Swensen's (Merdeka) Age Group Rapid Open

It is about an hour past midnite of Sunday, 21st August 2011. Today at 9.00am, the 2nd Swensen's Age Group Rapid Open will begin. GiLoCatur prefers to call it the Merdeka Age Group. Such is the only event GiLoCatur's children take part in this year Malaysian Chess Festival. It was the same last year. Last year, GiLoCatur's daughter did not take part due to UPSR examination. But this year, she will participate in Under 14 age group. Since Fikri is busy preparing for his PMR exam this year, he will miss the event. Nine-year-old Fahim, GiLoCatur's youngest child, will play in Under 10 category. Last year he was among nearly sixty players who took part in Under 8 category. Fahim scored 5 points and was  ranked eleventh overall.

Let's check some statistics and info regarding the participants.

Under 8 category

total participants = 77 players including several from Iran and Singapore

the top 3 seeds:

1. Tan Jun Ying
2. Muhammad Faqih Aminuddin
3. Goh Jie Yi

Last year, the total number of players in this category is only 57. So, this year it is 20 more.

Under 10 category

total participants = 136 players including several from Iran and Singapore

the top 3 seeds:

1. Wong Yinn Loong
2. Yee Jian Yang
3. Ng Jen Sheng

Fahim is seeded 15th. The number of participants this year is almost double than last year which is 78. What GiLoCatur observes regarding the ratings of the top 3 seeds, this year is higher than last year, 1500s to 1400s.

Under 12 category

total participants = 91 players including several from Iran and Singapore

the top 3 seeds:

1. Zelesco Carl (Australia)
2. Tan Tze Lin Tommy (Singapore)
3. Tan Yong Zhao

Last year there were only 53 participants in this event. The top two seeds are foreigners. The Malaysian players can test against the Australian top seed who has ELO ratings of 2013.

Under 14 category

total participants = 58 players including several from Iran 

the top 3 seeds:

1. Shreyes Subramaniam
2. Javanshir Omid (Iran)
3. Mohammadi Kiarash (Iran)

Anis who is seeded fifth in this category may have the chance to play against the Iranian players. This category attracted only 34 players last year.

Under 16 category

total participants = 13 players including several from Hong Kong and Iran 

the top 3 seeds:

1. Lee T H Bryan (Hong Kong)
2. Vinton Wong Hsien Loong
3. Sarika Subramaniam

This category attracts the least number of participants. Only two more this year compared to last year. Can the Malaysian players stop Bryan Lee from Hong Kong being the champion? Just wait until the age group championship completes.

So, in short, this year edition attracts many more participants. Hopefully, the number will be higher next year. See you at the Cititel BALLROOM in about 7 hours.