Najib Chess Website

The last time I helped my friend Herosifu to run his tournament, it was an online event. It started off with just one event but, with the good response that he had received, he decided to do a second event. The response for both events was very good – with IM Mashafizul taking part in the first edition, and IM Yeoh Li Tian in the second edition making the event series two of the strongest online events in the Malaysian calendar for 2021. This time around – with the government easing the restriction for physical activities, Herosifu decided to up the ante and conduct an Over-The-Board event, and again, it will be an honor for me to help him out. While Herosifu may have organized an OTB event previously, this time around, it will be on a grander scale. So, here we are – at the onset of organizing and managing the grandest ever Herosifu Chess Academy Rapid Open Chess Tournament 2022, and what a big bang this would be!

Held at Hotel Tenera Bandar Baru Bangi, with a prize fund of more than RM6,300 and a running budget of more than RM20k, it will be one of the more anticipated events to start off the 2022 chess calendar in Malaysia. If this were to be used as a gauge for what is in store for the rest of the year, it will be a tough challenge for many of the independent organizers out there to match – the prize fund, the location, and the officials involved. For this event, Herosifu has decided to go with the most knowledgeable and experienced IA in the country – IA Abd Hamid Abd Majid as its Chief Arbiter.

The event is catered to attract 300 players and to date, a few of the top players in the country have voiced their interest to participate. Don’t be surprised if both our IMs at the Online edition will turn up to take part – a mouth-watering encounter it will be between the seasoned master and the young challenger! And to top it off, words also have it that even one or two “VIPs” have shown their interest to try their wit and prowess at the event which will make it one of the more colorful events to start off the calendar year!

The set up for the event will be similar to that of the Queen’s Gambit movie – players will play alongside the hotel corridor, foyer, and lobby, making it viewable from many angles. But of course, SOP for social distancing and crowd control will be enforced at all times. But with a bigger area for players to move around, the event has been set up so that it will not be too crampy or crowded to allow for good circulation and distancing.

More information for the event can be found by downloading the event brochures HERE. Those interested to play are advised to register early by CLICKING HERE. Entry fees have been set at RM100 for all Rated Players, and the closing date is 1st February 2022 (or once the registration hits 300 players) in order to comply with COS and KBS requirements.

Inquiries about the event can be forwarded to najib.wahab@hotmail.com/016.338.2542 or herosifuchess@gmail.com/016.698.1802.

Come and join us!

I am practically amazed at how Ezmi – fondly known as Herosifu, managed to attract all these good players to his tournament. And for the second edition, Malaysia’s top two players in the country – our numero uno IM Yeoh Li Tian and FM Wong Yinn Loong, decided to jump into the tournament. And with the top two heavyweights in the event, it also attracted FM Lye Lik Zang (#4) and FM Lim Zhuo Ren (#6). And a few more outside the top 10 like Evan Timothy Capel (#12), CM Tan Jun Ying (#15) and Poh Yu Tian (#25) who is also the top ranked U12 in the country. It was definitely a tournament to be in, and it was fun!

While the U12 may not attract strong players to join the fun, it managed to garner more than 140 players to participate in the weekend event with another 70 players playing in the U18 event. Many top Junior players like Poh Yu Tian and Tan Jun Ying – although they are able to play in their respective age group, decided to go for the more challenging and attractive Open section.

After the smoke cleared, IM Yeoh Li Tian scored a point clear from all his contenders – drawing with Lik Zang and Zhuo Ren but securing full points on the other 7 opponents, to snatch the RM600 first prize. Evan Capel came in second followed by Eng Jia Qian, Wong Yinn Loong and Lim Zhuo Ren. The top Veteran prize went to Taulani Tukiran with Sim Jia Ru bagging the Best Lady. Best Para player went to Adrian Syah Muming of Sabah

Ravind Kumar secured the top U12 performer followed by Wong Rui Yang and Shen Ree Herng with Wan Zayn Zara securing the best HCA Student for U12. In the U18 section, Nik Omar Heykal Amir Azhar snatched the RM300 first prize followed by Faris Wajdi and Muhd Hafizuddin in 3rd. Best HCA student for U18 went to Airell Ikhwan Adnan. Full report for the events can be found at http://chess-results.com/fed.aspx?lan=1&fed=MAS

As part of the organizing committee and crew that manages the Herosifu Online Chess Tournament 2021 2nd Edition (and the first edition), we would like to thank En Ezmi for the trust and confidence in allowing our team to manage the event. And of course, to all the players, parents and followers that have been playing, supporting and promoting the event – either directly or otherwise. Thank you thank you thank you!

