Malaysian Chess Websites and Blogs

Malaysian has been ’side blogging’ on this blog using the comment section. I thought for once I’ll bring out his comments as a post here:- Today’s game for the WWCC crown should be most interesting. Hou Yifan needs a win to get a shot at the title play-off while Kosteniuk ...

People think that GilaChess.com is run only by me. That’s simply not true. Remis Aman is the invisible man instrumental in keeping GilaChess.com updated most of the time. Above is a rare picture of the man. More: continued here

One thing I liked about the tournament hotel is that there is FREE internet access. Just plug the network from the wall to the notebook and there is internet! Since it’s free it does get slow at night - probably some kids downloading full movies via torrent. But at ...

Top 6 boards at the 4th Pichay cup are using DGT chess sets which are nice wooden sets. On lower boards they use PVC boards but the chess pieces are still wooden sets. I saw some wooden chess sets in the supermarket and the price is pretty cheap. Wish ...

WIM Irine Kharisma Sukhandar not having a good time after collecting only 1 point after 5 rounds. She lost to GM ‘Bong’ Villamayor, IM Alex Wohl, Zhang Jing and Jayson Salubre. She obtained draws from Edgar Reggie Olay and Karl Victor Ochoa. She is currently at 65th position in the ...

Morning round starts 9am and the bus leaves early at 8.15 am. Many players are having last minute breakfast at the hotel lobby as late as 8am. Still everybody gets on the bus on time. GM Marat and GM Saidali. More: continued here

One of the biggest supermarket chains here in the Philippines is SM. There is one right across the hotel and it’s huge. It’s SM for Shoe Mart :D. Of course today it doesn’t just sells shoes. Sort of like Mid Valley Megamall. During the rest day 3 days ago, many ...

That’s what Alex Wohl said. He joked that he was "playing in the women championship". Wang Xiaohui (2215) was his 4th round opponent and 7th female opponent so far in the PMGA-Pitchay back to back tournament. He beat Xiaohui using Black but lost to  Ali Branzuela in the 5th round. More: ...

Crown Regency where the 4th Pichay Cup 2008 participants are staying. At USD 30 per night it’s pretty cheap considering that it’s right smack in the centre of the city. Right across the road is eateries and shopping malls. The chinese like to ‘Ta Pow’ fried chicken from ...

Remember GM Li Shilong (李师龙) ? There was a brief excitement when Lim Yee Weng obtained a win from him which gave Yee Weng a shot for the GM norm in the Malaysian Open. Li Shilong now leads the tournament with half a point at 4.5/5. He has an impressive result ...

3rd round leader Richard Bitoon lost to Kazhgaleyev Murtaz (2641). China GM Li Shilong defeated wonder boy GM Wesley So to share the lead with Murtaz at 3.5/4. Giant killer Ronald Bancod lost to Iranian GM Gahemmaghami Ehsan (2596). See also official press release for this round. More: continued here ...

The Pichay Cup is held at Duty Free office complex which is beside the main Duty Free building which hosts some nice eateries. I dropped in and was not too adventurous to try out their native food and instead tried “Jolly Bee” which is very similiar to Mc Donalds. ...

Round 3: Wang Li (2392) defeated IM Julio Catalino Saddora (2470) with the White pieces. He drew GM Ehsan (2597) and Steven Yap Kim (2321) in the previous two rounds. Picture cut and pasted (with permission) from ChessAsia.net More: continued here

Bancod downed GM Marat Dzhumaev in the first round and then defeated countryman GM Darwin Laylo in the second round. It’s a big feat for someone who just finished with 3 points in the first tournament (PGMA). In the third round he drew Jayson Gonzales. See also: 4th Pichay Cup - ...

  Round 2. Jason Gonzales seems to be listening to music thru the earphones   Round 3. Earphones are gone. The Chief Arbiter disallowed any electronic devices such as MP3 players and earphones which is sensible. It’s quite possible to cheat by having an accomplice to tell you the moves remotely via an FM transmitter ...

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Not in the game of chess but in the number of female players he played against. My record was playing against 5 girls in a row. Alex who just recovered from dengue went one up with 6!! His last round opponent was WIM Irine Sukander Kharisma. Of course that’s from ...

Two rounds and he has 2 points so far. Round 2 victim being Ronald Dableo. Wesley So’s game projected on the screen. 3rd Round. GM Wesley So vs Wan Yungo on board 3. GM KAZHGALEYEV Murtas who is the highest rated player at ELO 2641. He is playing on ...

Another upset on the top boards as GM Susanto Megaranto goes down to IM Richard Bitoon. As a result, Richard Bitoon now pulls away from the crowd with a slim half a point and leads the tournament with 3/3. More: continued here

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Xu Tong lost to IM Ronald Dableo. Zhang Jing lost to IM Goh Weiming One of the upset of the tournament was GM DZHUMAEV Marat losing to IM Ronald Bancod. More: continued here

It’s draw between joint winner GM Zhang Zhong vs congressman ‘Butch’ Pichay. Opening ceremony is completed and the pairings are out. This time it’s 18 GMs taking part and a total of 34 titled players. In total there are 67 participants. More: continued here

Pictures used with permission from chessasia.net More: continued here

Wesley So looking to live up to his coming 2600 rating. He performed  poorly (by his standards) in last week PGMA cup to finish in 25th place. He won his first round game vs IM Alex Wohl of Australia. More: continued here

Today is sort of a rest day for players taking part in the two tournaments. Some stay the hotel and rest and some players went shopping in the nearby huge malls that are just across the street. Xu Tong and Zhang Jing (above) are taking the day of ...

3rd PGMA champion GM Eugene Torre is not playing in the Pichay Cup starting today. With joint winners Li Chao and Torre out of the picture will the going be any easier for the rest of the players? It’s now 19 GMs and I think it’s still going to ...

Rank after Round 9 Rk.   Name FED Rtg Pts. TB1 TB2 1 GM TORRE Eugene PHI 2524 7,0 2572 2590 2 GM LI Chao CHN 2590 7,0 2533 2544 3 GM ZHANG Zhong SIN 2632 7,0 2532 2551 Torre draws last round. Li Chao wins. Zhang Zhong draws. More: continued here

Back to back tournaments! I wonder how these Grandmasters have the stamina to go on like this. Being young and fit is definitely and advantage. Torre did not have the former factor so his win is definitely amazing. Probably another good incentive is the cash prize! 4th Pichay Cup prizes 1st US$ ...

While attention was directed to in the beginning to Wesley SO and then Eugene Torre, this relatively unknown player, Wang Li, went unnoticed. What’s impressive is not that he is untitled and has 5 points but that he obtained those points playing opponents listed below. ...

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