Last year for the chess festival, one of my lofty for fun #syiokSendiri idea was having my mac mini m1 16gb RAM sitting idle in the room upstairs of the AirBnB do something useful to contribute to the festival content.


Of course that never happened.

The Festival was before OpenClaw came out in November which was unfortunate. Because OpenClaw fulfilled every box that I wanted ticked.

This is a brilliant application of OpenClaw. I can set up a 24/7 autonomous GilaChess "rival" to shadow my own coverage. When I post in any format - blogspot, wordpress, PHP CMS, Facebook or YouTube, it has access to all these mediums.

Because OpenClaw operates as a local background gateway with direct access to shell commands and the web, it can completely automate the understanding, drafting, and publishing cycle. I will give it resources - the same that I have in the new blogs and websites, Facebook account, YouTube etc.

Sure, it will be duplicate content, but the AI version will strive to better me in every way. Who will win?

But the bigger question is, whether this just #syiokSendiri or become reality?

I created app.catur.org last year because I wanted to open my phone and quickly check the Malaysian Chess Festival schedule without having to search for the tournament PDF and open it. It grew as I added other info like prize structure, link to registration, player lists etc.

Then I made festival.catur.org because I like the name, as it sounds very close to  "chess festival" just from the URL. If you look at both mini websites, they have the same content.

So I asked Perplexity.ai what it thought the difference between the two websites and it responded:

Website purpose

app.catur.org appears to serve as a mobile-friendly companion app/site for festival participants, with quick access to schedules, player lists, results, venue maps, and news updates. It also still carries archived festival content from earlier editions, so it functions like a practical information hub during the event.

festival.catur.org is the official registration portal and event homepage for the 21st Malaysian Chess Festival 2026. It emphasizes sign-up, the event schedule, categories, and festival logistics, making it the main entry point for players who want to register or review the full event structure.

Perplexity got most of it right but not the official registration portal part. Both are not "official" but they do link the official registration page which is at DATCC website.

app.catur.org purpose is a static informational site for all the essential festival info which is mobile friendly - so as to be quickly referenced when needed.

festival.catur.org seems to have all the same content but it goes further to report on events as it happens - sort of like a blog and link to live results and the latest developments related to the festival.

So there! Think of app as the fast and efficient office assistant and festival as the hardworking reporter.

 

Abstract (Because Every Serious Document Needs One)

Ladies, gentlemen, and those still capable of independent thought: we need to talk about an epidemic sweeping the globe with the quiet, relentless creep of a Berlin Defense endgame. It doesn't shamble. It doesn't moan for brains. It just... sits down across from you, offers a friendly "you wanna play?", and three months later you're explaining the Sicilian Najdorf to your dry cleaner. This is the Chess Plague, and unlike other zombie outbreaks, there is no headshot that stops it. There is only resignation — and even that comes with a post-game analysis.

Patient Zero: A Case Study in Denial

It always starts the same way. Someone — a coworker, a cousin, a guy at the park who "just happened to have a board" — says the fateful words: "It's a great way to relax." Nobody relaxes playing chess. Grandmasters lose weight during tournaments. Bobby Fischer didn't look relaxed a day in his adult life. But the infected don't know this yet. They still believe chess is a nice, quiet hobby, like knitting, but with more crushing existential despair.

You agree to "one quick game." This is the equivalent of a zombie movie character saying "I'm sure it's fine, let's just go check the basement." Ninety minutes later, you've learned what "zugzwang" means, you've been forced to trade your queen for what turns out to be a devastating positional advantage you didn't know existed, and somewhere deep in your amygdala, something has changed. Welcome to Stage One.

The Four Stages of Infection

Stage One: Curiosity (Days 1–3) Symptoms include downloading a chess app "just to see," losing to the built-in bot on the easiest difficulty, and feeling personally offended about it. The infected individual insists this is a one-time thing, much like every smoker's first cigarette and every gambler's first "just for fun" hand of blackjack.

