Pindabat

It's Merdeka Day today, Malaysia's 65th year of Independence. But I won't be celebrating it in the usual manner (as if there is a usual manner for such things.) Instead, I spent the morning at the Kampong Baru market here in Bukit Mertajam to help out with the pindabat (alms food gathering) ceremony by the monks and nuns from the Nandaka Vihara Meditation Centre in Cherok Tokun. 

The pindabat is an important fixture in the Theravadin Buddhist calendar during vassa or the period of the rains retreat. So this morning, my wife and I went to the market to await the arrival of some 23 monks and nuns. Many of them are temporary monks and nuns who are ordained for only eight days during the vassa. But during these eight days, they are treated similar to the senior monks and nuns of the meditation centre. Yesterday, they lined up outside the hawker centre to await devotees donating food stuff. After two years where this activity was curtailed due to the coronavirus restrictions, this year's pindabat attracted a very large crowd all patiently waiting in line to place their food donations into the alms bowls. A lot of helpers were hovering in the background to collect the donated food stuff for bringing back to the Nandaka Vihara. My job was to take photographs of the occasion. And later, we all assembled at the Nandaka Vihara to help unload the bags of foodstuff and sort them out. Took about two hours to complete by which time, my back was aching badly. Nevertheless, we were overwhelmed by the occasion and stayed back for the lunch dana.

Leaving us

This is a very short post I make today. I just want to get it off my chest. I still can't get over the matter that in the course of the last two or three months, several persons whom I know have been affected by deaths in their families. Of course, my own father-in-law had himself passed away on the 13th of July but about a month earlier, the mother of one of my Quah Kongsi committee members had died from old age. My wife told me that the father of one of the committee members at the Nandaka Vihara had similarly died and it had happened about four months after the death of this same committee member's mother. Then I had a neighbour staying four houses away from me who passed away. In Kuala Lumpur, a friend's mother passed away. Recently, two chess friends told me that their respective grandmother and father had died. And only last week, I had the wife of my former dentist informing me that her husband had passed away. So all in, I can count easily eight deaths in the last three months connected to people I know. I have also observed that this period can also be a crucial time when older people tend to fall seriously ill. There are at least two cases among people I know. So while calamities like these do happen at rather short intervals, I wonder whether there is any co-relation with the run-up to the Chinese seventh lunar month or the month itself which began on 29 July this year? The logical mind in me says no but who knows better? There are so many things that still cannot be explained logically. (Note: To the uninitiated, the Chinese seventh lunar month is also known as the Hungry Ghosts month or festival when the gates of the underworld are open for the hungry spirits to wander in this plane of existence. People usually don't like to go out till late at night during the 29 or 30 days of this month, and there's still a week to go before the gates are shut again. Superstitions and stories abound that contribute to Chinese folklore about this festival.)  

Youth reigns

 The winning Ubekistan team at the Chess Olympiad in Chennai, India. See how young they are: the average age of the team is 20!

Photo: FIDE/Stev Bonhage

Jakhongir Vakhidov at 27 is the oldest in the team. 

Javokhir Sindarov: I'm 16, and studying in school currently.

Nodirbek Yakubboev: I'm 20, and currently studying in University.

Nodirbek Abdusattorov: I'm 17, I just graduated school.

Shamsiddin Vokhidov: I'm 20 and studying in University right now.

His and hers

You can always tell which medals are mine and which belongs to the wife. The lady's version is always prettier while the men have to be contented with a plain design. 😒 Now, which is which? The ones on the left are the Pingat Jasa Kebaktian (PJK) while the two on the other side are the Pingat Kelakuan Terpuji (PKT).

Petaling Jaya, section 8

When I went down to Kuala Lumpur two weeks ago with my friends, we stayed at a place known as the Chrisenbel Suites, located off Jalan Utara in Petaling Jaya. The studio apartment that we checked in was quite decent except that the bathroom on the lower level lacked a water heater. There were two beds and a sofa that could be converted into a third bed. So it was quite all right for the three of us although there wasn't much privacy. But who cared? Not us! Checking in and out of the place was contactless and we had to follow a series of instructions to get the access keys and even to open or shut the front door. It was a lot of hassle to us but eventually, we got the hang of handling this electronic door!

