I can't believe it's 20th Malaysian Chess Festival and I've attended all 20. Only once as a separate entity - a pure blogger not part of the festival helpers. Once as a participant when Hamid needed to make the Open section "even" and not require bye. The other editions was the normal "official" blogger/photographer for the festival.
The 20th edition should have been historic but the notable venue change this year, relocating from its traditional home at the Cititel Ballroom on the 5th floor to a shopping mall setting was a shock to my systems.
Obviously any normal chess person would prefer the ballroom to the shopping mall as a playing stage. But let's discuss what happened at the festival.
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| at Cititel |
For players used to the ballroom's controlled environment(I am one of them!)—with its quiet atmosphere conducive to concentration and consistent lighting—it was quite a culture shock. The shopping mall venue, at best, brought with it the ambient sounds typical of retail spaces and different lighting conditions than the ballroom had offered. At it's worst, it was chaotic and noisy.
Long-time participants arrived anticipating the familiar setting they had come to associate with the tournament over the years. It's that expectation I believe, resulted in the highest number of participants since Covid.
The contrast between the hushed, purpose-built ballroom space and the more dynamic mall environment was immediately apparent to those who had competed in previous editions. Two participants who were so disappointed that they withdraw from the event after the first couple of rounds.
To be fair, these two were from the classical section which no doubt requires that serene, quiet environment for ideal chess to occur. On the other hand the other events like Rapid, Team Event actually suffered less as even at the Cititel Ballroom these were crowded events and no different from the busy chaotic environment.
Chess, requiring sustained concentration and mental clarity, typically benefits from environments that minimize external distractions. The change in venue conditions presented players with an adjustment period as they adapted to the new surroundings, which differed markedly from the established tournament setting many had prepared for mentally.
To that one person I overheard telling the organisers "it's chaotic", my first thoughts were "Duh, everyone can see that it is chaotic!". The question was how the problems / chaos was addressed.
To the organisers credit, they did address the issue of lighting, adding some DIY led lights above the chess boards where there was poor lighting and changing about half the chairs from plastic to cloth covered ones. But there is so much one can do to smooth over the "tournament chaos in supermarkets and malls". One amazing outcome there was very little problems in terms of disputes etc. At least from what I observed over all the 9 events anyway.
In the end, if I had to grade the chess festival by venue, the past ones I would give them A- and the latest 20th edition a C-. Penang Open (before Covid) would be a B- and past Johor Open (before Covid) would be a C+. Although to be fair I think both Penang and Johor Open after Covid at school halls have improved so are both a B. Also take note this is the opinion of a blogger, and other chess players may rate them with vastly differently.
Will there be a 21st Malaysian Chess Festival? I am not sure because initially it was mentioned the 20th would be the last one. But at the end there were talks that it would continue. If it does, I am sure most would agree with me that a better venue is chosen. Or one suggestion was, to remove the classical events and keep the others if a similiar venue like the mall was chosen.