Stage Two: Acquisition (Days 4–14) The subject begins accumulating chess-adjacent objects: a board "for the coffee table," a book with a title like My 60 Memorable Losses, a mug that says "Not All Who Wander Are Lost, Some Are Just In Zugzwang." They start saying things like "I'm just a beginner, I don't really know what I'm doing," while simultaneously beating your uncle at Thanksgiving and refusing to make eye contact afterward out of what can only be described as predatory modesty.

Stage Three: Obsession (Weeks 3–8) This is when the language changes. Full sentences are replaced with phrases like "I hung my rook," "the engine says I was only slightly worse," and "I could've had a forced mate in six but I blundered into a draw by repetition." Loved ones report the infected staring at ceilings, mouths moving silently, running imaginary calculations. This is not meditation. This is a man replaying a loss from four days ago in a game against someone named xXRookSlayer42Xx.

Stage Four: Full Conversion (2+ Months) The subject now has opinions about openings. Strong ones. They will explain, unprompted, why the London System is either the greatest invention in human history or a crime against the game, depending entirely on their mood and the phase of the moon. They own multiple chess sets "for different occasions." They know what an Elo rating is and, worse, they know theirs, and they will tell you, and you will not have asked.

They will appear in swarms especially in a tournament hall when two other zombies are short on time.

Transmission Vectors: How It Spreads

Public health officials (me, right now, making this up) have identified several primary transmission vectors:

1. The Park Bench. Ground zero for most outbreaks. A man in a flat cap sits alone with a board. He looks lonely. He is not lonely. He is a spider, and the board is his web.
2. The Office Lunch Room. One innocuous "chess.com tournament" Slack channel is all it takes. Within a fiscal quarter, productivity across three departments has quietly collapsed.
3. Netflix Docuseries. A single viewing of a show about a fictional chess prodigy has been linked to a 4,000% spike in board sales, according to a statistic I am extremely confident someone, somewhere, has said out loud.
4. Close Family Contact. Chess is disturbingly hereditary. One infected grandparent can convert an entire family tree by Christmas.

Why There Is No Cure

Every other addiction has a support group. Chess does not, because the enthusiasts don't believe they need one — they believe you need to understand that the Ruy Lopez is objectively the most elegant opening in human history, and if you would just sit down for a moment, they can show you why.

Rehabilitation attempts consistently fail. Confiscating the board only drives the behavior underground — into phone apps, into scribbled notation on napkins, into "friendly" games that end with someone in tears over a blundered endgame. Attempts at cognitive behavioral therapy typically end with the therapist five games deep and asking if the infected individual has ever considered the Caro-Kann.

A Word From "Recovered" Patients

We reached out to several self-described "recovering" chess enthusiasts. All of them, without exception, tried to show us their most recent game before answering a single question. One gentleman, mid-interview, paused to say "wait, actually, hold on" and spent the next eleven minutes re-litigating a loss from 2019. He has not touched a board in "six months," a claim he made while wearing a t-shirt that said Passed Pawns Don't Have Feelings But I Do.

There is no such thing as an ex-chess player. There are only chess players who are, at this exact moment, between games.

Prevention Guidelines (Doomed to Fail, But We Tried)

• Avoid eye contact with anyone carrying a folded board.
• Never say "how does that piece move," as this is the chess equivalent of investigating the noise in the horror movie basement.
• If someone says "I'll go easy on you," understand this is a lie, and also somehow simultaneously true, because they will beat you slowly, patiently, and with visible regret about your life choices.
• Do not, under any circumstances, watch "just one clip" of a chess commentator getting excited about a move. This has been directly linked to same-day board purchases.
• If bitten — i.e., if you find yourself agreeing to "just one game" — seek help immediately. Unfortunately, the only known helpers are other chess players, and they will not want to cure you. They will want to show you their opening repertoire.