Viewwise, it was quite spectacular from the 13th floor. From the window, the PJ Hilton was to my left. It took me a while to realise that right before me was the part of Petaling Jaya known as Section 8. From 1973 till 1976, this was my old hunting ground when I studied at Tunku Abdul Rahman College. The place I stayed was a single-storey house along Jalan Tengas 8/8. One of them was rented by my foster parents while I rented a room in another house two doors away. Those years living away from my own parents were very interesting. For the first time in my life, I had the freedom to move about freely. One end of Jalan Tengas 8/8 looked over the Federal Highway and I remember standing there one day in Jalan 1976 when s convoy of police vehicles travelled at high speed to accompany the body of Abdul Razak Hussein who had died in London.

But back to the present moment. I strained my eyes trying to see this road but with the foliage being so thick, I just couldn't. My eyes then strayed nearer towards the traffic lights at the Federal Highway. There, right in front was Jalan Barat, and the first building I recognised was the old Thrifty Supermarket building. The supermarket had long closed down. In fact the whole building is now empty. But in its heyday, the Thrifty Supermarket was THE place to visit for PJ residents. It was a Supermarket selling medium to high-end imported items, not an Emporium selling cheapskate products, see? There was even a KFC restaurant to rival the nearby A&W drive-in restaurant in PJ State. The fried chicken were chunky and served on heavy porcelain plates with metal cutlery. If anyone wanted beer, KFC had it. The restaurant was a perfect place to hangout because we could see the girls that flocked in and out of the Stamford College on the upper floor of this building. 

And then further back along Jalan Barat. at its corner with Jalan 8/1E, was a four-storey commercial block that was once used by the Petaling Jaya branch of Ban Hin Lee Bank. This building looked worn but there were construction hoardings around it. A new lease of life soon, I suppose. I should also mention that Jalan Sungai Jernih divides Section 8 into two halves. Both areas were mainly residential although towards the Jalan Penchala end of Jalan Sungai Jernih, businesses and small industries had sprung up. I remember a restaurant there selling hokkien mee at night: not the soupy Penang-style hokkien mee but the thick black KL-style braised hokkien mee.

Further afield from my old haunt was PJ New Town, sometimes known as State, the administrative and business centre of Petaling Jaya in those days. Why was this small area of roughly eight hectares called State? I've no idea but the smaller roads here are named as "Jalan 52/something" which implies that this should rightly be known Section 52. The iconic State cinema is located here and the land on which it sits on must now be worth several tens of millions. By the way, the State cinema has ceased functioning and the business now operates under another name. As far as I know, other businesses in this small area that use the word "State" in their names are State Tailor and State Hotel. 

Let me try to recall a bit of this area since it is adjacent to Section 8. Jalan Barat bends to join up with Jalan Sultan which must be considered the main thoroughfare here. At the bend was the prominent Wearnes building. The Hongkong and Shanghai Bank was one of the most prominent businesses along Jalan Sultan. Possibly Public Bank too and the United Overseas Bank. Today, there are five banks - HSBC Bank, CIMB Bank, RHB Bank, Hong Leong Bank and Public Bank - completely hogging up that short stretch of Jalan Sultan, pushing UOB Bank, AmBank, Standard Chartered Bank, Malayan Banking and Affin Bank to the fringe areas. Was there a market here? I can't remember but I know there was a food court. It's hard to imagine that I had my first taste of thosai at 19 years old, and not in Penang but in Petaling Jaya! 

The interior of the studio apartment at the Chrisenbel Suites. I occupied the bed downstairs but had to keep the sliding doors open to enable the air-conditioning to reach the living area.

The view from the apartment

The night-time view

The old Thrifty Supermarket building. The sign above the building says Wisma Thrifty

Petaling Jaya's Section 8 which is bounded by the Federal Highway, Jalan Barat, Jalan Penchala and Jalan Templer

Super full moon

The night of the 11th was super cloudy over Bukit Mertajam. The moon could hardly be seen here although friends in Kuala Lumpur had reported a very bright moon in the sky. I did step out of the house twice but failed to detect it, although I could see a patch in the cloud-covered sky which had been lit up slightly. But never mind, I told myself, perhaps I could catch a sight of it in the early hours of the morning.

