tanjong Malim, Perak

Tel/Fax : 05-4599118 / 05-4594469

HOTEL BUNGA RAYA

No. 77 Taman Indah Setia,

35900 Tanjong Malim, Perak

Tel : 05-4594388

HOTEL SAHARA INN ( Mohammad Kamal )

No. 1 Jalan Bahtera 1B, Taman Bahtera,

Ulu Bernam, 35900 Tanjong Malim, Perak

Tel/Fax : 05-4595949

HOTEL TWIN STAR

No. 73A-74A, Taman Indah Setia,

35900 Tanjong Malim, Perak

Tel/Fax : 05-4598889

012-2339891/012-2118044

Good Performance By Tan Ken Wei In Ambank Chess Challenge

Tan Ken Wei (above picture, taken from nwm's blog) is performing well thus far in the Ambank Chess Challenge that is participated by 52 players that include ten foreigners. Up to four rounds, he scores full 4/4 points after he defeated the top seed Sharma Harish of India. Well done and syabas to the Malaysian youngster who is the 13th seed with Elo of 2000. GiLoCatur hopes he will continue his sterling performance especially when he face the second seed, Ravi Kumar of India, tomorrow morning. This kind of spirit and performance that the Malaysian chess community needs and cherishes.

Below is the list of Ken Wei's opponents in the Ambank Chess Challenge thus far.

KEEP ON WINNING, Ken Wei!

The Malaysian Chess Festival Heats On

The Malaysian classic chess events start today. Three events - DAT Malaysian Open, Ambank Chess Challenge and Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng Seniors Open, are being held concurrently. The seventh edition of DATMO has attracted 133 participants that include 54 title players. Malaysia, as the host country, has the largest number of participants as shown by below Federation statistics. It is also obvious that China and India have big number of players as well as Indonesia.

Sixteen Grandmasters or GMs are among 54 title players participating in the event. It is quite a strong chess tournament. Below are the list of the twenty six Malaysian players that participate in the DATMO. IM Mok whose FIDE ratings is 2416 is the best Malaysian seed at 32nd. Among the elite Malaysian players missing in the starting list are IM Mas, IM Yee Weng and FM Nicholas. GiLoCatur believes that they do not participate due to work commitments. GiLoCatur wish BEST OF LUCK to all the Malaysian players in the events.

In the first round yesterday (Wednesday), most Malaysian players lose to their respective opponents. Our current chess prodigy, Li Tian, managed to draw against GM Saidali. In the second round, he will play against IM Mok who also drew his first round.

Below is the list of the sixteen GMs led by the top seed, GM Abhijeet Gupta from India that embrace the 2010 Dato' Arthur Tan Malaysian Open.

Merdeka Rapid Team - The final R9 Pairings of Top 20 Boards

Round 9 Pairings - Top 20 boards

It is the final round now. GiLoCatur believes many matches have completed since the round started an hour ago at 11.00am. So, what would be the results? Can Chesskidz Men's Team that includes two Pinoy GMs win the event? Or can the Klang Valley Koalas stopped them? Can all-Malaysian-team-players SMS Gold led by IM Mok makes the Malaysian chess community proud by winning the top three placings?

How about another all-Malaysians team, Young and Danger? Can they outclass Rusty Nails? If they can, it is quite a sterling performance for the team that comprises MSS Selangor state players. Being on the top 5 boards in the final round itself is already an achievement in GiLoCatur's opinion. Another two all-Malaysians teams among the top 10 boards are Petronas led by IM Mas and Mamak, the Sequel whose members are Nik Farouqi, Saprin, Fairin and Abang Bro Kamaluddin. Two state teams - Penang and Sabah, face each other on the 10th board.

For the rest teams especially comprise our juniors, GiLoCatur hopes they will learn and gain a lot by participating in the Merdeka Rapid Team event. Keep learning and playing chess especially in quality chess tournaments like this so that Malaysia will have a very big pool of excellent chess players. Keep the dream of becoming title chess players especially Grandmaster to make Malaysia proud in the world chess map.

Merdeka Rapid Team - The R8 Results of Top 20 Boards

Round 8 Top 20 boards Results

(source : Kelab Catur Setia Kuantan Blog)

Thanks to NWM for her immediate posting of the pairings and results of the on-going Merdeka Rapid Team being held in the Cititel Hotel in Midvalley. The 8th round just completed and the players are fighting in the final 9th round. It is the critical and crucial round to decide who will be the winners. GiLoCatur's pick team, the Uzbek connection, was defeated by the Bengal Tigers with 1 - 3 score. While Magic could not stop Chesskidz Men's Team from having the advantage to lead with 1 match point. The latter won by having 1/2 more points than Magic with 2.5 - 1.5 scoreline. On the 3rd board, SMS Gold just managed a draw of 2 - 2 againts Rusty Nails led by IM Goh of Singapore On the 4th board, the Australian team of Klang Valley Koalas won against the International Rhapsody that includes Ian Udani. On the 5th board, Mamak, the Sequel unfortunately was crushed by Crusher that includes two Malaysian players, Soon Wai Cheong and MSSM 2010 U15 champion, Yeap Eng Chiam.

SALAM KEMERDEKAAN DARI GILOCATUR

SALAM MERDEKA DARI GILOCATUR!

"SAYANGI NEGARA KITA, HAYATI ERTI KEMERDEKAAN"

MAKE MALAYSIA PROUD! ESPECIALLY IN CHESS!

Merdeka Rapid Team - The R4 Results of Top 15 Boards

The above is the 4th Round results of the top 15 boards. Click here for the full results.

The 2nd seed, Chesskidz Men's Team, won convincingly to setup the match with ASTRO Arena on the top board in the 5th Round. The team is leading right now with the full 8 match points after four wins going to the fifth round. While their 4th Round opponent, the Uzbek connection, will play Crusher that drew with SMS Gold. Click here for the 5th Round pairings.