Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Picture Gallery, Malaysian Chess Festival 2010

31 August 2010, Kuala Lumpur – Here are a few random pictures over the last few days of chess action in the CitiTel Ballroom of the CitiTel Mid Valley Hotel, Kuala Lumpur.

Seen here include the ASTRO Ladies team, GM Marat, WGM Son Asia (Kazakhstan), IM Mas Hafizulhelmi (Malaysia) in the Individual Rapid, GM Saidali, GM Gerhard (Ger) and others.

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Chesskidz Men’s Team Wins The ASTRO Merdeka Team Rapid 2010

31st August 2010, Kuala Lumpur – Here are the final rankings of the 70 participating chess teams in the ASTRO Merdeka Team Rapid 2010 held over three days, 29-31st August 2010. Tan Sri Ramli Ngah Talib, President of MCF, Dirk Jordan from Germany, Ms Jolyn Gasper, Head of Corporate Responsibility and En. Abdul Hamid b Majid, Malaysian Chess Federation did the speeches and gave the prizes to the winners to the list of winners below.
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Pix 1. The winning chess team: Chesskidz Men’s Team.
30th ASTRO Merdeka Rapid Team Open Chess Championship 2010
Rank Team Gam. + = - MP Pts.
1 Chesskidz Men's Team 9 8 1 0 17 27½
2 Bengal Tigers 9 7 1 1 15 24½
3 Crusher 9 6 2 1 14 27
4 Marfori Fighters 9 6 1 2 13 24½
5 Rusty Nails 9 5 3 1 13 24½
6 SMS Gold 9 4 5 0 13 23
7 Jakarta B (U16) 9 6 0 3 12 26
8 International Rhapsody 9 6 0 3 12 25½
9 Jakarta A 9 5 2 2 12 24½
10 Magic 9 5 2 2 12 23½
11 Klang Valley Koalas 9 5 2 2 12 22½
12 Klang Valley Kiwis 9 6 0 3 12 22½
13 Uzbek Connection 9 5 2 2 12 22
14 CLOBA-80 9 5 1 3 11 23½
15 ASTRO Arena 9 5 1 3 11 22½
16 Perak State Team 9 5 1 3 11 22½
17 Young & Danger ! (U16) 9 5 1 3 11 22
18 PFS Chess Club Senior 9 5 1 3 11 22
19 Sabah 9 4 3 2 11 21½
20 Rorschach 9 5 1 3 11 21
21 Team Works (U16) 9 5 1 3 11 20
22 Petronas 9 5 0 4 10 21
23 Penang 9 4 2 3 10 21
24 ASTRO Ladies 9 5 0 4 10 20½
25 Mamak, The Sequel 9 4 2 3 10 20
26 Sarawak 9 4 2 3 10 20
27 Sabah B 9 5 0 4 10 19½
28 PCA Juniors U12 9 5 0 4 10 18½
29 Bangka Belitung 9 4 2 3 10 18
30 Polgar Team (U16) 9 4 2 3 10 16½
31 Cili Padi (U12) 9 4 1 4 9 22
32 The Knights (U12) 9 4 1 4 9 20
33 Penang Dinobot 9 4 1 4 9 19½
34 Chesskidz U-10 9 4 1 4 9 19
35 Chung Ling High School 9 4 1 4 9 18½
36 Knightstalker 9 3 3 3 9 18½
