July FIDE Rating List !

July 2009 FIDE rating list is the most awaited list by the Malaysian chess players and fans. This is because the top 4 active Malaysian player from the list will be invited to play in the upcoming Malaysian Masters Chess Championship which is scheduled to be played on the first and second week of August this year.

Below is the rank of the top 14 Malaysian players in the July list.

Click here to view the list

The top 4 player is :-

1. FM Nicholas Chan (2403)
2. IM Mashafizul (2391)
3. FM Lim Yee Weng (2376)
4. FM Mok Tze Meng (2343)

DATCC Round 11 Preview !

Someone with nickname Zack Zaheer send me an email regarding his preview of Round 11 DATCC Team League 2009 this Wednesday ( 1st July 2009). I found it interesting, especially his preview about PCWM vs. NMCC !

Below is his preview for this week DATCC (Round 11).

Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PCW) vs Goldis

Goldis unexpected loss of a point through walkover against NMCC has put them in a difficult situation in their pursuit to be champions. Nevertheless Goldis will put that debacle at the back of their mind to go for a emphatic victory against PCW with out without their board 1player - Mas. with all around strength its difficult to see how they can stutter against PCW who after losing to 786 Chess Club want to redeem themselves.
Likely score 4 nil

The Spawn 2009 vs SMS Gold

Spawn would not have chosen a better time to meet SMS gold. with their convincing victory over TAN and TAN and for the fact that they are the team with best records against sms gold , spawn will make sure they go a little better than the earlier encounter .spawn performance will rely totally on father and giant killing son team to get the points not counting the fact that JAX may quietly get something for the team
likely score 2 all

DATCC vs MBS

MBS will definitely welcome their new board 4 -Jonathan and MBS are now no more a pushovers. DATCC cannot be expected to win let alone win convincingly.
likely score 2 all. MBS boleh

786 Chess Club vs Tan & Tan

Another 4nil win for 786 seems likely. the seniors are likely to buckle under pressure and hope is not to prolong the agony. NM Choo and IM Giam are playing well but the long time control easily unsettle them.Bernards draw against NM Yeoh in last round may spice up board 3

PCWW vs NMCC

With too many walkovers PCWW may have to redeem their pride by putting their best against NMCC. NMCC got to get their full artillery's ready against a team with Nabila and Tan Li Tian in top form .still 4nil likely score if Hairul and co. stop thinking about blogging for a while and play to their strength.

DATCC Round 10 Report- Part 2

24th June 2009 - Just before Round ten start, rain fall all over Klang Valley. Several players came late and some of them didn't appear at all. These affect two team, Gold Is and PCWM. To make matter worse, their reserve didn't turn up also so they have to give walkovers.

Gold Is (left) beat s NMCC 3-1

Gold Is vs. NMCC (3-1)

My team NMCC meet the top seed who has beaten us 3.5-1.5 in the first round. Everybody aspect us to get the same beating or 4-0 annihilation but "thanks" to their 4th board who didn't turn up - we got a point. For the record, our team fell much better if we can earn the point over the board and I believe our new 4th board player - Hashim Jusoh has a good chance against Abdul Haq - Gold Is player who is supposed to play on board 4.

Unfortunately Abdul Haq didn't turn up and to make matter worse, their reserve is now where to be seen. Hashim who was eager to play his first game in this league was quite disappointed because he really wants to play. As I told him a week before, I predict Gold Is will let Ian Udani play on 4th board and Hashim I believe is not "afraid" to meet the strong Filipino.

As for the rest of the board ( board 1-3), Gold Is as expected beat us convincingly.

DATCC vs. PCWM (3-1)

The host team registers their first win with the "help" of their opponent. Two of PCWM player didn't turn up so they have to give two walkover points. One of them is NWM Roslina Marmono - Haq wife. I guess both husband-wife players must have serious problems that evening because one of my friends told me that the traffic jammed was terrible.

I think all team should have significant amount of reserve players so that they will have more options and less problems to fielded 4 players at each rounds. As a team captain myself, it's important to have at least 1-2 reserve ( extra) players to turn up in each round - just in case .

The Spawn 2009 vs. Tan & Tan (3-1)

The Spawn add new player - Kaushal Khandahar . He played on board 4. The team beat Tan & Tan 3-1.

Kaushal Khandahar is the new player playing for The Spawn 2009

Below is an interesting position appear on board 2 between Benard Ng (Tan & Tan) vs NM Yeoh Chin Sing (The Spawn 2009)

Benard Ng just played 6.Ng1!

