Blog GilaChess

In this day and age, you'd think the old Dragon was slain so many times it's extinct. It's still alive in today's chess, surprisingly. Lots of resource have been found for the Black player to infuse new dragon's breath to this old opening.

Both Yeoh Li Tian and Wong Jian Wen are not playing in the National Juniors which is essentially is an under 20 junior event. Understandable as both have played in some tiring events such as the Asian Amateurs, Penang Open and Sarawak Open. Favorites are most probably Mark Siew, MOHD Nabil and Roshan. Who is your pick to be 2011 National Junior master. Incidentally the same initials - NJM is also awarded to the girls section.

You know the horrible stories of waiters spitting on food of bad tippers. I have a suspicious feeling I am getting similiar treatment.

Almost as soon as a mentioned how bad the web hosting company Exabyte service is, GilaChess.com and blog.GilaChess.com are down due to internal database error ("Error establishing Database connection" message)

I know it could be a coincidence but it's really something I hate. As mention before,I could complain to exabytes but as in numerous incidents their technical support will blame me for overusing their server resources. That's a little silly considering how low my traffic is for all my chess hosted websites. Also being a web programmer by profession, I rechecked all my plugins and scripts to make sure none of them could be overusing Exabytes server CPU resources.

I sincerely hope its really isa coincidence and my websites will be restored soon ( after some other customer complains and gets blamed for overusing the shared resources and the server is restarted)

Final Ranking after 9 Rounds

Rk.	SNo	Team	Games	+	=	-	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	3	Kelantan Chess Team	9	6	3	0	25.5	15	0
2	1	Najib's Rojak Team	9	5	4	0	25.0	14	2
3	4	Too Less Ordinary	9	6	2	1	25.0	14	0
4	5	Nusa Mahkota Chess Club	9	5	2	2	21.5	12	0
5	7	17 Chess Club	9	4	2	3	21.5	10	0
6	2	DATCC Seniors Team	9	4	3	2	20.5	11	0
7	8	Seahorse PETRONAS	9	4	1	4	19.5	9	0
8	6	Renegade Chess Team	9	3	2	4	18.0	8	0
9	11	Swordfish PETRONAS	9	2	4	3	15.0	8	0
10	10	Carikomputer Dot Com	9	1	1	7	12.0	3	0
11	9	PJMIM Chess Team	9	1	2	6	11.5	4	0
12	12	BERNAMA Chess Team	9	0	0	9	1.0	0	0

Round 9
No.	Team	Team	Res.	:	Res.
1	PJMIM Chess Team	Kelantan Chess Team	1	:	3
2	Too Less Ordinary	Carikomputer Dot Com	2½	:	1½
3	Najib's Rojak Team	Swordfish PETRONAS	4	:	0
4	Renegade Chess Team	Nusa Mahkota Chess Club	1½	:	2½
5	Seahorse PETRONAS	DATCC Seniors Team	1	:	3
6	BERNAMA Chess Team	17 Chess Club	0	:	4

Round 8
No.	Team	Team	Res.	:	Res.
1	Kelantan Chess Team	Swordfish PETRONAS	2	:	2
2	17 Chess Club	Too Less Ordinary	1	:	3
3	DATCC Seniors Team	Najib's Rojak Team	2	:	2
4	Seahorse PETRONAS	Carikomputer Dot Com	3½	:	½
5	Nusa Mahkota Chess Club	BERNAMA Chess Team	4	:	0
6	Renegade Chess Team	PJMIM Chess Team	4	:	0

