15th ASEAN+ Age Group C.C. 2014, MACAU S.A.R. - UPDATES

UPDATE 02/06:

Dear all,

I have reached here at Holiday Inn MACAO Cotai Central. 

Hotel facilities are good with the tourney hall and rooms are nearby. Only problem we may faced is every delegation will be splitted in different floor/levels. This applies to all countries. 

M trying to get best possible for everyone !.  

IMPORTANT NOTE !!!

1. Do ensure to bring enough monies for meals allowances as foodcourt  prices for food and drinks are high with average RM30-RM40 per meal. Considering a plate of Briyani Chicken cost Macanese 65 with Nesacafe ice costing Macanese 28.  I believe each pax budget should be RM80-100 per day on meals alone. Best saving options is to bring some food items, Instant Cup noodles, Milo, Biscuits  for own consumption.

2. Do bring  a tracktop/or jacket as Hotel are quite cold as aircon are on fully at all times even at night. 

3. INTERNET are available in the rooms too.

4. Bring some money for travels and sightseeing for those not accompanied.

I will cu all on arrival .

Have a good journey !!!

UPDATE 01/06:

 (Malaysian Jersey for 15th A+AG 2014 @MACAU S.A.R. - Back)

New Design Malaysian Jersey collected at Wisma OCM.

The ADMIRAL brand Jersey with the wordings "Admiral 100th ANNIVERSARY" on the left chest and MCF logo on the right chest is sponsored by "PMB TIJARI".

The Malaysian flag is on the right sleeve whilst on the back is the wordings "MALAYSIA".

UPDATE 31/05:
(Latest email received from MCF today):

Delegation Sponsored Jerseys (1each) 

Jerseys can be collected  this Sunday 1st June at Olimpik Hotel (OCM) Jalan Hang Jebat, KL from 10am - 12noon.

The Head Of Delegation/MCF Official  shall be Mr. Gregory Lau.

The Delegation Managers:-

(1) Madam Teh In Hooi

(2) Pn. Zuraihah Wazir

(3) En. Ismail Ahmad

Other Announcements:

IMPORTANT INSTRUCTION !!!

To meet up the members of delegation at the KLIA 2 Airport at minimum 3 hours before departure time for all procedure of check-in clearance.  

Kindly ensure to bring along:-
(1) all your travel documents, 
(2) a copy of passport details; and,
(3) a passport size photo...just in case.

OTHER UPDATES:
Refer 17th MAY BlogPOST 

TKC in PPM 2014 - English Debate Finals.

In the closing ceremony today, it was announced that TKC qualified for the Finals of the Prime Minister's Trophy aka Piala Perdana Menteri(PPM) which will Be held at the PICC in late June.
The team had defeated Sekolah Dato Abdul Razak(SDAR) from Seremban.

Waiting for them in the Putrajaya Finals will be the team from MCKK.

Congratulations to the TKC Debate Team and all who had made it possible...Teachers, PTA, Old Girls, Parents and Supporters alike.

MID-TERM BREAK CHESS CHALLENGE @PCA-Hartamas, Last Prep. B4 A+AG2014

UPDATE 02/06:
Results from Polgar's fb

Under-16
1. Wong Zi Yue
2. Joel Su
3. Chan Kim Yew
4. Amira Farhana Amirul
5. Cheah Kah Hoe
6. Shreesh Amit Chembeti
7. Sia Yuan Hao
8. Joshua Liew

Under-12
1. Danin Devin Arun
2. Darshevintharan Manhokaran
3. Gar Jun Meng
4. Ng Jun Fung
5. Christopher Chong
6. Joshua Lee
7. Mira Kaur
8. Ong Weng Yan

Under-10
1. Mamtaa Thambisamy
2. Lim Yee Chun
3. Sarthak Raj
4. Siddharth Manavalan
5. Ong Zhen Sean
6. Amanda Suliawan
7. Tengku Hakeem Tengku Naufal
8. Arniesh Chai Sasheedran

Under-8
1. Shaanjhay Sri Ganes
2. Li Shuo Yi
3. Aryan Yadav
4. Tan Kye Ren
5. Colin Lim
6. Roshan Ramchandani
7. Ian Cheah
8. Colin Pui

UPDATE 01/06:
hAnA finished 4th with 3.5pts(3wins, 1draw & 1loss) whilst CP finished 19th with only 1point from 5 rounds in the U-16 event.


