Kejohanan Catur Di Bulan Ramadhan

Hari ini adalah hari Jumaat, penghulu hari. Esok umat Islam di Malaysia akan mula menjalani ibadah puasa bagi tahun ini. 

Seharusnya bulan Ramadhan al-Mubarak adalah bulan yang ditunggu-tunggu dan dinanti-nanti oleh semua umat Islam. Kerana ia merupakan satu bulan yang penuh keberkatan dan rahmat Allah. GiLoCatur amat menunggu-nunggu kehadiran bulan Ramadhan tahun ini. Tidak sabar rasanya untuk menjalani ibadah puasa, menunaikan solat tarawih, membaca Al-Quran dan pelbagai amalan lain. 

Semoga hati yang kotor dan berdaki dapat dibersihkan. Semoga ibadah puasa dapat disempurnakan dengan baik. Semoga solat tarawih tiada yang 'miss'. Semoga Al-Quran dapat dikhatamkan sekurang2nya sekali. Semoga rajin bersedekah di bulan yang mulia ini. 

GiLoCatur berhasrat untuk 'bercuti' membawa anak2 ke pertandingan catur di bulan Ramadhan. Anak2 pun tidak berminat untuk sertai sebarang kejohanan catur di bulan Ramadhan. Setakat ini, hanya kejohanan catur Swensen Age Group yang pernah disertai anak2 GiLoCatur. 

TETAPI mungkin di tahun ini ada sedikit perubahan. Swensen's Age Group akan diadakan dalam bulan Syawal iaitu seminggu selepas hari raya. Seingat GiLoCatur, ada tiga kejohanan catur yang telah dijadualkan dalam bulan Ramadhan nanti. Dua daripadanya adalah anjuran Insofar Chess Academy.

Ahad ini iaitu pada 22hb Julai, Insofar menganjurkan kejohanan catur peringkat umur atau age group di Seksyen 9, Shah Alam. Empat kumpulan umur atau age group yang dipertandingkan adalah Bawah U7, U9, U12 dan U15. Ini merupakan satu peluang keemasan kepada para penduduk Shah Alam untuk mengisi masa hujung minggu anak2 mereka. Jika tiada aral, GiLoCatur juga akan hadir membawa anak bongsu, Fahim, ke bangunan AMPAC Shah Alam yang terletak berhampiran McDonalds Seksyen 9, Shah Alam. Selepas sertai kejohanan catur, bolehlah berbuka puasa bersama keluarga di sekitar Bandaraya Shah Alam. Sila klik di sini untuk maklumat lanjut.

Di minggu berikutnya pula iaitu pada hari Ahad, 29hb Julai, kejohanan catur Insofar (combined) bagi bulan Julai akan diadakan di Pusat Catur Arthur Tan, Kompleks Wilayah. Pertandingan adalah terbuka dan mengikut flyernya, adalah national-rated. GiLoCatur tidak menyertai sebarang kejohanan catur national-rated dalam suku yang lepas. Hati amat meronta-ronta untuk bertanding dengan harapan untuk menaikkan rating kebangsaan. Nak tengok setakat mana improvement setelah sparring, main catur online dan buat puzzle. Bak kata rakan catur GiLoCatur, Fauzi Ahim "ADE BRANI?" Sila klik di sini untuk info lanjut.

Dare To Participate?

Dua minggu kemudian iaitu kira2 seminggu sebelum Eidul Fitri, satu kejohanan catur national-rated akan berlansung di ICT Seksyen 7, Shah Alam. Kejohanan catur tersebut diberi nama "Battle Chess Selangorku" anjuran Cerdik Catur. GiLoCatur amat berharap tiada aral mendatang untuk sertainya. Ia bakal menjadi satu pengalaman baru bermain catur di ICT. Tambahan pula, GiLoCatur dan keluarga boleh berbuka puasa bersama keluarga adik ipar yang tinggal berhampiran lokasi kejohanan. Klik di sini untuk info lanjut.

Diharap rakan2 catur seperti 17ChessClub, geng Bilut dan geng Subang ADE BRANI menyahut cabaran.

Akhir kalam, SELAMAT BERPUASA! SELAMAT BERBUKA! SELAMAT BERTARAWIH! kepada semua warga muslim terutamanya rakan2 catur SeMalaya.

