I HAVE been either an observer or participant in a chess team tournament for almost as long as I have been playing the game, and that’s going back a very long time.

Team tournaments can be fun, if you don’t take it too seriously. If you are in the game for the money, which isn’t much anyway since you are splitting the prize with the other members of the team, then of course you must be very serious about where you are going to place your next piece. That should be the attitude.

Win-win situation: A team competition is always about meeting people and being social about it, a reunion of sorts.

But if your intention is just to enjoy the camaraderie of friends and the mental wrestling with other people, then don’t you think that it is perfectly all right to allow yourself to be more casual with the way you play?

As for me, I’m way past being in full competitive mood. I don’t wear my full armour suit anymore. Maybe a protective codpiece in case I lose my sense of danger, but that’s about all. I leave all the serious posturing to the younger generations below me.

If they live for the thrill of “crushing” their opponent’s ego or “taming” them or whatever they call it nowadays, well and good. That’s their objective, their game plan, but it’s not mine anymore.

Since I only play whenever I feel like playing, I’m good humoured about the losing bit. If people can feel happy with winning, I can also feel happy with losing. There’s absolutely no problem with me. I don’t feel psychologically crushed, I don’t sulk or regret. Just make sure you don’t allow me half a chance in our game, though. I’ll still go after you.

I won’t say much about the Universiti Sains Malaysia’s annual team chess tournament that ended just last weekend except that it was a good show by the boys and girls who organised it.

At USM, the annual chess festival is part of its extracurricular activities. It contributes towards the students’ credit points. So the Bridge And Chess Club undertakes an individual tournament and a team tournament every year. I hear that this year, they will have a Chinese chess tournament as well, and it will be at the end of February.

A friend who just came back to playing chess after 10 years remarked that the crowd at the individual and team events was markedly different. Definitely, there should be less people at an individual competition but he also observed that while the players at the individual event were young – many of them in primary schools – the team competition attracted a lot more adult players.

Many of them had even come up from the Klang Valley for a weekend of chess. Was it about the money, I asked one of the competitors. I had noticed him at the USM events for the past three or four years.

Oh, definitely not, he had answered. Good if his team wins something, he said, but it was more about the fun of participating and meeting friends.

Curiously enough, some of his friends were from the Klang Valley, too! Imagine coming here to catch up with your friends back home!

Yes indeed, the USM chess fest has become a fixture on the local chess calendar. People are actually coming to play chess in this team competition regardless of the prize money.

Meeting friends, he had said. That goes to show exactly what I was talking about. A team competition is always about meeting people and being social about it, a reunion of sorts.

Nobody feels particularly threatened because in a team competition, sometimes the chances of meeting a “friendly” rival over the board can be remote. Their teams may meet each other but there are always enough chances that they won’t face one another if they are playing on different levels in their respective teams.

And even if they do, well, so what? Someone has to win, and someone has to lose. No point sulking over a loss. There will always be a next time.

Next week is Chinese New Year, so I’ll catch up with everyone in a fortnight’s time. But before I go, I just want to tell you that the Tata Steel chess tournament is presently going on. Inclusive of today, there are only three rounds remaining.

In case you are not familiar with this event, it has a very long history going back to 1938. It used to be called the Corus tournament (does it sound familiar?) and before that, the Hoogovens Wijk aan Zee, named after the Dutch seaside town of Wijk aan Zee.

Anyway, the Tata Steel chess tournament is a very strong event. There are three Grandmaster Groups, with 14 players each and each competitor playing against every other.

The world’s chess eyes are mainly focused on the Grandmaster Group A tournament. This year’s players include world champion Viswanathan Anand, former world champions Vladimir Kramnik and Ruslan Ponomariov, world top-ranked player Magnus Carlsen and other equally big names: Levon Aronian, Alexei Shirov, Alexander Grischuk, Anish Giri, Wang Hao and Hikaru Nakamura.

The Grandmaster Group B have players like Wesley So, Li Chao, Vlad Tkachiev, Luke Shane and Le Quang Liem. Meanwhile, the Grandmaster Group C, while featuring less known names, still have interesting participants like Katherina Lahno, Daniele Vocaturo and Mark Bluvshtein.

You can follow the live games and the fortunes of the players from the official Tata Steel Chess website, www.tatasteelchess.com/, from 8.30pm nightly. Do enjoy the games!

Up next

DATCC renegade chess: The Datuk Arthur Tan Chess Centre will organise the DATCC renegade rapid chess weekend at its Wilayah Complex premises in Kuala Lumpur this Sunday. Seven rounds, 25-minute time control games. Entry fees are RM15 (players under 12) and RM25 (all other players).

For inquiries, contact Najib Wahab (016-338 2542 or najib.wahab@chess-malaysia.com.)

