TOO LITTLE TOO FAR

We are behind the current 3rd placing contender by 1.5 point (Price waterhouse) after Round 8 in the 2nd DATCC League. NUSA MAHKOTA tied 2-2 to the EON BANK. The critical board, Samsol Bahrin failed to appear after having trouble with his motorcycle on his way to the board! Muhd Izz secured our point and it were up to me and NM Kamalarifin to decide the final outcome. Having reaching the board, as expected, it was the Blackmar Diemer gambit on the encounter of NM Kamalarifin and the imaginative Norilhamudin. As for me, I had to face my old friend and foe, the solid Aziz Shukor. Interestingly, it was me who had to take the defensive role while absorbing Aziz fearsome assault. I was actually lucky to win only after Aziz commited a blunder by leaving his King to his own defending the indefensible position.

[Event "2nd DATCC League"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2009.12.30"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Rizal A Kamal"]
[Black "Aziz Shukor"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B15 Caro Kann"]
[PlyCount "95"]

1. e4 c6 2. Nc3!?
As planned. I just wanted to add some elements of joke as a small surprise.This did not really affect my opponent.

2...d5 3. d4
Back to the main line business

3...dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nf6!
This, however, was not anticipated by me in my pre game preparation. I had to refer a book in my stock for sale to recall the correct name of this variation.




(For sale - The Dynamic Caro Kann - a very instructive and highly recommended for the Caro Kanners with 4...Nf6 - RM 80.00)








After the correct 4.Nxf6+ it may lead to Bronstein Larsen variation after 4.. gxf6 or the original Caro Kann variation after 4..exf6. Aziz also mentioned about 5.Ng5!? which seemed absurd. But when refering The Dynamic Caro Kann, I discovered that, this is also covered in the book!

I was actually hoping for 4...Bf5 which I had prepared (by reading) the classic book of Gary Kasparov and Shakarov for 7 days




(For sale - in my stock RM 80.00 a very good classic reference for every Caro Kanners (Bf5) )







5. Ng3?!
The good news is that, I had sidestepped my opponent's preparation but the bad news is that, I know nothing myself about 5.Ng3. This was in fact also mentioned specifically in The Dynamic Caro Kann. I did not want to play 5.Nxf6+ as I had 3 personal bad experience (the result was 0-3) in this variation.

5..g6 6. Nf3 Bg4 7. Be2 Bg7 8. c3 O-O 9. h3 Bxf3 10. Bxf3 Nbd7 11. O-O e5!
The important key move in many lines after 5.Ng3

12. Re1 Re8 13. dxe5 Nxe5 14. Be3 Qc7 15. Be2 Nd5 16. Bd2 Rad8 17. Qc1 f5 18. Bg5?!
18.Bh6 may be more to the point

18.. Rd7 19. Qc2 Nf7 20. Bd2 Nf4 21. Bc4 Red8 22. Rad1 Nd5 23. a4 Kh8 24. h4 Ne5 25. Bf1
I was considering between the text and 25.Be2. In the end I choosed the text because I thought I need to mantain the Rook control on the e-file

25..Ng4 26. c4 Ndf6 27. Be2 Qb6 28.c5 Qc7 29. Bf3 Ne5 30. Be2 Nd3
Now I simply could not keep the Bishop pair

31. Bxd3 Rxd3 32. Nf1
We analysed 32.. Ne4 33.Rde1 Nxd2 34.Nxd2 Rxd2 35.Rxd2 Qxd2 36.Re8+ [pointed by Hairulov and stopped here, missing the brilliant 36...Bf8!! when black is better and may be winning as well.

32..Qd7 33. Re2



















32..Bh6?!
Not an outright blunder, but this unnecessary provocation gave me a hope to play on. However, it was very difficult to offer any better advise.

34. Bc3
34..Bxh6 does not win as the Queen may block on d4 thus negating the possibility of "permanent pin" along the a1-h8 diagonal.

34..Rxd1 35. Bxf6+ Bg7
Over the board it was difficult for me to evaluate the potential of 36.Re7, therefore for practical purposes, I opted for the text which keeps at least a draw in hand

36. Bxd8 Qxd8 37. Qb3 Qd7 38. Qe3 Rb1 39. g3 h5 40. Kg2 Qd1!
This turned out to be a very unpleasant surprise. Luckily I could defend my King which looked desperately unsafe.

41. Nh2
The only move

41..Qxa4??
Only this fatal blunder lost. Otherwise, white simply has no dangerous attack whatsoever

42. Qe8+ Kh7 43. Re6
Suddenly white wins out of nothing

43..Qe4+ 44. Rxe4 fxe4 45. Qxe4 Rxb2 46. g4 hxg4 47. h5 Rd2 48. Nxg4 1-0

Sudden blackout

It was a nightmare for NUSA MAHKOTA. We had been out classed by IM Lim Yee Weng, Ian Udani and Abdullah Che Hassan. Only Muhd Izz managed to save our pride (a little) by defeating Edward Lee.

NUSA MAHKOTA 1 : CAVIAGA 3



White; Ian Udani
Black; Rizal A Kamal
E68 King Indian Fianchettoe

My game was quite interesting despite seemingly at first as a 'boring variation'.

After reaching the following position 31.c5...


















I hastily (I was short of time, but this is no excuse because, I think I still have some time to think) played 31...Bg4?? (diagram)
And to my horror I immediately noticed the fork on e5.
Correct was 31...dxc5 and black holds the game comfortably for example: 31...dxc5! 32.Bxc5 Rxd1+ 33.Qxd1 Qe8 34.Nd4 Ne6 35.Nxe6 Bxe6 36.e5 Ng4 37.Ne4 Rd8 38.Rd2 Rxd2 39.Qxd2 Bf8 40.Nd6 Qd7=
Udani quickly played 32.cxd6 Rxd6 33.Rxd6 Qxd6 34.e5 Qe7 35.exf6 Bxf6 36.Bc5 Qe6 37.Kh2 Qc4?? 38.Ne4! Bxe2 39.Nxf6+ Kg7 40.Rc2! Qe6 41.Qb2! Bd1 42.Nxh5+ [42.Ne8+ mates quicker] 42...Kh6 43.Qg7+ Kxh5 44.Rf2 1–0

