OPEN CHESS TOURNAMENT 2012



DATE : 14TH APRIL 2012

TIME : 7.30 AM - 6.30 PM

VENUE : KOLEJ KEDIAMAN KESEMBILAN, UNIVERSITI MALAYA



GRAND PRIZE : RM1000

1ST RUNNER UP : RM700

2ND RUNNER UP: RM500



BEST UNIVERSITY : RM200

BEST SCHOOL : RM200

BEST FAMILY : RM200



REGISTRATION PER TEAM (4PERSONS IN A TEAM)

UNDER 12 : RM80

OPEN : RM120



CLOSING DATE FOR REGISTRATION : 7TH APRIL 2012



CONTACTS:

YEE TING : 016-996 8613

JIAWEN : 016-390 1198

FARAH : 014-533 5662



FACEBOOK LINK : https://www.facebook.com/events/281276618608130/

UIAM 2012 OPEN

Last Saturday and Sunday, I brought my daughter, son and wife to participate in this tournament. UIAM was the University which I and my wife studied during our under graduate years. It is also the place where I met my wife and it is specifically due to the chess game.

Despite of some setback, I lost 3 games to Ian Udani, Muhd Syazwan Zulkifli and NM Kamalarifin Wahiduddin, I cannot stop myself from producing 2 of (in my humble opinion) beautiful games.


The obstruction sacrifice 29..Rd2!! finishes off my opponent




The Queen deflection 14.Qb3!! forces my opponent to reset the pieces

FEMALE PLAYERS WHO ARE NO LONGER ACTIVE AS A COMPETITIVE PLAYER

A blast from the past.

One of the strongest female players who used to be my student at chess is Mumtaz Muhammad. After graduated she did play fo some time but when the has come (getting married and raising her child) it is "bye-bye" to the chess world.

Below is her game against another great local femal player, in fact she may be our best female player ever produced in our local scene.. Siti Zulaikha.

In this encounter, the readers may find that Siti Zulaikha had been crushed by Mumtaz. However, Mumtaz had failed to deliver the final nail in the coffin and the turning point was so painful.

[Event "National Closed"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2000.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Mumtaz Muhammad"]
[Black "NWM Siti Zulaikha"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B09"]
[Annotator "Rizal A Kamal"]
[PlyCount "122"]
[EventDate "2000.??.??"]

Pirc / modern defence: 150 attack

1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. Be3 Ng4 5. Bg5 Bg7 6. f3 Nf6 7. Qd2 O-O 8. Bd3 c6 9. Nge2 Re8 10. O-O-O b5 11. h4 Nbd7 12. h5 Nxh5 13. g4 Nhf6 14. Bh6 Bxh6 15. Qxh6 Nf8 16. Ng3 a5 17. g5

(More energetic is 17. e5 N6d7 18. Nh5! gxh5 19. Rxh5! {Black is crushed!}) 17... N6d7 18. e5 Nb6 {Believe it or not, Black is already completely lost.}

19. f4?
(19. Nh5! gxh5 (If 19... Ne6 20. Nf6+! exf6 21. Qxh7+ Kf8 22. gxf6 mates) 20. Rxh5)

19... f5 20. gxf6
(20. Nh5  gxh5 (20... Ne6 21. Nf6+ exf6 22. Qxh7+ Kf8 23. Qh8+Ke7 24. Rh7+ Ng7 25. Qxg7+ Ke6 26. Qf7#)  21. g6 hxg6 (21... Nxg6 22. Rxh5 Nf8 23. Rg1+ Kf7 (23... Kh8 24. Qg7#) 24. Rg7#) (21... Be6 22. gxh7+ Kh8 23. Rdg1) 22. Rxh5 gxh5 23. Rg1+ Kf7 24. Rg7#)

20... exf6 21. f5!?
(21. Nh5 gxh5 22. Bxh7+ Nxh7 23. Rhg1+ Ng5 24. exf6 Ra7 25. Rxg5+ Kf7 26. Qg7+ Ke6
27. Re1#)

21... fxe5 22. fxg6 Ra7 !? {This defensive move is in fact an artificial one. Nevertheless it seems themost practical one}

23. dxe5 (23. gxh7+ Kh8 (23... Nxh7 24. Bxh7+ Kf7 25. Rdf1+ Ke7 26. Qg7+ Ke6 27. Bf5#) 24. Rdg1 Rg7 25. Nf5 $3 Rxg1+ 26. Rxg1 Ne6 27. Nh4)

23... Rxe5 { Now..the winning combination is more problematic than before but after analyzing this position, I still feel, white is still winning}

24. Rdf1 (24. gxh7+  Kh8 25. Rdf1 Ne6 26. Rf6 Rg7 27. Nh5 Rg4 28. Nf4 Rxf4 29. Rg6 Rf8 30. Rg8+ Rxg8 31. hxg8=Q+ Kxg8 32. Qh7+ Kf8 33. Rf1+ Nf4 34. Rxf4+ Bf5 35. Bxf5 Re1+ 36. Kd2)

