Li Chun (立春), 2019

This year, I made good my resolve to buy a new copy of Joey Yap's book, The Ten Thousand Year Calendar, to replace the one that was practically falling apart at the seams. However, I was unable to find a similar copy.

All I found was a new edition of the book which was physically a smaller size. But it's just as good. All the information is still there.

For instance, the annual observance of the festival of Li Chun (立春) or Jip Chun as more called by the Penang Baba Nyonya community, which heralds the start of the new year according to the Chinese lunisolar calendar, can still be easily ascertained.

So when will be Li Chun in 2019? According to the book, this will fall on 4 Feb 2019 at 11.41pm. That's pretty close to midnight. And, according to Chinese custom, anything after 11 o'clock at night is already considered as the next day. Thus, even though Li Chun technically falls on the fourth of February, in Chinese terms it is already the next day.

But 5 Feb 2019 is also Chinese New Year. Thus, we have the unique and happy occasion when Li Chun and Chinese New Year will coincide in 2019!

You bet that I'm going to be doubly busy come next fourth of February evening, what with the family reunion, making preparations to greet in the Chinese New Year and also having to keep an eye on the clock in order to paste a new Chun (春) character on the rice bucket after 11.41pm!

Happy New Year!

I've been writing about Li Chun in this blog since Year 2007 and you can still read them here:
Li Chun, 2018
Li Chun, 2017
Li Chun, 2016
Li Chun, 2015
Li Chun, 2014
Li Chun, 2013
Li Chun, 2012
Li Chun, 2011
Li Chun, 2010
Li Chun, 2009
Li Chun, 2008
Li Chun, 2007

Wicked Chronicles

I took the opportunity to attend an evening concert of baroque music yesterday. Performed by a group of musicians calling themselves Wicked Music People. Saw the programme advertised on facebook and since the missus was not around, I decided to buy myself some hour and a half of live music. Can't say that I didn't enjoy myself. On the contrary, it was a totally enjoyable time. Excellent ensemble of local musicians from Kuala Lumpur, but with some of them originally from Penang; two, especially, being Old Frees as well. Ahh, but that's beside the point.

Venue was the Jetty35 building in Weld Quay. Four small halls, one with a theatre setting, the second being used for exhibitions, another being run as a cafe, which leaves the fourth to be used for live performances such as this. Small hall, I said, which means a small audience but sitting closer to the musicians lends to a cozier, more intimate atmosphere. Bonus of this venue was that the acoustics were good. Not me that claims it but one of the leaders of the musicians himself. If the acoustics were good for his professional ears, it must be good for us in the audience, then. No artificial amplification of the sound through microphones or what-not. Just pure music from (mostly) period instruments and right in our faces. Mmm, except perhaps the sound of the harpsichord as played on the electronic keyboard.

It was a full-house performance. Audience comprised local residents as well as foreigners. U-En Ng, Ibrahim Aziz and Andrew Filmer took great pains to describe their instruments to us and explain the nuances of the pieces they performed. Gave us good insights into the viola da gamba which Ng handled and the baroque cello which Ibrahim played. (I remember seeing Ibrahim play in a programme organised by Lim Chong Keat several years ago. The setting was a building in China Street. I tried to find the building today but horrors! it has been converted into a reflexology centre.) And telling us stories about Jean-Baptiste Lully, Domenico Gallo, Antonio Vivaldi, Joseph Bodin de Boismortier and Michel Corrette whose works they performed last night.

Andrew Filmer on the viola, Kenneth Lim on the baroque violin and Lee Hai Lin also on the baroque violin

Ibrahim Aziz on the baroque cello, Azizi Azman on the double bass and U-En Ng on the viola da gamba. Hidden behind Ng on the keyboard was Tina Vinson

This picture was "stolen" from their facebook (but I think they wouldn't mind)!

Discovering a new nephew

Being trustees of the Swee Cheok Tong Quah Kongsi (檳城瑞鵲堂柯公司) mean that it is also our job to keep a watchful eye on the people that come to pray during the Chinese festivals. At yesterday's Tang Chik (Dongzhi, 冬節), or the Winter Solstice festival, I had noticed this young man praying at the altars.

He was new; I had never seen or met him before. Therefore after he had finished making his rounds of the altars inside the Kongsi, I pulled him aside to introduce myself. (Or was it to turn interrogator?)

