Of Going Into Round 7 - GACC 17th Edition

The GACC 17th edition took a one day break yesterday with Round 7 continued earlier today at 9:00am. Currently, four players shared the top spots with 5 points each comprising of Russian trio FM Dzhumagaliev, Nikolai and FM Pavel together with a lone Malaysian in Ahmad Fadzil Nayan who had done well to hold top seed Dzhumagaliev to a draw on Table 1 in Round 6. Another quartet consisting of Vietnamese player Le Ming Tu, Russia's WFM Myslevskaya and Sri Lanka's duo Peiris and Alahakoon is half point behind at 4.5 points. Twelve players shared 4 points and amongst them are Malaysia's Fariz Shafruddin, Muhd Syazwan Zulkifli, Abdullah Khairi, Teh Wee Zhun, Chek Kin Keuw and Solomon Nyurang. Ruby Kwan of UPSI Malaysia and Kavindi Senarath of Sri Lanka are the only 2 ladies within the group of 4 pointers. 

Round 7 today will see the battle for the lead between FM Dzhumagaliev and team mate Nikolai Kuzmin on Table 1, followed by FM Pavel Bublei going up against NUS player, Vietnames Le Minh Tu on Table 2. On Table 3, Ahmad Fadzil Nayan is up against the remaining Russian quartet in WFM Myslevskaya Izabella and rounding up on Table 4 is Isuru Alahakoon going against his Sri Lanka countryman TSS Peiris.

One of the more surprising performance in this event is that of Ng Qing Yang of Singapore who has no FIDE Rating, and seeded 72nd for the event but is currently a single point adrift from the leading pack. Paired against Yong Jenn in Round 7, a win by Qing Yang may catapult him within reach of the top spots and a valuable point for his team.

On the downside, things are not looking well for 12th seed Amir Hamzah KZ who has only managed to secure 2 points out of 6 rounds and currently playing on Table 29. A member of the formidable IIUM Chess Team, Amir Hamzah has been one of the more prominent player in his team but somehow for this event, is struggling to perform.  

Results and pairing for the event can be viewed at www.chess-results.com

Syazwan (left) did well to draw with Nikolai (right) during their 5th round encounter

In running for the lead - Fadzil (left) did well to hold top seed FM Dzhumagaliev (right) for a draw which puts him in the lead, sharing the top spot with 3 other Russians - Dzhumagaliev, Bublei and Kuzmin

Party night at 2nd college on the eve of the break day

Crowd mingling around the playing hall towards the end of Round 6. In the foreground, Eddy Kwan (extreme left), taking interest in her daughter's game - Ruby Kwan (seated left in red - facing the camera)