Mas draw Round 8.

30th May 2009 - IM Mashafizul draw his round 8 game against host player - NM Efren Bagamasbad (FIDE 2283) in the Subic International Open . In round 9 tommorow, he will meet Vietnamese - Nguyen Hoang Nam (FIDE 2281).

Mas - Ganguly 0-1 : Last Moment Blunder !

Below is Mashafizul round 6 game against India GM - Surya Shekar Ganguly. Mas maintain a significant advantage in the game. Ganguly who is the World Champion - Vishy Anand second in last year World Championship Match against Kramnik was in a brink of a defeat before Mas played a crucial blunder on move 51 that end the game almost immedietly.

IM Mas,Hafizulhelmi (2425) - GM Ganguly,Surya Shekhar (2625) [C01]
Subic International Open , Round 6, 28.05.2009

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.Bb5 Nge7 6.c3 a6 7.Bd3 Bf5 8.0–0 Qd7 9.Re1 f6 10.b4 Kf7 11.a4 Bxd3 12.Qxd3 Qf5 13.Qe2 Ng6 14.Na3 Bd6 15.Qc2 Nce7 16.Bd2 c6 17.Qb3 b5 18.Nc2 Qh5 19.Ne3 Nf4 20.Qd1 Qg6 21.Qb1 Qxb1 22.Rexb1 g5 23.h4 h6 24.g3 Ne6 25.Ra2 Kg6 26.Rba1 Nc7 27.Kg2 Nc8 28.axb5 cxb5 29.Rh1 Re8 30.Raa1 Bf8 31.Ne1 Nd6 32.Nd3 Nc4 33.Bc1 Rad8 34.Ra2 f5?

This move gave white a strong post on the e5 for his knight. 35.Nxc4 dxc4 36.Ne5+ Rxe5 37.dxe5 Rd3 38.hxg5 38.Rd2! Exchanging white rook is simpler. 38... Nd5 (if 38...Rxc3 39.Rd7! then 39... Ne6?? or 39...Ne8?? both will be checkmate with 40.h5#) 39.Rxd3 cxd3 40.Bd2 38...hxg5 39.Bd2 Bg7 40.Re1 Kf7 41.Bxg5 Rxc3 42.Bd8 Fritz suggest the brilliant 42.e6+! Nxe6 43.Bh4 threatening Rxa6 42...Ne6 43.Rxa6 Rd3 44.Bf6 Bf8 45.Ra7+ Kg6 46.Rea1 c3 47.Be7 c2 48.Rc1 defending against the passed c pawn from behind with 48.Bxf8! Nxf8 49.R1a6+ Kh5 and then white place his rook behind the c2 pawn 50.Rc6 is better 48...Bxe7 49.Rxe7 Nd4 50.Rd7? once again placing his rook behind the passed pawn is correct 50.Rc7 50...f4? Black should try for a draw with 50...Nb3 51.Rd6+ ( not 51.Rxd3? Nxc1 52. Rc3 Nd3 53.Rxc2 Ne1 +) 51... Rxd6 52.exd6 Nxc1 53.d7 Nb3 54.d8Q c1Q 55.Qg8+ Kf6 56.Qxb3 Qd2 57.Kf1 Qd4 58.Qb1 Qc4+ 59.Kg1 Qc3 60.Kg2 Kg5 61.Kh3 Kf6 62.Kh2 Qd2 63.Qa1+ Kg6 64.Qa6+ Kg5 51.Rxc2??

Mas succumb at the very last moment. Winning is 51.Rd6+! Kf5 52.e6 Ne2 (52...f3+ 53.Kh2 Rd2 54.e7 Rxf2+ 55.Kh3 Re2 56.Rxd4) 53.Rxd3 Nxc1 54.Rc3 51...Nxc2 52.Rb7 52.Rxd3?? Ne1+ 53.Kh3 Nxd3 52...fxg3 53.fxg3 Na3 0–1 What a pity. Mas was very close to winning against Ganguly .

Mas vs Megaranto 0-1

This is Mashafizul round 5 game against Indonesian top GM - Susanto Megaranto (Photo right) in the Subic International Open 2009 .

GM Megaranto,Susanto (2553) - IM Mas,Hafizulhelmi (2425) [D58] Subic International Open (Round 5), 28.05.2009

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.c4 d5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Nc3 Be7 6.Bg5 h6 7.Bh4 0–0 8.e3 b6 9.Bd3 Bb7 10.0–0 Nbd7 11.Rc1 c5 12.Bf5 Re8 13.b3 Ne4 14.Bxe7 Rxe7 15.dxc5 Ndxc5 16.b4

