Order from the ICC Store (www.classicalgames.com)

I recently ordered four items from the ICC Store and I would like the applaud their speed in delivery. I received my items from the United States in a week, which is extraordinary because I normally receive things in 4 weeks.

On another note, I've found that the ICC Store and the jeremysilman.com shop are surprisingly similar. I'm not sure what's going on there. And somehow, http://www.classicalgames.com/ can reach both shops depending on which one you visited last.

Dato Arthur Tan Malaysia Open 2007 Final Standings

Li Chao (2529) drew his last game against GM Ziaur Rahman (2522) to take out 1st place by ½ a point.

A crosstable of the tournament is available at http://gilachess.com/ext/datmo2007.html.

Rank	SNo.		Name	Rtg	FED	Pts	BH.
1	6		Li Chao	2529	CHN	9	72
2	22		Wan, Yunguo	2386	CHN	8½	73
3	7	GM	Ziaur Rahman	2522	BAN	8	75
4	9	IM	Wang, Rui	2482	CHN	8	74
5	5	GM	Nguyen, Anh Dung	2537	VIE	8	71½
6	18	IM	Barlo A Nadera	2402	PHI	7½	72½
7	4	GM	Dao, Thien Hai	2537	VIE	7½	72½
8	25	IM	Mas, Hafizulhelmi	2372	MAS	7½	70
9	14	IM	Julio Catalinco C. Sadorra	2421	PHI	7½	64½
10	16	WGM	Li, Ruofan	2417	SIN	7	78
11	1	GM	Zhang, Zhong	2634	SIN	7	75
12	11	IM	Irwanto Sadikin	2456	INA	7	72½
13	24	IM	Bancod, Ronald	2373	PHI	7	72
14	12	IM	Girinath, P.D.S.	2440	IND	7	70½
15	8	IM	Oliver Dimakiling	2500	PHI	7	69½
16	29		Wang, Li	2337	CHN	7	69½
17	21	IM	Ginting, Nasib	2393	INA	7	67½
18	2	GM	Adianto, Utut	2583	INA	7	65½
19	10		Zhou, Weiqi	2469	CHN	6½	76
20	23		Senador, Emmanuel	2380	PHI	6½	71½
21	30	FM	Lim, Yee-Weng	2336	MAS	6½	70½
22	3	GM	Chandler, Murray	2540	ENG	6½	68½
23	27	WGM	Zhang, Jilin	2338	CHN	6½	64
24	26	FM	Mok, Tze-Meng	2346	MAS	6½	63½
25	64		Crowdy, Stephen C	2030	ENG	6½	61½
26	13		Hamed G Nouri	2426	PHI	6	75
27	17	IM	Lane, Gary W.	2412	AUS	6	71
28	31		Khairul, Aman	2316	INA	6	68
29	20		Rolando, Nolte	2396	PHI	6	68
30	19	IM	Richard B Bitoon	2399	PHI	6	68
31	35	FM	Sebastian Simanjuntak	2271	INA	6	64
32	39	FM	Anas Nazreen Bakri	2230	MAS	6	63½
33	45		Kojima, Shinya	2156	JPN	6	61½