#staysafe #stayhome #kitajagakita

I have known Ezmi Mahmood (dubbed Herosifu) circa 2009, when I was an active organizer and part of the management team at DATCC – the Dato Arthur Tan Chess Center, in Wilayah Complex. Then in 2013, I joined the same company as Ezmi ‘s and after a few transfers between department, we ended up working in the same department and at one time, even on the same floor. Throughout the years, we have had our differences but, we managed to put that aside for chess (and work – since we are in the same office) and continue to foster good friendship. And as funny as it may seem, Ezmi decided to quite his job in 2019 and a few months later, I also did the same thing. And we both quit our work for the one thing that we are passionate about – and that passion is CHESS…

While Ezmi took the path of opening up his own Herosifu Chess Academy, I ended up in the Federation. But many of our views about chess in Malaysia are similar – we wanted a more organized chess structure in Malaysia, quality over quantity, proper over haphazard, and of course, our dream of having a beautiful chess establishment that will be a one stop chess center. But of course, that would need money to run and as of now, it remains only as a dream.

When Ezmi called me to help run his event, I am more than happy to oblige and with that, I am calling upon friends and the chess community to support this inaugural online event that he is embarking on. For this event, the main objective is to foster camaraderie and friendship, and while the prizes are lucrative, we should also take note that chess is also about having fun, a few laughter between friends, and not getting worked up just because we are not able to play well. Its not about losing but its about learning to improve.

The Herosifu Chess Academy Online Chess Tournament 2021 is set to be held on Saturday, 26th June 2021 and will cover 9 rounds of play using 10 minutes + 2 seconds time control. More than RM2k is up for grabs with the winner setting to earn a cool RM500 for his/her effort. Entry fees are more than reasonable and prizes are a plenty. Come and join the event!

Click on the following to go to the registration page : https://forms.gle/yL9Ru6vQ2fjVHi6P8

Ekoran pandemik COVID19 yang melanda dunia sejak Februari lalu, hampir kesemua aktiviti dan progam sukan yang telah diatur perlu di tunda, disusun semula atau terpaksa dibatalkan sama sekali oleh pihak penganjur atau badan sukan yang mengendalinya. Walaupun ramai pakar perubatan menjangkakan keadaan mungkin mampu untuk kembali seperti sediakala mulai Jun atau Julai tahun ini, ramai yang tidak mahu mengambil risiko tersebut. Tambahan pula, persediaan untuk menganjurkan sesuatu kejohanan besar memerlukan tempoh persiapan yang memakan masa sekurang-kurangnya sebulan atau dua sebelum ianya diadakan.

Mengambil pendekatan yang sedemikian, tidaklah mengejutkan apabila badan catur dunia FIDE telah mengambil keputusan untuk menunda tarikh Olimpiad Berpasukan Dunia ke tahun hadapan walaupun secara amnya sukan tersebut hanya  dijadualkan berlangsung pada bulan Ogos iaitu selepas tarikh dimana pandemik COVID19 dijangkakan akan berakhir.  Antara kejohanan besar lainnya yang ditangguh oleh FIDE termasuklah Kejohanan Candidates yang bermula bulan Februari lalu di Moscow yang dihentikan dipertengahan jalan ekoran COVID19 yang semakin menular ketika itu serta tekanan dari pelbagai pihak untuk ianya ditangguhkan. Bagi komuniti catur di Malaysia pula, pelbagai kejohanan dan pertandingan catur telah dibatalkan termasuklah beberapa Kejohanan bertaraf FIDE yang telah dirancang oleh beberapa penganjur tanahair.

Dengan Perintah Kawalan Pergerakkan (MCO) di  kuatkuasakan, dan penjarakkan sosial di perketatkan, bukan acara catur atau acara sukan sahaja yang terkena bahananya. Malahan semua aktiviti perkumpulan seperti mesyuarat dan seminar, program keagamaan dimesjid , gereja atau kuil, aktiviti-aktiviti senaman serta program kekeluargaan seperti majlis perkahwinan, kenduri kendara dan sebagainya, terpaksa dibatalkan buat sementara waktu. Bagi sukan atau aktiviti yang memerlukan kehadiran dan penglibatan seseorang secara fizikal, memang tiada cara lain melainkan dilupakan sahaja perancangan tersebut. Bagi mesyuarat atau sessi perbincangan, ianya masih boleh diteruskan menerusi perantara internet seperti zoom atau skype, atau setidaknya melalui persidangan telefon atau teleconference. Sesi pembelajaran juga masih boleh diteruskan dengan menggunakan kemudahan internet bagi mendapatkan pelbagai bahan rujukan untuk di muat turun – samada secara percuma atau berbayar. Secara langsung, pelbagai aktiviti kini mula  memaksimakan keupayaan internet untuk kembali meneruskan program-program yang telah dirancang – sebaik dan senormal yang mungkin.