37 SMK St Paul A 9 4 1 4 9 18½
38 USM Reborn 9 4 1 4 9 17
39 PFS Chess Club A U16 9 4 1 4 9 17
40 Young & Adult Union 9 4 1 4 9 16½
41 Kids for Chess Independence (U16) 9 3 3 3 9 16
42 MH Pintar NS Junior Trainers 9 3 3 3 9 14
43 Chessteens Inviolable 9 3 2 4 8 18
44 LOHA 1 9 4 0 5 8 18
45 Chess Ninja 9 4 0 5 8 17½
46 Ampang Gunner 9 3 2 4 8 16
47 PFS Chess Club B U16 9 4 0 5 8 15½
48 Chess Warrior 9 4 0 5 8 15
49 SJK (C) Kepong 2 9 3 2 4 8 13½
50 Penang Juniors 9 3 1 5 7 15½
51 Multimedia University 9 2 3 4 7 15½
52 Banting Kids Team 9 3 1 5 7 15
53 LOHA 2 9 3 1 5 7 15
54 Kids for Chess Freedom (U16) 9 3 1 5 7 14½
55 SK Satria Jaya, Kuching (U16) 9 3 1 5 7 14½
56 Adults for Chess 9 3 1 5 7 14
57 SMK St Paul B 9 3 1 5 7 13½
58 Winx Club 9 3 1 5 7 11½
59 Prison Team 9 2 2 5 6 15½
60 Mini Pawn 9 2 2 5 6 14
61 The Young Ones 9 3 0 6 6 13½
62 SJKC Jalan Davidson (U12) 9 3 0 6 6 12½
63 SK SBS Satria 9 2 2 5 6 12½
64 PCA Juniors U8 9 3 0 6 6 12
65 SK SBS Putra 9 2 1 6 5 12½
66 MH Pintar Penang Sarawak Juniors 9 2 1 6 5 10½
67 SK Sabak Kota Baru (U16) 9 2 0 7 4 10
68 SK SBS Wira 9 2 0 7 4
69 SK SBS Waja 9 0 1 8 1
70 SK SBS Saga 9 0 1 8 1
PRIZE WINNERS FOR THE ASTRO MERDEKA TEAM RAPID 2010 are shown as in the table below.
OPEN CATEGORY PRIZES WINNERS
CHAMPION CHALLENGE TROPHY + 5 MEDALS + RM5000 CHESSKIDZ MEN'S TEAM
SECOND 5 MEDALS + RM 4000 BENGAL TIGERS
THIRD 5 MEDALS + RM 3000 CRUSHER
FOURTH RM 2000 MARFORI FIGHTERS
FIFTH RM 1500 RUSTY NAILS
SIXTH RM 1000 JAKARTA B (U16)
SEVENTH RM 899 INTERNATIONAL RHAPSODY
EIGHTH RM 700 JAKARTA A
NINTH RM 500 MAGIC
TENTH RM 300 KLANG VALLEY KOALAS
MALAYSIAN TEAM CATEGORY PRIZES WINNERS
BEST MALAYSIAN TEAM RM 3000 SMS GOLD
SECOND RM 2000 CLOBA-80
THIRD RM 1000 PFS CHESS CLUB SENIOR
BEST STATE TEAM RM 1000 + MEDALS PERAK STATE TEAM
BEST GOVERNMENT TEAM RM 500 PRISON TEAM
BEST IPT TEAM RM 500 UPM KNIGHTSTALKER
BEST LADIES TEAM RM 500 ASTRO LADIES
BEST SCHOOL TEAM RM 500 CHUNG LING HIGH SCHOOL
BEST JUNIOR TEAM U 16 5 GOLD MEDALS + RM 500 YOUNG AND DANGER!
BEST JUNIOR TEAM U 12 5 GOLD MEDALS + RM 500 PCA JUNIORS U12
BEST BOARD PRIZES PRIZES WINNERS
BOARD ONE MEDAL ARUN PRASAD (CRUSHER)
BOARD TWO MEDAL LAXMAN RR (BENGAL TIGERS)
BOARD THREE MEDAL LYE LIK ZANG (KIDS FOR CHESS FREEDOM)
BOARD FOUR MEDAL KHOO CHANG GEE (PENANG DINOBOT)
BOARD FIVE MEDAL SHAWN FOO (CHESSKIDZ U-10)

