5th NATIONAL JUNIORS 2012, Summary

The 5th NJCC concludes today.

It was the first time that the kids are participating in the NJCC event.
hAnA played true to ratings I.e. Losing against higher rated players and winning against lower rated ones.
Having played in the 4th Penang International Heritage City Challenger tournament last week I'd expected a slightly better performance than this from hAnA. I guess it's back to the drawing board then. Her theoretical aspects needs to be addressed since competition alone is not giving the expected outcome. On this matter, she concurs with me - there needs to be a balance between competitions and the theoretical aspects of chess.

As for the cHEss pIRATE, what can I say? He finished last in the field of 56 with only 1point. The 1point however was earned in Round 6 against a player rated at 1330. Thus, maintaining his record of at least an upset per tournament. He also received the token recognition of being the Youngest Participant in the Boys category (the Youngest Girl is 7years old. So, I guess Amir Faiz IS the Youngest Player in the 5th NJCC).

My own analysis of the NJCC is that for Boys...exposure aside, a Malaysian rating of at least 1400-1500 is required to put up a "credible" challenge and finish 'mid-field". Otherwise, one will just be making-up the numbers and end-up as a "Point-Giver".

In the Girls event, a Malaysian Rating of 1300-1400 should be sufficient to put up a credible mid-table/field challenge.

Najib Wahab stated in his blog The Chess Connections that the 5th NJCC 2012 has the lowest turnout ever (BOYS: 2012@56 v 2011@54boys / GIRLS: 2012@19 v. 2011@22players). Since the kids are basically starting from Ground-Zero in the NJCC, hopefully they can only move up with each participation. Looking forward to next year's NJCC...my only wish is for the event to be advertised...MUCH, MUCH Earlier instead of at the last minute.

18th KEPONG JUNIORS Open 2012

cHEss pIRATE Official Results, HERE
hAna's Official Results, HERE

FINAL UPDATE:
cHEss pIRATE placed 7th out of 50 in the U-8 category & is also the YOUNGEST Player.
hAnA finished 10th out of 65 in the U-10 category.

BOTH received a Medal, a Hamper, 1+1 Certificates. This is in addition to other freebies like Hand Towel, Clip File etc.

>>>>>>>
UPDATE 7:-

R7:
BOTH WON the final round. CP won on Board 7, Against Tan Hou Ping(1046)
Hence, both finished with identical records I.e. 5 WINS & 2 LOSSES

R6:
cHEss pIRATE - WON on Board 8 against Jon Bon / hAnA - LOST.
Both, 4 Wins & 2 Losses

R5:
hAnA WON v. Joel Pang, 4W & 1L / cHEss pIRATE lost v. Aiman(1292) on Board3, 3W & 2L

R4:
cHEss pIRATE WON v. Wong Qi Hao(1025),3W & 1L / hAnA lost v. Nurul Farhana, 3W & 1L

R3:
hAna WON by Checkmate / Faiz lost by Checkmate to Dinesh Kumar(1310) on Board 3.

R2:
BOTH WON by Checkmate.

R1:
hAnA WON. cHEss pIRATE WON due to opponent's NO-SHOW.


>>>>>>>

Am presenting a paper in Shah Alam for an event called " Suai-Kenal HIKMAH ". Hence, as per Malaysia Day Chess Challenge in September(Read HERE) when I was away in Kuantan as a Trainer & Facilitator for a Cross-Cultural Communications training programme the Mum is stepping-up (Read HERE).

ALL THE BEST KIDS.

U-7 CHAMPION - 2012 MALAYSIA DAY CHESS CHALLENGE: AMIR FAIZ b. AMIRUL

( PCA MALAYSIA DAY CHESS CHALLENGE 2012, Official Results - Written which was Pasted on the Wall for the U-7 Category. Picture: Snapshot fm Amir Faiz's Mum Handphone )


Ever since I came back from Kuantan, it has been a busy week....Post-training Debrief & Report, shooting for 2 TV episodes(Episodes 11 & 12) of Islamic Finance@The Capital TV, Preparing for 2 presentations on 15/9(Moneytree-Sri Hartamas)titled "MONEY-What Is & History" & 18/9(IIUM-PJ)titled "throw BRICs to the PIGS" and countless office and mamak restaurants meetings.....even now I'm preparing my slides for a "MONEY" Talk for tomorrow's Moneytree Graduation ceremony in Sri Hartamas.

( The cHEss pIRATE is Elated and Feeling Over the Moon & Raising the Bar )

Only today, or rather NOW it dawned upon me that my son the self-proclaimed cHEss pIRATE ( Read HERE )had won a chess title...HIS FIRST, even though it was not a nationally rated event. It is also a welcomed change as compared to just getting consolation/special prizes for being the Youngest Participant in a competition.

Results HERE


It would be good if I had the match records to analyse his results rather than just the final results.

