My Kids Results at Pearl Point Tournament

Fikri vs Wendy on Board 2 in Round 6.

[Bd33] Fikri Saleh vs SC Mohd Adam Eiman (1-0)

[Bd24] SS Wong Chai Ray vs Fikri Saleh (0-1)

[Bd04] Fikri Saleh vs Shreyes Subramaniam (1-0)

[Bd06] SJ Dinesh vs Fikri Saleh (1/2-1/2)

[Bd04] Fikri Saleh vs LR Chong Yan Meng (1-0)

[Bd02] LR Wendy Tan Li Ting vs Fikri Saleh (1-0)

[Bd06] Fikri Saleh vs LR Jeff Tan Jun Feng (0-1)

Not being rated in the tournament and ranked #33  in the starting list of the total 102 players competing in Under 12 category, Fikri won his first two rounds againts non nationally-rated opponents. In Round 3, he met Shreyes Subramaniam, the champion of 2008 Kuala Langat Chess Tournament. This time, he defeated the player whose current national rating is 1480.

In next round, he drew with Dinesh. Then he defeated a Lee Rubber player, Chong Yan Meng with national rating of 1412. Fikri who is nationally rated 1402  could not continue his winning momentum againts Wendy Tan Li Ting (nat. rating 1513)  and Jeff Tan Jun Feng (nat. rating 1455) of Lee Rubber in Round 6 and Round 7 respectively.

With 4 and 1/2 point, Fikri could not get into the Top 10 performers in such competitive chess tournament.

Anis vs Nurul Aina Akmar on Board 6 in Round 6.

[Bd30] SC John Chen vs Anis Fariha (0-1)

[Bd21] Anis Fariha vs SS Lee Chee Yin (1-0)

[Bd01] K2 Tan Wei Hao vs Anis Fariha (1-0)

[Bd22] Anis Fariha vs SS Tan Li Wen (1-0)

[Bd16] Tristen Dutta vs Anis Fariha (1-0)

[Bd18] Anis Fariha vs Nurul Aina Akmar (0-1)

[Bd26] SS Hew Wei Chen vs Anis Fariha (0-1)

Anis with national rating of 902 (as per July 2008), started off the tournament well when she won two in a row.  In the third round, she had to play againts the top seed Tan Wei Hao (1633), a MSSKL player, on the top board and lost. In the next rounds, she managed to win two games and lost the other two.  With 4 points she is placed 32nd out of 102 competitors in Under 12 category. Five other SKBJ players also scored the same point - Affan, Aina Farzana, Nur Faqihah, Mohd Ishraf and his sister Sharmine.

Congratulation to the organizers who managed the event and made it happen. As for me, I have learnt something :

1) It is very important to provide the organizer a player's rating because it is important in the pairing of the Swiss system

2) It is also very important to know the tie-breaks being used in a tournament because in a very competitive one it will play important role in deciding the winners. 

My Results at Pearl Point Chess Open

Me vs Wan Muhammad Fadzli.

Today I was among 28 players participated in the Pearl Point Chess Open. The tournament plays Swiss 7 rounds with 25 minute time control. I won two games but without hardship because my opponents had left home.

In the first round, I played againts NM Edward Lee (nat. rating 1903) with white. Then, my opponent was Mohd Fadli Zakaria aka stonemaster with nat. rating 1766. I played white againts him. Playing black, my next two opponents were Mat Zaki Yeop (1427) and Subramaniam Demudu (1511) respectively. I was quite happy by giving a good fight. Though my national rating is below 1000, with only few mistakes especially during the middle game toward the endgame my games seem to improve a lot. I was very quick in the opening too. 

I even may get a draw againts Encik Zaki with perpetual check. But since I go for a kill, I just gave my shot. When playing Mr Subramaniam, eventhough I have more time since he was a bit late coming to the board I lost to him. My brain has had enough after working hard in the first three rounds. Moreover, I haven't had my lunch yet.

In round six, I have an opportunity against Wan Muhammad Fadzli. But I could not exploit it. I was playing white and quite aggressive. Overall, I am happy with my performance. Less blunders and silly mistakes I made. 

Another entry about the tournament can be accessed at http://stonemaster.info/

'Orangutan' opening??

Today, after attending a hariraya open house at Bukit Jelutong my family and I drove to the national library. The borrowed books returned and new books borrowed. Then, we drove to Times Square. We spent some time at Borders book shop. Chess books are my favourite looking. One of the chess books that really struck me is play 1 b4! by Yuri Lapshun and Nick Conticello.

