Perlis Open @Kangar on 25th April 2009

Berita baik kepada pencinta catur terutamanya di utara tanahair. Satu pertandingan catur rapid akan diadakan seperti maklumat berikut:

Untuk mendaftar, sila SMS atau call Syed Iskandar 017-4731678, En Nazli Johardi 019-4120130 atau Cikgu Marzuki 017-5611975. 

Maklumat lanjut sila ke laman blog http://syedchess.blogspot.com/

1st Pearl Point KL Junior Chess Championship 2009

Date:                    26^th April 2009 ( Sunday)

Time:                    9 am to 6 pm

Venue:                 Level 2, Pearl Point Shopping Mall

                            5^th Mile , Jalan Klang Lama, 58200 Kuala Lumpur.

Organiser:    KLCA dengan kerjasama MSSKL.        

 

Objektif : 

1. Untuk pemilihan pemain ke Asean Age Group di Vietnam(6-15 Jun 2009). Pemain yang layak akan ditanggung sebanyak 80% perbelanjaan.

2. Pemilihan ke Asian School di Singapura.  (Julai 2009)

3. Pemilihan ke National Close.  (31 Mei- 4 Jun 2009)

4. Membentuk skuad KL Juniors ke Malaysian Chess Festival. (Ogos 2009)

 

Events:        

• U-9 (boys & girls)
  
• U-11 (boys & girls)
  
• U-13 (boys & girls)
  
• U-15 & U-20 (Open )
  

         

Format  :   6 or 7 Rounds Rapid play (25 minits each). Must be here before 9.30 am.

Entry fee:        

• RM 10 For under-9, 11 & 13.  
  
• RM 15 For under-15 & under-20
  
• RM 25 for Non KL students.
  

Closing date: 24^rd of April2009 (Friday). Maximum number of players per age category will be 80 players.

Untuk sebarang pertanyaan dan pembayaran, sila hubungi:    

• Rezal 013-3641001  
  
• Azwan 019-2788471 
  
• Pn Zuraidah Wazir  017-6930519 
  
• Ustaz Rahman 019-2526121 
  
• En. Khairil Helmi 013-3455849  
  
• En Suhairi Hussin 012-3631591
  

7 April - A Historic Day

Hari ini 7 hb April, merupakan satu hari yang bersejarah terutamanya kepada diri GiLoCatur. Selain dari hari mengundi bagi 2 Bukit dan satu Batang iaitu Bukit Selambau, Bukit Gantang dan Batang Air, hari ini juga merupakan hari kelahiran GiLoCatur. Ya! Happy birthday to me. Semoga Allah panjangkan umur, murahkan rezeki dan merahmati perjalanan hidup. Semoga cita-cita GiLoCatur membentuk ketiga-tiga anak sebagai genius catur dan GrandMaster akan tercapai. Sudah pastinya jalan-jalan yang berliku dan pelbagai cabaran dan onak ranjau yang bakal dihadapi. 

Kepada semua pengundi yang mengundi pada hari ini, SELAMAT MENGUNDI! Undilah dengan bijak. GiLoCatur akan menunggu keputusan pilihanraya pada malam ini. Sebagai seorang warga negara ini kita perlu prihatin dengan segala perkembangan yang berlaku. Tidak boleh prihatin hanya kepada satu-satu perkara sahaja seperti catur atau EPL. Harap semua pemain-pemain catur di negara ini juga begitu. 

Pearl Point National Age Group Update

Now GiLoCatur is at the Pearl Point shopping complex. Round 5 is underway. Below are the summary that GiLoCatur can provide:

• U16B - Three players with 4 perfect score getting into Round 5. They are Syakir who beat Nabil in earlier rounds, Sumant and Evan Timothy. NM Edward Lee suffered a defeat in Round 4.
• Under 16G - NWM Alia is the only player who is undefeated thus far. Currently she is playing againts Afifah Hanum on the first board. Latifah Kaiyisah is playing black on the second board againts Lynette Wong whereas Winnie is playing againts her state teammate, Intan Asirah, on the third board.
• Under 14B - Yap Eng Chiam, the top favourite, is playing white on the first board againts Kiu Toh Shen. Both are the only perfect scorers left in this age-group getting into Round 5. On the second board, Wong Jian Wen and Elgin Lee from Penang are competing againts each other. Fikri, GiLoCatur's son is playing black on Board 8 againts Lim Jing Hong.
• Under 14G - Hoh Tjin Li is leading her age-group with the perfect score of 4 points. She is right now playing againts Amira Syahmina, with 3.5 points,  on the top board. The other 3.5 pointers are Dhanusya Chandran from Selangor and Laila Husna, the daughter of Cikgu Sahadi from Kelantan. They are playing on the second board.
• Under 12B - Three players with perfect 4 points. The defeniding champion, Tan Wei Hao is playing againts Shreyes on Board 1. Roshan Singh is playing white againts his state teammate, Irfan Haqqim who has 3.5 points on Board 2.
• Under 12G - The defending champion, NJM Nur Nabila is playing white againts her strongest rival, Tan Li Ting, on the top board. They both have perfect scores. GiLoCatur's daughter, Anis is playing white on Board 7 againts Nursyahirah Zilkifli.
• Under 10B - Four players with the perfect score - Yeoh Li Tian, Sirajuddin, Tan Yong Zhao and Aziz Farhan. Li Tian, the defending champion and the top  favourite, is playing againts the Kedahan takent, Sirajuddin on th etop board while Yong Zhao plays white againts the KL champion, Aziz Farhan.
• Under 10G - Nur Najiha, Azman's daughter and the defending champion, is playing white on Board 1. She won all her previous rounds. Her opponent is Nurul Aina Akmar, the daughter of Cikgu Rohizan. While on Board 2, Nurulhana Syuhada and Nithyalaksmi Sivanesan from Seremban are playing each other on Board 2. On Board 5, two GiLoCatur's favourite players for this age-group, Kelly and Puteri Rifqah, are currently battling againts each other. 
• Under 8B - Two Hamzahs are leading this age-group on the top board. They are Danish and Amier. They won all their previous rounds along with Ng Jen Sheng who plays Wong Yinn Long on Board 2.
• Under 8G - Teh Ming Min is the perfect scorer so far. She upset Puteri Munajjah yesterday. She plays againts Teh De Zen. 

SKBJ players results so far:

• U12B - Aminur Nirza (3), Irfan (2), Arif (2)
• U12G - Anis Fariha (2.5), Aina Farzana (2)
• U10B - Ihsan (2)
• U10G - Nur Faqihah (2.5)
• U8B - Faqih (2), Ilham Qayyum (1)

For the complete Round 5 pairing list, can go to Marcus Yeoh's blog.

U16B, U16G, U14B, U14G, U12B, U12G, U10B, U10G, U8B, U8G

Pearl Point National Age Group

Tomorrow most Malaysian top junior chess players will participate in the National Age-Group will be held at Pearl Point shopping mall on Jalan Kelang Lama. There are five age groups for each boys and girls meaning has 10 categories. Based on the players list displayed at http://malaysianchessfederation.blogspot.com/ , below are the summary :

• U8 Boys - 34 participants 
• U8 Girls - 18 participants
• U10 Boys - 67 participants
• U10 Girls - 28 participants
• U12 Boys - 80 participants 
  
• U12 Girls - 35 participants
  
• U14 Boys - 74 participants
  
• U14 Girls - 36 participants
  
• U16 Boys - 67 participants
  
• U16 Girls - 28 participants
  

What can GiLoCatur say or observe based on the above numbers:

• Boys are more than Girls,  322 to 145, it is about double. Malaysian parents should encourage their daughters to play chess. Girls also can excel and benefit from playing chess.
• Age-groups of U12 and U14, players aged between 11 to 14 years old, are the most participants meaning that they are the ones shall be developed and trained to be future Malaysian chess greats.
• Girl players tend to decrease for the upper secondary, 16 years old and above. Is it because they tend to focus more on studies and the SPM exam preparation? Because it is a common perception that the entry for boarding schools, colleges or universities for girls are tougher and tight for girls since they have better results.

