The Special CINCO de MAYO 2010 Day

YES, TODAY IS CINCO DE MAYO (in Spanish) OR THE FIFTH MAY. IT IS THE 125TH (OR 126TH) DAY OF THE GREGORIAN YEAR. WHAT IS SO SPECIAL TODAY?

check it out ...

WHOSE BIRTHDAY IS IT? THE ANSWER IS NON OTHER THAN GILOCATUR'S LOVELY DAUGHTER, ANIS FARIHA OR SIMPLY KNOWN AS "KAKAK" IN THE FAMILY.

TODAY, ANIS WILL BE EXACTLY 12TH YEAS OLD. GILOCATUR WILL BRING ANIS TO THE JPN OFFICE THIS AFTERNOON TO REGISTER FOR AN IDENTITY CARD OR "IC" AS POPULARLY KNOWN AMONG THE MALAYSIANS.

HOW THE TIME FLIES! IT SEEMS JUST YESTERDAY THAT SHE IS THE CUTE AND SWEET GILOCATUR'S BABY (AS BELOW PICTURE). TODAY SHE HAS BECOME A YOUNG LADY ALREADY.

AYAH, IBU AND YOUR BROTHERS - "ABANG" FIKRI AND "ADIK" FAHIM, WOULD LIKE TO WISH OUR "KAKAK" ANIS FARIHA A VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

"SEMOGA PANJANG UMUR, MURAH REZEKI DAN SENTIASA DIRAHMATI ALLAH!"

WISH HER BEST OF LUCK IN THE COMING UPSR AND WHATEVER SHE DOES INCLUDING IN CHESS.

Poll # 3 Result

Hanya 88 yang memberi respons kepada poll - format time control pilihan. 39 % dari mereka yang prefer standards - 23 orang prefer 90 minit dan 11 orang prefer 60 minit / 1 jam. 40 orang atau 46% yang suka permainan rapid. Hanya 10 orang atau 11% yang gemarkan blitz.

Keputusan poll ini pada pandangan GiLoCatur memang reflect dengan format pertandingan catur yang paling banyak diadakan di negara ini. Diharap keputusan poll ini dapat memberi insight dan info kepada para penganjur pertandingan catur di negara ini.

"THE CHESS PLAYERS AND ENTHUSIASTS HAVE SPOKEN!"

Homestay - An Alternative Accommodation For Chess Players

the blog : http://homestayperlis.blogspot.com/

Homestay is getting popular in Malaysia. What is HOMESTAY actually? Below is as per what Wikipedia defines it.

"Homestay is a form of tourism and/or study abroad program that allows the visitor to rent a room from a local family to better learn the local lifestyle as well as improve their language ability"

Why GiLoCatur wants to talk about it? Actually, GiLoCatur is surveying a homestay for a stay in Kangar during the MSSM Chess Championship that will be held during the first week of the June school break. It is much cheaper rather than staying in a hotel. The chess contingent for MSSD Petaling Perdana was staying in a couple of homestays during the MSS Selangor Chess Championship in mid April. GiLoCatur believes staying at a homestay should be part of the plan for a chess family who participate in an out of town chess tournaments or events. For the NAG tournament in Penang in last March, GiLoCatur had to spend more than 400 Malaysian Ringgits for a stay of four days. If GiLoCatur and family stays at a homestay, it will cost half of the amount.

Therefore, GiLoCatur decides to stay at a homestay during the MSSM Chess Championship that GiLoCatur and family will stay overnight in Kangar for four or five nights. Surely, GiLoCatur needs not to learn about the language of the local family but the appropriately chosen surroundings of the homestay can be an excellent experience to learn a local lifestyle and for a vacation.

As of now, Mata Ayer Homestay (check out for further details in its blog as per above) is the first choice for GiLoCatur. From what GiLoCatur understands, the homestay has a pineapple garden that impresses GiLoCatur. Below is the picture of a "PELIK" or strange / abnormal pineapple taken from http://plantingpineapple.blogspot.com/.

So, folks especially for chess players who participate in chess tournaments in PERLIS, you have an alternative accommodation if you visit PERLIS and wants to enjoy the lifestyle there. All foreign visitors and holiday makers are also welcome to stay in the homestays to experience the Malaysian lifestyles especially the agroculture and fabolous natures. Just contact them to make the booking and arrangement.