W:Benard Ng ( Tan & Tan ) vs B: NM Yeoh Chin Seng (The Spawn)

DATCC Team League, 24.5.2009, Round 10

1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 d6 4.d4 g5 5.h4 g4 6.Ng1 Bh6 7.Nc3

The player enter the King Gambit opening. I don't know what moves the players play after white's 7th move but Fritz opening theory give one "crazy line" - 7...Nc6 8.Nge2 f3 9.Nf4 f2+ 10.Kxf2 g3+ 11.Kxg3 Nf6 12.Be2 Rg8+ 13.Kf2 Ng4+ 14.Bxg4 Bxg4 15.Qd3 Bg7 16.Be3 Qd7 17.Nce2 0–0–0

Pricewaterhouse Coopers vs. 786 Chess Club ( 1.5 - 2.5)

The last match to end - in all 4 board! - Pricewaterhouse Coopers vs. 786 Chess Club

The match is the longest and the most thrilling match of the round. After all remaining match has finish, the match between "The Auditors" and "The Geng Mamak" team is still going - in all board ! "The Auditors" who gave serious headache for non-chess players recently, fight until the end against the 786 players.

On board 1, Cheah Cheok Fung got his revenge by beating former National player - Mohd Saprin Sabri who beat the latter in the first round. On board 2 and board 3, Fairin Zakaria and Ahmad Nazri beat their opponent convincingly. The critical game of the match is on board 4 between fellow blogger - Chew Yaw Chong vs. NM Kamal Ariffin. (*CORRECTION : Mohd Saprin and Cheah Cheok Fung is actually playing board 2. Fairin Zakaria is playing board 1 . Sorry for the mistake)

The players reach a knight + pawns vs. bishop +pawns endings where pawns was on both side. At first I taught that the bishop side has the advantage but my 1st board teammate Ilhamuddin has different opinion. In the game, NM Kamal Ariffin brilliantly made an exchange sacrifice by sacrificing his knight to enter and endgame where he got 2 pawns against a bishop (see diagram below). In this situation he will at least got a draw.

W:NM Kamal Ariffin vs. B: Chew Yaw Chong (Pricewaterhouse Coopers)
DATCC Team League 2009, 24.6.2009, Round 10

As mention by my favorite endings book - Fundamental Chess Endings by GM Karsten Muller and IM Frank Lamprecht, the outcome of above endings where bishop has to face against two connected passed pawn depends on the ability of the defending king to help its bishop. In above position black king is too far from the main action. During the game I predict Kamal will use the shouldering technique with 1...Kc5!. This move is important because it prevent black king to move to the battle field on the queenside. One possible line is - 2.Ke4 a5 3.Ke5 a6 4.Ke6 Kb6 winning. However Kamal choose the wrong move 1...Ka5? This move not only let black king to come nearer but it also block his own pawn from advancing. I couldn't remember the exact continuation but the game ended in a draw, so the favorite team 786 Chess Club "only" win by 2.5 - 1.5 against "The Auditors".

DATCC has their "second name"

Malaysian Masters Chess Championship 2009 !

According to Vice President of Malaysian Chess Federation (MCF) - Mr. Abdul Hamid Majid, Malaysian Masters Chess Championship 2009 is plan to be held in the first and second week of August 2009 .

Below is the details as what have be given to me by Mr.Hamid.

The championship will compose eight (8) players and the winner will be declared the Malaysian Champion 2009. The players who will be invited is as follow :-

1. The top four (4) Malaysian players on the FIDE July 2009 rating list;


2. The top players ( first & second) from the recently concluded National Closed;


3. The top Junior player (Under 21) from the National Junior Championship 2008; and


4. One (1) player selected by the Malaysian Chess Federation.

For further details, click here

Mamak Time 11

I think I will use this "automatic answer" feature so that you will never ask me what is the answer for this puzzle.

Your evaluation please!

During our training session for Makswip this morning, Kamal Arifin showed me this position which is an actual position played by the B team. Kamal said that he had a strong feeling that black has a slight edge here due to space advantage and piece activity but couldn't find a winning move. What is your opinion here?

DATCC Round 10 ( 24th June 2009)

Round 10 Results

Gold Is vs NMCC 3-1

DATCC vs PCWM 3-1

SMS Gold Vs MBS KL 4-0

Tan &Tan vs Spawn 0.5 - 3.5

Pricewaterhouse Coopers vs 786 Chess Club 1.5 - 2.5

What is so special with photo above?

* clue - it got to do with the player above

photo report will follow....

Transformer Chess Set

Today i heard my staff talking about the release of the Transformer sequel movie - Revenge of The Fallen. When i was a kid, i love this cartoon very much but getting geting older i just can't accept it being animated. Anyway poeple have different taste so what the heck. The official nationwide release for Malaysia falls on the 24th June 2009 ( tommorow).

