Result 1st Kuantan Open Team 2009

Finally... the result is out! Sorry to fans out there that have been waiting for the result for days now.

Honestly when we had our Kelab Catur Kuantan meeting to form Persatuan Catur Kuantan, we had our discussion to have our first event for the year. The team event has always been in our mind as it was last held in Kuantan in the year 1995 ( I think!). So, I bet not many youngsters out there actually knows how to play in a team. As it has been our motto at the Kelab to have different event in a year. We may have Rapid event, Team event, Blitz event, or perhaps Classical event.

Our first task when we choose Team event is to identify the limit of team to participate. And since the chess sets and clocks is limited to us (as we had to borrow some from Malaysian Chess Federation - Thanks a lot Greg for the sets), so we decided that only 60 teams on a first come first serve basis were allowed to participate. As the closing date approach in, many and many teams registered to play, and to my surprise it is our pride to announce that we had reached our target of 60 TEAMS!!!

The Kelab main objective is to do an open event but the prizes will be given by category, we feel this is the best way the ensure that the senior players can share their experiences with the juniors and show them the right way to play chess (this was how I became National Player, I learned from the experienced player while playing against them). Lucky for us, many understood this (though I noticed few disagree).

There are still a huge gap between the seniors and the juniors, but I do see the a little change this year. I am happy to see that many of the youngsters that play on that day, play better chess than the year before. If more and more tournaments were to be held in Kuantan, more and more talented players will arise. Well, that is what we believed in and it is our goal to have more quality games.

My sincere thank you as a tournament director to NM Zarul Syazwan, NM Kamal Arifin, NWM Nurul Huda, Mohd Khair, Kamal Azmi, Sulaiman Johari, Abdul Khalid Musa, Ali Akbar, Suwardi Andri, Suwardi Aris, Hamidi Taib, Abdul Majid, Shukor Mustafa, Asman Amin and many more that participate in the tournament and share your widest experiences in chess with the juniors. Thank you!

Thank you to the players that came all the way to the tournament, the team from Temerloh led by Norazri Malek and Pakcik Shukor, the team from Rompin led by Cikgu Zamri and cikgu Muhamad Deraman, the team from UMP led by NM Zarul, team from MMU led by Kumaraguru, team from MRSM Muadzam, Pekan, Kuantan and etc.. Thank you!

Also a deepest appreciation to my students and the parents that has helped me through out the tournament, Puan Aida, Puan Sathia, Bazli, Danish, Cikgu Fakri, Susanti, Hanis, Haris, Aslam, Hisham, cikgu Rohani and the helpers of SMK Sungai Soi. Thank you for all the support, that made my life a sunshine all the way for the two days! My appreciation also goes to my siblings, the sponsors and last but not least TO ALL THE PLAYERS, THE PARENTS, THE FANS for supporting the event, "tanpa anda siapalah kami"!

We shall meet again in May!