Two young chess talents head for the prestigious Beijing Chess Institute.
HOW long has it been since we last unearthed any young chess talent with the potential to go far?
The mid-1990s was a fertile time as we had players such as Hafizulhelmi from Kelantan, Ooi Chern Ee, Lim Chuin Hoong and Jonathan Chuah from Penang, and Lim Yee Weng and Wong ZiJing from the Klang Valley, all clamouring to be noticed by our chess officials.
Pride and joy: Yeoh Li Tian and Tan Li Ting flanked by Datuk Tan Chin Nam (left) and Datuk Alan Tong Kok Mau. The two children will join China’s national chess players on a six-week training programme.
But after players like Nicholas Chan and his brother Marcus emerged in the early years of this decade to establish themselves firmly here, we haven’t had much chance to become really excited again.
That is, until about two years ago when a young boy and girl emerged from obscurity and made chess officials and enthusiasts sit up to take notice of them.
In the months that followed, the two kids made such great chess progress that they are now on the verge of reaping the fruits of their success.
Tomorrow, Yeoh Li Tian, 10, of SJKC Yuk Chai in Petaling Jaya and Tan Li Ting, 11, of SJKC Lee Rubber in Kuala Lumpur, will be leaving to train for six weeks at the prestigious Beijing Chess Institute, a body established under the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Sports.
Their trip to Beijing was arranged by the Malaysian Chess Federation honorary life president, Datuk Tan Chin Nam, and is being sponsored by Datuk Alan Tong Kok Mau, the group chairman of Bukit Kiara Properties Sdn Bhd.
“They represent our chess future,” said Tan. “If they can keep up their consistency, they will be the new catalyst to bring Malaysian chess to the next level.
“In Beijing, they shall be training with members of China’s national chess team. The boy and girl know that it is very difficult for foreigners to be accepted into the training programme, and they are very excited with this opportunity. We shall be following their progress very keenly from here,” added Tan.
Their daily training sessions from Monday to Friday, stretches from 11am to 9pm, and will include one-to-one analysis of their chess games with their personal coaches.
Li Tian burst into the local chess frame late in 2007. In November of that year, he played in the World Youth chess championship in Turkey and won fourth prize in the under-8 category of the event.
A month later, he represented the MSSM in an under-9 team playing in the Asean+ youth team championship in Shah Alam and won a gold medal for “best first board” player. In the process, he also helped his team to finish in overall third position.
His other more recent chess achievements included being under-10 champion in the national age group tournaments in 2008 and 2009, under-12 MSSM chess champion in 2008 and 2009, sixth place among under-20 boys in the national junior tournament in 2008, 14th place in the under-10 section of the world youth chess championship in Vietnam in 2008, and won a silver and two bronze medals in 2008 and two bronze medals in 2009 at the Asean primary schools sport Olympiad in Indonesia.
In other local events, he was the best under-12 player at the Selangor international chess open 2008, best under-16 player at the Ambank chess challenge 2008, took fourth place in the Kuala Lumpur chess challenge 2008, best under-12 player at the Selangor international chess open 2009 and again best under-12 player at the Datuk Arthur Tan Malaysia open this year.
Li Ting’s credentials began with her coming into prominence last year as the runner-up in the under-10 category for girls at the national age group chess tournament. Also in 2008, she was sixth among under-10 girls at the Asean+ age group chess championship in Vietnam.
This year alone, Li Ting was the runner-up in the under-12 section of both the national age group chess tournament and the MSSM girl’s tournament. To cap off a successful year for the girl, she became the national women’s chess champion.