MARHABAN YA SHAHRU ROMADHAN ...

Are you staying in Shah Alam or area nearby?

Do you want to get national rating?

Or Do you want to improve your national rating?

If the answer is YES, let's participate in the following chess tournament.

LET'S PARTICIPATE!

Click here for more details.

Last January 2012 Weekend Chess Wrap Up

It is 10 minutes past midnite. Monday, 30th January just began. Two more days to go and the second month of the year, February, will come. It will be a special February this year since it will have 29 days which occurs every four years. 

There are three chess tournaments held yesterday as GiLoCatur aware of. A blitz event in Tambun, Ipoh. A state selection tourney in Kota Kinabalu. An Insofar chess tournament at DATCC, Kuala Lumpur. There were two chess tournaments took place in the eastern states - Terengganu and Kelantan, on Saturday. KC2012 or Kelantan Closed was held in Machang for two days on Friday, 27th and Saturday, 28th. A secondary school in Dungun hosted a one-day chess tournament for Terengganu school pupils. GiLoCatur was wrong to mention that the Insofar combined tournament is the first national-rated tournament of the year. Actually, the tournament in Dungun called Aizek Back-2-School chess challenge will be the first one.

Isn't this a good sign for Malaysian chess? 

Let's look at the number of participants. 

1. Insofar combined tournament - 119
2. Limau Bali Blitz - ?
3. NC2012 Sabah Chess Selection - 54
4. Aizek Back-2-School chess challenge - 198
5. KC2012 - 36 + 7 + 22 + 45 + 36 =  146

In total, more than 500 participants took part in five chess events in the weekend. Two of them are national-rated as per promoted by the organizers. Rating is one of the motivation for many Malaysian chess players. Based on rating, they know whether they improve or otherwise. GiLoCatur strongly believes that it is time for the MCF or national rating to be improvised. The rating should have an ID like FIDE rating. The DOB or Date of Birth needs to be included and updated. It is important to ensure the correctness of the database like to have the Top 100 Malaysian Juniors or Top 10 Malaysian Under 12 or etc.

One good factor for Malaysian chess progress is more and more chess tournaments are covered and published on the net. The pairings and results are published in chess-results.com. Thus, all the Malaysian chess enthusiasts are able to know who are the winners. GiLoCatur strongly believes that the Malaysian chess will keep progressing and improving. And chess tournaments will be held almost on every weekend. The big challenge is to attract more and more people to play chess.

Aizek Back-2-School Chess Challenge - The Winners, Final Ranking

NC2012 Sabah Chess Selection - Final Ranking, FR in chess-results.com

KC2012 - Open, Women, Under 12, Girls U18, Boys U18

Let's take a look at the Insofar combined tourney results.

Below are the Top 10 for both starting rank and Final Ranking.

Top 10 start rank

Top 10 Final Ranking
Click here for the full final ranking

It is interesting to note that Abang Bro could not be among the Top 10 in the final ranking even though he is the top seed. He lost only twice to Dr Zaidan and Sumant, the eventual champion. It is also interesting to note that two 1500-rated player won the final two slots. One of them is Jonathan Augustine, a player to watch for GiLoCatur. He has been participating in many local chess tournaments lately and performed quite well. He beat Camilia Johari and Abdul Haq in this tournament. If Jonathan maintains his well performance like this he may rise to the top and improves his rating.

It is also interesting to note that no woman or girl player among the Top 10 Final Ranking. The absence of several top women players like the Azman Hisham sisters - WCM Nur Nabila & WFM Nur Najiha, the Puteri siblings - Rifqah & Munajjah, and WNMs - Alia, Li Ting, Nisa' and Mi Yen, just to name a few, weakens the women challenge.

Congratulation to one of GiLoCatur's buddies, Ng6 for his quite-well performance after scoring 5/7 points. Go to his blog here to see the tourney's photo galleries. All below photos are taken from his blog. (Ng6, mohon izin guna pakai gambor2 kome ya! he he he )

GiLoCatur's chess buddy, Ng6

The champion, Sumant Subramaniam (below picture) came with his father and siblings to the tournament. His younger brother, Shreyes, performed quite well with 4 wins, 2 draws and 1 defeat scoring 5/7 points. Syabas and tahniah to Sumant.