For collecter of chess set, you can buy the Transformer chess set at the Amazom.com

Mamak Time 10

Hi, I am back after a long period of hibernation. The reason I went to my 'cave' is simply because I have just got a new baby boy, born on 4/6/2009 which is the same birthday as Dr Daud Yahya, the very important man in charge for that particular moment of the day. This very special occipito-posterior (OP)baby just made his mother to work harder in labour to have a vaginal birth. The labour was of course longer and more painful so watch out you female chess players out there!

Well, this is not the main topic I am giving you tonight since the title is Mamak Time 10. Sometimes it happens to any chess player, even a strong player if I am not mistaken, Catur Itu Bulat resigned in a winning position. This is not a joke, it really can happen to any chess player including a player of a very high calibre for instance in 1987, the game between Anand and Pigusov, Anand offered a draw after making a very good move!

From the diagram below can you find the move? White to move and score 1-0!

The Rapid Boom and Chess Events Announcement

In recent years, rapid tournaments in local scenes has increased like " mushroom grows after rain" - i dully translate it from Malay - " seperti cendawan tumbuh selepas hujan" . Personally i'm not against it although i prefer longer time control. However i know a few players from the past and present that threat rapid tournaments as their "bread and butter", so it must be a good option for chess players to have an extra income for their living - of course you have to consistently win the cash money prizes to do just that !

Another points is rapid chess can be a good publicity because usually it is held at a public place like shopping complex where it can attract public attention . It also a good option for people with not much time to play because in rapid you can play a tournament with 6-7 games ( round) in one day.

Before i get critics from classical time control fans, i would like to mentioned that i will equally happy if the classical time control tournaments experience the same "boom" as the rapid. To produced title players ( GMs, IMs, FMs, WGM,..etc) we need players who can adopt well with the standard time control because usually playing to much rapids can ruin your rythm when you play longer time control.

Anyway, with the help of the Internet, organiser doesn't have big problem nowadays to publicise their tournaments like before . As a blogger, i will give support for any organiser to publicise their chess tournament/events on my blog. Just email me the details at hairulov@gmail.com.

For readers convenience, i've created a new blog for chess events/tournaments announcement - http://hairulovchessevents.blogspot.com/

DATCC Round 9

17 June 2009 - Round 9 is the end of the first phase of the double round robin ( 18 rounds) 2009 DATCC Team League. Below are the photo report .

786 Chess Club vs Gold Is ( 0.5-3.5 )

Mohd Saprin Sabri (left) draw against IM Jimmy Liew. The player are using a new digital chess clock with a red light indicate player turn

There's something in Jimmy's drink that attract my attention !?

According to source , all 786 chess players get a Red Bull Isotonic drink sponsored by their teamate - Saprin. Looking at the results, probably there won't get any for the next round :)

The duel between the top seed - Gold Is against 786 Chess Club is the highlight of the round. Although without their top player - IM Mashafizul, Gold Is line up is still strong with IM Jimmy Liew on first board followed by Abdullah Che Hassan, Nik Ahmad Farouqi and the strong Pinoy - Ian Udani on the 4th board.

Saprin Sabri is the only 786 "survivor", drawing with IM Jimmy Liew. Ahmad Nazri playing on board 2 lost to Abdullah Che Hassan. On Board 3 , Kamaluddin win an exchange in middlegame but Nik double bishop and extra pawns was quite difficult to handle and Nik eventually won the game. On board 4, Ian Udani sacrifiece a piece quite early and at first it looks like that the sac did'nt bring much . However after the game progress, NM Kamal found it's difficult to coordinate his pieces and spent lot of time to settle his problem but in vain.

Kamaluddin Yusof (786 Chess Club) - Nik Ahmad Farouqi (Gold Is)
DATCC Team League (Round 9), 17.06.2009

Black to move

Black's double bishop and connected passed pawn on kingside is too much to handle for Kamaluddin .

1...Kf6 2.d7+ Ke7 3.Rg6 f3 and Kamaluddin had to resign a couple of moves later 0–1

Pricewaterhouse Coopers vs The Spawn 2009 (3-1)

One of "The Auditor" from Pricewaterhouse Coopers team - Chew Yaw Chong (photo above). Hey..he's a chess blogger too you know....

Unfortunately i didn't spent much time to look at other match but the Pricewaterhouse Coopers done a great job against The Spawn 2009. "The Auditors"- the last person every excecutive like to see at the end of a tax year produced a good result by beating the Spawn 2009 who fielded a strong line up - 1. Jax Tham, 2. NM Yeoh Chin Seng, 3. Yeoh Li Tian and 4. William Chew .