24...Qg5+! 25. Qxg5 Rxg5 26. gxh7+ {Only now did Mumtaz played this capture..this is no longer dangerous for black}

Nxh7 27. Nge4 Rg6 28. Rf3 Rag7 29. Rhf1 Re6 30. R3f2 b4 31. Nb1 Rge7 32. Rg1+


Kh8 33. Re2 c5 34. Reg2 Re8 35. Nbd2 Bb7 36. Rg4 c4 37. Nxc4 Nxc4 38. Bxc4 d5


39. Bb5 dxe4 40. Bxe8 Rxe8 41. Rg7 Bd5 42. b3 Ra8 43. Rd7 Bc6 44. Rc7 Bd5


45. Rd7 Bc6 46. Rdg7 Bd5 47. Rd7 {White could claim 3 fold repetition} Bc6 { Now black could claim 3 fold repetitions}

48. Rd6 Bb7 49. Rb6 Bd5 50. Rb5 Bc6 51. Rb6 Bd5 52. Kd2 Rd8 53. Ke3 Ra8 54. Kd4


Rd8 55. Ke3 Ra8 56. Rd6 Bb7 57. Rd7 Bc6 58. Re7 Nf8 59. Rc7 Bd5 60. Rc5 Bf7 61.


Kxe4 Bg6+ 0-1

Available now at RM 25.00

2 NEW !!

 

Available Very Soon (estimated RM 25.00)

Available now at RM 12.00

ALREADY AVAILABLE!

1. MAKSWIP 2009-2010 Chess Buletin RM15

2. MAKSWIP 2011 Chess Buletin RM15

 

COMING SOON!!

Chess buletins:-

1. Catur Sukan Kewangan 2011

2. Catur MAKSAK 2011. Ipoh Perak

Yesterday, I brought my son Akmal and my daughter Haibatul Hannan to participate in a small open chess tournament  organised by the OKU in conjunction with Hari Wilayah at the Dataran Merdeka. I arrived a bit late but still on time to let them taste the excitement of a chess competition. Unplanly, the arbiter, sifu Latif asked me to join the tournament due to the odd number of participant.

Despite the fact that I had not plan to play in a tournament, I accepted it as the other participants are non others than my chess friends as well as most of them used to be trained by me during the previous para games. In fact sifu Latif also announced to the OKU that he is working hard to find sponsors to enabled the Malaysian players to join the next para game in Rangoon Myanmar 2013.

I was paired against Mahadzir Derani, Shaharudin Sidek, Ho Hea King, Shaharudin Mappa and Hasidin Abd Rasyid. All these 5 are the heavyweight contestant of the OKU. In fact I did suffer a number of defeats in the hand of them during training session. However, this time, I managed to beat all of them to become the winner. My daughter cinched (surprisingly) the champion for school category including a victory over her own elder brother (actually by default - illegal move in 10 minutes blitz)

Here are the games

SNAP MATE

Yesterday, I brought my daughter, Haibatul Hannan (aged 7) to the DATCC to introduce her to my 'chess world'. Originally I intended to register my son as a participant, but he suffered a heavy flu and did not able to participate due to his poor health condition. At the very last minute, the organiser, Mr Fadli 'officially' invited me through his microphone when I was on the way to the exit door. As a courtessy, I offered my daughter instead (who was eager to take part) to accept the invitation. Therefore she began her chess career in DATCC. At the end, not bad, with absolute beginner level and first ever tournament entry, she got 3 points out of 8 rounds! Sounds impressive, but in fact, she only won one but had 2 walkover.. very lucky in term of gaining points. Here how she snatched a point by a snap mate.

MAKSWIP CHESS BULETIN I had almost finished keying the games available from the scoresheets of the recent MAKSWIP 2011 Chess tournament which had been championed by the reigning champion since my first participation in the year 2000 - DBKL. I also produced the games of chess MAKSWIP 2009 and 2010 in another series of buletin (the games 2009 and 2010 were not fully recorded by the players as the recording was not compulsory) The price should be around RM 15.00 per series of buletin. COMING SOON!! 1. MAKSWIP 2009-2010 Chess Buletin 2. MAKSWIP 2011 Chess Buletin

