Sunday, April 26, 2015

42nd Selangor Open: Registration is Closed and the History of Selangor Open

The registration for this event is closed officially today. We have received a total of 92 entries for this edition.

This event will be spearheaded by last year (41st edition) & 2012 (39th edition) winner IM Nolte, Rolando. He is challenged by compatriot IM Senador, Emmanuel from Philippines and Our local No. 1 FM Yeoh Li Tian, IM Mas Hafizulhelmi and dark horse IM Jimmy Liew (8-time winner of Selangor Open). On paper, one of these 5 players will be the Champion on the evening of 4th May 2015. GM Alexander Forminyh who won the 40th edition withdrew from the event on the night before the event starts.

Looking back at the statistics, this edition may become one of the strongest playing fields in the history of Selangor Open.  Now, let us visit back the history of the oldest chess event in Malaysia.

Here comes again another milestone celebrating Selangor Open Chess Tournament for 42 consecutive years in running. Between the year 1983 and 2008, this event is well known as "Royal Selangor Open Chess Tournament". Even up till now, many players are still referring this event as Royal Selangor Open despite this event no longer under the sponsorship from Royal Selangor for many years already. It just showed how significant the contribution from Royal Selangor to Selangor Chess. We hope one day, Royal Selangor can once again be our corporate sponsor.

Selangor Open has been accorded the longest running tournament in Malaysia by The Malaysia Book of Records in 2000. Since its inception in 1974, this event has attracted foreign participations from countries like Russia, India, Germany, England, Hong Kong, South Africa, Iran, Bangladesh, Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, Uzbekistan, New Zealand, and many others.

Foreign players had a complete domination in this event by winning the first six editions with Indonesian IM Dr. Max Wotulo winning thrice. The foreign domination only came to an end when IM-to-be Jimmy Liew won the 7th edition. As a result from Jimmy wins, the year 1980 earmarked as a significant year to be remembered for our local players and signal the beginning of a new era of chess development in Malaysia. Nevertheless, Ajai Choudhry continued back foreign domination when he won the 8th edition. However, Jimmy again came to the rescue of local players when he wrested back the title in the following year before losing it to Englishmen IM David Goodman in the 10th edition. Then, a young boy by the name of Christi Hon took everyone by surprise by winning the 11th edition.

Jimmy began his supremacy by virtue of his IM strength in 1985 to win for 4 consecutive years from the 12th to 15th edition before lost back the title into foreign hand. This time it is IM F. Mirabeau who won the 16th edition. Nevertheless, Jimmy won another two times i.e. 19th and 26th edition to become the "best of the best" among the winners by winning a record of 8 times in 41 editions.

In the 1990s, we saw the emerging of Mok Tze Meng who won in the 17th, 18th, 23rd, 24th and 30th edition to become the next player after Jimmy with a record of 5 Championships to date. Other local winners are Nicholas Chan (31st, 36th, 37th, 38th edition), Lim Yee Weng (25th and 35th edition) Peter Long (20th edition), Nor Azmi (21st edition), Mohd. Kamal Abdullah (22nd edition), Anas Nazreen Bakri (32nd edition) and Lim Chuin Hoong (34th edition).

In 2000, CAS was celebrating its 27th Selangor Open, that year again saw a total foreign domination that was led by Philippines GM Eugene Torre, GM Antonio Rogelio, Ronaldo Nolte, and IM Rico Mascarinas. Meawhile, our local representatives are four-time winner Mok Tze Meng and one-time winner Lim Yee Weng together with a string of national players.

With the participation from the four Filipinos in the 27th Selangor Open, once and again it has shown that the Selangor Open event has never failed to capture the attention of foreign chess players. No wonder the Selangor Open has been dubbed as the de facto Malaysia Open over the years before the emerging of Dato Arthur Tan Malaysia Open in 2004.

In contrast, the 28th edition saw participation from both local and Singaporean players only. Mohd Saprin Sabri emerged winner for the first time. Next, the 29th edition won by Fikrul Saifuddin, an Indonesian whom many local players regarded him as the strongest non-FIDE rated chess player living in the country at that time. Once again, a tourist from Indonesia Tjin Hau took everyone by surprise to win the 33rd edition in 2006.

The 31st edition saw participation from Brunei National Champion AK Hira, Selangor Open winner Mok Tze Meng (5 championships) and Saprin, National Champions Siti Zulaikha and Nicholas Chan, and many other top national players. After a gruelling 9-round, CAS is very please to see the moment of waiting for a home-grown youngster, FM Nicholas Chan, to become new Selangor Open champion has arrived. He left the country shortly after that to pursue his medical study. Upon returning back to Malaysia, he went on to win the title three years in-a-row from 2009 to 2011.

The achievement of Chan is a best way to show the success of CAS Chess Training Excellent Programme which started as a brainchild of two people i.e. the late Mrs. Jackie Wong and former top-ranked National player Peter Long. While, Lim Tse Pin was assigned as the chief engineer to carry out this project in 1996 as part of his maiden assignment since joining the Association Council. By 2006, this programme had completed 10 editions successfully and churned out many national champions and age-group champions. Nevertheless, this programme will never exist in the first place if not for strong corporate support from Royal Selangor. A big thank you to Royal Selangor for 26 years support.

CAS has continued to organise the 36th and 37th edition with her own funds at a cost of using one-quarter of available fund that was built since 1983. At the going rate, CAS funds will be wiped out completely by 2015.

In 2011, CAS has made a pledge to the chess community to seek for donations. A donor who wishes to remain anonymous has stepped forward to rescue the 38th edition by donating RM 10,000/=. For the next 3 editions, CAS once again had used own funds to continue with this event. This course of action had depleted CAS reserves much further.

This year CAS with the help of Event Manager DAT Chess Centre has managed to secure a sponsorship of RM 15,000/= from Kasparov Chess Foundation Asia Pacific to organize the 42nd edition of Selangor Open. We at CAS are thankful to all donors/sponsors who have contributed towards continuity of this event as the longest running tournament in Malaysia.

Lets continue the spirit of Selangor Open and its tradition into the future generations.


Thursday, April 23, 2015

42nd Selangor Open: Namelist

The Event Manager has received a total of 80 paid entries as of 20th April 2015.

Below is the namelist which is sorted alphabetically:-

No.   Name   FED
1 Abdul Jalil, Syahril MAS
2 Abdul Shukor, Abdul Aziz MAS
3 Ahmad Nazar, Ellie Emira Syamimi F MAS
4 Ahmad Nazari, Emir Rusyaidi MAS
5 Azhar, Puteri Munajjah Az-Zahraa F MAS
6 Bagamasbad, Efren PHI
7 Chan, Kim Yew MAS
8 Chandran, Mirnash MAS
9 Cheah, Kah Hoe MAS
10 Chembeti, Shreesh Amit MAS
11 Chong, Ning Christopher MAS
12 Chua, Jia-Tien F MAS
13 Demudu, Subramaniam  MAS
14 GM Fominyh, Alexander  RUS
15 Goh, Kai Ray Alden MAS
16 Hairul, Muhd Ilhan Mansiz MAS
17 Hamid, Hairul Abdul MAS
18 Ho, Chen Ee F MAS
19 Ho, Wern Wei F MAS
20 FM Ismail, Ahmad MAS
21 Jayakumar, Divyasree F MAS
22 WFM Johari, Camilia F MAS
23 Kebbedies, Frank GER
24 Khairil, Muhd Khairil Asyraf MAS
25 Koh, Jing Yi MAS
26 Kong, Ren En MAS
27 Koo, Wei Wei Melanie F MAS
28 Koo, Wei Xin Rosamund F MAS
29 Lee, Ryan MAS
30 Lee, Yean Herng MAS
31 IM Liew, Chee-Meng Jimmy MAS
32 Liew, Ken Yew MAS
33 Lim, Kian Hwa MAS
34 Lim, Zen Hong MAS
35 Low, Chee Pang  MAS
36 Lum, Sun Yuan MAS
37 Lye, Lik Zang MAS
38 Md Nizam, Ahmad Nazmi MAS
39 Mohd Ikhranizam, Ahmad Hadif MAS
40 Mohd Ikhranizam, Muhd Al-Waqeef MAS
41 Mohd Nazroel, Mohd Nazri Aiman MAS
42 Mohd Nazroel, Mohd Nazri Aizad MAS
43 Mohd Saprin, Amir Ghaazi MAS
44 Mohd Yusri, Mohd Yussaini MAS
45 CM Ng, Jen Sheng MAS
46 IM Nolte, Rolando PHI
47 Noor Akbar, Muhd Aziz Farhan MAS
48 Ooi, Zhi Ping MAS
49 Raj, Harrscheen Devan MAS
50 Rohizan, Nurul Aina Akmar F MAS
51 Sabri, Mohd Saprin MAS
52 Saleh, Fahim Al-Faqeh MAS
53 Saleh, Fikri MAS
54 Saparmin, Mohd Zullghafari MAS
55 Sathyanarayanan, Raamamurthy MAS
56 Saw, Lye Guan MAS
57 IM Senador, Emmanuel  PHI
58 Seow, Chun Hong Ryan  MAS
59 Shaik, Ali Nor Ilhamuddin MAS
60 Sim, Jia Ru F MAS
61 Soh, Zee Wee MAS
62 Sreenivasan, Brandon Tien  MAS
63 Sreenivasan, Lucas Ren  MAS
64 Subarmaniyam, Sarwhin  MAS
65 Subramaniam, Shreyes  MAS
66 Subramaniam, Sumant MAS
67 Tan, Jiin Yih MAS
68 CM Tan, Jun Ying MAS
69 Tan, Kok Liang MAS
70 Tan, Soon Wei Dawson MAS
71 Tan, Yong Zhao MAS
72 Tee, An Qi F MAS
73 Tham, Tick Hong Jax MAS
74 Wong, Kah Hing  MAS
75 Wong, Zi Yue MAS
76 Woo, Ka Wai MAS
77 Yee, Jian Yang MAS
78 Yeoh, Chin Seng MAS
79 Yeoh, Li Tian MAS
80 Yusoff, Fairul MAS