Turned out that he is now a newly discovered relative of mine. Name of Ethan Quah. Grandson of Quah Kong Chai, one of our former trustees, now deceased. And Kong Chai was my uncle too, my father's cousin. Which makes Ethan my nephew. How cool. I welcome any nephew or niece with the same surname as I.

Ethan's a Singaporean. Newly completed his two-year National Service and now waiting to enter University. I was told by his aunt that he intended to take up law studies.

Tang Chik festival 2018

We celebrated Tang Chik (Dongzhi, 冬節), or the Winter Solstice festival, today and it has been absolutely uplifting. My five hours at the Swee Cheok Tong Quah Kongsi (檳城瑞鵲堂柯公司) today were the longest that I had ever spent there on a community function and I felt that my fellow Quah Kongsi brethen and I had achieved quite a lot. Really accomplished a whole lot.

We ordered two roast pigs for the occasion and they came by motorcycles!

This Tang Chik would be the day that we were going to move the ancestors' memorial tablets back into the cabinet. For the past month, the tablets had been placed at a temporary location while we had the back wall repainted and the termite-infested cabinet base table replaced. Arriving at nine o'clock in the morning, I found that the Taoist priest (the sai soon nah) was already around to advise us on the worship.

The ceremony started at about 9.40am with the priest conducting the initial rituals before our resident deities, Tai Tay Eah (大帝爷) being the main deity, Lo Chia Kong (哪吒) and Tua Pek Kong (大伯公).

We then moved to the inner hall and proceeded to move the memorial tablets back into the cabinet under the priest's watchful eyes, and myself making sure that the tablets were being put back in the correct order.  That done, the priest began the elaborate prayers before the tablets. Eventually, we finished at about 11.15am.

At about 11.30am, I threw the chiao pai blocks to ask the ancestors whether we could conclude the worship and proceed with the burning of the joss papers. It however took me three attempts in a good 20-minute period before I received the go-ahead signal from the ancestors.

Making preparations to start off the ceremony

The Taoist priest and his assistants

The worship in the inner hall prior to the memorial tablets being moved back into the cabinet

Slowly does it.; easy does it. We started with the central tablet which represented the founder patriarch of the Swee Cheok Tong in the Hokkien province of China 

And this is where it sits: right in the centre of the top row, the most prominent position in the cabinet

The inner hall of the Swee Cheok Tong Quah Kongsi, with every tablet moved back to occupy its original position in the cabinet.

A view of our main hall with our resident deities housed in their respective cabinets

Now starts the process of praying to the memorial tablets after they had been moved back

The Taoist priest's trade tools which included this chanting book

We stood behind the priest and his assistants as they did all the chanting and banging of the cymbals and drums

Doing his chantings and invoking the ancestors' spirits to bless the Kongsi and the members. 

Making preparations to burn the joss papers

Concluding the day's work with a bonfire of joss papers 

Lye Lik Zang

Lye Lik Zang (Photo by Andrew Ooi)

This 14-year-old boy has potential. A lot of potential. And I'm excited over it. Even while most Malaysian chess players were concentrating on the chess festival in Johor during the past week, Lye Lik Zang was making many people sit up and notice him at the Asian continental championship in Manila. (His Fide rating progress here.)

Round after round, he was proving to be the equal or more than the equal of some of the participating grandmasters at the event.

At first, I had thought that Lik Zang's first-round win against the Iranian grandmaster, Ehsan Ghaem Maghami, to be more of an under-estimation of playing strength by his opponent but when I played through the game, I began to realise that he was displaying a maturity unseen in many of our young players today. And coupled with the ability to carry out irresistible attacks.

[Event "17th Asian Continental Chess Championships (2nd Manny Pacquiao Cup)"]
[Site "Makati City"]
[Date "2018.12.10"]
[Round "1"]
[Board "19"]
[White "GHAEM MAGHAMI, Ehsan"]
[Black "LYE, Lik Zang"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D12"]
[WhiteElo "2537"]
[BlackElo "2321"]
[PlyCount "64"]
[EventDate "2018.12.10"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "PHI"]

