Friday, 9 August 2013

8th AM Bank Chess Challenge 2013, (FIDE-rated)


Event INFO

Blog Reports: HERE, HERE2, HERE3

Round 3; HERE
Round 2;
Round 1; RESULTS

Pairings, By Rounds:-

Round 9:

Round 8:
Note: Pairing released very late!
hAnA: v. Barve Atharva Abhijit ( 84th Seed). UnRated
Bd. . draw.

CP: v.


Round 7:
hAnA: v. Ravindran K'thik Ramanan (USA, 97th Seed).
Bd.49 - W. WON

CP: v. Yusoff Rayan Aidan. (MAS, 103rd Seed). UnRated.
Bd.44 - W. lost after being offered a draw initially.

Round 6 (Wednesday, 14/8 - 3PM):
hAnA: v. Mahmood Shah Meer Iskandar Shah (MAS, 82nd Seed). NR:1109
Bd.45 - B. lost in 30moves in around 45mins.

Note: CP met hAnA's opponent in an earlier round.

CP: v. Ganesh Hana (IND, 88th Seed). UnRated
Bd.46 - B. WON, c'mate in 49moves with 2nd Queen. 1:30 time remaining.

Round 5 (Monday, 11/8 - 3PM):
hAnA: v. Yeow Hui Shi Elizabeth Maria (SIN, 100th Seed). UnRated
Bd. . Lost, checkmate after xx moves.

Note 1: hAnA played against Elizabeth during the 2012 4th Penang Heritage City event.

Note 2: Elizabeth should have been rated. In last year's 4th PHCICC, she was rated as per Singapore's NR of 1371. (Read HERE).

CP: v. Jarell Cheong. (MAS, 77th Seed). NR:1209
Bd.50 - W. WON, Checkmate in xx moves after around 45mins. Finally, after 2 losses against lower-rated players...a long overdue win even though against a lower rated player. More importantly and hopefully, it'll be a good morale booster for tomorrow's 4th Swensen's Age Group U-8 where he's seeded 4th and carrying a 14-games winning streak in Rapid competitions. ( Read HERE & HERE2 )


Round 4 (Monday, 11/8 - 9AM):
hAnA: v. Hanif Mollah. (BAN, 9th Seed). FIDE:1902
Bd.30 - W. lost after 61 moves after around 90minutes.

Note 1: After this game, hAnA's FIDE average should rise to AT LEAST 997 from 982 i.e. 1902 + 1832 + 20,029 / 14pax +(-700).
Note 2: 3rd Non-Malaysian player hAnA is playing after a Bangladeshi and an American in the 1st & 2nd round respectively.


CP: v. Brian Ooi Ming Fen. (MAS,79th Seed). NR:1162
Bd.48 - B. lost

AFTER 3 ROUNDS>>> hAnA: L, D, D @ 1/3pts. CP: L, L, L @0/3pts.

Round 3:
hAnA: v. Yusoff Rayan Aidan. (MAS, 103rd Seed). UnRated.
Bd.40 - W. Draw, initial draw offer by hAnA refused. A few moves later, opponent offered the draw. 2 pawns up but unable to link the separated pawns due to black rook's intervention.

CP: v. Mahmood Shah Meer Iskandar Shah (MAS, 82nd Seed). NR:1109
Bd.45 - W. Lost in 12 moves after playing less than 30minutes. Failed to see the bishop supporting the Queen.

Round 2:
hAnA: v. Raghupatruni (USA, 95th Seed). UnRated
Bd.46 - B. Draw, claimed by hAnA under 3x repetitive move after 71moves in around 1 hour 45mins.
hAnA could have won this game if she'd given it more thought.


CP: v. Yeow Hui Shi Elizabeth Maria (SIN, 100th Seed). UnRated
Bd.50 - B. Lost, checkmate after 31moves in just under 1 hour

Note 1: hAnA played against Elizabeth during the 2012 4th Penang Heritage City event.