Note: This should have been the cHEss pIRATE's 2nd U-7 title.
Read HERE

3rd SWENSEN OPEN RAPID AGE GROUP CHAMPIONSHIP, 2012

UPDATE:

cHEss pIRATE FAIZ ended with a 50% record gathered from 3 wins.
He Placed 23rd(StartingRank29) out of 49players with a BH of 18.
3pts were placed between 19th(BH 20.5) to 28th(BH 15.5 @ Asia Moo) 

His 3rd 50% record after POLGAR May Day Challenge and INSOFAR Age Group, Shah Alam in July.
He also won a Special Prize of a Chess Set from Cerdik Catur Enterprise for being the YOUNGEST male participant at 5years, 5months, 3weeks and 2days. Coincidentally, Faiz had also received a hamper from Cerdik Catur in another event held in June - HERE

R6: WON. (W, Bd.13) Loh Xiong Yi(1219), Checkmate.
R5: LOST. (B, Bd.10) Nur Faiqah Aminuddin(1234), Checkmate.
R4: LOST. (W, Bd.6) Wong Zi Yue(1266), Checkmate.
Note:  Also Wasted Time due to Timer NOT Pressed & Restroom Break
R3: WON. (B, Bd.9) Irfan Hakimi Irman(1180), Checkmate
R2: WON. (W, Bd.20) Tan Hougen(1128), 3 Illegal Moves(Green Cards)
R1: LOST. (B, Board 9) Ivan Sean Yeap(1246), Queen Blunder

Note:
His Cousins Arif placed 11th in U-8/ Aqil, 10 of 78 in U-10 / Ayesha, 52 of 62 in U-12.

My Assessment:
The whole idea for taking part in the U-8 event is to see how Faiz measures up against his peers. 
(1) He can hold himself against "newer" players but will struggle against stronger.
Ivan Yap(1246), Wong (1266) & Nur Faiqah (1234) are all higher rated players.
(2) Needs to "slow down" moving the pieces.
Note: Get him to start writing games in Non-Rated event to slow down his movement.
(3) End Game NEEDS to be addressed.
(4) Not to bring Gadgets that will distract him.


Assessment on Competition:
(1) Venue was good. Also easy access to Prayer room.
(2)  Food readily available even at venue.
(3) Most important, Junior players from other countries participating
e.g. Iran, India, Singapore as well as Australia & Philippines.
(4) It always irks me that time is not adhered to as advertised.
(5) Slight disappointment that advertised Lunch Break Lecture did not materialise.
(6) For RM30, note should have been made available.
(7) So called "Certificate" was just a piece of paper...leaves much to be desired!
Especially so when there were many overseas participants.




Competition: 3rd SWENSEN OPEN RAPID AGE GROUP CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP, 2012
Date: SUNDAY, 26 AUGUST 2012
Time: 8.30AM - 5.30PM, (Lunch Break & Chess Lecture: 12NOON - 1.30PM). 6 Rounds
Venue: CITITEL, MID-VALLEY KL
Organiser: ATCC / Arbiter: Abdul Hamid


Another NEW Tournament & Another NEW Venue for the cHEss pIRATE.
This must be AT LEAST the 6th NEW VENUE for 2012 after OCM-KL, PCA-Hartamas, PKS Cochrane-KL, Old Town-PJ & Shah Alam. Cititel is also our FIRST Hotel Venue. An interesting aspect of this tournament is the advertised "Lunch Break Chess Lecture". Should be interesting.

Let's see how the cHEss pIRATE measures up against his peers!!!

MAY DAY CHALLENGE, U-9 Mixed

Date: Sunday, 29th April 2012
Venue: PCA, Seri Hartamas-KL
Tournament: MAY DAY Chess Challenge, 2012

The May Day Chess Challenge was organised by the Polgar Chess Academy(PCA) and held at PCA, Seri Hartamas-KL.

Amira Farhana and Amir Faiz took part in the competition.

AMIRA FARHANA
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Farhana started strongly by winning her 1st 3 Games before losing to a Boy(Aqif) from S.K.Bukit Bandar Raya in the 4th round. She recovered her composure slightly by edging a draw with another Boy in the Final Round.
Farhana secured 3 1/2points and was placed 9th out of 47 in the mixed U-9 category.

AMIR FAIZ
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This is Faiz's second ever participation in any chess tournament...the FIRST being the NAG in March.
This time round watching him play was a bit easier on my heart and blood pressure...there were less incidences of forgetting to press the timer, NO draws being offered/accepted when he was in "the lead" just because he thought he had won by capturing the opponent's Queen (he lost 1/2point in the NAG due to this) & NO losing due to time constraint as a result of forgetting to press the timer (he lost 1point in the NAG due to this).

Faiz won 4points and was 6th Overall in the U-9 category. Who knows, if he had NOT "blundered" his pawn promotion he might even be in the Top 3. I will cherish the moment where he was "beaming" when Ms.Beverly announced him as the Youngest Player in the competition...PRICELESS!

Note: he would have won the U-7 category if he had entered the U-7 draw and would have also obtained a Consolation prize for being the YOUNGEST participant at 5years, 1month & 3 1/2weeks old.

Full Report & Results:-
Quality Training blog