The Straits Echo postbag (5)

For personal indulgence only: more on Penang Chess .....

POSTBAG, 18 October 1972
SIR - Despite the fact that the USSR's 24-year domination of the World Chess Championships had been spectacularly and dramatically terminated by Bobby Fischer of the United States at Reykjavik, Iceland, recently, the conclusion of the 20th Chess Olympiad at Skopje, Yugoslavia, has once again proved beyond any doubt that the Russians still are undisputedly the supreme masters of the game. My heartiest congratulations go to the Soviet players for their brilliant performance.

Although the Malaysian team did not fare well, credit must be given to the Government and the Chess Association of Malaysia for being able to field a Malaysian national team to this tournament - the first ever since the initiation of the Chess Olympiad.

It is heartening to note from your report under the caption, 'Pesta to include 15 sporting events' that the MSSM Chess Championships has been included. This is indeed a most fitting climax to the introduction of inter-school chess tournaments by the Majlis Sukan Sekolah- sekolah Malaysia throughout the nation.

But this, however, does not necessarily mean that no inter-school chess tourneys had been organised in the various states prior to this move. On the contrary, as far as Penang is concerned, several inter-school chess tournaments, both International and Chinese, had been successfully organised by the Penang Schools Students Chess Council (which comprises the Chess Clubs of various Secondary Schools) annually since 1966.

All in all, the PSSCC has undertaken the organisation of a total of 10 Chess tourneys, for both sexes and varied age-groups, each year! I salute this initiative on the part of these students.

In the light of this developing interest in chess (incidentally, T.V. Malaysia should be applauded for its praiseworthy efforts in including chess in its programme) I would like to make a special suggestion to Mr Joseph Kay, official-in-charge of Chess in the Pesta Games and sports Sub-committee, and Mr Fang Ewe Churh, President of the Penang Chess Association and organiser of the recent MSSPP Chess Championships (he was also the Deputy Manager and Captain of the Malaysian team to Skopje!), to look into the feasibility of organising a Penang Open Inter-team Chess tournament in addition to the MSSM Chess Championships, which is only confined to students, and as one of the sporting events of the Pesta.

I firmly believe that if widely publicised, this tournament, probably the first of its kind, will be a resounding success.

C.K. KHOO
Penang