I awoke at about six o'clock but not from the moonlight streaming into the bedroom. Remembering what I was supposed to do, I looked through the window to see a very low moon above my neighbour's rooftop across the road. Through the slight haze, the moon had a strange orange hue. The subdued lights also made me change my camera settings. No way could I use my usual 1/2000- or 1/3200-second shutter speed for the full moon pictures. I had to slow the speed down to 1/40 second or slower, which says a lot for the moon's brightness this morning.

Before I get to the picture, I've got to mention that astronomically, the moon would become exactly 100 percent illuminated at 9.36am today. Of course, we can't see it since it is already daytime in this part of the world, but on the opposite side of the earth where it is night, the people there will be able to experience this moment of exact full moon. But my picture of the moon this morning at 6.27am was close enough for all practical purposes: the moon at 99.8 illumination. Bonus...this month's full moon is also a super full moon. The last super full moon for 2022.

The super full moon at 1/40-second shutter speed

The super full moon at 1/10-second shutter speed

Former colleagues

I seem to have a lot of reunions lately. Not only in Kuala Lumpur, but also here in Penang. Like for example, yesterday, a few of us from the former Ban Hin Lee Bank decided on a lunch get-together at the Hai Siang restaurant in Simpang Ampat. Great to see these guys again....

To our left in this picture are Heng Boo, Yuen Chee, Kim Joon, Seak Chin, Swee Piew, Hiong Wah and Fook Chin

Something on dementia

Dementia is a health bummer that can strike at anybody. Lately, I've been hearing stories from friends and relatives about how dementia had struck at their elderly family members. I don't have to look far myself. Prior to his passing, my father-in-law was already suffering from it mildly. And yesterday, I had visited my old dentist at his home - he retired some years back and his business has been sold - and saw how his wife was coping with his condition. "The forgetfulness comes and goes," she told me, "but he doesn't like to talk now." Today, this three-part video on dementia came to my attention. Very helpful information there; it explains a lot. Worth a look.

Almost touching

Time was 6.36am this morning. Having woken up, I crawled downstairs and out the house to catch the morning breeze. Saw Jupiter high up above me and decided to take a picture of it. Many pictures, actually. About 10-15 shots with my camera. I was lucky: managed to find one clear enough picture of the planet with its four Galilean moons. The others were all blur due to camera shake. It doesn't look like four in this picture though, because Io is about to orbit behind its mother planet. So, the moon and Jupiter were practically touching one another in this picture. 

Chennai, round 11

Here's a moot question for discussion: a "what if" situation. In my last story on the Malaysian teams at the Chess Olympiad in India, I mentioned that at first, Sim Jia Ru was reluctant to play in the 10th round against Albania, having seen an earlier chance of earning her Woman Fide Master title disappear with a loss in the previous round. But ultimately, she agreed to play. But what if the Malaysian women's team had played Albania without her and still lost the match? The team would still have been paired with a weak opponent in the last round and Jia Ru, maybe having recovered somewhat from her traumatic ninth round loss, would she have been in a better frame of mind to play and possibly win her game and gain that title? Well, we can talk till the end of time without knowing the answer better. But back to reality. Jia Ru did sit out the final round of the Chess Olympiad. In her absence, the women's team gained a narrow 2½-1½ win against Nicaragua, the points coming from Puteri Munajjah and Agnes Chong while Puteri Rifqah drew her game.

Actually, both the women's and men's teams finished the Chess Olympiad on a positive winning note. Other than this 2½-1½ win against Nicaragua, the men's team had a rather expected and comfortable 3-1 result against Cyprus. But don't be flattered. Overall though, I believe both teams had under-performed. Especially, the men's team under-performed without the services of a bona fide fifth player. After Lye Lik Zang was laid low with a Covid-19 infection prior to departure, the responsibility landed on all four players to perform. It was a heavy task on them. Perhaps the team captain, Sumant Subramaniam, should have stepped in more often when the going went tough on the boys. But I'm very happy to note that the biggest winner was Poh Yu Tian, who will be Malaysia's latest Fide Master. He played on the fourth board most of the time and only climbed to third board twice when Lim Zhuo Ren and Wong Yinn Long were unable to play. In the next Fide rating list, his ELO rating will have risen from 2118 to 2244, an increase of an astounding 126 points!

