2010 Chess Olympiad (Part 3)

Two more days the World Chess Olympiad will kick off in Khanty-Mansiysk. The Malaysian teams - both men and women had departed from KLIA yesterday. Based on NWM in her chess blog, the Malaysian contingent will transit in Dubai before waiting the charted flight in Moscow for about two days. Surely it will be a long flight for the contingent before landing in Moscow. GiLoCatur had about 20-hour journey few years back from KLIA to Moscow, 13 hour-flight with KLM from KLIA to Amsterdam, 4 hours transit in the Schipol Airport then 3-hour flight from Amsterdam to Moscow.

What is the time in Moscow? It is four hours behind us in Malaysia. If in Malaysia now is 7.00 pm, it is 3.00pm in Moscow. How about Khanty-Mansiysk where the 39th World Chess Olympiad will take place? GiLoCatur is not so sure but it is GMT +5 compared to the Malaysian GMT +8. Not so sure of the daylight saving time. But GiLoCatur guess is three hours behind.

The Malaysian Men's team

The Malaysian women's team

[GiLoCatur: The above pictures are taken from NWM's chess blog - http://setiachess.blogspot.com]

"SELAMAT BERJUANG PASUKAN CATUR OLIMPIAD MALAYSIA!"

"HARUMKAN JALUR GEMILANG DI BUMI SIBERIA!"

2010 Chess Olympiad (Part 2)

We have seen the Men's Chess Olympiad teams for Malaysia and its ASEAN neighbours. Now let's take a look at the Women's Olympiad. Malaysia did not participate in the last Olympiad in Dresden, Germany. In this year edition, Singapore and Thailand will join Malaysia as well as the other three countries namely Vietnam, Indonesia and Philippines. Singapore is making a comeback after missing the last three editions. Meanwhile, Thailand will make its debut in the Chess Olympiad since it had not participated in any olympiad before at least since 2000.

Malaysia will be represented by the players as per the above table. As far as GiLoCatur knows, the first three board players will be playing their first Chess Olympiad. Only Nurul Huda and Roslina have appeared in the event before. The former had participated in 1992 and 1996 editions. While the later had played in three previous editions - 1996, 2004 and 2006. Hopefully, both of them will guide and lead their other younger team members to earn good and decent placings or standings.

For the record, Malaysia was placed 60th / 86 in 2000 (Instanbul), 62nd /90 in 2002 (Bled), 40th /87 in 2004 (Calvia) and 44th / 103 in 2006 (Turin). Among the former players in the past decade are Siti Zulaikha Foudzi, Wan Khye Teng, Nur Shazwani Zullkafli, Eliza Hanim, Jean Nie Lim (sorry if not correct) and Lim Han Ying.

Vietnam is the strongest team among the ASEAN countries. In this olympiad, it is seeded 24th with average ratings of 2288. All its players are titled players - 2 WGMs and 3 WIMs. Vietnam's best placings in the past decade was in 2002 (12th) and 2006 (15th). It was among the top 30 in the other three editions - 2000, 2004 and 2008. GiLoCatur believes Vietnam will still be the team to beat by Malaysia and other ASEAN countries in Khanty-Mansiysk

WGM Irine Kharisma Sukandar will lead the Indonesian team. No doubt she is the best chess player from our region with ELO ratings of 2372. Her team is seeded 48th with ratings average of 2144. Indonesia is represented by young ladies. Surely, WGM Irine will guide and lead her young and inexperienced team mates including Warda Aulia Medina that GiLoCatur is very familiar with. In her maiden appearance for Indonesia in the Women's Chess Olympiad in 2004, WGM Irine had scored an impressive 10/12 points after 8 wins (including the only win against Malaysia in the ninth round) and 4 draws. She won the silver medal for the third board.

Philippines is seeded 2 ranks lower than Indonesia. The team is led by WFM Camacho with ELO ratings of 2186. The country's best result in the past decade is during the 2006 edition at 26th placing. In other editions, it placed in the 40s placings.

The last time Singapore played in the Women Chess Olympiad was in Bled 2002. It was placed 48th among the 90 participating teams. Such result was much better than in Istanbul 2000 where Singapore was 79th out if the total 86 teams. GiLoCatur hopes Malaysia will get better placing or standing than Singapore in Khanty-Mansiysk.

Come on Malaysian chess lady players! Don't get afraid and intimidated with the reputation of the players from other countries. Believe in yourself. Get focus and rest well. It is very important. Give your best. Be motivated. Don't put pressure on yourself. Enjoy the games. The results will come.