DATCC vs Nusa Mahkota Chess Club 1-3

My team faced the host - DATCC, although many expect us to have an easy ride, we didn't take them easy and DATCC prove to us that they can give us some serious headache . In the end, our team win 3-1 but it could have been 2-2 if not because of our 1st board- Aziz Shukor who suffered at most of the game but managed in the end to save a difficult position against local top blogger - Andrew Ooi. Andrew was totally in control but unfortunately for him ( fortunately for us) he blunder at the very last moment.

Top blogger - Andrew Ooi (left) almost beat Aziz Shukor


Andrew Ooi (DATCC) vs Aziz Shukor (Nusa Mahkota Chess Club)
Round 9, DATCC Taem League,17.6.2009

White to move

In diagram below, Fritz 11 gave a "micro" advantage to white and i bet that any human player would prefer to play white . White have an "extra piece" and a very important passed pawn on the kingside.

45. a4? Understandably the passed pawn is eager to march. However it have to wait until the right moment. Now the passed pawn is vulnerable after 45... Re1 46. Qc5 Qxa4 White's main hope - the passed a pawn drop. Now both side have no clear chance to play for a win 47. Qc7 ? The losing move. After for e.g 47.Bf3 the game should be draw. 47... Rxg1+ 48. Kxg1 Qd4+ Now white will lost the "extra" piece and the game. 49. Kh2 Qxd5 50. Qg3 Qe5 0-1

SMS Gold vs PCWM (4-0)

I expecte PCWM will fielded their hot shot "Power puffGirls" ( WFM Najiha and WCM Nabila) but probably the kids was too tired after ASEAN Age Group Championsgip at Vietnam which concluded recently. The girls deserve a break from chess and probably catch up with some school homeworks.

FM Mok Tze Meng (left) vs NWM Tan Li Ting

However the main focus is on board 1 when the recent champion of the Penang International Open 2009 - FM Mok Tze Meng vs the newly crown NWM Tan Li Ting. As expected Mok won the game but the girl gave Mok hard time. The photo above would tell .

Tan&Tan vs Methodist Boy School (3-1)

The end tailer Methodist Boy School is showing and improvement by starting to collect points.

IM Giam Choo Kwee ( standing) watch Father of Malaysian Chess- Dato Tan Chin Nam in action against MBS.

De Laguna Port Klang Open ( 12th July 2009) !

De Laguna Port Klang Open 2009 a Swiss System chess tournaments with 6/7 rounds and 25 minutes time control will be held on 12th July 2009. For further details, click here

DUN Sri Andalas Open 2009

DUN Seri Andalas Open 2009 will be held on 18th July 2009 ( Saturday )at DEWAN HAMZAH, KLANG, SELANGOR DARUL EHSAN. The tournaments is a Swiss System tournament with 6 rounds to play and 25 minutes time control.


For details about the tournament, click here

DATCC Round 9 Result !

Round 9 Result

786 Chess Club vs Gold Is 0.5-3.5

Pricewaterhouse Coopers vs The Spawn 2009 3-1

Tan&Tan vs Methodist Boy School (MBS) 3-1

SMS Gold vs Persatuan Catur Wanita Malaysia 4-0

DATCC vs Nusa Mahkota Chess Club 1-3

"Malaysian Powerpuff Girls Rules !"

I can't resist but to pick the above title regarding the recent succes of the Malaysian girls in several international chess tournaments. The brilliant "powerpuff girls" are the Azman Hisham's duos - Najiha and Nabila who received the Women Fide Master (WFM) and Women Candidate Master (WCM) respectively for their recent succes at The 10th ASEAN Age Group Championship held in Vietnam. Another girl is from Kedah - Fairuz Hamziah Ahmad Fuad who won the Challengers Section of the 2009 Penang Heritage City International Open.

From left : WCM Nabila Azman, WFM Najiha Azman, Fairuz Hamziah

But wait...how come i forget another brilliant and lovely young girl...yes...it's the newly crown National Women Master (NWM) Tan Li Ting (photo above).

Fairuz and NWM Tan Li Ting photos from gilachess blog

DATCC Round 8

Below is my game against Soo Wai Cheong in the 8th round of DATCC Team League held last Wednesday ( 1oth June 2009). My team Nusa Mahkota Chess Club were trashed 0-4 by the leader - SMS Gold. Our early guess that we could "steal" some points due to the absentees of their top players ( FM Mok Tze Meng and Ismail Ahmad played in Penang Open) were wrong. In fact their reserve which consist MSSM players didn't left us even a half point .

