Can You Name The Square?

[ taken from http://towerclocks.blogspot.com/ ]

Does anyone know what the above place is? Where it is located? What clock tower is it? So many questions uh?

For Segamat folks, surely can name and identify the above square. It is the SEGAMAT SQUARE located in Segamat, Johor. Why GiLoCatur displays the picture? It is just the teaser for the Segamat Chess Challenge that will be held on this coming 3rd July. On 4th of July, there will be a chess training programme conducted. So, take the opportunity to participate in a chess tournament and learn from the chess master in one weekend in Segamat.

For further details and info, go to http://168chessmaster.blogspot.com/.

Segamat Chess Grand Prix - The 2nd Leg

Just to remind about the 2nd leg of Segamat Chess Grand Prix this weekend.

Check the list of players registered here.

Reviews On 11th Weekend MALAYSIAN Chess Tournaments

Malaysian chess community is blessed with five chess tourneys during the last 11th weekend. Unfortunately, one of them was cancelled due to lack of participants. But still the other four tourneys that include three grand prix managed to attract 482 chess players to participate. The one-day Perak grand prix or GP held on Sunday had the highest number of participants with 187 that required more than 90 chess boards. Bangladeshi GM Ziaur Rahman showed his prowess by winning all his seven games to clinch the champion for the Open category. Go to this link if you want to know more details about the tournament.

The second top most number of participants is the Putrajaya Closed with 161 players in total for three categories. A strong chess player, Rizal Ahmad Kamal of Malaysian Royal Customs Department, won the Open section bagging the RM 500 cash reward. For more reports and details of result, please go to Hairulov's blog here and Sifu's blog here.

The Segamat GP that was held in a secondary school in Segamat, Johor had provided the chance and opportunity to many Johorean school children to participate in a chess tournament. 90 players entered the tournament in three categories. The highest number is Under 18 section with 47 participants. GiLoCatur believes with more aggressive promotion like approach the PPDs and schools in Segamat and Muar areas, more and more school children will participate. As posted in this blog here, Abdullah Che Hassan is the champion of the Open category edging other favourite and top players like Abg Bro or Kamaluddin Yusof.

Lastly, KL Grand Prix had 44 participants. Event though, it had the smallest number of participants, it also had quality players. Mohd Nabil Azman won the Open section after scoring 5.5/6 points in the absence of the first leg winner and a Malaysian chess prodigy, Yeoh Li Tian . Go to fireyrook's chess blog here to view further details and pictures of the tourney.

In short, having several chess tournaments at the same time do not necessarily affect the number of participants. The important thing is the tourney is at the right time and the right venue with proper, well-planned and aggressive promotion as well as impressive prizes. GiLoCatur believes with some little adjustments and attractive package, foreign and overseas chess players especially from the neighbouring ASEAN countries will participate in our chess tournaments.

KEEP IT GOING!

Click here to check on GiLoCatur's posting on all the chess tourneys that took place during the last 11th weekend.

Segamat GP Final Results

GiLoCatur received below email on the results of Segamat GP being held for two days during the recent weekend. The total number of participants for the event of three categories - U12 (27), U18 (47) and Open (16) is 90. Not bad for a tournament held in outside Klang Valley. Hopefully, more players will participate in the second leg. It is NOT impossible. Need to outreach and approach more schools and PPDs. Contact radio and news paper to promote the event. Maybe needs some investment in bunting or flyers at public places.

Assalamualaikum Dan Salam Sejahtera En. Saleh Latif

Bersama ini saya sertakan keputusan penuh Segamat Grand Prix 2010 Seri Kenangan untuk di muatkan kedalam Blog tuan. Saya ucapkan ribuan terima kasih atas segala usaha dan bantuan yg tuan berikan kepada pihak saya. Kerjasama yg tuan berikan amatlah saya hargai.

Sekian Terima Kasih.

Dzul

KEPUTUSAN PENUH "SEGAMAT GRAND PRIX CATUR 2010"