Who are GiLoCatur's favourites to win the age-groups??

• U8 Boys - GiLoCatur picks Amier Hamzah from KL. 
• U8 Girls - Puteri Munajjah has the edge to be the champion for this category.
• U10 Boys - Yeoh Li Tian shall be the obvious champion. His main challenger shall be Aziz Farhan. Sirajuddin from Kedah may make upset provided that he is on-form.
• U10 Girls - Is either Puteri Rifqah or Nur Najiha shall lead this category. Kelly is also a strong player and may make upset 
• U12 Boys - Irfan Haqqim has better chance to be the champion for this section but he has may tough challengers like Faizan Roslan, Daniel Iskandar, Roshan and Shreyes.
• U12 Girls - NJM Nabila is the favourite. Her challengers shall be the Kedahan girl, Fairuz Hamizah and Tan Li Ting
• U14 Boys - Yeap Eng Chiam is the favourite to win this age-group. He is the individual champion for U15 Boys in the recent MSSM tournament. Elgin Lee shall be his closest rival.
• U14 Girls - Vickie Hong Wee Ki shall win this category. Her toughest opponents shall be Sarika Subramaniam from Pahang and Amira Syahmina from Selangor.
• U16 Boys - This section has many strong players who can be the champion. Nabil, Syakir, Sumant, Izz Shaifudin, and Evan Timothy from Penang. (GiLoCatur : Did not notice earlier that NM Edward Lee is participating. Surely, he is one of the favourites.)
• U16 Girls - Alia Anin Azwa shall be the favourite to win this section. 

GiLoCatur's eldest son, Fikri, and daughter, Anis Fariha, will also participate in the tournament. Fikri will play in U14 category while Anis Fariha will play in U12 category along with few of her Selangor MSS team mates - NJM Nabila, Ee Sun-Xin, and Chew Ee Wen.

Several Anis's SKBJ school mates will also participate in the tournament. They are :

• U8B - Faqih. Ilham Qayyum (pre-schoolers)
• U10B - Ihsan Syahiran, Afiq Jamil
• U10G - Nur Faqihah
• U12B - Aminur Nirza, Irfan Rendrawan, Arif Jamil, 
• U12G - Aina Farzana 

Anyway, BEST OF LUCK to all particpants in the National Age-Group tomorrow!! 

Benko Gambit

Bersempena dengan thematic NMCC blitz tournament minggu ini (6/09)  anjuran Hairulov and the gang, GiLoCatur membuat research dan ingin berkongsi info tentang opening Benko Gambit.

Tentang Benko Gambit:

• Benko Gambit adalah opening yang ditentukan oleh pergerakan buah berikut 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5, di mana karekter terpentingnya ialah pergerakan b5.
• Nama asalnya ialah Volga Gambit yang lebih popular di Rusia.
• Di penghujung tahun 1960an, seorang Grandmaster berasal dari Hungary bernama Pal Benko mula mempopularkan dan mengkaji secara mendalam tentang opening ini. Pada tahun 1974, beliau yang menetap di Amerika Syarikat telah menulis sebuah buku yang diberi judul The Benko Gambit.  
  
• Menurut Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings, ada 3 kod untuk opening ini iaitu A57, A58 dan A59.
• Menurut statistik chessgames.com, dari 2096 permainan yang ada dalam pengkalan data mereka dari tahun 1922 sehingga 2009, buah putih menang 41.9%, buah hitam menang 30.2% dan selebihnya seri.

Dua game berikut yang berkaitan dengan Benko Gambit, menarik minat GiLoCatur. 

1. Judith Polgar - klik di sini
2. Anatoli Karpov - klik di sini

Selain itu beberapa game Korchnoi yang berkaitan dengan Benko Opening boleh dikaji secara mendalam dengan klik pada link ini.

Happy studying and analyzing Benko Gambit opening!

Monday Blues

Berikut adalah beberapa info atau berita catur yang ingin GiLoCatur kongsi bersama. Semoga ia memberi manafaat dan semangat kepada pemain2 dan pencinta catur di samping ibubapa di negara ini.  

