Wishing all the MSSM players a good Tournament.

I think this may be Penang's year. They have been working hard and smart for many years now. I think this year could be the year of the harvest.

Sumant vs Mok, SEA games selection.

Here.

Mature and courageous play Sumant. Keep it up. Good luck for today.

Maverick Juniors vs Maverick Seniors.

3 Juniors in top 6 of Maverick and there is an additional prize of tea tarik kurang manis from Ilham. That will be a nice tea tarik indeed. Healthy competition and Fide rules. A good clean chess game. I hope we have turned the page from the ugly politics that seem to have embroiled our chess community. Maybe that is a lot to ask but I think it is possible.

More sponsors will come and better prize money and rewards for our players for playing chess. For the time being, tea tarik is good. On the other hand it could be nescafe ice. Who know? All in the spirit of sportsmanship.

See you guys Sunday at DATCC. My best to all the competitors. Juniors, seniors, not quite juniors and way past seniors.

MSSKL

Sham, National Instructor, talks on Bangsars preparation. Excellent work on the ground. This is the base of the pyramid. Here.

Tata Steel

Here.

Tata Steel

Here.

Carlsen bungkus Nakamura

See here.

USM Team results

Conratulations to the senior team without a name. And well done Insanity. Here.

USM Team Event

The team event starts tomorrow. Here.

I am rooting for team 34, Insanity. I hope they put up the results. I on the other hand will be playing bridge. So need some quick practice today. Seriously rusty.

Good luck to all participants. Fight hard and fight fair. And have fun too.

Tata Steel

Read here.

Tata Steel

Results and games here.

Lets go back to chess.

Firey Rook has continued to diligently post the games from Tata Steel.

Go here and here.

Bon Voyage

First I would like to extend our thanks to all our well wishers who SMSed, rang, left messages on facebook and on this blog on Mark's performance in the National Junior. We appreciate the encouragement.

We will be leaving for KL tomorrow afternoon to catch the train at 9am from KL Sentral on the 25th.

This will be our first Malaysia/Singapore match and we are looking forward to it. Lots of other things to get ready. Havent even got my Sing. dollars yet. We are also playing in the Singapore Open and we hope to improve Mark's rating there.

So once again Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all and I hope we will have lots of good stories to tell on our return on the 1st or 2nd Jan 2011.

One of Mark's games.

Here.

From First Sat. to KL Grand prix

Got to Jax's and there were only 4 players including Jax. Just too many tournaments I guess. Anyway, upbeat as usual, Jax says let go to KL grand prix, my treat! Never turning down a good offer we all went. And boy, what a tournament! Strong players galore and excellent practice even if it was 45 mins dead time. Both Firey Rook and Gilachess covers the event so please go there for the blow by blow.

There were many notable achievements during the 2 days but one stood out for me. Maybe because I'm his dad. :) In the 2nd round Mark was playing with Jason Lim and losing. Jason's phone rang and the arbiter came to forfeit his game. Mark told the arbiter, Marcus Yeoh that he did not want to claim the win as was his prerogative. I wasn't there but when I heard, I couldnt have felt prouder of him.

Sportsmanship and gentlemanly behaviour. I love this game for what it has taught my son.

KL rapid

Wow, another big tournament. Just saw it. This is a format I've never seen before. But one thing I know. If you come through this you'll be so mentally tough. Source: Hairulov

Click here for more details

5 Minutes Lamentation

I try to allow myself 5 mins to lament if something troubles me before I kick my own butt to move on. So allow me this time here.

Perak. Wake up! During my time in the Perak chess Association, I've heard committee members talk about getting a Perak GM, like it's the easiest thing in the world to do. They talk about certifying coaches in Perak. Funny thing to me.... there are no qualified coaches in Perak (bar Zaki Yeop who is an experienced coach for junior players and who will, in my opinion, resist certification by people who have no idea what coaching is). On top of this I have never seen a single committee member in a tournament out of Perak. (I tried urging them to go to Penang, Selangor, KL to see what is happening). They were also a no show at MCF's AGM. So lets be honest, dont talk about things you have no intention of following through. Just say, we want Perak to remain where it is while we still stay in the committee and make big proclamations. Who knows, if you say this, at least we can say they speak sincerely and that will be one point in your favour during the AGM. And you will all get re-elected again. Perak Boleh!

Thank you for the 5 minutes. I feel better now.