Nxc3 Fritz opening book suggest 16...Ne6 17.Bxe6 Rxe6 18.Nxe4 Rxe4 19.Nd4 Ba6 20.b5 Bb7 21.Qf3 Rc8 22.Qg3 Rc4 17.Rxc3 Ne4 18.Bxe4 dxe4 19.Qxd8+ Rxd8 20.Nd4 This knight has a strong and secure outpost at d4. 20...g6 21.Rfc1 White control the c file 21...Kf8 22.a4 h5 23.h4 Rd6? It look's like Mas simply blundering a pawn with this move. Staying put with 23...Red7 Is better 24.Kh2 Bd5 24.Nb5 Rd8 24...Rd2 Give more resistance for e.g 25.Nxa7 Rb2 25.Nxa7 White win a pawn. 25...Ra8 26.Nc8 Re6 27.Rc7 Bd5 28.Na7 28.Rd1 Bb3 29.Rd8+ Kg7 30.Rdd7 28...Kg7 29.Nb5 Re5 Not 29...Rxa4?? 30.Nc3 Rc6 31.Nxa4 30.Nc3 Bb3 31.Ra1 Re6 32.a5 bxa5 33.bxa5 Bc2 34.Rc5 Bd3 35.Nd5 Ra7 36.Nb4 Ba6 37.Rc6 Rxc6 38.Nxc6 Rb7 39.Kh2 Rb2 40.Kg3 Kf6 41.Ra4 Kf5 42.Rd4 Rb1?! 42...Ra2 Placing the rook behind white's passed pawn is better. 43.Nb4! Now black bishop has to leave the blockading a6 square. 43...Bf1 44.a6 Ra1 45.Rd7 Ke6 Not 45...Bxa6?? 46.Rxf7+ Ke5 47.Ra7 and black will lose his bishop. 46.Rb7 f6 47.a7 Kd6 48.Nc2 Better is 48.Rb6+! Kc5 (48...Kc7 49.Nd5+) 49.Ra6 Bxa6 50.a8Q 48...Ra5 49.Rb6+ Ke7 50.Nd4 50.Nb4! Threatening Ra6 or Na6 50...Rxa7? 51.Nc6+ 50...Ra2? The last mistake. A little stubborn is 50...Kd7 51.Rxf6 Kc7 51.Rb8 1-0

Mas resign because after 51...Rxa7 52.Nc6+

Mas draw round 7.

29 May 2009 - IM Mashafizul draw against Philippines untitled player - Jan Emmanuel Garcia ( FIDE 2292) in the 7th round of the Subic International Open. In the 8th round , he is being paired against another host player - NM Efren Bagamasbad (FIDE 2282). Efren is quite a strong player. Till round 7, he has produced two upset which is on round 1 and 7 where he beat GM Villamayor Beunaventura (FIDE 2474) and Indonesian IM - Irwanto Sadikin (FIDE 2447) respectively. To have a look in his style of play, click here.

source : chess-results.com

IM Mashafizul lost GM Susan to Megaranto in Round 6, Subic International.

 Mashafizul failed to mantain his momentum in day 4 of the   Subic International Open.  After creating an upset against GM Mark Paragua yesterday, Mas  lost both game ( round 5 and 6) to Indonesia top GM - Susanto Megaranto (FIDE 2553) and Indian GM - Surya Shekar Ganguly (FIDE 2625) respectively . In round 7 tomorrow  he will Jan Emmanuel Garcia (FIDE 2292)  - the player he beat in the  Asian Continental recently. 

source : chess-results.com

IM Mashafizul vs GM Mark Paragua 1-0 ; Round 4, Subic Open

Below is Mashafizul victory against GM Mark Paragua in round 4 of the Subic Open 2009 held . yesterday

IM Mashafizul (FIDE 2425)  vs GM Mark Paragua (FIDE 2520)

Round 4, 27.5.2009, 8th Asian Continental

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 e6 7. O-O Be7 8. f4

Qc7 9. Kh1 Nc6 10. Be3 O-O 11. Qe1 Nxd4 12. Bxd4 b5 13. a3 Bb7 14. Qg3 Bc6 15.

e5 dxe5 16. Bxe5 Qb7 17. f5 exf5 18. Rxf5 Ne8  19. Bd3 g6 20.

Rf2 Ng7 21. Re1 f6 22. Bd6 Bxd6 23. Qxd6 Rad8 24. Qb4 Rfe8 25. Ree2 Rxe2 26.

Rxe2 Qd7 27. a4 Re8 ? 

This move caused black a pawn. Better is 27...Nf5 28.axb5 axb5 29.Bxb5 Bxb5 and white should not fall into a mating trap after 30.Qxb5 ?? Qd1+  28.axb5 axb5 29.Rxe8+ Qxe8 30.Qxb5 Now black is a pawn down and Mas has brilliantly created two connected passed pawn on the queenside.  30...Qa8?