"There's been an explosion of interest, many more kids are playing," said Weeramantry, whose group provides chess instruction in more than 70 schools.
"Schools are seeing a variety of academic benefits from chess," Weeramantry said. "Particularly, increased concentration and critical-thinking skills."

sumber : http://susanpolgar.blogspot.com/2009/03/theres-been-explosion-of-interest.html

Catur sedang "booming" di serata dunia termasuklah di USA. Sememangnya dengan bermain catur anak-anak kita dapat faedah dari segi akademik di mana ia boleh menambah konsentrasi dan kemahiran berfikir secara kritis. Di Malaysia juga catur sedang "booming". GiLoCatur observe semakin ramai ibubapa dan anak-anak mereka yang mula menyertai pertandingan catur terutamanya semasa MSSM baru-baru ini. Diharap perkembangan sihat ini akan berterusan. Dan diharap juga kepada mereka yang telah terlibat sama-sama mempromosi dan memberi galakan dan berkongsi pengalaman dengan ibubapa dan anak-anak yang baru berjinak-jinak dengan catur.

sumber : http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/v3/news_sports.php?id=400092

Berita dan info mengenai Malaysian Open Ogos tahun ini ada disiarkan dalam laman blog Susan Polger seperti link di atas. GiLoCatur harap coverage tentang pertandingan catur tersebut ada dibuat bagi mempromosi Malaysia dan catur ke peringkat antarabangsa. Diharap ia dapat menarik minat ramai GM2 untuk menyertainya. Justeru itu semua pihak harus memain peranan tidak kira pemain2 catur, organizer, dan media. Di kalangan pemain2 catur sendiri diharap beramai-ramai sertai supaya ia jadi satu pertandingan yang berjaya.

Ismail Ahmad in Malaysian Book of Records

All the pictures are courtesy of Pn Rosimah Mohamad of SKBJ.

Yesterday was a successful feat of creating a MBR for the Most Simultaneous Chess Opponents by former World Police Chess Champion, Ismail Ahmad. His statistics playing simul chess againts 120 opponents is +90, =21, -9. Congratulation to him for his very gruelling efforts of playing 10 hours chess. The event was held at Markas Briged Tengah, PGA Cheras in conjuction with the national police day celeberation.

My daughter, Anis Fariha, along with several his SKBJ Chess Club teammates were among the 120 chess players participated.

Ismail Ahmad Simul Chess

Bersempena dengan sambutan Hari Polis Kebangsaan, Sarjan Ismail Ahmad sedang cuba memecahkan rekod (Malaysian Book of Records) dalam Penyertaan Teramai Chess Simul di Markas Briged Tengah, Taman Cuepacs, Cheras. Menurut sumber GiLoCatur, setakat 4.30 petang Sarjah Ismail telah berjaya menewaskan 51 orang, kalah 2 permainan dan seri 8. 

Catur MSSM 2009 - Juara Individu

Nampaknya poll bagi kategori Bawah 18 tahun tidak tepat. Juara bagi kedua-dua kategori ini adalah nama yang tidak tersenarai dalam poll. GiLoCatur tidak perasan nama Lim Zhou Ren ada dalam kategori ini. Jika tidak sudah tentu nama beliau tersenarai dalam poll kerana beliau merupakan seorang pemain catur remaja yang berbakat dan bagus. Bagi Nur Munirah Mat Rahim dari Perak, seeded ke-26, telah berjaya membuat upset di MSSM 2009 kali ini. GiLocatur tidak berapa mengenali beliau kerana tidak pernah berjumpa dalam pertandingan2 catur.

Juara bagi kategori Bawah 15 tahun memang sudah tidak asing lagi. Mereka merupakan chess prodigy dan kerap bermain di pertandingan catur luar negara. Alia merupakan NWM (Juara Kebangsaan Wanita) 2008.

Begitu juga dengan juara bagi kategori Bawah 12 tahun. Mereka adalah pemain-pemain catur berbakat negara. Diharap mereka akan terus cemerlang dalam catur dan bakal menjadi Grand Master negara kita tercinta.