NAG 2013, the EXCITEMENT begins EARLY!

A blown Hankook tyre just before the Perak signage at KM393(about 10-15metres before the Bernam River) nearly derailed the Family's journey to Tronoh.

( The tattered Korean tyre that delayed but, did not derailed our NAG2013 plans at UTP Tronoh )

( ...that's how bad the tyre was. Amazing that the rubber didnt't come off totally. Alhamdullilah )

( One of the PLUS road assist gentlemen. Their help under the blazing sun was simply awesome )


Alhamdullilah, though delayed for several hours which included a detour to a tyre shop just off the Slim River toll entrance/exit - we still managed to arrive before 8pm at our homestay in Tronoh. More importantly is the fact that nobody was hurt as I'd managed to control the car having experienced a similar blow whilst driving the Tank @Opel Frontera many years ago otw to KLIA. Praise to Allah SWT that not only was nobody hurt but the GS itself was not damaged...only puncture was to the pocket which set me back RM380 I.e. RM50 as a token of appreciation to the PLUS guys who assisted(they didn't ask for anything) and RM330 for a brand new Dunlop 215 tyre.

Though I am slightly under the weather, the kids seemed to be in high spirits.

Incentives have been announced I.e. Laptop and half dinar for hAnA. The cHEss pIRATE seemed eager to get hold of the Mindcraft game and totally ignored the fact that a half dinar is also on the table if the target set is achieved. Other targets set included choice of dinner spot for Friday night if the respective points target are met.

LET THE GAMES BEGIN!!!

NAG 2013 - Players' LIST. My Observations

UPDATE 2:
Final Results for U-8 BOYS HERE & U-12 GIRLS HERE.

UPDATE 1:
Due to additional players registered the expected 1st round Pairings did not materialise.

NAG 2013 Players' List are PUBLISHED (albeit  a Day Later than as per Promised in the Flyers i.e. 28 JAN.2013. NAG 2013 Flyer Sample HERE). 
Refer Players' List, HERE 

Based on the published list, The cHEss pIRATE & hAnA are seeded as follows:-

U-8 BOYS

(1) 1331 (Current-1Q 2013) / 1365(Previous-4Q 2012). 
KL. Wong Zi Yue
(2) 1242 / 1200 PP. Tin Shan Ze
(3) 1202 / 1098 PHG. Muhammad Alif Nor Amli

(4th SEED) 1189 / 1157. KL. The cHEss pIRATE AFA

(5) 1170 / 1200 PHG. Muhammad Amjad Muhaimin
(6) 1169 / NC KL. Umar Shamsuddin
(7) 1156  / 1108  PP Alden Goh
(8) 1125 / 1155 KL. Ryan Seow
(9) 1024 / 1107 PP.  Ooi Zhi Ping
(10) 1014 / 1078 PP. Loh Xiong Ze
(11) 1001 / 1208 PP. Ryan Lee
(Joint 12) PP. Samuel Ho Khai Sheng
(Joint 12) Vasanthakumar

Based on ratings per se, Faiz should achieve his target of bettering last year's performance in terms of position i.e. Top 10 I'd set (read HERE). In terms of points target i.e. 5points...its "Touch & Go, depending on his mood)
1st Round, v. Loh Xiong Ze.


U-12G
(1) 1676 / 1581 SGR. Puteri Munajjah   
(2) 1577 / 1612 PP. Teh De Zen          
(3) 1443 / 1480 SGR. Zainoor Ikmal      
(4) 1433 / 1472 KL. Mok Shu Zing      
(5) 1432 / 1469 KL. Melanie Khoo     
(6) 1417 / NC PP. Teh Ming Min
(7) 1400 / 1331 JHR. Nurul Farhana Halim
(8) 1395 / 1451 KL. Ho Chen Ee
(9) 1347 / NC KL. Iman Sofea

(10) 1309 / 1291 KL. Sangethavathy Thanasegaran
(11) 1303 / 1224 SGR. Pavithra Thanabalan  
(12) 1259 / 1293 PP. Khaw Ker Shean
(13) 1228 / NC KL. Ho Li En  

(14th SEED) 1202 hAnA, AFA

(15) 1191 / 1192 SGR. Raudhah
(16) 1161 / 1224 PP. Tan Jia Xuan
(17) 1158 / NC KL. Aina Zaharah Shukor
(18) 1126 / 1112 PP. Sim Jia Yi


Based on Ratings alone, hAnA seemed to be facing a tough group after "graduating" from U-10 to U-12.Tough fight to achieve the target set i.e. Top 7th with 5points. Hopefully, the prior prep will give her a fighting chance.
1st round, up against Melanie Koo. A drawn game will be a good score.

 

INSOFAR SCHOLARSHIP January, Registered!

Results, HERE

>>>>>>>
Just registered Amira for the Insofar Scholarship to be held at AMPAC Shah Alam.
Registration made via SMS to Raja Aiza.

This would be Amira Fathina's second participation in the Insofar Scholarship event after her December's 2012 participation, Read HERE

MCF NATIONAL ARBITERS SEMINAR, 1-3 FEB@UTP, Tronoh

(IA KK Chan, IA Peter Long & Participants of the Arbiters Seminar. 