This is probably the first serious mistake made by black. After 30... Qe3 the game is still far from over and white have to look after his back rank. 31.Kg1 ! This "low profile" king move disturb black play 31...Nh5  the problem is after 31... Bxg2 ?? white have 32. Nc7! and black will have problem to look after his bishop on g2  32...Qf3 (32... Qc6 33. Bc4+) 33. Bc4+ Kh8 34. Qf8# 32. Bf1 f5 33. Qd4 Ng7 1-0  According to the notation from the official website, the game ended here. Probably because after  34. Nc7! black will lose his bishop on c6 with 34... Qb7 35. Qd8+ 

Mashafizul beat GM Mark Paragua !

27th May 2009 - IM Mashafizul create an upset in round 4 of the Subic International Open by beating Philippines strong GM - Mark Paragua (FIDE 2529). Mas so far has collecetd 3 points out of 4. 

Tommorow , Mas is scheduled to meet Indonesian no.1 - Susanto Megaranto ( FIDE 2553) in round 5.

Below is his round 3 victory. 

Mas lost Round 2, win round 3 .

26th May 2009 - IM Mashafizul lost to the 2008 World Junior Champion - Abhijeet Gupta (FIDE 2570) in the 2nd round of the Subic International Open.

However Mas pull back in the 3rd round held in the same day by beating host player Christian Arroyo (FIDE 2213) . In round 4 tommorow, he will meet "heavyweight" GM - Mark Paragua( FIDE 2529) photo right.

Source : chess-results.com

Mashafizul in Subic International Open !

IM Mashafizul continue his GM quest in the 2nd Subic International Open held in the Philippines from 25-31 May 2009. 

In round 1 yesterday, he beat host player Ric Portogalera (FIDE 2240)  . Today,   Mas will have an uphill task after being paired against Indian GM - Abhijeet Gupta  (FIDE 2570) for the 2nd round . Gupta is the  2008 World Junior Champion and Mas lost to the same opponent in the Asian Continental Championship recently.

Alexei Shirov Win M-Tel Master 2009 !

Alexei Shirov  is a surprise winner in the recentlt conclude - M-Tel Master 2009  held in Bulgaria. The top seed and former World Champion Veselin Topalov failed to challenge the top spot after only managed to draw against Chinese GM - Wang Yue in the final round.

Shirov is my favourite player in the past-especially the 90's. I loved his excellent book "Fire on Board" which contain a selected beautiful games from the Latvian master of sacrifice . His game - especially in his youth was full with sacrifices which resemble the former World Champion and King of Sacrifices - Mikhail Tal -  which is also a Latvian . 

Shirov is really a great talent during the early 90's. His reach his peak in the 90's when he was supposed to play a World Championship Final with the living legend - Gary Kasparov. But the match somehow didn't materialised because of the reason  only Kasparov knows. Some says that Shirov has a worse record against Kasparov - he haven't beat Kasparov   so it will not create an exciting match for Kasparov. In the end, Kasparov choose to play a World Championship Match against Vladimir Kramnik - a player Shirov beat in the previous match. This upset Shirov very much and it seems that it also effect his performance and he never regain  his form until this year M-Tel Master.

From my observation, Shirov play is always exciting because he love to play complicated position and unbalanced the game to  produced interesting sacrifice. However this style of play need energy and stamina to calculated plenty of variations and combination which is sometimes not practical in a tournament and long matches. 

However i hoped his triumph in M-Tel  will regains his confidence and his excellent form as what he has shown in his youth. I expected there will be more "Fire on Board" from this Sacrifice Maestro  ! 

Below is his exciting draw  against the world no. 3 - Magnus Carlsen in round 4.

Carlsen - Shirov 

M-Tel Master 2009, Round 4, 13.5.2009

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 dxc4 6. e4 b5 7. e5 h6 8. Bh4 g5 9. Nxg5 hxg5 10. Bxg5 Nbd7 11. exf6 Bb7 12. g3 c5 13. d5 Qb6 14. Bg2 O-O-O 15. O-O b4 16. Na4 Qb5 17. a3 exd5 18. axb4 cxb4 19. Qg4 d4 20. Bxb7+ Kxb7 21. Qe4+ Qc6 22. Qxd4 Bd6 23. Rfe1 Rde8

This is all theory you know ! 24. Re3 Ne5 25. h4 Re6 26. Bf4 Rhe8 27. Bxe5

Rxe5 28. Rxe5 Rxe5 29. Qg4 Ra5 30. h5 Rxa4 31. Rxa4 Qxa4 32.h6 Qc6

33. Qh5 33.h7? will be a grave blunder after 33...c3 ! 34.h8=Q c2 35.Qh6 c1=Q+ 36.Qxc1 Qxc1+ winning 33...c3 34. bxc3 bxc3 35. Qxf7+ Bc7 36. Qb3+ Bb6 37. Qf7+ Bc7 38. Qb3+ Bb6 38... Ka6 39. Qa3+ Ba5 40. f7 c2 41. f8=Q c1=Q+ 42.Qxc1 Qxc1+ 43.Kg2 and both king is too exposed to a perpectual check 39. Qf7+ Bc7  

1/2-1/2

Photo and logo from M-Tel Master 2009 official site

Mashafizul end in 63rd place

23.5.2009 - IM Mashafizul end his campaign in the 2009 Asian Continental Championship by finishing in 63rd place. He beat the Philippines player - Jan Emmanuel Garcia  (FIDE 2292) in the final round ( Round 11) . The open section is won by Indian GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly  and the women champion won by WIM Zhang Xiaowen (FIDE 2340) . If you still remember - Zhang Xiaowen  played in the MCF GM tournament held in Kuala Lumpur last year. And i was so "blessed' to have a photo session with her. 