Sunday, April 12, 2015

National Chess Championship 2015: Playoff into MM 2015 - Jimmy the 1st to qualify

The playoff for qualification into Malaysian Masters is ongoing at OCM from 10/4 to 12/4. Top 2 finishers from this playoff will join NCC Champion 2015, Yeoh Li Tian from Selangor, in Malaysian Masters 2015.

This year Malaysian Masters comprises members from last year National Men Squad, one highest eligible active FIDE rated players (March release), and one highest eligible FIDE rated (min. elo 2300) titled player  .

 A total of 5 players (originally was 6) are involved in the playoff which is conducted based on Single Round Robin format .Ooi Zhi Yang from Penang withdrew himself from the playoff few days before the schedule of the playoff starts.

The seeding of the playoff is based on NCC 2015 standing i.e. 1. Muhd Syazwan from TRG, 2. Lye Lik Zang from KL, 3. IM Jimmy Liew from Selangor, 4. Saprin from Selangor, and lastly Ryan Chan from Penang.

4 rounds were completed so far.

CAS congratulates IM Jimmy Liew who had just completed all his 4 games to become the first player from the playoff qualifies into Malaysian Masters 2015.  

The last round will commence @ 3pm. The 2nd qualifier will comes from the battle between Lye of KL and Saprin of Selangor.

Can Saprin makes it a 1-2-3 from Selangor!?

Saprin, Lets do it!

Thursday, April 2, 2015

42nd Selangor Open: Hotels Nearby

For those who do not wish to stay in dormitory within the Tournament venue, with here I furnish information of nearby hotels to Selangor Open Venue. Please do self-booking for these hotels:-

No Hotel Name Grade Hotel Address Distance (Walking) Distance (Driving) Twin-sharing  (Shared bathroom) for 4 nights Twin-sharing  (Attached bathroom) for 4 nights Quad Sharing (Shared bathroom)  for 4 nights Quad Sharing (Attached bathroom)  for 4 nights Source 
A

Pandan Jaya 1 Hotel  
0-star

13 Jalan Pandan 5/6
1.8Kms 3.2Kms 240 N/A 400 600 Booking.com
B

The Green Hotel 
2-star
319, Jalan Mahkota
1.7Kms 2.5Kms 349 - 428 667 Agoda.com
C
Hotel
Big W
0-star
74-B Jln Jejaka 9 
1.6Kms 2.7Kms 518 717 Agoda.com wins!
D
d'Garden Hotel
2-star
45, Jalan Jejaka 5
1.8Kms 2.9Kms 313 - 354 Expedia.com.my wins!
E
Twin Hotel
0-star

56 and 58, Jalan Jejaka 7
1.7Kms 2.8Kms 380 - 464 Agoda.com
wins!
F

Sakura Boutique Hotel
2-star

327 and 329 Jalan Tun Razak
2Kms 2Kms 368 - 501 Agoda.com wins!
G
Hotel Maluri
4-star
1, Jalan Permaisuri
1.8Kms 2.9Kms 609 -704 1311 Agoda.com wins!

