Chennai, round two

Lubomir Ftacnik is not a unfamiliar name to old timers like me who were already playing chess in the 1970s and 1980s. He is a grandmaster, having represented Czechoslovakia in the past and when this country split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993, he switched his allegiance to the latter nation. As a chess player, he had played in every Chess Olympiad since 1980 except for 1998. This year, he again turns out for the Slovak team in the Chess Olympiad in Chennai, India. In the second round yesterday, Slovakia was paired with our Malaysia team. Playing on the fourth board, he faced Penang's 13-year-old Poh Yu Tian. I don't know how much Ftacnik knew about Yu Tian but if he had been following the website of the World Chess Federation recently, he wouldn't have missed a small write-up on our wunderkind. 

So there we had it....a 65-year-old grandmaster, author of several chess books, against a 13-year-old player with a 364-rating point difference between them. When I was following this game online last night, i was thinking, wow, Yu Tian has an extra pawn. Can he win and level the team score? At that point, Malaysia had already lost one game when Lim Zhuo Ren, playing on the first board, had blundered away a level position and subsequently resigned. Tan Jun Ying's game on the second board was already drawn when he held off his opponent comfortably. Wong Yinn Long's game was still in progress but there wasn't much headway open to either player and thus the game was going to be probably drawn too. But Yu Tian's game gripped me. An extra pawn and a more active king in a rook ending. Could he win? And yes, he did, in an almost clinical finish. And that win brought Malaysia a draw with the more favoured Slovakia team. Was this an upset result? Probably a minor upset, since the match was drawn. But Malaysia could have won if Zhuo Ren hadn't miscalculated.

As for the women's team, it was a heartbreak to lose 0-4 against the Spain ladies. I had anticipated a close fight by our players but it was not to be. The Spanish women applied so much pressure in their games until our players simply gave way. Even Siti Zulaikha Foudzi had a tough time on the first board. I hope they won't be disheartened because Spain is a good team.

Meanwhile, here is a video by IM Levy Rozman that I'd like to share. He talked of many games from the Chennai Chess Olympiad but the one of interest starts at 26:33 minutes into the video. Take a look:

Bo.	80	Malaysia (MAS)	Rtg	-	34	Slovakia (SVK)	Rtg	2 : 2
34.1	FM	Lim, Zhuo Ren	2318	-	GM	Pechac, Jergus	2594	0 - 1
34.2	FM	Wong, Yinn Long	2381	-	IM	Gazik, Viktor	2544	½ - ½
34.3	CM	Tan, Jun Ying	2191	-	IM	Druska, Juraj	2519	½ - ½
34.4		Poh, Yu Tian	2118	-	GM	Ftacnik, Lubomir	2483	1 - 0

Bo.	13	Spain (ESP)	Rtg	-	52	Malaysia (MAS)	Rtg	4 : 0
13.1	IM	Vega Gutierrez, Sabrina	2366	-	WIM	Foudzi, Siti Zulaikha	2188	1 - 0
13.2	IM	Garcia Martin, Marta	2305	-	WIM	Azhar, Puteri Munajjah Az-Zahraa	2018	1 - 0
13.3	WGM	Calzetta Ruiz, Monica	2230	-	WFM	Azhar, Puteri Rifqah Fahada	1940	1 - 0
13.4	FM	Eizaguerri Floris, Maria	2176	-	WFM	Chong, Kai Ni Agnes	1909	1 - 0

[Event "44th Olympiad 2022"]

[Site "Chennai IND"]

[Date "2022.07.30"]

[Round "2.34"]

[Board "1"]

[White "Lim, Zhuo Ren"]

[Black "Pechac, Jergus"]

[Result "0-1"]

[WhiteTitle "FM"]

[BlackTitle "GM"]

[WhiteElo "2318"]

[BlackElo "2594"]

[ECO "D38"]

[Opening "QGD"]

[Variation "Ragozin variation"]

[WhiteTeam "Malaysia"]

[BlackTeam "Slovakia"]

[WhiteFideId "5702488"]

[BlackFideId "14926970"]

[EventDate "2022.07.29"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. Qa4+ Nc6 6. e3 O-O 7. Bd2 dxc4 8.

Bxc4 Bd6 9. Qc2 e5 10. dxe5 Nxe5 11. Nxe5 Bxe5 12. f4 Bxc3 13. Bxc3 g6 14. Rd1

Qe7 15. Bxf6 Qxf6 16. O-O Bg4 17. Rde1 Rad8 18. h3 Bd7 19. e4 Qd4+ 20. Kh2 Bc6

21. Re2 Kg7 22. Rf3 Rfe8 23. Rd3 Qf6 24. Rxd8 Rxd8 25. g3 Rd4 26. Bd5 Bxd5 27.

exd5 Qd6 28. Qc3 Qxd5 29. Qxc7 h5 30. Qc3 Kh7 31. Qb3?? (Up to this point, the 

game was equal level despite Stockfish giving Black a very slight edge. White could 

have played 31. Qc7) 31...Qxb3 32. axb3 Rd3 33. h4 Rxb3 34. Kh3 Kg7 35. Rf2 Kf6 

36. Re2 a5 0-1

[Event "44th Olympiad 2022"]

[Site "Chennai IND"]

[Date "2022.07.30"]

[Round "2.34"]

[Board "2"]

[White "Gazik, Viktor"]

[Black "Wong, Yinn Long"]

[Result "1/2-1/2"]

[WhiteTitle "IM"]

[BlackTitle "FM"]

[WhiteElo "2544"]

[BlackElo "2381"]

[ECO "B30"]

[Opening "Sicilian"]

[Variation "Nimzovich-Rossolimo attack (without ...d6)"]

[WhiteTeam "Slovakia"]

[BlackTeam "Malaysia"]

[WhiteFideId "14928752"]

[BlackFideId "5707684"]

[EventDate "2022.07.29"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 d6 4. O-O Bd7 5. Re1 Nf6 6. h3 e6 7. a4 Be7 8. b3 a6