 

Yours truly with WIM Zhang Xiaowen (right) . No, no this photo is not taken in the Philippines . It was taken last year during the MCF GM Tournament  in Kuala Lumpur 

Source : 

Polgar Chess Centre Asia in Penang !

Wow, i spot this announcement in Susan Polgar blog. The Polgar Chess Centre Asia has been set in Penang, Malaysia and it's managed by Marcus Yeoh . The first activity is on June and July this year  in Penang. 

Mashafizul Lost Round 10, Asian Continental Championship 2009.

IM Mashafizul (photo above) lost against Indonesia FM - Awam Wahono (FIDE 2391) (photo below) in round 10, Asian Continental Championship . He will meet Philippines - Jan Emmanuel Garcia (FIDE 2292) in the last round ( round 11) tomorrow.

Below is his 9 round game against Indian GM - Deepan Chakkravarthy .

IM Mas,Hafizulhelmi (2425) - GM Deepan,Chakkravarthy J (2482) [D30]
8th Asian Continental/Individu Subic Bay Free Port (Round 9), 21.05.2009

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.e3 a6 5.b3 c5 6.Bb2 Nc6 7.Nbd2 cxd4 8.exd4 Be7 9.Bd3 b6 10.0–0 Bb7 11.Rc1 0–0 12.Qe2 Re8 13.Rfd1 dxc4 14.bxc4 Bf8 15.Nf1 g6 16.Bb1 Bg7 17.Ne3 Rc8 18.Bc3 Na7 19.d5 exd5 20.Qb2 Rxe3 !

21.fxe3 Rxc4 22.Bd4 Nb5 23.Bd3 Nxd4 24.exd4 b5 25.Ne5 Rxc1 26.Rxc1 Ne4 27.a4 Qb6 28.Bxe4?? A blunder by Mas...

white should have move the king from being pinned with 28.Kf1 28...Bxe5 0-1 Mas resign because he will have a serious material deficit after 29.Kh1 Bxd4

Photo from the tournament photo gallery

DATCC Team League Round 5 Result and Standing

2009 DATCC Team League

Round 5 Result

Click the image for larger view

Standing after round 5

Click the image for larger view

Hj Idris Passed Away

Hj.Idris -sitting three from left

University Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) Chess Coach – Hj.Idris (photo right) passed away yesterday because of stroke attack happen on his way back from MASUM 2009 ,UUM. Abdul Haq – Manager of the UKM team sent me a photo of the late Hj. Idris with his UKM players .

UKM Women teams won Bronze medal at MASUM 2009.

According to Abdul Haq, Mr. Idris was very active in MSSM and MASUM.

It's a sad day for Malaysian Chess. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family. Al-Fatihah.

Mashafizul progress at the 8th Asian Continental

Mashafizul (photo right) had a tough time at the 8th Asian Continental. In round 7 and 8, he won against Philipines - Pascua Haridas (FIDE 2359) and UAE - FM Jasem Alhuwar (FIDE 2293) respectively. However he lost against Indian GM - Deepan Chakkravarthy (FIDE 2482) in the 9th round. In round 10 tommorow, he will meet Indonesian FM Awam Wahono (FIDE 2391) . He has 4 points so far with two rounds to go.

Below are of his game at the championship. Mas missed a chance to split the point on move 39th.

IM Mas,Hafizulhelmi (2425) - GM Nguyen,Ngoc Truong Son (2588) [C01]
8th Asian Continental/Individu Subic Bay Free Port (5.19), 17.05.2009

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.Bb5 Bd6 6.c4 dxc4 7.d5 a6 8.Ba4 b5 9.dxc6 bxa4 10.Qxa4 Ne7 11.0–0 0–0 12.Nbd2 Rb8 13.a3 Bg4 14.h3 Bh5 15.Qxc4 Rb5 16.b4 Nxc6 17.Bb2 17.Qxc6? would felt into a cute trap after 17...Qf6 18.Qc4 (Not 18.Rb1?? Bh2+) 17...Ne5 18.Nxe5 Bxe5 19.Bxe5 Rxe5 20.Ne4 Rfe8 21.Ng3 Bg6 22.Rfd1 Qf6 23.Rac1 Probably Mas should have just take the pawn with 23.Qxc7 23...h5 24.h4 Kh7 25.a4 R8e6 26.f3 Re3 27.Kh2 Ra3 28.b5 axb5 29.axb5 Re5 30.Rd7 Ra5 31.Rxc7 Rexb5 32.Rc6 Qb2 33.Qf1 Rb4 34.R6c4 Raa4 35.R1c3 f6 36.Ne4 Rxc4 37.Rxc4 Ra2 38.Qg1 Qe2

39.Rd4? 39.Rc3 (Intending 40.Re3) 39...Bf5 (if 39...Bxe4 40.Re3 Qd2 41.Rxe4) and probably draw. 39...Qxf3 40.Nd2? 40.Ng3 Is lesser evil. 40...Rxd2 41.Rxd2 Qf4+ 0–1

DATCC Team League - Round 5

20^th May 2009 – The 5^th round of the DATCC Chess League was held at Kompleks Wilayah , KL.

The pairing is as below :-

Round 5 pairing

Methodist Boy School (KL) vs GOLD IS

SPAWN 2009 vs Persatuan Catur Wanita Malaysia (PCWM)

786 Chess Club vs Nusa Mahkota Chess Club

Pricewaterhouse Coopers vs Dato' Arthur Tan Chess Centre (DATCC)

Tan & Tan vs SMS Gold

Photo

1st and 2 board : Spawn 2009 (left) vs PCWM (right)

3rd and 4th board : Tan&Tan (left) vs SMS Gold (right)

The 1st Malaysia National Champion - NM Choo Min Wang (photo above) in action against the 13th Malaysia National Champion - NM and FM Mok Tze Meng

3rd and 4th board: Spawn 2009 (left) vs PCWM (right)

My team (Nusa Mahkota Chess Club) meet the 786 Chess Club. As a team captain , I decide to rest my self and give my team mate chance to play :) . The pressure before the match was so intense that one of the 786 players jokingly said that he almost intend to hit and run ( with his car!) the Nusa Mahkota chess players who was walking at the parking bay before the game.

Fairin Zakaria (left) - 786 Chess Club vs Norilhamuddin ( right) - Nusa Mahkota Chess Club : 0-1

W: Fairin Zakaria vs B: NorIlhamuddin
DATCC League 2009, Round 5, 20.5.2009

Ilhamuddin is a pawn up. He won another pawn after 1... Qd1+ 2. Kg2 Qxe2! 3. Qxe2 Nxf4+Ilham collected another pawn 4. Kf3 Nxe2 5. Kxe2 Bd4 6. Bc8 b6 7. b4 Bxe5 Now black is three pawn up 8. Bb7 Bb2 Ilham choose to keep his pawn structure intact. Probably
better is creating another passed pawn with 8...c5! without worrying about the structure damage after 9.bxc5 bxc5...

...because white's will find it's more difficult to stop passed pawn on both wing compare to passed pawn on one only 9.Bxc6 Bxa3 10.b5 and the players play about a dozen of move before white resign 0–1


The Decider Game. - NM Kamal Ariffin (right) save a losing position and beat Muhammad Arshad (left)

At the end, the 786 chess team win by 3-1. Only Ilhamuddin won for Nusa's team while others lost. The score should have been 2-2 but unfortunately Muhammad Arshad who just arrived at Kuala Lumpur from Terengganu about one hour before the game lost against NM Kamal Ariffin. The game was totally dominated by Arshad but in time trouble, Arshad felt into a trap set by Kamal. However congratulation for Arshad for a great fight. And thanks to our opponents and my team mate who gave a good show. We are looking foward for a revenge in the next cycle - beware 786 !!!


This quote "Soviet mother are against playing chess" can be seen at one of the restroom door at DATCC. I wonder who really invent it - surely not Klara Kasparov!

Mas lost Round 6. Mas meet Haridas Pascua in round 7

Mas Hafizul had a tough time in the Asian Continental Championship. He lost to UAE IM Abdullah Hassan (FIDE 2322) in round 6 yesterday. He is being paired against Philipines player - (FIDE 2359) in round 7 today.


Source : chess-results.com

Mas lost Round 5

17th May 2009 - IM Mashafizul lost his 5th round game in the Asian Continental Championship . against Vietnam prodigy - GM Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son (FIDE 2588)  In round 6, Mas  will meet IM Abdullah Hassan (FIDE 2322) photo above from UAE tommorow .

M-Tel Master 2009

Last night i followed the round 4 game of the M-Tel Master 2009 - a "Grand Slam" chess tournament held annualy at Sofia, Bulgaria. Former World Champ and host country player - Veselin Topalov play against Wang Yue. I hope Wang Yue will gave a good fight especially after he grown down Vasilly Ivanchuk in the 2nd round but the Chinese GM were convincingly beaten by Topalov.