1. c4 c6 2. Nf3 d5 3. d4 Nf6 4. e3 Bf5 5. Nc3 e6 6. Nh4 Be4 7. f3 Bg6 8. Qb3 Qc7 9. Bd2 Be7 10. O-O-O dxc4 11. Qxc4 a6 12. Qb3 b5 13. Nxg6 hxg6 14. e4 c5 15. d5 c4 16. Qc2 e5 17. g4 Bd6 18. h4 Nbd7 19. Kb1 Nc5 20. Be3 Rb8 21. Ne2 Ke7 22. Bg5 Rhc8 23. h5 Qa5 24. Bd2 b4 25. g5 Nxh5 26. Bh3 Rc7 27. Qxc4 Na4 28. Qb3 (see diagram) 28... Rc3 29. bxc3 bxc3 30. Qxb8 Bxb8 31. Nxc3 Qb4+ 32. Kc2 Qb2+  0-1

If you think that Lik Zang's game was basically tactical, just take a look at his second-round win against the Indian grandmaster, Abhimanyu Puranik, another 2500-plus rated player. Firstly, Lik Zang was not scared about entering an endgame with two knights against his opponent's pair of bishops. True, the position was closed and pawns were equal. But for either side to win, it was necessary to exchange off the pawns and open up the the position. Unfortunately for Puranik, his d4-pawn proved to be a liability and Lik Zang controlled the centre so well with his knights that it was a joy to see him play:

[Event "17th Asian Continental Chess Championships (2nd Manny Pacquiao Cup)"]
[Site "Makati City"]
[Date "2018.12.11"]
[Round "2"]
[Board "14"]
[White "PURANIK, Abhimanyu"]
[Black "LYE, Lik Zang"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A00"]
[WhiteElo "2544"]
[BlackElo "2321"]
[PlyCount "128"]
[EventDate "2018.12.10"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "PHI"]

1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 c6 3. Bg2 Bg4 4. O-O e6 5. h3 Bh5 6. d4 Nf6 7. c4 Nbd7 8. cxd5 cxd5 9. Nc3 Bd6 10. Qb3 Qb6 11. Qxb6 Nxb6 12. Ne5 Bb4 13. g4 Bg6 14. Bd2 O-O 15. Rac1 Nfd7 16. Nxg6 hxg6 17. Rc2 Rfc8 18. Rfc1 Rc4 19. a3 Bxc3 20. Bxc3 Rac8 21. b3 R4c7 22. e3 Nf6 23. f3 Nbd7 24. Kf1 Ne8 25. Ke2 f5 26. Kd2 Kf7 27. Bf1 Nd6 28. Bb4 Rxc2+ 29. Rxc2 Rxc2+ 30. Kxc2 Nc8 31. Bb5 Nb8 (see diagram) 32. a4 a6 33. Bd3 Nc6 34. Be1 f4 35. Kd2 Nd6 36. Bf2 g5 37. h4 gxh4 38. Bxh4 b5 39. Bf2 fxe3+ 40. Kxe3 bxa4 41. bxa4 Nb4 42. Bb1 Nc4+ 43. Kf4 Nb2 44. a5 Nc6 45. Kg5 Nxa5 46. Bg6+ Ke7 47. Bc2 Nc6 48. Kg6 Kf8 49. Kh7 a5 50. g5 a4 51. Bg3 Nc4 52. Bxa4 Nxd4 53. g6 Nxf3 54. Bf4 Nd4 55. Bd1 e5 56. Bg5 Ne6 57. Bc1 e4 58. Bg4 e3 59. Be2 Ke7 60. Bxc4 dxc4 61. Bxe3 c3 62. Bc1 Kf6 63. Be3 c2 64. Bc1 Ng5+  0-1

But this time, the top players were starting to cast a wary eye at Lik Zang and three draws followed in the next three rounds against Indian grandmaster Santosh Gujrathi Vidit, Vietnamese grandmaster Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son and Uzbek grandmaster Nodirbek Abdusattorov. Lik Zang's losses in the sixth and seventh rounds brought him down to earth, however, before he went back to his winning way in the eighth round.

By this time, a look at the boy's achievements would see him having played eight grandmasters in eight consecutive games! I believe this is a feat never attained before by any Malaysian player in any international event. Even Mas Hafizulhelmi or Yeoh Li Tian at their peaks had never played against such a long string of grandmasters in their careers. Lik Zang is definitely the first.

I would like to highlight Lik Zang's game against Vidit, a 2701-rated player. After Lik Zang's 21. Qd6, Vidic should have exchanged off the queens with 21...Qxd6 after which the locked position was level. But after 21...Rad8 22. Be5+, Black was suddenly forced to give up his rook for the bishop because of the black-square weaknesses. Still, at the end of the game, Lik Zang decided not to press his advantage in a favourable endgame and called for a draw.

