The KL Young Talent Championships is Very Well Received

The KL Young Talent (U-9, U-11, U-13) Championships was held from 25-26 July 2009 at the 2nd Floor, Pearl Point Shopping Mall, Kuala Lumpur.

With a total of 129 young energetic kids able to play games at at rate of 45 minutes each per round (and over two days), the tournament was a very nice success indeed (and there were even participants from outstation as far as Penang!).

Trophies and cash prizes totally RM 1,350 were given away by KLCA Hon. Secretary Dato' Prof. Dr. Proom Promwichit and of course the ever available MCF Deputy President Ibrahim Bakar.

For the results, please click on the following links: U-9, U-11, U-13.

The winners also uniformly expressed their enthusiasm and willingness to participate in the KL Young Talent Development Program and a weekend is being planned to kick off the program in September.

Announcing the 2nd KL International Open Championship 2009

The Kuala Lumpur Chess Association (KLCA) is pleased to be able to announce the 2nd KL Open Chess Championship 2009 for the Raja Nazrin Shah Challenge Trophy.

With sponsorship from the Malaysian Intellect Development Foundation (MIDF) and the Masterskill University College of Health Sciences, the KLCA will be organising this year’s KL Open Championship at Shah’s Village Hotel in Petaling Jaya from 3-9 September 2009.

The KL Open is KLCA’s flagship event, and this year’s championship seeks to build on the extraordinary success of last year’s inaugural event (see http://thefidetrainer.blogspot.com/2008/12/kl-open-begining-of-new-chapter-for.html).

On the left are photos of the playing venue and official hotel which show clearly the resort village within the city theme.

It is expected that the KL Open will again somehow attract a disproportionate number of Grandmasters together with other internationally titled and highly rated players relative to the modest RM 40,000 prize fund, and big delegations are also expected from our enthusiastic neighbours Indonesia and Singapore as well as from Asia chess powerhouse India.

The KL Open 2009 has been approved by the Malaysian Chess Federation (MCF) and will be officially registered with FIDE as an international rated and title event.

For more details and to register, please email the Tournament Director peterlong@aol.asia.com

Our Inaugural KL International Open Championship is a Big Success

Top seeded Grandmaster Anton Fillipov of Uzbekistan today emerged winner of the inaugural Raja Nazrin Shah Challenge Trophy at the Kuala Lumpur Open Chess Tournament.

Filipov received RM10,000 for the win in the Open category at the six-day tournament, which attracted 140 participants from 11 countries.

China's Wang Rui who lost out on tie-break to finish second was still a happy winner as he completed the requirements for the International Master title with his fine performance.

Just half a point behind the winners, in third to sixth places respecively, were Grandmasters Nguyen Anh Dung (Vietnam), Susanto Megaranto (Indonesia), Magesh Chandra Panchanathan (India) and International Master Sadikin Irwanto (Indonesia).

Vietnam National Champion Nguyen Van Huy also achieved the International Master title with his excellent performance at the KL Open.

A total RM45,000 prize money in cash was awarded to winners by the Raja Muda of Perak, Raja Dr Nazrin Shah, himself a strong chessplayer in his university days, and his sister Raja Dato' Seri Azureen.

FIDE General Secretary and ASEAN Chess Confederation President Ignatius Leong and of course KLCA President Edmund Santhara spoke at the Closing and Prize Giving Ceremony.

While Mr Leong congratulated the KLCA President and Masterskill CEO on his excellent work both in Malaysia and at ASEAN level, Mr Santhara confirmed a long term sponsorship of the KL Open by Masterskill and reminded the audience that the KLCA, as a registered sports body under the Malaysian Sports Council, was committed to youth development and would be taking chess nationwoide in this context as a Nation Building CSR (corporate social responsibility) project.

International Master Manuel Aaron - an Asian and Indian chess legend - also graced the occasion as the tournament guest and gave a special simultaneous chess exhibition to a National Junior Selection.

The international level chess tournament was jointly organised by the Kuala Lumpur Chess Association and Malaysian Intellect Development Foundation with the support of the Junior Chamber International, a Worldwide Federation of Young Leaders and Entrepreneurs, managed by Intchess, and sponsored by Masterskill University College of Health Sciences.