It had been quite some time for me not to update my blog. I wish Ramadhan almubarak and Salam Eidul Fitri Selamat Hari Raya  Maaf Zahir Batin to all muslims and chess friends, readers.   THE STORY BEHIND THE SCENE - KL'S VICTORY IN CATUR MAKSAK 2011 After defeating Selangor 4-0 in the 1st round of the winners' pool group, we had a bye as we were scheduled to meet the PDRM which we had met in the preliminary group stage. I had the feeling that, if Shamsudin is fielded against Nor Azmi, he is unlikely able to cope the tricky Nor Azmi's, while NM Kamalarifin 's tendency to draw with Hashim may bring us into an uncomfortable situation. In this cae I must face the positional player Abd Rahim Ramli which I had a very good record ( From 3 meetings: 2 won and we drew in our last encounted at Kuching 2003). Therefore, in this situation Rizal Jusah or Hairul had to face Indera Syahrin who seemed to be the key factor to determine whether KL or Terengganu would win in this encounter. That's not a good strategy or at least a convincing one. Therefore I proposed to the manager Hassan and coach Mr Abd Latif Sifu, to field Kamal who may able to hold Nor Azmi without much trouble and myself to face Hashim. I myself do not claim that I have the better chance against my opponent, but I think the element of surprise may play its role. The chances maybe 50-50 but unlike the 50-50 as in the clash between Kamal and Hashim ever took place. Rizal Jusah, I predict, he should be able to withstand Abd Rahim Ramli's Sicilian closed as I had the chance to help him doing his last minute preparation. Furthermore, Rizal Jusah must have a good confident in himself at least for the start as during his encounter with the same player in the last year's MAKSAK, he almost 'caught' Abd Rahim but slipped his chance. Lastly, Hairulov's experience maybe useful to stop the new star Indera Syahrin. It turned out that only my board brought up a point (for KL) while the other boards ended up with fighting draws. Therefore our strategy had worked. Result: KL 2.5 TERENGGANU 1.5 [Event "MAKSAK, Ipoh"] [Date "2011.07.23"] [Round "3 WINNERS POOL"] [White "Rizal A Kamal (WKL)"] [Black "Hashim Jusoh (TRG)"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B09" Pirc: Austrian attack] [PlyCount "65"] 1. e4 d6 {  Hashim had come late almost 10 minutes. He even almost sit on my chair when arriving at the tournament hall when I had to show him that he was actually on the other side}   "When I sit down, I realized that I am not playing Kamalarifin as I have to play against Kramnik!! (Rizal). I had no idea on what to play" [Hashim Jusoh]    2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. f4 Bg7 5.Nf3 c6 6. Be3 O-O 7. Bd3 Ng4 8. Bg1 d5 9. e5 Nh6 10. h3 Bf5 11. Bf2 f6 12. g4 Bc8 13. Qe2 b5 14. a3 a5 15. Bg3 fxe5 16. Nxe5 Bxe5 17. dxe5 e6 18. O-O Ra7 19. Rf2 Rg7 20. Raf1 Nd7 21. Qe3 Qb6  {Diagram #   At this point Black was already in time trouble while white had 20 more minutes on his clock. Therefore Hashim's decison to trade the Queens is understandable}    22. Qxb6 Nxb6 23. b3 b4 24. axb4 axb4 25. Ne2 c5 26. Bh4 Bb7 27. Ng3 c4 28. Be2 c3 29. Bf6 Rgf7 30. Bg5 Kg7 31.Bb5 d4 32. Ne2 Nd5 33. Nxd4 {time} 1-0 "KL has many players and they can change their players (line up)" - sighed Abd Rahim Ramli (Terengganu)   "KL is admitedly strong. We can only beat them when they are not performed" Muhammad b Arshad (Terengganu's manager / coach) "Hashim was already lost when he sits down and found out Rizal (A. Kamal) sitting in front of him instead of Kamalarifin. His prepaaration was out"- Sifu Abd Latiff Mohamad (KL) (C) Copyright to Rizal Ahmad Kamal 2011

MAKSAK CHESS 2011: THE GOLD MEDAL IS BELONGED TO MAKSWIP (KUALA LUMPUR)!!

After 2 gruelling days, Kuala Lumpur managed to retain their gold medal in the recent MAKSAK Chess tournament. MAKSWIP (KL) team fielded Shamsudin Mat Isa, NM Kamalarifin Wahiduddin, myself - Rizal Ahmad Kamal, Muhammad Rizal Jusah, Mohd Zambri Mohd Shariff and Hairul Abdul Hamid (Hairulov).

My personal achievement was not as good as in the 2 previous years. In fact I had suffered my first defeat since my last defeat in 2008 at MAKSAK Penang in the hand of Hisamullah Harun (TGANU). The lucky winner (and not really lucky, but actually a very good player- refering to his overall personal score) was Chow Ming Jack of Johor.

[Event "MAKSAK, Ipoh"]


[Site "?"]

[Date "2011.??.??"]

[Round "?"]

[White "Chow Ming Jack JHR"]

[Black "Rizal A Kamal KL"]

[Result "1-0"]

[ECO "B22"]

[WhiteElo "2000"]

[PlyCount "49"]

[EventDate "2009.12.24"]

[SourceDate "2011.02.07"]



1. e4 c5 2. c3 d5 3. exd5 Qxd5 4. d4 Nc6 5. Nf3 Bg4 6. Be2 e6 7. O-O Nf6 8. Be3
cxd4 9. cxd4 Be7 10. Re1 O-O 11. Nc3 Qd6
(11...Qa5 is more active)

12. Nb5 Qb8 13. h3 Bh5 14. Rc1 Rd8 15.Qa4 Nd5 16. Nc3 a6 17. Ne5 Nxe5
(17... Bxe2 18. Nxc6 bxc6 19. Rxe2 Nxc3 20.bxc3 (20. Rxc3 Qb5 21. Qc2) 20... Qb5 21. Qc2 Rab8 22. c4 Qa5)