Calendar of Asian Tournament in year 2010
For year 2010 & 2011 the following tentative tournament Calendar approved in the last Asian Chess Federtaions meetings:

http://asia-chess.com/main/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=175&Itemid=86

No. ; Event; City, Country; Date
1; Asian Seniors Championships; Kordestan, Iraq; Apr 1 to 10

2; West Asian Youth Open Ch.; Kordestan, Iraq;

3; Asian Continental Championships; Subic, Philippines; May 21 to 31

4; Asian Junior U20 Championships; Chennai, India; Jun 20 to 30

5; Asian Youth Championships; Beijing, China; Jul 1 to 10

6; 2nd Asian clubs Cup League; Al-Ain; UAE; Oct 10 to 18

7 ; Asian Games; Guangzhou, China; Nov 12 to 27

8 ; Asian Schools Championships; Colombo; Sri Lanka; Dec 16 to 23

2nd DATCC League result

Storm Warriors 1 Nusa Mahkota3

EON Bank 3.5 Tan and Tan 0.5

Xfactor 2 PWC 2DATCC 0 Team AU 4

17 chess club 0.5- Caviaga 3.5

Top 4 spot

Team AU 23.5 points

Caviaga 22 points

Price Water House 15 points

Nusa Mahkota 15 points

My team (NUSA MAHKOTA) had a modest, but very significant achievement last night. NM Kamal Arifin, Muhd Izz and myself chalked 3 points from the talented Storm Warriors players. However, Razali Ng6 had to concede a point after misplayed the middlegame.

As usual, my preparation was to read (7 days) Beating The Sicilian 2 (John Nunn)

After seeing my opponent employed the Sicilian Dragon (despite through wrong move order) in his last week's game, I decided to concentrate on the Dragon chapter. However, to my dismayed, it turned out to be not a dragon, but instead the move order had put me into a dilemma, whether to play my old beloved Sozin attack and punish him swiftly if he followed up by 6...g6? or to play my new opening system which I am experimenting in this tournament for the first time. At the end, I decided to give the Richter Rautzer attack another chance (after it failed me during my encounter with the super strong FM Ooi Chern Ee). Co-incidentally, the Richter-Rautzer is also a form of anti dragon. It does not stop the dragon fully, but it does forcing the player who employs Lee Boon Why's (my last night opponent) move order.

White: Rizal A Kamal (NUSA MAHKOTA)
Black: Lee Boon Why (STORM WARRIORS)
B60 Sicilian Classical; Richter Rautzer attack

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6!?

"I actually wanted to play the dragon" [Lee boon Why]. However, Lee Boon Why's move order does not speak so. The correct move order is the straightforwarg 5...g6 followed by 6...Bg7 and 7.O-O

6.Bg5

I was in dilemma whether to play my old beloved 6.Bc4 (Sozin attack) and punish him after 6...g6?! or giving the Richter Rautzer another shot. In the end I decided to try my new opening once more

6...a6!?

At this point, I could only recall game number 4 of the PCA 1993 World Championship Match between Nigel Short and Kasparov which had reached this similar position albeit with different move order

7Qd2

The book "The Complete Richter Rautzer (Peter Wells)" recommended the immediate 7.Bxf6 followed by 8.Be2, reserving a tempo for the recapture possibility (Qxd4)

7...h6

I was puzzled, is it worthy for black to spend a tempo just to force the capture? 7..e6 transposed to a normal position and I would had continued with 8.O-O-O

8.Bxf6 gxf6 9.0-0-0 h5!? 10.Kb1 Bh6 11.Qe1 Nxd4 12.Rxd4 Be6

It turned out that black, in having the double Bishops, is having a quite menacing position. Therefore, I decided to eliminate one of the Bishops

13.Nd5 Bxd5 14.exd5

This recapture curbs most of black's central pawns and gives white an open file along the e-file

14.. Rc8 15.Bd3 Rc7?!

After the game, Hairulov, and later on joint by Abdullah Che Hassan, kamaludin Yusof, Abdul haq and many others prefered 15...Rc5

16.Qe2 Bg7 17.Bf5!

Not allowing the dark square Bishop to threat white's King from a far after the possible f6-f5 release

17...b5 18.Re1 Qa8 19 c4?!

The circumspect 19.a4 may be better

19...Qb7 20.cxb5 axb5 21.Rb4?

I wanted to win the b5 pawn but at the same time did not wish to lose the d5 pawn. However, the alternative 21.Bd3 is also not an ideal soultion as the releasing 21..f5 may be played. Nevertheless, this should be prefered.

21...Qxd5! 22.Rxb5 Qa8 23.Qf3 0-0!!

I must confess that, I thought this is impossible. The truth is I had no mate on h7.

24.Qxh5 Rb8 25.Be4!?

A little trick, but my opponent did not fall for it.

25...Qa7! 26.f4 e6 27.Rxb8+ Qxb8 28.f5

What else. The dark square Bishop must be kept at bay at all cost

28.. d5! 29.Bc2 Qb4 30.Qe2 e5 31.a3 Qc5 32.Qd2 Bh6?!

What's this? My opponent offered an indirect exchange of opposite colour Bishops. This my be not an outright the losing move, but it open some chances for me to deliver a mate or at least some menacing checks which may be fatal.

33.Qxh6 Qxc2 34.Ka2 Qxf5??

Just what I had expected. The point behind 34.Ka2 is that there is no saving check on white's King after my next move.

35.Re3! Rc4

I was considering the immediate 35.Rb3 but did not see any way to infiltrate after noticing that, The Rook can still retreat to c8 safely as it is still guarded by the Queen on f5. Then, came 35.Rh3. But I saw the possible 35...Qxh3. White is still winning but I did not wish to play for some more time. Then, combining with the ideas Rg3+ and Rh3, a little finesse came into my mind which I executed it.

36.Rg3+!! Rg4

My opponent may had thought that, my attack had been repulsed. But, to his surprise I played..

37.Rh3!

..and to his horror, he could only prolong the game by giving up his Queen on h7. Not wishing to prolong the torture (he was suffering a flu) my opponent extended his hand resigning the game. What a relieve!