34	83		Junaid Pamungkas	0	INA	6	61
35	56		Ramnath Bhuvanesh.R	2080	IND	6	60
36	47		Tan, Khai Boon	2138	MAS	6	56½
37	36	FM	Tindall, Brett	2258	AUS	6	54
38	82		Hakiki, Kaiser Jenius	0	INA	5½	69½
39	32		Rhobel Legaspi	2316	PHI	5½	67½
40	33	IM	Liew, Chee-Meng-Jimmy	2309	MAS	5½	66½
41	37	FM	Ton That Nhu Tung	2247	VIE	5½	64
42	38		Wallis, Christopher	2238	AUS	5½	63½
43	15	IM	Tirto	2418	INA	5½	62½
44	40		Zakaria, Fairin	2225	MAS	5½	62
45	49		Illingworth, Max	2137	AUS	5½	62
46	28		Shen, Siyuan	2337	CHN	5½	58½
47	43		Haessler, Carl	2167	USA	5½	58
48	44		Nanjo, Ryosuke	2165	JPN	5½	57½
49	50		Abang, Mohd Reduan	2136	MAS	5½	56
50	55	FM	Jones, Brian	2084	AUS	5½	55½
51	54	WIM	Moylan, Laura	2100	AUS	5	66½
52	48		Yeap, Eng Cheam	2138	MAS	5	62½
53	57		Chong, Chor Yuen	2067	HKG	5	61½
54	34		Mehdi Hasan Parag	2280	BAN	5	61
55	42		Sherrie Joy Lomibao	2174	PHI	5	60½
56	87		Zhang Jing	0	CHN	5	58
57	46		Ismail, Ahmad	2149	MAS	5	57½
58	67		Viswanath, Sandilya B.	1967	IND	5	51
59	62	WFM	Milligan, Helen	2034	SCO	5	48½
60	70		Evan Timothy Capel	1871	MAS	4½	58
61	51		Bennett, Hilton	2132	NZL	4½	56
62	61		Spiller, Paul	2037	NZL	4½	54
63	68		Schon, Eugene	1963	AUS	4½	53
64	65		Mohan, Raj	1986	MAS	4½	53
65	60		Edward Lee Kim Han	2046	MAS	4½	52½
66	71		Lee, T H Bryan	1867	HKG	4½	52
67	66		Thong Yung Chen	1977	MAS	4½	51½
68	73		Roland Brockman	1793	AUS	4½	51½
69	59		Low, Jun Jian	2057	MAS	4½	51
70	75		Ahmad, Morsin	1742	MAS	4½	50½
71	58		Lim, Kian Hwa	2062	MAS	4½	47½
72	52		Dotsenko, Viacheslav	2132	RUS	4	57
73	63		Inoue, Sho	2031	JPN	4	55
74	72		Japeri, Reduan	1831	MAS	4	54
75	76		Fong Wei Chern, Gavin	1632	MAS	4	52
76	53		Ruston, Mark R	2116	ENG	4	50½
77	78		Abang Azman Draup	1436	MAS	4	47½
78	74		Taminsyah Aston	1743	INA	3½	47½
79	84		Justin Tan	0	AUS	3½	47
80	81		Chris Marshall	0	ENG	3½	43
81	79		Christopher Masters	1434	HKG	3½	42
82	41		Constance, James	2205	ENG	3	52
83	69		S., Balendran	1951	MAS	3	51½
84	77		Elgin Lee Kah Meng	1469	MAS	3	44½
85	85		Mark Law	0	HKG	2½	42½
86	80		Abang Draup	1213	MAS	2	46
87	86		Tan Kok Han	0	SIN	1	23