In other game, Carlsen meet the "Fire On Board" GM - Alexei Shirov and another game feaute Dominquez against Ivanchuk. Both game ended in a draw. After 4 round, Carlsen and Shirov lead the tourney with 2.5 points followed by Topalov, Wang Yue, Dominquez - all 2 points and the tail ender - Vasilly Ivanchuk with only a point.

Topalov - Wang Yue [D17]
M-Tel Master 2009 (4), 16.05.2009

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.a4 Bf5 6.Ne5 Nbd7 7.Nxc4 Nb6 8.Ne5 a5 9.f3 Nfd7 10.e4 Nxe5 11.dxe5 Qxd1+ 12.Kxd1 Be6 13.Kc2 f6 14.Rb1 Nd7 Suggestion of GM Rubert Hubner to improve Vallejo - Kasparov , Linares 2003 14...fxe5 15.b4 Nc4 16.Bxc4 Bxc4 17.bxa5 0–0–0 18.Rd1 Rxd1 15.b4 Nxe5 16.bxa5 Bc8 17.a6 bxa6 18.a5 Nd7 19.Na4 e5 20.Bc4 Bc5 21.Rd1 Bd4 22.Ba3 c5 23.Rb3 h5 24.Rdb1 Ke7 25.Bd5 Ra7 26.Rb6! Typical exchange sacrifice by Topalov .

26...Rc7 Probably Wang Yue should accept the sacrifiece and try to defend a difficult endgame after 26...Nxb6 27.axb6 Rd7 28.Bxc5+ Bxc5 29.Nxc5 Rxd5 30.exd5 Bf5+ 31.Ne4 27.Re6+ Kd8 28.Nb6 Nxb6 29.axb6 Rb7 30.Rd6+ Ke7 31.Rc6 Rd7 32.Re6+ wining also is 32.b7 Bxb7 33.Re6+ Kf8 (33...Kf7 34.Rd6+ Ke7 35.Rxd7+ Kxd7 36.Rxb7+) 32...Kf7 33.b7 1–0

For further details visit the official website here

Mashafizul won Round 4 and Will meet GM Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son in round 5 !

Mashafizul as exepected won his 4th round game today against Filipino - Deniel Causo (FIDE 2367). However Mas will meet an uphill task tommorow where he is being paired against Viatnemese prodigy GM Nguyen Truong Son (FIDE 2588) . Nguyen is Vietnam youngest GM ever but in this tournament he suffered unexpected lost against Indonesian IM Irwanto Sadikin (FIDE 2447) in the 2nd round.

Below are Mas's Round 2 and Round 3 game.

[Event "8th Asian Continental/Individual (Open)"]

[Site "Subic Bay Free Port"]

[Date "2009.05.14"]

[Round "2"]

[White "Nguyen, Hoang Nam"]

[Black "Mas, Hafizulhelmi"]

[Result "1/2-1/2"]

[ECO "B92"]

[WhiteElo "2281"]

[BlackElo "2425"]

[PlyCount "66"]

[EventDate "2009.05.13"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 e5 7. Nb3 Be6 8. f4

Qc7 9. g4 b5 10. a3 h6 11. g5 hxg5 12. fxg5 Nfd7 13. Bg4 Rh4 14. Bxe6 fxe6 15.

Be3 Rh3 16. Bf2 Be7 17. Qg4 Rxc3 18. bxc3 Qxc3+ 19. Kd1 Nc6 20. h4 Nc5 21. Rh3

Qb2 22. Bxc5 dxc5 23. Qxe6 Rd8+ 24. Ke2 Qxc2+ 25. Kf1 Rd1+ 26. Rxd1 Qxd1+ 27.

Kf2 Qc2+ 28. Ke1 Qxe4+ 29. Kd1 Qb1+ 30. Kd2 Qb2+ 31. Kd1 Qb1+ 32. Kd2 Qb2+ 33.

Kd1 Qb1+ 1/2-1/2

[Event "8th Asian Continental/Individu"]

[Site "Subic Bay Free Port"]

[Date "2009.05.15"]

[Round "3"]

[White "Mas, Hafizulhelmi"]

[Black "Bancod, Ronald"]

[Result "1/2-1/2"]

[ECO "C28"]

[WhiteElo "2425"]

[BlackElo "2356"]

[PlyCount "109"]

[EventDate "2009.05.13"]

1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6 3. d3 Nc6 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. Nge2 d5 6. exd5 Nxd5 7. O-O Be6 8.