It is quite an uncommon chess opening. The name of the opening itself is a bit unique. Besides known as 'orangutan', it is also called The Sokolsky Opening. When I went back home, I search the chessgames.com for Yuri Lapshun games. I found two of his games in US Open 2001 using such opening. He won both games.

Whoa! It's past midnite already. I really need to go to bed. Tomorrow, my kids and I will be playing in Pearl Point Chess Tournament at Jalan Kelang Lama. 

My Kids' Chess Results at Kuala Langat Chess Tournament

Fikri playing againts Shreyes, the eventual champion on the first board.

Rd Tbl 

 1    5     Fikri Saleh vs Aina Farzana Azemin      (0-1)

 2    23   Saiful Amirul Syafik vs Fikri Saleh       (0-1)

 3    14   Fikri Saleh vs Nur Huda Yasmin           (1-0)

 4    8    Thasvindran Surendren vs Fikri Saleh (0-1)

 5    5    Fikri Saleh vs Qistina Johari                   (1-0)

 6    3    Mohd Noor Azam vs Fikri Saleh            (0-1)

 7    1     Fikri Saleh vs Shreyes Subramaniam   (0-1)

Winning 5 games in a tournament in local chess tournament especially in Under 12 category normally will entitle a chess player in the Top 10 spot. But in this tournament, Fikri just managed to get 11th place. Such is an indicator how competetive the Kuala Langat Chess Tournament is.

One of the reasons is because Fikri was defeated by schoolmate, Aina Farzana, as early as in the first round.  And in the last and important round, Fikri could not win againts Shreyes where had he win it he will be in the Top Three spot. 

Anis was playing againts Nuriman Yahaya from Kedah.

Rd Tbl 

 1    15   Nur Nabila Ahmad Pandi [1235] vs Anis Fariha (0-1)

 2    21   Anis Fariha vs Harith Abd Rahman [1186]         (1-0)

 3    10   Muhd Nuriman Yahaya [1191] vs Anis Fariha   (1-0)

 4    19   Nur Hazimah Sudiro [1181] vs Anis Fariha         (0-1)

 5    12   Anis Fariha vs Farah Amirah Farizal [1230]      (0-1)

 6    14   Anis Fariha vs Qistina Johari [1193]                    (0-1)

 7    24   Muhd Haziq Ahnaf [1136] vs Anis Fariha           (1-0)

Anis started the tournament convincingly when he won two in a row. But in the third round, she was defeated by Nuriman Yahaya from Jaffolea Chess Club of Kedah. She won the next round but lost all three after that to higher-rated players.

NEXT LOCAL CHESS TOURNAMENTS

What a chess festival for local chess players! Every weekend has a tournament. In fact, on several weekends there are more than one. The prize is also sometime very encouraging. Some of them are nationally-rated. SO, ENJOY!!

1) 19 Okt 2008, Ahad - Pearl Point Chess Open @ Jalan Kelang Lama : 7 pusingan, 25 minit

2)  25 - 26 Okt, Sabtu - Ahad - 2nd UPSI Open @Tg Malim (nationally-rated) : 7 pusingan, 45 minit

3) 31 Okt - 3 Nov, Jumaat - Isnin - Sarawak Open Chess Championship (FIDE-rated): 9 pusingan, 90 minit 

4) 2 Nov, Ahad - 14th Kepong Juniors Open @SKJC Kepong (nationally-rated) : 6 pusingan, 30 minit

5) 9 Nov, Ahad - 2nd KEC (Klang Executive Club) Chess Open : 7 pusingan

6) 16 Nov, Ahad - UIA Chess Open : 7 pusingan, 25 minit

7) 16 Nov, Ahad - Royal Selangor Club (RSC) Chess Festival : 8 pusingan, 25 minit

My Result in Kuala Langat Chess Open

warming up session ...

In the Kuala Langat Chess Open held last Sunday, I just managed to win 3 games againts non-rated players whereas I lost the other four playing againts higher rated players. Unfortunately, I was playing black againts these players. I am a bit happy with my white. I need to imrpove futher when playing black. The game that I am quite happy when playing black is when I was playing againts Puteri Rifqah in Round 5, where I lost on ending. In Round 3, I was very hasty and too aggresive.

In the tournament I was ranked 80th out of 135 chess players in the Open category. Some players are from Kedah, Perlis, Pahang, N Sembilan, Pahang and Terengganu. With the 3 wins, I was placed 88th. Nice number huh! LOL! Below is my round details:

I was playing ...

