17-02-2006 chess
From Malaysia Encyclopedia
Tournaments in March
By QUAH SENG SUN
Two significant chess events organised by the Malaysian Chess Federation (MCF) are slated for the mid-semester break in March: the National Closed Chess championship (March 11-15) and the National Age Group chess championship (March 16-17).
As in previous years, the National Closed championship shall be played at The Chess Network in Kuala Lumpur. There will be nine rounds each for both the men and women's events. The standard international time control of 90 minutes plus 30-second increment per move shall be adopted.
All the state chess associations are eligible to submit up to four players each for the men and women's events.
The MCF is also giving free entries to all former national champions. In addition, free entries in the men's event are extended to all players with Fide ratings of above 2,300. For the women's event, free entries are limited to women players with Fide ratings of above 2,100. All other players are required to pay an entry fee of RM50 (for Fide-rated players) or RM150 (for non-rated players).
The deadline for entries is officially March 5 but the MCF may accept late entries subject to a penalty charge of RM50.
Interestingly, in conjunction with the National Closed championships, the MCF has introduced new regulations regarding the selection of players for international events. For instance, while previously the top three players from the National Closed automatically qualified for the national men's chess team, now, only the champion and the runners-up are selected.
The MCF will also offer automatic places in the national team to the two highest-rated players in the Fide rating list but they must still be actively playing.
For the two remaining places in the national team, selection will be left to the MCF selection committee. The selection of these two players will be very subjective but, in the absence of any guidelines, it can only be presumed that selection will be based on the merit of the players.
Where the national women's chess team is concerned, the top two players from the National Women's Closed championship will be selected, along with the highest-ranked female player on the Fide rating list and one more to be picked by the MCF selection committee.
For more information, Ibrahim Bakar (012-3716289/03-55198451) or Hamid Majid (019-3158098/fax: 03-40244337 / e-mail: aham@pc.jaring.my)
For details on the national age-group championships, contact Gregory Lau ( 012-9020123/e-mail: all4chess@hotmail.com) or Hamid Majid.
Quah Seng Sun can be contacted at ssquah@gmail.com. Join Malaysia's biggest chess mailing list by registering yourself at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ chess-malaysia.
Up next: Hyderabad International Open
If you have days to spare playing chess and th ambition to gain an international title or rating, you may wish to consider going to Hyderabad, India, for its first International Open Chess tournament for the ONGC Cup from Feb 25 to March 5.
The event carries a prize fund of over Rs827,500 (about RM67,500) of which, the top prize alone is worth Rs200,000 (about RM16,300).
Entry fees vary from Rs5,900 (about RM480) for unrated players to Rs1,000 (about RM80) for those with ratings from 2,400 to 2,499.
All grandmasters, female grandmasters, international masters and international female masters have free entry.
For details, contact IM Ravi Lanka (e-mail: figmopen2006@gmail.com or lankaravi64@yahoo.co.in) or GM Dibyendu Barua (e-mail: baruadibyendu@hotmail.com).
Perak Age Group
There will be a one-day, six-round Perak Age Group chess tournament at the Cosmopoint Metro Campus in Ipoh on Feb 25.
Categories are the Under-10, Under-12, Under-14 and Under-16 for boys and girls studying in the state.
The top five category winners will be selected to represent Perak in the National Age Group championships in Kuala Lumpur.
Entry fees are RM3 for players under 12, and RM5 for those between 13 and 16 years old. The closing date for entries is Feb 22. For details, contact Yunus (05-5458453/013-3908129) or Hamisah (012-4313326).