18. dxe5 Qxe5 19. Bd4 Qg5
(19... Nxc3 20. Bxc3
(20. Bxe5 Nxa4 21. Bxh5)
(20. Bxh5 Qxe1+ 21. Rxe1 Nxa4)
20... Qg5)

20. Bxh5 Qxh5 21. Re5!
The beginning of the turning point

21...Qg6?
(21...Nxc3! Not only a good move, it is the only move. 22. Rxh5 ( if 22. bxc3 Qg6 23. Re3 Qg5 24. Rb1 b5 25. Qc2 Qd5) (If 22. Bxc3Qg6 23. Rce1 Bf6 24. R5e3 Bxc3 25. Rg3 Bxe1 26. Rxg6 hxg6)
22... Nxa4-+)

22.Nxd5 Rxd5 (22... exd5?? 23. Rxe7 Qg5 24. Rcc7 +-) 

23. Rxd5 exd5 24. Qd7! The table had suddenly turned. In a state of confusion (which one to be defended first) I played the horrible 25...Bg5?? simply forgoting about 25. Rc8+ the back rank mate! Consequently I suffered the back rank fever during the rest of the tournament.

After the game, back in the hotel room, NM Kamalarifin helped me to post morterm this defeat with the only move 24...Qe6. Now best is 25.Qxe6 when white has the endgame advantage where black could only play for a draw. Alternative, the capture 25.Qxb7? simply leads to a winning game for black.

1-0



THE MOST UNEXPECTED VICTORY was when KL (Shamsudin Mat Isa, NM Kamalarifin, myself and Zambri Shariff) whitewashed SELANGOR (Dr Law Zhe Kang, Dr Aimi Nazri, Mohd Hafez Hilmi Harun and Azmi Othman). I had correctly predicted Selangor's line up. Shamsudin had personally confident playing Law Zhe Kang as they used to be in the same side when they weree in UKM some time ago. Therfore, Shamsudin must have known, if not all, most of Law Zhe Kang's playing attitude. While NM Kamalarifin had been preparing to play Aimi Nazri's favourite Slav variation with black tried to hold onto a pawn (in Kamalarifin's word: something Slav simmilar to noteboom) and Zambri, knowing that it would be Syed or Azmi Othman (I had expected Azmi Othman) plays Sicilian against 1.e4 just limiting his preparation by playing the GP attack. As to my own preparation, I just had the feeling that, Hafez Hilmi will be preparing against my beloved Poison Pawn variation. I did not bring with me any reference on the Poison pawn line which is extremly sharp. Thus I decided just to ignore and avoid it and simply went on to sleep early! Later on I was told by Shamsudin that my opponent had made a thorough prepation against me in the poison pawn variation until 2.00 am!

[Event "MAKSAK, Ipoh"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2011.??.??"]
[Round "1" Winners Pool]
[White "Mohd Hafez Hilmi Harun SNGOR"]
[Black "ARizal A Kamal WPKL"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B99" Sicilian Najdorf main line]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 Be7!
Sidestepping Hafez Hilmi deep preparation in the Poison Pawn variation. Over the board I decided to simply following my 'preparation' - to avoid the poison pawn in order not to risk losing my Queen unnecessarily.

8. Qf3 Qc7 9. O-O-O Nbd7 10. Bd3 b5 11. Rhe1 Bb7 12. Qg3
up to this point, my opponent played rather fast, pretending that, he was still following his preparation.

12...O-O-O
Mr Abdul Latif who attended this MAKSAK series as the KL's coach told me afterward that, somebody had commenting that, 'Rizal had castled Queenside !" outside the tournament hall. In actual, the moved had been played by GM Robert James Fischer in the historic encounter against Spassky 1972 in Reykjavic Iceland. In this line however, black gives up a pawn and according to GM John Nunn, white has the advantage. Nevertheless, Spassky only managed to draw the said game. The reason I played the same move is just because, I had not made any research on how to improve Fischer's play. Therefore sticking to what had been precedent to be good should not lose on the spot! (at least).

13. e5!?


Is this a new prepared move or just a sign of  wanting so badly to crush me?
(7...Qb6 8. Qd2 Qxb2 9. Rb1 {Poison Pawn variation which was very famous during Fischer's prime time around 60's and 70's.}
( The famous Fischer's game against Spassky was the following: 9. Nb3 Qa3 10. Bxf6 gxf6 11. Be2 h5 12. O-O Nc6 13. Kh1 Bd7 14. Nb1 Qb4 15. Qe3 d5? (15... Ne7!{Karpov's improvement}) 16. exd5 Ne7 17. c4 Nf5 18. Qd3 h4 19. Bg4 Nd6 20. N1d2 f5 21. a3 Qb6 22. c5 Qb5 23. Qc3 fxg4 24. a4 {White traps black Queen} h3 25.axb5 hxg2+ 26. Kxg2 Rh3 27. Qf6 Nf5 28. c6 Bc8 29. dxe6 fxe6 30. Rfe1 Be7 31.Rxe6 {1-0 Spassky,B-Fischer,R/Reykjavik Wch 1972})