9. Bf1 O-O 10. Bb2 d5 11. e5 Ne8 12. d4 g6 13. c4 dxc4 14. dxc5 Bxc5 15. Nc3 Na5

16. Ne4 Be7 17. bxc4 Bc6 18. Nfd2 b6 19. Qg4 Qc7 20. Nf6+ Nxf6 21. exf6 Bb4 22.

Ne4 Bxe4 23. Rxe4 Rfd8 24. Qh4 Nb7 25. c5 Bxc5 26. Rc1 Qd6 27. Bc4 Re8 28. Rce1

Qf8 29. Rxe6 Nd6 30. R6e2 Nxc4 31. Qxc4 a5 32. Qb5 Rxe2 33. Rxe2 Rd8 34. g3 Qd6

35. Kh2 Qf8 36. Kg2 Qd6 37. Re8+ Rxe8 38. Qxe8+ Qf8 39. Qc6 Qd8 40. g4 h6 41.

Bc3 Kh7 42. Qe4 Bb4 43. Bd4 Bc5 44. Bxc5 bxc5 45. Qe7 Qd5+ 46. Kg1 Qd1+ 47. Kh2

Qd5 48. Kg1 Qd1+ 49. Kh2 Qd5 50. Kg1 1/2-1/2

[Event "44th Olympiad 2022"]

[Site "Chennai IND"]

[Date "2022.07.30"]

[Round "2.34"]

[Board "3"]

[White "Tan, Jun Ying"]

[Black "Druska, Juraj"]

[Result "1/2-1/2"]

[WhiteTitle "CM"]

[BlackTitle "IM"]

[WhiteElo "2191"]

[BlackElo "2519"]

[ECO "A58"]

[Opening "Benko gambit accepted"]

[WhiteTeam "Malaysia"]

[BlackTeam "Slovakia"]

[WhiteFideId "5710413"]

[BlackFideId "14915650"]

[EventDate "2022.07.29"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. cxb5 a6 5. bxa6 g6 6. Nc3 Bg7 7. Nf3 O-O 8. g3

Qa5 9. Bd2 Nxa6 10. Bg2 d6 11. O-O Qb6 12. Qc1 Nb4 13. Bh6 Nbxd5 14. Nxd5 Nxd5

15. Bxg7 Kxg7 16. Ne5 dxe5 17. Bxd5 Ra4 18. Qc3 Rd4 19. Bf3 Qd6 20. Rfc1 Ba6 21.

e3 Rc4 22. Qe1 Rb4 23. b3 c4 24. bxc4 Rc8 25. a4 Rbxc4 26. Rxc4 Rxc4 27. Be2 Rc6

28. Bxa6 Rxa6 29. a5 Qc5 30. e4 Qd4 31. Kg2 Qc5 32. Kg1 Qd4 33. Kg2 Qc5 34. Kg1 1/2-1/2

[Event "44th Olympiad 2022"]

[Site "Chennai IND"]

[Date "2022.07.30"]

[Round "2.34"]

[Board "4"]

[White "Ftacnik, Lubomir"]

[Black "Poh, Yu Tian"]

[Result "0-1"]

[WhiteTitle "GM"]

[WhiteElo "2483"]

[BlackElo "2118"]

[ECO "D85"]

[Opening "Gruenfeld"]

[Variation "modern exchange variation"]

[WhiteTeam "Slovakia"]

[BlackTeam "Malaysia"]

[WhiteFideId "14900017"]

[BlackFideId "5734088"]

[EventDate "2022.07.29"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. c4 Bg7 4. Nc3 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. e4 Nxc3 7. bxc3 c5 8. h3

Nc6 9. Be3 cxd4 10. cxd4 f5 11. exf5 Qa5+ 12. Bd2 Qxf5 13. Rc1 Be6 14. Rc5 Bd5

15. Bc4 Qe6+ 16. Qe2 Qxe2+ 17. Kxe2 Bxf3+ 18. gxf3 Nxd4+ 19. Ke3 Rd8 20. Rd5

Nf5+ 21. Ke2 Rxd5 22. Bxd5 b6 23. Rc1 Kd7 24. Bc6+ Ke6 25. Be3 Bd4 26. Ba4 Rd8

27. Rc7 a5 28. Rb7 Kf6 29. f4 Rd6 30. Bb3 h5 31. Rb8 e6 32. Rb7 Bc5 33. Ba4 Bxe3

34. fxe3 e5 35. Bb3 exf4 36. exf4 Nd4+ 37. Ke3 Nxb3 38. axb3 g5 39. fxg5+ Kxg5

40. Kf2 Kh4 41. Kg2 Kg5 42. Kf2 Kf4 43. Rb8 Ke4 44. Ke2 Kd4 45. Kd2 Rg6 46. Rd8+

Kc5 47. Rh8 Rg5 48. h4 Rf5 49. Rh6 b5 50. Kc3 Rf3+ 51. Kc2 Kb4 52. Rxh5 Rc3+ 53.

Kd2 Rxb3 54. Rg5 Rh3 55. h5 a4 56. Kc2 Rh2+ 57. Kb1 a3 0-1

[Event "Olympiad Women 2022"]

[Site "Chennai IND"]

[Date "2022.07.30"]

[Round "2.13"]

[Board "1"]

[White "Vega Gutierrez, Sabrina"]

[Black "Foudzi, Siti Zulaikha"]

[Result "1-0"]

[WhiteTitle "IM"]

[BlackTitle "WIM"]

[WhiteElo "2366"]

[BlackElo "2188"]

[ECO "C41"]

[Opening "Philidor"]

[Variation "Improved Hanham variation"]

[WhiteTeam "Spain"]

[BlackTeam "Malaysia"]

[WhiteFideId "2219026"]

[BlackFideId "5700965"]

[EventDate "2022.07.29"]

1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nbd7 4. Nf3 e5 5. Bc4 Be7 6. a4 a5 7. O-O h6 8. Re1 c6