Round 9
Bo.	9	PJMIM Chess Team	Rtg	-	3	Kelantan Chess Team	Rtg	1 : 3
1.1		Ismail Ahmad	1989	-	IM	Mas Hafizulhelmi	2413	- - +
1.2		Hisyam Ismail	1574	-		Mohamed Abdul Haq	2096	- - +
1.3		Kaber Azzad Mohd Kassim	0	-		Che Hassan Abdullah	2048	½ - ½
1.4		Ahmad Izzudin Rostam	1128	-		Mohd Noor Mohd Amin	1829	½ - ½
Bo.	4	Too Less Ordinary	Rtg	-	10	Carikomputer Dot Com	Rtg	2½:1½
2.1		Zulkipli Zaidan	2069	-		Sabri Mohd Saprin	2139	½ - ½
2.2	CM	Zakaria Mohd Fadli	2048	-		Mohd Saprin Amir Qayyim	1417	1 - 0
2.3		Foo Chee Kin	1800	-		Mohd Saprin Amir Ghaazi	1342	0 - 1
2.4		Zulkifli Muhd Syazwan	1993	-		Mohd Saprin Amir Muqqri	1334	1 - 0
Bo.	1	Najib's Rojak Team	Rtg	-	11	Swordfish PETRONAS	Rtg	4 : 0
3.1		Yeoh Li Tian	2139	-		Ramos Ernesto	0	1 - 0
3.2		Saifuddin Muhd Izz	2016	-		Kamarudin Nor Khairy	1649	1 - 0
3.3		Yeoh Chin-Seng	2147	-		Zaini Mohd Razief Hakiem	1557	1 - 0
3.4		Song Wai Cheng	1673	-		M Farhan Hatta Husain	1462	1 - 0
Bo.	6	Renegade Chess Team	Rtg	-	5	Nusa Mahkota Chess Club	Rtg	1½:2½
4.1		Wong Jianwen	1960	-		Wahiduddin Kamalarifin	2176	1 - 0
4.2		Wahiduddin Khairunnisa	1925	-		Kamal Rizal Ahmad	1930	½ - ½
4.3		Haslindah Ruslan	1658	-		Rahman Shamsol Bahrain Patahol	1703	0 - 1
4.4		Ooi Boon Seng Andrew	1816	-		Hamzah Razali	1710	0 - 1
Bo.	8	Seahorse PETRONAS	Rtg	-	2	DATCC Seniors Team	Rtg	1 : 3
5.1		Ibrahim Mohd Irman	2116	-	IM	Liew Chee-Meng-Jimmy	2299	½ - ½
5.2		Fadzin Ahmad Farhan	1614	-		Tham Tick Hong Jax	2076	0 - 1
5.3		Berahim Ashari	1532	-		John Law	1566	0 - 1
5.4		Maarof Aid Farhan	1508	-		Chan Mun Fye	1822	½ - ½
Bo.	12	BERNAMA Chess Team	Rtg	-	7	17 Chess Club	Rtg	0 : 4
6.1		Yasin Ahmad Saifuddin	0	-		Shaik Ali Nor Ilhamuddin	1984	0 - 1
6.2		Wan Abdul Rahman Wan Syahrina	0	-		Mohd Shariff Mohd Zambri	1697	0 - 1
6.3		Bustami Mohd Anwar	0	-		Maamur Abdul Salam	1583	- - +
6.4		Selvendran Thamitran	0	-		Mohamed Ismail	1725	0 - 1

Round 8
Bo.	3	Kelantan Chess Team	Rtg	-	11	Swordfish PETRONAS	Rtg	2 : 2
1.1	IM	Mas Hafizulhelmi	2413	-		Ramos Ernesto	0	1 - 0
1.2		Mohamed Abdul Haq	2096	-		Kamarudin Nor Khairy	1649	0 - 1
1.3		Che Hassan Abdullah	2048	-		Zaini Mohd Razief Hakiem	1557	0 - 1
1.4		Mahmood Mohd Ezmi	1621	-		Mohd Taib Khairul Faizi	1468	1 - 0
Bo.	7	17 Chess Club	Rtg	-	4	Too Less Ordinary	Rtg	1 : 3
2.1		Zakaria Fairin	2198	-		Zulkipli Zaidan	2069	0 - 1
2.2		Shaik Ali Nor Ilhamuddin	1984	-	CM	Zakaria Mohd Fadli	2048	½ - ½
2.3		Mohd Shariff Mohd Zambri	1697	-		Foo Chee Kin	1800	½ - ½
2.4		Mohamed Ismail	1725	-		Zulkifli Muhd Syazwan	1993	0 - 1
Bo.	2	DATCC Seniors Team	Rtg	-	1	Najib's Rojak Team	Rtg	2 : 2
3.1	IM	Liew Chee-Meng-Jimmy	2299	-		Subramaniam Sumant	2117	1 - 0
3.2	IM	Giam Choo Kwee	2129	-		Yeoh Li Tian	2139	0 - 1
3.3		Tham Tick Hong Jax	2076	-		Saifuddin Muhd Izz	2016	1 - 0
3.4		Choo Min Wang	2004	-		Yeoh Chin-Seng	2147	0 - 1
Bo.	8	Seahorse PETRONAS	Rtg	-	10	Carikomputer Dot Com	Rtg	3½: ½
4.1		Fadzin Ahmad Farhan	1614	-		Sabri Mohd Saprin	2139	½ - ½
4.2		M Nadzri M Zulhairi	1610	-		Mohd Saprin Amir Qayyim	1417	1 - 0
4.3		Berahim Ashari	1532	-		Mohd Saprin Amir Ghaazi	1342	1 - 0
4.4		Maarof Aid Farhan	1508	-		Mohd Saprin Amir Muqqri	1334	1 - 0
Bo.	5	Nusa Mahkota Chess Club	Rtg	-	12	BERNAMA Chess Team	Rtg	4 : 0
5.1		Kamal Rizal Ahmad	1930	-		Yasin Ahmad Saifuddin	0	1 - 0
5.2		Rahman Shamsol Bahrain Patahol	1703	-		Ampalavanar Bhuvanenthiran	0	1 - 0
5.3		Rosli Irwan Zulkernain	1526	-		Bustami Mohd Anwar	0	1 - 0
5.4		Hamzah Razali	1710	-		Selvendran Thamitran	0	1 - 0
Bo.	6	Renegade Chess Team	Rtg	-	9	PJMIM Chess Team	Rtg	4 : 0
6.1		Wahiduddin Khairunnisa	1925	-		Ismail Ahmad	1989	+ - -
6.2		Mustafa Albakri Suhaimi	1639	-		Hisyam Ismail	1574	+ - -
6.3		Harun Bustaman	1250	-		Thien Varian	1868	+ - -
6.4		Yee Jian Yang	1485	-		Kaber Azzad Mohd Kassim	0	1 - 0

