40th Istanbul Women Chess Olympiad - MAS vs MDV in Round 4

Salam Kemerdekaan to all Malaysians.

Malaysia is celebrating its 55th independence today. Last night during the eve of the country's independence night Malaysian chess community must be joyous and proud when their chess heroes and heroines fought hard on the chess board over higher-rated opponents and had very commendable results. 

The Malaysian women chess squad managed to defeat the 64th seed Bolivia with the score of 3 to 1. Its second board player, Nur Nabila, stole the crucial winning point after she won against her higher-rated Bolivian WIM opponent. Both Mi Yen and Li Ting scored 2 important points earlier for Malaysia to make it 2 Malaysia, 0 Bolivia. After Najiha could not seal the victory for Malaysia, the burden went to her elder sister. GiLoCatur, as well as other Malaysian enthusiasts, was quite nervous to follow Nabila's game. Surely, it was a cheerful night for Malaysians when finally the game was over with victory for Nabila playing black. Syabas and tahniah to the Malaysian women's team.

Nabila (left) and her younger sister, Najiha (right)
photo from official website

It was a double joy for Malaysian chess followers since the two Malaysian IMs of the Malaysian men's squad playing in Round 3 last night against the 37th-rank Egypt won their respective games. Both IM Mok and IM Yee Weng won against their respective 2600-rated Grand Master (GM) opponents. Ofcourse, the Malaysian chess community hoped that a miracle to happen for the other two junior Malaysian men's team members - Li Tian and Zhuo Ren, to provide the important half point to seal the victory over the stronger Egyptian team. Unfortunately, both could not follow their seniors to have magical wins. Thus, Malaysia could only draw 2 - 2 with 37th rank Egypt. Well done boys! It is still an excellent result and performance.

In Round 4 tonight, Malaysia will face much tougher and stronger opponent, Moldova which is ranked 41st in the women section. While in the open's section, the Malaysian men's team will play against Finland. Best of Luck to both Malaysian teams.

Click here for full Round 4 team-pairings

Eight teams have full six match points up to Round 3. They are India, Czech Republic, Slovakia, France, Serbia, Russia, Poland and Argentina. These eight nations are in the top four tables in the fourth round in about two hours time.