9. Ba2 Qc7 10. Nh4 g6 11. h3 Nf8 12. Qd3 Nh5 13. Nf3 g5 14. Qc4 Rh7 15. Nd5 Qd8

16. Nxe7 Qxe7 17. dxe5 dxe5 18. Qc3 f6 19. Nh2 Nf4 20. Be3 Be6 21. Nf1 Bxa2 22.

Rxa2 Qe6 23. Ra3 N8g6 24. Qb3 Qxb3 25. Rxb3 Nh4 26. Bxf4 gxf4 27. g3 Ng6 28. Nd2

Rd7 29. Nc4 Rd4 30. Nb6 Rad8 31. c3 Rd3 32. Kg2 fxg3 33. fxg3 Rd2+ 34. Kf3 Rh2

35. Nc4 Rd7 36. Re2 Rxh3 37. Kg2 Rh5 38. Rxb7 Rd1 39. Rd2 Rxd2+ 40. Nxd2 Rg5 41.

Nc4 Nf4+ 42. Kf3 Nd3 43. b4 axb4 44. cxb4 Ne1+ 45. Ke2 Nc2 46. a5 Nd4+ 47. Kf2

Nb5 48. a6 Rh5 49. Kg2 1-0

[Event "Olympiad Women 2022"]

[Site "Chennai IND"]

[Date "2022.07.30"]

[Round "2.13"]

[Board "2"]

[White "Azhar, Puteri Munajjah Az-Zahraa"]

[Black "Garcia Martin, Marta"]

[Result "0-1"]

[WhiteTitle "WIM"]

[BlackTitle "IM"]

[WhiteElo "2018"]

[BlackElo "2305"]

[ECO "B30"]

[Opening "Sicilian defence"]

[WhiteTeam "Malaysia"]

[BlackTeam "Spain"]

[WhiteFideId "5709040"]

[BlackFideId "32084030"]

[EventDate "2022.07.29"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 e5 4. Bc4 Be7 5. d3 Nf6 6. Nd5 d6 7. h3 O-O 8. c3

Nxd5 9. Bxd5 Bf6 10. Be3 Be6 11. Bxe6 fxe6 12. h4 Qd7 13. Ng5 b5 14. Qg4 Rfe8

15. Rh3 b4 16. c4 b3 17. a3 Bxg5 18. hxg5 g6 19. Ke2 Rad8 20. Rah1 Re7 21. Rc1

Rf7 22. g3 a5 23. Rh2 a4 24. Rhh1 Rdf8 25. Rh2 Rd8 26. Rhh1 Qe8 27. Rh6 Rfd7 28.

Rhh1 Rf7 29. Rhf1 Qe7 30. f4 Rdf8 31. Qh3 Qd7 32. Qg4 Qe7 33. Qh3 Qe8 34. Qg4

Kh8 35. Rf2 Qe7 36. Rff1 Kg8 37. Qh3 Qd7 38. Qg4 Rd8 39. Qh3 Rdf8 40. Qg4 Qe7

41. Rf2 Re8 42. Qh3 Qf8 43. Qg4 exf4 44. gxf4 Qg7 45. Kf1 Nd4 46. Qg3 Nc2 47.

Rb1 Ref8 48. Kg1 Nxe3 49. Qxe3 e5 50. Rbf1 exf4 51. Rxf4 Rxf4 52. Rxf4 Rxf4 53.

Qxf4 Qxb2 54. Qg4 Qe5 55. Qc8+ Kf7 56. Qb7+ Qe7 57. Qb5 Qxg5+ 58. Kf2 b2 0-1

[Event "Olympiad Women 2022"]

[Site "Chennai IND"]

[Date "2022.07.30"]

[Round "2.13"]

[Board "3"]

[White "Calzetta Ruiz, Monica"]

[Black "Azhar, Puteri Rifqah Fahada"]

[Result "1-0"]

[WhiteTitle "WGM"]

[BlackTitle "WFM"]

[WhiteElo "2230"]

[BlackElo "1940"]

[ECO "C64"]

[Opening "Ruy Lopez"]

[Variation "classical (Cordel) defence"]

[WhiteTeam "Spain"]

[BlackTeam "Malaysia"]

[WhiteFideId "2204185"]

[BlackFideId "5702879"]

[EventDate "2022.07.29"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Bc5 4. O-O Nge7 5. c3 a6 6. Ba4 b5 7. Bb3 Ng6 8. d4

exd4 9. cxd4 Be7 10. Nc3 Na5 11. Bc2 Bb7 12. Ne2 O-O 13. Ng3 d5 14. e5 c5 15. h4

Re8 16. h5 Nf8 17. Nf5 Ne6 18. Nxe7+ Qxe7 19. dxc5 Qxc5 20. Qd3 Nf8 21. b4 Qxb4

22. Bd2 Qg4 23. Bxa5 d4 24. Rfe1 Rac8 25. Rac1 Qxh5 26. Qf5 Qxf5 27. Bxf5 Rxc1

28. Rxc1 g6 29. Bd3 Bxf3 30. gxf3 Rxe5 31. Rc8 Kg7 32. Ra8 Nd7 33. Rd8 Nc5 34.

Rxd4 Ne6 35. Rd6 Rc5 36. Rxa6 Rc1+ 37. Kh2 Nc5 38. Bxb5 Nxa6 39. Bxa6 Rc2 40. a4

Rxf2+ 41. Kg3 Ra2 42. Bb5 g5 43. Bb6 h5 44. a5 f5 45. a6 h4+ 46. Kh3 Kh6 47. a7

Kh5 48. Be8+ Kh6 49. Bc5 Kg7 50. Bc6 1-0

[Event "Olympiad Women 2022"]

[Site "Chennai IND"]

[Date "2022.07.30"]

[Round "2.13"]

[Board "4"]

[White "Chong, Kai Ni Agnes"]

[Black "Eizaguerri Floris, Maria"]

[Result "0-1"]

[WhiteTitle "WFM"]

[BlackTitle "FM"]

[WhiteElo "1909"]

[BlackElo "2176"]

[ECO "D10"]

[Opening "QGD Slav defence"]

[Variation "exchange variation"]

[WhiteTeam "Malaysia"]

[BlackTeam "Spain"]

[WhiteFideId "5722071"]

[BlackFideId "32065752"]

[EventDate "2022.07.29"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. cxd5 cxd5 4. Nc3 Nf6 5. Bf4 Nc6 6. e3 Bf5 7. Qb3 Na5 8.