>>>>>>>
Just paid for the Mid-TERM BREAK Chess CHALLENGE @ Polgar Chess Academy-Chess Academh (PCA) - Sri Hartamas, KL.

Due to a dearth of competitions in Malaysia especially classical ones, had signed up the kids to take part in this event and naturally, opted for the longer time control option i.e. 40minutes. Was informed that only 20places are available for the longer time control compared to 60places for the shorter time control and that places for the longer time control is almost full as PCA is only using 1 room for it.

Hopefully, they have a good Last prep. before competing in the upcoming A+AG2014 in Macau.

Event INFO:-

JUNE 1, 2014 (Sunday)

MID-TERM BREAK CHESS CHALLENGE 2014
10am - 5pm (Under 16) or 12pm - 5pm (Under 12)

Please email polgarchessasia@gmail.com for entry form by 23 May.

Only 80 places available!

Piala Perdana Menteri (PPM) Begins Today in KT-Terengganu.

UPDATE 7 @ 26/5 (5PM):
Semi-Finals is over. It's anybody's guess.
Results will only Be announced during the Closing ceremony tomorrow.

Note: It was the same in 1987, officially we'd to wait for the Official announcement during the Closing ceremony in SMTSP. Unofficially, we knew we'd won...and in the process being the Most successful PPM team ever by winning the Basketball and English Debate Event whilst the BM Debate team made It to the QF.

UPDATE 6 @ 26/5 (12Noon):
Quarter-Finals Results - WON against Sekolah Alam Shah, Putrajaya.

The Semi-Finals, they'll Be up against SDAR-Seremban.


UPDATE 5 @ 25/5 (7PM):
In the afternoon octos Round against Sekolah Menengah Sains Seri Puteri(SESERI), the team WON.
Hence,  team qualifies for the Quarter- Finals tomorrow.

Waiting to debate in the Quarter-Finals tomorrow will Be SAS from Putrajaya.

UPDATE 4 @ 25/5 (lunch)
The motion for the morning Round is:-
" THW Implement Fat Tax."

As the opposition, the team WON against SEMASYUR.

UPDATE 3 @ 24/5:
The team received a Bye for the afternoon Rounds. All teams will received 1 Bye in the preliminary Rounds.

Team won the morning Debate.

UPDATE 2 @ 23/5 (Evening):
Debate ended after 6PM.
Again as the opposition, the team Won the 2nd Round afternoon Debate against a Kuching school.

Motion: " THBT Teachers Should not Engage Students via the Social Media ".

Eldest adopted the "sarcastic" debater approach for this Round.

UPDATE 1:
As the opposition, Won the 1st Round morning Debate.

>>>>>>>
The National level Finals of the PPM begins Today in Kuala Terengganu.

Representatives from the respective zones have been chosen earlier in the zonals.
Competition for the Southern Zone was held in Melaka (Read March BlogPOST ).

As a comparison, in the 1980s there were NO zonals Competition with less than 40 residential schools/colleges in Malaysia.

X-Men Plays Chess!

Brought the kids to a late night screening of the X-Men movie.

CP was visibly excited when a scene featuring the 2 old enemies i.e. The Professor(Charles) and Cerebro(Eric) playing chess was shown.

Took it upon myself to reinforce the notion to CP that only smart people like strategists or tacticians as per the movie plays chess as you don't see the brawns in the movie playing chess.

World Youth Chess Championship 2014 (WYCC 2014) @Durban-SOUTH AFRICA, Finally the Invitation is Issued!