Sistem pesanan menerusi internet juga kini menjadi norma yang baru untuk ramai orang, dan kaedah penghantaran menggunakan Grab atau FoodPanda, adalah model perniaagaan yang dipilih ramai. Dan semua ini – secara langsung menjadikan internet sebagai keperluan utama yang diperlukan oleh hampir semua orang untuk meneruskan gaya hidup sehampir normal yang mungkin didalam era pandemik COVID19.

Bagaimana pula catur dan internet? Adakah ramai pemain, penganjur dan entiti catur telah (atau akan) memanafaatkan catur menggunakan internet? Adakah anda – sebagai seorang yang berminat dengan catur, telah membuat perpindahan daripada seorang pemain “atas-papan” kepada seorang pemain “atas-talian”? Adakah catur “atas-talian” akan menjadi norma baru bagaimana permainan dan kejohanan catur dipertandingkan dimasa-masa akan datang? Bagaimanakan atau adakah pemain atau penganjur, atau persatuan, atau pegawai seperti Arbiter, atau pelatih dan pengajar catur, akan mendapat keuntungan daripada perpindahan ini? Atau adakah ianya akan lebih merugikan atau adakah catur akan kembali kepada cara permainan yang menemukan lawan yang bertentangan diatas meja?

Apa pendapat anda?
Pendapat saya – di coretan yang akan datang.

THE OVERALL OUTLOOK

Improvement needs to be holistic and it cannot stop at just the U12 or the Junior population only. Of course, it is also unrealistic to ensure that the entire population progresses hence, a more strategic way is to have a structured growth to ensure that we have a healthy chess population – not just for the sake of economic scale.

Reiterating the fact that Malaysia has the highest FIDE chess population in ASEAN (and 16^th the world), we should reflect on the fact that in terms of strength, we are 9^th in ASEAN with Laos as the only country behind us in 10^th position. If we were to take the progression of our playing strength beyond our U20 population, we will realize that even Brunei can turn around its performance to beat us in the power game. Except for Singapore and Vietnam – the only two ASEAN countries with a reduced rating strength going into the Open category, they are still relatively better than Malaysia.

Conclusion

While Malaysia may boast of having (and will continue to have) the highest population boom within the ASEAN region and the World, we need to start looking at how to improve our power game. Malaysia needs to understand how countries like Indonesia, Philippines and Myanmar continue to improve at a much higher rate as their players progresses through the age groups. We are progressing as well but, at a lower trending hence the power gap between Malaysia and these countries continue to widen as the age group progresses. My opinion – is that we should focus more effort on improving our quality/power game and reduce the need to increase the quantity.

I sincerely believe that one of the more logical explanation on the increasing gap is the lack of support to provide the necessary training and development program as the players jump from one age group to the next. As most players rely on their own resources to make the progress and improvement, only a minority group – the affordable and dedicated few, that can climb the ladder ranking and continue to progress. And those who do not, continue to play without putting in much effort – merely passing time and happy to be a part of the community. But, even if a development or training program is put in place, would the majority sign up for it?

Perhaps the better way to curb the growth of FIDE registered population in order to promote a better development structure, is to reintroduce the local rating system. Therefore, players can gauge their strength before registering with FIDE instead of the current practice of allowing everyone and anyone jumping onto the rating bandwagon. In short, Malaysia should adopt a mechanism that controls whether a player should proceed to having a FIDE rating or otherwise. With the local rating abolished, signing up as a FIDE player seems to be the only way for those who are interested to play chess competitively without knowing if they are prepared for it or not.

And when many organizers do organize a FIDE rated event, most Malaysians if not all, are cautious of the many Indonesians and Filipinos (without FIDE rating) who participated, knowing that they have the potential to cruise and runaway with our prize money. So, why are they – even without rating, are a better lot than our locals?