2010 Chess Olympiad (Part 1)

The World Chess Olympiad 2010 is around the corner. Held in Khanty-Mansiysk, almost 1400 chess players will take part in the 39th edition. GiLoCatur would like to start the coverage of the event (hopefully GiLoCatur can make a decent coverage ...) by looking into the players that will represent MALAYSIA and its neighbouring ASEAN countries.

The Malaysian Men's team is seeded 84th in this 39th Chess Olympiad with ELO average of 2325. As per in the above table, Malaysia is spearheaded by IM Mas. He and IM Mok, who was FM then, are the only team members of the last Chess Olympiad held in Dresden, Germany. For record, 2010 Chess Olympiad will be the sixth appearance for IM Mas since 1994 and the eighth appearance for IM Mok since 1990.

IM Yee Weng, who made his maiden appearance in the Chess Olympiad in 1996 and was on the second board in the last Olympiad, would not be around this time. The other members of the Malaysian Chess Olympiad team are FM Peter Long, Tan Khai Boon, the 2010 National Master, and MCF Secretary, Greg Lau.

The best seeded ASEAN country is Vietnam at 29th rank with ELO ratings average of 2587. It has two 2600-club GMs in Le Quang Liem and Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son. Can Vietnam make ASEAN proud by being in the top 10? Let's wait and see.

The other chess superpower ASEAN country is the Phillippines. We hope GM Wesley So will lead his country to be among the top 20 in the 39th Olympiad. His country is seeded 38th with ELO ratings average of 2552.

Just participated in the World University Chess Championship recently, GM Susanto Megaranto is Indonesia's hope to put up excellent performance in this chess olympiad. Making his fifth appearance, surely he will make sure his country to better its 66th seed with average ratings of 2423.

Singapore which has average ELO ratings of 2393 and seeded 70th out of almost 160 participating teams is led by GM Zhang Zhong. Will Singapore has better placings than Malaysia in the chess olympiad? Or can Malaysia perform well and get better results than Singapore? The answers will be known after the chess olympiad is over.

Thailand is the only ASEAN country that is seeded lower than Malaysia. It is seeded 92nd with ratings average of 2256. But bear in mind that Thailand had beaten Malaysian 2.5-1.5 in one of the last chess olympiads. Do you know which one is that?

To be in the top 10 will be too ambitious and very high expectation for our Malaysian team. What GiLoCatur hopes and expects from the team are :

1) Every player should achieve ELO performance that is higher or better than his current ELO ratings.

2) Every player should achieve more than 50% of winnings.

3) The team should win between 60th to 70th final standings.

Are the above expectations and hope too high or hard to attain?

ANYWAY, GILOCATUR WOULD LIKE TO WISH BEST OF LUCK TO OUR MALAYSIAN CHESS TEAM IN THE CHESS OLYMPIAD. MAKE OUR NATION PROUD! PUT YOUR HEART OUT TO PERFORM WELL. MALAYSIA BOLEH!

UTM First Sunday Chess - 26th September 2010

GiLoCatur received an email about four hours ago from Leong Mun Wan regarding a rapid chess tournament in JB as follows:

Dear Chess friend,

UTM First Sunday Chess 1st Year anniversary tournament

26/9/2010 Sunday
Kolej Tuanku Canselor UTM,Skudai,Johor

open:Champion RM200,2nd RM120,3rd Rm80,Rm50,Rm50,Rm50,RM50,RM50

Under16:Champion Rm100,Rm60,RM40

Under12:Champion RM50,RM40,Rm30

Entry fee:open RM25, under16, under12

regard
leong Mun Wan

So, while Klang Valley folks can play chess in the DAT Chess Center, JB folks can test their chess skills and tricks in UTM on the same day.

Local Chess Events Summary

The Malaysian chess community are very lucky to have chess tournaments almost every weekend in the month of October. Check out below summary of the line up tournaments. Book the dates and do participate whenever you, the local chess players, or your chess-playing children can.

1. DATCC Super Supreme Chess Weekender

Date : 26th September 2010 (Sunday)

Venue : DAT Chess Center, Level 4, Wilayah Complex KL

Format : 7 G/25 (25 minute time control) SWISS rounds [National-Rated]

Fees : RM 30 (adults = 13 years old and above), RM 15 (Under 12 years old)

Click here for further details.

2. Kejohanan Catur Terbuka Ampang Aidilfitri

Date : 2nd October 2010 (Saturday)

Venue : Galeri Tingkat 4, Menara MPAJ, Jln Pandan Utama, Pandan Indah KL

Format : 7 G/25 (25 minute time control) SWISS rounds

Fees : RM 25 (adults = 18 years old and above), RM 10 (school children)

Click here for further details.