Sumant

Bravo and salute to Mr Zaki Mat Yeop, an active chess organizer and chess player. Hopefully, he will keep organizing more and more chess tourneys. Kudos to Stonemaster, another active chess organizer, too for promoting and marketing well the event.

Mr Zaki

Few Hours To Go for The 1st Malaysian National-rated Chess Tourney (INSOFAR Combined Tournament)

GiLoCatur heard that there are nearly 130 pra-registered participants for today's INSOFAR Combined Tournament, believed to be the first national-rated event of the year. Actually, there are three tournaments  - Rapid Open, Junior Scholarship and Open (non-junior) Scholarship, combined in a single event. That is a good news for Malaysian chess.

Unfortunately, GiLoCatur and the kids can not participate. GiLoCatur would like to wish BEST OF LUCK to all who will participate. Play your best to improve your national rating. Or maybe to earn your first national rating.  

Please contact Mr Zaki Mat Yeop at 017.203.2051 for further related inquiry.

FIVE Chess Tourneys This Weekend, Ya'll!

It is going to be fun and thrilling for all the Malaysian chess lovers this weekend.

At least FIVE chess tournaments to be held. What are the tournaments?

1. 17th Kepong Juniors
2. Royal Selangor Club Annual Rapid Open
3. Johor Rapid Chess Open
4. Ampangan Chess Open
5. Insofar Kamunting Chess Invitational 

The first one is a nationally rated tournament to be held at SJK (C) Kepong 2. The tournament is for the age groups of U8, U10, U12 and U16. The junior participants will play seven rounds of 25-minute-per-player match.

The second tournament is held on two weekends. The venue of the tournament will be at Bukit Kiara Royal Selangor Club. Three (3) rounds will be played this weekend and the other four (4) will be held on next weekend on the Hari Raya Haji. The champion will be awarded six hundreds Malaysian Ringgit and a trophy.

The third one is organized by Johor Chess Association. There are three categories - Open, Under 16 and Under 12, in the tournament. Interestingly, the tournament will be held at the 35th floor of JB City Square Tower.

While many N9ers will travel to Shah Alam on the weekend night to support their state team in the final Malaysian Cup, its Ampangan Plaza will host a chess tournament during the weekend. The age group - Under 18 and Under 12, will be held on Saturday while the Open category is scheduled on Sunday. In this tournament, only SIX rounds will be played.

The last tournament is organized by Insofar Chess Academy. It is for the first time that its tournament to be held in Perak, KAMUNTING to be exact. The registration is still open and the tournament fee is only RM20.

sms your name to the above hp no

So, you can choose any of the above five chess tournaments. Lots of prizes to be won. What a treat for the Malaysian chess community. Where GiLoCatur and the kids will be? Let's wait and see!

Insofar Prestige Final Tournament

Sunday, 25th September 2011.

GiLoCatur's eldest son, Fikri, emerged champion in the Insofar Prestige Final Tournament held today. He won all his four games. In the first round, Fikri played black against Andi Andika Putra. His second round opponent was Pravin Kumar who was the first runner up. In the third round, Fikri faced Kuhan Kovalan playing black. In the final round, Fikri who played white defeated Mohamed Thaqif. As the champion, Fikri received a RM500 money prize.

Prestige Finalists in action

Rd 4 : Fikri (left) vs Thaqif (right)

Insofar Prestige Final Champion

Insofar Prestige Finalists

The Details on The Insofar 6th Junior Scholarship Chess Tournament

The Details on The Insofar 1st Open Scholarship Chess Tournament

SEPTEMBER 2011, The Eidulfitri Month

The month of September for GiLoCatur is the Eidulfitri month.

The first weekend, GiLoCatur and family went to Sijangkang, Labuan Dagang and Jenjarom for Hari Raya visit. Then, by the second weekend GiLoCatur was already tired for having a daily routine of sending and fetching GiLoCatur's second child, Anis Fariha, for five days since she was one of the participants in the DYTM Raja Dr Nazrin Shah International Chess Open. Still long way to go for her in chess. Hopefully, she learns a lot from the tournament and gains more knowledge and experience.