KLCA Congratulates Edmund Santhara - Young Entrepreneur of the Year

So, who is Edmund Santhara? That was the question posed to me after many read that there now a Kuala Lumpur Chess Association (KLCA) they could join and be part of a revolution for change in Malaysian chess.

Well, unless you have been blind or do not read the newspapers, for a start, Edmund Santhara was not only named as Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year but also won the award for Entrepreneur of the Year, the first time someone has won both titles. And under his leadership, his organisation Masterskill also won the Prime Minister's Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Award.

But frankly there are too many awards to mention so perhaps it is best you just go to www.masterskill.edu.my to read for yourself!

Curious about the local chess scene, Edmund Santhara actually quietly took part in the Malaysian Chess Festival where I was informed he rightly but gently told off the former FIDE (World Chess Federation) President Florencio F. Campomanes who tried to take back a move and of course he went on to win the game!

While Campo is not quite as strong as he thinks he is, he is of course no pushover if you don't play well, so Edmund Santhara is clearly a strong player.

It is interesting that Edmund Santhara has been promoting the importance and benefits of chess in corporate circles for a long time by simply telling all that his strategic thinking comes from being chess player and with his business success is himself the very living proof!

The 1st Masterskill ASEAN+ Youth Team (U-9, U-12, U-15) Championships from 1-7 December 2007 in Shah Alam which was jointly sponsored and organised by the Minstry of Education Malaysia through Majlis Sukan Sekolah Malaysia (MSSM) was his first foray into supporting local chess and it is says a lot about how he thinks that he quickly grasped and understood the importance of introducing an U-9 age group category because we need to encourage children to start chess earlier so that we have time to nurture their talent and enthusiasm for the game. Now Masterskill has included chess developmental activities as part of their official CSR agenda and the local chess community is already benefiting from having a new permanent sponsor.

With KLCA, Edmund Santhara looks to becoming more engaged with the challenges of Malaysian chess and I am very happy that he is committed to putting in place a model local chess association and hopefully the offer I heard that has been made to him to lead the Malaysian Chess Federation is not just lip service or worst still, an attempt by vested parties to get a new figurehead to replace an aging Dato' Tan Chin Nam whose 35 years or so at the helm you should best judge for yourself!

The Kuala Lumpur Chess Association is Formed!

The Kuala Lumpur Chess Association (KLCA) has now been set-up under the leadership of its first President, Edmund Santhara, CEO of Masterskill.

This is a very interesting development because we now have a chess player who after becoming a successful businessman is getting involved in the administration of the game in our country.

In the past the leaders of our game were either drawn from reluctant VIPs who nonetheless did what they could (until the game got to them!) or from those associated with their game because they were once chess parents!

From what I have seen and understood in Malaysian chess, having returned now for over a year after a 12 year exit, such change can only be positive for the game and I ask that all those who think they are doing chess a favour by holding on to their positions while non performing to gracefully step aside and let a new generation take over.

A year ago no one in the local chess community heard of Edmund Santhara, but while he is an outstanding example, I am sure there are many more who will step forward once there is sent to be positive developments. 

It was a big shock for me to see that there has been essentially no progress in the game since the Malaysian Chess Federation was formed 35 years ago, and it horrifies me that today it is no more than a vehicle for a number of people, many whom are my peers, to make a living - there must be a better way for all!

KLCA is the first and to date only sports association registered under the Sports Commission, a long standing requirement for even those under the Registrar of Societies and I am sure with this development, all our local chess organisations, be it at national, state or club level would be scrambling to comply.

I understand that Edmund Santhara is looking to have a very professionally run organisation, Mohd Nasri Mohd Nordin as his Deputy, Prof. Proom Promwichit as Honorary Secretary and his company's accountant as Honorary Treasurer!

The intention is to set new standards for communications, particularly via website and with media, together with compliance with legal, statutory. and regulatory matters pertaining to the day to day running of an association, while having a practicing partner in an accounting firm as Honorary Treasurer will certainly ensure the financials are in order!

It is hoped that the six committee members will eventually be largely drawn from local chess community but will not include those who largely depend on chess for a living to avoid conflicts of interest.

At this pro-temp stage, Edmund Santhara will head the Finance sub-committee, Mohd Nasri Mohd Nordin the Development sub-committee, while I have agreed to be an Advisor, the interim webmaster, and until a suitable candidate is identified, to head the Technical sub-committee.