My theory is simple – these players are prepared for it. They may have played in the local circuit and understand where they stand against the more established players. And with that, they also know where and when they can strike most effectively, and only then they will participate to play in FIDE events. And unfortunately, Malaysia is their preferred ground because based on the rating distribution, we do not have that much depth in our players line up and our prize fund are relatively handsome. Further, I find it strange that powerhouse chess nations like Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam (or even Myanmar) do not have huge FIDE population whereas they have been in the “chess map” even longer than us, and still able to maintain a relatively better strength

From my understanding – Philippines (not sure about Indonesia) have their own rating system, as such, if they can do well in their local circuits – against their own FIDE rated population, only then they know that the timing is right for them to explore their capability. For us Malaysians, many resorted to having FIDE rating because they have no choice as the local system no longer exist. For kids, there is a good chance that it’s the parents who are eager to get a FIDE rating for their children in order to help the child to gain valuable extracurricular points, or simply to boast of their child’s “achievement” against other parents. Whether the child performs or whether the child is really into chess or not, that may be secondary. For organizers, it is about survival hence, getting players to be FIDE registered – because it is a requirement, is something that they need to do in order to maximize the income for their event.

Proper governance and management are also key ingredients to manage our chess population and strength. When a player really shows an interest to pursue chess as a sport of choice, they should be allowed to play in FIDE rated event and in return, the chess body should provide them the necessary support to go further. But if a player is into it simply because they want to “try” or because they “have to”, then perhaps we should caution them and request them to participate in local events to prove their worth. Noted that the income derived from having players registering for FIDE ID will help the governing body to raise the necessary fund to conduct its activities and programs but, I am sure there are other ways and means to make money. After all, money earned via FIDE ID is only a “one time earning” when it should be more consistent, sustained and grow. Personally, I feel we should not sacrifice quality in order to make money hence, a better way need to be found in order to raise the necessary fund to provide the support structure to help improve the community. And on that thought, the local rating system can also do the job – of getting the income, albeit it may not be as handsome, but it should be able to grow in the longer run.  As the saying goes, we can always find money – if there is a will, there will always be a way. Balancing everything is the best approach but, many of us are not jugglers and in the real world, money still makes the world goes around.

A healthy population growth is also needed but, if we were to become a chess nation, we need to have the proper program and activities to reach that goal. We are proud of having IM Yeoh Li Tian – our most promising player in the last 40 years, but I will be prouder if I can have 20 more players who are like Li Tian. Agreed – when Tian becomes a GM, chess will flourish but what is our plan to keep that fire alive? Our soon to be GM Tian will just be a lone hero trying to wrestle everyone else. Just like Avengers – having one Iron Man is not enough, we need Captain America, Hulk, Thor and the rest of the team. And you also need a Nick Fury to govern and hold everything together.

Quantity is good but we also need good quality and that is where we should focus next.

Note: This is a personal opinion expressed by the author and does not necessarily reflect the opinions or views of that of the Malaysian Chess Federation, its committee members or affiliation. Feel free to comment below. Thank you.

Does our U20 fare better than our U16 and U10 in the ASEAN Region? Which country progresses well as the Junior population reach its peak?

U20

With Malaysia leading the population race for U12 and U16, it comes as no surprise that we also lead the population race for the U20 FIDE registered players population, leading the ASEAN countries with 2,189 players followed by Singapore and Philippines in 2^nd and 3^rd placing with 797 and 782 players.  In 2010, we were 3^rd behind Singapore and Vietnam with only 34 FIDE registered players. Again, similar with the U12 and U16 age group, we grew by more than 210 players per year as compared to our nearest rival Singapore and Philippine who did just over 70 players per year.

In terms of the rating race, Indonesia continue its dominance at the top leading the ASEAN countries with an average FIDE rating points of 1807.1 followed by Vietnam with 1711.7 points. For 2020, Philippines suffered the most points reduction with 666 points to end at 1650 points compare to their impressive 2315.8 points average in 2010. Malaysia also exceeded the amateur mark in 2010 averaging 2013.9 FIDE rating points but lost more than 620 points in the last decade to end at 6^th place in 2020 with 1403.1. As point of reference, Malaysia was ranked 5^th in 2010 hence in terms of strength ranking, not much has changed but the power points have reduced dramatically.

For U20, the gap between the top country and the lowest rated country widens even further separating almost 600 points between top ranked Indonesia against 9^th place Laos. Even for Malaysia, our gap with the top ranked country is higher at more than 400 points for U20 compare to 380 points for U16 and only 160 points for the U12 indicating further deterioration compared to our ASEAN neighbours as we review the last Junior age group.

For U20 rated population, Malaysia’s is ranked 7^th in the ASEAN region with 15% which is similar to our U16 population as well. Myanmar has the highest rated population at 35% followed by Indonesia – also at 35%. But of course, as we have the largest U20 population, we also have the highest number of FIDE rated players in the age category albeit our low distribution rate of only 15%. Only Singapore and Brunei have a lower FIDE rated population percentage than us.