Bxd5 Bxd5 9. f4 O-O 10. f5 f6 11. Ng3 Rf7 12. Be3 Bxc3 13. bxc3 Ne7 14. c4 Bc6

15. a4 a5 16. c3 Nc8 17. d4 Nb6 18. Qb3 exd4 19. cxd4 Qe7 20. Bd2 Qd7 21. d5

Bxa4 22. Qd3 Nxc4 23. Qxc4 Bb5 24. Qd4 Bxf1 25. Nxf1 Qxf5 26. Ne3 Qe5 27. Qxe5

fxe5 28. Bxa5 Rf4 29. h3 Rd4 30. Kf2 Rd3 31. Ke2 e4 32. Ra4 b6 33. Rxe4 Rxe3+

34. Kxe3 Rxa5 35. Rc4 Rxd5 36. Rxc7 Rg5 37. g4 Rc5 38. Rb7 Rb5 39. Kf4 h6 40.

h4 Kh7 41. h5 Kg8 42. Kf3 Rb1 43. Kf4 b5 44. g5 Rf1+ 45. Ke4 hxg5 46. Rxb5 Rg1

47. Kf5 Kh7 48. Rb6 g4 49. Rg6 g3 50. Kf4 Rf1+ 51. Kxg3 Rg1+ 52. Kf4 Rxg6 53.

hxg6+ Kh6 54. Kf5 Kh5 55. Kf4 1/2-1/2

2009 DATCC Team League - Smothered Mate From Abdul Haq !

Abdul Haq (photo below) who has "return" back to chess after missing in action for  a  year  play a brilliant game against Camillia Johari in round 3, DATCC League Team last week. Watch Haq's  brilliant mating combination on move 18th. 

Abdul Haq (GOLD IS) vs Camilia Johari (PCWM)

Round 3, 6.5.2009, DATCC Team League 

1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. d4 c6

6. Bc4 Bg4 7. h3 Bh5 8. g4 Bg6 9. Ne5 e6 10. O-O Bd6 11. Re1 Nbd7 12. Nxd7 Kxd7

13. g5 Nd5 14. Ne4 Bc7 15. Nc5+ Kc8 16. Bd2 Qb6 17. Qg4 and the position is as photo below where Camilia felt into a trap after ...

17...Qxb2?? 17...Bf5 is correct  18. Rxe6!! A brilliant  mating sacrifiece .

 

...Qxa1+  if black take other rook with 18... fxe6 then she will be mated with 19. Qxe6+ Kb8 20. Nd7+ Kc8 21. Nb6+ Kb8 22. Qc8+ Rxc8 23. Nd7#

This is called  Smothered Mate or Philidor's Mate - is a checkmate by a knight in which the mated king is unable to move because he is surrounded by his own pieces.   19. Re1+ f5 ( the smothered mated is still on ! after 19... Kb8 20. Nd7+ Kc8 21. Nb6+ Kb8 22. Qc8+ Rxc8 23.

Nd7#) 20. gxf6+  1-0 Black resign because she will be smothered mated after 20...Bf5 21. Qxf5+ Kb8 22. Nd7+ Kc8 23. Nb6+ Kb8 24. Qc8+ Rxc8 25. Nd7# 1-0

NMCC Saturday Blitz Thematic Tournament 10/09 : Bird's (From's Gambit) !

16th May 2009 - NMCC Thematic Tournament will be organised today - ( Saturday, 16th May 2009). The opening is Bird's (From's Gambit) . This will be the 10th edition of this thematic tourney.

A thematic chess tournament is a tournament with every game is played with a certain opening variant. And for this  Saturday , the Bird's (from's Gambit)  (diagram below) has been selected as the starting position. ( with  white to play) .You will find the board set up for this variant at the start of the game. So all white player will start the game on the 4th move ! And black player will start after white's 4th move.

NMCC Saturday Blitz Thematic Tournament 10/09 : Bird's (From's Gambit) 

 1. f4 e5 2. fxe5 d6 3. Nf3 g5 

white to move !

For further details  click here

Mashafizul at the 8th Asian Continental 2009 , Philipines

IM Mashafizul continue his quest for GM norm in the ongoing Asian Continental held in the Philipines starting from 13th May till 23rd May 2009. 

After 3 round, Mas has collected 1 points. In the 1st round, he lost to Indian GM - Abhijeet Gupta  (FIDE 2530)  - last year World Junior Champion. 

In round 2 and  he drew against Vietnamese CM Nguyen Hoang Nam ( FIDE 2270) and Philipines IM -  Ronald Bancod ( FIDE 2370) 

In round 4 tommorow , he is being paired against host player - Deniel Causo (FIDE 2367).

Below is his 1st round game against last year World Junior Champion - GM Abhijeet  Gupta (2570)  from India. 