[Event "17th Asian Continental Chess Championships (2nd Manny Pacquiao Cup)"]
[Site "Makati City"]
[Date "2018.12.12"]
[Round "3"]
[Board "5"]
[White "LYE, Lik Zang"]
[Black "VIDIT, Santosh Gujrathi"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A00"]
[WhiteElo "2321"]
[BlackElo "2701"]
[PlyCount "49"]
[EventDate "2018.12.10"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "PHI"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. Bg5 Nbd7 6. e3 c5 7. cxd5 exd5 8. Bd3 Qa5 9. Qc2 O-O 10. O-O c4 11. Bf5 Re8 12. Nd2 g6 13. Bh3 Kg7 14. a3 Bxc3 15. bxc3 Ne4 16. Nxe4 dxe4 17. Bxd7 Bxd7 18. Bf4 Ba4 19. Qb2 Qd5 20. Qb4 b5 21. Qd6 (see diagram) 21... Rad8 22. Be5+ Rxe5 23. Qxe5+ Qxe5 24. dxe5 Rd5 25. Ra2  1/2-1/2

In the fourth round, Lik Zang was put under heavy pressure but he made it so easy to save the draw by forcing perpetual check on his opponent's king:

[Event "17th Asian Continental Chess Championships (2nd Manny Pacquiao Cup)"]
[Site "Makati City"]
[Date "2018.12.13"]
[Round "4"]
[Board "5"]
[White "LYE, Lik Zang"]
[Black "NGUYEN, Ngoc Truong Son"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A00"]
[WhiteElo "2321"]
[BlackElo "2641"]
[PlyCount "91"]
[EventDate "2018.12.10"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "PHI"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Bb7 5. Bg2 Be7 6. O-O O-O 7. Nc3 Ne4 8. Nxe4 Bxe4 9. Ne5 Bxg2 10. Kxg2 d6 11. Nf3 c5 12. b3 cxd4 13. Nxd4 d5 14. cxd5 Qxd5+ 15. Nf3 Qe4 16. Be3 Rd8 17. Qb1 Qb7 18. Kg1 h6 19. Bd4 Nc6 20. Bc3 Qa6 21. Qe4 Rac8 22. Rfc1 Ba3 23. Rc2 Qb5 24. Qg4 Bf8 25. Rac1 Ne7 26. Kg2 Rc5 27. Bb2 Nc6 28. Rxc5 bxc5 29. Qc4 Qb7 30. Bc3 Nd4 31. Bxd4 cxd4 32. Qc7 Qd5 33. Qxa7 e5 34. Rc4 g5 35. h3 h5 36. Kh2 d3 37. Qe3 d2 38. Qxg5+ Bg7 39. Nxd2 Qxd2 40. Qxh5 Qxa2 41. Rg4 Qa7 42. Rxg7+ Kxg7 43. Qg5+ Kh7 44. Qh5+ Kg7 45. Qg5+ Kh7 46. Qh5+ (see diagram)  1/2-1/2

[Event "17th Asian Continental Chess Championships (2nd Manny Pacquiao Cup)"]
[Site "Makati City"]
[Date "2018.12.14"]
[Round "5"]
[Board "4"]
[White "ABDUSATTOROV, Nodirbek"]
[Black "LYE, Lik Zang"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A00"]
[WhiteElo "2546"]
[BlackElo "2321"]
[PlyCount "55"]
[EventDate "2018.12.10"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "PHI"]

1. e4 d5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. e5 d4 4. exf6 dxc3 5. fxg7 cxd2+ 6. Bxd2 Bxg7 7. Nf3 Qd5 8. c3 Nc6 9. Bf4 Qe4+ 10. Be3 Bg4 11. Be2 Bf6 12. Qd3 Qe6 13. Qc4 O-O-O 14. Qxe6+ Bxe6 15. h4 Bd5 16. Rh3 Rhg8 17. g3 Ne5 18. Nxe5 Bxe5 (see diagram) 19. f4 Bd6 20. Kf2 Be6 21. Rhh1 Bg4 22. Bc4 e5 23. h5 Be6 24. Be2 Bg4 25. Bc4 Be6 26. Be2 Bg4 27. Bc4 Be6 28. Be2  1/2-1/2