Qa4+ Bd7 9. Qc2 Rc8 10. Bd3 e6 11. Nf3 Bb4 12. O-O h6 13. h3 O-O 14. Ne5 a6 15.

Rac1 Bxc3 16. bxc3 Qe7 17. Qe2 b5 18. Bb1 Nc4 19. Qd3 Na3 20. f3 Nxb1 21. Qxb1

a5 22. Nd3 Ne8 23. e4 dxe4 24. fxe4 Nd6 25. Nc5 Nc4 26. Qd3 e5 27. Bg3 Bc6 28.

Qe2 Rfe8 29. Rce1 Rcd8 30. Qf2 f6 31. Bh4 Rf8 32. a4 Kh8 33. d5 Bd7 34. axb5

Bxb5 35. Ne6 Nd6 36. Qf3 Bxf1 37. Rxf1 Rc8 38. Nxf8 Rxf8 39. Ra1 Ra8 40. Qd3 Qc7

41. Ra4 Qb6+ 42. Bf2 Qb3 43. Ra1 Rc8 44. Be1 Qb6+ 45. Kh2 Rc4 46. Bd2 Rxe4 47.

Rb1 Qa7 48. Bc1 Re1 49. Be3 Rxe3 50. Rb8+ Qxb8 51. Qxe3 Qc7 52. Qd3 e4 53. Qa6

Nf5+ 54. Kg1 Qc5+ 55. Kh1 Qxc3 56. d6 Qe1+ 57. Kh2 Qg3+ 58. Kh1 Nxd6 59. Qxa5 e3

60. Qd8+ Kh7 61. Qe7 Nf5 62. Qe4 Qf2 63. g4 e2 0-1

Chennai, round one

What more could we have asked for? A near perfect start to the Chess Olympiad in Chennai yesterday. Both teams scored a 4-0 result against their opponents. In the Open tournament, our men's team was paired against US Virgin Islands and our players made short work of their opponents. Likewise, our women's team easily brushed aside all resistance from the Eswatini players. 

There's a reason why I said it was a near perfect start and that's because the countries they played with were ranked so far below Malaysia. Dropping a full point or even a half point against them would be disappointing. A perfect start would have been 4-0 scores against teams of equal strength or stronger teams but that would be asking too much of any team in this competition. But I wouldn't want to steal any thunder from our men's and women's teams. It was a winning start and our players performed absolutely well by my reckoning. Games will become more challenging from now onwards and I hope this win in the very first round will bolster their confidence for the rounds to come.

In the second today, our men's team will be facing Slovakia while our women's team will meet Spain. Agnes Chong will replace Sim Jia Ru but otherwise, the other Malaysians lining up remain unchanged. The match against Spain will be interesting to watch. Note: all games can be followed online from the organiser's homepage or chess24.com. Take your pick.

Meanwhile, these two tables are reproduced from the chess-results website. I've taken the liberty to shorten Puteri Munajjah and Puteri Rifqah's names in order to fit them nicely into the columns.

Bo.	80	Malaysia (MAS)	Rtg	-	175	US Virgin Islands (ISV)	Rtg	4 : 0
80.1	FM	Lim Zhuo Ren	2318	-		Smith, Michael	1557	1 - 0
80.2	FM	Wong Yinn Long	2381	-		Hair, Justin M	1505	1 - 0
80.3	CM	Tan Jun Ying	2191	-		Conhoff, David	1460	1 - 0
80.4		Poh Yu Tian	2118	-		Bansal, Nayan	1444	1 - 0

Bo.	52	Malaysia (MAS)	Rtg	-	134	Eswatini (SWZ)	Rtg	4 : 0
52.1	WIM	Siti Zulaikha Foudzi	2188	-		Nosimilo, Mkhonto	1313	1 - 0
52.2	WIM	Puteri Munajjah	2018	-		Nomcebo, Sibisi	1225	1 - 0
52.3	WFM	Puteri Rifqah	1940	-		Dlamini, Sincobile	1153	+ - -
52.4	WCM	Sim Jia Ru	2005	-	WCM	Dlamini, Nosipho	1081	1 - 0

[Event "44th Olympiad 2022"]

[Site "Chennai IND"]

[Date "2022.07.29"]

[Round "1.80"]

[Board "1"]

[White "Lim, Zhuo Ren"]

[Black "Smith, Michael ISV"]

[Result "1-0"]

[WhiteTitle "FM"]

[WhiteElo "2318"]

[BlackElo "1557"]

[ECO "A53"]

[Opening "Old Indian defence"]

[WhiteTeam "Malaysia"]

[BlackTeam "US Virgin Islands"]

[WhiteFideId "5702488"]

[BlackFideId "6800092"]

[EventDate "2022.07.29"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 d6 3. Nf3 c5 4. dxc5 dxc5 5. Qxd8+ Kxd8 6. Nc3 e6 7. Ne5 Bd6 8.

Nxf7+ Ke7 9. Nxh8 Nc6 10. Bg5 Bd7 11. O-O-O Be5 12. Nf7 Bxc3 13. bxc3 Kxf7 14.

Bxf6 Be8 15. Bh4 Kg8 16. e3 a5 17. Be2 a4 18. Rd6 Bf7 19. Rhd1 h6 20. Rxc6 bxc6

21. Rd8+ Rxd8 22. Bxd8 Kf8 23. Kb2 1-0

[Event "44th Olympiad 2022"]

[Site "Chennai IND"]

[Date "2022.07.29"]

[Round "1.80"]

[Board "2"]

[White "Hair, Justin M"]

[Black "Wong, Yinn Long"]

[Result "0-1"]

[BlackTitle "FM"]

[WhiteElo "1505"]

[BlackElo "2381"]

[ECO "C02"]

[Opening "French"]

[Variation "advance, Paulsen attack"]

[WhiteTeam "US Virgin Islands"]

[BlackTeam "Malaysia"]

[WhiteFideId "6800726"]

[BlackFideId "5707684"]

[EventDate "2022.07.29"]

1. e4 e6 2. Nf3 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. d4 Qb6 6. Be2 cxd4 7. cxd4 Nh6 8. Nbd2

Nf5 9. Nb3 a5 10. Be3 a4 11. Nc5 Nxe3 12. fxe3 Bxc5 13. dxc5 Qxc5 14. Qd2 Qb4

15. Qxb4 Nxb4 16. O-O Bd7 17. a3 Nc6 18. Ng5 Nxe5 19. Rac1 Bc6 20. Rf4 Ke7 21.

Rcf1 f6 22. Nf3 Nxf3+ 23. R4xf3 Rac8 24. g4 Be8 25. R3f2 Rc2 26. Bd1 Rxf2 27.