Black againts Faizal Andin (ranked # 13, rat. 1749) in Round 1

White againts Muhd Asyraf (ranked # 114) in Round 2

Black againts Iskandar Rashid (ranked # 39, rat. 1540) in Round 3

White againts Tee Jun Xiang (ranked # 132) in Round 4

Black againts Puteri Rifqah Fahada (ranked # 47, rat. 1499) in Round 5

White againts Zaimah Abdullah (ranked # 135) in Round 6

Black againts Mohd Safri Ilias(ranked # 25, rat. 1642) in Round 7

Yahaya Ahmad

Many of my chess friends were participating like Yahaya Ahmad from Kedah, Rashid Jamaludin from UPSI, Wak Zunaidi from Tg Karang and others. Just Wak Faizul was not playing. Unfortunately, I did not play againts them especially Yahaya and Rashid. I would love to because I want to revenge my earlier defeats he he he .. Yahaya beats me in previous Royal Selangor International Open while Rashid beats me at Cochrane.  Watch you guys !!!

Ke Banting Hari Ini

Water Fountain di hadapan Tesco Bandar Baru Sungai Emas, Banting.

Pagi ini aku ke Tesco, Banting bersama-sama anak-anakku dan seorang rakan SKBJ mereka, Affan Amrish. Hari ini ada pertandingan catur. Pertandingan diadakan di AIM Tesco Commercial Hall. Perjalanan dari rumahku ke tempat pertandingan adalah sejauh 50 kilometer. 

Sudah agak lama juga sebenarnya aku tidak ke Kuala Langat. Aku sudah lupa bila kali terakhir aku ke Pantai Morib yang terletak di daerah ini. Juga telah bertahun-tahun rasanya aku ke Sijangkang ke rumah rakan sekolah di suatu hariraya. Dan sudah 15 tahun rasanya aku ke stadium Jugra menonton konsert Ella. 

Masa berlalu tanpa disedari. 15 tahun lalu aku baru berumur 25 tahun dan masih single, sekarang aku sudah berkeluarga dengan 3 orang anak. Anak sulung pula baru lepas peperiksaan UPSR.

Gejubus

Mungkin ramai yang tidak pernah mendengar perkataan 'gejubus'. Bagi aku yang membesar di kampung berjirankan orang-orang Jawa perkataan ini sememangnya sudah sinonim. Gejubus bermaksud menyediakan makanan secara bergotong royong. Sewaktu aku di kampung dahulu terutamanya semasa remaja, aku memang selalu bersama-sama jiran sekampung bergejubus bila ada kenduri-kendara. 

Kenapa aku bercerita pasal gejubus hari ini? Sebab aku baru saja terbaca di Sinar Harian tentang aktiviti tersebut di Bagan Nakhoda Omar (BNO), Sabak Bernam. BNO merupakan sebuah pekan kecil dan perkampungan yang tidak jauh dari kampungku Sungai Tengar. Masih segar dalam ingatan ketika aku masih bersekolah rendah dan berumur 11 tahun, aku dan beberapa rakan sekampung pergi ke pantai BNO dengan berbasikal. Kami berbasikal sejauh kira-kira 5 kilometer. 10 kilometer untuk pergi dan balik.  Pada ketika itu, di hujung tahun 1970an, memang tidak banyak kereta di jalanraya. Apatah lagi kampungku itu berada di penghujung sebelah utara negeri Selangor.

Yang menariknya ialah apa aktiviti kami di pantai BNO itu. Sebenarnya kami ke sana untuk mencari kerang. Ya, memang betul mencari kerang. Di zaman kanak-kanakku aku selalu berbasikal berbatu-batu dan mencari kerang. Di pantai BNO yang berlumpur itu memang banyak kerang. Seharian aku dan rakan-rakan mencari kerang. Bila balik ke rumah pada sebelah petangnya, ibubapaku sungguh marah kepada aku. Jenuh aku menerima leteran mereka.

Begitulah di antara cebisan memori zaman kanak-kanakku di kampung. Berbasikal sejauh 10 kilometer sudah menjadi lumrah bagi kami. Selain ke pantai mencari kerang, selalunya aku dan rakan-rakan sekampung atau sepersekolahan akan ke kampung-kampung jiran seperti Kampung Jawa, Sungai Ayer Tawar dan Parit Baharu untuk berlawan bola sepak. 

Beraya ke Ipoh

'Clock Tower' Kampar

Petang semalam selepas solat Asar aku dan dua orang birasku memandu kereta masing-masing membawa keluarga masing-masing dan kedua-dua ibubapa mertua kami ke Ipoh iaitu ke rumah makcik isteriku iaitu adik perempuan bapa mertuaku. Dari Simpang 5, kami memandu melalui Sungai Besar, Sabak Bernam, Teluk Intan, Langkap, Mambang Di Awan, Kampar, dan Gopeng. 