Conclusion: Learning to Live With the Infected

The truth is, total quarantine isn't realistic. Chess enthusiasts walk among us — at parks, in offices, at your own dinner table, disguised as ordinary, reasonable people, until the moment someone mentions "the Queen's Gambit" and their eyes glaze over with the thousand-yard stare of the truly converted.

Our best advice, as a society, is not eradication but coexistence. Nod politely when they explain the Sicilian Defense. Let them win sometimes, so they feel powerful and leave you alone sooner. And above all — never, ever, under any circumstances, ask them if they want to play "just one quick game."

You will not be the same person by the time it's over. None of us are.

India is probably one of the worse hit country in this zombie apocalypse. They have the highest infected. Not only that, some of the infections are so advanced that doctors and scientist have classified the highest evolution - Grandmaster Zombies. These super strong zombies number almost 100 today. No other countries have these high numbers. Grandmaster Zombies command legions of other zombies from all over the world. The medium they use: Livestream games !!

I must admit I am one of those rare "recovered" chess zombies. I no longer play the game, but although I look human now, the infection is still strong in my body, I still congregate and move within the zombie swarm called chess tournaments. I just can't help it!!!

Also, I am the worst type of "recovered" zombie. The one that will go out on the street with a megaphone and shout out that there is a tournament going on somewhere, thus attracting more humans to watch and ultimately get infected.

This article is a work of satire. No pawns were harmed in the making of it, though several were tragically, needlessly sacrificed for "positional compensation" that never quite materialized.

My Sony A5100 was failing me ever since the last Malaysian Festival. The LCD would blank out and I would take pictures "blind". After the Penang Open 2025, it totally gave out. Now I am without a camera. It is sad because the A5100 has been my faithful companion to chess tournaments since before COVID. RIP old friend.

I need a camera but can't afford it.

✨ I am putting this intention out into the universe:
The right opportunity will come at the right time.

Whether through:
• Extra work
• Unexpected blessings
• Generous support
• Or a chance I haven't yet imagined

I trust that the path to my next camera is already unfolding.

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📝 Until then, I'll keep doing what I love:
• Sharing stories from the chess world
• Supporting our players
• Contributing to the community with whatever resources I have

Sometimes manifestation isn't about waiting for miracles—
It's about holding onto the vision while continuing to take steps toward it every single day.

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🌟 One day, I'll be covering tournaments with that Sony ZV-E10 in my hands. (aiming for a used one @ RM 2000)

And when that day comes,
I'll remember this moment as the beginning of that journey.

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 What's in a name, and why it matters

The festival began in 2004 and is one of the oldest and arguably the largest chess festivals in Asia. With over two decades of history, the "Malaysian Chess Festival" brand carries real institutional weight — players, parents, international participants, and the global chess calendar have come to associate that name with the event. Changing it, even temporarily, has genuine consequences worth unpacking from different angles. 

The case for "Merdeka Chess Festival"

From a positive public perspective, adopting "Merdeka" (meaning "independence" in Malay) in the festival name is not without logic. The 21st edition is scheduled to run from 28 August to 6 September 2026, and the opening weekend sits squarely on Malaysia's National Day on 31 August — Hari Merdeka. Timing the festival around the independence celebration is a long-standing tradition; individual events within the festival have carried "Merdeka" branding for years, such as the Merdeka Blitz Chess Championship and the SMS DEEN Merdeka Open Rapid Team Chess Championship. Calling the overall festival "Merdeka Chess Festival" could therefore be seen as a natural patriotic rebrand that better reflects the spirit of the occasion and aligns the festival's identity more visibly with national pride. It could also make it more attractive for national-level sponsorship and government support tied to Merdeka celebrations. 

The case against — and why reverting matters

On the other hand, there are meaningful reasons why the general chess public might view this change unfavourably, and why reverting makes sense.