1-0

NEWS TAKEN FROM MY SIFU AKA LATIFF










Malaysia paralimpiad 2010 Melaka
Thursday, 10 December 2009 11:54:30
From:
Abdul Latiff View Contact
To:
iskandarshah.@sapura.com.my; MUHAMMAD ARSHAD ; Collin M ; Saleh Latif ; hahim_jusuh@yahoo.com; hairulov@gmail.com; Rizal A Kamal ; nwmchess@yahoo.com; carokann93@yahoo.com

Di harap dapat hebahkan berkenaan kejohanan catur OKU antara negeri Perseorangan dan Berpasukan yang di jadual 11 - 18 Julai 2010 di Melaka. Pada 2008 hanya Selangor, Kedah, Johor. Perak, Terengganu, Ngeri Sembilan dan Melaka sahaja mengambil bahagian, anda juaga berperanan untuk membuat pasukan negeri dan berdaftar dengan Jabatan Belia dan Sukan negeri untuk peruntukan dll .
Terima Kasih
Sifu

MALAYSIA PARALIMPID 2010 MELAKA
CATUR PARALIMPIAD ANTARA NEGERI 2010 TARIKH : 11 - 18 jULAI 2010TEMPAT : BANDARAYA MELAKA BERSEJARAHAcara : Catur Paralimpik ikut format Asean ParagamesPerseorangan dan Berpasukan Lelaki dan WanitaKategori : 1. Cacat Penglihatan B12. Cacat Penglihatan B2 B33. Campur Cacat Penglihatan B1, B2 dan B34. Cacat Anggota (60 minit)5. Cacat Anggota RapidHadiah : Pingat Emas, Perak dan Gangsa Perseorangan dan Berpasukan 3 PemainIni adalah kejohanan terulung untuk OKU dua tahun sekali anjuran KBS, MSN dan MPM di negeri penganjur SUKMA. Ini juga peringatan awal untuk semua jurulatih dan pasukan negeri untuk mula mencari pemain negeri dan berdaftar dengan Jabatan Belia dan Sukan Negeri dalam Kejohanan Catur Paralimpik yang berperanan untuk mencungkil bakat baru untuk pasukan Malaysia untuk Asean Paragames Bandung 2011 dan beberapa kejohanan antarabangsa yang sedang dalam perancangan.Kalau anda jurulatih.

Another Nice Achievement : NUSA MAHKOTA 3.5 - 17 CHESS CLUB 0.5

In the blog of Razali Ng6 Chess v Catur http://ng6-17chessclub.blogspot.com/ the prediction was a closed fight (2.5-1.5) favouring the NUSA MAHKOTA. It turned out to be an almost 2 consercutive 4-0 victories had not NM Kamal Arifin missed stronger continuation as in the post morterm between them (I also occassionally involve in showing the ideas) heavily favoured white.

My personal game: against Mr Mat Zaki Yeop, I won a quiet game which in fact not according to my usual style, but chess, like life sometimes turns up to be very routined, very dry. Frankly speaking, I have to admit that, I was rather extremely cautios and did not want to play any trick, but rather to play positionally. Of course I had met the same opponent twice before in 2007 and 2008 with the same colour and to this date I had scored 3-0 with black, not a bad achievement, but not without difficulties as the London System or The Barry attack had posed me real problem as I could not play the normal King Indian. As a matter of fact my preparation was reading the Greece IM Yelena Dembo for 7 days(!!)

























and I had also occassionally browsed through my old book Beating the anti King Indian by the famous GM Joe Gallagher



































Let's go to the game

White: Mat Zaki Yeop
Black : Rizal A Kamal
2nd DATCC League 2009
The Barry attack

I was late about 11 minutes
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.d4 g6 3.Nc3
With this move order, the setpiece is known as the Barry attack.

3...d5
Otherwise, if I play the normal king Indian move 3..d6 4.e4 and I would be tricked to a Pirc defence Classical, which is not part of my opening repertoire

4.Bf4 Bg7
4...c6 5.e3 Bg4 6.Be2 Bg7 7.h3 (7.Ne5!? was played by my opponent in one of our previous meeting) 7...Bxf3 8.Bxf3 0-0was recommended by IM Andrew Martin in his Foxy Chess DVD. The continuation recommended were to play the break e5 followed by Ne8, Qe7, Nd7 to recover the pawn, but somehow he did not tell me how to deal with the break d4 as played by NM Kamal Arifin against me in MAKSWIP 2008.

5.e3
Another option, favoured by Mark Hebden is 5.Qd2 which I discovered that NM Kamal Arifin had studied in depth in one of our blitz games. However, the text was correctly predicted by me.

5...0-0 6.Be2
Here I expected 6.Bd3

6...c5!?
"A strong move" - Mat Zaki Yeop after the game

7.Ne5
Still in the book of IM Yelena Dembo. The capture 7.dxc5 Nbd7 is also in his book. However, my opponent felt that 7.h4 should be tried. We continued with 7...Qb6 8.a3 Bf5! Mat Zaki Yeop regarded this as very strong.

7... cxd4
Only now I deviated. The theoretical move order is to play 7...Nc6. But over the board, I could not fathom out the answer after 8.dxc5. Therefore, I decide to settle the center problem first as cxd4 had to be played sooner or later anyway

8.exd4 Nc6 9.a3
A quick reply. I did not understand this as it is a passive move. Perhaps 9.Qd2 or the caveman like attack 9.h4 should be considered.

9...Qb6 10.Be3
White is playing for a trap. During the game, I remebered that in one of our previous encounters, my opponent had told me that he does not like at all the move like Rb1 or Na4 followed by c3,b4 etc. Therefore, I decided to mantain my Queen on b6 just to annoy him pschycologically

10...Bf5 11.Bd3 Bxd3
I gladly exchanges my opponent's good Bishop

12. Nxd3
12.Qxd3 Qxb2 13.0-0 Qb6 black captures a pawn and runs away with it

12...Rad8 13.h4 h5
The kingside onslaught which often made me nervous is now easily parried.

