The Chess Connections: Of Insofar November Edition

Another edition of the Insofar Monthly event and the number of players participating increased despite having to compete with another event held in Shah Alam on the very same day. 14 players took part in the Open section led by Philippines Ian Udani, FM Ronnie Lim and National Junior Tan Li Ting with some of the top University players in the country in Ahmad Fadzil Nayan of IIU, Mohd Syazwan of UM and Chek Kin Keuw of UPM, and not forgetting, local blogger Nor Ilhamuddin

For the U1600 section, the top seed was veteran Mustafa Said and the second seeded player was non other than Mat Zaki Yeop, Insofar head honcho. Perhaps, the excitement was too much for him to bear! There were a few young and upcoming youngsters taking part such as Tan Wei Ting, Melanie and brother Benjamin Koo, Kung Kah Heng and Vinton Wong. Adding to the list of youngsters playing were 7 year old Asia Moo and 5 year old Puteri Rabiatul Adawiyah (who happens to be Mat Zaki's daughter).

The U1600 section was almost clear cut with the top leaders maintaining their lead throughout the event. The only upset came in Round 3 when Kung Kah Heng defeated the much more experienced Mustafa to disrupt his clean slate. Kung Kah Heng fine run suffered a setback when he lost to Mat Zaki in the following round. And on the last round, he faced Melanie Koo and a win would have secured his 3rd placing but, the KL lass was able to overcome her opponent to secure the lone 3rd spot.

After the surprising defeat at the hand of Kah Heng, Mustafa was able to rebound and collect 2 more additional points to maintain his 1 point deficit behind leader Mat Zaki. When both players were paired to fight it out in the last round, Mustafa managed to gain the upper hand and with the win, was able to take over Mat Zaki's position as the leader and winner of the U1600 section.

For the Open section, it was much tougher for the leaders with the first seeded player FM Ronnie Lim drawing his first round match against Chek Kin Keuw. There were two casualties for the higher seeded player when Liew Ken Yew lost to John Law and the more surprising upset on Table 6 when Nor Ilhamuddin lost to Rosamund Koo. Nor Ilhamuddin woes continued when he was paired with top seed FM Ronnie in the second round and again lost his second match for the day.

In Round 3, the encounter between leaders Ian Udani and Ahmad Fadzil Nayan ended in a peaceful draw, paving way for 4 players to share the top spot - FM Ronnie Lim, Ian Udani, Ahmad Fadzil Nayan and Chek Kin Keuw, all with 2.5 points a piece.

In Round 5, Tan Li Ting pulled off an upset by drawing with then leader Ian Udani and according to observers, Li Ting could have pressed for a win but decided to play it safe by accepting the draw. With the draw, Ahmad Fadzil Nayan has the sole lead of the event with one round to spare. Trailing behind him with half point different was Ian Udani, and a further half point behind was Tan Li Ting and FM Ronnie Lim.

FM Ronnie Lim performed well in the last round to deny Ahmad Fadzil Nayan of the top spot, and with Fadzil out for the count, Ian Udani crept back into the top spot after a convincing win against Mohd Syazwan. Although he lost the last round and allowed FM Ronnie Lim to catch up on level points, Ahmad Fadzil Nayan remained in the second spot having a better tie break compared to that of Ronnie. Fine performance by Tan Li Ting put her in the 4th spot followed by brother Tan Jun Feng in the 5th spot.

Full results of both categories are as follows: