Of Playing In The National Closed 2012 - Day 2

Thanks Ilham for your good luck wish but I think I need more than just luck! It was a painful and harrowing experience as I am not used to sitting down thinking for more than 2 hours over a game of chess.... Stressful la!

For my second round game against Mohd Khair Wahiduddin, I believe I had managed to hold him well but somewhere in the middle - of course, I gave away the initiative to him and with two connected passed pawn in the center, it was just a question of when I would succumbed to the pressure. Nonetheless, for someone who played chess as a hobby, and teaching 7 and 8 years old to play chess, I think I did rather well. For this event, my target is to achieve anything between 50% and 60% score - a moderate goal but a realistic one.

For the open section, the main surprise is 2nd seeded Loo Swee Leong of Penang who found out how tough the event is going to be, losing his first 2 games to youngster Wong Yinn Loong in Round 1 and Sabahan Jamal Sulaiman in Round 2. 


For Round 2 yesterday, the top two Tables were a pair of Juniors facing 2 veterans - Li Tian against Kian Hwa on Table 1 and Eng Chiam against old timer Woo Beng Keong on the next table. Li Tian played well to overpower Kian Hwa and secure his perfect score whilst Eng Chiam only managed a draw against Beng Keong. Another surprising result from Round 2 is Liew Ken Yew triumphant against Fong Yit Ho on Table 6, the lowest seeded player (at number 22) to have scored a perfect 2 points after 2 rounds. At the end of Round 2, ten players maintained their perfect run and are paired to play in Round 3 - Li Tian against Yit San, Nik Farouqi facing Ismail Ahmad, Zaidan with Masrin, Mohd Khair paired with Junior Roshan Singh and on Table 5 Muhd Syazwan is up against Lew Ken Yew.

Because of the long school break, early morning traffic was not so horrendous as it would usually is ergo, it was a very smooth ride to the playing hall. From Sri Kembangan, it took me less than 40 minutes to arrive when in normal traffic situation, the journey would last almost an hour. Nonetheless, there were still plenty of empty seats at the start of the Round 3 even though I arrived about 5 minutes late to start my game against the other younger version of Saprin - Amir Ghaazi. Although I came out victorious, it was a scary feeling as I know Saprin would have prepared his son well against me. I escaped the opening (Saprin pointed out my error) and managed to win the exchange with a strong initiative and space. When Amir Ghaazi finally offered his hand to surrender, I sigh in relief.... 

Round 3 pairing for the Open section:

For the Ladies Section, Round 3 offers interesting match up on Table 1 with Nur Najiha playin against 2010 champion Fong Mi Yen. On Table 2, Najiha's elder sister Nur Nabil who is also the defending champion, is paired against Latifah Kaiyishah. On Table 3, Camilia Johari facing Tan Li Ting while on Table 4, Siti Khadijah Sabirin up against Nithiyalakshmi.


Round 3 Pairing for the Ladies are as follows:

My second round game against Mohd Khair Wahiduddin of Pahang which ended in my opponent's favor

Nabila against Nithya on Table 1 in the Ladies Section. At the background, Nithya's brother Subramaniam (also in yellow top) watching from afar

Veteran Woo Beng Keong up against junior Yeap Eng Chiam. The game resulted in a draw.

Kelantanese Nik Ahmad Farouqi having a post game analysis with his opponent Afiq Afyfy at the end of their game which was won by Nik.