Dato Arthur Tan Malaysia Open 2007 Round 10 Results and Round 11 Pairings

Chinese Li Chao (2529) is currently leading the tournament by a full point. Since this is the last round, a draw or a win guarantees 1st place.

Round 11 Pairings
Bo.	SNo.		Name	Pts	Res.	Pts		Name	SNo.
1	6		Li Chao	8½		7½	GM	Ziaur Rahman	7
2	11	IM	Irwanto Sadikin	7		7½		Wan, Yunguo	22
3	18	IM	Barlo A Nadera	7		7	GM	Dao, Thien Hai	4
4	5	GM	Nguyen, Anh Dung	7		7	WGM	Li, Ruofan	16
5	9	IM	Wang, Rui	7		6½	GM	Chandler, Murray	3
6	1	GM	Zhang, Zhong	6½		6½		Wang, Li	29
7	12	IM	Girinath, P.D.S.	6½		6½	GM	Adianto, Utut	2
8	10		Zhou, Weiqi	6½		6½	IM	Julio Catalinco C. Sadorra	14
9	25	IM	Mas, Hafizulhelmi	6½		6		Hamed G Nouri	13
10	20		Rolando, Nolte	6		6	IM	Oliver Dimakiling	8
11	21	IM	Ginting, Nasib	6		6	IM	Richard B Bitoon	19
12	15	IM	Tirto	5½		6	IM	Bancod, Ronald	24
13	17	IM	Lane, Gary W.	5½		5½	FM	Sebastian Simanjuntak	35
14	23		Senador, Emmanuel	5½		5½		Nanjo, Ryosuke	44
15	82		Hakiki, Kaiser Jenius	5½		5½	FM	Mok, Tze-Meng	26
16	40		Zakaria, Fairin	5½		5½	WGM	Zhang, Jilin	27
17	30	FM	Lim, Yee-Weng	5½		5½		Wallis, Christopher	38
18	83		Junaid Pamungkas	5½		5½		Khairul, Aman	31
19	33	IM	Liew, Chee-Meng-Jimmy	5½		5½		Crowdy, Stephen C	64
20	37	FM	Ton That Nhu Tung	5		5½		Tan, Khai Boon	47
21	49		Illingworth, Max	5		5		Rhobel Legaspi	32
22	34		Mehdi Hasan Parag	5		5		Kojima, Shinya	45
23	36	FM	Tindall, Brett	5		5		Yeap, Eng Cheam	48
24	39	FM	Anas Nazreen Bakri	5		5	WIM	Moylan, Laura	54
25	56		Ramnath Bhuvanesh.R	5		5		Sherrie Joy Lomibao	42
26	59		Low, Jun Jian	4½		4½		Shen, Siyuan	28
27	43		Haessler, Carl	4½		4½		Lim, Kian Hwa	58
28	62	WFM	Milligan, Helen	4½		4½		Ismail, Ahmad	46
29	71		Lee, T H Bryan	4½		4½		Abang, Mohd Reduan	50
30	55	FM	Jones, Brian	4½		4½		Mohan, Raj	65
31	57		Chong, Chor Yuen	4½		4½		Zhang Jing	87
32	68		Schon, Eugene	4½		4		Viswanath, Sandilya B.	67
33	61		Spiller, Paul	4		4		Bennett, Hilton	51
34	66		Thong Yung Chen	4		4		Roland Brockman	73
35	60		Edward Lee Kim Han	4		3½		Dotsenko, Viacheslav	52
36	76		Fong Wei Chern, Gavin	3½		3½		Inoue, Sho	63
37	70		Evan Timothy Capel	3½		3½		Taminsyah Aston	74
38	78		Abang Azman Draup	3½		3½		Japeri, Reduan	72
39	77		Elgin Lee Kah Meng	3		3½		Ahmad, Morsin	75
40	84		Justin Tan	2½		3½		Chris Marshall	81
41	85		Mark Law	2		2½		S., Balendran	69
42	79		Christopher Masters	2½		2		Abang Draup	80