[Event "17th Asian Continental Chess Championships (2nd Manny Pacquiao Cup)"]
[Site "Makati City"]
[Date "2018.12.15"]
[Round "6"]
[Board "9"]
[White "MAGHSOODLOO, Parham"]
[Black "LYE, Lik Zang"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A00"]
[WhiteElo "2688"]
[BlackElo "2321"]
[PlyCount "105"]
[EventDate "2018.12.10"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "PHI"]

1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 c6 3. Bg2 Bg4 4. O-O e6 5. d3 Bd6 6. Nbd2 Nd7 7. e4 Ne7 8. h3 Bh5 9. c4 O-O 10. d4 Bc7 11. b3 Ba5 12. Bb2 Bxd2 13. Qxd2 dxe4 14. Ng5 Nf6 15. Nxe4 Nxe4 16. Bxe4 Bg6 17. Bg2 Qd6 18. Qc3 f6 19. a4 a5 20. Ba3 Qd7 21. g4 Rfe8 22. f4 Rad8 23. Rad1 Qc7 24. Rde1 Bf7 25. Rf2 Ng6 26. Qe3 Rd7 27. Ree2 Red8 28. Rd2 Re8 29. Be4 Qd8 30. Bc2 Qb8 31. Bb2 b5 32. Bc3 b4 33. Bb2 Qb6 34. Rde2 Rde7 35. Qg3 Nf8 36. h4 Qc7 37. h5 Nd7 38. Qh4 c5 39. g5 (see diagram) 39... f5 40. g6 hxg6 41. d5 e5 42. Rg2 Qd6 43. hxg6 Bxg6 44. Qg5 exf4 45. Rxe7 Rxe7 46. Qxg6 Qxg6 47. Rxg6 Nf8 48. Rg2 f3 49. Rd2 Ng6 50. Kf2 Nh4 51. d6 Rd7 52. Be5 g5 53. Bg3  1-0

[Event "17th Asian Continental Chess Championships (2nd Manny Pacquiao Cup)"]
[Site "Makati City"]
[Date "2018.12.16"]
[Round "7"]
[Board "11"]
[White "LYE, Lik Zang"]
[Black "JUMABAYEV, Rinat"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A00"]
[WhiteElo "2321"]
[BlackElo "2602"]
[PlyCount "90"]
[EventDate "2018.12.10"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "PHI"]

1. d4 d6 2. e4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. f4 Bg7 5. Bd3 e5 6. dxe5 dxe5 7. Nf3 Bg4 8. Bb5+ Nfd7 9. O-O exf4 10. Bxf4 O-O 11. Kh1 a6 12. Ba4 Ra7 13. Qd2 b5 14. Bb3 c5 15. Bd5 Bxf3 16. Rxf3 Ne5 17. Bxe5 Bxe5 18. Raf1 Nc6 19. Ne2 Rd7 20. c3 Bg7 21. Nf4 Ne5 22. Rg3 c4 (see diagram) 23. Nh3 Rd6 24. Ng5 Bh6 25. Qf4 Qe7 26. Qh4 Rf6 27. Rb1 Bxg5 28. Qxg5 Kg7 29. b3 h6 30. Qe3 Rc8 31. Qd4 Kh7 32. Rd1 Rf4 33. Qe3 Qf6 34. Kg1 h5 35. Qe2 cxb3 36. axb3 Ng4 37. Rf3 Qb6+ 38. Kh1 Rxf3 39. gxf3 Nf2+ 40. Kg2 Nxd1 41. Qxd1 Rxc3 42. Bxf7 Qc7 43. Qd5 Rc2+ 44. Kf1 Qxh2 45. Bxg6+ Kh6  0-1

[Event "17th Asian Continental Chess Championships (2nd Manny Pacquiao Cup)"]
[Site "Makati City"]
[Date "2018.12.17"]
[Round "8"]
[Board "17"]
[White "LYE, Lik Zang"]
[Black "GAGARE, Shardul"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A00"]
[WhiteElo "2321"]
[BlackElo "2504"]
[PlyCount "89"]
[EventDate "2018.12.10"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "PHI"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 c6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Qc2 Bd6 7. b3 O-O 8. Bb2 b6 9. Bd3 Bb7 10. O-O c5 11. cxd5 exd5 12. dxc5 bxc5 13. e4 d4 14. Nb5 Bb8 15. b4 cxb4 16. Rad1 Qe7 17. Nbxd4 Rc8 18. Nf5 Qf8 19. Qd2 a5 20. Qg5 (see diagram) 20... Rc5 21. Bd4 Kh8 22. Bxc5 Nxc5 23. e5 Ne8 24. Be2 Ne4 25. Qe3 Nc3 26. Rd2 Ba7 27. N5d4 Rd8 28. Qg5 Nc7 29. Qh4 h6 30. Bc4 Ne4 31. Rdd1 Bb6 32. Qf4 Nc3 33. Rd2 N7d5 34. Qf5 Ne7 35. Qh5 Ne4 36. Rd3 Nd5 37. Qh4 Ndc3 38. e6 f6 39. Ne5 g5 40. e7 gxh4 41. Ng6+ Kg7 42. Ne6+ Kxg6 43. Nxf8+ Kf5 44. Rxd8 Bc6 45. Nd7  1-0