Then of course, we've to address the elephant in the room. We have a young and promising team but...where was Yeoh Li Tian? Yes, where was Yeoh Li Tian, arguably Malaysia's strongest and most talented player? Why wasn't he playing to represent his country in the biggest team competition in the world? Is the Chess Olympiad not big enough? This would have been the perfect stage for him to go for his Grandmaster title; if not a direct title, then to achieve his third and final norm. Oddly, he has vanished from the chess scene after the debacle at this year's SEA Games in Vietnam. But these are questions that only he himself can answer. We can only speculate and guess. But I sincerely hope he hasn't given up on his quest. Please do continue to entertain us with your superb games.

Bo.	102	Cyprus (CYP)	Rtg	-	80	Malaysia (MAS)	Rtg	1 : 3
47.1	FM	Michaelides, Konstantinos	2300	-	FM	Lim, Zhuo Ren	2318	½ - ½
47.2		Isaakidis, Alexandros	2165	-	FM	Wong, Yinn Long	2381	½ - ½
47.3		Florentiades, Michalis	1974	-	CM	Tan, Jun Ying	2191	0 - 1
47.4		Antoniou, Rafail	1817	-		Poh, Yu Tian	2118	0 - 1

Bo.	78	Nicaragua (NCA)	Rtg	-	52	Malaysia (MAS)	Rtg	1½:2½
36.1	WIM	Granados Diaz, Maria Esther	1888	-	WIM	Foudzi, Siti Zulaikha	2188	1 - 0
36.2		Ferrufino, Michelle	1811	-	WIM	Azhar, Puteri Munajjah Az-Zahraa	2018	0 - 1
36.3		Alvarez Gutierrez, Patricia	1715	-	WFM	Azhar, Puteri Rifqah Fahada	1940	½ - ½
36.4		Granados Ortiz, Maria Jose	1753	-	WFM	Chong, Kai Ni Agnes	1909	0 - 1

72. Malaysia (MAS / RtgAvg:2261, Captain: Subramaniam, Sumant / TB1: 12 / TB2: 224)
Bo.		Name	Rtg	FED	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Pts.	Games	Rp	K	rtg+/-
1	FM	Lim Zhuo Ren	2318	MAS	1	0	½	0	1	½		1	0	0	½	4,5	10	2253	20	-6,8
2	FM	Wong Yinn Long	2381	MAS	1	½	0	0	1	1	0		1	½	½	5,5	10	2263	20	-9,8
3	CM	Tan Jun Ying	2191	MAS	1	½	0	½	1	½	0	½	0	0	1	5	11	2110	20	-14,8
4		Poh Yu Tian	2118	MAS	1	1	0	1	1	1	0	1	1	½	1	8,5	11	2322	40	126
5	FM	Subramaniam Sumant	2152	MAS							0	1				1	2	0	20	-1,8

61. Malaysia (MAS / RtgAvg:2038, Captain: Mok, Tze-Meng / TB1: 12 / TB2: 217,5)
Bo.		Name	Rtg	FED	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Pts.	Games	Rp	K	rtg+/-
1	WIM	Foudzi Siti Zulaikha	2188	MAS	1	0	½	½	1		0	1	0	1	0	5	10	1998	20	-28,2
2	WIM	Azhar Puteri Munajjah Az-Zahraa	2018	MAS	1	0	½	0		½	1		0	½	1	4,5	9	1964	20	-1,8
3	WFM	Azhar Puteri Rifqah Fahada	1940	MAS	+	0	½		1	1	0	½	½		½	5	9	1876	20	-11,6
4	WCM	Sim Jia Ru	2005	MAS	1		1	0	1	1	0	1	0	0		5	9	1775	40	-60,8
5	WFM	Chong Kai Ni Agnes	1909	MAS		0		½	0	½		1		0	1	3	7	1762	40	-47,2

[Event "44th Olympiad 2022"]

[Site "Chennai IND"]

[Date "2022.08.09"]

[Round "11.47"]

[Board "1"]

[White "Michaelides, Konstantinos"]

[Black "Lim, Zhuo Ren"]