Soon Wai Cheong (SMS Gold) - Hairulov ( Nusa Mahkota Chess Club) [B00]
DATCC Team League (Round 8), 10.06.2009

Analyzed by Hairulov and Fritz 11

Due to some positional mistake in the middle game, i was down a pawn and had a bad pawn structure ( double f-pawns). White has large advantage especially his pawn majority b3-c3-d4 versus b6. However during the game, i found a nice idea to create a passed pawn on the king side with...

40... f4+! 41.gxf4 if black neglect his duty to protect the d4 pawn with 41.Kf3 then 41...fxg3 42.fxg3 Nb4 and white will lost his d4 or c3 pawns !

41...Nf5+? Before playing my 41st move, i considered two option :-

i) the move i played 41...Nf5+ and;

ii) 41...gxh4

I mainly calculated 41...Nf5+ and reject 41...gxh4 because i taught doubling my passed pawn on king side would be a mistake. However after the game, my friend "Fritz" told me that in fact 41...gxh4!! could have save me the game. For e.g

a) 42.Ne1 h3 43.Nf3 Nf5+ 44.Ke2 Kd6 45.Kf1 Kd5 46.Nd2 b5 47.Kg1 b4 48.cxb4 Nxd4 49.Kh2 Ne6 and black has excellent chance to draw ;

b) 42.Kf3 Nb5 and black c3 pawn will drop

42.Ke4 ?! 42.Kf3 is correct 42...Nxh4? I missed another chance to save the game with 42...Nd6+ 43.Kf3 gxh4 44.Kg2 Nb5 43.fxg5 fxg5 44.Ne5! This knight control many important square whereas my knight at h4 block my passed pawn 44...Ke6 45.d5+ Kf6 I decide to abandon my queen side completely and hope that my passed pawn on king side can create something 46.Nd7+ Kg6 47.Nxb6 Nf5 48.Nc4 h4 49.Ne5+ Kf6 50.Ng4+ Kg6 51.c4 h3 52.c5 Nh6 the last trick which i learned a lot from my friends from 786 chess club which was...

53.Nh2! not successful this time :). Of course taking the knight with 53...Nxh6?? would be a terrible blunder because of 54...h2 and black win 53...Kh5 54.c6 White is much quicker 54...Ng4 55.Nxg4! white correctly decide to enter the winning continuation 55...Kxg4 56.c7 white will promote with check for e.g 56...h2 57.c8=Q+ Kh4 58.Qh8+ Kg4 may be i should try to play this line hoping for (59.Qxh2 stalemate) but i trust my opponent :) 59.Kd4! Kf5 no more stalemate 60.Qxh2 1-0 Black resign

Zaidan Zulkipli at Rhein Main Open (update)

Rhein Mein Open 2009 in progress. Photo from Marten's Gallery

Below is Zaidan Zulkipli progress at the Rhein Main Open Open 2009. After 6 round, he has collected 3.5 points and will meet Michail Minz (FIDE 2131) in the final round today.

Round 4

Haral Stadtmueller (FIDE 2176) vs Zaidan Zulkipli (FIDE 1975) 1-0

Round 5

Stefan Gratzer vs Zaidan Zulkipli 0-1

Round 6

Zaidan Zulkipli vs Florian Busch (FIDE 1632) 1-0

Round 7

Michail Minz (FIDE 2131) vs Zaidan Zulkipli

Official site

FM Mok Tze Meng Win Penang Heritage City International Open 2009 !

Third seed - FM Mok Tze Meng (photo above) convincingly win the 2009 Penang Heritage City International Open 2009 held from 10th - 14th June 2009. Mok finished with 8 points from 9 round and he didn't lose a single game and he drew twice against the top seed - GM Gerhard Schebler (FIDE 2470) and IM Mashafizul ( 2425). 2nd place goes to IM Mas with 7 points. Mas could have win the tournament if not because his unexpected lost to NM Lim Chuin Hoong in round 7. GM Gerhard Schebler finish 3rd .

Congratulation to FM Mok Tze Meng !

For full result visit the official site and Gilachess Blog.

Zaidan Zulkipli at Rhein Main Open

My friend - Zaidan Zulkipli (photo right) who is a medical student at the Galway University, Ireland is playing at the Rhein Main Open , Frankfrut, Germany which held from 10th - 14th June 2009. The tournaments is a swiss system tournament with 7 rounds to play.

Zaidan is the 87th seeded in a total of 212 players.

After round 3, Zaidan has collected 1.5 points. His notable performance so far is in the 2nd round when he beat FM Dr. Ralf Dunsbach (FIDE 2217) . ( correction - Zaidan actually draw against FM Dr. Ralf Dunsbach - thanks to Luth Mikael who spot my mistake)

Below is his performance for each rounds.