Rxf2 Bd7 28. Rc2 Kd6 29. Kf2 b5 30. Bf3 Rc8 31. Rd2 Ke7 32. e4 dxe4 33. Bxe4 g6

34. Kg3 b4 35. Bd3 bxa3 36. bxa3 Rc3 37. Kf2 Rxa3 38. Ke2 e5 39. Rc2 Bxg4+ 40.

Kd2 Rxd3+ 0-1

[Event "44th Olympiad 2022"]

[Site "Chennai IND"]

[Date "2022.07.29"]

[Round "1.80"]

[Board "3"]

[White "Tan, Jun Ying"]

[Black "Conhoff, David"]

[Result "1-0"]

[WhiteTitle "CM"]

[WhiteElo "2191"]

[BlackElo "1460"]

[ECO "D35"]

[Opening "QGD"]

[Variation "exchange, positional line"]

[WhiteTeam "Malaysia"]

[BlackTeam "US Virgin Islands"]

[WhiteFideId "5710413"]

[BlackFideId "6800378"]

[EventDate "2022.07.29"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5 Bb4 6. e3 O-O 7. Bd3 b6 8. Bxf6

Qxf6 9. Qh5 h6 10. Qxd5 c6 11. Qf3 Nd7 12. Qxf6 Nxf6 13. a3 Bxc3+ 14. bxc3 Be6

15. Ne2 Rab8 16. e4 b5 17. f3 Bc4 18. Kd2 Nd7 19. Bxc4 bxc4 20. Rhb1 g5 21. Kc2

Rb5 22. a4 Rb6 23. a5 Rb5 24. Rxb5 cxb5 25. a6 Rb8 26. Ra5 Rb6 27. d5 Nb8 28.

Nd4 Nxa6 29. Nxb5 Nc5 30. Na3 a6 31. Rxc5 Rb5 32. Nxb5 1-0

[Event "44th Olympiad 2022"]

[Site "Chennai IND"]

[Date "2022.07.29"]

[Round "1.80"]

[Board "4"]

[White "Bansal, Nayan"]

[Black "Poh, Yu Tian"]

[Result "0-1"]

[WhiteElo "1444"]

[BlackElo "2118"]

[ECO "A02"]

[Opening "Bird's opening"]

[WhiteTeam "US Virgin Islands"]

[BlackTeam "Malaysia"]

[WhiteFideId "6800467"]

[BlackFideId "5734088"]

[EventDate "2022.07.29"]

1. f4 Nf6 2. Nf3 c5 3. c4 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. d3 Nc6 6. e4 Nc7 7. Nc3 Bg4 8. Be2

e6 9. O-O Be7 10. Be3 O-O 11. d4 Bxf3 12. Rxf3 cxd4 13. Qd2 dxe3 14. Qxe3 Nd4

15. Bd3 Nxf3+ 16. Qxf3 e5 17. Rd1 Bc5+ 18. Kh1 Qf6 19. f5 Rfd8 20. Rc1 Qg5 21.

Ne2 Qe3 22. Qxe3 Bxe3 23. Rd1 Na6 0-1

[Event "Olympiad Women 2022"]

[Site "Chennai IND"]

[Date "2022.07.29"]

[Round "1.52"]

[Board "1"]

[White "Foudzi, Siti Zulaikha"]

[Black "Nosimilo, Mkhonto"]

[Result "1-0"]

[WhiteTitle "WIM"]

[WhiteElo "2188"]

[BlackElo "1313"]

[ECO "C62"]

[Opening "Ruy Lopez"]

[Variation "old Steinitz defence"]

[WhiteTeam "Malaysia"]

[BlackTeam "Eswatini"]

[WhiteFideId "5700965"]

[BlackFideId "20700130"]

[EventDate "2022.07.29"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 d6 4. h3 Bd7 5. c3 Nf6 6. Qe2 Be7 7. O-O O-O 8. d4 a6

9. Bc4 Qc8 10. Kh2 Bd8 11. Re1 Re8 12. Nbd2 b5 13. Bb3 Nh5 14. Nf1 Na5 15. Nxe5

dxe5 16. Qxh5 Nxb3 17. axb3 Bf6 18. d5 g6 19. Qe2 c6 20. c4 cxd5 21. cxd5 Qc5

22. Be3 Qb4 23. Qd3 Rec8 24. Rec1 Rxc1 25. Rxc1 Rc8 26. Ra1 Ra8 27. Nd2 Qe7 28.

d6 Qf8 29. b4 Kg7 30. Nb3 Qe8 31. Nc5 Qc8 32. Rc1 Qd8 33. Qd5 Rc8 34. Nxd7 Qxd7

35. Rxc8 Qxc8 36. d7 Qc7 37. Bc5 Kh6 1-0

[Event "Olympiad Women 2022"]

[Site "Chennai IND"]

[Date "2022.07.29"]

[Round "1.52"]

[Board "2"]

[White "Nomcebo, Sibisi"]

[Black "Azhar, Puteri Munajjah Az-Zahraa"]

[Result "0-1"]

[BlackTitle "WIM"]

[WhiteElo "1225"]

[BlackElo "2018"]

[ECO "A46"]

[Opening "Queen's pawn game"]

[WhiteTeam "Eswatini"]

[BlackTeam "Malaysia"]

[WhiteFideId "20701152"]

[BlackFideId "5709040"]

[EventDate "2022.07.29"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. O-O O-O 6. b3 c6 7. Bb2 Qc7 8. c4

Nbd7 9. Nbd2 Re8 10. Rc1 e5 11. d5 a5 12. e4 Nc5 13. Ne1 Qb6 14. Qc2 Bg4 15. Nd3

Bh6 16. Rfe1 Bd7 17. Ba3 Nxd3 18. Qxd3 c5 19. Bb2 Qd8 20. a4 Nh5 21. Bf3 Qg5 22.