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

[WhiteTitle "FM"]

[BlackTitle "FM"]

[WhiteElo "2300"]

[BlackElo "2318"]

[ECO "E04"]

[Opening "Catalan"]

[Variation "open, 5.Nf3"]

[WhiteTeam "Cyprus"]

[BlackTeam "Malaysia"]

[WhiteFideId "5901871"]

[BlackFideId "5702488"]

[EventDate "2022.07.29"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. c4 e6 4. g3 dxc4 5. Bg2 a6 6. O-O Nc6 7. e3 Rb8 8. Qe2 b5

9. b3 cxb3 10. axb3 Bb7 11. Ne5 Nxe5 12. Bxb7 Rxb7 13. dxe5 Nd5 14. e4 Nb4 15.

Rd1 Qc8 16. Bg5 Be7 17. Bxe7 Kxe7 18. Qd2 c5 19. Qg5+ Ke8 20. Qxg7 Rf8 21. Qxh7

Rd7 22. Nc3 Nd3 23. Qg7 b4 24. Na4 Qc6 25. h4 c4 26. bxc4 Qxe4 27. Nb6 Qd4 28.

Nxd7 Qxf2+ 29. Kh1 Qf3+ 30. Kg1 Qf2+ 31. Kh1 Qf3+ 32. Kh2 Qe2+ 33. Kg1 Qf2+ 34.

Kh1 Qf3+ 35. Kh2 Qe2+ 36. Kg1 1/2-1/2

[Event "44th Olympiad 2022"]

[Site "Chennai IND"]

[Date "2022.08.09"]

[Round "11.47"]

[Board "2"]

[White "Wong, Yinn Long"]

[Black "Isaakidis, Alexandros"]

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

[WhiteTitle "FM"]

[WhiteElo "2381"]

[BlackElo "2165"]

[ECO "B10"]

[Opening "Caro-Kann defence"]

[WhiteTeam "Malaysia"]

[BlackTeam "Cyprus"]

[WhiteFideId "5707684"]

[BlackFideId "5903076"]

[EventDate "2022.07.29"]

1. e4 c6 2. Nf3 d5 3. d3 g6 4. Qe2 Bg7 5. g3 dxe4 6. dxe4 e5 7. Bg2 Ne7 8. O-O

O-O 9. b3 Qc7 10. Rd1 b6 11. Ba3 c5 12. Nbd2 Ba6 13. Qe3 Nbc6 14. c3 Rad8 15.

Bf1 Bxf1 16. Nxf1 Rxd1 17. Rxd1 Rd8 18. Qe2 Bh6 19. Rd3 Rxd3 20. Qxd3 Qd8 21.

Qe2 Qd7 22. Kg2 Kg7 23. Bb2 Kf8 24. Ne3 Bxe3 25. Qxe3 f6 26. Nd2 Kf7 27. Qe2 Nc8

28. Nc4 N6e7 29. f3 Ke8 30. Ne3 Kf7 31. a3 Qe6 32. b4 Qa2 33. Nc4 b5 34. Ne3 c4

35. Qd2 Nb6 36. Bc1 Qa1 37. Qc2 Na4 38. Nd1 Nc6 39. Qd2 Ne7 40. Qc2 Nc6 41. f4

Ke8 42. Kh3 Kf7 43. Qd2 Ne7 44. fxe5 fxe5 45. Qc2 Ke6 46. Bg5 Nb6 47. Bc1 Nd7

48. Nf2 Nf6 49. Kg2 Nc8 50. Bg5 Qe1 51. Bxf6 Kxf6 52. a4 a6 53. axb5 axb5 54.

Qd1 Qxd1 55. Nxd1 Ne7 56. Ne3 h5 57. Kf3 Ke6 58. g4 hxg4+ 59. Kxg4 Nc8 60. h4

Nd6 61. Kf3 Kf7 62. Ng4 Ke6 63. Nf2 Kf6 64. Kg4 Nf7 65. Kf3 Nd6 66. Kg4 Nf7 67.