14.Qe2
White is prepared to castling Queenside and I could not tolerate this

14...Ne4 15.Nxe4 dxe4 16.d5??
I had seen this, but I did not expect my opponent to fall into it

16...Qa5+
and wins a pawn

17. Nb4??
another blunder which lost a piece

17...Nxb4 18.Bd2 Nxc2+ 19.Kd1 Qa4
White resigned 0-1

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NUSA WINS DECISIVELY 4-0!
AN UNEXPECTED VICTORIES AGAINST THE FAVOURITE TAN&TAN

When I heard that I might had faced an international master (Mr Giam Choo Kwee), I was quite nervous but yet had no ample time to make any special preparation. However, when I arrived (30 minutes late - fortunately, no zero start rule enforced here) I discovered that my opponent is Mr R.Subramaniam, a very experienced player, used to represent his Department - Lembaga Hasil (now he is a retired civil servant) and was onced a MAKSAK KL player. I am not sure whether he used to play for Malaysia, as I still could recall his game being published in a chess column in one of our local newspapers.

Let's us go direct to the game

WHITE: Rizal A.Kamal (NUSA MAHKOTA)
BLACK: R.Subramaniam (TAN&TAN)
Pirc/Modern defence

1.e4 d6 2.d4 g6 3.Nc3
3.f4 was also considered by me, but I decided not to commit yet

3...Bg7 4.Be3
I decided to adopt, at this point the formation known as the 150 attack which was popularised by the English GMs such John Nunn and Nigel Short. Interestingly, Kasparov also used to adopt such approach in his version of the immortal game against Topalov.

4...c6 5.Qd2 Nd7
Black was holding his knight on g8 as long as possible to deny any exchange of the dark square Bishop

6.f4
Here I changed my mind, and went for the Austrian attack, which is more quiet positional in its nature. 6.f3 is the consistent continuation with my previous move order. After considering that, the logical follow up - castling Queenside - is too risky, I decided to play the text move and adjusted my frame of mind to be more circumspect.

6....Qc7
6...Qb6!? was more agressive and after 7.0-0-0 black may commenced pawns storm attack on white's Queenside. Therefore I might consider the ugly 7.Rb1 instead

7.Nf3 e5!
Black correctly challenge the center directly as further delay may result that white plays e5 himself

8.Bc4 b5 9.Bd3
I was calculating the insane 9.Bxf7+ Kxf7 10.Ng5+ but after 10...Ke7, there is no dangerous follow up to mantain the attack.

9...a6?!
This looks like a pass to me rather than forcing the issue.

10.fxe5 dxe5 11.0-0 Ne7 12.Bh6 0-0!?
I was surprise that black "could castle into it"

13.Bxg7 Kxg7 14.Kh1
A prophylactic move. I forseen the possible pin along the a7-g1 diagonal.

14...Bb7!
Black calmly completed his own development

15.Ne2 exd4 16.Nexd4 c5!
I had seen this coming but somehow I thought I could escape

17.Qc3!?
This was what I had forseen after 16.Nexd4.

17...Kg8 18.Nde2 b4 19.Qd2 c4
Black wins a piece. I of course had forseen this and played the intended...

20.Qh6!?
I actually had also considered 20.Bxc4 Qxc4 21.Qxd7 Qxe2 22.Qxe7. But playing for mate is much more in line with my style. As Nigel Short onced remarked: Forget positional chess, checkmate ends the game

20...f6!
20...cxd3 loses on the spot to 21.Ng5

21.Ned4
Again.. and this time treatening a fork on g7 and c7

21...Rf7 22.Ng5!!
"Winning or Losing does not matter as long as (you) attack"-NM Kamal Arifin after the game. Looks like I had gone a bit mad. If 22...fxg5 23.Rxf7 Kxf7 24.Qxh7+ Ke8 white could play 25.Ne6 Qc6 26.Qh8+ Nf8 27.Qxa8; while if 24...Kf6 25.Rf1+ gives white a lethal attack

22... Nf8! 23.Nge6 Qc8?!
This is actually not an outright blunder, but it leads to the losing path. After 23.Nde6 black have another option 23...Qc6.

Nevertheless, best is to remove one of white's knights by 23...Nxe6! 24.Nxe6 Qc6! (This is now possible) 25.Rxf6!? cxd3 (only now) and white's best is to enter a losing ending after 25.Rxf7 Kxf7 26.Ng5+ Ke8! 27.cxd3 . On 25.Raf1 Qxe6!! 26.Rxf7 Qxf7 27.Rxf7 Kxf7 28.Qxh7+ and black with 3 pieces against a Queen, should win with the correct play.

24. Rxf6
I had no better choice but to play as agressive or seemed agressive as possible

24...cxd3??
at long last black took the bait. Black should played 24..Nxe6! as 25.Nxe6 cxd3 leads to the last variation mentioned on black's 23rd move. Alternatives 25.Rxf7 Kxf7 also loses
a) 26.Qxh7+Ke8! black wins
b) 26.Rf1+ Ke8 27.Nxe6 cxd3 28.Ng7+ and 29.cxd3 is white's best option to hang on into a losing endgame

Now, white has the winning innititaive

25. Rxf7! Kxf7 26.Rf1+ Nf5 27.Qg7+ Ke8 28.Qxf8+ Kd7
The material equilibrium had been restored.

29.Qf7+ Kd6
I expected 29..Ne7

30.cxd3!
Instead of forcing the issue, I decided to consolidate the position and satisfied with the 2 pawns extra.

30...Nxd4 31.Nxd4 Qd7 32.e5+!
The winning move. 32.Rf6+ Kc7! and black prolongs the game

32...Kc7 33.Rc1+ Kd8 34.Qf8
forcing the mate after 34...Qe8 35.Ne6+ Kd7 36.Qd6#. Black, seeing this resigned.

1-0

Some relevant references which I recommend

1. Beating The Indian Defence (BATSFORD) - John Nunn & Graham Burgess
2. The Pirc alert
3. Polgar Sisters (games of the Polgars against the Pirc)
4. My 60 memorable Games (games Fischer vs Pal Benko)
5. John Nunn's Best Games (games John Nunn against Borisl Gelfand)
6. Kasparov Fighting Chess 2000-2005 & Kasparov's Greatest Chess Games vol 2 (games Kasparov vs Topalov)
7. Foxy Chess DVD - The 150 attack

My game against FM Ooi Chern Ee

Last week I faced a very strong player rated at 2357 which is far ahead of mine (only 1995 elo rating), and as expected, I had succumbed in his hand, but not without reasonable chances to inflict the damage on him.

White: Rizal A Kamal (1995)
Black: FM Ooi Chern Ee (2357)

1. e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6
This was exactly as I had predicted before the game. Here I played my prepared move..

