Invitations for hAnA & cHEss pIRATE

Though not taking part in any competitions this week, It has been an interesting week for me due to 2 invitations received by Amira Farhana & Amir FAiz

A gentleman was asking me how old Faiz was during a recent competition. He was thinking that Faiz was in primary school but small for his age. Upon confirming with the cHEss pIRATE himself and then me that Faiz is 5years and 3months - he requested that I send Faiz for an Age Group competition he's organising in July and where's there an U-7 category. Yesterday, I'd received a SMS inviting FAiz to a programme being started to groom chess players.

In the same week, hAnA received an invitation to be part of a Team being sent to the KASUGI Team Chess Open to be held on 14-15 July. It was the first time ever that hAnA received an invitation to be part of a chess team...Don't get me wrong, she's participated in Team events before for the School(SK TTDI) and State(FT) but for me it was more of a "duty call" invitation. Hana was keen to participate. Unfortunately, she has Tae Kwan-Do grading on the same week and had to give the event a miss as she's slightly behind on her grading route. hAnA's sister Amira FAthina got her 1st Dan Black Belt when she was in standard 5...however, hAnA is presently wearing a Yellow Belt despite being in Standard 4 and hence my concern of her "slow" pace. Hopefully, hAnA will be wearing a Green Tip Belt come fasting month this year.

An interesting week of chess invitations for the kids. Am hopeful that some people are starting to notice the kids for the right reasons rather than being sent invitations to make up the numbers. TQVM to the Lady and Gentleman who had invited hAnA and the cHEss pIRATE respectively.

23rd SELANGOR JUNIORS Open, U-10: Lessons Learned

The Official Results of the U-10 Mixed Category of the 23rd SELANGOR JUNIORS Open Chess can be viewed at CHESS RESULTS

Articles In the blogWORLD:-
1) Firey Rook
2) Chess in Malaysia


During the prize-giving ceremony,it was announced that there were participants from Penang and Singapore...both of which finished in the Top 10. I was disappointed with the turnout from the girls in this category as there were only 4 girls out of 42 participants i.e. LESS than 10% or, 9.52% to be more specific.

Another matter observed was that Certificates were only given to Top 15 finishers unlike most other tournaments where Attendance Certificates are given regardless of a player's final position.

Apart from being at the ATCC for the 1st time, there was an important lesson learnt by hAnA i.e. NOT to have a heavy lunch and start running around after that. As a result of "throwing up" and not being "physically" fit for Round 4, she lost to her opponent rather "tamely". Hope you keep this in mind hAnA for future competitions.

As for the cHEss pIRATE FAiz, what can I say....he's starting to understand the rules of the competition especially the "illegal move" and "touch move" ruling when he won a game after raising his hand 3 times to complain that his opponent had made illegal moves. The final complain was made despite the fact that he was just one(1) move away from check-mating his older opponent. After he had lodged the results of the game with the Secretariat, I'd asked him -
"Kenapa Faiz complain the 3rd time bila Faiz nak checkmate the next move?"

cHEss pIRATE reply - "Ayah, he made 3 bad moves. GAME OVER!"
Perrghh...despite his mood swings and lack of discipline as a chess player, cHEss pIRATE FAiz can be rather brutal when he feels like it!

Session ended around 6.30PM and we headed straight for the Sg.Besi Camp to hopefully attend the closing ceremony of the "final" OP-PP Games and hear the sound of the
Bugler's Last Post.

23rd SELANGOR JUNIORS Open, U-10 Category

Date: Sunday, 1st July 2012
Venue: ATCC, WILAYAH COMPLEX
Competition: 23rd SELANGOR JUNIORS OPEN CHESS TOURNAMENT, U-10 Category

LATEST UPDATE:-
hAnA, No.13, 4pts, BH30
FAiz, No.27 , 3pts - BH24
Note: IF, there were a Girls Only Category...hAnA would have won it.

Their cousins, Aqil placed 5th with BH 27.5 & Arif, is in No.29 with 3pts-BH20


UPDATE, After Round 6:
hAnA, 4 Points.
cHEss pIRATE FAiz, 3 Points.
Their cousins - Aqil(5pts) & Arif(3pts).

Ranking Going into 7th & Final Round;-
No.10 - FArhana, 4pts - BH 20
No.21 - FAiz, 3pts - BH 17.5

UPDATE, After Round 2:
hAnA WON both games.
cHEss pIRATE FAIZ LOST both games

FIRST Time AMfa family (hAnA, cHEss pIRATE & Myself) is at the Arthur Tan Chess Centre at Wilayah Complex. We or rather I was convinced by the gentleman manning the Secretariat to enrol both kids as a Junior Member with the CAS to obtain benefits like reduced fees.

Upon registration, it was discovered thst hAnA and cHEss pIRATE is playing with "improved" ratings in the yet to be released July-September 2012 National Ratings. hAnA's ratings has improved to 1242(previously 1205) while cHEss pIRATE Faiz had improved a little bit to 1112(1102 previously). Was informed by the Gentleman Secretariat that the rankings used for this Tournament had taken into account last week's MBPJ Open. Hence, so far for both hAnA & cHEss pIRATE FAiz, the "new" National Ratings had taken into account of only 2 events they've participated which are as follows:-
(1) NATIONAL AGE GROUP-NAG, March 2012 (hAnA, Girls U-10 & FAiz,Boys U-8)
(2) MBPJ Chess Open, 23 June 2012 (BOTH, Mixed U-12 Category)

Their cousins Aqil and Arif is also playing in the same category I.e. U-10.