Simply 13. Bxf6 Nxf6 14.Qxg7 wins a pawn when black had some play on the Queenside. For example 14...Rdf8 15. Qg3 b4 16. Na4 Rhg8 17. Qf2 Nd7 18. Kb1 Kb8 19. c3 Nc5 20. Bc2 bxc3 21. Nxc3 Bf6 22. g3 h5 23. e5 dxe5 24. fxe5 Bh8 25. Nf3 Rd8 26. Rxd8+ Rxd8 27.Ng5 Bxe5 28. Qxf7 Rd7 29. Qxh5 Bxc3 30. bxc3 Qb6+ 31. Kc1 Qa5 32. Qh8+ Ka7 33.a4 Nd3+ 34. Bxd3 Rxd3 35. Kc2 Rd5 36. Re4 Rd8 37. Qg7 Qf5 38. Kb3 Qd5+ 39. Ka3 Qd2 40. Rb4 Qc1+ 41. Rb2 Qa1+ 42. Ra2 Qc1+ 43. Rb2 Qa1+ 1/2-1/2 (Spassky-Fischer (15) WCh Reykjavic Iceland


Nevertheless, John Nunn stated that it is not enough in his book " The Complete Najdorf 6.Bg5".

Therefore, probably, black has to play 12...h6 or 12..b4 instead of 12..0-0-0
13...dxe5 14. fxe5 Nxe5!
 {"Beautiful"[Hafez Hilmi]} After the game my opponent praised this capture.

15. Bxb5 Bd6!
"Hafez must be not expecting this!"[Zambri]}. Simply ignoring the bait. In fact on my side, Zambri, Kamalarifin and Hairul praised this move as the key point. Just remembering one of another great local chess player, Mohd Saprin Sabri (who used to be a member of KL team in 1998 up to 2000: Chess is unlike draught (dam aji) when you have to eat (capture) whenever you can eat)

16. Qh3 Neg4 17. Re2 Bf4+!
(17... axb5 18. Ndxb5 Bf4+ 19. Kb1Rxd1+ 20. Nxd1 Qd7 21. Ndc3 Bxg5 also winning)

18. Kb1
(More tricky is 18. Bxf4 Qxf4+ 19. Red2!?
(If 19. Kb1 Rxd4! Originally I thought that black must avoid this pitfall 19... Rxd4! 20. Ne2! Rxd2!! that's the point 21. Rxd2 (21. Nxf4 Rxd1+22. Kxd1 Nf2+ 23. Ke2 Nxh3 24. Nxh3 axb5 wins almost everything) Qf1+! )
19... Nf2! which wins material)

18... Bxg5 19. Ba4 Bf4 20. Bb3 Be5 21. Red2 Bxd4 22. Rxd4 Rxd4 23.Rxd4 Ne5 24. a3 Rd8 25. Rb4 Qd6 26. Qe3 Nc6 27. Rc4 Kb8  {Diagram # The rest were played in blitz mode} 0-1



(C) Copyright to Rizal Ahmad Kamal 2011

CATUR MAKSWIP 2011 - DBKL RETAINS THEIR CHAMPION STATUS QUO

Yesterday 15 teams from numerous government agencies had taken part in the Catur MAKSWIP 2011 which ended with the defending champion DBKL since 2000, retained their champion status quo. They easily trashed their opponent team KSN 4-0 in the 1st round, winning with a very narrow margin 2.5-1.5 on KASTAM A in the second round. Then they began to show their true colour by trashing BSN A 4-0 in the 3rd round and JPA A 3-1 in the 4th round. In the 5th and final round, they wrapping up their campaign by defeating a new comer FRIM A 3-1.

With this result, they again emerged as the champion for the catur MAKSWIP. DBKL was represented by NM Kamalarifin Wahiduddin, Mohd Zambri Mohd Shariff, Muhd Akmal Sealine, Azman Yahya and Bahtiar Saedon. This means the KASTAM (my Department) players have to wait for another year to try to wrest the champion title from the reigning champion. KASTAM had been the runner up since 2006 consercutively up to this year 2011.

As the event had finished a bit late last night (at about 11.00 pm) I had been not able to key in the games yet. However, I presented here, one of the most bitter fought game of mind against the board one player of FRIM A.

In this position, it was white's turn to make the 34th move:

BLACK : ZAINORASRI YAHYA (FRIM A)



WHITE: RIZAL A. KAMAL (KASTAM A)

After my opponent's last move 33...Qe7, I sensed that the potential discovered attack on black's Queen should gives white the decisive knock out punch. Since white is already 2 pawns up (during the game I only thought white is only a pawn up, I displayed the winning combination which ended up with white winning another pawn and in the process exchanging all the heavy pieces leaving the white knight versus the black Bishop.

34. Rxg6! Rxc5 (black had been relying on this, but this falls short to...) 35.Rxg7+! (35.Qxg7+! is also possible) 35...Qxg7 36.Qxg7 Kxg7 37.Nxc5 and the game played on a couple of moves before until Black lost his Bishop by 2 forks combination.

The 3rd place were wrested by the JPA A who had just got their new star, the ever popular blogger and my friend in chess Hairulov.