ENJOY YOUR STAY AT A HOMESTAY!

DATCC Sizzling Rapid Open - Sunday, 16 May 2010

(picture from Gilachess)

Got an email from Najib Wahab (above picture) about two hours ago regarding a National-rated Rapid tournament that will be held at DATCC on Sunday, 16 May 2010.

Dear Chess Friends….

Following up from the previous DATCC Razzle Dazzle Rapid Chess Weekend, DATCC is coming up with its second rapid event, the DATCC Sizzling Rapid Chess Weekend which will be held at our center on 16th May 2010 starting with Player’s registration at 9:00am. This will be a nationally rated event and players will be seeded according to their National Rating points.

With more prize categories offered for the Sizzling edition, the organizer is confident that the series will attract a bigger crowd compared to the previous DATCC Razzle Dazzle Rapid that attracted 52 players from around the country. Aside from the top 5 winners for the open category, and the normal category prizes for Under 12, Best Ladies, Top Pair for those rated below 1600 and 1400, the Sizzling Rapid is adding 2 more category prizes for Veteran Above-45 and Unrated, to attract those who are first timer to the local chess scene.

The total prize fund that has been aside for this event is RM900 with the eventual winner to take home RM300.All in all, 13 prizes are up for grabs with 5 main prizes in the open section, 1 prize each for the Under-12, Ladies, Veteran and Unrated, and 2 prizes each for players with National Rating of below 1600 and 1400 respectively.

The entry fee for the DATCC Sizzling Rapid Chess Weekend is set at RM30 for adults and RM15 for children below 12 years of age. The event shall be played over 7 rounds (using Swiss Pairing System) starting with player’s registration at 9:00am, round 1 at 10:00am and is expected to conclude by 6:00pm on the same day. Time control is 25 minutes per player per game played to the finish

Should you require any further information or clarification, please feel free to contact Hamid Majid at aham@pc.jaring.my or +6019 315 8098, or Najib Wahab at najib.wahab@chess-malaysia.com at +6016 338 2542. The attached entry form is for your perusals and references, and for registration purposes.

See you there folks!

Najib Abdul Wahab

So, for all Malaysian chess players who want to improve their national ratings, join the tourney! Let's have fun playing rapid chess during that weekend. On Saturday in that same weekend, another rapid tourney at De Laguna Park organized jointly by Restoran Selera Nelayan and Cerdik Catur.

37th Selangor Open - In the Local Chess Blogs

Chess enthusiasts and fans especially the local Malaysians may get the updates and news about the 37th Selangor Open that just ended yesterday. Check out the following chess blogs:

1. http://selangorchess.blogspot.com/ - The official blog of the Chess Association of Selangor or simply known as CAS. It has the the picture of the winners.
2. http://www.gilachess.com/ and http://blog.gilachess.com/ by the "otai" Malaysian chess blogger, Andrew Ooi, who at the end could not participate in the tournament where he had pre-registered. As far as GiLoCatur acknowledges, Andrew of Gilachess has been chess blogging for many years.
3. http://hairulovchessmaniacs.blogspot.com/ by the other "otai" Malaysian chess blogger, Mr Hairul, that provides some game analyses
4. http://caturterengganu.blogspot.com/ by Muhammad Arshad and http://badbishops.blogspot.com/ by Badbishop that covers about Terengganu and Kelantan chess players respectively.
5. http://stonemaster.info/ by Fadli aka Stonemaster who just got the Candidate Master recently.
6. http://fireyrook.blogspot.com/ by a very passionate chess enthusiast, Shamsuddin Sabri aka fireyrook.
7. http://mamakchess.blogspot.com/ by a Malaysian chess lover who just like to be known as a mamak, LOL.
8. http://yatzchess.blogspot.com/ by a very passionate and enthusiastic young Malaysian chess player.
9. http://datcchess.blogspot.com/ - the official blog for the DAT Chess Center, the venue of the tournament.
10. http://2010chessodyssey.blogspot.com/ - interesting insights and perspective by Ilham, one of the tournament participants who is loyal to his home state, Terengganu it is. GiLoCatur's son, Fikri who played against him in the sixth round, is still long way to go to match his chess skills, tactics and strategy.

note : sorry if GiLoCatur misses out any other blog.