Round 1

Zaidan Zulkipli vs Daria Dochenko 1-0

Round 2

FM Dr. Ralf Dunsbach vs Zaidan Zulkipli 1/2-1/2

Round 3

Zaidan Zulkipli vs Jens Goemann 0-1

In round 4 today, he is being paired against Haral Stadtmueller.

Source : Official Site

Shah Alam Team Tournament

SHAH ALAM TEAM TOURNAMENT

Organiser : INSOFAR Chess Academy

Schedule : every Friday ( 8.30pm) , starting from 19th June 2009 ( round 1).

Period : 18 weeks

Venue: INSOFAR Chess Academy, HBM Professional Training Centre, PKNS Kompleks, Shah
Alam Selangor

Format : Team Event , Double Round Robin

Time Control : 25 minutes

Fee per team : RM 200. Minimum 4 players, maximum 10 players, additional player RM50 (per player).

Maximum no. of team : 10 team

*** Only one player above 1800 FIDE rating is allowed to play .

PRIZE : Champion : RM 1000 + medal
2nd : RM 700 + medal
3rd : RM 650 + medal
4th : RM 600 + medal
5th : RM 550 + medal
6th : medals
7th : medals
8th : medals


For further details please contact : Mat Zaki : 017-5286927 or Muhammad Ismail : 012-2689156


Disclaimer :Hairulovchessmaniacs Upcoming Tournament Announcement are provided for the convenience of all interest party and are for informational purposes only. Unless expressly indicated otherwise, Hairulovchessmaniacs is not responsible for the accuracy of anything contained in these announcements. Those interested in additional information or having questions about any of these tournaments are directed to contact the organizer listed. Hairulovchessmaniac will exercise all due diligence in providing accurate information but assume no responsibility for errors made in such work.

Rook vs Bishop endings

Andrew Ooi post an article about Rook versus Bishop endings. According to him, he read somewhere mentioned that it's a theoritical win ( for the rook) if using computer.

Ok, my favourite chess endings book - Fundamental Chess Endings - Karsten Muller and Frank Lamprecht , mentioned that :-

"A lone rook normally cannot win against a bishop, especially if the defending king is in a corner opposite to the bishop's colour"

The book provide practicle examples. Below is an example of a drawn position :-

R.Dworzynski - G.Szilagyi
Warsaw , 1956

Black to move

1...Kb6 1...Ra1+ 2.Ba7 Kc7 Stalemate. 2.Ba7+ 2.Be5 Rf7 3.Bb8 (Not 3.Bd6? Ra7+ 4.Kb8 Rd7; but 3.Bg3 Ra7+ 4.Kb8 Rg7 5.Bf2+= is also ok) 3...Rf8 Stalemate. 2...Ka6 3.Bb8 ½–½

And below is position when the rook win !

G.Breyer - S.Tarrasch ,

Berlin 1920

Black to move

Danger arise if the defending king is near the 'wrong corner'. 1...Bg1 2.Rf1 Bh2 3.Rh1 Bg3 4.Rh3 Forcing the bishop out of the safe zone behind the kings. 4...Bd6 4...Bf4 5.Rc3 Kf8 6.Rf3 5.Rd3 Be7 5...Bc7 6.Rc3 Bd8 7.Rc8 win 6.Rc3 1-0 Tarasch resigned as he loses his bishop after 6...Kf8

6...Bd8 7.Rc8;

6...Bf8 7.Rc8 Kh8 8.Rxf8#

7.Rc8+ Bd8 8.Rxd8+ win

Nur Najiha Azman Win Under 10 ( Girls) ASEAN Age Groups Championship !

Good news from Vietnam, Nur Najiha Azman Hisham (photo left) win the Under 10 (Girls) ASEAN Age Groups Championship which conclude today. She finished with 7.5 points from 9 rounds . According to unconfirmed source, Najiha will be awarded the Women FIDE Master (WFM) title for her victory.

Najiha sister- Nabila also did Malaysia proud by finishing second in under 12 (girls).

Below is one of Najiha win in this tournament.

