CAIYOK NG6 AND ZAIASRON!

KL Open or its long name, DYTM Raja Nazrin Shah International Open Chess Championship, will kick off this morning at 9 o'clock. None of GiLoCatur's children take part like last year where GiLoCatur's daughter took part. 

Based on the pairings of Round 1 here, 82 players including ten (10) Grand Masters (GM) will take part in the tournament. GiLoCatur would like to wish "Good Luck" to all the participants especially the following two chess buddies. SALUTE TO ALL THE TWENTY (27) MALAYSIANS WHO DARE TO TAKE PART IN THE TOURNAMENT!

Zali or Ng6 of RHB

Zaiasron of BSN

The KL Open - GiLoCatur Looks at R4 Results (Top 20 Boards)

The results of top 20 boards of Round 4

Based on the above top 20 boards R4 results, there are few upsets based on ratings. The big one in GiLoCatur's eyes is the defeat of the top seed, GM Sanchez. Playing white at the seventh board, FM Kyi Thein of Myanmar who played against Anis in the first round, was surely a proud and happy man after securing a win over the top seed. Two other wins over higher-rated opponents by lower-rated players were recorded by Indonesian chess WFMs - Medina Warda Aulia and Dewi aa Citra. The former defeated a WIM from Uzbekistan, Muminova Nafisa who drew with GM Sanchez in the second round. While the latter beat an FM from Brunei.

There were five draws among the top 20 boards in the fourth round played yesterday afternoon. Mr Lim Kian Hwa continues his fine run when he drew with Vietnamese WGM at table 13. Besides him, three other Malaysian players - Nabila, Li Ting and William Kah Howe, were playing on top 20 boards. All the three of them unfortunately could not yet win over their respective higher-rated opponents. 

GiLoCatur wishes BEST OF LUCK to all the Malaysian players especially to GiLoCatur's only daughter, Anis Fariha, in the next rounds. Keep playing hard and stay focus in the tournament. Gain as much as possible the experience and exposure in the world-class tournament.

The KL Open - Round 3 Results for the Malaysian Players

Round 3 had completed and the results had been published in chess-results.com at this link. Below are a portion of it that highlighted the results for the Malaysian players.

R3 results of the Malaysian players

GiLoCatur would like to congratulate Mr Lim Kian Hwa and WCM Nur Nabila for their outstanding wins over their respective higher-rated opponents in the third round played this morning. Mr Lim who hails from Sarawak and is rated at 1905, managed to outplay his 2300+-rated opponent from Philippines playing white.

Lim Kian Hwa (photo from Gilachess)

Meanwhile Nabila (below picture) who was playing black won against a Philippines chess master whose Elo ratings is 300 higher than her. Syabas and tahniah to both Mr Lim and Nabila. Keep it up! Hopefully, their wins will motivate the other Malaysian chess players to have superb performance in the tournament.

WCM Nur Nabila

GiLoCatur also would like to congratulate Anis for her first win in the tournament. ANIS BOLEH!

The KL Open - Round 2

Round 2 - top 20 boards

All the Malaysian players were defeated by their respective opponents in the first round except LZR and De Juan. The former won against unrated opponent while the latter drew with an FM from Brunei. 

wow, his writings is beautiful 

man, what I am doing

mmmm where is my opponent?

The KL Open - The Photo Journalism

1st round to start 

Justin Ong vs GM Sanchez, the top board

IM Mas vs IM Das from India

Blue is our favourite colour ...

LZR is ready for the 1st round

Is he praying?

The KL Open Had Just Begun

KL Open & Invitational  Masters

The short name is KL Open and Masters Open. Its long and official name is DYTM Raja Dr Nazrin Shah Invitational Master and International Open Chess Championships. Two FIDE-rated chess tournaments are held concurrently at the Swiss Garden Hotel beginning today. One is a nine-round-robin-format tournament played by ten chess masters including the Malaysian top player, IM Mas Hafizulhelmi. The other is a nine-round-SWISS-format tournament participated by sixty six chess players from 17 different countries. 

Among the 66 players in the KL Open are 16 Malaysians including GiLoCatur's 13-year-old daughter, Anis Fariha. The Malaysian pack is led by current national champion, NM Lim Zhuo Ren (Elo 2132) who few weeks ago had participated in the world junior chess championship. The majority of the Malaysian players are juniors who are in their teens. It is quite obvious that the junior chess players are from three states - namely Selangor, Penang and Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur (WPKL) which dominate the MSSM chess.  

Malaysians in the KL Open

Roshan, Irfan Haqqim, Nur Nabila, and Anis are the Selangor MSSM squad. William (Kah Howe), De Juan and De Zen are from the Penang MSSM team. Meanwhile, Dilwen who has Elo ratings jump from 1400+ to 1800+, along with Li Ting were in Penang last June representing WPKL.

Phillipines and Indonesia have ten and nine players in the KL Open respectively. The former is led by the top seed in the tournament, GM Sanchez, that includes four IMs and Malaysian-based Ian Udani. While the latter is led by its two GMs - Susanto Megaranto and Cerdas Barus. Among the Indonesian contingent are WGM Irene Sukandar, two IMs and three WFMs. There are six Singaporean and four Vietnamese players in the tournament.

GOOD LUCK to all the participants. To all the Malaysian chess enthusiasts, come drop by at the tournament venue to watch and enjoy the chess games and battles.

KL Open - Some Statistics

Come this April 7, the Malaysian chess community has the opportunity to see several foreign Grandmasters battle on chess boards in our soil. About twenty (20) Malaysian chess players will get the chance to play among the titled players.

How many titled players will participate? As of 1st April, 62 titled players including 12 GMs, 4 WGMs, 20 IMs and 3 WIMs are among the players list. Malaysia has 5 titled players participating. Only three countries are represented by more than 20 players - India and Indonesia are the other two besides the host country, Malaysia.

IM Mok will lead the Malaysian players. He is the only one who are among the 2400s Elo ratings. FM Nicholas Chan is not far behind. Out of 20, only four is yet FIDE-rated. GiLoCatur hopes all the four will get the FIDE-ratings in this tournament. Among the list, there are Azman Hisham siblings and Lee brothers. Only two women, actually young ladies among the Malaysian group. GiLoCatur notices that it is about equal for both seniors and juniors.

GiLoCatur hopes all our players have made enough preparation both physically and mentally. Be confident, brave and strong especially to debutants and juniors in facing strong opponents. Surely, precious experience and exposure will be gained in the tournament.

BEST OF LUCK! SELAMAT BERJUANG & BERJAYA!