Comparing the performances of all the major age groups – U12, U16 and U20, it can be concluded that we are better off at the U12 age group which may indicate that we have a large pool of naturally talented players. And, we may also have a better support structure to grow our U12 player population as a lot of chess trainers and coaches seem to have set a firm foothold at certain schools around the country. Further, most parents and teachers are accommodative in providing support to the younger children to develop their interest – whatever interest it may be. Whatever it is, we can pat ourselves on the back as we have managed to instil the interest of our youngsters to pick up chess as one of the preferred sports – as indicated by our population growth. A note of thanks must be given to the Ministry of Education (including to the Ministry of Higher Learning) for including chess as a sporting event at sports meet and national level events such as MASUM, SUKIPT and MSSM, and hopefully SUKMA. These programs – without a doubt, have contributed to the growth of chess in Malaysia at the Junior level.

However, while we have an excellent mechanism and support function from the educational institutions and the statutory bodies to help grow the population, at the end of the day, the onus to develop the sport still falls onto individual effort and the efforts of the chess community and organizations that exist within the country. The minority that can afford or those that are focused, will continue to invest in improving their chess prowess but those that are not, will remain as is if not worse.

The above chart provides a good indication of how Malaysia’s population is progressing from one age group to the next. Except for Brunei as the only country going on a downward trend, all the other countries are progressing upwards rather steadily as the population moves from one age group to the next. However, Indonesia, Vietnam, Myanmar and Philippines seem to be improving at a better FIDE average point rate as the age group goes higher. Interesting enough, Singapore exhibits a significant power jump from its U16 age group going into the U20 age group. For Malaysia, the progress looks very slow and we have the lowest improvement average between the age groups with Indonesia having the best improvement rate going into their U20 population followed closely by Singapore – contributed by the significant improvement from U16 to U20 age group population

Based on the numbers that we have saw, we can conclude that Malaysia is well behind our ASEAN neighbours in the chess race within the region. We may have the quantity but the quality part of it is significantly behind. The worse part is that while other countries continue to progress upwards with their Junior programs, our progress has been minimal

Next to look out for – How do we progress beyond the Junior population?

Let us review how our U16 population sizes up to our neighboring countries in ASEAN, Are we improving the scale as we continue to the higher age group within the region? Is our U16 players better than our U12 population?

U16

Similar trend can be seen for the U16 population with Malaysia again leading the pack in ASEAN with the highest number of FIDE registered players at 2809. And again, Philippines and Singapore came in 2^nd and 3^rd placing with 877 players and 689 players respectively. In 2010, Malaysia only had 21 FIDE registered players who were U16 years of age and in the last 10 years – similar with our U12 population trending, we grew by more than 275 players per annum to be where we are now. In 2010, Singapore had the highest U16 population with 88 players followed by Vietnam with 49 players.

And again, although we have the highest number of U16 players within the region, the same cannot be said of our playing strength. We seem to fare even worse in the U16 category by taking the lowest spot against our ASEAN neighbours – less Cambodia and Laos as both countries do not have any U16 with FIDE rating.

Malaysia suffered the most point reduction among all ASEAN countries going from 1893.3 points in 2010 to 1285.5 in 2020 whilst Indonesia had the least change losing only 218 points during the same time span. In contrast to the U12 rating performance, the gap in 2010 between the top country Philippines and the lowest country Singapore was only 171 points but in 2020, the gap increased to 381 points between top ranked Indonesia and bottom of the table Malaysia – a significant gap between the opposite end of the tape.

In terms of rating distribution, we fare slightly higher in the U16 category with 15% of our player population having a FIDE rating. While this may be higher than our U12 pool, in terms of regional ranking, we are at 7^th spot with Indonesia leading the pack at 32% of its U16 population who are rated. Again, Indonesia is able to balance its small population of 271 players with a high average and with a good percentage of rated players.

While we can consider ourselves as contenders for the U12 FIDE rating race, the same cannot be said for our U16 players as we are drifting further apart from the leading pack. But we also need to remember that the age group is not a stagnant lot. In the next 3-4 years, most of the players in the current U12 segment will gradually fill up the U16 population with additional new players filling up the numbers. If the correction is made at the younger age group, the older age group should benefit in the long run as players climb up the age rank. While the game plan for the U12 population is to develop their fundamentals and basic understanding of chess playing to keep them competitive, sustainability and keeping the interest afloat is perhaps the better way to develop and improve the U16 population. At that age group, a lot of things are happenings in the life of a teenager – other physical sports, new habit and hobbies, peer pressure and opposite attracts will be the common interest (or distraction) that needs to be monitored.

Next segment – Looking at our U20 group of players.