6.Bg5
..which channels the game into the Richter Rautzer attack, instead of my normal favourite 6.Bc4. I decided to give this a try here as my 6.Bc4 had failed to survive against a number of my opponents lately.

6..e6 7.Qd2 a6
I also had not really anticipated 7..Qb6 as I had sneaked into the database to find that, my opponent had been prefering the text move.

9.0-0-0 h6 10.Be3 Qc7
I was hoping that my opponent would go for 10...Nxd4 variation. Now I was worried about the possibility of ..Ng4 and also in dilemma between pushing the f-pawn a step or 2 steps. In the end I just decided to be agressive rather than solid, hence selecting my next move

11.f4!?
Of course 11.f3 is a solid choice. When I refer to the John Nunn's Beating The Sicilian2 (BTS2) he described this as "f4 against everything".

11.. Na5?!
After this, my mind quickly recalled (vaguely) a game between John Nunn and Sokolov but I could not recall the correct plan over the board to combat this.

12.h3?
A weak move. More natural is simply 12.Kb1 so that the Bishop on f1 can snatch anything that lands on c4 with a tempo. 12...Ng4 need not to be feared as I shall always have the option to retreat 13.Bg1. Another option is to go for 12.e5!? dxe5 (12...Ng4 13.exd6 Nxe3 14.dxc7 Nxd1 is not really clear in my opinion) 13.fxe5 Qxe5 14.Bf4 Qc5 and now 14.Ndb5 is possible as 14...Qxf2 15.Nc7+ Ke7 16.Bd6+ Kd7 17.Bg3+ Kc8 18.Bxf2 Kxc7

12...b5
consistent with his last move, my opponent really threatening my Queenside now, and the threats of ..b4 or Bb4 really annoyed me.

13.e5!? dxe5 14.fxe5 Nd7
Black did not want to take any risk. Actually, 14..Qxe5 may be playable but practically speaking, it exposes, black armies into difficulties after 15.Bf4 Qc5 16.Ndxb5

15.Qf2
At least, I can be very proud of this move. At least, it justified the lemon made earlier (12.h3)

15...Be7
Obviously, my opponent's intention is to castle on the next move. Here, I sank into a deep thought and at the end decided to sacrifice a piece, just to prevent castling

16.Nf5!?
I was not sure the soundnest of this sac, but I decided to give it a try as I did not see any better continuation. If 16.Ne4 simply 16..0-0 (if 16..Nxe5 17.Bxb5+ axb5 18.Nxb5 Qb8 19.Ned6+ Bxd6 20.Nxd6+ Kd7 21.

My opponent took the sacrifice after a long thinking

16...exf5 17.Nxd5 Qb7!?
I had only considered 17...Qc6

18.Nxe7
Otherwise 18..Bg5+

18...Kxe7 19.Qh4+ Ke8
Of course not 19..Kf8 20.Qd8# a snap mate. 19...g5 is of course answered by 20.Bxg5+ hxg5 21.Qxh8+ Ke7 and white has a very strong attacking innitiative.

20.Be2??
20.e6!? was considered by me, but in the end, I decided the text move as I thought that developing another piece should not harm me. I totally forgot that, in sharp position it is the attacking tempo that counts. After 20.e6 however:
a) 20...fxe6 21.Be2 Nf6 (21...Qe4 22.Bh5+ Kf8 23.Qd8 mate)22.Bh5+ Nxh5 (22.. g6 23.Qxf6) 23.Rd8+ Kf7 24.Rxh8 wins

b) 20...Nf6! (20..Nc5?? 21.Rd8 mate) 21.Bg5 hxg5 22.Qxh8+ Ke7 23.Qd8+ Kxe6 24.Rhf1 (24.. Bd7 25.Qxa5)Nc6 25.Rd6 mate

20..Qe4!
This was what I had not considered

21.Qf2 Nc4 22.Bd4 Bb7 23.e6 Qxe6 24.Bxc4?
Here I should try 24.Bxg7 despite that 24...Rg8 25.Bc3, black is totally winning. The rest were just a futile attempt to hang on. I resigned eventually.

Some good references about this opening system are:-

1. Beating The Sicilian 3 - John Nunn & Joe Gallagher
2. Beating The Sicilian 2 - John Nunn
3. From Opening Into Endgame - Edmar mednis
4. The Complete Richter Rautzer (BATSFORD) - Peter Wells & Viacheslav Osnos

UIA OPEN 2009 REVISITED

I participated in the recent UIA Open 2009. The quality of my games was not up to the best, nevertheless, I did produced some sparkling victories. Despite losing to the FM Nicholas Chan, I had played well, but only failed to deliver the final punch during the critical point. Before that, this was my best game in that tournament:-

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.g4

This is known as The Keres attack. After the game, my opponent informed me that he had not known this.

6...e5 7.Nf5?!

At home, after consulting GM John Nunn's recipe in BTS3, I discovered that 7.Bb5+ is correct

7...g6 8.g5

Onced, I used to retreat 8.Ne3? and eventually lost. This defeat cost me the title of Kolej Islam Champion (Double round robin rematch) which I had won the first series 7 round swiss earlier.

8...gxf5 9.exf5?! Bxf5

After the game, my opponent claimed that he believe, if he could defend, than he could keep the extra piece safely. He may be right, but it is difficult in practise to realise such ambition.

10.Qf3 Qd7 11.gxf6

Here, I regained the extra piece with innitiative

11... Nc612.Be3 h5

setting a trap if I proceeded with 13.0-0-0 Bg4! wins the exchange.

13.h3 Bxc2!?

My opponent took the bait.

14.Rc1 Bf5 15.Bb5 a6 16.Ba4 Be6 17.Bb6!

This keep black's armies bottled in further.

17...Rc8

18.Nd5 Bxd5 19.Qxd5 Qe6

It is difficult to imagine such a move, which is a natural attempt to ease the pressuse by offering Queens trade was a decisive blunder.

20.Rxc6!!

After this, there is no defence.

20...Kd7

The main line 20...Qxd5 loses to 21.Rxc8 double checks and mate!