"WE WHO ARE ABOUT TO DIE, SALUTES YOU" - 2012 MBPJ Chess Open

OFFICIAL RESULTS:
R1,b28: LOST v. Mohd. Hussein Mohd.Jamil(1657, 16th) Castling Blunder
R2: LOST v. M.Fauzi Asmawi(1412, 24th), 1 Illegal Move
R3: WON v. Fahmi(Not Rated, 73rd), Opponent Resigned
R4: LOST v. Abdul Rahim Rais (1522, 36th) Checkmate-Should Have Resigned
R5: WON v. Maisarah(Not Rated, 81st), Checkmate
R6: LOST v. Raimi Rahim(1570,48th), Unexpected Checkmate
R7: LOST v. M.Hassan (Not Rated, 61st), CM
Total: 2 Points. 77th Place out of 87. (BH:22.5 / SB:3.5)
OFFICIAL RESULTS

aROUND the BLOGs:-
1) FireyRook
2) StoneMaster
3) FireyRook


LUNCH UPDATE:
WON 1, LOST 3.
Finally, I got my 1st Point ever in any chess Tournament whilst playing White when my Oppponent-an Engineering Student resigned.
What a relief, having lost to 2 rated players in the previous rounds I.e. Mohd.Hussein (NR:1657)from Klang and M.Fauzi Asmawi (NR:1412) from Cheras.
>>>>>>>

The little ones especially Hana dared me to take part in at least 1 event. I guess they just want to see me make a fool out of myself.

Needing to "WALK the Walk & TALK the Talk" ....here I am in PJ for the MBPJ 2012 Chess Open.

Am hoping for at least a point. Wish Me Luck.

2nd MBPJ Open 2012

( hAnA & Faiz before the Prize-Giving Ceremony )

( YOUNGEST Player Prize - 5 Years 3 Months 2 Weeks & 3 Days )

( Hamper for Youngest Player Prize )

( Amira Farhana, 9th Place: 2nd MBPJ Open U-12 )

( RM50 Cash for 9th Place )

( RM50 Cash for 9th Place )

( Even the Mum Gets A Prize )

OFFICIAL PLACING:
Amira Farhana placed 9th.
cHEss pIRAaTE FAIZ placed 28th out of 45.
BOTH, will be receiving prizes I.e Hana for Top 10 finish & Faiz as YOUNGEST player.
Congratulations Kiddos.

LATEST UPDATE:
Farhana WON 4 out of 6 Games for a 67% winning record. She was 14th in the standings going into the 6th and final round.

cHEss pIRATE Amir Faiz won 2 & drew 1 out of 6 Games. He's placed 29th out of 45participants with 2points going into the final round.
I was informed that he will also get a prize for being the YOUNGEST competitor at 5years, 3months and 20days old.
Note Update: I was hoping that FAiz can record his first 50% record in a National-Rated event. Unfortunately, he fell short at the last round when he can only draw, giving him 2.5 points in total with a 41.67% overall record. His 1st 50% record was at the MAY DAY CHESS CHALLENGE organised by PCU. READ HERE. However, it was NOT a NR event.


Date: SATURDAY, 23 JUNE (10AM-5PM)
Venue: DEWAN ILMU, COMMUNITY LIBRARY, PETALING JAYA
Tournament Name: MAJLIS BANDARAYA PETALING JAYA-MBPJ Chess Open 2012


The MBPJ Chess Open 2012 U-18 and U-12 was held today at the Dewan Ilmu located beside the PJ Community Library. The AMfa family arrived at the venue around 8.30-45AM. I find the venue to be rather cozy as the Cafetaria is just next to the hall coupled with easy access to the Surau, Library and Petrol Convenience Shop across the road. Parking was not an issue as well.

The event had an "international feel" when 5 players from Bahrain took part. Both the U-12 and U-18 is a mixed category event and is touted by the Organisers as the BIGGEST Chess Tournament in Petaling Jaya, Selangor....emmmm....IF xxxx

Due to NGO and Work Commitments at KL International Hotel today, I was unable to be with Hana & the cHEss pIRATE like I normally to do. However, I managed to stick around till the end of the 1st Round where Hana "defeated" her first non-Malaysian player. Unfortunately, cHEss pIRATE faiz lost his first game against an older girl.

Collected Fathina's Mid-Term Report...Maths Teacher mentioned "CHESS"

TODAY, I drove to Seremban to collect Fathina's Mid-Term Report.

Her Maths teacher i.e. Cikgu Juhani mentioned that Amira plays chess for the College and that the game is good for maths as welll......emmmmm!

Finally, after 1 1/2 years....Amira Fathina delivers!!!

...with TIME to KILL.......Registered the cHEss PiRATE & HaNa for MBPJ Open

In between my Hartamas rendezvous and 2 evening appointments in PJ, I had TIME to KILL!
Whilst going through the various permutations of "filler activities"...I'd remembered that there would be a Chess Tournament in PJ sometime during the weekend of the following week.

Thus, I commandeered my Red Junior Ferrari and headed towards the Old Town Library located opposite the Assunta Primary School and was pleased to observed the "regeneration" of the PJ Old Town area where my late father used to take the family out for meals or, shop in preparation for the new school term some 30 odd years ago.

The Library itself surprised me....air-conditioned, modern-looking and well-stocked books complete with courteous attending staff at the counter. Went to the counter and informed them I wanted to register for a Chess tournament sometime next week. Lo and behold, the lady at the counter thought that I'd wanted to register myself.

...with formalities sorted out, I'd registered the cHEss pIRATE and hAnA in the Primary School category for the MBPJ Open Chess Tournament scheduled for Saturday, 23rd June 2012 from 8AM - 6PM. The organisers are charging an entrance fee of RM20 per participang for their category (which is comparable to the fees for the recent 4th KL Scholastic Chess held in May). The 2012 MBPJ Open will be a National Rated event and both kids will be playing at the venue for the very frost time.