IM Mashafizul Helmi ( 2425) vs GM Abjiheet Gupta ( 2570)

Asian Continental , Round 1, 13.5.2009

1. e4 c5 2. f4 d5 3. exd5 Nf6 4. Bb5+ Bd7 5. Bxd7+ Qxd7 6. c4 e6 7. Qe2 Be7 8.

dxe6 fxe6 9. Nf3 Nc6 10. Ne5 Qd6 11. Nxc6 Qxc6 12. Nc3 O-O-O

13. d3 Rhe8 14. Be3 Bd6 15. O-O-O e5 16. f5 e4 17. Nb5 Bb8 18. d4 a6 19. Nc3

cxd4 20. Bxd4 Bc7 21. g4 e3 22. Rhf1 h6 23. h3 Ne4 24. Nxe4 Qxe4 25. Bc3 Bf4

26. Rd5 Rxd5 27. cxd5 Re7 28. Rd1 Rc7 29. d6 Rc6 30. a3 Kd7 31. Rd3 b5 

Although Mas is  a pawn up,  black control the game and  black's  e3 passed pawn is a real threat. 

32. Kd1? The correct move is 32. Kb1 heading to a more safe heavan at a2. Then if 31...Rxd6 33. Kc2 Qa4+ 34. Kb1 Qe4 35.Kc2 =  and white could defend the position   32...Qh1+ 33. Kc2 Qe4 34. Kd1?  The correct move is freeing the king from being pinned with  34. Kb3 Qc4+ 35. Kc2 Qe4 =  34... a5 35. Be1?? maybe Mas is in serious time trouble here   35... Qa4+ 0-1  after 36. b3 Qxa3 ...white could resign already.  

DATCC Team League 2009 - Round 4

13 May 2009 - Below are  photos taken from  the round 4 DATCC team League 2009. The event was held at the DATCC, Wilayah Kompleks, Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday .

Dato' Tan Chin Nam (right) warming up with Mr. Hamid Majid before  round 4  start.

IM Jimmy Liew (left) against Singaporean IM - Tan Lian Ann. Jimmy  like to dress and dye his hair according to what colour of pieces he play ..... joking :)

Bloggers - Andrew Ooi (gilachess) playing for DATCC team against ex-bloggers - Fairin Zakaria (petak64) playing for 786 team.

Yours truly (left)  in action against Indian GM -  Sasikiran look alike - Alvin Rodney  from Spawn 2009 team.

My team Nusa Mahkota Chess Club meet the Spawn2009 . We manage to win by a small margin 2.5-1.5 .

On board1 , Ilhamuddin held experienced player - Jax Tham into a draw. Aziz try hard to defend a position where his a pawn down with knight versus bishop endings against NM Yeoh Chin Seng . The former Olympiad team squezze slow but surely to collect the full point. I beat Alvin Rodney on board 3 and my friend Irwan won on board 4.

The problems when i'm playing in a  tournament is that i can't observe others games too much except.... my own  and my nearest  team mate games. So below is once again a position arise from  my 4th board team mate game - Irwan . At the end of the game,  Irwan was ahead in material however during my post game analyse with 786 team members ( Fairin, Saprin, NM Kamal Ariffin and Irman Ibrahim) we  found an interesting try  for white to split the point.

Yeow Sow Mun  vs Irwan Zulkenain

DATCC League 2009, Round 4, 13.5.2009

White is in serious trouble. His knight on e2 is being attack and pinned. So

the only worth move is to play the exchange sacrifiece with 1. Rxf7!  Nxf7 2.

Rxf7 ? better is 2. Qxf7+ Kh8 3. Nf4 2... Kh8  2... R8c4!! This brilliant tutup muka ( cover face) move was found by Mr. Saprin who prefer to use his head first rather then consult his

computer. By the way , Mr. Saprin own two computer shops at Bangi :) 3. Rxg7+!! This brilliant move was found by ...yours truly :) 3...Kxg7 and now after 4. Nf4...we analysed several options for e.g :- 

a)  4... h6 5. b5 g5 6. hxg5 hxg5 7. Qa3 gxf4 8. Qe7+ Kg6 9. Qe6+ Kh5 10. Qf5+ Kh6 11. Qf6+ perpectual !

b)  4...h5 5. a5 g5 6. Qa4 Rc6 7. Qb5 gxf4 8. Qg5+ Rg6 9. Qe7+ Kh6 10. Qf8+ Rg7 11. Qf6+ Kh7 12. Qf5+ Kg8 13.Qd5+ perpectual 

3. Bf3?? White can still fight with 3...Nf4 and the game  is still far from over   3... Rxe2+ 4. Bxe2 Qxe2+ 5. Kh3 and black resign in a few more move  0-1

Below are one of the position arise from round 3 game. 

FM Nicholas Chan (SMS Gold)  vs Mohd Irman Ibrahim (786 Chess Club)

DATCC Team League, Round 3 , 6.5.09

If you look at diagram below, you must have been thinking that Irman who is playing black  has just watch some old war movie where the King heroicly  lead his army in a war battle. In diagram below, black's  king is moving  towards  enemy line and after...

33... Bf6 ?  Nicholas attack with    34. Qc1+ f4 35.Qxf4+ Kg6 and the notation in the bulletin  end here. I beileve black resign here because he will lost his rook on b8 with 36.Qxb8  1-0