21.Rxd6

Double check and mate 1-0

Good references for this opening system:-

1. Beating The Sicilian 2 and 3 - John Nunn

2. Sicilian e6 and d6 / Sicilian Scheveningen - Kasparov & Nikitin

ALHAMDULILLAH

Sifu aka Mr Abd Latif Mohamad is fully recovered and ready to be in action in this coming Saturday and Saturday event, involving the para chess players at Malacca. For details, please refer to his blog here http://sifumycatur.blogspot.com/

All Malaysian chess lovers... please pray that Mr Abd Latiff will recover fast from his mild stroke.

I received a sad news that, Mr Abdul Latiff Mohamed who had recently successully headed our Malaysian OKUs team to wrest 8 gold medals from the recent ASEAN Para games (KL09) is currently under treatment at GHKL ward 21 room 15. To those who wish to visit him, please do so in conjunction with this barakah Syawal month.

Thank you very much

Latest From IIUMChess Club:

Do kindly be informed that the new date for the 2nd IIUM Invitational Chess Tournament need to be postponed to 1st November 2009 (Sunday) due to unavoidable internal problems. We apologize for any inconvenience caused.Help us once more for the last time to advertise this updated advertisement. Thank you.

CHESS BOOKS MANIAC... just a food for thought

Have you ever had the feeling like to have as many chess books as possible? (Chess books' maniac). Since I sell chess books, I had discovered the chess players in Malaysia (may be also in the worldwide)

1. Like to buy and read chess books (This including me!.. and I also like to sell..)
2. Like to read chess books but prefers photostat copies! (Beware! There is Copyright Act in Malaysia? You can be either charged in the criminal court or sued personally in civil courts)
3. Like to read but don't like to buy (Jenis suka pinjam dan kadang-kadang buat harta sendiri)
4. Like to buy original books but never or rarely read
5. Like to buy photostat books but never / rarely read them
6. Don't like to read books at all, only likes to play chess and learn practically
7. Don't like to read nor to learn, but likes to play as he /she wishes

Another category is the attitude of the local chess players on the tournaments' buletins (which I had produced a number of them)

1. Those who like to keep their own games, and buy when seeing their own games
   
2. Those who likes to keep the record of the specific tournament, irespective they are participating or not (Jax Tham for instant had told me, he had collected National Closed Buletins since 19** (I forgot the exact year)
3. Those who collect games for teaching his students (eg. En Mazlan Harun from Malacca)
4. Those who collect any games from any tournament
5. Those who don't bother at all and hates to see their own games in the bulletin (Unfortunately, this is majority)

_________________________________________________________

"Sometimes Fischer would read chess books 12 to 14 hours a day and would memorize numerous chess games."

"On March 9, 1961, Fischer turned 18. He was living alone in a Brooklyn flat. His rent, food, and clothing bills (he was now dressing up in suit and tie) were being paid by his mother. He lived in an area of Brooklyn (Bedford-Stuyvesant district) where the homicide and general crime rate was among the highest in the city of New York. He lived in a four-room apartment with over 200 chess books, thousands of chess magazines, and an inlaid chess table he had made for him in Switzerland."

Bobby Fischer (1943-2008) By Bill Wall

Recently during the 5th Para Games (KL09) which was held in Kuala Lumpur, a controversy arised pertaining to the "touch move rule in braille chess". After checking the rule from IBCA, i have to agree with what the coach of Phillipine's claim.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------


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Rules of Chess
These rules are to be applied as a supplement to FIDE Rules to accommodate the needs of the visually impaired in competitive games between visually impaired and sighted players, and between visually handicapped players.

Tournament directors shall have the power to adapt the following rules according to local circumstances. In competitive chess between sighted and visually handicapped players (legally blind) either player may demand the use of two boards, the sighted player using a normal board, the visually handicapped player using one specially constructed. The specially constructed board must meet the following requirements:
• At least twenty centimetres by twenty centimetres.
• The black squares slightly raised.
• A securing aperture in each square.
• Every piece provided with a peg that fits into the securing aperture.
• Pieces of Staunton design, the black pieces being specially marked.


GENERAL RULES
1. The moves shall be announced clearly, repeated by the opponent, and executed on his board. To make the announcement as clear as possible, the use of the following names are suggested instead of the corresponding letters, the algebraic notation to be used:
A~Anna B~Belia C~Ceasar D~David
E~Eva F~Felix G~Gustav H~Hector
Ranks from white to black receive the German numbers:
1~Eins 2~Zwei 3~Drei 4~Vier
5~Fnf 6~Sechs 7~Sieben 8~Acht
Castling is announced Lange Rochade (German for long castling) and Kurtze Rochade (German for short castling). The pieces bear the names: Koenig, Dame, Turm, Laeufer, Springer, Bauer. When promoting a pawn the player must announce which piece is chosen.
2. On the visually handicapped players board a piece shall be considered touched when it has been taken out of the securing aperture. 3. A move shall be considered executed when:
o In the case of capture, the captured piece has been removed from the board of the player whose turn it is to move.
o A piece is placed into a different securing aperture.
o The move has been announced.

Only then shall the opponents clock be started.
As far as points 2 and 3 are concerned the normal rules are valid for the sighted player.
4. A specially constructed chess clock for the visually handicapped shall be admissible. It shall incorporate the following features:
o A dial fitted with reinforced hands, with every five minutes marked with one dot, and every fifteen minutes by two raised dots.
o A flag that can be easily felt. Care should be taken that the flag is so arranged as to allow the player to feel the minute hand during the last five minutes of the full hour.

5. The visually handicapped player must keep score of the game in Braille, or longhand, or record the moves on a tape recorder
6. A slip of the tongue in the announcement of a move must be corrected immediately and before the clock of the opponent is started.
7. If during a game different positions arise on the two boards, they must be corrected with the assistance of the controller, and by consulting both players game scores. If the two game scores correspond with each other, the player who has written the correct move, but executed the wrong one, must adjust his position to correspond with the move on the game scores.
8. If, when such differences occur and the game scores are found to differ, the moves shall be retracted to the point where the two scores agree, and the controller shall readjust the clocks accordingly.
9. The visually handicapped player shall have the right to make use of an assistant who shall have any or all of the following duties:
o Make either players move on the board of the opponent.
o Announce the moves of both players.
o Keep the game score of the visually handicapped player and start his opponents clock (Note Rule 3.c).
o Inform the visually handicapped player, only at his request, of the number of moves completed, and the time used up by both players.
o Claim the game in cases where the time limit has been exceeded and inform the controller when the sighted player has touched one of his pieces.
o Carry out the necessary formalities in case the game is adjourned.
10. If the visually handicapped player does not make use of an assistant, the sighted player may make use of one who shall carry out the duties mentioned under points (9.a) and (9.b).