Rc2 Nf4 23. Qc3 Nh3+ 24. Kf1 f5 25. Ke2 Rf8 26. Rf1 f4 27. Kd1 fxg3 28. hxg3 Bg4

29. Bxg4 Qxg4+ 30. f3 Qxg3 31. Kc1 Qg2 32. Kb1 Bxd2 33. Qd3 Nf4 34. Rxd2 Qh3 35.

Qe3 Qxf1+ 36. Ka2 Nh5 37. Rf2 Qg1 38. Qd2 Qg3 39. Qe3 Rf6 40. Bxe5 Qxe5 41. Qd2

b6 42. Qh6 Raf8 43. Qd2 Rxf3 44. Rxf3 Rxf3 45. Qe2 Qc3 46. e5 Qxb3+ 47. Ka1 Qa3+

48. Kb1 Rb3+ 49. Kc2 Rb2+ 50. Kd1 Qa1# 0-1

[Event "Olympiad Women 2022"]

[Site "Chennai IND"]

[Date "2022.07.29"]

[Round "1.52"]

[Board "3"]

[White "Azhar, Puteri Rifqah Fahada"]

[Black "Dlamini Sincobile"]

[Result "1-0"]

[WhiteTitle "WFM"]

[WhiteElo "1940"]

[BlackElo "1153"]

[ECO "A40"]

[Opening "Queen's pawn"]

[WhiteTeam "Malaysia"]

[BlackTeam "Eswatini"]

[WhiteFideId "5702879"]

[BlackFideId "20700997"]

[EventDate "2022.07.29"]

1. d4 1-0

[Event "Olympiad Women 2022"]

[Site "Chennai IND"]

[Date "2022.07.29"]

[Round "1.52"]

[Board "4"]

[White "Dlamini, Nosipho"]

[Black "Sim, Jia Ru"]

[Result "0-1"]

[WhiteTitle "WCM"]

[BlackTitle "WCM"]

[WhiteElo "1081"]

[BlackElo "2005"]

[ECO "B40"]

[Opening "Sicilian defence"]

[WhiteTeam "Eswatini"]

[BlackTeam "Malaysia"]

[WhiteFideId "20700237"]

[BlackFideId "5716110"]

[EventDate "2022.07.29"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. Bb5 Nd4 5. Nxd4 cxd4 6. Ne2 Qg5 7. Nxd4 Qc5 8.

c3 e5 9. b4 Qb6 10. Bxd7+ Bxd7 11. Nf3 Bd6 12. Qb3 Nf6 13. d3 O-O 14. O-O a5 15.

Bd2 axb4 16. cxb4 Be6 17. Qb2 Qb5 18. Bc3 Nd7 19. Rfd1 Bg4 20. d4 Bxf3 21. gxf3

exd4 22. Rxd4 Qe5 23. Rxd6 Qxd6 24. Kf1 f6 25. h4 Qd3+ 26. Kg2 Ne5 27. Qb3+ Kh8

28. Bxe5 Qxb3 29. axb3 fxe5 30. Rc1 Rac8 31. Rd1 Rc3 32. Rd7 Rxb3 33. Rxb7 Rbxf3

34. Kf1 Rxf2+ 35. Ke1 Rb2 36. Rb5 Ra8 37. Ra5 Rxa5 38. bxa5 Ra2 39. h5 Rxa5 40.

Kf2 Ra3 41. Ke2 g6 42. h6 g5 43. Kf2 Kg8 44. Kg2 Kf7 45. Kf2 Kg6 46. Ke2 g4 47.

Kd2 g3 0-1

Chennai, preamble

This year's Chess Olympiad starts today in the Indian city of Madras. Except that Madras has now been renamed as Chennai. Two days ago, the Malaysian men's and women's teams flew off to play in the Chess Olympiad. I wish them all the best in their games. 

The two teams are actually among the youngest at the Chess Olympiad but they are being anchored by two quite experienced chess players in Fide Master Lim Zhuo Ren (men's team) and Woman International Master Dr Siti Zulaikha bt Foudzi (women's team).

The Malaysian men's team is ranked in 80th position among 188 teams while our women's team has been ranked 52nd among 162 teams. Our teams' composition:

80. Malaysia (MAS / RtgAvg:2261 / TB1: 0 / TB2: 0) Captain: Subramaniam, Sumant
Bo.		Name	Rtg	FED	FideID	Games
1	FM	Lim Zhuo Ren	2318	MAS	5702488	1,0
2	FM	Wong Yinn Long	2381	MAS	5707684	1,0
3	CM	Tan Jun Ying	2191	MAS	5710413	1,0
4		Poh Yu Tian	2118	MAS	5734088	1,0
5	FM	Subramaniam Sumant	2152	MAS	5702720	0,0

52. Malaysia (MAS / RtgAvg:2038 / TB1: 0 / TB2: 0) Captain: Mok, Tze-Meng
Bo.		Name	Rtg	FED	FideID	Games
1	WIM	Foudzi Siti Zulaikha	2188	MAS	5700965	1,0
2	WIM	Azhar Puteri Munajjah Az-Zahraa	2018	MAS	5709040	1,0
3	WFM	Azhar Puteri Rifqah Fahada	1940	MAS	5702879	1,0
4	WCM	Sim Jia Ru	2005	MAS	5716110	1,0
5	WFM	Chong Kai Ni Agnes	1909	MAS	5722071	0,0

Lye Lik Zang was supposed to join the men's team but I didn't see him in the group photograph when the contingent departed for India, and he has been substituted by Sumant Subramaniam who is doubling up as the team captain. As a Penangite, I am proud to see so many Penang faces in the two Malaysian teams. In the men's team, there are Wong Yinn Long (a former national champion), Tan Jun Ying (the current national champion) and Poh Yu Tian (hopefully, a future national champion in the making). In the women's team, we have Sim Jia Ru and Agnes Chong Kai Ni from Penang.

Today is the first round of the Chess Olympiad and Malaysia will face the United States Virgin Islands in the men's competition and Eswatini in the women's competition. And talking about Madras being renamed as Chennai, Eswatini is the new name of the African country known as Swaziland previously.

