A centre for chess enthusiasts opens in Kuala Lumpur.
THERE is a new place in town. If ever you are in Kuala Lumpur and in need of a chess fix, make your way to the Datuk Arthur Tan Chess Centre (DATCC). It is right in the centre of the city and easily accessible from the mass transit stations.
However, the concept of the chess centre itself is not exactly new. Do you remember The Chess Network on the second floor of Wilayah Complex? It has since closed down. The complex management took it back from the Malaysian Chess Federation (MCF) because they were in need of commercial space.
In return, part of the building’s fourth floor was leased out to a group of chess enthusiasts to run a new chess centre. The place opens out conveniently into the car park.
But why call it the Datuk Arthur Tan Chess Centre? I’ve been told by Hamid Majid, the previous MCF secretary, that this was to honour Arthur Tan, the late son of MCF honorary life president Datuk Tan Chin Nam.
Arthur Tan, whom many of us knew as Boon Shih, passed away six or seven years ago. In his younger days, Boon Shih was a chess enthusiast but he was also a noted art and book collector apart from being a successful businessman here and in Australia.
We already have had five years of the Datuk Arthur Tan Malaysia open tournament organised in his memory. Whether this event will continue in its existing format remains to be seen but for the moment, Boon Shih’s name will be perpetuated with this new chess centre.
Several chess activities have been planned for this place. For one, this centre will continue to be used as a tournament venue for MCF’s activities. Also, chess associations and other chess bodies in need of a tournament venue can rent the place. The tournament hall is large enough to seat about 120 players at a tight squeeze. Eighty players would fit comfortably there.
On April 8, the chess centre will kick off its first tournament with the DATCC Kuala Lumpur commercial and recreational chess league, a round-robin event for teams. This event is envisioned as an annual open team competition. It is expected to last several weeks because games will be played on Wednesdays only.
The commercial sector, government agencies, universities, colleges, schools and clubs have been invited to form their teams for this tournament. The number of teams will be limited to a maximum of 20.
Here’s a small surprise: each team can register up to 10 players but only four will play in any given round. That’s great flexibility for teams that cannot commit the same four players week after week.
The big surprise is the proposed time control of 90 minutes with a 30-second increment per move. What this means is that the DATCC chess league should qualify as a Fide-rated event.
This is more than good news for the serious chess players! Now, it’s not only the chance to obtain or improve one’s chess ratings, participants can sit down to enjoy at least one serious chess game every week for the next 19 weeks.
I’ve long advocated that chess associations should organise events with long time controls for their members. Games with short time controls are fine but there is nothing that can beat the enjoyment of sitting at the chess board and giving your brain cells a regular weekly and lengthy work-out.
Interested in taking part? The closing date is April 5.
There will be an exclusive three-day national chess tournament for senior players (at least 55 years old) at the DATCC next month too.
The twist to this event is that there will be different time controls for players of different ages. For instance, players who are between 55 and 60 years old will play with 45 minutes on their clocks.
Those between 60 and 70 years old will have 60 minutes on their clocks while those between 70 and 80 will have 75 minutes for their games. Players above 80 years old will enjoy a generous 90 minutes.
I wonder how many senior chess players there are in the country. It would be nice if all of them who are still active register to play. Dates are April 17-19.
Hours are long at the chess centre: It opens from noon until 8pm on weekdays and from 9am to 7pm on weekends. The place is closed on Mondays.