Record high entries expected this year at the Malaysia open.
I REALLY believe that this year’s IGB Arthur Tan memorial Malaysia open chess championship can surpass all previous editions of the tournament.
It’s not only because this is the last of the five Malaysia open events in its present format but more because of the widespread interest which this event has generated in this region and beyond.
When I spoke to Malaysian Chess Federation (MCF) vice-president Hamid Majid earlier this week, he indicated to me that there might be a record number of entries this year.
He said a number of foreign players had been dropping him e-mail and enquiries about the tournament. “Barring any other development, there should be at least 60 foreign players in the field,” he told me.
He added that with the closing date still six days away, the possibility of the field increasing was there. “I would expect the number of entries to be between 80 and 90, which will be a good number,” he said.
Top of the list would be the defending champion Li Chao from China. When he won the Malaysia open last year, he was still an unheralded player but this time around, Li will be returning as one of China’s newest grandmasters. There’ll be more than 10 players expected from that country.
But amidst all the excitement of knowing that this year’s Malaysia open is attracting interest from far and wide, I am a little disappointed.
I have a wish list of players and in my list, I have the tournament winners from 2004 to 2007 all competing as well. People would say that I’m dreaming but wouldn’t it be nice to have a tournament that also includes Ni Hua, Wang Hao and Dao Thien Hai?
Anyway, the Malaysia open is still two weeks away. There’s still about a week for more entries to flow in. By then, the list of participants will be firmer.
Mas in Biel
Last week, I mentioned that Mas Hafizulhelmi was participating in the Master tournament of the Biel Chess Festival in Switzerland. At this point of writing, after seven rounds of play, Mas is still up there with the pack. He’s with a bunch of nine players who are just one point behind the tournament leader.
The real test comes later this week but in the meantime, I want to share with you one of his games from the Master tournament in Biel. It was played in the third round and his opponent was the Russian grandmaster Mikhail Ulibin.
Now, the big question is, how should you play against an opponent who is rated 134 points below you? Ulibin has a Fide rating of 2,520 compared to Mas Hafizul’s 2,386.
White: Mas (Malaysia)
Black: Ulibin (Russia)
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. Bd3 Bc5 6. Nb3 Be7 7. O-O d6 8. Qe2 Nd7 9. f4 Qc7 10. c4 Ngf6 11. Nc3 b6 12. Bd2 Bb7 13. Rae1 h5 14. Kh1 h4 15. Nd4 g6 16. b4 Nh5 17. Kg1 Bf6 (see diagram)
Mas Hafizul’s pieces are all so well placed that it is difficult to see how his opponent can create counter-chances. Black’s last few moves were already rather questionable and now this bishop move allowed White to crash through the centre of the board.
18. e5 dxe5 19. Nxe6 (After this sacrifice, Black’s position becomes untenable. All that White had to do was to mop up the game.) 19?.Qd6 20. Nd5 fxe6 21. Bxg6+ Kd8 22. Nxf6 Nhxf6 23. fxe5 Qd4+ 24. Be3 Qg4 25. Rxf6 Nxf6 26. exf6 Qxe2 27. Rxe2
In this position, would you prefer to be White or Black? It’s White for me any time.
The pair of bishops is better than the pair of rooks! The game concluded: 27?.Kc7 28. Bf4+ e5 29. Bxe5+ Kd7 30. Bf5+ Ke8 31. Bg6+ Kd7 32. Bf7 Raf8 33. Rd2+ 1-0
The moral of this game? Don’t under-estimate your opponent, like how Ulibin must’ve under-estimated Mas. Ratings can be very deceiving.
Here is one more game from Biel and this one features the firm tournament favourite, Magnus Carlsen. When playing through this game, keep in mind that endgames with opposite-coloured bishops are, more often than not, drawn.
So it is very instructive to see how Carlsen managed to utilise his opponent’s white-square weaknesses to eventually tie down the black bishop completely. Carlsen’s final bishop manoeuvres, moving Bf3-d1-e2-f3-c6 to threaten Be8 next, was a joy to watch.
White: Carlsen (Norway)
Black: Pelletier (Switzerland)
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Ba6 5. Qc2 Bb7 6. Bg2 c5 7. d5 exd5 8. cxd5 Nxd5 9. O-O Be7 10. Rd1 Nc6 11. Qf5 Nf6 12. e4 d6 13. e5 Qd7 14. Qxd7+ Nxd7 15. exd6 Bf6 16. Re1+ Kf8 17. Nc3 Nb4 18. Bg5 Nc2 19. Re7 Bxf3 20. Bxf3 Bxg5 21. Rxd7 Rd8 22. Rxd8+ Bxd8 23. Rd1 Nd4 24. Bg2 h5 25. a4 a6 26. Bb7 Rh6 27. d7 Rd6 28. Bc8 Nf3+ 29. Kg2 Rxd1 30. Nxd1 Ne1+ 31. Kf1 Nf3 32. h4 Ke7 33. Ne3 g6 34. Bxa6 Kxd7 35. Ke2 Ne5 36. f4 Ng4 37. Bb5+ Ke7 38. Nd5+ Kd6 39. Bc4 Nh6 40. Ne3 Bf6 41. Bd3 Bd8 42. Kf3 Ng4 43. Nxg4 hxg4+ 44. Kxg4 Ke6 45. Bc4+ Ke7 46. Kf3 f5 47. Ke2 Kf8 48. Kd3 Bf6 49. b3 Bb2 50. Bd5 Ba3 51. Kc4 Bb4 52. Kb5 Ba5 53. Bc4 Ke7 54. Kc6 Kf6 55. Bd3 Kf7 56. h5 gxh5 57. Bxf5 Kf6 58. Be4 Kg7 59. Bf3 Kh6 60. Kb5 Kg6 61. Bd1 Kh6 62. Be2 Kg6 63. Bf3 Kh6 64. Bc6 (1-0)