TAN SRI LEE LOY SENG PERAK GRAND PRIX CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP 2010 Chess Makes You Smart !

OPEN		UNDER – 16			UNDER - 12
1	250 + medal + certificate		1	100 + medal + certificate		1	80 + medal + certificate
2	200 + medal + certificate		2	80 + medal + certificate		2	60 + medal + certificate
3	150 + medal + certificate		3	60 + medal + certificate		3	50 + medal + certificate
4	100		4	50		4	40
5	80		5	40		5	20
6	70		Best Girl U-16			Best Girl U-12
7	60		1	40 + medal + certificate		1	40 + medal + certificate
8	50		2	30 + certificate		2	30 + certificate
			3	20 + certificate		3	20 + certificate

THE CHAMPION IN THE OPEN WILL BE GIVEN FREE ENTRY TO THE GRAND FINALS

SCHEDULE		ENTRY FEES		Venue: 1st LEG – KINTA (Ipoh)
Registration	0830	Open	25	Wisma Belia, Kompleks Belia & Sukan Jalan Ghazali Jawi, IPOH, PERAK
Round 1 - 4	O930 - 1330	U-16	15
Break		U-12	10	Time CONTROL : 25 mins TO FINISH TIE-BREAK: SOLKOFF, SB, CUMULATIVE LATE ENTRIES SURCHARGE RM 5, PICA RESERVE THE RIGHT TO ACCEPT OR REJECT ENTRIES
Round 5 - 7	1400 - 1700	Perakians/Pica (Open)	20
Closing / Prize Giving	17 15	Perakians/Pica (U-116)	10
		Perakians/Pica (U-12)	5

PAYMENT (Bank in) : The entry form and a copy of pay-in-slip MUST be faxed to 05-2419289. (Not later than Thursday, 4^th March 2010). Maybank Account : Perak International Chess Association (Account No: 0-08177-318240). Direct submission of entry form with cash payment to Yunus (Tel: 013-3908129 )

NAME : (Follow I/C)

CATEGORY :	MALE		AGE GROUP		Entry Fee:	25		20		15		10		5
(Please tick)	FEMALE		UNDER

B.C / I.C.: AGE : ________________________ DATE OF BIRTH :

ADDRESS :

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TEL. NO. : _____________________________ E-MAIL : ______________________________________ FAX :

SCHOOL : SIGNATURE : ______________________________________

PERAK INTERNATIONAL CHESS ASSOCIATION (PICA) OFFICIAL RECEIPT
Name :______________ __________________________		Amount :	RM 25		RM 20
		(tick where applicable)	RM 15		RM 10
			RM 5

Received by : _____________________________________________ Date : ____________________________

Other Legs: CRC Taiping, 11 Apr / Parit Buntar, 25 Apr / Lumut, 16 May / Parit, 27 Jun / Teluk Intan, 11 Jul / Tapah/Kampar, 01 Aug / Grik, 26 Sep / Kuala Kangsar, 17 Oct / FINALS-Ipoh 19 Dec 2010 (All dates subject to confirmation)

DEADLY WEAPON IN CHESS

The atomic bomb in chess. (The power of Discovered and Double Check)

(picture taken from http://images.google.com.my/imglanding?q=atomic%20bomb%20hiroshima%20and%20nagasaki&imgurl=http://www.millionface.com/l/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/HiroshimaNagasaki/Hiroshima_Nagasaki_in_1945_1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.millionface.com/l/hiroshima-and-nagasaki-then-and-now/&usg=__wux6b9CqjLgbXPCGDs8FHw4Tikk=&h=665&w=489&sz=38&hl=en&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=b7TN0baCmOWNAM:&tbnh=138&tbnw=101&prev=/images%3Fq%3Datomic%2Bbomb%2Bhiroshima%2Band%2Bnagasaki%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Dactive%26sa%3DN%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&safe=active&sa=N&tbs=isch:1&start=6#tbnid=b7TN0baCmOWNAM&start=10 for illustrative purpose only.

