It was a day of missed opportunities, hallucination and upsets.
Mok on board one, missed some winning chances early in the middlegame but eventually lost when he pressed to bring home the point for the country in an equal position in the endgame. Sumant was once again the "man" when he "sumanted" (a term the team now uses) his opponent with some incredible endgame techniques.
I was totally blinded in my game. I played a combination.. Winning a pawn early in the game but then hallucinated the continuation 2 moves later, and eventually lost the game. I have no excuse for what actually happened.. And for this, I apologize to all Malaysian Chess fans.
Jimmy was solid in his game and totally outplayed his young opponent.

Round 5: Malaysia vs Iraq. Lost 0-4

It was a terrible day for our men.. Everything just went wrong. Mok once again lost.. Some strange unexplainable things just happened, as Mok just didn't execute moves the way he normally does. Fatigue? Perhaps, as he played all the rounds thus far. Tze Han, Sumant & Jimmy had chances in their games but it just weren't meant to be.. The result was a real shocker to us all & the mood was rather sombre after the match.

Round 6: Malaysia vs Macau. Won 3.5-0.5

After a much needed rest day, our team bounced back with a huge score win. Mok wasn't fielded in this round as he requested to have an extra day of rest to gather back his playing momentum. Sumant once again "Sumanted" his opponent and was winning after just 8 moves! Jimmy & I won but not without some resistance from our opponents. Only Tze Han was held to a draw after some stubborn defenses by his young opponent.

I must add, that playing in a tournament such as the Olympiad, there are many factors that contribute to the state of the mind of the players. It isn't like other tournaments.. It's hard to explain.. Only those who have played in it will know what I mean.

Standing after round 6: 112th position

Malaysians.. Thank you for still keeping your faith in the team and for all your encouraging messages. We appreciate them dearly.

To all back home that will be taking part in the various tournaments during the Malaysian Chess Festival, we wish you all the best in your games.

#saychess

See all the Men/s and Women's games here