Kategori - U 12

1. Maisarrah Bt NA

2. Danish Hamzah Al-Hadi

3. Muhd Faris Azizi Mohd Fadil

4. Jagathees A/L Guna Balan

5. Tai Shang Yuan

6. Pua Xun

7. Mohd Zikri Hakim Kamarozaman

8.Zulkarnain Safri

9. Tay Ying Cheng

10. Nur Syahira Bt Aman

11. Nur Irdina Amirah Bt Dewa Indra

12. Mohammad Thaqif Bin Mohd Arif

13. Mohd Aniq Bin Azmi

14. Ummu Hani BT Safri

15. Siti Nurfatihah Bt Jasmari

16. Nur Arissa Najihah Bt Sophian

17. Muhamad Shafie Bin Suboh

18. Muhammad Alif Firdaus Bin Zaidi

19. Muhd Adib Azhzr

20. Mohammad Shukri Bin Kamaruddin

21. Nurul Ain Afiqah Binti Nasri

22. Muhammad Khairul Niezam Bin Mudzai

23. Muhammad Aflah Bin Muhd Hanip

24. Mohd Khairul Faizi Bin Abd Rashid

25. Nur Aishaturradizh Bt Muhd Hanip

26. Insyirah Iwana Bt Mohd Arif

27. muhd Firdaus Bin Azrin Shah

Kategori - U 18

1. Muhammad Aziz Farhan

2. Daniel Iskandar Arif

3. See Kai Jun

4. Tan Ying Sheng

5. Tee Han Kang

6. Nur Sabrina Aliya Bt Asman

7. Mohammad Hatta Bin Abd Jalil

8. Mohd Haziq Fakri Bin Jurimi

9. Pua Kai

10. Mohd Firdaus Afiq Bin Asman

11. Lukman Hakimi Zamran

12. Lim Jia Qi

13. Adriana Hazwani Selasa

14. Tee Han Bin

15.Tengku Nabila Suraya Bt Hasbullah

16. Han Fei Ting

17. Ahmad Shafiq Jamian

18. Muhammad Ilham Shairin

19. Muhammad Zulkhairee Zabani

20. Shahira Ramle

21. Low Wei Mei

22. Azri Izzat Mohd Azami

23. Amirul Safian Zamri

24. Faris Farhan Bin Md Nor

25. Khadijah Othman

26. Muhammad Arif Asyraf Kamaruddin

27. Mohamad Lokman bin Mohamad @ Abd Karim

28. Alimulazim Bin Osman

29. Muhammad Fudhail Rahmat

30. Ahmad Faruki Omar

31. Muhammad Arif Azlan

32. Muhammad Fakrul Bin Mohammad Tajul Arus

33. Muhd Adib Aiman Bin Azmi

34. Amirul Azhar Bin Ahmad Nor Azri

35 Mohamad Zakwanul Hakim Bin Mohd Othman\

36. Gan Xiou Jie

37. Muhammad Asyaf Ishak

38 Alif Imran Bin Kamaruddin

39. Nur Izzat Rafiq Bin Mohd Zahid

40. Muhammad Izzudin Rosli

41. Abdul Muhaimin Bin Zulkiple

42. Nur Sabreena Bt Marhami

43. Mohd Nor Hazri Bin Hazeman

44. Muhammad Aniq'Izzuddin Muhd Nazri

45. Khairun Nisa Bt Azli

46. Mohammad Fariq Bin Mohamad Gazali

47.Haidarul Arif

Kategori - OPEN

1. Abdullah Che Hassan

2. Abdul Khalid Bin Musa

3. See Kai Loong

4. Kamaluddin Yusof

5. Muhammad Rabbani Che Hassan

6. Mohd Hasnol Mohamad

7. Mohd Zullghafari Saparmin

8 Muhammad Zaki Muhammad Yusof

9. Abdul Halim Bin Hussain

10. Asman Amin

11. Lai Kok Wee

12. Zainal Arif Zainuddin

13. Nur Syawaludin Bin Muhammad Khairul Anuar

14. Farid Faizal Bin Mohamad Supamin

15. Mohd Idhayathudin Bin Mohd Farid

16. Muhammed Amilin Bin Othman

The Results of Segamat Grand Prix

GiLoCatur received the following text message from Mr Guna Balan, the father of "peminat cilik" GiLoCatur, Jagathees regarding the results of Segamat Grand Prix, the first leg for Under 12 section.

Segamat grand prix U12 result: 1st-Maisarrah 2nd-Danish hamzah, 3rd-Muhd faris azizi 4th-Jagathees 5th-Tai Shang Yuan.

and a text message from GiLoCatur's chess buddy from Muar, Zullghafari, regarding on the winners for the Open section.

SEGAMAT GP 1st Leg, dari 18 peserta : 1st Abd Che Hassan 6point, 2nd Khalid Musa 5.5 point, 3rd Kai Loong 5 point, 4th Kamaluddin 5 point

So, now we know in what tourney did Abg Bro and Dollah played this weekend.

Congratulation or tahniah to all the winners including Jagathees (the above picture) for getting the fourth placed in the two-day tourney. See you next week in Penang.