Karenza,Dita - Nur,Najiha Hisham [B28]
ASEAN Age, GIRLS (Under 10), Round 6, 10.06.2009

1.e4 c5 2.c3 e6 3.d4 d5 4.e5 a6 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.Be3 c4 7.Nbd2 Nge7 8.Bg5 Qc7 9.b3 b5 10.a4 Bb7 11.Be2 h6 12.Bxe7 Bxe7 13.0–0 0–0 14.Qc2 Rfc8 15.axb5 axb5 16.Rxa8 Rxa8 17.Qb2 Ra7 18.Ra1 Qb8 19.h3 Qa8 20.Rxa7 Qxa7 21.bxc4 bxc4 22.g4 Bd8 23.Nh2 Qb6 24.Qxb6 Bxb6 25.f4 Ba5 26.Nb1 Na7 27.Kf2 Nb5 28.f5 Bxc3 29.Nxc3 Nxc3 30.Ke3 Ne4 31.Nf3 Ba6 32.Nd2??

white commit "suicide" 32... Nxd2 33.Kxd2 c3+ 34.Kxc3 34.Ke3 c2 35.Kd2 Bxe2 36.Kxc2 (36.Kxe2 c1Q) 34...Bxe2 35.Kb4 Bf1 36.fxe6 fxe6 37.h4 Bh3 38.g5 hxg5 39.hxg5 Kf7 40.Kc5 Kg6 41.Kd6 Kxg5 42.Ke7 Kf4 43.Kd6 g5 44.Ke7 Bf5 45.Kd6 g4 46.Kc5 g3 47.Kd6 g2 48.Ke7 g1Q 49.Kd6 Qxd4 50.Ke7 Kxe5 51.Kd7 Qb6 52.Ke7 Qc7+ 0–1

Source : chess-results.com

10th ASEAN Age Group Championship 2009 - Vietnam

7 Malaysian boys and girls is participating in the 10th ASEAN Age Group Championship held in Vietnam from 6th-15th June 2009. For the Malaysian contigent latest results , click here

Below is our National Junior Master (NJM) Nur Nabila Azman victory over Vietnamese Women Candidate Master (WCM) - Vu Thie Dieu Ai in round 5.

Nur,Nabila Azman Hisham (1837) - Vu,Thi Dieu Ai (1713) [D05]
GIRLS 12 (Round 5), 09.06.2009

1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.e3 e6 4.Bd3 Bd6 5.0–0 0–0 6.Nbd2 c5 7.c3 Nc6 8.Re1 cxd4 9.exd4 Qc7 10.Nf1 Re8 11.Bg5 Be7 12.Ne3 h6?

13.Bxf6! Bxf6?! better is 13...gxf6 with a slightly damaged kingside 14.Nxd5! White win a pawn 14...Qd8 15.Nxf6+ Qxf6 16.Qe2 Bd7 17.Qe4 g6 18.Ne5 Qe7 19.Re3 Nxe5 20.Qxe5 Kh7 21.Rh3 Bc6 22.Qh5 Qf8 23.Re1 Qg7 24.Qe5 Qxe5 25.Rxe5 Rad8 26.Reh5 Kg7 27.Rxh6 e5 28.Rh7+ Kf6 29.Bc4 Rd7 30.Re3 Ree7 31.Kf1 e4 32.Ke1 b5 33.Bb3 a5 34.a3 Bd5 35.Bxd5 Rxd5 36.g3 Kf5 37.f3 Rdd7 38.fxe4+ Rxe4 39.Rxe4 Kxe4 40.Ke2 b4 41.axb4 axb4 42.Rh4+ Kd5 43.Kd3 bxc3 44.bxc3 Rc7 45.Rg4 Ke6 46.Re4+ Kd6 47.Re2 Rc6 48.Rb2 Ke6 49.c4 Kd6 50.d5 Rc7 51.Kd4 f6 52.Rb6+ Kd7 53.Rxf6 1–0

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Penang Heritage City International Open 2009

All eyes ( chess eyes) is now focus to Penang. The 2009 Penang Heritage City International Open will start today. This 9 round Swiss event took place at the Dewan Sri, Penang , from 10th June- 14th June 2009. There will be two groups of play - Open and the Challengers. For details info click here

The top participants so far is German GM- Gerhard Schebler ( FIDE 2470), IM Mashafizul Helmi ( FIDE 2425), FM Mok Tze Meng ( FIDE 2303) and NM Lim Chuin Hoong (FIDE 2287).

For the covarage , results, and info , checkout the Penang Chess website, EuHong blog and as always...Andrew Ooi blog...powered with ASUS 1000 HE !

DATCC Team League Results and Pairings

 Pairings ( till round 9) and full results ( till round 7) of the 2009 DATCC Team League.