The third weekend was just over. GiLoCatur started to get flu and cough during the long (three-day weekend. Raya Open houses were held a lot. GiLoCatur and family also attended several of them including a Raya Gathering cum Reunion of GiLoCatur's old secondary school mates in Bangi. No chess activity that GiLoCatur and the kids participate. At the DATCC, there were two events held. One is the 1st Kelantan FIDE-rated round robin tournament. The other one is the training session for the Malaysian SEA Games chess team. At the international scene, the Malaysian chess fraternity joins chess enthusiasts from all over the world to follow the FIDE World Chess Cup. 

How about next weekend?   

Insya Allah, GiLoCatur will be at the DATCC. Insofar Chess Academy will organize four chess events on Sunday, 25th September. Two of them are final tournaments - ELITE Open and PRESTIGE Junior. The format for both tourneys are six SWISS rounds of G/25 (i.e. Rapid 25 minutes). The other event is called the SUPER KIDS Junior Weekend specially organized for Under 12 years old chess players. Since the UPSR exam is over, the event is specially tailored for primary school pupils. Check out and download the details from this link.  

Below are some details on the Insofar Chess Events held on this coming weekend.

Insofar Chess Events

1) 2nd ELITE Open Final

When ? Sunday 25th September, 9.00am - 6.00pm

Format : 6 G/25 (Rapid 25 minutes) rounds

Fee : 10 Malaysian Ringgit

Participants : a) Those attended the Semi Final stage    b) Those absent during the 1st edition ELITE Open Final

The total money prizes - RM 6,000

2) PRESTIGE Junior Tournament Final

When ? Sunday 25th September, 10.00am - 6.00pm

Format : 6 G/25 (Rapid 25 minutes) rounds

Fee : 10 Malaysian Ringgit

Participants : All the 20 players qualified from the semi final stage

The total money prizes - RM 3,000

3) The 1st OPEN Scholarship Tournament 

4) The 6th Junior Scholarship Tournament

Insofar ELITE Chess Tournaments

Do we have chess tournament in here in Malaysia this coming weekend, 15th and 16th January? YES, we do! One of them is as per below details.

ELITE JUNIOR – Sat 15 January 2011

ELITE OPEN – Sun 16 January 2011

Time : 9.00 a.m

Fees : RM50

Limited ONLY to players who have qualified from the Quarter Final Stage!

Time control : 25 min 4 round Swiss

Consolation PRIZE (as stated from the beginning)

1st – RM100

2nd – RM80

3rd – RM70

The top 8 finishers will be selected for the FINAL STAGE and have a chance to win the following prizes:

PRIZE FOR FINAL

Champion RM2000

2nd RM1000

3rd RM700

4th RM500

5th RM400

6th RM350

7th 300

8th 250

_______

RM5500

Qualifiers who attended this stage but LOST, can attend next series of Elite Tournament with fees RM10 only per stage.

INSOFAR Elite Junior Tournament

Satu lagi kejohanan anjuran Insofar kepada pemain-pemain catur junior (Bawah 20) yang berminat. Konsep yang sama dengan Insofar Elite Open Tournament - format & hadiah kejohanan. Hadiah wang RM2,000 dan RM1,00o kepada juara dan naib juara di pusingan terakhir, pada pandangan GiLoCatur, adalah yang terbesar kepada pemain-pemian catur junior di negara ini.

Stage 1 akan diadakan hujung minggu ini di Subang Permai, Shah Alam. Stage-stage berikut dijadualkan seperti berikut:

Stage 2 : 30 Oktober 2010 (Sabtu), KL

Stage 3 : November 2010

Stage 4 : Disember 2010

Para Penaja :

1. HBM Group of Companies (Shah Alam)
2. Az-Zahrah Private Hospital (Bandar Baru Bangi)
3. Ibsul Holdings Sdn Bhd (Shah Alam)

Jadi, kepada pemain2 catur junior di negara ini, ARE YOU READY TO TAKE THE CHALLENGE? ARE YOU THE BEST MALAYSIAN JUNIOR CHESS PLAYER?

INSOFAR Elite Open Tournament

Don't think that there are no chess tournaments during the month of the fasting month RAMADHAN. In fact, this weekend on Sunday 15th August which is the fifth day of fasting to all the muslims, the first stage of the INSOFAR ELITE OPEN Tournament will be held at the DAT Chess Center. Check out below details!