The price listed above is inclusive of 16% service fee & taxes and updated as at 5th Apr 2015.

Hotels sorted by Customer Reviews
1. Hotel Maluri (with Swimming Pool)
2. d'Garden Hotel
3. Hotel Big W (New built few months old - no review) 
4. Hotel Twin (besides a Karaoke joint)
5. Sakura Boutique Hotel
6. The Green Hotel
7. Pandan Jaya 1 Hotel

(Hotel 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6 are located in same vicinity of adjacent streets. This is also THE eatery place for the participants)


Wednesday, April 1, 2015

42nd Selangor Open (30/4 - 4/5): Prospectus

CAS once again will be organizing the Oldest Chess Tournament in the country. This year we will be celebrating 42 continuous years of the Event. This event has a very colorful history since its first inception in 1974.

This year prize fund has been increased to RM14,500/= with the support from Kasparov Chess Foundation Asia Pacific via DAT Chess Centre. The Top 3 winners will be receiving RM 4,000, RM 2,500, and RM 1,500 respectively. Also, another 17 other top finishers shall receive prizes from Main prizes category. There will be 6 special prizes for awaiting Top 3 winners in Category Best OKU, Best Selangor U-10, Selangor U-16, Selangor Ladies, Selangor Veteran, and Best Malaysian Schools/IPT. Every player is entitled to 1 prize only (of higher cash value).

The venue for this venue is Pusat Kecemerlangan Paralimpik, Kompleks Sukan Negara Kampung Pandan. This venue is very suitable for outstation chess players because it comes with Air-cond Dormitory facility within the premise. Taking advantage of the dormitory facility that is OKU friendly,  CAS encourage strongly OKU participations in this edition.

Registration with payment by 20th April, shall enjoy RM 30 rebates. In addition, OKU participant shall be entitled to same privilege in lowest entry fees just like FIDE-rated player from Selangor. Also, any IPT or schools that send 4 players or more shall entitle to a further 20% rebate.

DAT Chess Centre, IA Hamid, has been appointed as the Event Manager. You may download a copy of the Prospectus here. All payments shall be paid into DAT Chess Centre Maybank account.

The Prospectus:-




The Entry Form:-

Thursday, March 26, 2015

42nd Selangor Open (30/4 - 4/5)

CAS wishes to announce the 42nd Selangor Open will be scheduled from 30/4 (Thursday) to 4/5 (Monday) in Kuala Lumpur. CAS appoints DAT Chess Center as the Event Manager for this event. The schedule of play as follows:-


Registration (30/4)       01.00 pm 02.00 pm


Round 1 (30/4)             03.00 pm 07.00 pm

Round 2 (1/5)               09.00 am 01.00 pm

Round 3                        03.00 pm 07.00 pm

Round 4 (2/5)               09.00 am 01.00 pm

Round 5                        03.00 pm 07.00 pm


Round 6 (3/5)               09.00 am 01.00 pm

Round 7                        03.00 pm 07.00 pm

Round 8 (4/5)               09.00 am 01.00 pm

Round 9                        02.00 pm 06.00 pm

Closing ceremony (4/5)           06.30 pm

Take note:

1/5: Labour Day (P/H)
2/5: Weekend
3/5: Weekend
4/5: Replacement for Wesak Day (P/H)

CAS is still in midst of finalizing the venue for the Event. The prospectus shall be released to the public by early next week. The Champion of the event shall receives RM4,000/=. Registration and other details shall be released together with the Prospectus.

Sunday, March 8, 2015

NAG 2015: Registered Selangorians

CAS shall not accept anymore registration from 9th Feb onwards. Any Selangorians who wish to participate in this event may still do so by filling up entry form and make a direct payment of RM 70 (payment by 10/3) or RM 140 (payment after 10/3) into MCF account, then send both the entry form and bank-in slip to MCF Secretariat as stated inside the NAG prospectus.