During my school age, I was so fascinated by the power of double check shown in the famous Evergreen game:

[Event "Berlin 'Evergreen'"]
[Site "Berlin"]
[Date "1852.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Anderssen, Adolf"]
[Black "Dufresne, Jean"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C52"]
[PlyCount "47"]
[EventDate "1852.??.??"]
[EventType "game"]
[EventCountry "GER"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "1997.08.01"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 Bxb4 5. c3 Ba5 6. d4 exd4 7. O-O d3 8. Qb3
Qf6 9. e5 Qg6 10. Re1 Nge7 11. Ba3 b5 12. Qxb5 Rb8 13. Qa4 Bb6 14. Nbd2 Bb7 15.
Ne4 Qf5 16. Bxd3 Qh5 17. Nf6+ gxf6 18. exf6 Rg8 19. Rad1 Qxf3 20. Rxe7+ Nxe7
21. Qxd7+ Kxd7

Just look at the diagram above. White had invested a lot of material and his King is on the verge of mating threat (Qxg2mate), his Rook is hanging. But it was white's turn to play and he played:
22. Bf5+! (the discovered and double check) Ke8 23. Bd7+ Kf8 24. Bxe7# 1-0




The most astonishing double check and mate is however from this game between Richard Reti and Tartakower:
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nf6 5. Qd3 e5 6. dxe5 Qa5+ 7. Bd2 Qxe5 8. O-O-O Nxe4



9. Qd8+ Kxd8 10. Bg5+ Kc7 11. Bd8#

As a matter of fact, the final mating pattern is known as the Reti's mate.

Another famous position came to my mind, involving my most admired chess genius, Bobby Fischer from Stockholm interzonal 1962. (Fischer-Julio Bolbochan: for full annotation see game 35 of Fischer's My 60 Memorable Games.

Just look at the diagram. What is more painful having a piece (a knight on f4) being pinned 3 times! Yet Fischer produced an outrageous move
35. Qb3!! setting his own threat

35...Rxf4 Black took the piece

36. Re5+! (This time only a discovered check without double check, but yet it wins)
36...Kf8 37. Rxe8+ 1-0

Black resign as Qe6+ and Qc8 mate.








Personally, I had my own collection of this atomic bomb weapon.

Here is my game against Syazrin Abd Rahman, a rising star in our local scene; taken from the first round of Selangor Open 2007.

(Diagram on the right showing the position after 31.f3 in Syazrin Abd Rahman - Rizal A Kamal)

Materials are still equal, but I had a space advantage. Moving the Queen means the game would be prolonged. Suddenly I saw that, if the white's knight is deviated from e2, I shall have a discovered check opportunity. After carefully calculatiing I played

31...Bxb3+ !!

And the shocked Syazrin answered 32. Nxb3 (Not 32. Ke1 as Rxe3+ 33. Kf1 [33. Kf2 Re2+ 34.Kf1 Qd4 35. Ne4 Qxe4])

32... Rxf3!! The real point.. This sets up the discovered check threat

33. h3
Other variations do not save white
(33. Nd4 Rf1+ 34. Kd2 Rxc1 35. Raxc1 cxd4)
(33. Kd2 Rf2+ 34. Kxd3 Qe4#)
(33. gxf3 Qxg1+ 34. Kd2 Qxe3+ 35. Kd1
Qe1#)

33... Rf1+ (The double check) 0-1

Another game of the same theme against a famous local chess bloger Hairulov in round 4 of Royal Selangor open 2006
(After 32... e5 )

Having enjoying a piece advantage, I thought that I could smash Hairulov easily by keeping on pressing. Therefore, without suspect, I played
33. Rf5?
(33. Qb3 or Qd3 were indicated by my opponent after the game, and he may resigned. However, seeing me had lulled into his trap of discovered attack, this time against me, he played..)

33... Bh4!
What is this! Oh no! I had been tricked!

