Chess match in Shanghai, 1978

I was doing some spring cleaning around the house today and came across these two pictures from 1978. Jolted my memory quite a bit as I had forgotten where I had kept these pictures. I was part of the first Malaysian chess team to ever set foot in China. Quite an historic visit. We played the Chinese in Shanghai, Hangchow, Suchow and Peking.

The first picture was snapped by a Chinese photographer in Shanghai. The Malaysians were facing the camera. I'm the one sitting at the table nearest the cameraman, oblivious to everything else.

At the tables behind me were Abdul Rahman Ahmad, Christi Hon and Tan Bian Huat. The three Malaysian players nearest the long row of tables were Subramaniam Ramiah, Hu Yu Kuang and Chan Swee Loon.

The second picture was taken when we went on a cruise on the West Lake in Hangchow. We seven players all stood around while the four Malaysian officials sat. We were quite diverse, coming from different parts of the peninsula: Bian Huat and I were representing Penang, Abdul Rahman represented Kelantan, Christi and Subramaniam represented Selangor, Swee Loon represented Perak and Yu Kuang represented Johor. Back in 1978, these were the only states that were affiliated to the Malaysian Chess Federation.