ZAIDAN WINS the 8th ASIAN DRAGONS INTERNATIONAL CHESS TOURNAMENT 2014@New Taipei City-TAIWAN

( Zaidan Zulkipli - CHAMPION, 8th ASIAN DRAGONS 2014 with 8 points from 9 rounds ) 

 ( Open Results)

* Pict. Courtesy of Chess Taiwan fb *

KLCA players performed honorably at the 8th Asian Dragons which concluded today at the Banqaio Stadium, New Taipei City. In a rare occurrence for local chess, a Malaysian player managed to win an International FIDE-rated event. Zaidan Zulkipli had to win his final game to ensure victory as a draw would enable Koji Noguchi (should he win) from Japan to pip him on tie-break. Zaidan did win against upcoming Dai Wenzhi from China (Dai had defeated Koji and drew with top seed FM Lee from Korea) and ensured the title by half a point from Koji who did win.  

 ( U16 Open Results)

* Pict. Courtesy of Chess Taiwan fb *

Shreyes Subramaniam playing in the U-16 category finished Runners-Up with 7.5points, just half a point behind Ieong Seak Hin from Macau. Despite finishing second (which is OK in my books) he was not happy with his performance especially in the loss to Ieong and drawn game against Wang Ting-Hao.

Based on my conversation with the organisers after the closing ceremony, they are keen to invite Zaidan and Shreyes again for next year's event.

As for the baby of the team and the Youngest Player in the tournament i.e. Amir Faiz, in my books he exceeded my expectations by getting more than 1 point in the U-16 category. Based on this performance and the number of FIDE-rated players he'd played against, he's just 1 FIDE-rated player away from getting his maiden classical rating which would then translate to some costs savings. 2 wins, 3 draws and 3 losses should be enough for him to claim some form of rewards from his grandparents when they come back from umrah next month.

Finally, a special thank you to the hosts i.e.Chinese Taipei Chess Federation for extending the invitation to KLCA. Special mention goes to Dina Chen, Henry Liu  and Elsa Yueh for being good hosts during our stay in Taiwan. 

KLCA Players at the HALFWAY point of 8th ASIAN DRAGONS 2014

Its rest day for the event and after 5 rounds over 3 days, 2 players representing KLCA put up a decent if not impeccable performance.

Leading the charge in the Open event with a 100% record i.e. 5 Wins in 5 Rounds is 3rd seeded Zaidan Zulkipli. After a "smoking" 3hours plus game against K-Pop Korean, he basically sparred with the national team of Taiwan from Rounds 2 to 5. His real test will however come in the second half of the event starting with Round 6 tomorrow where he plays black against 2nd seeded Koji Noguchi of Japan. If he can successfully fend of the Samurai attack from the Land of the Rising Sun, I expect him to play against other dragons in the form of the top seed FM from the Korean Federation and also youngster DW from China.

( Zaidan's "Smoking" Round 1 encounter against 17th seeded Korea's Chon, over 3 hours  )

Shreyes Subramaniam is joint 2nd on tie-break with 3.5 points after a surprising loss in Round 5 to the current half-way point leader from Macau. He has to win the next 4 rounds to have a shot at the title. Barring a slump in performance, he should be amongst the Top 5 prize winners come Friday.

As for the cHEss pIRATE Amir Faiz, well what can I say - I'd hoped that since he'll be competing in the U16 category, he will at least get a point and not repeat his dismal performance in this year's KL Open. Lo and behold, wonders do exist in chess and he'd achieved the 1 point target on the second day of competition. Presently, he's joint 13th and if he plays against another 2 FIDE-rated players in he remaining 4 rounds he should be able to get a FIDE rating for the classical game by the time he sets foot again in Taiwan next month for the 10th Asian Schools Chess Championship in Taichung.