The tournament will be carried out in four stages like below details. The fee is only RM50 for each stage. Meaning that you just need RM200 in total for all the four stages. It is just about 10% of the champion prize money or 20% of the first runner up prize money. A good ROI or Return of Investment, isn't it? Even if you place last in the final fourth stage, you will still earn extra RM50 and surely four days of chess playing excitement and fun.

The prize money for both the champion, TWO THOUSAND RINGGITS, and the first runner up, ONE THOUSAND RINGGIT, after the end of the fourth (round robin) stage is quite impressive especially to GiLoCatur.

GiLoCatur thinks that the champion can be crowned and awarded the Malaysian Rapid Chess King title that requires consistent and solid performance from the first stage until the last stage.

So, book your place in the tournament and show how good you are in chess. DARE TO TAKE THE CHALLENGE TO BE THE MALAYSIAN RAPID CHESS KING?

More INSOFAR Fide-rated Tourneys

Mat Zaki Yeop of Insofar Chess Academy

(hp : 017.203.2051)

WOW! So many many FIDE-rated tournaments y'all!

1) SHAH ALAM - 4/6, 25/6, 2/7, 9/7, 16/7, 23/7, 30/7, 6/8, 13/8

2 categories - 10 players for each category

a. Open

b. Below FIDE 1800 + Not Rated

Format : 9 rounds RR (Round Robin) of 90 minutes + 30 seconds

Day : Fridays of the above dates

Time : 7.30 - 11.00pm

Venue : 3rd Floor, PKNS Complex

Total prizes :RM 1,500

Closing Date : 27 April 2010

2) BANGI - 22/5, 12/6, 26/6, 3/7, 10/7, 17/7, 24/7, 31/7, 7/8, 14/8, 21/8

3 categories - 12 players for each category

a. Open

b. Below FIDE 2000 + Not Rated

c. Below FIDE 1800 + Not Rated

Format : 11 rounds RR (Round Robin) of 90 minutes + 30 seconds

Day : Saturdays of the above dates

Time : 7.00 - 11.00pm

Venue : AMPAC, 10A Medan Pusat bandar 1, Seksyen 9, Bandar Baru Bangi

Total prizes :RM 2,700

Closing Date : 15 April 2010

3) KL - 3/6, 24/6, 1/7, 8/7, 15/7, 22/7, 29/7, 5/8, 12/8, 19/8, 26/8

5 categories - 12 players for each category

a. Open

b. Below FIDE 2200 + Not Rated

c. Below FIDE 2000 + Not Rated

d. Below FIDE 1800 + Not Rated

e. Below FIDE 1600 + Not Rated

Format : 11 rounds RR (Round Robin) of 90 minutes + 30 seconds

Day : Thursdays of the above dates

Time : 7.00 - 11.00pm

Venue : Level 4, DAT Chess Center, Kompleks Wilayah

Total prizes :RM 4,400

Closing Date : 27 April 2010

Update On Cheras Chess Challengers

At this moment, the final round i.e. seventh of the Cheras Chess Challengers is ongoing at Pusat Kecemerlangan Sukan Cochrane, KL. The four-day tournament is a FIDE-rated event and held for four days starting from Wednesday, 17th March 2010. Two chess academies - Cheras Chess Academy and Excel Chess Academy are the organisers with the help of PERCAWI, Persatuan Catur Wilayah. With another chess academy, Insofar which synonymes with Zaki Mat Yeop, Cheras Chess Academy sponsor the tournament that is rare in the country previously. 36 chess players including two rated foreigners are participating.

Going to the final round, the top seed Abedin Md Jaynul and the 4th seed Norazman Ismail are leading with 5.5/6 points. Both drew in the third round. Who is going to be the champion? Is either one of them or maybe Paul Parimanam if he wins and the top seed lose? Check out the final results and other tournament details at Kids4Chess website here.

Insofar FIDE-rated Tournament - Series #1 @PKNS Round 5 Pairing

On Friday night, 12 March 2010, the fifth round of Insofar Invitational FIDE-rated tournament will be held at PKNS. The first board is the battle between Abg Bro playing white and Ng6 playing black. Abg Bro is leading the pack with the perfect 4/4 points followed by Ng6 and Sahir with 3/4 points each.

