29-07-2005 chess
From Malaysia Encyclopedia
Chess festival in Kuala Lumpur
By QUAH SENG SUN
If you like to spend your time playing chess, you’d be thrilled to hear that the Malaysian Chess Federation is staging a 22-day chess festival in Kuala Lumpur, starting on Aug 20.
Six main chess events will be held either at the Mid Valley Megamall or the Stamford Hotel.
The chess festival kicks off with the second Datuk Arthur Tan Malaysia open tournament, from Aug 20 to 26, which is guaranteed to attract the interest of grandmasters, international masters and other strong players. This will be a tournament that will leave its mark on the international chess scene, an event that is second to none.
Last year, for example, there were grandmasters from India, Vietnam, China, Australia and the Philippines. This year, with strong interest already generated through the Internet to international chess circles, more titled players can be expected.
Grandmasters the likes of Utut Adianto, Edhi Handoko, Wu Shaobin, Abhijit Kunte, Ian Rogers, Dibyendu Barua, Yu Shaoteng, Zaw Win Lay, Eugene Torre, Rogelio Antonio, Nelson Mariano, Nguyen Anh Dung and Dao Thien Hai have registered. Among the women grandmasters will be Vijayalakshmi, Xu Yuhua and Koneru Humpy. Grandmaster Ni Hua is expected to defend his title. With this sort of field, the possibility of achieving title norms is there for all aspirants.
The Arthur Tan Malaysia open offers very attractive prizes. The top three prizes are US$4,000 (about RM15,200), US$2,500 (about RM9,500) and US$1,500 (about RM5,700), and there are 10 in all for the open section.
The three best Malaysian players and the three best Australian players are also in line for special prizes. Why Australian? It is because this tournament has received monetary support from the Meyer family of Australia.
A tournament of this significance, however, also has its downside. It is not cheap to play in it. While free entry is given to grandmasters, international masters, women grandmasters, women international masters and players rated above 2,500 on the Fide Rating List, all others are required to pay entry fees on a sliding scale.
Entry fee for players with Fide ratings of between 2400 and 2499 will be US$50 (about RM190), for players rated between 2300 and 2399 the fee will be US$75 (about RM285), and for players rated between 1801 and 2299 the fee is US$100 (about RM380). An unrated player will have to pay US$200 (about RM760) to play.
If you just want to enjoy some competitive chess during this chess festival, the Chevrolet open, held concurrently at the Mid Valley Megamall, will be the tournament for you.
The prize monies are smaller: RM1,500 for the first prize, RM1,000 for the second prize and RM750 for the third prize. Players with a Fide rating of below 2200 will be charged RM50 and unrated players, RM150.
Immediately after the end of the Arthur Tan Malaysia open and the Chevrolet open, the MCF will hold the 25th Merdeka team chess championship, also at the Mid Valley Megamall.
There will be two events: the Merdeka open from Aug 27 to 29, and the Merdeka rapid open from Aug 29 to 31.
The Merdeka open has a longer time control and a small prize fund. The champion team will receive RM3,000 and the runners-up, RM2,000. Third prize is RM1,000. For the junior (under-16) section, the champion team will get RM1,000.
The main draw of the Merdeka chess championship is the rapid open which features a RM10,000 first prize and a RM5,000 second prize. Apart from these cash prizes for the top 10 teams, there are special prizes for the best three Malaysian teams and best junior teams.
Entry fees for the Merdeka open: RM200 for a team of four players, RM250 for a team of five and RM300 for a team of six. For the junior section, the entry fees are RM100 for a four-player team, RM125 for five players and RM150 for six players.
For the Merdeka rapid open, the fees are RM300 for a team of four, RM375 for a team of five and RM450 for a team of six. For the junior section, the entry fees are RM150 for four players, RM175 for five players and RM200 for six players.
One condition imposed for participation in the Merdeka chess championship is that the average rating of the players in a team during play cannot be more than 2250 rating points. For calculation purposes, unrated players will be taken as 1800.
The last events of the Malaysian chess festival will be the Zone 3.3 open and Zone 3.3 women championships, which will be played at the Stamford Hotel from Sept 2 to 10. These are Fide events in which the winners will advance to the next stage of the current World Chess Federation world championship series.
To download the entry forms for these events, visit www.gilachess.com.