While Lik Zang's run against grandmasters in this tournament may have come to an end, his first international master norm is now in the bag. If he at least draws with the Vietnamese international master Nguyen Anh Khoi in this afternoon's ninth (and last) round, he will qualify for a grandmaster norm as well. I hope he does just that. The whole of Malaysia's chess community wishes him well. We shall know later today.....

UPDATE: Unfortunately, it was not to be. In the ninth and final round, our player was outclassed by a better player. More to follow if and when I'm able to see his game from the final round, which is proving difficult right now as the organisers do not seem interested to update the games data file in the Chess Results website despite the tournament ending days ago. They are actually very tardy in this respect.

Moving the memorial (sinchu) tablets

For more than a year already, the Trustees had been talking about replacing the base table of the memorial tablets cabinet in the inner hall of our Penang Swee Cheok Tong Quah Kongsi (檳城瑞鵲堂柯公司) which had been badly infested by termites.

However, we realised that it wasn't going to be a straight-forward or easy task of just removing the old base table and putting in a new one which, by the way, was custom-made by a local carpenter.

No, we had to consult the Taoist priest for a suitable date to do so. Reason was because of the memorial (sinchu) tablets. It was going to be a delicate affair. The priest would have to conduct prayers first before we can even be allowed to move the tablets. And then there was the painstaking task of removing the tablets one-by-one, identifying them properly and then placing them on the temporary table.

On 28 Nov 2018, we did all that. At ten o'clock in the morning, the Taoist priest arrived and after the preliminary prayers, my treasurer began removing the tablets while my secretary took note of each and every tablet that was moved. Meanwhile, I undertook to photograph all of them.

We are also taking the opportunity to carry out repair work on the Kongsi building and to have the wall behind the memorial tablets cabinet repainted. We hope to finish the bulk of the repair work soon so that we can move the memorial tablets back into the cabinet on the day of the Winter Solstice or Tang Chik, which falls on the 22nd of December.

This exercise also serves as an occasion for us to open a new register for all the memorial tablets. Frankly, if ever there was an old register, we couldn't find it among our records. And without this record, we wouldn't know who these memorial tablets belonged to. For the record, I shall first post here all the pictures of the memorial tablets while I await my secretary to give me his detailed listing.

Four Secretaries of State??

I was watching the first episode of Madam Secretary's fifth season when this scene jumped out from my television set: a meeting between a fictitious Secretary of State of the United States and three of her real-life predecessors, if I can describe it as such. Colin Luther Powell (2001-2005), Hillary Rodham Clinton (2009-2013) and Madeleine Korbel Albright (1997-2001).

Which begats the question: in the history of the United States, how many former Secretaries of State were eventually elected to the White House as President? Answer: only six out of a long line of 69. It is a rarified membership comprising Thomas Jefferson (SS: 1790-1793) (P: 1801-1809), James Madison (SS: 1801-1809) (P: 1809-1817), James Monroe (SS: 1811-1817) (P: 1817-1825), John Quincy Adams (SS: 1817-1825) (P: 1825-1829), Martin Van Buren (SS: 1829-1831) (P: 1837-1841) and James Buchanan Jr (SS: 1845-1849) (P: 1857-1861). None of the modern-day Secretaries of State made it to the White House. Only Hillary Clinton came close.

Three-fold repetition of position

It's hard work being an arbiter. You never know when the players - or worse still, someone from the organising committee - will throw you a curve ball. Take for example, the dispute over the three-fold repetition of position in the seventh round of the recent Penang heritage city international open chess championship.

In this crucial game, after about three hours of play, Emmanuel Senador, the international master from the Philippines called for an arbiter and informed him of his intended move which would repeat the position on the chess board for the third time, thus allowing him to claim for a draw through repetition of position.