The most immediate issue is brand confusion. The Malaysian Chess Festival is recognised as one of the oldest international open events in Asia, with the festival having drawn over 1,400 participants from nine events in a single edition. International players, rating agencies, and the broader FIDE community have indexed the event under its established name for over 20 years. A sudden rename— risks fracturing that recognition. Players searching for the event, tournament databases, or historical results could find the linkage broken. 

There is also a question of inclusivity. "Malaysian Chess Festival" signals something broad and nationally inclusive — chess for all Malaysians. "Merdeka Chess Festival," while patriotic, is more time-bound in connotation and may feel less welcoming to international participants, who represent a significant portion of the field. Past editions have drawn players from countries including Australia, Indonesia, India, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, the Netherlands, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, and New Zealand. For those players, a name tied to Malaysian independence carries less resonance than one that signals an open, international competition. 

On reverting the name

With the name changed back to "Malaysian Chess Festival," the public reaction is likely to be largely positive. It signals that the organisers are responsive, that they value the event's established identity, and that community feedback matters. The downside is minimal reputational damage from the inconsistency itself, but this is far outweighed by the long-term benefit of restoring a name with genuine brand equity.

In short, the "Malaysian Chess Festival" name is more than a label — it is a 20-year-old reputation that has made the event a fixture on the regional and international chess calendar. Temporary rebranding without explanation creates noise, and reverting to the original is the sensible move from a public relations standpoint, even if the "Merdeka" branding within individual events remains a perfectly appropriate and popular tradition.

Whatever the reason, I for one support the name change back to Malaysian Chess Festival.

The Storm: What He Actually Faced

In September 2022, after Carlsen surprisingly lost to the 19-year-old Niemann at the Sinquefield Cup, Carlsen withdrew from the tournament — widely interpreted as a tacit accusation of cheating. Carlsen later made the accusation explicit, and the scandal became the most serious cheating controversy in chess in years, attracting global media attention. Wikipedia

Chess.com then published a 72-page report claiming Niemann had "likely cheated" in more than 100 online games, including prize events. However, the report found no evidence he had cheated in any over-the-board tournament — not at the Sinquefield Cup or anywhere else. Chess.comESPN

The scandal took on a life of its own, spawning an absurd viral conspiracy involving, of all things, anal beads — which was amplified by Elon Musk on social media — turning a serious chess controversy into a global spectacle of mockery and humiliation aimed at a 19-year-old.

Following the Sinquefield Cup, Niemann faced open ostracism and received no further invitations to elite tournaments. 2700chess

Netflix after the Queen of Chess tried to capitalise this story by making a documentary out of it. Personally did not like this as I characterise this like a accident or disaster and people stopping to watch it. Nothing as wholesome as Judith's Polgar amazing achievements in chess. Of course I didn't watch the Netflix documentary despite it being related to chess.

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The Fight Back

Rather than retreating, Niemann went to war on multiple fronts simultaneously. He filed a $100 million federal lawsuit against Carlsen, his company Play Magnus Group, Chess.com, Daniel Rensch, and Hikaru Nakamura, alleging defamation and unlawful collusion to blacklist him. Wikipedia

The lawsuit was ultimately dismissed and settled in 2023, but the settlement contained something significant: there was no evidence of Niemann cheating in his game against Carlsen — or in any other over-the-board game — a point Carlsen himself acknowledged as part of the settlement. Chess.com fully reinstated him and Carlsen agreed to play against him in future pairings. Chess.comEuronews

Meanwhile, while much of the chess world remained obsessed with the events of 2022, Niemann was grinding tournaments across continents, paying out of his own pocket, rebuilding his rating, and trying to force the conversation back to chess. World Chess

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The Vindication: By the Numbers

The results became impossible to argue with. Niemann rose from 49th in the world rankings in September 2022 to 12th in May 2026. He achieved a peak FIDE standard rating of 2742. Chess.comWikipedia

The milestones stacked up rapidly in 2026 alone: he tied for third at the prestigious Tata Steel Masters in January, placed fifth at the FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship in February, defeated Awonder Liang 7½–4½ in a classical match in April, and in May won the GCT Super Rapid & Blitz Poland — becoming the first American ever to win any section of the Grand Chess Tour. Wikipedia

Then came perhaps the most symbolically loaded moment: a grudge match against Ian Nepomniachtchi in Belgrade — one of Niemann's most vocal critics after the cheating scandal. Niemann drew the match, winning the final game to level it 4–4. World Chess

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The Olympiad Selection: What It Really Means

Niemann announced in June 2026 that he will represent the United States at the Chess Olympiad in Samarkand — writing "Honored to finally represent my country!" 