Note 2: Elizabeth should have been rated. In last year's 4th PHCICC, she was rated as per Singapore's NR of 1371. (Read HERE)


Round 1
hAnA: v. Mohammad Hasan (BAN, 12th Seed). FIDE Rating:1832.
Bd.15: White. Lost in 68moves. Early pawn sacrifice to exchange Queen resulted in initial positional and tactical advantage and caused opponent to spend time thinking/analysing. Played more than 2hours.

(In this game hAnA got her opponent from Bangladesh to use his time. Less than 15minutes left.
 Picture: Courtesy of Chess Malaysia fb )

(  Who would have thought things got very much complicated after this!?
Picture: Courtesy of Chess Malaysia fb )

( Picture: Courtesy of Chess Malaysia fb )

Note: After this game, hAnA's FIDE average have risen to 982 from 969 i.e. 1832 + 20,029 / 13pax +(-700).

CP: v. Darrel Yap Egin(MAS, 16th Seed). FIDE Rating:1768.
Bd.19: White. Lost in 30moves despite initially being a rook and a pawn up(based on CP analysis). Played for more than 1 hour.

( CP...always looking elsewhere but not on his board.
Picture: Courtesy of Chess Malaysia fb )

Note 1: After this game, CP needs to play against 2 more FIDE-rated players whilst maintaining his average above 1000.
Note 2: Present average is 1083 I.e. 1768 + 12,492 / 8pax +(- 700).


>>>>>>>

The starting list and pairings for Round 1 have been released. hAnA and the cHEss pIRATE are seeded 67th and 71st respectively from 106 players.
A WIN or Draw in the first round, will be a good result.


For the record this will be hAnA's and the cHEss pIRATE's 5th and 4th FIDE-rated Classical Games' event respectively after 2012 Nf6 Challenger(hAnA Only), 4th Penang Heritage City-Challenger, 5th National Juniors and the 2013 DCC Golden Special. Hopefully, both will get their FIDE-rating after the completion of the event. hAnA' needs to play against higher FIDE-rated players (1700 and above) and/or secure a result(Win or Draw) against other FIDE-rated players as she's met the minimum requirements of playing against a minimum of 10 FIDE-rated players. Her present average after playing against 12 FIDE-rated players over 4 tournaments is 969 I.e. 20,029 / 12pax.

On the other hand, The cHEss pIRATE needs to play against at least 3 more FIDE-rated players to fulfill one of 2 criterias to get a FIDE-rating. After the first round encounter against 1700 FIDE-rated Darrel, hopefully he'll get the opportunity to play against 2 other rated players. The other criteria is that his average rating should be 1000 or more. His present average after playing against 7 FIDE-rated players in classical games over 3 tournaments is,1084 I.e. 12,492 / 7pax.



Thursday, 8 August 2013

Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri, 1434 HIJRAH.


On this 1st Day of Syawal 1434 Hijrah and on behalf of the Family, I would like to take the opportunity to wish those in the CHESS community, DEBATE fraternity, FINANCIAL & ISLAMIC ESTATE PLANNING circles and SPORTS supporters:-


" EID MUBARAK 
SELAMAT HARI RAYA AIDIL FITRI,

MAAF, ZAHIR & BATIN "



Wednesday, 7 August 2013

4th SWENSEN's OPEN RAPID AGE GROUP CHAMPIONSHIP 2013, Registered


Event INFO

Blog REPORT & REPORT2

UPDATE 3@14/8
OFFICIAL RESULTS:-
hAnA, Bronze Medal - Girls U-12. Overall 23rd out of 71 players. FINAL STANDINGS
The cHEss pIRATE, 17th out of 83 players. FINAL STANDINGS


UPDATE 2@13/8
hAnA got the Bronze Medal for the Girls U-12 category. In terms of points she ended the event joint 2nd with the Silver Medalist but lose out on 1st BH Tie-Break.
( Read HERE )

The cHEss pIRATE finished 17th...a 1point enhancement and 6 places improvement from 2012 3rd SWENSEN (Read HERE ). In terms of points, he finished on 4points - Joint 9th-26th with 17 other players and was placed in order of the 1st Tie-Break I.e.BH. Perhaps, in the coming years, the organisers could add a 7th round to further 'refine' the players' positions.
( Read HERE )

UPDATE 1@12/8
The initial players' list have been pasted on the Notice Boards outside the Ballroom.
There are more than 60 participants for both the U-8 and U-12 events where the cHEss pIRATE and hAnA are seeded 4th and 8th respectively.