Percawi chess: The Kuala Lumpur FT Chess Association (Percawi) will organise the Percawi City Day age group open (under-18 open and under-18 girls’ open) at the Pusat Kecemerlangan Sukan Cochrane in Kuala Lumpur on Feb 1. Six rounds, 30-minute time control games.

Entry fee is RM15, inclusive of one-year Percawi junior membership. Closing date is Jan 31. To register, contact Collin Madhaven (016-212 3578), Azwan (019-278 8471) or Najib Wahab (016-338 2542).

Cerdik chess: The Cerdik Catur Enterprise will organise its second Cerdik Catur tournament at the Datuk Arthur Tan Chess Centre, Wilayah Complex, Kuala Lumpur, on Feb 5. Seven rounds, 25-minute time control games.

Entry fees are RM25 (adults) and RM20 (schoolchildren). To register, contact Fadli Zakaria (014-231 2370 or cerdikcatur@yahoo.com.)

Popular game in casino

The most popular and common game of any casino is the slot machine. The reason behind the popularity of this game is, one doesn’t require any prior knowledge in gambling to play this game. In case of the card games, one need to be a master to win the jackpot, but in case of this game no skill is required at all. Not only you but anyone can play this game and could win a fortune also. Another reason behind the popularity of the slot game is, it requires only a small amount of bet to take part in the betting. So any gambler can afford to play this game.

Types of visitors in casino

There are generally two types of visitors visit casinos; serious gamblers and casual gamblers. The slot machine is for the casual or one-time casino visitors. The slot machine is gaining popularity in a lightning fast pace in the casinos all over the world. Now, the slot machine is the trademark game of the many casinos and most profitable also. The advent of new technology has changed this game a bit; but sill it is played in the more or less same manner as it was played, decades back.

Another popular game in casino: – Blackjack

The other games are available in a casino other than the slot machine, are mainly card games. Blackjack is the most popular among the card games played in a casino. If you want to win a game of Blackjack, then you have to try to get as closer possible to 21 with the cards available to you. The popularity of this game is because of the simple way of playing. In this card game, a player generally plays against the dealer, instead of playing with each other. The objective of this game is to get closer to the magic figure of 21. If you go beyond that then you will be busted.

Poker is also famous among the casino games

Another game that is getting overwhelming response among the casino goers is the poker games. People are more and more liking to play this game, these days. In case of poker, players lock horn against each other to win the pot (the jackpot); unlike, Blackjack where players play against the dealer. One needs to possess a lot of skills and understanding of the game to win a poker bout. If you want to play this game, then first master the art of poker by betting small; and when you think that you know enough about the game, then only go for big. Now, go out and try your luck at any of the casinos; who knows, you may get a fortune.

Chess prodigy Fischer learned to play the game while growing up in an apartment in Flatbush. He purchased his first chess set from the candy store beneath his house, joined the Brooklyn Chess Club and played his first chess tournament in 1953. It was then that his career as a chess player began.
Fischer also has a connection to the Brooklyn Eagle — after Fischer learned how to play the game, on Nov. 14, 1950, his mother sent a postcard to the paper in order to place an advertisement, seeking to find other young children to play chess with Fischer.

The Brooklyn Eagle reportedly rejected the ad, but forwarded the inquiry to Hermann Helms, the “Dean of American Chess,� who told her that master Max Pavey would be hosting a local competition. Fischer competed in that competition and lost almost immediately. However, Carmine Nigro, president of the Brooklyn Chess Club, met Fischer there and began to teach him.

Fischer attended Erasmus Hall High School in Flatbush at the same time that famous musicians Barbara Streisand and Neil Diamond did. In 1959, the Erasmus student council awarded Fischer a gold medal for his chess achievements.

—Ryan Thompson and AP

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Thursday, January 27, 2011

SOUTH Cotabato woodpushers will show their wares in the Rapid Chess Tournament 2011 Tribute to Alex Aguilar that will unfold on February 5 and 6 at the Gaisano Grand CitiMall entertainment center.

Tournament director National Master (NM) Prospero “Bebot” Cruz bared this during the Davao Sportswriters Association (DSA) Forum at the Tower Inn Thursday.

Greet your friends and families this Sinulog season.

“The South Cotabato players will make this upcoming tournament a tune-up event for their regional meet. Davraa Meet-bound chessers will also see action in this 16 years old and below competition,” Cruz said.

He said it will be a seven-round Swiss System format where each participant will have 25 minutes to play.

Registration fee is P75 in the rapid event where the champion will pocket a cash prize of P1,000 and a medal while next two placers will settle for P700 and P500 also with medals. Deadline is set at 12 noon on February 5.

Interested players may contact Cruz at mobile number (0908) 503-3425 and Cecilio Acas at mobile number (0907) 141-6762.

A 12-under rapid chess competition, meanwhile, will also get underway at the Gaisano Grand Citimall on Saturday and Sunday where some 80 players are expected to join. (MLSA)

Published in the Sun.Star Davao newspaper on January 28, 2011.