Local Chess Tourneys This Weekend

There would be five chess tourneys held during this weekend (6 & 7 March):

1) KL Chess Rapid Grand Prix

The second leg of KL Chess Grand Prix will be held at the RSC, Royal Selangor Club, located at Dataran Merdeka. The tourney also has 6 rounds. The time control is 45 minute per side or simply G/45. Based on the first leg, the pairings will be shown using a LCD projector, an advanced method or approach.

2) The First Saturday Chess Classics

For players who prefer and like the standards chess, they can participate in this tourney organized by the Excel Chess Academy. GiLoCatur believes many NAG participants will choose this tourney for the warm up. The format is 6 rounds of G/60 + 30 seconds. Jax Tham will be the host at his chess center located in Overseas Union Garden (OUG).

GiLoCatur yakin abang Zainal Arif, seorang "gilocatur" dan peniaga di Segamat tidak akan melepaskan peluang menyertai Segamat Grand Prix di SMK Seri Kenangan. Pastikan rakan2 abang semua diajak menyertai sama, bang.

3) Putrajaya Chess Closed

This chess tourney is only for Putrajaya residents or those who work in Putrajaya. As advertised, the tourney's format is 6 rounds of G/20 format. Three categories would be contested - Open (16 years old and abobe), Under 15 and Under 12. The fees are very cheap. The champion for each category will receive cash prizes of RM 300, RM 300 and RM 250 respectively. The cash prizes for both Under 15 and Under 12 are the highest in any tourney as far as GiLoCatur remembers. Good for chess development among the juniors. Hopefully, more new chess talents will emerge. And also it would spark more interest in chess by Putrajaya residents. A question? Will Hairulov of http://hairulovchessmaniacs.blogspot.com/ defend his last year the Open category champion title in this edition?

Kamaluddin aka Abg Bro (right) vs Kok Wei Tze in the recent MMU International Invitational tournament. Again another chess tourney for Abg Bro, but which tourney? Anyone can guest?GiLoCatur hopes Abg Bro keeps track his participation in the local chess tournament. Boleh Abg Bro share dengan semua jumlah chess tourneys yang telah disertai? Boleh masuk Malaysian Book of Records (MBR) maybe? And GiLoCatur hopes Wei Tze will play in the Segamat Grand Prix. He is a talented young and fast rising chess player.

4) Segamat Chess Rapid Grand Prix

Another G/45 format tourney is the first leg of Segamat Chess Grand Prix. The tourney plays 7 rounds in two days. Segamat is about 2 and 1/2 hours drive south of Kuala Lumpur. It is actually located in the state of Johor. Yes, Johor is full of chess activities this year. Later this month, two chess tournaments will be held in JB in one weekend with nearly RM 15 K (grand) in cash prizes. Another chess tourney in Johor will be in Kota Tinggi. Johorean chess players should (or maybe MUST) take advantage of this scenario by participating in such tourneys. They should have the spirit and determination of the 8-year-old Jagathees Guna Balan who is rising in the Malaysian chess circle. And GiLoCatur also hopes chess players from Melaka and Negeri Sembilan like Kok Wei Tze, a player to watch at 2010 MSSM, will participate in the Segamat Grand Prix.

Where would Abdullah Che Hassan (left), one of the mostly-participated Malaysian strong chess players be during this weekend? KL Chess Grand Prix?, The FSCC? or Segamat Grand Prix?

5) Perak Chess Grand Prix

Like in PICA's official blog at perakchess.blogspot.com, the first leg will be held at Wisma Belia, Kompleks Belia dan Sukan which is situated in Ipoh. Three categories - Open, Under 16 and Under 12 with Best Girls for each age group sections, will be organized by both PICA and MCF. The tourney is sponsored by Kuala Lumpur Kepong Berhad. The format will be G/25 of 7 Swiss rounds played in one day.

GiLoCatur and the kids will not participated in any of the five chess tourneys. Fikri is not coming home from his hostel. Anis will be busy with her school program. GiLoCatur decides to attend the PTA meeting at SK Bukit Jelutong which GiLoCatur thinks more important. Hopefully, GiLoCatur will get the updates and results of all the chess tournaments to share with. GiLoCatur hopes to have a more relaxing and less hectic weekend before driving for a long journey to Penang in the following week for the NAG, National Age Group.

GOOD AND BEST OF LUCK TO ALL PARTICIPANTS IN THE FIVE TOURNEYS!!! THE IMPORTANT THING IS, ENJOY PLAYING CHESS! like GiLoCatur eventhough often being whacked and thrashed by strong players and masters. LOL (Laugh Out Loud or "gelak besor" kata Bahasa Melayu Peraknya!)

GiLoCatur can't wait to know what is the total number of Malaysian chess players in all the tourneys to gauge the popularity and increasing interest in chess.