Round 10 Results
Bo.	SNo.		Name	Pts	Res.	Pts		Name	SNo.
1	6		Li Chao	7½	1 - 0	6½	GM	Zhang, Zhong	1
2	4	GM	Dao, Thien Hai	6½	½ - ½	6½	IM	Wang, Rui	9
3	7	GM	Ziaur Rahman	6½	1 - 0	6½	IM	Girinath, P.D.S.	12
4	22		Wan, Yunguo	6½	1 - 0	6½		Zhou, Weiqi	10
5	16	WGM	Li, Ruofan	6½	½ - ½	6½	IM	Irwanto Sadikin	11
6	13		Hamed G Nouri	6	0 - 1	6	GM	Nguyen, Anh Dung	5
7	24	IM	Bancod, Ronald	6	0 - 1	6	IM	Barlo A Nadera	18
8	2	GM	Adianto, Utut	5½	1 - 0	6	IM	Ginting, Nasib	21
9	31		Khairul, Aman	5½	0 - 1	5½	GM	Chandler, Murray	3
10	14	IM	Julio Catalinco C. Sadorra	5½	1 - 0	5½	FM	Lim, Yee-Weng	30
11	29		Wang, Li	5½	1 - 0	5½	IM	Tirto	15
12	64		Crowdy, Stephen C	5½	0 - 1	5½	IM	Mas, Hafizulhelmi	25
13	8	IM	Oliver Dimakiling	5	1 - 0	5½		Hakiki, Kaiser Jenius	82
14	27	WGM	Zhang, Jilin	5	½ - ½	5	IM	Lane, Gary W.	17
15	19	IM	Richard B Bitoon	5	1 - 0	5	FM	Ton That Nhu Tung	37
16	20		Rolando, Nolte	5	1 - 0	5	FM	Anas Nazreen Bakri	39
17	38		Wallis, Christopher	5	½ - ½	5		Senador, Emmanuel	23
18	26	FM	Mok, Tze-Meng	5	½ - ½	5		Zakaria, Fairin	40
19	35	FM	Sebastian Simanjuntak	4½	1 - 0	5		Kojima, Shinya	45
20	32		Rhobel Legaspi	4½	½ - ½	4½		Yeap, Eng Cheam	48
21	50		Abang, Mohd Reduan	4½	0 - 1	4½	IM	Liew, Chee-Meng-Jimmy	33
22	54	WIM	Moylan, Laura	4½	½ - ½	4½	FM	Tindall, Brett	36
23	42		Sherrie Joy Lomibao	4½	½ - ½	4½		Illingworth, Max	49
24	44		Nanjo, Ryosuke	4½	1 - 0	4½	FM	Jones, Brian	55
25	47		Tan, Khai Boon	4½	1 - 0	4½		Chong, Chor Yuen	57
26	51		Bennett, Hilton	4	0 - 1	4½		Junaid Pamungkas	83
27	67		Viswanath, Sandilya B.	4	0 - 1	4		Mehdi Hasan Parag	34
28	87		Zhang Jing	4	½ - ½	4		Ismail, Ahmad	46
29	53		Ruston, Mark R	4	0 - 1	4		Ramnath Bhuvanesh.R	56
30	28		Shen, Siyuan	3½	1 - 0	4		Thong Yung Chen	66
31	63		Inoue, Sho	3½	0 - 1	3½		Haessler, Carl	43
32	52		Dotsenko, Viacheslav	3½	0 - 1	3½		Schon, Eugene	68
33	58		Lim, Kian Hwa	3½	1 - 0	3½		Fong Wei Chern, Gavin	76
34	72		Japeri, Reduan	3½	0 - 1	3½		Low, Jun Jian	59
35	60		Edward Lee Kim Han	3½	½ - ½	3½		Spiller, Paul	61
36	81		Chris Marshall	3½	0 - 1	3½	WFM	Milligan, Helen	62
37	65		Mohan, Raj	3½	1 - 0	3½		Evan Timothy Capel	70
38	71		Lee, T H Bryan	3½	+ -	3		Constance, James	41
39	74		Taminsyah Aston	3	½ - ½	3		Abang Azman Draup	78
40	73		Roland Brockman	3	1 - 0	2½		S., Balendran	69
41	75		Ahmad, Morsin	2½	1 - 0	2		Mark Law	85
42	80		Abang Draup	2	0 - 1	2		Elgin Lee Kah Meng	77
43	84		Justin Tan	2	½ - ½	2		Christopher Masters	79

Dato Arthur Tan Malaysia Open 2007 Round 8 Results

Li Chao (2529) defeated GM Zhang Zhong (2634) on board 1 in round 10 to become sole leader in the Malaysian Open. Tomorrow will be the final round.

Currently, the most recent results are the round 8 results. You can follow the pairings, results and some games at http://www.malaysiaopen.net/.

