07-07-2006 chess
From Malaysia Encyclopedia
August tourney
CHESS By QUAH SENG SUN
TRADITIONALLY, August has always been a busy month for chess. Chess players look to August with anticipation because the Malaysian Chess Federation will be rolling out its best organisational capabilities for the annual Malaysian chess fest in Kuala Lumpur.
The showcase event will be the third Arthur Tan Malaysia open chess championship that will be played from Aug 21-27 at the Cititel Hotel. As an international event played over 11 rounds with full time control, it is guaranteed to attract strong titled players from around this region.
If you had been at the Mid-Valley Megamall at this time last year, you would not have forgotten the heroics of Wang Hao, the young Chinese player who destroyed his opposition as he romped home to capture the first prize. International masters and grandmasters held no fear for him as he demolished them one by one.
Will he be here this year to defend his title? With or without Wang Hao, you can be sure that top players from China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam maybe and even India will be beating a path to Kuala Lumpur as they eye the US$4,000 (RM14,800) first prize.
The second prize is US$3,000 while the third prize is US$2,000. There are 15 cash prizes worth US14,550 for the open section, while US$1,950 has been set aside for the best performing Malaysians.
The Arthur Tan Malaysia open is not the only event at this chess fest. There is also the Malaysia chess challenge, a separate tournament which is open to any player with an international chess rating of 2200 and below.
The prize fund stands at RM5,700 of which the first prize is a modest RM1,500.
The third and fourth events in this year’s Malaysian chess fest are the Astro Merdeka rapid chess team open and the Astro Merdeka junior team open. Now in its 26th year, the Merdeka team events continue to attract local competitors from far and near.
If you are planning to play in the Merdeka events this year, please note the change of dates. Because of logistics challenges, the Malaysian Chess Federation is required to organise both Merdeka team events on Aug 19 and Aug 20, just before the Arthur Tan Malaysia open. The venue for the Merdeka is the Mid-Valley Exhibition Centre within the Megamall.
The prize fund for the Merdeka rapid chess team open stands at an astounding RM32,350, making it the richest chess event in Malaysia. The first prize is RM10,000.
Not only are there good prizes for the three best Malaysian teams (the best Malaysian team gets RM3,000), there are also prizes for the three best junior teams, the best government team, the best ladies team, the best school team, the best family team, the best team from the institutions of higher learning and the best veteran team.
You can download details from The Chess Network website at tcn.sourceforge.net
You can also call the Malaysian Chess Federation secretary Abdul Hamid Majid (019-3158098 / e-mail aham@pc.jaring.my)
Quah Seng Sun can be contacted at ssquah@gmail.com. Join Malaysia’s biggest chess mailing list by registering yourself at groups.yahoo.com/group/chess-malaysia
