By my estimate, between August 1980 and today, I must have written slightly over a thousand chess columns for The Star. Given that on an average, a single column of mine would contain about 1,000 to 1,200 words, this scribe may have contributed perhaps about a million words here.
It’s a mean feat, isn’t it? An achievement which should at least qualify me for a Malaysian Book of Records award if ever there is one. (I hope my editor reads this.)
Everything started as a hobby and I wouldn’t have thought it possible of writing the longest running, almost uninterrupted, chess column in this newspaper for all these 27 years.
In my 30 years as a chess freelance, I’ve seen chess grow from being an esoteric game which only the stereotypical nerds and curious could understand to become a game for the masses, known to hundreds of thousands of people of all ages, all races and both sexes. Even today, people tell me that chess revolves around The Star’s chess column.
On a personal level, there have been my low and high points during these years. But let’s not dwell on the low points. Rather, I’m quite proud that I can include the following as among my high points in chess.
* Attended the Lucerne chess Olympiad in 1982 as a player. It was a tremendous experience. I also obtained a first-hand view of the Manila chess Olympiad in 1992 and several other tournaments in this part of the world, including the Asian team championships.
* Witnessed the world chess championship final candidates match in Kuala Lumpur in 1990 and understood the high tension that made men act irrationally. The tension comes with the turf.
* Met some of my chess heroes, among them former world champions Max Euwe, Vasily Smyslov, Mikhail Tal, Anatoly Karpov, Gary Kasparov, Viswanathan Anand, Alexander Khalifman and Ruslan Kasimdzhanov, the present world champion Vladimir Kramnik and former world title contenders Viktor Korchnoi, Nigel Short and Jan Timman.
* Was very much involved in the running of several international tournaments, including the Asian women’s championship at Genting in 1998, the Wah Seong international master chess tournament in Penang in 2000 and the Penang international open championship in 2005.
* Achieved my international chess arbiter qualification, edited a Malaysian chess magazine for the Malaysian Chess Federation, authored a chess book, created the chess-malaysia mailing list with 1,800 on-line subscribers today and generally made a big nuisance of myself with my opinions and writings.
Actually, it is not true that I was a big nuisance. But I do know that my opinions count to many people and sometimes, I do have the ears of the senior chess officials in this country. Regardless of whether people agreed with me or not, I’ve always tried to look at the big picture and be balanced in what I wrote. I like to believe that people appreciated my point of view.
You may be wondering what all this is leading to, why suddenly I’m being so reflective this week. The reason is because this will be my last chess column for quite a while.
Nothing is ever permanent and The Star has called time on this column. Of course, The Star has been a very gracious partner in this endeavour and I’m actually quite grateful for the opportunity to open up chess to a wider audience in Malaysia. I’m equally grateful to you, the readers, for your company too.
Yet, I must profess that my personal contribution to chess, though small, is still unfinished. But I’m very heartened that my efforts are not in vain. I see the game now progressing along fine at the grassroots level all over the country. There are so many local tournaments. Also, there has never been so much information about chess than now.
Dear friends, I can assure you that the chess revolution will continue unabated without me. There is still the chess-malaysia mailing list but more significantly, the game has found its niche on the Internet. It will keep on growing.
So this is it. This is where I get off for the time being. I may be back or I may not. Whatever, here’s my toast to the future of chess in Malaysia! Bye for now.
About the author
Quah Seng-Sun had written about chess in The Star newspaper in Malaysia since Aug 1980. This article appeared in a slightly abridged format in the Lifestyle section of the newspaper on 23 Feb 2007.
Seng Sun. Now is definitely not the time to say goodbye. Online news is one thing but we need your chess column now more than ever. It’s true that chess is growing fast but I don’t think it’ll be a brighter future when Malaysia’s one and only chess column closes down. Please reconsider. We need your chess column!!
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But why did Star “call time”? That’s the prob in Malaysia – so many decisions are made without explaining the reason, or at least the rationale; no accountability. No, it’s not a question of owner’s right to do what it wants with the paper, but also readers’ right to information. And since Star calls itself “The People’s Paper”, the people should know what’s happening to the paper.
Yes I agree. If a survey could be done I am very sure you’ll find that the readership for the Chess column has been increasing. It’s simply illogical to cancel a column just when popularity is growing.