Round 8 Results
Bo.	SNo.		Name	Pts	Res.	Pts		Name	SNo.
1	10		Zhou, Weiqi	6½	0 - 1	6½		Li Chao	6
2	1	GM	Zhang, Zhong	6	½ - ½	6		Wan, Yunguo	22
3	12	IM	Girinath, P.D.S.	6	½ - ½	6	GM	Dao, Thien Hai	4
4	7	GM	Ziaur Rahman	6	½ - ½	6	WGM	Li, Ruofan	16
5	5	GM	Nguyen, Anh Dung	5½	½ - ½	5½	IM	Bancod, Ronald	24
6	9	IM	Wang, Rui	5½	1 - 0	5½		Wang, Li	29
7	30	FM	Lim, Yee-Weng	5½	0 - 1	5½	IM	Irwanto Sadikin	11
8	21	IM	Ginting, Nasib	5	1 - 0	5	IM	Oliver Dimakiling	8
9	19	IM	Richard B Bitoon	5	0 - 1	5		Hamed G Nouri	13
10	15	IM	Tirto	5	½ - ½	5		Khairul, Aman	31
11	18	IM	Barlo A Nadera	5	1 - 0	5	WGM	Zhang, Jilin	27
12	23		Senador, Emmanuel	5	0 - 1	4½	IM	Julio Catalino Sadorra	14
13	33	IM	Liew, Chee-Meng-Jimmy	4½	0 - 1	4½	GM	Adianto, Utut	2
14	3	GM	Chandler, Murray	4½	1 - 0	4½	FM	Sebastian Simanjuntak	35
15	17	IM	Lane, Gary W.	4½	½ - ½	4½	FM	Anas Nazreen Bakri	39
16	37	FM	Ton That Nhu Tung	4½	½ - ½	4½		Rolando, Nolte	20
17	25	IM	Mas, Hafizulhelmi	4½	1 - 0	4½	WIM	Moylan, Laura	54
18	45		Kojima, Shinya	4½	½ - ½	4½	FM	Mok, Tze-Meng	26
19	82		Hakiki, Kaiser Jenius	4½	1 - 0	4½		Rhobel Legaspi	32
20	34		Mehdi Hasan Parag	4	0 - 1	4½		Crowdy, Stephen C	64
21	46		Ismail, Ahmad	4	0 - 1	4		Wallis, Christopher	38
22	40		Zakaria, Fairin	4	1 - 0	4		Zhang Jing	87
23	83		Junaid Pamungkas	4	½ - ½	4		Nanjo, Ryosuke	44
24	36	FM	Tindall, Brett	3½	1 - 0	4		Ruston, Mark R	53
25	57		Chong, Chor Yuen	3½	1 - 0	3½		Shen, Siyuan	28
26	52		Dotsenko, Viacheslav	3½	0 - 1	3½		Sherrie Joy Lomibao	42
27	43		Haessler, Carl	3½	0 - 1	3½	FM	Jones, Brian	55
28	61		Spiller, Paul	3½	0 - 1	3½		Tan, Khai Boon	47
29	48		Yeap, Eng Cheam	3½	1 - 0	3½		Inoue, Sho	63
30	49		Illingworth, Max	3½	1 - 0	3½		Japeri, Reduan	72
31	50		Abang, Mohd Reduan	3½	1 - 0	3½		Mohan, Raj	65
32	66		Thong Yung Chen	3½	½ - ½	3½		Bennett, Hilton	51
33	41		Constance, James	3	0 - 1	3		Viswanath, Sandilya B.	67
34	56		Ramnath Bhuvanesh.R	3	1 - 0	3		Taminsyah Aston	74
35	70		Evan Timothy Capel	3	½ - ½	3		Lim, Kian Hwa	58
36	59		Low, Jun Jian	3	½ - ½	3		Lee, T H Bryan	71
37	62	WFM	Milligan, Helen	3	½ - ½	3		Edward Lee Kim Han	60
38	68		Schon, Eugene	2½	1 - 0	2½		Ahmad, Morsin	75
39	69		S., Balendran	2½	0 - 1	2½		Chris Marshall	81
40	78		Abang Azman Draup	2½	½ - ½	2½		Roland Brockman	73
41	76		Fong Wei Chern, Gavin	2½	1 - 0	2		Justin Tan	84
42	79		Christopher Masters	1½	½ - ½	1½		Elgin Lee Kah Meng	77
43	85		Mark Law	1½	½ - ½	1½		Abang Draup	80

Noble Park Chess Club Allegro

I justed played in the Noble Park Chess Club Allegro. 24 players ended up playing in the event. Considering, few of the regular players weren't able to play today, it's a good turnout.