Nh3 Nh6+ 68. Kg3 Nf7 69. Kf3 Ke6 70. Nf2 Kf6 71. Nd1 Nd6 72. Ne3 Kf7 73. Nf1 Ke6

74. Ng3 Kf6 75. Kg4 Nf7 76. Nh1 Nd6 77. Nf2 Nf7 78. h5 gxh5+ 79. Kxh5 Nd6 80.

Kh6 Nf7+ 81. Kh5 Nd6 82. Kh6 Nf7+ 83. Kh7 Ng5+ 84. Kg8 Nf3 85. Kf8 Ke6 86. Kg8

Kf6 87. Kh7 1/2-1/2

[Event "44th Olympiad 2022"]

[Site "Chennai IND"]

[Date "2022.08.09"]

[Round "11.47"]

[Board "3"]

[White "Florentiades, Michalis"]

[Black "Tan, Jun Ying"]

[Result "0-1"]

[BlackTitle "CM"]

[WhiteElo "1974"]

[BlackElo "2191"]

[ECO "A01"]

[Opening "Nimzovich-Larsen attack"]

[WhiteTeam "Cyprus"]

[BlackTeam "Malaysia"]

[WhiteFideId "5900379"]

[BlackFideId "5710413"]

[EventDate "2022.07.29"]

1. b3 g6 2. Bb2 Nf6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 d6 5. d4 e5 6. dxe5 Nfd7 7. Nf3 dxe5 8. O-O

O-O 9. Qc1 e4 10. Nfd2 Bxb2 11. Qxb2 f5 12. e3 Nf6 13. c4 Nc6 14. a3 Be6 15. Nc3

Qe7 16. Rfd1 Rad8 17. Bf1 Ne5 18. Be2 Nd3 19. Bxd3 Rxd3 20. Nf1 c6 21. Ne2 Rfd8

22. Rxd3 exd3 23. Nf4 g5 24. Nxe6 Qxe6 25. Rd1 Ng4 26. Qc3 Ne5 27. f4 gxf4 28.

gxf4 Qg6+ 29. Ng3 Nf3+ 30. Kg2 Nh4+ 31. Kg1 d2 32. Qa5 b6 33. Qxa7 Qg4 34. Rxd2

Nf3+ 0-1

[Event "44th Olympiad 2022"]

[Site "Chennai IND"]

[Date "2022.08.09"]

[Round "11.47"]

[Board "4"]

[White "Poh, Yu Tian"]

[Black "Antoniou, Rafail"]

[Result "1-0"]

[WhiteElo "2118"]

[BlackElo "1817"]

[ECO "B40"]

[Opening "Sicilian"]

[Variation "Anderssen variation"]

[WhiteTeam "Malaysia"]

[BlackTeam "Cyprus"]

[WhiteFideId "5734088"]

[BlackFideId "5904390"]

[EventDate "2022.07.29"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Ndb5 Bb4 7. a3 Bxc3+ 8.

Nxc3 d5 9. exd5 exd5 10. Bd3 d4 11. Ne2 O-O 12. O-O Bg4 13. Bg5 Re8 14. f3 Bh5

15. Kh1 Bg6 16. Re1 Bxd3 17. Qxd3 h6 18. Bh4 Rc8 19. Rad1 Qd6 20. Bf2 Qc7 21.

Bxd4 Ne5 22. Qc3 Qe7 23. Qd2 Nc4 24. Qc1 Ne3 25. Nc3 Nxd1 26. Rxe7 Rxe7 27. Qxd1

Rd8 28. Kg1 Red7 29. Ne2 Nd5 30. Kf2 b6 31. c3 Nc7 32. Qa4 Ne6 33. Qb5 Rd5 34.

Qa6 R8d7 35. a4 Kh7 36. b4 Rc7 37. Qd3+ Kg8 38. Qe3 Rc4 39. Nf4 Nxf4 40. Qxf4

Rd7 41. Qe5 1-0

[Event "Olympiad Women 2022"]

[Site "Chennai IND"]

[Date "2022.08.09"]

[Round "11.36"]

[Board "1"]

[White "Granados Diaz, Maria Esther"]

[Black "Foudzi, Siti Zulaikha"]

[Result "1-0"]

[WhiteTitle "WIM"]

[BlackTitle "WIM"]

[WhiteElo "1888"]

[BlackElo "2188"]

[ECO "B06"]