Schedule. Rounds One to Six will be played daily from today till 03 August 2022 from 5.30pm (Malaysia time) and Rounds Seven to 10 will be on 05-10 August 2022 from 5.30pm. The final round (Round 11) will be played on 11 August 2022 starting at 12.30pm. Live games for both the men's and women's Chess Olympiad can be viewed at this https://chessolympiad.fide.com/live-games-open/ website.

My coverage of the Chess Olympiad will be rather patchy as I shall be away from my computer from the third to the fifth of August, thus missing the sixth and seventh rounds and will be forced to play catch-up later when I'm back in Penang.

{To be continued]

 

Getting an award (II)

I accompanied my wife to the Dewan Sri Pinang this morning for the State Awards ceremony where she received the Pingat Kelakuan Terpuji (PKT) from the Penang Governor. I was very proud of her achievement and chose to post a picture of us together in the lobby of the Dewan Sri Pinang during the break in the ceremony. 

As a former recipient of this award itself two years ago, I had followed her suggestion to wear my own PKT medal when accompanying her around. 

Mana tahu, many of my friends thought that we had both received our awards simultaneously and began congratulating the two of us together. A bit embarrassing for me as the day should solely belong to her. I'm just the husband that followed her to the ceremony. 😅 

But Thank You all the same to friends and relatives that sent congratulatory greetings.

There are the men's and ladies' versions of the PKT medal. Between the two, I think the ladies' medal looks very much nicer. No doubt, it is because of the embellishment with a ribbon which is absent in mine. Same with the other minor awards as I have observed. The ladies' versions of the medals look and feel much better.

I know of a few other people whom I should congratulate for receiving their awards from the Governor this year. See Swee Sie who is the President of the Penang Chess Association was given the Darjah Johan Negeri (DJN) although she told me that she could not make it to the ceremony due to other pressing engagements elsewhere. There's also Raman a/l RM Athappan who is Treasurer of The Old Frees' Association and Rohayah bt Ahmad, my former colleague from the JobStreet.com days. Both of them were also given the PKT. 

Kam cheng

As far as I know, there are double meanings to the Hokkien words, Kam Cheng. The first alludes to having gratitude or showing a mutual respect of one another. The second meaning refers to the delicate old lidded porcelain pots of various sizes that were brought to South-east Asia by the baba-nyonyas in the 19th or 20th Century. To give someone a Kam Cheng pot meant a great deal in the past.

Apart from the walkabout in the heritage quarters of George Town on the seventh of July, I managed to sneak in a visit to Seven Terraces in Stewart Lane where an exhibition of old Kam Cheng porcelain pots was taking place. This Kam Cheng Cache exhibition came from a private collection by Christopher Ong who had been holding short but significant exhibitions of his valuable nyonya stuff yearly as part of the George Town Heritage Day. It was a truly impressive collection but I don't know when it will ever be displayed in public again.

Heritage walkabout

It's time for me to slot in one or two fresh posts into this blog since I had been too busy to do much since the end of last month. For one thing, I had been given two tickets for a heritage trail on the seventh of this month that traced the paths of the early Chinese migrants in Penang, in particular, that of the Kapitan China Koh Lay Huan and Towkay Yeap Chor Ee. Thanks for the tickets, Janice Yeap! But with my father-in-law's hospitalisation, my wife was in no mood to accompany me. Ended up with only me going for the event. 

It was a small group of participants, possibly numbering less than 20, and split into two groups with separate tour guides. My mood wasn't too good but it noticeably lifted up when I spotted a very familiar face: my former colleague from my old JobStreet.com days, that of Chong See Ming who had jetted down a day or two earlier to enjoy the George Town Festival. Rather a surprise for me to find her here! And she was also surprised to see me too. The surprise was quite mutual. 

As I mentioned earlier, the participants were split by the lady tour guide into two groups, one comprising mostly the ang mo tourists and the other comprising local Malaysians. Why she did that, I don't know, but she chose the unilateral decision to lead the ang mo group and left us locals with no choice but to stick with the male tour guide. The two groups left in separate directions.

The path we took led us to the Queen Victoria clock tower, along Light Street and past the State Assembly building and the esplanade field before stopping at the fountain beside the Dewan Sri Pinang. This fountain, as the tour guide explained, was donated to the town by Koh Seang Tat, a descendant of Koh Lay Huan who was a very influential Chinese merchant in his time. In fact, Francis Light appointed him as the town's first Kapitan China. We then crossed the road to the House of Yeap Chor Ee where we were given an extensive tour of the private museum. We walked down Penang Street and into Church Street, breezed by the private Peranakan Museum without going inside, crossed to Church Street Ghaut and turned into Weld Quay and going up China Street Ghaut passing the row of buildings that sat on land that was once owned and developed by Yeap Chor Ee. The final stop was the East Indies Mansion in China Street where refreshments and Penang Indian/nyonya tidbits awaited us. But it was a considerable 40-minute wait until the other group joined us. One may ask why there was this 40-minute difference in the two groups ending up at this hotel. Methinks it could be the lady tour guide's wider experience and ability to impart more knowledge.

It made little difference to me as I already know all this stuff about Yeap Chor Ee and the spots around the heritage business district but I could understand See Ming feeling more than a little miffed by being forced to join one group instead of being able to decide on her own to join one group or the other. Having paid a small bundle for the tickets, I know she would have enjoyed gaining more indepth information from this heritage walk instead of just superficial knowledge.

July super full moon

I never had the opportunity to post this image of the July super-moon earlier because I've been so preoccupied with the passing of my father-in-law. He died on the same night as I had taken this picture from the grounds of Nandaka Vihara where I had attended the vassa or rains retreat ceremony earlier. I suppose that it's better to be late than never. So here is the super-full moon of 13 July 2022, eight days late! It's sort of fuzzy because the night wasn't clear. Full of clouds that parted clear for a few moments. The picture was taken at 9.48pm, less than five hours from the exact 100 percent full moon at 2.37am on the 14th of July.

