The Chess Connections: Of Running Another Malaysian Chess Championship...

If my memory serves me right, prior to 2015, the event was called The National Closed Chess Championship. Since 2016, the name somewhat took a different path and since then, it has been known as the Malaysian Chess Championship. In 2011 and 2012, DATCC hosted the event at its previous venue in Wilayah Complex as it was the only place in town big (and cheap) enough to host the event. For the 2011 edition, I was both the Organizer and Chief Arbiter with a total of 99 players taking part - 66 in the Open section and anothr 33 players in the Women section, the highest number of women participants in recent years. In 2012, MCF decided to allow the ladies to manage the event and for the first time in the event's history, two women were appointed as Chief Arbiters - Khairunnisa Wahiduddin managed the Open section while Haslindah Ruslan the Women section. And with that, I decided to try as a player and played in the event after a 19 year absence. The last time I played in a National Closed event was in 1993 when Yeoh Chin Seng was crowned the Champion and I had the opportunity to beat an up and coming youngster by the name of Mas Hafizulhelmi Agus Abdul Rahman - I played the white pieces in a KID Seamisch Opening.

In 2013, the event used its Malay equivalent title dubbed the Kejohanan Catur Tertutup Kebangsaan 2013 and Terengganu became its host with Mok Tze Meng appointed as the Chief Arbiter. It had the least number of Open players with only 46 entries and another 18 entries in the Women section. In 2014, the event's name was changed again to National Championship (the word "chess" was dropped) and again DATCC became the venue with Abd Hamid Majid returning as the Chief Arbiter. In 2015, the event regain the name National Closed Chess Championship with Hamid once again maintaining his role as the Chief Arbiter but the event shifted to Olympic Hotel in Kuala Lumpur. The event had the most number of total players playing with 76 players in the Open section and 28 players in the Women section.

The event created history in 2016 when for the very first time, Sabah decided to host the event in Kota Kinabalu and local Sabahan Charles Lucas took the helm as the Chief Arbiter. Although many had to fly to Sabah to participate in the event, it managed to attract 68 players in the Open section and 29 players in the Women section - which is not that bad at all! This is the first year that MCF began to adopt the new name of Malaysian Chess Championship instead of the usual National Closed Championship.

From then onwards, the venue has moved to Kota Baharu in 2017 and took the name RISDA Malaysian Chess Championship (as RISDA was the main sponsor for the event) with Lim Tse Pin acting as the Chief Arbiter. In 2018, Perak hosted the event at UPSI with Hamid returning once again as Chief Arbiter.

For this year's edition, Pahang has agreed to host the event and after an 8 year absence, I have returned as the Chief Arbiter for the event - the last one being the 2011 edition. And for the first time, the event is scheduled during fasting month and very close to the Hari Raya holiday week. The event also marked the first time that it has to be postponed by a few days as a mark of respect due to the passing away of Ayahanda Paduka Tuanku Sultan Ahmad Shah of Pahang. But nonetheless, despite the obstacle and the changes in the event's schedule, it still managed to attract a decent number of entries with 68 players in the Open section and another 18 in the Women Section.

The top boards

Event Backdrop

For this year's event, Looi Xin Hao of Penang is the number one seed for the Open Section (after Lim Zhuo Ren pulled out due to a personal schedule that he had committed) whilst Nur Najiha Azman Hisham for the Women section. For the Open Section, other notable entries were FM Ismail Ahmad, Yeap Eng Chiam, Mohd Saprin and son Ahmad Ghaazi, former champion Mohd Kamal Abdullah, his fellow Johorean Abdullah Che Hassan, veterans Joseph Toh and Jax Tham, and Nithyalakhsmi as the sole Women entries in male dominant section. For the ladies section, Nur Nabila will definitely challenge her sister for the top position with another pair of sisters, Puteri Rifqah and Puteri Munajjah eyeing for the same spot. Other notable entries are Chua Jia Tien and Ding Dao En.

On the first day of the event, all the players were treated to a Buka Puasa hosted by Pahang Chess Association with Dato Sri Effendi Abdullah officiating the Opening Ceremony, representing YB Dato Sri Ismail Mutalib, MP for Maran and Chess Advisor Persatuan Catur Pahang, who could not make it to the dinner due to prayers session at the Pekan Palace.

Some of the more familiar and unfamiliar faces taking part in this year's event.