Ketika melalui bandar Kampar, anak perempuanku telah mengambil gambar 'clock tower'. Kalau anda perasan nama bandar ini sama dengan nama etnikku. Menurut arwah bapaku, nama bandar ini adalah bersempena dengan nama etnikku yang di antara terawal menghuninya. Ramai orang-orang Kampar yang telah berniaga dan membuka kedai di sini. Cerita arwah ayahku, Haji Abdul Latif yang lahir sebelum 1920 dan banyak mengetahui sejarah-sejarah negara ini, memang boleh diterima pakai. Di antara faktor-faktornya, beliau merupakan seorang yang sangat kuat ingatan, suka membaca dan banyak bergaul dengan orang-orang lama. Di samping itu, beliau juga telah banyak merantau dan berjalan ke pelusok negara.

Beliau bersekolah rendah di Teluk Intan di awal tahun 1930an. Menurutnya, beliau pertama kali datang ke Malaysia dari Kuok, Bangkinang di Sumatera pada hari kelahiran ibuku yang juga merupakan sepupunya. Tetapi malangnya aku tiada maklumat tentang nama sekolah tersebut. Kemudian beliau menuntut di Gunung Semanggul, Ehya Al Sharif, dan Ustaz Abu Bakar Bakir merupakan salah seorang tok gurunya. Dari kajian dan telahanku berdasarkan maklumat-maklumat yang ku ketahui, beliau dan beberapa rakan Kampar yang lain seperti Engku Rahim merupakan di antara murid-murid terawal di situ.   

Sambutan Syawal 2008

Keletah Fahim bersama datuk dan 'uwo'nya.

Fikri bersalam raya dengan datuknya.

Anak-anak bandar, Fahim dan Ezzah, di hadapan bendang.

Fikri dan Anis bersama sepupu mereka Ezzah.

1 Syawal pada tahun ini, 2008, jatuh pada 1 Oktober bersamaan hari Rabu. Setelah menunaikan solat sunat Aidil Fitri di surau Pekan Simpang 5, acara maaf bermaafan seluruh ahli keluarga pun berlansung. Pada tahun ini aku sekeluarga berpakaian sedondon warna keungu-unguan. Anak-anakku bersama-sama sepupu-sepupu mereka gembira mendapat duit raya dari datuk, 'uwo' panggilan nenek di kalangan kami orang-orang Kampar, pakcik dan makcik mereka.

Sesudah itu kami ke rumah 'uwo' isteriku atau moyang bagi anak-anakku. Rumah beliau berada di kawasan sawah padi atau lebih dikenali 'bendang' di kalangan orang-orang tempatan. Maka bertemu pula anak-anakku dengan dua pupu- dua pupu mereka. Bertemu bukan selalu, hanya setahun sekali. Begitulah adat berziarah di bulan Syawal yang seharusnya terus diamalkan.

Pada raya kedua, aku dan kedua-dua anak lelakiku, Fikri dan Fahim, menyertai rombongan 'baraan' raya dari rumah ke rumah. Lebih 20 buah rumah yang diziarahi. Kepada mereka yang tidak pernah mendengar perkataan ini, perkataan 'baraan' berasal dari bahasa Jawa. Ia bermaksud kunjungan atau ziarah ahli kariah kampung beramai-ramai ke rumah-rumah. Sebelum menjamu selera bacaan doa akan diaminkan beramai-ramai. Ini merupakan satu budaya masyarakat kita yang perlu dikekalkan turun menurun. Ia satu budaya yang bersesuaian dengan ajaran Islam itu sendiri. Bagi kanak-kanak, apa yang paling menggembirakan mereka ialah ketika mendapat 'ang pow' raya. 

Di kampungku sendiri iaitu di Jalan Sultan Sungai Tengar, aku juga menyertai acara baraan ini dari aku berusia kanak-kanak sehinggalah ke zaman bujangku. Sewaktu kanak-kanak, kami hanya menaiki basikal. Setelah remaja kami bermotosikal pula. Sungguh indah pengalaman tersebut. Begitulah budaya manis di kampung yang telah semakin luput di bandar-bandar. 

Dalam menyambut Syawal di kampung, aku dan anak-anak tidak lupa untuk praktis catur di waktu senggang. Apatah lagi banyak pertandingan catur dalam bulan Oktober ini. Semoga kami akan lebih berjaya nanti.