Picture: Courtesy of Classmate Mohammad Palino )

(Picture: Courtesy of Classmate Mohammad Palino)

Trainer's Thoughts HERE
Participant's Thoughts, HERE


UPDATE 2:
Lots of interesting insights learned during the Seminar. Amongst which are:-
~ 3x Repetitive Move (which need NOT be in sequence);
~ Usage of 1 hand to move & press the timer;
~ the different variations of "touch move" rule.

Also interesting games such as a world champion taking the king after an illegal move.

Added with insights on chess development in neighboring countries like Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia & Myanmar...it was TIME & MONEY(RM150) Well Spent.


UPDATE 1:
After the simple opening ceremony and hearing the UTP song for the 1st time and of course "NEGARAKU", signed up for what was supposed to be aN info course for me in chess rules.

The course or seminar is held at the Undercroft Seminar Room 2 located at the basement.
Trainers for the course International Arbiter(IA) KK Chan and Peter Long.
>>>>>>>
I met Pn.Haslinda Ruslan and Puan Zuraihah Wazir during the recent RSC Juniors Open at RSC Bukit Kiara and decided to submit the forms for NAG 2013...amongst the rare occasions that I receive an official receipt for chess matters (other receipts received were from Polgar Chess Academy & Cerdik Catur Enterprise).
Whilst filling-up the forms conversation turned to the MCF National Arbiters Seminar.

Pn.Haslinda said that the MCF was organising a MCF National Arbiters Seminar which is to run concurrently with NAG 2013.
Initially, I was keen to attend but being "allergic" to exams and that I know "two hoots" about chess.


Yesterday, I spoke to Ben T.(another parent whose son is playing chess and had represented the Sentul zone) re the Arbiters Seminar.

fAthina Heading the U-15 College Team

Eldest called back home around 10pm to inform us...amongst others that she'll be heading the U-15 Chess Team for an event somewhere in February...couldn't figure out what she was saying as the line was bad.

Well Done Captain AMIRA FATHINA.

...no wonder she'd called last week expressing her interest to participate in the Insofar January event. She must have had an inkling of this appointment.

A-LEVELS FLASHBACK: "BEST Failure" & "Worst Failure" in STATISTICS

I'd made some assumptions re the way the Malaysian Chess Ratings are calculated.
Read " Understanding Malaysian Chess Ratings " dated 14th January 2013.

Knowing (learnt during Selangor Juniors in 2012) that Lim Tse Pin(LTP) maintains/calculate the National Ratings, I'd sent him an email for clarification or rather how the ratings are calculated.

LTP replied promptly BUT Somehow or rather, his email reply gave me a flashback of my "short-lived" journey in Pure Maths and Statistics during my A-Level days in Damansara Utama and Shah Alam...many, many moons ago.

...to digress a bit, at 1 time my friends(Shamsul@Adik & Derick@Jingkui) Stats were so bad that we knew we'd failed in our Statistics exams. Jingkui, Adik and I were "confident" that we'd failed badly to the point that the argument was as to who was the "BEST" or, "WORST"  failure. To show how confident we were that each one had failed badly - we decided that the "BEST FAILURE" would have to treat the 2 "WORST FAILURE" unlimited Western Food at 1 sitting at one of the stall located between Salleh's Drink Place and Bintang Kue Tiaw(Tony & Henry then were operating from 1 stall under the watchful eye of their dad) in front of the 51C dorm...or was it 69B!

Anyway, to cut the story short - Mr.Samsul (who later on appeared in a TV3 talent hunting competition called Sinaran Passport Kegemilangan or something like that) announced the exam results. Lo and behold the honour of the Best Failure went to Adik. Just imagine, despite failing, Jingkui and I "celebrated" by having  2 plates of western food (chicken chop and fish&chips) each....or was it 3 plates.....The Glorious Failure, WaQAQA!

TQ - LIM TSE PIN & NAJIB WAHAB

Being "new" to something, one would naturally have lots of queries. The same goes for the game of kings and queens.

I'd mentioned this matter vis-a-vis organisers of chess competitions in an earlier blogpost dated 10th January 2013 called ORGANISERS' ETHICS when I was frustrated with the non-response(es) of a few organisers in 2012 and decided to recollect and refresh my thoughts on the event organisers I'd dealt with.

On a similar but slightly different thread, I'd queries of a general nature as well which I would either ask or email and sometimes even sms those in the chess circles which I'd the opportunity to cross path with.

Amongst those that actually takes the time to provide me lengthy email and/or sms explanations are En. NAJIB WAHAB and Mr. LIM TSE PIN.
.......in addition Special Mention should also be given to Cikgu Shuhairi, Cikgu Shamsuddin, Cikgu Azwan, Mr. Tan Eng Seong, En.Syazrin, Mr. Peter Long and his wife Louisa.

THANK  YOU  VERY  MUCH  FOR  THE  EXPLANATIONS  GIVEN.
...at the VERY LEAST I OWE YOU GUYS A ROUND OF TEH TARIK!!! 

PS: Lim TP - Please allow me to digest your email before I post something on this blog. 
Your email brings back memories of my Pure Maths & Statistics class during A-Levels!