Picture Gallery, 9th Round ASTRO Merdeka Team Rapid

31st August 2010, Kuala Lumpur – Scenes of the 9th and final round of play for the ASTRO Merdeka Team Rapid Open Chess Championship 2010. Teams here include Young & Danger, Rusty Nails, SMS Gold, Klang Valley Koalas, Crusher, Young & Adult Union, Perak State Team, Klang Valley Kiwis, Petronas, International Rhapsody, Mamak the Sequel, Rorschach, Chesskidz Men’s Team and Bengal Tigers.

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Merdeka Rapid Team - The final R9 Pairings of Top 20 Boards

Round 9 Pairings - Top 20 boards

It is the final round now. GiLoCatur believes many matches have completed since the round started an hour ago at 11.00am. So, what would be the results? Can Chesskidz Men's Team that includes two Pinoy GMs win the event? Or can the Klang Valley Koalas stopped them? Can all-Malaysian-team-players SMS Gold led by IM Mok makes the Malaysian chess community proud by winning the top three placings?

How about another all-Malaysians team, Young and Danger? Can they outclass Rusty Nails? If they can, it is quite a sterling performance for the team that comprises MSS Selangor state players. Being on the top 5 boards in the final round itself is already an achievement in GiLoCatur's opinion. Another two all-Malaysians teams among the top 10 boards are Petronas led by IM Mas and Mamak, the Sequel whose members are Nik Farouqi, Saprin, Fairin and Abang Bro Kamaluddin. Two state teams - Penang and Sabah, face each other on the 10th board.

For the rest teams especially comprise our juniors, GiLoCatur hopes they will learn and gain a lot by participating in the Merdeka Rapid Team event. Keep learning and playing chess especially in quality chess tournaments like this so that Malaysia will have a very big pool of excellent chess players. Keep the dream of becoming title chess players especially Grandmaster to make Malaysia proud in the world chess map.

Merdeka Rapid Team - The R8 Results of Top 20 Boards

Round 8 Top 20 boards Results

Thanks to NWM for her immediate posting of the pairings and results of the on-going Merdeka Rapid Team being held in the Cititel Hotel in Midvalley. The 8th round just completed and the players are fighting in the final 9th round. It is the critical and crucial round to decide who will be the winners. GiLoCatur's pick team, the Uzbek connection, was defeated by the Bengal Tigers with 1 - 3 score. While Magic could not stop Chesskidz Men's Team from having the advantage to lead with 1 match point. The latter won by having 1/2 more points than Magic with 2.5 - 1.5 scoreline. On the 3rd board, SMS Gold just managed a draw of 2 - 2 againts Rusty Nails led by IM Goh of Singapore On the 4th board, the Australian team of Klang Valley Koalas won against the International Rhapsody that includes Ian Udani. On the 5th board,Mamak, the Sequel unfortunately was crushed by Crusher that includes two Malaysian players, Soon Wai Cheong and MSSM 2010 U15 champion, Yeap Eng Chiam.

Final Round Pairings, ASTRO Merdeka Team Rapid 2010

31st August 2010, Kuala Lumpur – The final round to decide the line up of winners for the top 10 teams and other prize winning teams for Merdeka Team Rapid 2010. Best of luck to all teams. Hope you guys win!!!

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Round 8 Merdeka Team Rapid Gets Underway!

31st August 2010, Kuala Lumpur – Round 8 gets underway as Najib Wahab (pix below), the arbiter of the event, reminds the audience of the Chess Blitz at 2.30 pm today.

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Najib Wahab, one of the arbiters of the Malaysian Chess Festival 2010, doing the announcements.

 

 

 

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The Chesskidz Men’s Team playing on the left side of the picture. The team that is making waves in this current ASTRO Merdeka Team Rapid 2010. They are the current leaders and set to win this tournament.

 

 

 

 

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The school, SK Sabak Kota Baru (U16) left side of the table playing against SK Satria jaya, Kuching (U16) on board 32, round 8 of the ASTRO Merdeka Team Rapid 2010.

 

 

 

 

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The Magic chess team, also making waves in this tournament is playing on Table No. 1 against the Chess kidz Men’s Team. Magic comprise of two brothers from Uzbekistan, 1 WGM from Kazakhstan and 1 from Malaysia (Abdullah Che Hassan).

 

 

 

 

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On Table No. 4, International Rhapsody (left) playing against Klang Valley Koalas (Australia). Both teams are with a slim chance for top spot, if they win both rounds today.

Merdeka Blitz – Come And Have Fun!

31st August 2010, Kuala Lumpur – Some words from the organisers of the Malaysian Chess Festival 2010.

The Merdeka Blitz event will be held today after the closing ceremony of the the ASTRO Merdeka Team Chess Championship. The entry fee is RM 30 and the event is open to all. A total prize fund of RM 1,100 has been allocated for 10 top finishers of the event with RM400 going to the eventual winner.

Time control for the Blitz is 5 minutes per player per game and it will be played over 9 rounds starting at 2:30 pm and is expected to conclude by 6:00pm.


The ASTRO Arena TV Crew will be covering the event today for a special show on chess...


Come and join in the fun!!!!

Astro Merdeka Team – Round 8 board lists

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Monday, August 30, 2010

8th Round Pairings, ASTRO Merdeka Team Rapid

30th August 2010, Kuala Lumpur – Here are the 8th round team pairings for tomorrow morning, 31st August 2010. Play will start at 9.00 am at the playing hall, CitiTel Mid Valley, Kuala Lumpur.