In terms of covering a chess event in Malaysia, many local chess blogs have taken the responsibility and challenge to promote and spark more interest among the society. Eventhough most of them have to juggle between work, study and family commitments to blog about chess in this country. Surely, still need much further improvement especially in the consistency of updating and report writing, they gives their best in doing so.

GiLoCatur suggests that all the bloggers been given journalism seminar or workshop to improve their writing, reporting and blogging skills. GiLoCatur urges the local newspapers to do their social obligation to teach and train these bloggers so that sports coverage and writing can be done more professionally and better. Chess associations should take this matter seriously to help them in promoting chess in the country and improve chess development. Maybe they can collaborate with any local newspaper to make such seminar or workshop "a dream comes true".

TO ALL DEAR FELLOW CHESS BLOGGERS, KEEP BLOGGING ABOUT CHESS THAT REALLY YOU LOVE!!

TO ALL BLOG VISITORS AND READERS, PLEASE HELP US THE BLOGGERS WITH CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACKS, COMMENTS, SUPPORT AND MOTIVATION!! WE BLOGGERS WOULD LIKE TO THANK YOU FROM OUR DEEPEST HEARTS FOR VISITING OUR BLOGS AND SUPPORTING US!!

GiLoCatur also found that the 37th Selangor Open being covered by overseas media :

http://www.kabar-terbaru.com/info-berita/Chess+in+Malaysia+Selangor+Open+2010+Round+5.html

http://commentportal.com/search/selangor-open-3rd-round-pairings-dat-chess-centre

37th Selangor Open - The Final Standings

Below is the final standings of the four-day Selangor Open, the 37th edition that just ended today. The top seed, FM Nocholas Chan, won the championship and bagged 2,200 Malaysian Ringgits after collecting 7.5/9 points.

