Malaysian Chess Festival supporting events.

35th ASTRO MERDEKA RAPID OPEN TEAM CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP 2015 (OPEN) 12th Malaysia Chess Festival 2015

Chess in Malaysia reached a new level this year with 104 teams competing in the open event and 47 in the under 12 section. That makes 604 competitors and at least the same number of parents, coaches, organisers,  officials, volunteers and spectators. We took up the entire fifth floor of the Cititel Hotel in the Midvalley shopping centre.

It was a miracle that the event ran relatively smoothly despite several challenges. One (continuing) challenge was that the lifts are being upgraded so a crowd was always gathered in the lobby and the stairwell got a considerable workout. The air conditioning was not quite up to the job but the staff heroically managed to keep the water dispensers filled and clean glasses supplied. Children of all ages littered the floor in chaotic fashion and getting to ones board was always tricky. Here a snapshot during a quiet time. It got a lot worse than this!   

The Doubleroo Chess Academy fielded a team with a ring in, Polgar Chess Asia trainer, Carlo Lorenzo. The concept of the tournament was that the average rating of the team had to be under 2250 so there was quite a bit of juggling going on. Also one could place players in any order.Since we had David Liu (1461) on our team we could have fielded Magnus Carlsen and still come in under the limit. But he could have hardly started better than Carlo who won his first 7 games. 

Brodie McClymont  scored 6/9 on board 1 against the strongest field including a crushing win against GM Oliver Dimakiling 2526.

David Liu played bravely against a 1922 average field scoring a win and three draws. He was also handicapped by some instructions from his coach, which I will not share with you, sorry.

David Liu

As for yours truly, I got a bit lucky in a few games and contributed 8.5/9.

Together we won five matches, drew two and lost two by the slimmest of margins (2.5/1.5). With just a little more undeserved luck we could have easily finished on the podium. Still 15th out of 104 teams (we were seeded 24th) was a very satisfactory result.

Meanwhile Jacob Chan from Kings Christian College GC , the fourth member of our "delegation", joined the INDUS International School team and scored 5/9 against a 1522 average field.

I have to say it again, I love the concept of having a maximum average rating.

For full results click here

Jacob Chan

Chess is a family affair in the Chan household. Jordan played in the U10 today while Mum Audrey kept the lads fed and hydrated.

Audrey and Jordan Chan.

Today the boys played in the 6th SWENSEN’S AGE-GROUP CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP 2015 but since the results have not been posted yet and I went shopping after the 5th round I can't bring you the results yet.

Stay tuned for reports and games from the 12th IGB DATO’ ARTHUR TAN MALAYSIAN OPEN CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP which starts tomorrow morning at the unnatural time of 9 am. It is now 11.59 pm.

                                                     Groan.....