And the new comer, AG (Accountant General managed to wrest the 4th placing). All the selected players for MAKSWIP (MAKSAK KL) shall start their training session beginning this Wednesday. The MAKSWIP (MAKSAK KL) is the defending champion of the Catur MAKSAK 2010.

CATUR MAKSWIP IS ON

Yesterday I attended the meeting of catur makswip which was then decided to be held on this coming Sunday 10th of July 2011. Originally the torunament is supposed to be run on the 9th and 10th of July 2011, however due to the rally planned to be held on this 9th July, all the managers of the Government sectors which involved in this meeting agreed that chess shall be competed in 5 swiss rounds (1 hour time control) in one day (the 5th round to be scheduled at 8.00 pm)

Up to this point, 17 teams had confirmed their participation. Among them are the defending champion DBKL, the long awaited champion in making (had been the running up since 2006 consercutively to 2011) Customs Department, LHDN, MSN, CIDB, BSN (last entry as far as I could remember was 1998!), JPA, Accountant General.

Below are among the interesting games played in the last year's series:

CATUR MAKSWIP 2011 It is confirmed that the actual date for the MAKSWIP Chess Tournamanet shall be on the 9th and 10th of July 2011. Again and again and again, I shall lead the Jabatan Kastam Diraja Malaysia (JKDM) team to give our best shot to wrest the gold medal from the reigning champion since 2000 DBKL. JDKM had been always becoming the runner up (except in 2005- 3rd place lost half point to Kementerian Kerja Raya) since 2003 until last year. CATUR MAKSAK 2011 This means the most awaited event for the government chess players, shall be about 2 weeks, that is from 22nd to 24th of July in Perak. Below is an intersting game of my own against the representative of once in full blue moon appearance team Sabah (Last appeared at MAKSAK Chess in 1999)  [Event "MAKSAK Kuala Lumpur"] [Site "Malaysia National University"] [Date "2010.08.07"] [Round "8.13"] [White "Rizal A Kamal KL"] [Black "Damit Hosman SBH"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B63"] [PlyCount "135"] [EventDate "2010.06.16"] [SourceDate "2010.08.13"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Nf6 6. Bg5 e6 7. Qd2 Be7 8. O-O-O Bd7 9. Ndb5 d5 10. Bxf6 Bxf6 11. exd5 e5?! 12. dxc6!  {"At first I thought, Rizal must had known this. But when I looked at his pale pace, nodding his head in disgust, I was not sure" - Azman Hisham Che Doi}  (12. Nd6+  Kf8 13. dxc6 Bg5 (13... Bxc6 14. Kb1!) 14. cxd7 Bxd2+ 15. Rxd2 Qxd7 16. Bc4 f6 ( 16... f5) 17. Nf7 Qc7 18. Bb3 Rg8 (18... Re8 19. Nxh8) 19. Rhd1 $1 $18)  12..Bg5  {In reality, oops! I did not see this was coming and thought I was already busted!}  13. cxd7+ Kf8  (13... Qxd7? 14. Qxg5)   14. Qxg5  (Better is 14. g3! keeps more materials {[NM Kamalarifin]} Bxd2+ 15. Rxd2 a6 16. Nd6 Qxd7 17. Bg2Q {[Fritz]})  14...Qxg5+ 15. Kb1 Rd8 (15... a6!?)  16. Nxa7 Qg4 17. Bb5 g6 18. Rhe1  {Around this point, the KL's team manager entered the hall and looking at the board curiously, 'where is Rizal's Queen?'. Then he counted and discovered I had a lot of pieces for the Queen amd felt confident that I knew what I was doing}  18..f6 19. Nc8  (19. g3!)  19... Kg7?  (19... Rxc8! 20. d8=Q+ Rxd8 21. Rxd8+ Kg7 22. Rxh8 Kxh8 23. g3 was not so clear and white may be in difficulties to try to win)  20. Nb6 Qxg2 21. Nba4 Qxf2 ? (21... Qxh2!)   22. Re2!  This saves an important pawn  22...Qa7 23. Ne4 Qa5 24. c4 Qa7 25. Nec5  (25. c5 Qa5 26.Nec3 {[NM Kamalarifin]})  25... Kf7 26. Rf1 b6 27. Ne4 f5 28. Nec3 Rxd7 29. Bxd7 Qxd7 30. Rd1 Qe6 31. Nd5 Rd8 32. Naxb6 g5 33. Rde1 e4 34. a4 Rd6 35. a5 h5 36.Nc7 Qe5 37. Nb5 Rd3 38. a6 Rd8 39. a7 h4 40. a8=Q Rxa8 41. Nxa8 g4 42. Nc3 g3 43. hxg3 hxg3 44. Nxe4 fxe4 45. Rxe4 Qf5 46. Kc1 Qf2 47. Re7+ Kf6 48. Nc7 Qf4+ 49. Kb1 Qf5+ 50. Ka2 Qa5+ 51. Kb3 Qb6+ 52. Nb5 g2 53. R7e6+ Qxe6 54. Rxe6+ Kxe6 55. Nd4+ Ke5 56. Ne2 Ke4 57. c5 Ke3 58. Ng1 Kf2 59. Nh3+ Kg3 60. Ng1 Kf2 61.Nh3+ Kg3 62. Ng1 Kf2 63. c6 Kxg1 64. c7 Kf2 65. c8=Q g1=Q 66. Qc5+ Kg2 67.Qxg1+ Kxg1 68. Kc4 1-0 {'Beautiful game' complimented Adam Arip (SABAH) - Thanks for the compliment. I thought this was a horrible play during the game took place} Get the full games from this tournament at RM25 while stock last I shall bring along all the stock clearance chess books (whatever left in my stock) with the flat rate RM50 to these two events