[Opening "Robatsch (modern) defence"]

[WhiteTeam "Nicaragua"]

[BlackTeam "Malaysia"]

[WhiteFideId "6101488"]

[BlackFideId "5700965"]

[EventDate "2022.07.29"]

1. e4 g6 2. d4 Bg7 3. Nc3 d6 4. Be3 e6 5. Qd2 h6 6. Be2 Ne7 7. f4 b6 8. Nf3 Bb7

9. O-O-O Nd7 10. d5 exd5 11. Nxd5 Nxd5 12. exd5 Nf6 13. Bb5+ Kf8 14. Bc4 b5 15.

Bb3 a5 16. a3 Qd7 17. Bd4 Kg8 18. h3 Kh7 19. g4 Ne4 20. Qg2 a4 21. Ba2 b4 22.

Ng5+ Nxg5 23. fxg5 Bxd4 24. Rxd4 b3 25. cxb3 axb3 26. Bxb3 hxg5 27. Qd2 c5 28.

Rd3 Qe7 29. Rf3 Ba6 30. Re1 Qb7 31. Qxg5 Rhe8 32. Rfe3 Rxe3 33. Rxe3 Kg7 34. Bc2

Ra7 35. h4 Bc4 36. h5 Qxd5 37. h6+ Kh7 38. Qf6 Qd4 39. Qf3 Rb7 40. Bxg6+ Kxh6

41. Qh3+ Kxg6 42. Qh5+ Kg7 43. Qg5+ Kf8 44. Qh6+ Qg7 45. Re8+ Kxe8 46. Qxg7 Be6

47. g5 Re7 48. a4 Bf5 49. Qf6 Be6 50. a5 Ra7 51. g6 Rxa5 52. b4 cxb4 53. g7 Rc5+

54. Kb2 Rc8 55. g8=Q+ Kd7 56. Qgg5 b3 57. Qb5+ Rc6 58. Qf3 d5 59. Qc3 1-0

[Event "Olympiad Women 2022"]

[Site "Chennai IND"]

[Date "2022.08.09"]

[Round "11.36"]

[Board "2"]

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

[Black "Ferrufino, Michelle"]

[Result "1-0"]

[WhiteTitle "WIM"]

[WhiteElo "2018"]

[BlackElo "1811"]

[ECO "D12"]

[Opening "QGD Slav"]

[Variation "4.e3 Bf5"]

[WhiteTeam "Malaysia"]

[BlackTeam "Nicaragua"]

[WhiteFideId "5709040"]

[BlackFideId "6103162"]

[EventDate "2022.07.29"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. e3 Nf6 4. Nf3 Bf5 5. Be2 e6 6. O-O h6 7. b3 Be7 8. Bb2 Nbd7

9. Nbd2 O-O 10. h3 a5 11. a3 Bd6 12. c5 Bc7 13. b4 axb4 14. axb4 Qe7 15. b5 e5

16. b6 Rxa1 17. Qxa1 Bb8 18. dxe5 Ne4 19. Nb3 Re8 20. Rc1 Nxe5 21. Nxe5 Bxe5 22.

Bxe5 Qxe5 23. Qxe5 Rxe5 24. Na5 Re7 25. Ba6 bxa6 26. b7 Rxb7 27. Nxb7 Nd2 28.

Na5 Bd3 29. Rd1 Nc4 30. Nxc6 Be4 31. Ne7+ Kf8 32. Nxd5 a5 33. Nb6 Nb2 34. Rd2

Nd3 35. c6 1-0

[Event "Olympiad Women 2022"]

[Site "Chennai IND"]

[Date "2022.08.09"]

[Round "11.36"]

[Board "3"]

[White "Alvarez Gutierrez, Patricia"]

[Black "Azhar, Puteri Rifqah Fahada"]

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

[BlackTitle "WFM"]

[WhiteElo "1715"]

[BlackElo "1940"]

[ECO "D43"]

[Opening "QGD semi-Slav"]

[WhiteTeam "Nicaragua"]

[BlackTeam "Malaysia"]

[WhiteFideId "6105548"]

[BlackFideId "5702879"]

[EventDate "2022.07.29"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 e6 5. Bg5 Be7 6. e3 Nbd7 7. Bd3 O-O 8. O-O

