This Weekend (2nd week of May) Chess Events

Another great weekend for chess activities and tournaments participated by Malaysian chess players. Let's GiLoCatur summarize here:

1. Kelantan Closed

This tournament was held to select the representatives for Kelantan state in the coming National Closed. It was held at the hall of a high school in Kota Bharu named SMK Putera. The format of play is G/45 (45 minute time control) of 6 rounds. Twenty four (24) players participated in the event to select two sponsored players for the National Closed.

The event is very well covered because few active bloggers were among the participants and the results were uploaded by the arbiter to the chess-results.com as per this link. Check out the following blogs - caturkelate, badbishops, My Chess Life and Naserov (warning! in Kelantanese dialect). Hairulov also wrote about the event in his blog here.

2. Perlis Closed

Perlis also held its chess event to select the players to play in the 2010 National Closed this June. Unlike Kelantan, Perlis uses G/25 rapid format (25 minute time control). The tournament which was held at a high school in Arau called SMK Syed Ahmad yesterday, uses six (6) rounds SWISS format. Go to Syed Chess blog here to know who will officially represent Perlis in the National Closed.

Two state closed championships completed. Two more will be held at the end of the month - Kedah and Perlis.

3. Mustari Open @ UiTM Dungun

GiLoCatur is very happy to note that a two-day chess tournament held on last Friday and Saturday at UiTM Dungun Terengganu had attracted more than 100 chess players. It was a good turn out indeed. Suhaidi Mustaffa had emerged as the champion after winning 7 games and drew one in the fourth round. Seeded 8th with the national rating of 1639, he edged Hashim Jusoh and Nor Azmi Mohd Noor to second and third placings respectively. Click here for the final ranking crosstable of the tournament.

4. First Saturday Chess Classics

Abdullah Che Hassan had won this event held at the Excel Chess Academy. He won 5 games and drew one to be crowned as the champion. Click here for the results details.

5. DATCC Sizzling Rapid

Ian Udani won all his games of 7/7 to be crowned as the champion in the DATCC Sizzling Rapid which had attracted about 32 chess players today. Check out here and here for further reports and photos.

6. Commonwealth Chess Championship

Four Malaysian junior chess players are participating in this event currently still on going in India. They are Sivanesan siblings from Seremban - Subramanian (U12) and Nithyalakshmi (U10), Jagathees Guna Balan (U8) and Nur Islamurni Haji Yahaya (U8). They are led by Sargeant Ismail Ahmad. They had played nine (9) rounds and two more to go. Hopefully, all of them will gain valuable experience and lesson from the tournament. As far as GiLoCatur remember, this tournament is the second international stint for Sivanesan siblings while the first for both Jagathees and Nur Islamurni. Check out at the chess-results.com here for their full results.

7. Stonemaster Laguna Park Chess Open

This tournament was held yesterday at Seri Nelayan Restaurant at De Laguna Park, Pulau Indah, Port Klang. About 78 chess players participated in two categories - the Open and the Juniors, including GiLoCatur. Check here for the final full results and here for the report by GiLoCatur.

Hopefully, GiLoCatur does not miss any other chess event. What a weekend for chess events and activities in Malaysia. It goes well with the celebration of the National Youth Day on 15th May.

[ Note : wow! it took GiLoCatur about two hours to write this entry. ]