34. Qxh4 Rxa8 35. Rxe5 d3
(If 35... Qa5 36. b6+ Qxb6 37. Qf4 Kb8 38. Nc5 Rc7 39. Rd5 Ka7 40. Na4)

36. cxd3 Qg1+ 37. Kc2 Ra1
It is time to check the stock. I was winning but now it was very messy. Suddenly I saw a very amazing resource with the culmination of a deadly discovered check.

Therefore I played 38. b6+!! (diagram left ) Qxb6 (The other capture also lost 38... Kxb6 39. Re6+ and now:
i) 39... Ka7
ii) 39... Kc7 40.Qf4+ Kd8 (40... Kc8 41. Re8+ Rd8 42. Be6#) 41. Qb8#)
iii) 39... Ka5 40. Qh5+ g5 41.Re5+ Kb4

(41... Ka4 42. Nc3+ Kb4 43. Rb5#)

(41... Kb6 42. Qxh6+ Ka7 (42... Kc7 43. Rc5+ Kb8 [43... Kd8 44. Qf8#] 44. Qxg5 Qd1+ 45. Kc3 Rc1+ 46. Kb4 Qe1+ 47.Kb5 Ra1 48. Ba2 Qe2 49. Qe5+ Ka7 50. Rc8 Qxd3+ 51. Bc4)) 42. Rb5+ Ka4 43. Nc3#) 40. Qf2+ (40. Nc3) 40... Qxf2+ 41. Nxf2)

Declining the sacrifice also lost
i) 38... Kc6 39. Re6+ Rd6 40. Rxd6#
ii) 38... Kc8 39. Re8+ Rd8 40. Qxd8#
iii) 38... Kb8 39. Re8+ Rd8 40. Qxd8#)

39. Qf4 setting up the threat of discovered check and it is a deadly one.

39...Qg1 40. Re6+ ! Kc8
(40... Kd8 41. Qb8#)

41. Re8+ Rd8 42. Be6# 1-0

Another type of discovery that may be deadly is a discover attack (without check). The game was Aziz Jaafar - Rizal A Kamal, Merdeka 1996. After 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 e6 7. Be3 Be7 8. O-O O-O 9. a4 Nc6 10. Kh1 Qc7 11. f4 Re8 12. Bf3 Rb8 13. Nb3 b6 14. f5 Ne5 15. Nd4 Nc4 16. Bc1 e5 17. Nde2 Bb7 18. b3 Na5 19. Bg5 Rbd8 20. Rc1 d5 21. Bxf6 Here I reached a position in the following diagram whereby my opponent had just captured my knight:

No doubt, white was expecting the automatic recapture 21..Bxf6. However. he forgot that, my Rook was peeping at his Queen. Therefore

21..dxe4!
(the discovered attack on the Queen and amusingly, this pawn shall keep on capturing along the a8-h1 diagonal!)
22. Bxe7
(White sacced his Queen, but it is insufficient)
22...Rxd1 23. Rfxd1 exf3 24. Bd6 Qc6 0-1

Also see my previous article UIA OPEN 2009 REVISITED under the labels Labels: double check, IIUM, Keres attack, Scheveningen, UIAM

(C) Copyright to Rizal Ahmad Kamal, 2010

MAKSAK 2010 IN KL?


It's been a long break since my last write on this blog. Not that I did not want to write, but I simply have nothing special to write. The abundance of local chess blogers had made sufficient coverage for the consumption of chess enthusiasts (including me). There is not much point to write things that had been well covered by others.

I am actually completing my current project keying in the previous Catur MAKSAK which was held at Kota Bharu on the 17 & 18 July 2009. The buletin shall be available in the market very soon and I expect the cost would be around RM15-20 (still cannot determine the exact price).


