SYUEN Grand Prix 2009 - The Winners

Whose classic and antic car as per the above photo belongs to? It belongs to the owner of the Syuen Hotel, one of the two main sponsors.

The sponsors and the organizers.

Below are the results of the Syuen Grand Prix chess tournament held yesterday in Ipoh. There were three categories which attracted about 110 players. Eventhough, H1N1 is spreading and its victims increase day by day, committed chess players and lovers still come to participate. They were supplied the masks by the organizer.

As the common chess tournaments in the country, there are seven rounds. Basically, it was rapid with 20 and 25 minute time-control. The tournament started at around 10.00am. Four rounds were played before lunch while the other three after lunch break.

Open category

Again, Ian Udani was stopped by the local player to win the RM1,000 reward. This time by Tan Khai Boon. Ian had to settle as the first runner up. Eventhough, Khai Boon lose to Ian in the fourth round but Ian drew with Kamaluddin and lose to Anthony in the last round. Khai Boon won by half point when he only lose to Ian but won the rest. Ian and three other players had same 5 1/2 points but he had better tie breaks.

Two teenage players - Sumant and Nabil managed to win the sixth and tenth place respectively. While both Faizal Andin and Fadzil Nayan along with an expatriot, Steven Retallick, had filled up the other three top 10 spots.

Under 15 category

1. Sarika Subramaniam (7.0)
2. Fikri Saleh (5.5)
3. Muhd Azim Hassan (5.5)
4. Ooi Zhi Yang (5.0)
5. Ang Zhen Yuan (4.5)

Under 12 category

1. Teh De Juan (6.5)
2. Wong Yinn Long (5.5)
3. Nur Najiha Azman Hisham (5.0)
4. Tang Wei Kit (5.0)
5. Chuah Yi Ning (5.0)

Only Top 5 in U12 section won the prizes ranging from RM 80 (the champion) to RM 20 (the fifth place). Other top young players make up the sixth to tenth place - sixth (Shreyes), 7th (Teh De Zen, the top seed), 8th (Anis Fariha), 9th (Chuah Hao Feng) and 10th (Wong Yi Chee). Two other Selangor U12 girl players - Nabila and Chew Eewen, played in the Open and U15 sections respectively.

Congratulation! to the organizers and the sponsors and all parties who made the tournament successful. Your great efforts must be appreciated and very important in boosting up the chess scene in the country.

GiLoCatur and all chess players surely need the strong and continuos support and commitment from the organizers, sponsors and arbiters. Hopefully, more and more chess tournaments like Syuen Grand Prix will be held in the future with more sponsors and rewards especially for the Under 15 and Under 12 sections. These young chess players are our future hope that need to be developed so that the dream of Malaysia having its own GrandMasters will be achieved.