Please refer to the original site at http://ibca-info.org/rules-of-chess.asp

KEJOHANAN CATUR JEMPUTAN UIAM KALI KE-2, 2009

*POSTPONEMENT OF IIUM TOURNAMENT*

Kindly be informed that our 2nd IIUM Chess Invitational Tournament 2009 from 3&4 October has been postponed to 17&18 of October due to technical problem. Sorry for the inconvenience and troublesome. The new details of the tournament has been updated. Hopefully you all can help us to update this new details of our tournament. Thank You

Pusat Sukan dan Rekreasi, Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Malaysia (UIAM) akan menganjurkan Kejohanan Catur Jemputan UIAM Kali Ke-2, 2009 yang akan diadakan pada 3 & 4 Oktober 2009 bertempat di Galeri KAED, UIAM, Gombak. Kejohanan ini terbahagi kepada tiga kategori iaitu Kategori Terbuka, Kategori Bawah 21-tahun dan Kategori Bawah 12-tahun. Yuran penyertaan adalah seperti berikut:

Kategori Terbuka
RM 30
Kategori Bawah 21 tahun
RM 20
Kategori Bawah 12 tahun
RM 20

* Tempat adalah terhad dan tertakluk kepada penyertaan terawal yang diterima.

TARIKH
ATURCARA
MASA
TEMPAT
3 Oktober 2009 (Sabtu)
Pendaftaran Kategori
Bawah 12 tahun & 21 tahun
0800 - 0930
Galeri KAED,UIAM
Pusingan 1
1000 - 1050
Pusingan 2
1100 - 1150
Pusingan 3
1200 - 1250
Rehat
1300 - 1400
Pusingan 4
1400 - 1450
Pusingan 5
1500 - 1550
Pusingan 6
1600 - 1650
Pusingan 7
1700 - 1750
Majlis Penutup dan
Penyampaian Hadiah
1800

TARIKH
ATURCARA
MASA
TEMPAT
4 Oktober 2009 (Ahad)
Pendaftaran Kategori Terbuka
0800 - 0930
Galeri KAED,UIAM
Pusingan 1
1000 - 1050
Pusingan 2
1100 - 1150
Pusingan 3
1200 - 1250
Rehat
1300 - 1400
Pusingan 4
1400 - 1450
Pusingan 5
1500 - 1550
Pusingan 6
1600 - 1650
Pusingan 7
1700 - 1750
Majlis Penutup dan
Penyampaian Hadiah
1800

HADIAH
TEMPAT
KATEGORI TERBUKA
KATEGORI BAWAH-21
KATEGORI BAWAH-12
1st
RM 1000 + medal + trofi
RM 250 + medal
RM 250 + medal
2nd
RM 750 + medal
RM 200 + medal
RM 200 + medal
3rd
RM 500 + medal
RM 150 + medal
RM 150 + medal
4th
RM 300 + medal
RM 100 + medal
RM 100 + medal
5th
RM 200 + medal
RM 80 + medal
RM 80 + medal
6th – 10th
RM 100 + medal
RM 50
RM 50
11th – 15th
RM 70


Terbaik IPTA/S
RM 75 + medal


Terbaik Wanita
RM 80 +medal


Terbaik Bawah-21
RM 70 + medal


Terbaik Bawah-12
RM 70 + medal


Terbaik UIAM
1st = RM 80 + medal
2nd = RM 70 + medal
3rd = RM 60 + medal



TARIKH TUTUP: 30 SEPTEMBER 2009
(PENYERTAAN SELEPAS TARIKH INI AKAN DIKENAKAN BAYARAN BERGANDA)

Sila buat pra-pendaftaran sebelum tarikh tutup yang dinyatakan. Sebarang pertanyaan lanjut sila hubungi sekretariat kejohanan.

Norsharmila Zabani (03-6196 5393), Ahmad Fadzil Nayan (013-9531278), Nurul Azlina Bakrin (017-4625224).
No. fax: 03-6196 4749 E-mail: alan_ruruka@yahoo.com




PERATURAN KEJOHANAN

1) Kejohanan ini tertakluk kepada undang-undang FIDE.
2) Setiap kawalan masa untuk satu permainan ialah 25 minit. Setiap perubahan pada kawalan masa akan ditentukan oleh Arbiter mengikut jumlah peserta.
3) Setiap pemenang hanya tertakluk kepada satu hadiah sahaja.
4) Sebarang keputusan adalah muktamad.




































- Kejohanan Catur Jemputan UIAM Kali Ke-2, 2009 -





BORANG PENDAFTARAN INDIVIDU


Nama : ___________________________________________________

IC / No. Pasport : ___________________________________________________

Alamat : ___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________

Jantina : L / P

Rating : ___________________________________________________

Telefon : ____________________ E-mail ____________________

Sila tanda (/)

Kategori Terbuka

Kategori Bawah 21 tahun

Kategori Bawah 12 tahun



PENGESAHAN

Saya dengan ini mengesahkan penyertaan saya di dalam Kejohanan Catur Jemputan UIAM Kali Ke-2, 2009 dan bersetuju diatas segala syarat-syarat dan peraturan-peraturan kejohanan. Saya juga bersetuju bahawa pihak penganjur berhak menolak atau menerima mana-mana penyertaan yang di dapati mencurigakan atau tidak benar.







____________________ ____________________
Tandatangan Tarikh
















- Kejohanan Catur Jemputan UIAM Kali Ke-2, 2009 -




BORANG PENDAFTARAN


Nam Organisasi : ___________________________________________________

Alamat : ___________________________________________________

Telefon : ____________________ E-mail ____________________

Sila tanda (/)

Kategori Terbuka

Kategori Bawah 21 tahun

Kategori Bawah 12 tahun


No.
Nama
IC / No Pasport.
Jantina
Rating
1.




2.




3.




4.




5.




6.




7.




8.




9.




10.