In this limited scope, I cannot stop myself from publishing a very short game of mine against a player from Johore. I had met him 2 times previously. The first meeting, I had the advantage, but failed to notch the winning point and ended with a draw. The 2nd meeting was worse, when, I, despite having to sacrifice some materials, gained a very strong attack but yet, in time trouble, failed to notice my opponent's Rook was en prise and lost the exciting game. This time, I won very quickly, not because I set the trap, but because my opponent played into it.

[Event "Catur MAKSAK, Kota Bharu"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2009.07.17"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Rizal A Kamal KL"]
[Black "Nasrul Humaimi JOHOR"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B34"]
[PlyCount "27"]
[EventDate "2010.01.13"]
[SourceDate "2010.01.09"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6?!
I actually had witnessed Nasrul played in this move order a few years back in MAKSAK Kuching 2003 even though at that time I still did not produce the complete buletin for MAKSAK chess games. However, later in our encounter, Nasrul surprisingly (for me) played 1...e5! and the Ruy Lopez Zaitsev was discussed.

6. Nxc6!
Otherwise, Nasrul would trick me into playing the accelerated dragon without giving me the chance to use Dr John Nunn's prescription, the Marockzy bind formation

6...bxc6 7. e5 Nd5?
(After the game I showed to him 7... Ng8. After 8. Bc4 Qa5?! (8...Bg7 was correct) 9. O-O Qxe5? 10. Re1! white has the strong innitiative for the sacrificed pawn, for example: 10...Qc5 [10... Qg7 11. Ne4! d5 12. Bxd5cxd5 13. Qxd5 Rb8 14. Nd6+ Kd8 15. Nxf7+] 11. Ne4!)

8. Nxd5 cxd5 9. Qxd5 Rb8 10. e6

And now, Nasrul played the unexpected
10...fxe6??
(10... f6 was correct) (Also bad is 10... Bg7 11. exf7+ Kf8 12. Bh6! Bxh6 13. Qe5 The fork again!
Bg7 14. Qxb8 Qa5+ 15. c3 Bxc3+ 16. bxc3 Qxc3+ 17. Ke2 Kxf7 (17... Qxa1 18.
Qxc8+ Kg7 (18... Kxf7 19. Qc4+ e6 20. Kf3 white is winning) 19. Qxh8+ Kxh8 20. f8=Q# mate!)
18. Qf4+ Kg7 19. Rc1 Ba6+ 20. Kd1 )

11. Qe5 the winning fork

11...Bb7 12. Qxh8 Qa5+ 13. c3 Qf5 14. Qd4
Not wishing to prolong the agony, Nasrul Humaimi resigned. 1-0

"Rizal, Nasrul didn't even really 'sit down yet'"- Johor's manager.
Nasrul: "Please do not include this in next year's buletin".

This year, I am looking forward to play in the coming Catur MAKSAK 2010 which, according to some reliable sources would be held in KL. It is the 3rd time KL hosted this during my involvement in catur MAKSAK (1st in 2000 and 2nd in 2006). I hope my colleagues will be sufficiently prepare to wrest the title of champion as we (KL) won it for the last time in 2006 after having won it 2 in a row (2003 and 2005 - no Catur MAKSAK being organised in 2004)

NUSA MAHOTA 1.5 - X FACTOR 2.5

We ended our campaign by fulfilling the last winner (5th placing) of the 2nd league team DATCC winning RM100. It is not much but at least it is better than nothing. I hope the MCF or any other formidable bodies or individuals would continuously organize this kind of event which suits the "family man" like me and most of my friends. The weekends are too valuable to spend for chess compared with spending time for children and wife, the more so with my parents and parents in law. Maybe some occasions like playing for JKDM in MAKSWIP or for Kuala Lumpur in MAKSAK, than it will be ok, because I will be paid with additional allowance.

Below is my last service and the important point for NUSA MAHKOTA, before my fellow team mate had to concede the last point to the new IM, Mok Tze Meng. We were so closed to get the 4th placing but yet too far to reach the target.