CHESS BOOKS STOCK CLEARANCE
I am giving away (may be similar to the concept of exchange sacrifice in chess) a number of my chess books at 3 flat rate prices RM 10, RM50 and RM70 (please do not ask for further discount). These are all my personal collection and reference. The condition of the books are as it is (Some like brand new, some like moderate usage, some used etc)

GROUP 1: RM 70

(market price more than RM 100)

Market price RM 90 and above

Market price RM 89.90 and above

GROUP 2 : RM 50



1. Fire on Board - Alexey Shirov  Reserved to Samsudin Mat Isa
2. Beating the Gruenfeld - Anatoly Karpov
3. Chess Kaleidoscope - Karpov and Gik
4. Winning With The Schliemann (Ruy Lopez 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc3 3.Bb5 f5!)
5. The Gruenfeld - Shamkovich
6. Evans Gambit &; Two Kinghts Defence - Tim Harding
7. Kasparov
8. Winning With The Dragon (1st edition) - Chris Ward
9. How To Learn From Your Defeats - Karpov
10. Beating The Sicilian 2 (John Nunn)
11. Sicilian ..e6 and d6 - Kasparov
12. Semi Open Games in Action - Karpov
13. Semi Closed Games in Action - Karpov
14. Open Games in action - Karpov
15. EVERYMANCHESS French classical - Byron Jacobs
16. The Evans Gambit - Tim Harding and Caferty
17. The New King Indian defence - John Nunn Sold to Azizan Aziz
18. King Indian Mar Del Plata (Including a chapter on the Bayonet attack)
19. Ultimate Dragon - Yugoslav attack - Eduard Gufeld
20.Chess Players Battle Manual - Nigel Davies
21. Grandmasters Chess
22. Sicilian Richter Rautzer attack - Peter Wells Sold to Azizan Aziz
23. The Complete Benoni - Lev Psakhis
24. Beating the Flank Openings - Kotronias
25. EVERYMANCHESS Caro Kann - Neil Mc Donald
26. EVERYMANCHESS Grand Prix attack - Plasskett  Reserved to Samsudin Mat Isa

27. EVERYMANCHESS English 1..e5
28. The Chess Terrorist Handbook - Shamkovich
29. A view From The Top - (Kasparov-Anand 1995 match)
30. The Sveshnikov Sicilian - Neil Mc Donald
31. The Scandinavian - Plasskett
32. Batsford Chess Openings - Nick de Firmian Reserved to Samsudin Mat Isa

GROUP 3: RM 10
(Only 2 left - the remaining had been bought by my chess frined Azizan Abd Aziz)

1. Grandmaster Chess (old book with historical value)

How Life Imitates Chess (Gary Kasparov)
A truly motivation book for chess players


1st come (1st pay) first serve. Hurry! while stock last.