Photo by Andrew Ooi

Two arbiters went on stage, Michael Yeap and Jonathan Chuah. After playing through the game, Jonathan said no, there had not been any three-fold repetition of position by the same player. The game continued but Senador was upset and he soon lost the game to his opponent.

The argument continued after the game was over. According to Jonathan, Senador said he was embarrassed by the decision not to give him the draw. He was an international master, he said, and he knew all the chess rules. And he was very certain that the position had been repeated three times.

Anyhow, he complained to the secretary of the Penang Chess Association who decided to side with the Filipino player. She insisted that there was a three-fold repetition of position and she even sent Jonathan a highlighted excerpt of the Fide rules of chess (Article 9.2.1) which read:

9.2.1 The game is drawn, upon a correct claim by a player having the move, when the same position for at least the third time (not necessarily by a repetition of moves):
9.2.1.1 is about to appear, if he first writes his move, which cannot be changed, on his scoresheet and declares to the arbiter his intention to make this move, or
9.2.1.2 has just appeared, and the player claiming the draw has the move.

But what exactly was meant by "same position"? She took it to mean the same position appearing on the chess board three times. Jonathan said that was not sufficient. That Article 9.2.1 must be read together with the next Article 9.2.2 which defined the term "same position". Let me repeat that: Article 9.2.1 must be read together with Article 9.2.2:

9.2.2 Positions are considered the same if and only if the same player has the move, pieces of the same kind and colour occupy the same squares and the possible moves of all the pieces of both players are the same. Thus positions are not the same if:
9.2.2.1 at the start of the sequence a pawn could have been captured en passant
9.2.2.2 a king had castling rights with a rook that has not been moved, but forfeited these after moving. The castling rights are lost only after the king or rook is moved.

Jonathan asked for my opinion and I told him that he was correct. "Same position" would mean the same player having the move each time the position was repeated, and all the other conditions having been met. If Senador's opponent had the move when the position came up the first time, he must also have the move when the position appeared the second time and the third time. But it was not. When the score sheet was checked, it was Senador who had the move when the position appeared the second time, not his opponent. And it was Senador who was going to have the move again going into the third time.

Refer this to your Chief Arbiter, I suggested to Jonathan. And he did. And Hamid Majid went through the game, very meticulously, and arrived at the same conclusion as us. No three-fold repetition of the position. Period. Here is the game in question:

[Event "10th Penang Heritage City International "]
[Site "Red Rock Hotel, Penang, Malays"]
[Date "2018.12.07"]
[Round "7.2"]
[White "Senador, Emmanuel"]
[Black "Kurniawan, Muhamad Agus"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A00"]
[WhiteElo "2322"]
[BlackElo "2258"]
[PlyCount "146"]
[EventDate "2018.12.03"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "MAS"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Qe2 Qe7 6. d3 Nf6 7. Bg5 Qxe2+ 8. Bxe2 Be7 9. Nc3 c6 10. O-O-O h6 11. Bf4 d5 12. Rhe1 O-O 13. h3 Bc5 14. d4 Bb4 15. Bd3 Be6 16. Re3 Bxc3 17. bxc3 Nbd7 18. Be5 Ne4 19. Bxe4 dxe4 20. Rxe4 Bxa2 21. Bd6 Rfe8 22. Rde1 Rxe4 23. Rxe4 Be6 24. Nd2 b5 25. g4 a5 26. f4 a4 27. f5 Bd5 28. Re7 Nf6 29. Ba3 Re8 30. Rxe8+ Nxe8 31. h4 Nf6 32. g5 hxg5 33. hxg5 Nh7 34. Be7 g6 35. Nf1 gxf5 36. Ng3 Kg7 37. Nh5+ Kg8 38. Kd2 Bf3 39. Nf4 Nf8 40. c4 bxc4 41. Ke3 Be4 42. c3 Nd7 43. Kd2 Kh7 44. Ke3 Kh8 45. Kd2 Kg8 46. Ke3 Kh7 47. Kd2 Nb8 48. Bd6 Nd7 49. Be7 Bh1 50. Ke3 Nb6 51. Kd2 Be4 52. Bc5 Na8 53. Bd6 Bh1 54. Kc1 Bd5 55. Kd2 Be4 56. Kc1 Kg8 57. Kd2 f6 58. g6 Kg7 59. Kc1 Nb6 60. Kd2 Nd5 61. Nxd5 cxd5 62. Ke3 Kxg6 63. Kf4 Kh6 64. Kg3 Kh5 65. Ba3 f4+ 66. Kxf4 Kh4 67. Bd6 Kh3 68. Ke3 Kg2 69. Ba3 Kf1 70. Kd2 f5 71. Bd6 Kf2 72. Ba3 f4 73. Bd6 f3 0-1

This was the position after Black had moved 43...Kh7. The first time that the position had turned up on the chess board. White to move next.