>>>>>>>

A few days back, I'd registered hAnA & the cHEss pIRATE for the 4th SWENSEN's OPEN 2013.
Compared to last year where only Faiz participated as hAnA wanted to make her rounds collecting 'Duit Raya' (Read HERE & HERE2 ), both hAnA and the cHEss pIRATE will be taking part. The event would also serve as part of a series of "warm-up" events leading to the 9th Asian Schools Chess Championship which the kids would participate in Colombo, Sri Lanka from 30th August till 6th September.

Am hopeful that that CP will improve from last year's 3 points (from 6 games) & 23rd finish from 46 players ( 3rd Swensen's 2012 RESULTS ).

Accounts:
60 - Entrance Fees @2 Pax
50 - Food @ Crazy Potato & Wendy's
24 - Petrol@10 / Toll@8 / Parking@6
----
(134)
====

Returns:-
1 Bronze Medal @ U-12 Girls Event
40 Swensen's Voucher Redeemable by 31/12/2013 (for 2 pax)

Saturday, 3 August 2013

PREP. for 9th ASIAN SCHOOLS CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP 2013 @ Colombo-SRI LANKA




Event INFO
Initial Stories, HERE & HERE2

MCF had issued the official Offer Letters dated 5 Aug.2013 for hAnA and the CP to represent Malaysia in the 9th Asian Schools.
hAnA's Co-Curricular teacher have been informed (via sms and e-mail) and plane tickets booked via Triways Travel-TTDI before the Raya hols.

In the short time-frame given managed to churn out the following prep.programme for the kids:-

Competitions
(1) AUG.10-16 - Classical, 8th AM BANK CHESS CHALLENGE (FIDE-rated)
(2) AUG.13 - Rapid, 4th SWENSEN's OPEN RAPID AGE GROUP
(3) AUG.24 - Rapid, BATTLE CHESS SELANGORKU II

Overall Prep. (incl.Coaching & Classes)
(1) Coaching,
(2) Classes,
(3) BREAK - Festivities
(4) 10/8: COMPETITION - Classical @ 8th AM BANK CHESS CHALLENGE
(5) 11/8: COMPETITION - Classical @ 8th AM BANK CHESS CHALLENGE
(6) 12/8: COMPETITION - Classical @ 8th AM BANK CHESS CHALLENGE
(7) 13/8: COMPETITION - Rapid @ 4th SWENSEN's AGE GROUP
(8) 14/8: COMPETITION - Classical @ 8th AM BANK CHESS CHALLENGE
(9) 15/8: COMPETITION - Classical @ 8th AM BANK CHESS CHALLENGE
(10)16/8: COMPETITION - Classical @ 8th AM BANK CHESS CHALLENGE
(11)17/8
(12)18/8
(13)19/8 COACHING
(14)20/8 COACHING
(15)21/8 COACHING
(16)22/8 COACHING
(17)23/8 COACHING
(18)24/8: COMPETITION - Rapid @ BATTLE CHESS SELANGORKU II
(19)25/8: CLASSES
(20)26/8: COACHING
(21)27/8: COACHING
(22)28/8: TBC
(23)29/8: TBC
(24)30/8: Flight to Colombo








Hopefully, the rough prep.programme outlined above can at least give the kids if not a fighting chance to do well....at the very least, to not embarass the nation!

Friday, 2 August 2013

9th ASIAN SCHOOLS CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP @ Colombo - SRI LANKA


9th Asian Schools 2013, Event INFO

Initial Story HERE


>>>>>>>
UPDATE 7 @

UPDATE 6 @21/8
1) Hotel Address for VISA confirmed & forwarded to Triways Travel TTDI

Citrus Hikkaduwa Hotel
400 Galle Road, Hikkaduwa 80240, Sri Lanka
2) Plane Fare receipt submitted.
3) Clarification re Payments rcvd from MCF

UPDATE 5 @19/8
1)SKTTDI 1 reopens after Eid Holidays. Met-up with Cikgu Zita (Teacher I/C of Co-Curricular) to discuss way forward for hAnA.
Initial discussions sounds promising. Cikgu Zita will be responsible for academic matters and at the same time highlight the matter to the school's authorities and also the PTA.