[Event "2nd League DATCC"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2009.01.05"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Rizal A Kamal"]
[Black "Paul Parimanam"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B15"]
[PlyCount "73"]
[EventDate "2009.12.24"]
[SourceDate "2009.12.24"]

1. e4
I had no information at all about my opponent. Fortunately, I have the white pieces and it is not too demanding to make any serious preparation.

1..c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nf6
I had a mixture feeling aboout this. Happy: because I had encountered this opening before (in the previous week against my friend and foe Aziz Shukor) Unhappy: I had to face the ough nut Caro Kann again and did not thoroughly prepared the main line!

5. Nxf6+
As I had refresh my reading to pot morterm my game, (but not the main reply as played here), I decided to enter into the main line as I discovered that 5.Ng3 is not good as demonstrated by Aziz Shukor in the previous week (see my game against him)

5..exf6!?
What a surprise! I had only expecting 5..gxf6. Now I am on my own

6. c3 Bd6
After the game, one of my opponent's team mates stated to my opponent, by pointing out 6..Bf5; "We have discussed this right?"

7. Bd3 O-O 8.Qc2 Re8+ 9. Ne2 g6
The alternative is 9..h6. The text was considered by the French GM Neil Mc Donald in his book Main Line Caro Kann as best.








(picture taken as a sample from Amazon.com)








10. Bh6 Qc7 11. O-O-O Be6 12. Kb1 Nd7 13. h4 c5 14. h5 f5 15. Qd2 Qa5 16. b3 Rac8 17. c4 Qxd2 18. Rxd2 cxd4 19. Nxd4 Bc5?

I was only expecting 19..Nc5 or Ne5 when I was considering20. Nb5 in reply. When the text move appeared over the board I noticed that I could win a pawn plus having a Rook on the 7th rank.

20. Nxe6 Rxe6 21. hxg6 fxg6 22. Bxf5 gxf5 23. Rxd7 Re7 24. Rhd1 Rxd7 25. Rxd7 b5 26. cxb5
Bxf2 27. Rd5 Re8 28. Rxf5 Be3 29. Bxe3 Rxe3 30. Rf2
The rest were easy

30..Rg3 31. Kb2 h5 32. Ka3 Rg4 33. b4 Kg7 34. Ka4 Kh6 35. Rc2 Rg7 36. Ka5 Rg3 37. b6 1-0

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

CHESS BOOKS FOR PRE ORDERED (VALID UNTIL 31st DECEMBER ONLY)

Below is the list of chess books that can be ordered from me. (A deposit of 50% from the offered price is needed to be paid to me for an order). The ordered book is expected to be arrived (normally) within 14 days. If it takes longer, the deposit shall be refunded in full except if the purchaser does not mind to wait a little longer, depending on the stock availability. For any enquiry sms/ call me at 019-2421346 or email at rizalakwp@yahoo.com.sg. The serial numbers attached are the ISBN of the books, if the readers wants to look at them (the front cover, for example), I suggest that, you type the ISBN in the Amazon Books web page.

1.Anti-Sicilians: A Guide for Black
Books - 9781901983845
My offered Price: RM 80.90

2.Attacking the Spanish: Marshall, Schliemann & Gaje
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3.Bobby Fischer Rediscovered
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4. Bullet Chess: One Minute to Mate
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5. Chess Gems: 1,000 Combinations You Should Know
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6. Dangerous Weapons: The King's Indian: Dazzle Your
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7. The English Attack - Sammalvuo Tappani
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8. Fighting the Ruy Lopez
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9. Garry Kasparov's Greatest Chess Games Volume 1
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10. Garry Kasparov's Greatest Chess Games Volume 2
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22. Playing the King's Indian Defence: A Complete Repertoire
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28. The Petroff
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29. The Ruy Lopez Explained
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31. The Ruy Lopez: A Guide for Black: A Reliable Defence
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32. Understanding the King's Indian - Golubev
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33. Win with the London System
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34. Win with the Stonewall Dutch
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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/