23-06-2006 chess
From Malaysia Encyclopedia
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By QUAH SENG SUN
COME next week, we shall know for sure whether Malaysia has obtained yet another titled player. Siti Zulaikha Foudzi is in line to become our second woman international master if her international rating rises above 2200 points in the World Chess Federation’s (Fide) July rating list.
She is close to this mark, because in the April list, her rating stood at 2169. Part of Siti’s rating gain should come from the national women’s championship as well as the Royal Selangor open this year but until today, it cannot be confirmed whether or not Fide had received the tournament reports from the Malaysian Chess Federation (MCF).
We shall have to wait until the next international rating list comes out in about a week’s time.
Local events aside, our national women’s champion would have picked up additional points from the recently concluded Turin Chess Olympiad. Hopefully, her gains in these events will tip the scale in her favour.
Siti has already obtained three woman international master title norms.
Her first was at the Commonwealth chess championship in Mumbai, India, in April 2003. From nine games, she scored the required four points. At that time, her notable opponents included woman grandmaster Ramaswamy Aarathie, international master Bakre Tejas and woman international master Swati Ghate.
Her second norm was at the world girls’ chess championship, also played in India, in November 2004. She played 13 games and achieved 7½ points against players such as woman grandmasters Anna Ushenina and Ekatyerina Korbut, and woman international masters Karavade Eesha, Tania Sachdev and Marties Benadorp.
Siti’s third norm was achieved at the Calvia Chess Olympiad two years ago where she obtained five points from nine games. In this event, she played against woman grandmaster Eva Repkova, international master Lilit Mkrtchian and four woman international masters.
For good measure, Siti had also scored a norm at Turin where she scored 5½ points from nine games. Her opponents included woman grandmaster Zhao Xue, international master Svetlena Petrenko and six woman international masters.
Another piece of good news is that Lim Yee Weng, who played third board for Malaysia in Turin had also secured his third and final international master norm at the Chess Olympiad.
However, he will need to raise his international rating from his present 2330 to the required 2400 points before Fide can confer him the title. This will be his next goal which, unfortunately, he is unlikely to achieve in the July rating list.
He will have other opportunities to climb up the ratings ladder but he will not be the first to agree that making the forward surge to top the 2400 rating mark will be a big challenge.
Lim’s first norm was obtained at the SEA Games in Ho Chi Minh City in December 2003, scoring five points from nine games. His opponents included grandmasters Wong Meng Kong, Wu Shaobin, Zaw Win Lay and Rogelio Antonio, and international masters Wynn Zaw Htun, Mark Paragua and Bui Vinh.
His second norm was achieved at the Dato Arthur Tan Malaysia Open in August 2005 where he scored six points from 11 games. Among his opponents were grandmasters Wu Shaobin, Abihjie Kunte, Dao Thien Hai and Edhi Handoko, and international masters Sriram Jha, Jayson Gonzales and Wynn Zaw Htun.
In Turin, Lim’s third norm was obtained from nine games where he scored five points. Among his opponents were grandmasters Pablo Segundo, Christopher Lutz, Joseph Gallagher and Eugene Torre, and international masters Jure Borisek and Igor Zugic.
In the meantime, it is reliably learnt that Wong Zi Jing has had his international master title ratified during the Fide Chess Congress in Turin, thus making him officially our country’s third international master.
Up Next
Stonemaster open
There will be a Stonemaster allegro open tournament, organised by Stonemaster Event Management Enterprise, at the Wilayah Complex in Kuala Lumpur this Sunday. Restricted only to players who do not have a world (Fide) rating. The organisers will also conduct a one-hour chess seminar halfway through the event.
To register for the tournament and seminar, e-mail seme_event@yahoo.com or contact Fadli (016-209 2404).
RSC junior
The Royal Selangor Club will organise this event for under-13 and under-17 players at Dataran Merdeka on July 2. There will be prizes for the top eight players and also the school category, provided there are at least three players from the same school. For details or to register, contact Jax Tham (013-323 2280) or Ajeet (012-212 1372, e-mail: dawk@streamyx.com).