WYCC 2014 Event INFO
Official WEBSITE


>>>>>>>
Finally, after some "interesting" postings re WYCC2014 on FIDE's website (Read HERE ) the Official WYCC2014 Invitation have been Issued by the South African Federation to All Players/Federations.

Will write to MCF for their endorsement and hopefully the Official Letters can be Issued soon for Planning, Budget/Sponsorship purposes.

Now need to look for alternatives in SA.
( Note: 1-Tg.Malim order. 2-Book Research. 3-? )

40k Views on 18th May 2014

40k!!!???

Just wondering.......actual views or robots?

10th ASIAN SCHOOLS C.C.2014 (10th ASCC 2014) @Taichung-TAIWAN, Anybody?

Event INFO
Selection CRITERIA for 10th ASCC 2014. Refer Section C, Item 5.

Interested to Participate in 10th ASCC 2014 at Taichung-TAIWAN? Contact MCF.

>>>>>>>
Checked my email after a kampung wedding prep in Melaka and saw an email invitation/circular  from MCF re the above event.

TBC

WORLD SCHOLARS CUP 2014 @TKC, Enstek-NS

Event INFO / INFO
WSC 2014 SCHEDULE

>>>>>>>
Just finished booking the flight tickets  and eldest had to inform after the fact that she made the team with KD & Ildina for the World Scholars Cup which ends on 12th June...the same day as our flight back from Macau. If I'd known earlier, would have taken the morning flight back and see her in action in the afternoon rounds on the 12th. Now, have to see how much AA will charge for flight changes....aaarghh!

"Full" school holidays for eldest as well then with the PPM in KL late May followed by a short break before starting prep.for the Scholars Cup. Good thing the IEP will be around to supervise.

15th ASEAN+ AGE GROUP 2014 (A+AG2014) @MACAU S.A.R.

UPDATE 2:
(Message from MCF)
Dear AAG2014 MALAYSIAN CONTINGENT of Players/Parents/Guardians/Accompanying Person,

Will need your URGENT updates for AAG2014 Organizers on facilitation of all MALAYSIAN Accreditation Cards and Airport Transfers. 

1. AAG2014 flight details (EVERYONE)

2. Copy of JPEG photo (Passport size) for Organizers usage (EVERYONE)

to be emailed to msianchess2010@gmail.com.

Appreciate all this to be forwarded to me by dateline 20th May 2014.

For those already done so, kindly do re-forward your email and send me a message. 

Thank you.

Kind regards,

Gregory Lau

Team Manager

UPDATE 1 @18/5:
Official BLOG

Malaysian Players' LIST for A+AG 2014.

Both hAnA and the CP are listed. There's enough Malaysian players in the Open/Boys U8, U10, U12, U14 & U16 and Girls U10, U12 & U20  for Malaysia to compete for the Team medals.

>>>>>>>
Event INFO

The 15th A+AG 2014, 2 weeks to go but the prep is "very poor" coupled with a lack of classical competition to be "match fit".....! Something needs to be done!

Previous POST on A+AG2014.

for the Post of FIDE PRESIDENT - Malaysia Nominates: "NOTA" ???

There's a lull in the coverage of the political situation or "experiment" in Terengganu.
Hence, decided to checkout FIDE's website to reconfirm AAG matters. Lo and behold, the Presidential nominations are published and as expected its the Incumbent against Kasparov i.e. Russian v. Russian.

The strange thing for me is that Malaysia had NOT nominated anybody. Refer FIDE INFO.
Perhaps the nomination papers are MIA or the necessary officials have not signed the papers or simply that we've taken a neutral stand so as not to antagonise anybody.

Whatever the reasons, as for now "NOTA" or "None Of The Above" is Malaysia's nomination for the post of FIDE President. Interesting times in Chess Politics. Perhaps, I need to write a newspaper column on this.

ASIAN YOUTH C.C. 2014 @Tashkent-UZBEKISTAN, Anybody?

Event INFO

The Asian Youth C.C. 2014 will be held from 20-29th June in Tashkent-Uzbekistan.
The event is for the U6, U8, U10 & U12 categories...girls and boys. Closing date for registration is on Thursday, 15th May 2014.

