MBSSKL- Results

Our boys and girls are back. I am told Perak had one of the biggest contingent there. And we did credibly well for our first busload venture out of State apart from MSSM.

Here are our results. For more detailed results please go to gilachess on the right hand side of this blog.

U14 Boys
No Perak placing

U14 Girls
Fatin Mashitah - 5th place

U17 Boys
Fong Yit Ho - 2nd place
Fong Yit San - 4th place

U17 Girls
Nur Afizan - 3rd place
Nora Zakaria - 4th place
Fatin Nadhirah - 6th place

U20 Girls
Fong Mi Yen - 1st place
Nur Munirah - 2nd place
Putri Nurfariza - 6th place

From the results it looks like the U14 boys and girls will need a lot of work to catch up. The point is this. We are moving now but we need to move faster if we are to catch up. Chess has experienced an explosion in many of our states and they have spent a lot of time and resources to play this game well. All the same, well done to all our players that got a placing. You have done Perak proud.

Raymond

MBSSKL

Up, up and away. Perak sends a team by busload! Our first busload organised jointly by PICA and Unit Sukan.

The new chess leadership in Perak is learning what we can achieve when we all work together for our kids. 25 of Perak's Lions and Lionesses are going to do battle in KL for their State. Win or lose they will bring that experience back to Perak and add to the circle of learning. I am not able to go due to other commitments but my thoughts and best wishes are with our team. So go Perak go!

Raymond

National Close 2009

Putri Nurfariza on the board

Nur Munirah

Lawrence Teoh

Mat Zaki Yeop

Mark Siew

Fadzil Nayan

The Perak Team

We are back and this is the result.

Men's section:

Fadzil Nayan - 10th placing

Mark Siew - 26th placing

Mat Zaki - 28th placing

Lawrence - 34th placing

[ Out of a field of 55 ]

Women's results:

Putri - 16th placing

Munirah - 18th placing

[ Out of a field of 22 ]

Post mortem:

Fadzil was a child prodigy of Perak and last year's Perak Close champion, this is his second National Close (the last being in 2005). Lawrence was our under-18 champion and it's his first National Close. Mark Siew is the current under-18 champion, former under-12 champion and has played for the state for 5 years continuously making him the most senior Perak player, and this is his first National Close. Mat Zaki has played in the National Close almost yearly and this is the first time he has been sponsored by the state association.

Munirah is our current under-18 MSSM (national) champion and this is her first National Close. Putri plays for Perak and this is her first National Close.

Background:

When I sent Mark to the National Age Group this year, he and Azam (another state player) were the only Perak representatives. At the National Junior (Dec last year), Mark was the only player from Perak. At the KL Open there was only Mark and Mat Zaki to carry the Perak flag. And they were all self-sponsored. I was asked a lot of questions. What is happening in Perak? Penang is arriving by the bus loads etc etc. We were conspicous by our absence.

At FIDE rated tournaments, I see only Mat Zaki and Mark. And recently, Fadzil has been coming. At the Selangor Open he told me he wants to get his FIDE rating. And this boy has been our star from standard 3. What a waste. So the education and training committee decided that we will try our best to support any Perak player that actively pursues the FIDE route for that shows a commitment to continuous improvement and FIDE events are expensive.

Perak needs more than 3 players to carry the flag. But this is a start.

This year, the new committee sent 6 players to the National Close (a FIDE event). We hope they will benefit from the exposure and come back to share with their Juniors.

I am proud of our team's achievements. Although they started late in the day, and badly outgunned, they fought like lions and lionesses. With that spirit we can achieve anything we set ourselves. So come on the rest of you senior players, go out there and compete. Next year's National Close will carry a prize of RM4,000. But money isnt everything. I would like to see a Perakian National Master again in the near future. That honour is worth something too.

Raymond

Education and Training