PENGESAHAN

Kami dengan ini mengesahkan penyertaan di dalam Kejohanan Catur Jemputan UIAM Kali Ke-2, 2009 dan bersetuju diatas segala syarat-syarat dan peraturan-peraturan kejohanan. Kami juga bersetuju bahawa pihak penganjur berhak menolak atau menerima mana-mana penyertaan yang di dapati mencurigakan atau tidak benar.







____________________ ____________________
Tandatangan Tarikh









- Kejohanan Catur Jemputan UIAM Kali Ke-2, 2009 -

FRIENDLY MATCH: CUSTOMS DEPARTMENT vs EX -UIA'S CHESS PLAYERS

Date: 17th June 2009
Venue: Customs Quarters' Musolla's Corridor
Time: 9.30 pm

It was a sweet mini reunion between me and 4 of my former chess colleagues and students; Hanif Arkurni (now IIUM Matric Nilai lecturer), Fattah Radzali (lawyer), Rezal Che Man (teacher and also among the MSSKL trainer) and Ahmad Termizi (lawyer) and it was also a bitter gift when they trashed my current Department's players. Only I survived against my former best chess student, who happened to be quite rusty as he had retired fully from chess tournaments. He came all way long from Nilai on my invitation just to play chess and to meet old friends.

Before we draw for the colour of the 1st board, I teased Hanif,"Do you want to play Morra gambit or the Sicilian dragon?". He only smiled in his replied. As the draw result showed, Hanif choosed my let hand where I held the black pawn, which means, it will be a Sicilian dragon.

This reminds me the new DVD of Roman Dzindzichasvili which the GM claimed that its analysis had been checked by the Rybka which completely would slay the dragon, at least until someone who is also a GM refute it. I do not (yet) possess this DVD, but my friend and foe (from DBKL- our most bitter rival in the coming MAKSWIP) Mohd Zambri Mohd Shariff had seen the video and studied it.

Anyone wishes to buy this can also pre order from me with RM 120.00. However, I need the advance payment and the delivery will take place in 1-2 months (normally faster than that). I sell only the original DVD.

Let us now go straight for the full dragon slaying epic.

White: Rizal A Kamal (Customs Dept)
Black: Hanif Arkurni (Ex-UIA)
Sicilian Dragon; Yugoslav attack

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6
















The basic setting of the fearsome dreaded dragon of the Sicilian defence had been reached.
After a brief thought, I decided to go on with the normal main line

6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 0-0 8.Qd2 Nc6

Here I stopped for a while to consider between 9.Bc4 or 9.0-0-0. I remember that Hanif's most frequent respond to 9.0-0-0 would be 9...Nxd4 10.Bxd4 Be6 11.Kb1 Qc7 etc. In this line I had something in my sleeve (related to the GM Roman's teaching) which I shall not reveal here and my opponent had never seen it before. However, I was afraid that Hanif would instead opted for 9.0-0-0 d5!? where I did not have any special thing to present. The line 10.Kb1 e5 (as in our last debate in our training a few years ago) would be nothing special for white. Theerefore:-

9.Bc4 (D)

















9...Bd7 10.0-0-0 Ne5!?

A bit of surprise. I thought Hanif would go for 10...Qa5, 11...Ne512....Rfc8 or 11...Rfc8 than only 12..Ne5. With 10...Ne5 it is possible that Hanif was aiming for the Soltis block structure, his old favourite set up which would arrise via 10...Ne5 11.Bb3 Rc8 12.h4 h5 (this is the Soltis blocking structure - see diagram)















11. Bb3 Qa5?!
Now, Hanif is mixing up with the Soltis block and Ward's set up. After thinking briefly, I decided to try to channel my opponent into a slight uncharted territory.

12.Bh6! (D)















Surprisingly, this turns out to be the vital turning point of this game when Hanif undecidedly played...

12...Rfc8

13.Nde2
This is to prevent any unpleasant exchange sacrifice on c3, at least not now.

13...Bh8?!
This is the beginning of hesitation play by Hanif. Understandable he wanted to keep the eye of dragon Bishop. After the game I suggested to him that proceeding with the Queenside play may be better. For example 13...Nc4 14.Bxc4 Rxc4 when white's is slightly tied up If white exchange the dark square Bishop 15.Bxg7 Kxg7 than 16.h4 h5 is a better Soltis block version for black as normally, white would need the dark square bishop on g5 to exchange the f6 knight in order to breach the black's King fortress beginning with g4

14. Kb1 Qa6?
After the game, Hanif himself criticised this because it loses many counterplay possibility along the 5th rank. The text move rightly avoided any tric based on Nc3-d5 but that should be simply answered with the retreat Qd8

15. h4 Be6 16.Nf4 Nc4 17.Bxc4
Slowly, black is uncovering the eye of dragon on h8, but I was fully aware of this.

17..Rxc4 18.Nxe6 fxe6 19.e5!
This minor sacrifice is the only mean to stop the uncovering of the eye of dragon and contain some venom. For example 19...dxe5 20.Qd8+ Rxd8?? 21.Rxd8+ Kf7 22 Rf8 mate

19...Rxc3
Hanif was running out of time (about his last 7 minutes), while I was having the luxurious 31 minutes!

20.Qxc3 Nd5 21.Qb3
Threatening 22.Rxd5 exd5 23.Qxd5 mate! A criss-cross mate!

21...Bxe5 22.Rhe1 Kf7
I was expecting 22...Qc6

22.f4! Bg7??
At last a blunder. Not 22..Bxf4 when Rf1 may wins a piece. The best would be the solid 22...Bf6!, and it is not clear how white could blow black's fortress.

23.Bxg7 Kxg7 24.Rxe6
Black's kingdom is collapsing rapidly.

24...Nf6 25. Rxe7+ Kh6 26.Qf7 d5 27.g4

and black resigned before losing on time

Some important references about this opening system

1. Bobby Fischer's My 60 Memorable Games
2. The Complete Dragon - Gufeld
3. Semi Open games in action - Karpov
4. Beating The Sicilian 2 (and 3) - John Nunn
5. Anand-Kasparov World Championship match 1995
6. Sicilian Dragon Yugoslav attack -Atilia Schneider
7. Play the dragon - Edward Dearing
8. Winning With The Dragon 2 (and 1)
9. The New Sicilian Dragon (LATEST - published by EVERYMAN CHESS)