Photo Journalism - Cerdik Catur Chess Challenge (Part 1)

Below are several new faces (at least to GiLoCatur) of the Malaysian chess participants in the recent Cerdik Catur Chess Challenge.

Fikri was happy during the tournament since three of his school seniors made their debut participation in a local chess tournament. They are Faiz Zairullail Mohd Yusof, Abdul Kahar Abdul Manaf and Wan Muhammad Shafiq Mohd Shukri.

Right picture, a Klang Tahfiz student

Abdul Kahar of SMK Seksyen 18 (left) versus a "Mat Salleh" player.

Faiz Zarullail, another SMK Seksyen 18 pupil, (left) played black against a 7-year-old Nik Nur Nadzirah, which came all the way from Kelantan with his father, Cikgu Nik Azrihan.

A "lebai muda" can also play chess. The opportunity to participate in chess tournaments shall be given to new players like him. How did he know about the tournament? Via newspaper. So, efforts to advertise local chess tournaments in the newspaper shall be done by the organizer.

Blogger Fireyrook Was Paparazzied by GiLoCatur

Do you know what a paparazzi is? I think many of you know what it is. But by the way let's GiLoCatur explains what the word means.

Taken from Wikipedia, a paparazzi is an Italian term used to refer to photojournalists who specialize in candid photography of celebrities, politicians, and other prominent people. Paparazzi tend to be independent contractors, unaffiliated with a mainstream media organization.

GiLoCatur became a paparazzi during the recent Cerdik Catur Chess Challenge when candidly took the picture of a Malaysian chess blogger, fireyrook, while he was busy updating his blog. Sportingly, fireyrook was aware and allowed himself to be photographed so the element of paparazzi was not really there. LOL

Do you notice the ICT tools or gadgets used by fireyrook for him to carry out his mobile blogging? What really caught GiLoCatur's attention and eyes is the P1 wireless modem. It looks sophisticated eh, compared to GiLoCatur's celcom broadband modem.

But anyway, GiLoCatur hopes Mr fireyrook keeps on blogging and updating his chess blogs to provide latest news, info and updates particularly to the Malaysian chess community. WELL DONE and KUDOS to fireyrook.

Cerdik Catur Chess Challenge - The Report

On last Sunday dated 8th August 2010, a chess tournament named the Cerdik Catur Chess Challenge was held in Section 7, Shah Alam the capital state of Selangor. It was held at Raja Muda Musa hall (below picture) of the Selangor Youth & Sports Complex. About 100 participants both Shah Alam and non-Shah Alam residents were participating in the event.

The chess tournament used G/25 seven SWISS rounds format. The first round kicked off at around 10.00am and ended at around 6.00pm. GiLoCatur did not participate but both sons did.

Syakir - The Champion

Syakir Shazmeer, the Form 4 student of Sekolah Menengah Sains Kuala Selangor, emerged as the champion after scoring 6.5/7 points. He led by halfpoint. He drew with Ahmad Fadzil Nayan in the sixth round and won all the other rounds.

Fadzil Nayan - The First Runner Up

Ahmad Fadzil Nayan, the top seed, whose home state is Perak won the first runner up. Beside drew with the champion, he also drew with Syazwan Zulkifli, a UM student, in the fifth round. He scored 6/7 rounds after 5 wins and 2 draws.

Fikri Saleh - The Second Runner Up

The 14-year-old Fikri Saleh of Shah Alam was the 2nd runner up. He accumulated 6/7 points after 6 wins and 1 loss. But he had lower tie break than Fadzil Nayan. Ranked 9th, he defeated Mohd Firdaus in the final round. He was beaten by his MSS Selangor U15 team mate, Irfan Haqqim, in the fifth round playing black.

Raimi Rahim - The Fourth place

The fourth place went to a teenager named Mohamad Raimi Rahim. He defeated two veteran players - Shamsuddin Sabri aka fireyrook and Ibrahim Nash in the fourth and fifth round respectively. In the sixth round, he defeated Iskandar Rashid.

Syazwan Zulkifli - The Fifth Place

Muhd Syazwan Zulkifli, the third seed, was placed fifth in the tournament. He scored 5.5/7 points. He drew once against his buddy, Fadzil, and was defeated by the champion in the final round.

Go to http://malaysianchesspairings.blogspot.com/ to see the pairings of the tournament. GiLoCatur missed to snap the first round pairings. Actually, some of the participants are debutants or rookies in chess tournaments. GiLoCatur will show some of their pictures in later entry.

Fireyrook, who also participated in the tournament, also had a report on his chess blog as per here.

Cerdik Catur Chess Challenge - 8 AUG 2010

TO ALL SHAH ALAM FOLKS, ESPECIALLY SECTION 7 RESIDENTS, MARK YOUR CALENDAR - 8 AUGUST 2010. LOTS OF PRIZES TO BE WON!

Event : Cerdik Catur Chess Challenge

Date : 8 August 2010 (Sunday)

Time : 8.30 am - 6.00pm

Venue : Kompleks Belia dan Sukan Negeri Selangor, Section 7, SHAH ALAM (above pic)

Format : G/25 or G/30, 7 or 8 rounds SWISS System

Time Control : 25 or 30 minutes

Closing Date : 7 AUG 2010

The Fees : Shah Alam residents (RM 20 - above 18 years old , RM 15 - below 18 years old), NON Shah Alam residents (RM 25 - above 18 years old , RM 20 - below 18 years old)

Click here to download the form. For further details, email to seme_event@yahoo.com or sms 014.231.2370 (stonemaster).

For non Shah Alam residents, if you are not familiar where the venue is, check the following map.