Contact MCF, if interested to participate.

NO Chess-Debate-Whatever Weekend!

One of those rare occurence where there's NO activity(ies) for the kids.

Off to the silver state then...courtesy of RIC.

Prime Minister's Trophy (Piala Perdana Menteri) - Debate Competition, National Finals.

Am relieved, Eldest will be going after all to the Finals of the National Level Debate Competition otherwise known as the Prime Minister's Trophy or Piala Perdana Menteri in Malay. The competition will be held in Kuala Terengganu end of this month.

The Debate teacher called yesterday to inform that the "technicalities" which had earlier prevented eldest's participation have been resolved. Was also asked to book a return flight for eldest which will be subsidised by the PTA. Apparently, flight arrangements have already been made for the rest of the team.

Kids nowadays are so lucky. During the 80s, my team travelled to PPM competitions in the "infamous" 3-ton trucks and stayed at lest  than kosher barracks facilities. Despite the perceived handicap we still won the English Debate and Basketball events in 1987 whilst the Malay Debate team made it to the Quarter Finals - Beat that Eldest....... You and Your College have 2 attempts / years to try.

41st SELANGOR OPEN 2014, Some Reflections.

OFFICIAL RESULTS for ALL Categories.

It wasn't a good tournament for all 3...except for maybe hAnA who by virtue of playing only 7rounds achieved 50% and missed out on the ladies prize due to tie-break.

Though it was not a good tournament for all in terms of results it was nevertheless a good event in terms of take backs.

For CP, some humility lessons learnt.
After starting out quite OK with a win against a higher rated player i.e. 1527NR he started taunting sis hAnA who only had half point then...mainly because she did not play 2 rounds on Labour Day. Ends up his sis finished half a point ahead of him. While gong back on the last day, he'd acknowledged himself that he had a bad event.
In 3-4 games, he'd a good start being anywhere between 1-3pawns up or better but his transition from middle to end game needs to be worked on.
Apart from the humility lesson another positive is that he'd finally obtained a point against FIDE-rated player(s). In Selangor Open, he played against 4 FIDE-rated players(1812, 1662  ,1573 & 1727 ). Hence, based on FIDE's regulations, he just needs to play against at least 6 more FIDE-rated players in classical events and secure at least half a point in order to get his provisional rating which I estimate to be anything between 1100 to 1400... Depending on his performance against other FIDE-rated players in upcoming events. Am definitely looking forward to some cost savings once he has his FIDE ratings.
Note: Provisional FIDE-rating after playing against 4 FIDE-rated players is 1500, based on FIDE's initial calculator HERE


For hAnA, lessons in not giving up and fighting until an almost sure checkmate.
Having a positive attitude despite not liking to play in certain conditions will also help tremendously.

As for me, need to at least prepare to take part in the future - just turning up would not suffice.
Furthermore, the inevitable had to happen - lost to a primary kid on the very last day.
I used to tease CP whenever he losses to a girl. Now, I  need to keep my mouth shut for at least this quarter.

KUSSES, Captaincy Declined.

Event INFO.

Eldest informed that she was asked to captain the college chess team.......perhaps a peace offering for the screw-up which led to her not being named to this year's college team, despite the fact that she was one of only two students from the college which represented the Seremban district last year.

Unfortunately, the event is right smack in the middle of her term exams and she asked for my opinion.  Told her - " You Decide. Do you actually want to go to an event which you and your team have not prepared for or do you want to do well in your exams and ensure that bad grades would not jeopardize you going for PPM in Kuala Terengganu end of this month?"

Missed...TV3 Feature on CP.

Was informed via SMS yesterday by an AEI friend who chanced upon a TV3 programme highlight that CP will be featured today in a morning show.

Unfortunately, since we're participating in the Selangor Open...hopefully eldest or the IEP managed to record the programme.

Am hoping that we can view his second TV appearance this time having missed the first one last year.