BEATING THE SICILIAN I had participated in the recent Ampang Open Chess Tournament. I brought along my eldest son, Akmal to participate in this event. Despite scoring only2 points out of 7 rounds, I think it is a good start for him. My own achievement is quite modest, 5.5 out of 7. I lost to one of my bete noire, Kamaluddin Yusof when he surprised me with his new defence, the French Mac Cutcheon when I had no special preparation agains it. I think I need to revise this specific variation as I have a bad record against this line, only 1 victory (against NWM Nurul Huda) and 3 losses (against Faizul Zakaria along long time ago, Ian Udani and this one Kamaluddin) One of my victories against Muhammad Syazwan reminds me a disastrous defeat which I had suffered 6 years ago in the hand of Jax Tam Thick Hong. [Event "National Closed"] [Site "?"] [Date "2006.??.??"] [Round "5.8"] [White "Rizal A Kamal"] [Black "Jax Tham Thick Hong"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B40"] [PlyCount "55"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "3"] [EventCountry "MAS"] 1. e4 e6  The game began with a French move order, but soon, Jax transposes to the Sicilian pin variation 2. d4 c5 3. Nf3 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Bb4 6. e5! This is the move recommended by GM John Nunn in his famous books BEATING THE SICILIAN 2 and 3. In fact the latest recipe devised by another GM Jesus de la Villa Garcia in his DISMANTLING THE SICILIAN After this historical defeat, I also discovered another viable alternative as in the game {Mikenas-Dreiburg, Kemeri 1939 1-0} beginning with 6. Ndb5!   6... Ne4!? The most intriguing and challenging reply. If 6... Nd5 simply 7. Bd2  7.Qg4 Nxc3  and now in the game against Jax Tham, I blundered horribly with 8. bxc3?? 8... Bxc3+ 9. Kd1 Bxd4! 10. Qxg7 (10. Qxd4 Nc6 11. Qe4 ) 10... Rf8 11. Ba3 d6!! and suddenly I realised that 12.Bxd6 is unplayable because 12...Qxd6! wins The game continued in futile (for me) when I resigned after executing my 28th move.    The correct continuation is actually.... 8. Qxg7 Rf8 9. a3! This is the most important nuance in this specific line which I completely forgotten when facing Jax Tham. Only after 5 years, I manage to correct my previous error.   9...Nb5+   This is what had been played by Muhammad Syazwan and in fact highlighted by GM John Nunn as the best line. Frankly speaking, over the board, I could not remember the recommended continuation. Fortunately I was capable of analysing it on my own and I played exactly according to the theory   The alternatives also leads to white's advantage i) 9... Ba5 10. Bh6 Qe7 11. Nb3 Bc7 12. bxc3)  ii) 9... Qa5 10. Nb3 Nd5+ (10... Qd5 11. Bd3 Be7 12. bxc3 d6 (12... Nc6 13. Bf4 b5 14. a4) 11. axb4 Qxb4+ 12. Bd2 Qb6 13. Bd3)   10. axb4 Nxd4 11. Bg5  11.Bh6 is in fact also giving white the advantage.   11... Qb6 12. Bh6 Qxb4+ 13. c3 Nf5 14. cxb4 Nxg7 15. Bxg7 Rg8 16. Bf6  This is the exactly where John Nunn's analysis in his BTS3 (page 196) ended and he concluded: "but White's dark-square pressure gives him a very favourable ending" . This game confirms his conclusion.   16...Nc6  Probably 16... Rg4 at once gives black the better chances. (I am not sure) 17. b5 Nb4 18. O-O-O Nd5 19. Bh4  I wanted to keep this important Bishop. 19...Rg4 20. g3 Rb4  The Rook managed to come to the Queenside after all   21. f4 Ne3  This wins a Bishop, but   22. Rd6  I manage to create an important bind on Black's King.   22...Nxf1 23. Rxf1 Rxb5 24. Bf6 b6 25. f5 Bb7 26. Rf4 Rc5+ 27. Kb1 exf5 28. Rh4 Be4+ 29. Ka2 Bc2!? For a moment, I thought I was busted, Suddenly I saw an outrageous reply   30. b4!!  and I was confident that White is now totally winning   30...f4  Otherwise 31.Rxh7 and Rh8 mate   31. bxc5 fxg3 32. hxg3 bxc5 33.Rc4 Bf5 34. Rxc5 a5 35. Ka3 Be6 36. Ra6 Rb8 37. Rcxa5 1-0

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CHESS ITEMS ON SALE   CHESS DEMO BOARD (NON MAGNETIC) - IDEAL FOR A TEACHER TO TEACH A GROUP OF STUDENTS REPRESENTING THE SCHOOL. PORTABLE AND FOLDABLE. ONLY 2 UNITS LEFT RM 250.00   LATEST RECORDED GAMES FROM THE LATEST CATUR MAKSAK 2010 EVENT - WITNESSED THE LARGEST NUMBER OF PARTICIPATING STATES AND HIGHEST NUMBER OF GAMES PLAYED! RM25.00 IDEAL FOR THE BASIC OF PREPARATION OF MAKSAK PLAYERS PARTICULARLY FOR THIS COMING CATUR MAKSAK 1ST- 3RD JULY 2011   CHESS BULETIN FOR SUKAN MENTERI KEWANGAN CARNIVAL. THIS YEAR, THE ROYAL MAYSIAN CUSTOMS SHALL HOST THIS EVENT WHICH AMONG OTHERS FEATURE CHESS. THIS BULETIN CONTAINS ALL THE RECORDED GAMES IN THE PREVIOUS CARVIVAL - IDEAL FOR ALL CHESS PLAYERS WHO WISH TO PEEP THROUGH THEIR POTENTIAL RIVALS' STRATERGY AND AS A BASIS FOR A BLUE PRINT CHESS STRATEGY IN THE NEXT COMING 16-20 NOVEMBER 2011 CATUR SUKAN KEWANGAN 2011. RM 25.00 CHESS SET (WITH 2 QUEENS FOR EACH COLOUR) - ONLY 5 UNITS AVAILABLE IN MY STOCK. A BASIC TOOLS NEEDED FOR EVERY TOURNAMENT PLAYERS. SET CHESS + TOURNAMENT SIZE CHESS BOARD + POUCH = RM30.00

CATUR MAKSAK IS ON 1-3 JULY 2011 I discovered that, Catur MAKSAK shall be competed on the 1st auntil 3rd of July 2011. The event would be hosted by MAKSAK Perak. Further details shall be revealed very soon.

JOM GEMPAU CHESS TOURNAMENT - MALACCA 28 May 2011 I had received an email pertaining to the above tournament. Hmmmh... may be I can play in this event. Click on the images