Rk	SNo.	Name	Rtg	Pts	BH.	Position
1	1	Chan, Nicholas	2398	7½	53	CHAMPION
2	2	Liew, Chee-Meng-Jimmy (V)	2315	7	51½	2ND
3	5	Wahiduddin, Kamalarifin	2122	7	49½	3RD
4	21	Yeoh, Li Tian (12)	1971	6½	49	4TH
5	4	Loo, Swee Leong	2162	6½	47	5TH
6	25	Zulkifli, Muhd Syazwan	1916	6½	46	6TH
7	23	Tan, Ken Wei	1957	6½	46	7TH
8	3	Udani, Ian	2286	6	53	8TH
9	10	Wahiduddin, Mohd Khair	2088	6	52	9TH
10	15	Ismail, Ahmad	2033	6	50½	10TH
11	17	Ahmad Fadzil Nayan	1995	6	48½
12	18	Cheah, Cheok Fung	1988	6	46
13	28	Fong, Yit San	1856	6	45½
14	16	Fong, Choong Ee	2013	5½	48
15	26	Low, Jun Jian	1907	5½	47½
16	12	Mohamed, Abdul Haq	2057	5½	47
17	7	Yusof, Kamaluddin	2104	5½	47
18	27	Azhar, Muhd Syakir Shazmeer	1859	5½	44½
19	6	Nik, Nik Ahmad Farouqi	2108	5	51
20	13	Lim, Zhuo Ren	2055	5	50½
21	20	Azman Hisham, Mohd Nabil	1981	5	50
22	9	Soh, Han Loong Gerald	2094	5	48
23	30	Nur, Nabila Azman Hisham (F)	1829	5	44½	CAS FEMALE-1ST
24	37	Azhar, Muhd Irfan Haqqim	1658	5	44½	BEST UNRATED
25	14	Shaikh Ali, Nor Ilhamuddin	2040	5	43
26	48	Quake, Zhun Zian Shaun	1493	5	42½
27	38	Syed Mohd, Syed Abdul Rahman	1652	5	41
28	11	Tham, Tick Hong Jax (V)	2076	5	41	CAS VETERAN-1ST
29	36	Ramli , Abdul Rahim	1678	5	39
30	8	Che Hassan, Abdullah	2101	5	35½
31	19	Siew, Kit-Tze Mark	1987	4½	45
32	31	Ismail, Norazman	1816	4½	41½
33	34	Yeop, Mat Zaki (V)	1666	4½	40½	CAS VETERAN-2ND
34	24	Marmono, Roslina (F)	1945	4½	40½	CAS FEMALE-2ND
35	29	Low, Jun Keat	1841	4½	39
36	67	Adam, Iskandar Danial	1179	4½	38
37	35	Nur, Najiha Hisham (12F)	1699	4½	38	CAS U12-1ST
38	41	Azhar, Puteri Rifqah Fahada (12F)	1600	4½	36	CAS U12-2ND
39	54	Mohd Hisham, Muhd Fareed	1372	4½	35½
40	51	Tang, Wei Kit (12)	1424	4½	28½	CAS U12-3RD
41	40	William, Lee Kah Howe (12)	1609	4	43½
42	42	Saleh, Fikri	1572	4	40½
43	50	Lim, Chong (V)	1437	4	39	CAS VETERAN-3RD
44	22	Sarifdin, Sahir	1965	4	37½
45	33	Haslindah, Ruslan (F)	1698	4	37	CAS FEMALE-3RD
46	43	Heng, Fook Liang	1547	4	37
47	32	Amier, Hamzah B. Mohd Zuhri (12)	1723	4	33½
48	49	Poon, Guo Liong Derek	1454	4	31
49	56	Sim, Chung Seng	1366	4	29½
50	46	Poon, Jit Wai	1530	3½	39½
51	45	Tang, Kar Khei (F)	1544	3½	39½
52	39	Mappa, Saharuddin (OKU)	1644	3½	39½	OKU-1ST
53	53	Ee, Sun-Xin (12F)	1407	3½	37
54	68	Ramzani, Abdul Hadi	1066	3½	37
55	47	Wong, Yinn Long (12)	1503	3½	36
56	64	Kalivanan, Suniil	1233	3½	35½
57	63	Mohd Hisham, Muhd Hafiz	1243	3½	35
58	52	Azhar, Puteri Munajjah Az-Zahraa (12F)	1417	3½	33
59	58	Sathish, Hemant (12)	1361	3½	31
60	65	Ramzani, Amir Abdul Hakim	1233	3	36
61	62	Choong, Ee Jin Eric	1262	3	32½
62	69	Besari, Saiful Azrin	0	3	29½
63	61	Goh, Xin Yen (F)	1305	2½	33½
64	66	Viajantheran, Viknesh (12)	1205	2½	31½
65	55	Saleh, Anis Fariha (12F)	1369	2½	31½
66	57	Sundra Rajoo, Natasha Kavina (F)	1362	2½	31
67	59	Ahmad Nazari, Emir Rusyaidi (12)	1359	2	33
68	70	Hj Buang, Mohd Hisham (OKU)	0	2	32
69	44	Zaini, Mohd Razief Hakiem	1545	1	40
70	71	Jaliluddin, Ahmad Helmi	0	1	35½
71	60	Hassan, Mohd Azham	1357	1	33½

Click here to check the cross table results.

Click here to check the complete round results.

Nicholas Chan Won the 37th Selangor Open

The 37th Selangor Open chess tournament just ended. GiLoCatur and family left the tournament venue early since feeling not very well. We just arrived home after having an early dinner cum birthday celebration for Anis who will turn 12th next Wednesday. Furthermore, tonight will be a big game for all the Chelsea fans including GiLoCatur.

Didier Drogba, one of the reasons why GiLoCatur is a Chelsea fan

(picture from www.footballpictures.net)

Since GiLoCatur had a program this morning, GiLoCatur arrived at DATCC at around 3.00pm, after about half-hour the last round i.e. ninth began. In the morning, GiLoCatur just dropped both Fikri and Anis at DATCC at around 9.00am, an hour before the eighth round starts. Thus, GiLoCatur could not take the photos of the tournament's final day. GiLoCatur also missed to snap the eighth round pairings.

By the way, who is the champion? The answer is Nicholas Chan who drew the last round against Muhd Syazwan. If GiLoCatur is not mistaken, Nicholas won six and drew three games which accumulates to 7.5/9 points. GiLoCatur is waiting for the final standing. Once received, it will be posted in this blog. So, come again to check it out!

37th Selangor Open - Day 4 (Round 8 Pairings)

Below is the pairings of Round 8 that will be played tomorrow morning.

Round 8 on 2010/05/02 at 10:00

Bo. SNo. Name Pts Res. Pts Name SNo.