2)Also spoke to KAFA's Ust.Hanif to discuss the plan of action for hAnA's UPKK exams in September - October.

UPDATE 4 @14/8
Payment made to MCF. Combo of RM, USD & EURO.
Interesting conversation with MCF Official vis-a-vis the CP during Payment handing over.

UPDATE 3 @11/8
ANXIOUS MOMENTS - Was alerted of Riots and a Curfew being imposed in one of the District in Colombo.

UPDATE 2 @7/8
Plane Tickets Booked at Triways Travel.

UPDATE 1 @6/8
Emailed to MCF:-
1) Personal Particulars Forms;
2) Passport Details; &
3) Photographs


>>>>>>>
The cHEss pIRATE and hAnA will be taking part in their FIRST overseas competition to be held in Colombo, Sri Lanka. If the trip materialises, the event will be good exposure for them to compete in a 'BIG Pond' environment having only competed in the 'small pond' of Malaysia for the past 2-3years.

hAnA is slated to take part in the U-11 Girls event whilst the cHEss pIRATE will take on all-comers in the U-7 Open event. It will be interesting to see how both of them respond to the challenge of competing at Asian-level vis-a-vis eldest bragging rights of having won a Debate competition at ASEAN-level in Chiangmai, Thailand last year (Read HERE).

Due to 'short notice' (...at least in my opinion) and the festivities, am trying or rather struggling to come up with a "plan of attack" i.e.  to have a semblance of a prep outline for the kids prior to the start of 9th Asian Schools.

Let's see what I can come up with. Whatever it is, one thing is for sure - the car's drive shaft & bearing change will have to wait a wee bit longer!




ACCOUNTS:
- Registration
- Food & Accommodation
4k++ - Plane Fare
- Misc.

340 - PREPARATIONS
1. Competitions (A-270@8th AM Bank / B-60@4th Swensen Rapid / C-10@Battle Chess)
2. Class
3. Misc.

Thursday, 1 August 2013

8th AM Bank Chess Challenge 2013, An UnPlanned Registration!


Event INFO

>>>>>>>
Update 1@10/08:
Pairings HERE

>>>>>>>

Tonight after terawih prayers, I made a cheque deposit of RM270 into a bank account, being entry fees for the 2 kids(after 10% discount) for the above-mentioned event.

Actually, I'd never intended to register the kids for this event mainly due to 2 reasons:-
(1) Raya Festivities - the event starts on Saturday i.e. the 3rd Day of Hari Raya Aidil Fitri
(2) Classical Play are not exactly their forte coz they tend to "lose ground" in FIDE-rated events as their opponents are normally seasoned players.

However, certain matters conspire to "force my hand" to register them because today is the last day for registration prior to a penalty being imposed for late registration as well as the fact that they'll badly need the playing time in classical games if a certain engagement is confirmed.

Let's see how things pans out in the coming days!!!

Accounts:
270 - Entrance Fees @ 2pax (after 10% Discount)
- Food
12 - Toll
- Petrol / Parking

a CALL for the CP came YESTERDAY!!!


Yesterday, whilst preparing for Episode 2 of "TO THE POINT" programme shoot at Capital TV, I noticed a missed call.

When I'd returned the call, I was Informed by a MCF official that a place is available for the CP's participation as an 'official' player from Malaysia in the 9th ASIAN SCHOOLS Chess Championship 2013 to be held in Colombo, Sri Lanka from 29 August to 6 September 2013. Was informed that his recent form is the reason for the call-up! ( Read HERE ).

I informed the MCF rep. that I'll need a day to discuss with the Islamic Estate Planner as to whether arrangements can be made before reverting back with a decision.

Hopefully, matters can fall into place as per request / planned.

Event INFO