Four years ago, Niemann was the most controversial man in chess — an outcast. Selection for Team USA may be the clearest answer yet to the question mark that has hung over him.

 The chess media is buzzing about Lima right now because of the World Record Chess Marathon, organized by WR Chess. Held at the Sheraton Lima from June 25 to 28, 2026, it is built around a simple but slightly mad concept: essentially non-stop chess for roughly 67 hours.

Here is why it's dominating the news cycle and what makes it such a unique spectacle to cover.

The "Marathon" Format

The event isn't just one long tournament; it's a grueling gauntlet of eight separate ranked events stacked back-to-back across four days and nights.

• The Night Shift: The three FIDE-rated Blitz events (5+2 time control) literally run overnight, starting at 11:00 p.m. and going until 9:00 a.m. the next morning.

• The Day Shift: The daytime slots are filled with two 9-round FIDE-rated Rapid tournaments (10+2) and three Bughouse team events.

• Open Access: The entire festival is free to enter and open to players of all ages and nationalities, capped at 400 players per tournament.

The moment one tournament finishes, the venue transitions immediately to the next. The logistics of managing the pairings, arbitrating, and keeping a media broadcast alive through a 3:00 a.m. blitz round are staggering.

The Highlights

Beyond the sheer endurance required from both players and the media team, the festival delivered several major storylines:

• Fausti vs. Jospem: The marquee attraction that kicked off the festival was a six-game exhibition match (2 Rapid, 4 Blitz) between 12-year-old prodigy GM Faustino Oro (the second-youngest GM in history) and local Peruvian hero GM José Martínez Alcántara ("Jospem"). Faustino ultimately won the match 4–2, taking home the $10,000 prize.

• The Grand Prix: Players can enter as many of the eight tournaments as they want. A unified Grand Prix ties all the events together, awarding $18,500 to the top overall endurance scorers out of the massive $100,000 total prize fund.

• Elite Simuls: Across the four days, heavyweights like GM Leinier Dominguez and Peruvian legend GM Julio Granda hosted simultaneous exhibitions, taking on 15 to 25 amateur opponents at once.

It's a completely different beast from a standard classical invitational. The mix of elite showmatches, chaotic 3:00 a.m. blitz rounds, and massive open fields makes for an incredibly dynamic event.

Ning Yunlong  – The Amateur Who Played Like a Grandmaster

Yunlong Ning is a casual chess enthusiast from China who served as the indispensable "recreational player" for "Mr. Birdie and Friends."
While the other five roster positions were held by world-renowned chess grandmasters and masters, Ning anchored the final slot to officially meet the FIDE tournament requirement.

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📋 Player Profile

• 🏅 FIDE Rating:
  Holds an official FIDE Rapid Rating of 1927 – comfortably below the tournament's maximum 2000 Elo limit for amateur board representatives.
• 📅 Birth Year:
  Born in 1990, making him an adult club-level competitor rather than a young prodigy.
• 🆔 FIDE ID:
  8623660

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🏆 A Historic Tournament Performance

Despite being labeled a "recreational" amateur on paper, Ning played like an absolute grandmaster during the event:

• 🥇 The Ultimate MVP:
  Shocked the field by putting up an astonishing 11/12 score on the bottom board.
• ⚔️ Giant Slayer:
  In a vital penultimate round, Yunlong Ning secured a clutch victory against the tournament-leading squad, Dragon Chilling.
  His upset win single-handedly counteracted a loss from teammate Carissa Yip, catapulting "Mr. Birdie and Friends" into the sole lead of the World Championship heading into the final round.

