Blog GilaChess

The picture above shows Kamaluddin Yusof vs Zarul on top board in Round 4. (Hmmm... they are camera shy as soon as they spotted my camera phone :) ) Round 3 at top boards saw Roslina Marmono holding top seen Leong Mun Wan to a draw. As for me... Round 1 -lost to Kamaluddin Yusof. 2nd Round - Bye(half a point). I finally won my first game yesterday using White in Round 3. So going into Round 4 I had 1.5 points. My next opponent was Balendran whom I've lost at least 2 times and drew only once. We first met in 1993 - me playing White against his Pirc. I had White again so spent a whole 30 mins preparing for his Pirc. Used my own GilaChess database ver 7 which I am selling for RM10 at the tournament, to find all his games (sorry couldn't resist the free advertisement). Anyway, first time I found it useful in a real tournament situation. Found one game he lost terribly against Sarawak national Lim Kian Hwa. So I followed the same line and got an advantage after 10 moves or so. Doubled up rooks to pressure one of his backward pawns and finally won it going into the endgame. Things look good as I cannot lose. Only 2 results to look forward to - WIN or DRAW!! However, he got some activity in the endgame and I offered a draw. Since there was another round at 3pm I figured it's better to save my energy for that round. Besides I didn't want to lose in the endgame - which I am very weak at. Since he was one pawn down he agreed to a draw. Somehow I feel sorry for Balendran as he clearly wanted to beat me again. I just outplayed him in the opening with some computer database preparation. Clearly I think he is a better player than me. The latest news is that Anas won his 4th round game and is at perfect 4 points. Kamaluddin's game was not finished yet when I left the hall so he could be a possible 4 points too. Anyway my phone battery is running out. Will conserve it so can post another blog entry after the 5th round which is about to start in 40 minutes. My personal aim is to meet 2 more FIDE rated players to get a possible FIDE rating. They say 4 games is enough to have an entry in FIDE rating list. Don't know how true this is but I'm going to try hard to meet to more FIDE rated players or get at least 4 points (out of 9). Wish me luck. Don't forget to read http://www.gilachess.com for the latest updates by da5thKnight who has been doing an excellent job at reporting the latest news at the 32nd Royal Selangor Open at Wilayah Complex.

What was I thinking of? The Royal Selangor Chess competition takes up 5 days and I didn't even apply for leave from work. Stupid as I was I registered. True to my nickname GilaChess, I can't resist chess. Anyway did all of this during lunch and even managed to play half a game in the first round against Kamaluddin Yusof - winner of the last 2 major weekend tournaments (Klang Parade and Seremban Parade Open). Knowing I was going to get crushed by Kamaluddin, I played "negative" chess. He opened with 1.e4 (true to his agressive style). 1.. d5. Centre Counter/Scandinavian. 2.exd5 Nf6 (now it's pure Scandinavian). 3. Nc3 (better and better - I always love to play against 3.Nc3) 3.. Nxd5. 4.Qf3! (a surprise! First time I face this move). 4. ... Nxc3 5.Bc4 (wow! he really is agressive). 5. ... e6. 6.dxc3 (Doesn't mind doubling pawns for piece activity) 6. .. Qf6 (Negative chess- exchange off the most active piece of my opponent since he brought the Queen out so fast). 7. Bf4 (avoiding the exchange temporary and bringing another piece out). 7. ... Bd6.(Now he cannot avoid the exchanges) The Queen, Bishop and Knight and a couple of pawns were exchanged and I resigned in an almost equal position as my break from office was over. Had to go to work. To be truthful, there is a huge chance I was going to be crushed in the endgame so no point dreaming of a draw against Kamaluddin. Overall it was a satisfying 10-20 mins. My strategy worked and I did not get crushed right out of the opening like my last 2 encounters vs Kamaluddin. So I am not as "Gila" as some people looking at my game may think :)

I recently bought some 2nd hand equipment from Lelong.com to make posting to this chess blog even easier. I just took the picture and am typing out his blog entry from a coffee shop in Petaling Street. Pretty cool huh?? (For the tech savvy: I'm using an old Nokia 7650 with GPRS access with an Palm V PDA) As some of you already know, I am sometimes the unnoficial reporter for many local chess events around Klang Valley. Now I don't have to wait to get back to a cyber cafe (I have no Internet access at home) to post the chess news. You guys can get it almost instantaneously (okay, okay about an hour or two after the actual event :)). I must thank the avid chess enthusiasts and supporters of GilaChess.com for making this possible, You supported me by buying my GilaChess Megabase CD (even though some just bought but never used it!). A big THANK YOU to you guys :)