Top board is the current leader, Chesskidz Men’s Team against combo team, Magic and on second board, Uzbek Connection against Bengal Tigers, currently the second ranked team with 12 MP. Meanwhile Singapore’s Rusty Nails meets Malaysia’s SMS Gold on third board.

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Come watch the chess action at the playing hall, 5th Floor, CitiTel Mid Valley, Kuala Lumpur tomorrow morning!! Bring the family and come all and enjoy the chess action by local and international Grandmasters of chess!! Two rounds will be played tomorrow at 9 am and 11 am to complete the 9 round ASTRO Merdeka Rapid Team Open Chess Championship 2010.

Chesskidz Men’s Team Is Clear Leader!

30th August 2010, Kuala Lumpur – In the sixth round of the Merdeka Team Rapid, Chesskidz Men’s Team of the Philippines won emphatically over Uzbek Connection team on board 1. This propels the team to the top of the ladder and leading with 12 MP and ahead by 2 clear MP points over other chasing teams behind.

Meanwhile SMS Gold, the top seeded team this year, manages a 3.5-1.5 win over Klang Valley Kiwis in the sixth round and earns the right to meet Chesskidz Men’s Team in the seventh round.

In the seventh round of the ASTRO Merdeka Rapid Team, Bengal Tigers, the 9th seeded team, meets with Mamak, The Sequel team, the 14th seeded team on second board. While on third board, the Indonesian team called Bangka Belitung which beat Penang team in the sixth round, now meets with the combo team from Uzbekistan-Kazakhstan-Malaysia, Magic. Magic managed to scrape a win over ASTRO Arena, the men’s team sponsored by ASTRO, which has a GM on its team.

Here are the seventh round pairings and sixth round results of the ASTRO Merdeka Team Rapid:-

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rd 6 result

Team Rankings After Round 5, Merdeka Team Rapid

30th August 2010, Kuala Lumpur – Here are the latest team rankings after the fifth round play of the Merdeka Rapid Team Open Chess Championship 2010.

Chesskidz Men’s Team are the runaway leaders with 10 matchpoints and 16.5 board points. In second place is Marfori Fighters with 9 MP and 16 pts; third, Uzbek Connection with 9 MP and 15.5 pts. Fourth, Petronas chess team with 8 MP and 15.5 pts and fifth Penang chess team with 8 MP and 15.5 pts. SMS Gold is now lying in 10th position with 8 MP and 13.5 pts.

To see more of the team members’ individual performance, please click here.

Round 6 Pairings, Merdeka Team Rapid

30th August 2010, Kuala Lumpur – Chesskidz Mens’ Team meets Uzbek Connection team on top board, while Marfori Fighters will meet Bengal Tigers on second board of the sixth round of the Merdeka Team Rapid chess tournament. On third board, Klang Valley Kiwis will meet SMS Gold and Penang will face-off Bangka Belitung of Indonesia on fourth board. The sixth round will start at 2 pm, this afternoon.

Chesskidz Men’s Team Wins 5th Round!

30th August 2010, Kuala Lumpur – The Chesskidz Men’s Team continue with their winning streak and beat ASTRO Arena 3-1 in the fifth round of the Merdeka Team Rapid of the Malaysian Chess Festival 2010.

Uzbek Connection narrowly beats Crusher team with 2.5-1.5 win on second board. Meanwhile Marfori Fighters beat the combo team of Magic with 3-1 scoreline on third board.

Chesskidz Men’s Team Leads Into 5th Round, Merdeka Team Rapid

30th August 2010, Kuala Lumpur – Chesskidz Men’s Team wins their fourth match, 3.5 – 0.5 over their opponents the Bengal Tigers. Meanwhile the 2nd and 3rd boards ended in draws. All four teams – Uzbek Connection, ASTRO Arena, Crusher and SMS Gold ended  with 1 point each from 4th round.

Young and Adult Union got crushed by Petronas, 0-4 loss in the fourth round play. Marfori Fighters beat the Klang Valley Koalas 3-1 while Rusty Nails from Singapore lost to Magic team comprising of Uzbek, Kazakhstan and Malaysian players in the team. The Sabah team drew with the strong Indonesian chess team called Bangka Belitung. Similarly, Mamak, The Sequel team drew their match with Jakarta A from Indonesia.

Picture Gallery Merdeka Team Rapid

30th August 2010, Kuala Lumpur – A few pictures of the tournament hall at the Merdeka Team Rapid at CitiTel Mid Valley Hotel, Kuala Lumpur.