The final list as of 8th March contains 110 Selangorians who had registered via CAS for the upcoming National Age Group. Please check on this list to make sure your name appears here. If your name doesn't appear, please call Mr. Lim Tse Pin @ 012-2984922 ASAP BY 11th March 2015 (Wednesday). Thereafter, CAS shall not be responsible for the missing name in NAG 2015.


NO NAME MCR-ID CATEGORY SEX
1 Adam Daniel Muhd Imran MCR017711 U10 M
2 Adi Alfie Najat Mohd Fazli MCR002856 U08 M
3 Adil Nasruddin Amin Norrashid Nil U10 M
4 Ahmad Aseef Shamsul Kamar Nil U12 M
5 Ahmad Hadif Mohd Ikhranizam  MCR015337 U08 M
6 Amier Arief Mohd Jalani MCR001129 U12 M
7 Amir Ghaazi Mohd Saprin MCR000270 U14 M
8 Amir Muqqri Mohd Saprin MCR000469 U12 M
9 Amirul Ashraaf Anuar Nizan Nil U12 M
10 Anis Fariha Saleh-G  MCR000591 U18 F
11 Balqis Batrisya Hairul-G MCR003925 U10 F
12 Beenasri Mathialagan-G (Ameesha) MCR016285 U08 F
13 Bryan Yap Chuan Yoong MCR000956 U14 M
14 Caelyster Valentina Ng-G MCR016294 U12 F
15 Chan Kim Yew  MCR002545 U14 M
16 Cheah Kah Hoe MCR001311 U12 M
17 Chin Shun Yi-G  MCR002511 U18 F
18 Chin Yi Hao  MCR001513 U14 M
19 Daryl Wong Cheng Lim MCR000488 U16 M
20 Dheisnaa Naidu Piragash-G MCR017845 U06 F
21 Divyasree Jayakumar-G MCR003408 U10 F
22 Ellie Emira Syamimi Ahmad Nazari-G MCR000916 U16 F
23 Emir Rusyaidi Ahmad Nazari  MCR000199 U14 M
24 Erwan Nadzman Mohd Fauzy MCR003045 U12 M
25 Fahim Al-Faqeh Saleh MCR000386 U14 M
26 Farah Iryna Muhd Khairy Ang-G MCR002974 U14 F
27 Faris Syahmi Mohd Zaki MCR016397 U18 M
28 Iskandar Farhat Zulkippli MCR002851 U16 M
29 Iskandar Haikal Zulkippli MCR001419 U08 M
30 Iskandar Hakimi Zulkippli MCR001343 U14 M
31 Ivan Sean Yap Sheuan MCR000721 U12 M
32 Izzudin Irsyad Aminuddin MCR015389 U12 M
33 Jason Tan Wye-Ki MCR001972 U14 M
34 Jishnu Ravi Chandar MCR003558 U14 M
35 Johnathan Ananda Leong Wai Loong MCR000964 U14 M
36 Kabilan Thanabalan MCR000824 U12 M
37 Kabir Singh Ajeet Singh MCR000416 U16 M
38 Kherysha Chandran-G MCR001735 U14 F
39 Kishav Kumar Mogan Kumar MCR015732 U14 M
40 Lina Izzani Kamaruzzaman-G MCR018036 U12 F
41 Liow Tze Young MCR003298 U12 M
42 Lokesh Naidu Piragash MCR016617 U10 M
43 Low Hong Hao MCR001833 U10 M
44 Maahendar Sivapragash MCR001018 U14 M
45 Mira Kaur-G MCR001868 U12 F
46 Mirnash Chandran MCR000264 U18 M
47 Mohd Nazri Aiman Mohd Nazrael MCR018747 U12 M
48 Muhd Adam Danial Muhd Khairy Ang Nil U10 M
49 Muhd Al Hanafi Md Supardzi Nil U10 M
50 Muhd Alif Hakimi Mohd Zaki Nil U12 M
51 Muhd Al-Waqeef Mohd Ikhranizam  MCR002446 U10 M
52 Muhd Amin Aisar Muhd Fadzli MCR015423 U10 M