Some pictures of the event

No sooner had I mentioned Exabytes spotty services, I cannot connect to my gilachess blog due to database error. This is a common occurrence. I have given up callling on Exabytes support as they will most probably pin the blame on me saying I've used up too much server resources. Sometimes I think I am not the only customer who avoids complaining for fear of being blamed.

Someone asked me if NJM - National Junior Master is a recognised title.

I don't see that title listed in FIDEs website so I guess it's recognised only by MCF since it was created by them.

Even more recent is the newly minted Amateur Master (AM) title won by Ahmad Fadzil Nayan. FIDE doesn't recognise that title but since the Asian Chess Federation 'created' that title so it has some value I guess.

The purpose for these newly created titles is to give more value and prestige to the tournament that is held and also the winner of that title.

I also noticed that there is no cash prizes for junior events such as the National Juniors. So the prestige of the title NJM is important as well the right to represent the country in junior events. Entrance fees are RM 60 (FIDE rated) and RM 100 (unrated) for the coming National Juniors starting next Monday.

So to answer the question asked, yes NJM is a recognised title by the national federation.

The lower boards may have seen many absentees but the stronger teams all turned out and are fighting it out.

Some notable players who turned up are IM Jimmy Liew, Sumant, Zaidan, Fairin, Fadli, Abdul Haq, Yeoh Li Tian, Yeoh Chin Seng, Abdullah Che Hassan.

RM 80 for reactivation fees!!

Blogging for chess is not cheap. Especially when I have to pay th RM 80 on to of the annual fees to maintain my website. That's just for chess-malaysia portal. GilaChess.com renewal coming up in two weeks :(

It's my fault for being late but it was only two days. I have been a customer of Exabytes since 2000. That's more than 10 years of being a loyal customer of Exabyte. Well, I'm afraid this renewal will be the last as apparently Exabyte don't value long term customers.

I know it's customary to charge for late fees and all web hosting services do that. I chose Exabytes because they were local and service was good (in the beginning). Nowadays services is spotty and I keep getting stern warning that I'm overusing their CPU resources when I strongly believe I haven't.

P/S: Also notice I'm posting on Blogspot instead of my Exabyte hosted blog as I have confidence this post will stay up longer (without constant downtimes) than what I have in Exabyte.

Last week's game had a poor turnout due to the rain and resulting traffic jam.

Today's event on a Saturday morning seems not much better seeing the 6 empty boards at the lower boards.

Didn't realize the time and it's already 5.30 pm and I have not taken lunch yet. Followed foursquares on the iPad which recommended this place just 250 meters from the Tanjung Bungah hotel.

Not bad. Char Kuay Teow. And the internet speeds is decent too. Free wifi. Password: 6666666666666

That's GM Nelson Mariano who is busy throughout of the tournament taking care of his protégés of the Chess Kidz academy. I foresee many strong talents to emerge from Singapore in the coming years.

click here

Thanks to Mr Kaber, all the games from Round 1 to Round 9 is now available online.

 Javascript playable version:-

• Round 1
• Round 2
• Round 3
• Round 4
• Round 5
• Round 6
• Round 7
• Round 8
• Round 9