3. No Frills Chess Tournament

Date : 3rd October 2010 (Sunday)

Venue : DAT Chess Center, Level 4, Wilayah Complex KL

Format : 5 G/20 + 30 secs (20 minute time control) SWISS rounds

Fees : RM 10

Click here for more info.

4. 1st UTP National Rapid Chess Championship

Date : 9th & 10th October 2010 (Saturday & Sunday)

Venue : UTP Multi-purpose Hall, Tronoh, Perak

Format : 8 G/25 + 10 secs (25 minute time control) SWISS rounds

Fees : RM 35 (Open/adults = 18 years old and above), RM 30 (U16 = 13 to 16 years old), RM 25 (Under 12 years old)

Check out this blog for further info on the tournament.

5. Insofar Elite Junior Tournament (Preliminary 2)

Date : 10th October 2010 (Sunday)

Venue : DAT Chess Center, Level 4, Wilayah Complex KL

Format : G/20 (20 minute time control) SWISS rounds

Fees : RM 50

Click here for further details.

6. Kejohanan Catur Terbuka UPSI

Date : 23rd & 24th October 2010 (Saturday & Sunday)

Venue : Dewan SITC, UPSI, Tanjung Malim, Perak

Format : 7 G/60 (60 minute time control) SWISS rounds

Fees : RM 30 (Open/adults = 18 years old and above), RM 15 (secondary school), RM 12 (primary school), RM 10 (UPSI)

Click here for further details.

7. 16th Kepong Juniors Open Chess Tournament

Date : 31st October 2010 (Sunday)

Venue : SJK (C) Kepong 2, KL

Format : 6 G/30 (30 minute time control) SWISS rounds [National-rated]

Fees : RM 20 (non-SJK (C) Kepong 2), RM 10 (SJK (C) Kepong 2 pupils)

To download the form, go to this site.

Hope GiLoCatur does not miss any chess tournament. If there is, please alert GiLoCatur at sabdlati@gmail.com.

SO, ENJOY AND HAVE FUN PLAYING CHESS IN THE ABOVE CHESS TOURNEYS!

Kejutan Ziarah Raya Geng Catur

Beberapa jam yang lalu, beberapa keluarga rakan catur GiLoCatur sekeluarga telah datang ke rumah membuat kejutan ziarah Hari Raya Aidilfitri. Fikri dan adik-adiknya, Anis dan Fahim, menjangkakan hanya Syakir adik beradik yang akan datang berkunjung ke rumah datang berziarah hariraya setelah diberitahu pada waktu siang tetapi rupa-rupanya Nabil adik beradik, Ariffuddin adik beradik dan Noor Azam adik beradik juga turut hadir sama.

Apalah agaknya yang ditunjukkan oleh Fahim kepada rakan-rakan caturnya sehingga dia dikerumuni seperti gambar di atas.

Malu-malu rupanya kedua-dua anak gadis sunti di atas apabila gambar mereka dicandid. Anis yang bakal menduduki peperiksaan UPSR 4 hari lagi sangat teruja dan gembira dengan kunjungan ziarah hariraya rakan-rakan caturnya terutamanya Nabila, Najiha, Nadia, Rifqah, Munajjah, Maisarah dan Munirah.

GiLoCatur sekeluarga mengucapkan berbanyak-banyak terimakasih kepada semua rakan famili catur yang sudi datang berkunjung untuk ziarah Aidil Fitri. GiLoCatur juga yakin dan berharap famili dan komuniti catur yang lain saling kunjung mengunjung di musim perayaan.

GiLoCatur sekeluarga juga amat teruja dan gembira kerana program Aktifpedia di saluran Astro Arena saluran 801 pada jam 8.00 malam telah memaparkan tentang catur dan Festival Chess Malaysia yang baru berlansung baru-baru ini. Semoga catur atau chess akan lebih berkembang dan diminati lebih ramai rakyat Malaysia.

SALAM HARI LEBARAN DARI GILOCATUR SEKELUARGA

GILOCATUR SEKELUARGA MENGUCAPKAN SALAM EIDUL FITRI DAN HARI LEBARAN 1 SYAWAL KEPADA SEMUA SAUDARA SEISLAM. SEMOGA MENDAPAT MAGHFIRAH DAN RAHMAT DARI ALLAH SWT.

MAAF ZAHIR BATIN!

Merdeka Age Group Open Rapid Chess Championship (Part 4 - The U8 and U10 Winners)

The Malaysian Chess Festival Arbiter Crew

Mr Hamid (standing right) and NWM Khairunnisa were busy before the start of the Merdeka Age Group Open Chess Championship held yesterday, Sunday 5th September, at the Cititel Midvalley Hotel that attracted more than 200 chess junior players.

Merdeka Age Group Open Rapid Chess Championship (Part 3 - The Winners)