53 Muhd Faqih Aminuddin  MCR000280 U12 M
54 Muhd Hazim Irfan Mohd Zakiyuddin MCR016869 U08 M
55 Muhd Haziman Aiman Halim Shuhaimi MCR001047 U12 M
56 Muhd Haziq Izzuddin Mohd Zakiyuddin  MCR016873 U12 M
57 Muhd Ikhwan Zainol Ariffin MCR003931 U16 M
58 Muhd Ilham Qayyum Muhd Najib MCR001839 U12 M
59 Muhd Ilhan Mansiz Hairul MCR001116 U12 M
60 Muhd Luqman Alif Zairudin MCR001820 U10 M
61 Muhd Luqman Iskandar Zairudin MCR000355 U12 M
62 Muhd Nafiz Nuqman Mohd Ikhranizam MCR002411 U14 M
63 Muhd Nazif Imran Mohd Ikhranizam MCR003924 U14 M
64 Muhd Noor Azam Mohd Noor MCR000193 U16 M
65 Muhd Qusyairi Zainol Ariffin MCR003590 U16 M
66 Muhd Zuhairi Mohd Nazib MCR018274 U10 M
67 Mukhesh Raj Rajan MCR018276 U12 M
68 Mukhriez Shah Mahmood Shah MCR001145 U10 M
69 Myftzal Dzueffran Qayyum MCR018280 U10 M
70 Nadia Adriana Mohd Nazzer-G Nil U12 F
71 Ng Jun Khai  MCR001842 U18 M
72 Nicholas Khow Jin Kai MCR001960 U10 M
73 Nik Muhd Haziq Nik Norhisham  MCR015453 U12 M
74 Nik Muhd Shaheen Mohd Sufian MCR018302 U10 M
75 Nur Afrin Najat Mohd Fazli-G MCR003598 U12 F
76 Nur Faiqah Aminuddin-G MCR000672 U12 F
77 Nur Faqihah Aminuddin-G  MCR001240 U16 F
78 Nur Fatnin Uzma Mohd Zakiyuddin-G Nil U06 F
79 Nur Ismahani Khairul Nizam-G MCR018356 U10 F
80 Nur Maisarah Md Supardzi-G Nil U08 F
81 Nur Ruqaiyyah Md Supardzi-G Nil U12 F
82 Nur Syahirah Mohd Jamil-G MCR018366 U08 F
83 Nurul Farhana Halim Shuhaimi-G MCR001032 U14 F
84 Nurul Farzana Halim Shuhaimi-G MCR015938 U10 F
85 Nurul Izzah Halim Shuhaimi-G MCR000805 U16 F
86 Octavius Ete Tan Zhy Lam MCR002936 U12 M
87 Olivier Printemps Tan Zhy Ley MCR001823 U10 M
88 Ooi Zi Jing-G MCR017219 U18 F
89 Padman Surenthiran MCR017220 U12 M
90 Pavithra Thanabalan-G MCR000684 U14 F
91 Puteri Qistina Kamalul Ariffin-G MCR018434 U10 F
92 Raja Adib Muhaimin Nil U10 M
93 Raja Bazil Bot Raja Badli MCR000478 U14 M
94 Raja Bazilah Bot Raja Badli-G MCR001908 U12 F
95 Risshe Gehshan Mathialagan MCR015478 U10 M
96 Ryan Tey He Yang MCR001342 U14 M
97 Saillesh Kishor Kumar MCR018456 U12 M
98 Sharannya Kishor Kumar-G MCR018474 U10 F
99 Shavitashree Thirugana Kumeren-G MCR018858 U10 F
100 Sia Wen Yee MCR002211 U18 M
101 Soheyl Kumar Mogan Kumar MCR015985 U12 M
102 Tan Chung Zhen Nil U08 M
103 Thanushree Thirugana Kumeren-G MCR018880 U08 F
104 Thavaneish Kishor Kumar MCR018539 U08 M
105 Yap Heng Yi MCR015510 U08 M
106 Yasmin Irdina Zulkippli-G MCR001459 U12 F
107 Yee Jian Yang MCR000139 U14 M
108 Yusratul Umairah Yusfarizal-G MCR002113 U12 F
109 Zainoor Ikmal Maisarah Mohd Noor-G  MCR000910 U14 F
110 Zainoor Ikmal Munirah Mohd Noor-G MCR000882 U10 F