Insofar FIDE-rated Tournament - Series #2

Another FIDE-rated tournament for Malaysian chess players!

What?

A FIDE-rated chess tournament - Series 2

The Organizer?

Insofar Chess Academy (since 1996)

Format?

7 rounds, time-control of 90 min + 30 seconds increment

The Arbiter?

Abdul Hamid Majid

When?

Every alternate Thursday nights starting on 18 February 2010. All the games will start at 7.00pm until 11.00pm.

Round 1 : 18/02/2010

Round 2 : 4/03/2010

Round 3 : 18/03/2010

Round 4 : 1/04/2010

Round 5 : 15/04/2010

Round 6 : 6/05/2010

Round 7 : 13/05/2010

Where?

DAT Chess Center, Level 4, Kompleks Wilayah, Kuala Lumpur

The fees?

Deposit (RM 80) - returnable and need to be paid earlier, Fee (RM 90) - can be paid before Round 1 starts

Number of players (participants)?

Limited to 20 players only (both rated & unrated). Rated players MUST be below 2200 Elo ratings.

What are the prizes?

The total money prize is RM 2,000

Champion - RM300

2nd - RM 200

3rd - RM 160

4th - RM 140

5th - RM 130

6th to 7th - RM 120

8th to 10th - RM 110

Additional : Best for Under 2000, Under 1900, Under 1800, Under 1700 & unrated category will receive RM 100 each.

Note :

All winners and participants will get certificate.

The organizer can make changes (except the prizes) if necessary.

1. Interested to participate? SMS your Full Name to 017-203 2051 for an application.
2. Once your application to participate is approved, bank in the deposit of RM 80, MUST BE WITHIN 24 HOURS AFTER THE APPROVAL, to MBB account - 158172-805863 (Mat Zaki)
3. SMS to inform date and time of bank in and bring the slip or receipt of payment during the tournament day.
4. Pay the entrance fee of RM 90 before Round 1 start.
5. If absent on any of the rounds, RM 20 per round will be deducted out of the deposit. The full deposit or its balance if there is absence will be returned on Round 7.
6. Chess clocks and sets are provided.

A Fide-Rated Chess Tournament in Shah Alam

Kompleks PKNS Shah Alam

What?

A FIDE-rated chess tournament

The Organizer?

Insofar Chess Academy (since 1996)

Format?

7 rounds, time-control of 90 min + 30 seconds increment

The Arbiter?

Abdul Hamid Majid

When?

Every alternate Friday nights starting on 15 January 2010. All the games will start at 7.30pm.

Round 1 : 15/01/2010

Round 2 : 29/01/2010

Round 3 : 12/02/2010

Round 4 : 26/02/2010

Round 5 : 12/03/2010

Round 6 : 26/03/2010

Round 7 : 9/04/2010

Where?

HBM Professional Training Center, #03-36, Third Floor, Kompleks PKNS, SHAH ALAM

The fees?

Deposit (RM 80) - returnable and need to be paid earlier, Fee (RM 90) - can be paid before Round 1 starts

Number of players (participants)?

Limited to 16 players only (both rated & unrated). Most rated players are below 2000 Elo ratings.

What are the prizes?

The total money prize is RM 1,400

Champion - RM300

2nd - RM 200

3rd - RM 150

4th - RM 130

5th - RM 120

6th to 10th - RM 100

Note :

All winners and participants get certificate.

The organizer can make changes (except the prizes) if necessary.

1. Interested to participate? SMS your Full Name to 017-203 2051 for an application.
2. Once your application to participate is approved, bank in the deposit of RM 80, MUST BE WITHIN 24 HOURS AFTER THE APPROVAL, to MBB account - 158172-805863 (Mat Zaki)
3. SMS to inform date and time of bank in and bring the slip or receipt of payment during the tournament day.
4. Pay the entrance fee of RM 90 before Round 1 start.
5. If absent on any of the rounds, RM 20 per round will be deducted out of the deposit. The full deposit or its balance if there is absence will be returned on Round 7.
6. Chess clocks and sets are provided.