Friday, July 16, 2010

FIDE Elections 2010

Is the title correct? hmm.. I have been reading about this presidential contest in FIDE for so many months now. And anytime soon there will be court case. You can read it here

It surely is a surprise to me when I heard the former world champion GM Anatoly Karpov is contesting for the top post! and in his line up is our very own IA En Hamid Majid. En Hamid is nominated by Karpov, with back up and blessing from MCF and Dato Tan and he will fight for the post General Secretary of FIDE (Whoa!!!)

(No wonder when I called him after Ole Ole he didnt answer the call, but instead reply a sms to me saying that he is in overseas. I guess he must have been busy and all geared up for the elections.)

What do I think about this (I hate to be involved in politics!), I think Kirsan (the current FIDE President) has been holding the post (since 1995) for too long now. Let's try for new faces, and see what happened next. Coz so far, even under the ruling of Kirsan, Malaysian Chess scene is the same for so many years, no changes in anything. And I still dont know what will happen if Karpov hold the post? Will there be any changes in Malaysian Chess? There should be right, coz if Karpov win, Hamid will be in the team. And the best part, he is from Malaysia. And I do wish for good news to come up from this elections.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Magnus Carlsen - From Board to Catwalk

I read about Magnus signed up as a model in chessbase.com and in chessvibes.com. But while I was flipping thru The Star newspaper yesterday (Tuesday), there he was! Chessplayers nowadays is totally different from the old days. Today, they endorsed so many products, they are like the celebs and the sports icon in their country. I guess once you are on top of the world you can endorse many things.. (with good looks of course!)

you can read it here

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

New Chess Centre In Kuantan

I have been working 7 days a week, juggling with work and chess at the same time (phew! happy that world cup has ended, so the sleeping days shall go back to normal again). I am in need of a break actually. But I cant take any, as I have so many things to do.

I am opening a new CHESS CENTRE in Kuantan soon. I am still selecting the date for the opening, but early August seems to be the best available date. It shall be a small chess centre, so dont expect much. But I will add up many things afterwards, when the response is overwhelm. I am very nervous about venturing into this, coz I know, many chess centre previously are "once upon a time" thing. I might not know if I shall suffer the same thing, but one thing for sure, I will never know if I never give it a try. So, juz open it first and see how it goes.

A request here to my fellow chess friends for any donation on chess books, articles, mags to be placed in the small library at the chess centre. I would very much appreciate it if the donated books or etc, is signed by the contributors.

I'll announce later of any updates of the CHESS CENTRE, so stay tuned! :-)

Ole Ole Open 2010

I was at the Ole Ole Open, at Seksyen 18 Shah Alam, acting as the arbiter for the event. I learned new things at the tournament, and with experience and opportunity, that extend my knowledge in arbitrating a chess event. I dont juz go and be an arbiter for nothing, after each event I always consult with either En Hamid or En Najib regarding things that happened and the decision that I made (lucky me, so far, I have made the right decision). When it comes to national rating, Mr Lim Tse Pin is the person that I would refer to. I have the ambition of being the first female to become the International Arbiter (IA) in Malaysia. Coz, with the recognition of IA, I think i'll be respected more in the local chess scene. I am looking for more norms to complete the regulation set by FIDE.

Ok, back to Ole Ole. The cash prizes at Ole Ole might not be as tempting at the rest of the chess tournaments held elsewhere, but I think it is worth it, coz registering with RM20 fee, qualifies all players to a RM50 shopping vouchers at Cosway! Isnt that great! Imagine a family (father and kids playing), all received more than RM50 vouchers! And good news to all, the Ole Ole Shopping Complex has announced that the tournament shall be an annual event.

To find out more about the result of the event click here