This was the position after White had played 47. Kd2. The second time that the position occurred on the chess board. But now, it was Black to move next.

And this was the position after 49. Be7. (White was obliged to make this move after he had announced to the arbiter his intention to do so.) This was the third time we saw the same position on the chess board. Like the second time, White had made a move to reach this position and it was Black to move next.

So if in the first case it was White's turn to move and in the second and third cases it would be Black's time to move, clearly there had not been any three-fold repetition of position. Senador was given a set of the Chief Arbiter's final decision. He could have lodged an appeal against this decision but I was told that none was forthcoming.

As a postscript, I was told that the dissatisfaction festered on. The next morning, the association's secretary made more representations to other chess players in the tournament hall, including a lawyer friend who was also playing in the event and himself a highly regarded player. And yet, despite his experience, he took the secretary's side and claimed that the arbiter was wrong. How absurd could that be. And I'm sure this will still not be the end of the matter; I'm sure that it will be raised again in the next committee meeting of the Penang Chess Association.

Finally as an end note, in case there are people questioning whether I have the locus standi to comment on this incident, I can give the assurance that yes, I do have the right. I may not be a high-flying or prominent International Arbiter but the last time I checked, I am still one. One with my ears to the ground, if I may add. 😜

Strategic re-positioning

There I was, standing some distance away, trying to take a picture of Jagdeep Singh Deo making the ceremonial first move for this year's Penang heritage city international chess tournament at the Red Rock Hotel in MacAlister Road when suddenly, Hamid's voice floated from the stage asking me to assist the Penang State Executive Councillor.

So I went to stand behind Jagdeep. He was at a loss. Then I prompted him, "Pick up that pawn," pointing to the king pawn, "and move it two squares forward." And that was what he did. Coolly and smiling into the cameras, he picked up the pawn and placed it on the e4 square, a move captured by the press photographers. Ah well, I thought to myself, I would be in any picture anyway....

The Malay Mail

The news that The Malay Mail has closed its print edition effectively from today brings to mind the many hours I enjoyed in the late 1960s and early 1970s to complete its word puzzle competition.

My father would diligently buy the newspaper every evening - because the newspaper was printed in Kuala Lumpur and brought up to Penang by lorry - so that we could cut out the contest forms from the back page. The clues gave rise to many possible answers which even the dictionaries couldn't resolve. Needless to say, we didn't win anything, not even the consolation prizes.

In those days, their news reports covered mainly about Kuala Lumpur and Selangor. There was hardly any news about the other parts of the country, unless the news was significant enough. My most enjoyable daily column was the one written by their editor, SH Tan. Light-hearted and frivolous, his stories were later compiled into a book, Saya Yang Tahu (SYT). SYT actually stood for Sweet Young Thing. Later, SH Tan tried to bring his brand of humour to The National Echo but he couldn't replicate his earlier success.

For a long while, The Malay Mail also ran a weekly chess column in response to my column in The Star newspaper. Until the late Lim Chong took over their column, it was edited by my cousin, Phuah Eng Chye. We always had a friendly competition over what to include in our stories. My cousin had the upper hand as he had the resources of the newspaper behind him. The teleprinter stories about chess from around the world, for example. As for me, I prided myself for my own personal sources of stories, even from overseas. One day as a joke, I even contributed a story to The Malay Mail's chess column, writing under the pseudonym, Ke Chengshan, which was how my name would have been written in pinyin.

Reading about The Malay Mail brings to mind too that the first English language newspaper in Malaysia was the Prince of Wales' Island Government Gazette that saw light in the first decade of the 19th Century. There was an article about this newspaper in the Penang Monthly of May 2010. I don't remember the story mentioning it but by 1816, ownership of the Gazette had passed to William Cox, whom some may recognise as the first Master of Penang Free School. However, his name was erroneously engraved as "J. Cox" on the School plaque in the hall.