Re8 9. Qc2 h6 10. Bh4 Nh5 11. Bxe7 Qxe7 12. Ne5 Nhf6 13. f4 dxc4 14. Bxc4 Nb6

15. Bd3 Bd7 16. Rac1 Rac8 17. Ne4 Nbd5 18. Qe2 Nxe4 19. Bxe4 Nf6 20. Bf3 Red8

21. Rc5 Be8 22. Rfc1 Nd7 23. Nxd7 Bxd7 24. R5c3 Rc7 25. Be4 Rdc8 26. Bb1 g6 27.

Bd3 Kg7 28. Qc2 Be8 29. a3 Bd7 30. Be4 Rh8 1/2-1/2

[Event "Olympiad Women 2022"]

[Site "Chennai IND"]

[Date "2022.08.09"]

[Round "11.36"]

[Board "4"]

[White "Chong, Kai Ni Agnes"]

[Black "Granados Ortiz, Maria Jose"]

[Result "1-0"]

[WhiteTitle "WFM"]

[WhiteElo "1909"]

[BlackElo "1753"]

[ECO "D13"]

[Opening "QGD Slav"]

[Variation "exchange variation"]

[WhiteTeam "Malaysia"]

[BlackTeam "Nicaragua"]

[WhiteFideId "5722071"]

[BlackFideId "6103812"]

[EventDate "2022.07.29"]

1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c4 c6 4. cxd5 cxd5 5. Nc3 e6 6. Bf4 Bd6 7. Bg3 O-O 8. e3

a6 9. a4 Qe7 10. Ne5 Nbd7 11. Bd3 Ne8 12. Qc2 f5 13. f4 Nef6 14. Bh4 Qe8 15. O-O

Be7 16. Rf3 Nxe5 17. fxe5 Ne4 18. Bxe7 Qxe7 19. Raf1 Ng5 20. Rf4 Bd7 21. Qe2 Nf7

22. g4 Qg5 23. Kh1 Nh6 24. gxf5 Nxf5 25. Rg1 Qd8 26. Qh5 Be8 27. Qg4 g6 28. Bxf5

exf5 29. Rxf5 Bd7 30. e6 Bc6 31. Rgf1 Rxf5 32. Rxf5 Qd6 33. Rf7 Rf8 34. Qf3 Be8

35. Rxf8+ Qxf8 36. Kg2 Bc6 37. Qg3 Qf5 38. Qb8+ Kg7 39. Qc7+ Kh6 40. e7 Qg5+ 41.

Kf2 Qf5+ 42. Qf4+ Qxf4+ 43. exf4 Kg7 44. Nxd5 Kf7 45. Nc3 Kxe7 46. d5 Bd7 47.

Ke3 Kd6 48. Kd4 b6 49. b4 a5 50. b5 Bf5 51. Ne4+ Ke7 52. Ke5 h5 53. d6+ Kd8 54.

Nc3 Bc2 55. Ke6 Bf5+ 56. Ke5 Bc2 57. d7 Kxd7 58. Nd5 Bb3 59. Nxb6+ Kc7 60. Nd5+

Kb7 61. Nc3 Bc2 62. Kd6 Kb6 63. Kd5 Bb3+ 64. Kd4 Bc2 65. Kc4 Kb7 66. Kc5 Bf5 67.

Nd5 Bc2 68. Nb6 Bb3 69. Nc4 Bxa4 70. Nxa5+ Kc8 71. b6 Bc2 72. Nc4 Kb8 73. Nd6

Ba4 74. Nc4 Bc2 75. Na5 Be4 76. Kd4 Bc2 77. Kd5 Bf5 78. Nc4 Bc2 79. Nd6 Bd3 80.

Kc6 Bc2 81. b7 Ba4+ 82. Kb6 Bc2 83. Nc8 Be4 84. Ne7 Bxb7 85. Nxg6 Be4 86. Ne7

Bb1 87. Kc6 Ba2 88. Nd5 Kc8 89. h4 Kd8 90. Kd6 Bc4 91. f5 Be2 92. Nf4 Bg4 93.

Ke6 Ke8 94. Kf6 Kf8 95. Kg6 1-0