Mohd Fadli b Zakaria

Do I look cool or ridiculous in this trilby? It was given to me quite sometime back, possibly within the last 10 years. I've kept it all this while, not knowing whether to wear it or not to make a fashion statement. But today, I took the hat out from storage and wore it as a remembrance of the person who gave it to me.

That person was Mohamad Fadli bin Zakaria (left), a fellow chess player and arbiter from the Klang Valley who, sadly, had passed away last Saturday. He was only 50 years old but had been sickly for some time. Nevertheless, the news came as a shock to everyone who knew him, and the least we could do for him at the Merdeka chess team tournament in Kuala Lumpur was to observe a minute's silence.

Fadli always liked to be known as Stonemaster or SM. In the past few years, he seemed to have etched out a very successful career as a chess organiser. He was also very critical of certain Malaysian Chess Federation office-bearers whom he held with high disdain. Incompetent fools, he used to grunt and complain.

Rest in peace, Mohd Fadli. Your job is done.