Merdeka Chess Team Rapid

The Filipinos have arrived. They came, they saw and they captured the top three prizes in the recently concluded Merdeka Rapid Team Chess championship, held at Cititel Midvalley Hotel on August 18th to 19th and sponsored largely by IGB. And they are probably saying to all Malaysians ‘Mahal Kita’ which means ‘I love you’ in Tagalog. FYI, the top spot carried a prize money of RM 8,000 plus trophy which is high in terms of cash reward in our region.

As with previous event, the Merdeka Team tournament, which is part of the week long chess festival, carried a concoction of strong and weak players, young and old, undergrads, local and state chess clubs, family teams, and even a last minute participation! We have participation from China, Russia, Australia, New Zealand, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Singapore and of course, the Philippines. Some flew in just in time for the tournament.

We don’t see a lot of brilliancies in rapid games - although there are more tactical play and very little consideration given to strategic planning. This is because of the high rate for mistakes, blunders and missed chances. Perhaps, in real time pressure, it’s a case of whose brain processor is more powerful! Hopefully, we’ll get to see more fire across the board in the following prime event - the Malaysian Open.

There are of course chess personalities like former world champions Bobby Fischer, Mikhail Tal and Capablanca who outperformed their opponents in blitz games, especially when in front of an audience. The best is to stay true to yourself, especially when ‘external factors’ come into play.

I thoroughly enjoyed myself during the event. In between play, I managed to capture a few shots of the event. Here’s my pictorial report :