1st Russian Embassy Chess Open(17/06/2007)

19 players participated in the 1st Russian Embassy Chess Open on Sunday, the 17th of June 2007. Participation was by invitation only.

The event was held at the Russian Cultural Centre along Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur,

The invited participants were Tham Tick Hong (MAS), IM Jimmy Liew/NM Tony Tay (MAS) , Dr Wahid Karim (MAS), NM Yeoh Chin Seng (MAS), Gregory Lau (MAS) , Steve Retallick (AUS), Ng Ek Teong (MAS) , Bernard Ng (MAS) , Zinyaddin Akiyev (AZE), Cornelius Bong (MAS), Seto Kwai Mun (MAS), Leo Belov (RUS) , Chan Mun Fye (MAS) , Anthony Tan (MAS) , John Law (MAS) , Sergey Drobyshevsky (RUS) , Andrey Stephanov (RUS), Nikolay Savenko (RUS).

Even Dato Tan made an appearance at that event. For a full report and results visit www.kids4chess.com

From Colin Madhavan:

The 1st Russian Embassy Chess Open 2007 started out as a friendly match but ended up as a tournament. A group of strong ’senior’ Malaysian chess players agreed to play Chess with a few Russians on a quiet Sunday morning to celebrate the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the Russian Federation and Malaysia.

So though the event is considered strong by most standards, we managed to organise a chess event with very little costs involved (no entry fees, no cash prizes). The players played for the love of Chess. For example, NM Tony Tay and Chan Mun Fye played some Chess after a very long absence, and they played well. And also, IM Jimmy Liew and NM Tony Tay shared a tournament spot by playing as a pair, the former playing 3 rounds and the latter 2. In fact, the others who attended the event include NM Ng Ek Leong, NM Mok Tze Meng, Tan Hong Ghee and Hamid Majid. Believe me, this is the kind of comradeship in Chess that we all look forward to.

Dato’ Tan’s presence was really the icing on the cake, as he not only attended the opening ceremony, but also generously gave away copies of his book to all who played in the event. It was a great day for Chess when a group of Chess friends sit down and play Chess!

Hooray to Chess!!

Comments section has been closed for this article.

Gambit Publication Junior Tourney (07/07/2007)

GAMBIT PUBLICATIONS STAR OPEN junior team chess tournament will be held at, Sekolah Tengku
Ampuan Rahimah secondary school. The tournament is scheduled to be held on the 7th of July 2007.

Here’s the press release for the event:-

“GAMBIT PUBLICATIONS STAR OPEN 2007”: An Open Invitation to all junior chess competitors nationwide

Over RM 1,000 worth of prizes awaits winners of the team chess competition

________________________________________________________________________

Klang, Monday June 25th 2007:

The Chess Club of Sekolah Tengku Ampuan Rahimah (STAR), Klang officially announced that it is organizing the upcoming GAMBIT PUBLICATIONS STAR OPEN 2007 on the 7th of July 2007, from 8 a.m. to 4.45 p.m. This team chess competition is open to all secondary school students throughout Malaysia. Each team must be made up of 4 players and the entrance fee is RM 40 per team.

As the main sponsor for the chess event, GAMBIT PUBLICATIONS (www.gambitbooks.com) is putting up chess books totaling RM 470 in retail price as prizes for winners of the competition. This is on top of the total prize money of RM 510 and trophies for the winners. With over RM 1,000 of total prize worth, this is definitely the richest junior team chess event in the royal town of Klang.

The Sekolah Tengku Ampuan Rahimah (STAR) has a proud tradition of producing top chess talents who also excel in their studies. These include names like Tan Wei Sin, Law Zhe Kang and Edwin Lam. The teacher-advisor of the Chess Club, Mr. P. Pandiyan, said that, “We have consistently seen chess talents also doubling up as top students not only in their own classes, but also amongst their age-group peers. In many ways, I believe that chess is a good method to help youngsters rationalize their thinking and develop problem-solving skills that would come in handy in their everyday life.”

Echoing Mr. Pandiyan, Grandmaster Murray Chandler, the Managing Director of UK-based Gambit Publications Ltd, described the publisher’s involvement in sponsoring this chess event as a first in Malaysia. “As the world’s premier chess book publisher, we are committed to creating innovative and instructive chess books suitable for all standards of players. We hope that by way of chess books’ sponsorship for this event, chess players here in Malaysia will benefit from our innovative and instructive Gambit chess books.”

To be held at the school premises, there are two separate categories of competition: the boys and the girls’ categories. The time control is 30 minutes each person and the participating teams will have to compete in all 6 rounds (SWISS system). The total accumulated score for the team will determine the final standings for each team. For more information about the tournament, please contact Ng Ke Voon at (+6016 996 0791) or P. Pandiyan (+6012 315 7130).

* The End –

For media queries, please contact Edwin Lam: +6016 2757376 / elcwai2002@yahoo.com