Bereavement

And so, my father-in-law's life journey came to a halt last Wednesday. He went off into the night very peacefully, fading away quietly without rousing any alarm among the family members who were around him at home.

When my father-in-law was discharged from Bukit Mertajam Hospital on the ninth of this month, he was already in a critical condition. Days before his discharge, he had his eyes closed most of the time in the hospital but we were certain that he could still hear us. Constantly, we were telling him that he would be going home soon and on the day of his discharge, he actually opened his eyes occasionally to look at us. Once at his Bandar Tasek Mutiara home, we could see that he opened his eyes even more often and ate more than he could at the hospital, although it wasn't much. For two days as the family members fussed over him, he was happy enough. Despite this animation, he did not utter any word at all. On one occasion, he grabbed the hands of my mother-in-law and held tightly. He couldn't speak but his grip spoke volumes. It turned out to be the last time because after two days of relative animation, he could no longer keep up his remaining strength. We Chinese would normally recognise this last phase of consciousness and animation as "getting better" before dying.

We arranged palliative care for my father-in-law and on his third day at home, a private nurse - I shall call her Anne - from Penang Hospice dropped by to assess his condition, telling us to monitor the oxygen level and his blood pressure readings regularly. There's a world of a difference between the care afforded by this nurse and that from the government hospitals. Anne was so patient with us as she explained how we should be caring for terminally-ill patients such as my father-in-law. She also demonstrated how to change bedsheets with minimum stress to the patient. Unfortunately, her advice couldn't be used much as my father-in-law was already drifting off into longer periods of semi-consciousness. Of course, this wasn't a good sign at all. Feeding him turned impossible as he stopped swallowing. We fitted a feeding tube on him that enabled us to syringe some sustenance every few hours. But we could see his life source slowly ebbing away. At 7.30pm on the day of his demise, his blood pressure was already very low registering 82/46 at one stage. It continued dropping. So was his oxygen level despite he breathing with the aid of a borrowed oxygen concentrator machine. 

In the meantime, my wife and I returned from Nandaka Vihara at 10pm where we had participated in the commencement of the Buddhist vassa or rains retreat. We plonked down on the living room sofa, hoping to catch some quiet moments but we had hardly any time to get comfortable. At about 10.45pm, the call came from her brother. Yes, it was the dreaded message. My father-in-law no longer showed any vital sign. Error messages on the oximeter and the blood pressure pump. He was still breathing at 10.30pm but 15 minutes later, he was gone. Just like that.

Everything switched into top gear from that point onwards. We rushed to my brother-in-law's house. On the way, we sought advice from the undertaker. First step was to contact 999 to have an ambulance come round to certify him dead. With the ambulance documentation, next was to report the death at the police station for a burial permit. The death certificate would come later when the NRIC (identity card) was surrendered to the authorities. In the meantime, the undertaker's team had arrived to prepare my brother-in-law's house for the bereavement. It was a wonder to see their efficiency. From cleaning and dressing up my father-in-law to putting up the curtains and erecting the temporary altars for prayers and chanting. The family had decided on five days of mourning before the funeral. Since my father-in-law had passed away at 10.45pm, Wednesday was considered as the first day of mourning itself. Buddhist rites would be followed until the funeral on Sunday. For the next three nights, Mahayana Buddhist priests would come to conduct prayers. We arranged an extra session on Saturday afternoon for Nandaka Vihara monks to come.

Come Thursday morning, we began the task of informing all the close relatives from far and near, including from Johore Bahru and Singapore. These were the families of four brothers and three sisters of my father-in-law; on my mother-in-law's side, two brothers and a sister. Also, the close friends of the family. But before then, a visit to the undertaker's shop to select a coffin and contacting Nirvana Blissful memorial park in Sungai Lembu where my father-in-law's cremated ashes would be interned. The undertaker's team arrived at about 1pm and they began the elaborate process of transferring my father-in-law's remains into the coffin. That done, there wasn't much left to do except to await the arrival of my daughter and a nephew from Kuala Lumpur. On the next day, my brother-in-law and his family arrived from Singapore. Nightly until Saturday, relatives and friends flowed in to pay their last respects.

Sunday morning was the funeral. It was fascinating again to see the undertaker's team swing into action. All in a day's work for them, actually. A priest led the final prayers at home. The coffin was taken from the house to the hearse and the procession, led by the two sons-in-law, proceeded on a short 300-metre walk before boarding a bus to the Berapit crematorium. Final rites were held there before the coffin carrying my father-in-law's remains was wheeled into the cremation chamber. Back at the house. the sons-in-law and the grandchildren officially ended their mourning by bathing and donning a red shirt. My wife and her siblings will continue the mourning process until the seventh day when we shall assemble at the Berapit crematorium to transfer the ashes into an urn before transporting it to the niche at the memorial park. Only then will they end their mourning officially. 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Our families would like to thank all relatives and friends who had sent condolence messages and flowers, given Pek Kim or attended the nightly wakes before the funeral. 

On a personal level, my wife and I wish to thank former colleagues from our old Ban Hin Lee Bank days - Willy, Long Kin, Heng Boo and Yuen Chee - who visited us on Friday to share their condolences and to the Oh family (my cousins from my mother's side), Daphne, Siang Jin, See Ming, Swee Piew, Seak Chin, Soo Liang, Shing Lieu and my two immediate neighbours, Henry and Ean, who gave to the Pek Kim through me. Close friends that came were Heng Swee and Alice, Chiok San and Swee Hiang, and not forgetting Kuong Lim and his parents, Cheng Lee and Guat Sim, who also attended the funeral. A big, big "Thank You" to Bhante Dhammasubho, Bhante Visuddhacara, Bhante Revata and Bhante Sangharakkhita for their presence and chanting. Also to Sayalay Karuna and some of the present and former committee members of Nandaka Vihara (Brothers Chze Hooi, Fa Chu, Ban Leong, Herman, Soon Beng, Voong Siong, Moh Wen and Sister Sew Kee), my Quah Kongsi vice-president and secretary (Chin Sun and Cho Pin) who paid visits on Saturday, and especially to Penang Chess Association, SAMENTA, Menara Kerjaya Fasterners and Nandaka Vihara for their flowers. Thank you, everyone! 🙏🙏