💬 Without his historic, dominant run on the amateur board, the team would have never been in contention for a world title podium finish.

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💰 Final Prize Payouts (Top 3)

• 🥇 Dragon Chilling (1st Place):
  €110,000 ≈ RM 521,829
• 🥈 Team MGD1 (2nd Place):
  €70,000 ≈ RM 332,073
• 🥉 Hexamind Chess Team (3rd Place):
  €50,000 ≈ RM 237,195

GM Wolfgang Uhlmann

I ask this because I've heard of Uhlmann. He is from the Fischer era and because I saw the headings in caturNews - Dresden 2026: Uhlmann exhibition with AI simulation. .



However, that's all I know about the supposed legend.

The German Chess Federation will hold its Chess Summit in the city on the Elbe. And the Dresden Chess Club of 1876 is celebrating its 150th anniversary. As part of a major chess festival Dresden is honoring the chess legend with an AI exhibition.

With recent World Blitz and Rapid team over, I now look at what we have for our local scene that is similiar.

The most notable is PMX Trophy — 3rd National Open Team Chess Championship, which just concluded a couple of weeks back. 

Not to worry, we still have the SMS Deen for the next major team rapid in Malaysia. Here's a quick comparison of what we Malaysians care about. How much to pay to enter, and what are the prizes :)

There may be errors so please inform me if I made any mistakes.

My personal challenge is to capture the excitement a team event like this brings. In the past, it has been pictures and videos, as well as some DGT live game broadcasts by our master broadcaster, Norazwan Kamarulzaman, also better known as Shin Azwan. Nothing earth-shattering, but recording and adding some highlighted games would be nice for a change.

Quick Comparison

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Detailed Breakdown

1. PMX Trophy — 3rd National Open Team Chess Championship

Organised by MCF and held at AEON Mall Shah Alam, this is the premier national team chess event in Malaysia.

Registration Fees:

• RM 700 — all-Malaysian Open team
• +RM 100 per foreign player (e.g. a team with 4 foreigners pays RM 1,100 total)
• RM 400 — State teams (limited to 2 per state)
• +RM 100 late fee for entries after 22 May 2026

Prize Fund — RM 30,000 total:

• Champion: RM 6,000
• Full breakdown of remaining prizes not published in the official announcement; distributed among top finishers and special categories (e.g., Best State Team, Best Junior)

Format: 7-round Swiss, Standard time control (90 minutes + 30 seconds increment per move)

Team: 4 main players + 1 optional reserve. Limited to 60 teams, with priority given to state associations.

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2. SMS Deen Merdeka Open Rapid Team Championship — 21st Merdeka Chess Festival

Organised by DAT Chess Centre (DATCC) and held at KL Gateway Mall, this opens the annual Merdeka Chess Festival (Aug 28 – Sep 6, 2026).

Registration Fee:

• RM 450 — Open team
• Late entries after 21 August 2026 incur a surcharge or double fee
• Name/board order changes: RM 50 per change

Prize Fund — RM 24,000 total:

Format: 9-round Swiss, Rapid time control (20 minutes + 5 seconds increment per move)

Team: 4 players. Hard cap of 50 paid teams. Average team rating must not exceed 2,250.

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Key Takeaways

The prize gap between the two events is much narrower than often assumed — RM 30,000 vs RM 24,000. The SMS Deen event actually has a more detailed and generous prize structure across categories, rewarding Malaysian teams, state teams, juniors, and ladies separately. The PMX Trophy carries a higher registration cost and uses the slower classical format over 4 days, while the SMS Deen event wraps up in just 2 days at a rapid pace, making it accessible for more casual or club-level teams.

And for you guys planning to take part, START TRAINING NOW !!!!