Just before the Dato’ Arthur Tan Malaysia Open (DATMO) chess tournament concluded last August, I had cornered Mok Tze Meng, 41, to ask him how he felt before the final round started.
Pretty nervous, he admitted. As he looked a bundle of nerves, I tried to be helpful and told him not think about it. Then, trying to make myself extra helpful, I added: “Just relax and play your normal game.” I mean, what more could I say in those circumstances?
The guy was actually going to play the game of his life. A win would have secured for Mok his third and final norm for the international master title. A loss would have meant nothing at all.
Intense: International master Mok Tze Meng focusing on his game during the Datuk Arthur Tan Malaysia Open chess tournament in August. He succeeded in getting the final point to earn his third IM norm.
I had my doubts whether my “helpful” advice had worked or not but I could see that once he settled into the game, all his nervousness had disappeared. Fast forward a few hours later and he left the table with the final point secured.
Congratulations, I told him. Now, he looked relieved. He could even manage a quip: “I had to wait five years before I could get my second IM norm. Earlier today, I was hoping that I shouldn’t have to wait another five years for my third norm.”
Under my watch, Mok had qualified for his first international master title norm from the Wah Seong Penang international tournament in Year 2000. At that time, I was the arbiter of that event. Mas Hafizulhelmi had won it but tied on second place were Mok and a young Myanmar player.
Five years down the road, Mok’s second international master title norm came from the SEA Games in Tagaytay in the Philippines. That was a particularly strong event for him as along the way, he met four grandmasters, two international masters and three Fide masters. His third title norm came another four years later at this year’s Malaysia open tournament.
On Monday night, I phoned to congratulate him again. I told him that the World Chess Federation had approved his application for the title but as expected, it had been awarded to him conditionally, the condition being that he must raise his international rating to above 2400 before the title could be fully his. Presently, his rating stood at 2343
but it should rise to within a whisker short of 2400 in the next Fide rating list expected at the end of this month.
“This progress has been tough for me. All in, I took 10 years. I could only play when opportunities arose locally or overseas, such as when representing the country at the Chess Olympiads or SEA Games,” he said.
At the beginning of this year, his rating dropped to 2283 points as he had lost 25 points playing badly in the Sarawak Open in Oct 2008 and the Dresden Chess Olympiad in Nov 2008. “My dream of becoming an IM was fading,” he said.
However, the Chess Olympiad was also a turning point for him. Local chess organizers started to organize many big local events with reasonable prizes. First, it was the Terengganu Open in Nov 2008 which he won ahead of IM Mas Hafizul and gained 20 rating points. In Apr 2009, he earned another 12 rating points from the Thailand Open in Pattaya and then he picked up 28 rating points in Jun 2009 as winner of the Penang Heritage City Open ahead of Mas Hafizul and GM Gerhard Schebler.
“I’m also thankful for the DATCC chess league this year. We played seriously every Wednesday at the Dato’ Arthur Tan Chess Centre in the Wilayah Complex and although it was not a high level tournament, I could at least polish my skills and maintain a consistency from April until August. From the DATCC, I gained a further 17 rating points,” he said.
At the DATMO, Mok gained another 28 rating points, making a total of 105 rating points gained since October last year. After the DATMO, he played in the Merdeka rapidchess tournament and beat Filipino grandmaster Rogelio Antonio, Indonesian international masters Liu Dede and Tirto, and drew with Indonesian GM Susanto Megaranto. However, these fast games could not be rated.
He recognized that he would need to maintain his form against Mas Hafizul in the coming semi-finals of the Malaysia Masters tournament in order to accumulate enough points to push his rating above 2400. “I really wish to get my IM title instantly so that there’ll be no pressure on me to move forward,” he said.
“I reserve my biggest appreciation for Datuk Tan Chin Nam, the huge figure behind Malaysian chess, but I’d also like to thank the people in the Malaysian Chess Federation and the other friends of Malaysian chess.”
(NOTE: An edited version of this story appeared in The Star on 23 Oct 2009)