1 3 Udani, Ian 5½ 6½ Chan, Nicholas 1

2 2 Liew, Chee-Meng-Jimmy (V) 5½ 5½ Wahiduddin, Kamalarifin 5

3 27 Azhar, Muhd Syakir Shazmeer 5 5 Loo, Swee Leong 4

4 25 Zulkifli, Muhd Syazwan 5 5 Azman Hisham, Mohd Nabil 20

5 21 Yeoh, Li Tian (12) 5 5 Low, Jun Jian 26

6 14 Shaikh Ali, Nor Ilhamuddin 4½ 5 Fong, Yit San 28

7 15 Ismail, Ahmad 4½ 4½ Soh, Han Loong Gerald 9

8 10 Wahiduddin, Mohd Khair 4½ 4½ Lim, Zhuo Ren 13

9 12 Mohamed, Abdul Haq 4½ 4½ Ahmad Fadzil Nayan 17

10 23 Tan, Ken Wei 4½ 4 Tham, Tick Hong Jax (V) 11

11 6 Nik, Nik Ahmad Farouqi 4 4 Ramli , Abdul Rahim 36

12 31 Ismail, Norazman 4 4 Fong, Choong Ee 16

13 48 Quake, Zhun Zian Shaun 4 4 Cheah, Cheok Fung 18

14 19 Siew, Kit-Tze Mark 4 4 Nur, Nabila Azman Hisham (F) 30

15 37 Azhar, Muhd Irfan Haqqim 4 3½ Marmono, Roslina (F) 24

16 39 Mappa, Saharuddin (OKU) 3½ 3½ Yusof, Kamaluddin 7

17 8 Che Hassan, Abdullah 3½ 3½ Adam, Iskandar Danial 67

18 42 Saleh, Fikri 3½ 3½ Amier, Hamzah B. Mohd Zuhri (12) 32

19 54 Mohd Hisham, Muhd Fareed 3½ 3½ Yeop, Mat Zaki (V) 34

20 35 Nur, Najiha Hisham (12F) 3½ 3½ Syed Mohd, Syed Abdul Rahman 38

21 47 Wong, Yinn Long (12) 3 3 Sarifdin, Sahir 22

22 50 Lim, Chong (V) 3 3 Low, Jun Keat 29

23 33 Haslindah, Ruslan (F) 3 3 Tang, Wei Kit (12) 51

24 40 William, Lee Kah Howe (12) 3 3 Mohd Hisham, Muhd Hafiz 63

25 53 Ee, Sun-Xin (12F) 3 3 Azhar, Puteri Rifqah Fahada (12F) 41

26 43 Heng, Fook Liang 3 3 Ramzani, Amir Abdul Hakim 65

27 64 Kalivanan, Suniil 3 3 Tang, Kar Khei (F) 45

28 46 Poon, Jit Wai 2½ 2½ Choong, Ee Jin Eric 62

29 52 Azhar, Puteri Munajjah Az-Zahraa (12F) 2½ 2½ Poon, Guo Liong Derek 49

30 70 Hj Buang, Mohd Hisham (OKU) 2 2 Sim, Chung Seng 56

31 68 Ramzani, Abdul Hadi 2 2 Besari, Saiful Azrin 69

32 55 Saleh, Anis Fariha (12F) 1½ 2 Sathish, Hemant (12) 58

33 61 Goh, Xin Yen (F) 2 1 Sundra Rajoo, Natasha Kavina (F) 57

34 66 Viajantheran, Viknesh (12) 2 1 Ahmad Nazari, Emir Rusyaidi(12) 59

The defending champion, Nicholas Chan, is leading by one point. Three others with 5.5/7 - Ian Udani, Jimmy Liew and Kamalarifin, follow closely. Nicholas will play black against Ian on the top board. If the latter won, it will be open. The result of the second board is also important when this happen. Seven other players score 5/7 points.

Tomorrow is the critical day. Two more rounds will be played. Energy endurance is very important now for the players to go through to the final stage of the tournament.

BEST OF LUCK!

37th Selangor Open - Day 3 (The Pairings of R5 R6 R7)

Round 7 pairings - 7.15pm

Round 6 pairings - 2.30pm

Round 5 pairings - 9.00am

37th Selangor Open - 5 (Day 2 - The Pictures)

Mohd Hisham (stripe shirt) from Johor made his maiden participation in the championship. He is accompanying his children who participate in this tournament.

The top boards - (1st) Nicholas Chan (2nd) Jimmy Liew and (3rd) Ian Udani