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Pix 1. Rusty Nails chess team.              Pix 2. International Rhapsody team.

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Pix 3 and 4. ASTRO Ladies (left) vs. Chung Ling High School chess teams.

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Pix 5. Klang Valley Kiwis vs USM Reborn.    Pix 6. Scene of tournament hall.

Round 5 Pairings, Merdeka Team Rapid

30th August 2010, Kuala Lumpur – Here are the round 5 pairings of the Merdeka Team Rapid on the third day of the Malaysian Chess Festival at the CitiTel Mid Valley Hotel, Kuala Lumpur. En. Hamid Abdul Majid and En. Najib Wahab giving their daily dose of reminders and the day’s programme and other rules for the team rapid event yesterday.

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On top board, ASTRO Arena is playing Chesskidz Men’s Team and on second board is the Crusher team against Uzbek Connection.

 

Round 5 play begun at 11.00 am and the players will take a short lunch break. At 2.00 pm the sixth round will take place.

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Round 3 Results, Merdeka Team Rapid

29 August 2010, Kuala Lumpur – On the second day of the chess festival, the Merdeka Team Rapid Open Chess Championship starts it’s first three rounds today. A surprising result is that Petronas with Malaysia’s no. 1 player, IM Mas Hafizulhelmi got a beating from the team called Crusher. I’ve been informed that they have two GMs on the team and that explains the emphatic score line of 0-4!
SMS Gold went into defence mode when SMS Gold ended with a 2-2 draw with the Philippines’ Marfori Fighters chess team. FM Nicholas Chan saved the team with a major win on board two for SMS Gold preventing the SMS Gold from losing more precious match points.
Fireyrook’s scratch team of Young and Adult Union crashed 3.5 – 0.5 to the Bengal Tigers, where our fourth board saved us the duck with a major draw score.
Magic, the team comprising of the Kazakhstan’s three chess players and Abdullah Che Hassan drew 2-2 with the Mamak, The Sequel chess team, who had Nik Ahmad Farouqi, Sabri Sapirin, Fairin Zakaria and Kamaluddin Yusof.
Perak State Team comprising of Ahmad Fadzil Nayan, won 2.5 – 1.5 over Jakarta B chess team. Meanwhile ASTRO Ladies team overwhelmed PCA Juniors U12, 4-0!
The Young & Danger chess team that won the recent Perlis Team Open 2010, won 4-0 over PFS Chess Club Senior.
Klang Valley Koalas team comprising of mainly European-looking chess players beat the Penang chess team, 3.5 – 0.5.
Rorschach, the chess team that made an impact at the University Malaya’s Team Open Tun Syed Zahiruddin by winning the team open tournament in 2009, lost 1-3 to Sabah chess team during the round 3 play in the afternoon today.

Round 4 Pairings, Merdeka Rapid Team, Malaysia’s Chess Fest

29 August 2010, Kuala Lumpur – Here are the round 4 pairings of the Merdeka Rapid Team for the 30 August 2010, 9.00 am tomorrow morning. On table no. 1 are Chesskidz Men’s Team against Bengal Tigers, which has two GMs on the team.

Second board are the Uzbek Connection which also has two GMs, against Malaysia’s ASTRO Arena, which comprise of GM Ziaur Rahman, IM Jimmy Liew, Izz Saifuddin and Yeoh Li Tian. SMS Gold dropped to table 3 and will meet Crusher team. SMS Gold has IM Mok Tze Meng and FM Nicholas Chan on the team and is the top seeded chess team this time around.

You may also visit the following websites:

a. http://datmo.net

b. http://chessinmalaysia.blogspot.com

c. http://setiachess.blogspot.com

d. http://datcchess.blogspot.com

e. http://fireyrook.blogspot.com

f. http://blog.gilachess.com

g. http://gilocatur.blogspot.com

to get some updates of the Malaysian Chess Festival 2010 which is currently running from the 28th August 2010 to 8th September 2010. It is now into its second day of the chess festival and one event, the Merdeka Individual Rapid, has been completed yesterday.

Do drop by to watch some of the chess action at the CitiTel Mid Valley Hotel located in the heart of the Mid Valley Mega Mall Shopping Complex, Kuala Lumpur. There will be four rounds of play for the Merdeka Team Rapid going on tomorrow, 30th August 2010.

Come over ladies and gentlemen and get your taste of one of Malaysia’s longest running chess festival in the country. It is usually conducted in conjunction with the Merdeka celebrations of our country’s independence.