	A	B	C	D	E	F
1	DATCC Chess League 2009
2
3	Round 1
4
5	No.	SNo.	Team	Res.	Team	SNo.
6	1	1	Nusa Mahkota Chess Club	½ - 3½	GOLDIS Bhd	10
7	2	2	Persatuan Catur Wanita Malaysia	2½ - 1½	DAT Chess Centre	9
8	3	3	MBS Kuala Lumpur	0 - 4	SMS Gold	8
9	4	4	Spawn 2009	3 - 1	Tan & Tan	7
10	5	5	786 Chess Club	2½ - 1½	PricewaterhouseCoopers	6
11
12	Round 2
13
14	No.	SNo.	Team	Res.	Team	SNo.
15	1	10	GOLDIS Bhd	3½ - ½	PricewaterhouseCoopers	6
16	2	7	Tan & Tan	0 - 4	786 Chess Club	5
17	3	8	SMS Gold	2½ - 1½	Spawn 2009	4
18	4	9	DAT Chess Centre	4 - 0	MBS Kuala Lumpur	3
19	5	1	Nusa Mahkota Chess Club	4 - 0	Persatuan Catur Wanita Malaysia	2
20
21	Round 3
22
23	No.	SNo.	Team	Res.	Team	SNo.
24	1	2	Persatuan Catur Wanita Malaysia	0 - 4	GOLDIS Bhd	10
25	2	3	MBS Kuala Lumpur	0 - 4	Nusa Mahkota Chess Club	1
26	3	4	Spawn 2009	2½ - 1½	DAT Chess Centre	9
27	4	5	786 Chess Club	½ - 3½	SMS Gold	8
28	5	6	PricewaterhouseCoopers	3 - 1	Tan & Tan	7
29
30	Round 4
31
32	No.	SNo.	Team	Res.	Team	SNo.
33	1	10	GOLDIS Bhd	4 - 0	Tan & Tan	7
34	2	8	SMS Gold	4 - 0	PricewaterhouseCoopers	6
35	3	9	DAT Chess Centre	0 - 4	786 Chess Club	5
36	4	1	Nusa Mahkota Chess Club	2½ - 1½	Spawn 2009	4
37	5	2	Persatuan Catur Wanita Malaysia	4 - 0	MBS Kuala Lumpur	3
38
39	Round 5
40
41	No.	SNo.	Team	Res.	Team	SNo.
42	1	3	MBS Kuala Lumpur	0 - 4	GOLDIS Bhd	10
43	2	4	Spawn 2009	2 - 2	Persatuan Catur Wanita Malaysia	2
44	3	5	786 Chess Club	3 - 1	Nusa Mahkota Chess Club	1
45	4	6	PricewaterhouseCoopers	3½ - ½	DAT Chess Centre	9
46	5	7	Tan & Tan	1 - 3	SMS Gold	8
47
48	Round 6
49
50	No.	SNo.	Team	Res.	Team	SNo.
51	1	10	GOLDIS Bhd	1 - 3	SMS Gold	8
52	2	9	DAT Chess Centre	1 - 3	Tan & Tan	7
53	3	1	Nusa Mahkota Chess Club	1½ - 2½	PricewaterhouseCoopers	6
54	4	2	Persatuan Catur Wanita Malaysia	½ - 3½	786 Chess Club	5
55	5	3	MBS Kuala Lumpur	1 - 3	Spawn 2009	4
56
57	Round 7
58
59	No.	SNo.	Team	Res.	Team	SNo.
60	1	4	Spawn 2009	1 - 3	GOLDIS Bhd	10
61	2	5	786 Chess Club	4 - 0	MBS Kuala Lumpur	3
62	3	6	PricewaterhouseCoopers	4 - 0	Persatuan Catur Wanita Malaysia	2
63	4	7	Tan & Tan	1½ - 2½	Nusa Mahkota Chess Club	1
64	5	8	SMS Gold	4 - 0	DAT Chess Centre	9
65
66	Round 8
67
68	No.	SNo.	Team	Res.	Team	SNo.
69	1	10	GOLDIS Bhd	-	DAT Chess Centre	9
70	2	1	Nusa Mahkota Chess Club	-	SMS Gold	8
71	3	2	Persatuan Catur Wanita Malaysia	-	Tan & Tan	7
72	4	3	MBS Kuala Lumpur	-	PricewaterhouseCoopers	6
73	5	4	Spawn 2009	-	786 Chess Club	5
74
75	Round 9
76
77	No.	SNo.	Team	Res.	Team	SNo.
78	1	5	786 Chess Club	-	GOLDIS Bhd	10
79	2	6	PricewaterhouseCoopers	-	Spawn 2009	4
80	3	7	Tan & Tan	-	MBS Kuala Lumpur	3
81	4	8	SMS Gold	-	Persatuan Catur Wanita Malaysia	2
82	5	9	DAT Chess Centre	-	Nusa Mahkota Chess Club	1
83
84	Program Swiss-Manager developed and copyright © by DI.Heinz Herzog, 1230 Vienna Joh.Teufelg.39-47/7/9,
85	Mail:h.herzog@swiss-manager.at,homepage http://swiss-manager.at, User:IA Ignatius Leong, 2007/03/14