Here is a crosstable of the event. I came =1st.

Standings

Place Name                    Feder Rtg Loc  Score M-Buch. Buch. Progr.

1-2  Dragicevic, Domagoj               2087 5.5      21.0  30.0   23.0
   Lin, Zhigen                       2097 5.5      21.0  29.5   21.5
3   Rashid, Abdulwahab                1918 5        22.5  31.5   21.0
4-9  Hacche, David                     2035 4.5      21.5  29.0   19.5
   Gorka, Carl                       2071 4.5      20.0  26.0   22.5
   Pecak, Mariusz                    2055 4.5      19.5  27.0   18.5
   Cheng, Bobby                      1562 4.5      18.0  25.0   15.0
   Morris, James                     2035 4.5      17.0  25.0   19.0
   Highem, Luke                           4.5      16.5  23.5   14.5
10-11 Voon, Richard                     1903 4        22.0  29.0   16.5
   Rujevic, Mirko                    2254 4        18.0  24.5   15.0
12-13 Pyke, Malcolm                     2137 3.5      23.0  31.5   20.0
   Dizdarevic, Mehmedalija           1956 3.5      18.5  24.5   16.0
14-18 Lee, Kam                          1635 3        19.0  26.5   11.0
   Mijatovic, Bosko                  1866 3        17.0  23.5   12.0
   Jago, Stephen                     1670 3        16.5  24.0   11.0
   Premaka, Sujendra                 1866 3        16.5  23.0   13.0
   Ghayoori, Pezhman                 1396 3        15.0  21.5   10.0
19   Toro, Eduardo                     1506 2.5      11.5  16.5    6.5
20-22 Ivanov, Nikola                    1538 2        16.0  21.0    7.0
   Anton, Sarah                      1228 2        14.5  19.5    8.0
   Spiric, Bob                       1500 2        14.5  19.5    6.0
23   Huynh, Phong                           1.5      12.5  17.5    2.5
24   Krysiak, Jerzy                         1        13.5  19.5    7.0
25-26 Sucevic, Milic                    1695 0         0.5   0.5    0.0
   Sabolcki, Daniel                  1421 0         0.5   0.5    0.0

I had a shaky start to the tournament - in game 1, I castled queenside, moved my king back to e1, and forgot I did that at all and castled kingside. In the end, I still managed to win. In game 2, I was simply outplayed in the opening and middlegame, losing two pawns. I managed to return with 4 wins in a row. In game 5, I defeated Domagoj for the first time ever in a game with any sort of seriousness (I have only ever defeated him on one other occasion, but that was a simul by him). In game 6, my opponent snatched a pawn early in the opening. I got some compensation, but I misplayed the position. I was about to lose when my opponent blundered into a position where it was mate quite quickly. In game 7, I was a solid pawn up in the endgame, but I lost my queen. Fortunately, I managed to hold the 'queen vs. rook + a few pawns' endgame and draw.

An Interesting Puzzle

I came across an interesting puzzle today. I was arguing with my friend Andy about this problem after school (where we also came up with it).

Here's my side of the problem. 'Earlier' also means 'before', right? Say my watch said the time was 7:35PM, and the actual time of the world is 7:45PM. Is my watch not earlier? If you think about it some more, there's another side to this problem.

Singapore World Youth U-16 Chess Olympiad

I have just returned from a 6.5-hour flight from Singapore. We were there to play in the Singapore World Youth U-16 Chess Olympiad, a teams event.

Australia did reasonably well and came 5th, which we got medals for. Our 2nd board, Junta Ikeda, won a silver medal on 'percentage' for board 2.

The results of the tournament as available at http://www.chess-results.com/tnr7443.aspx?lan=1.

Welcome to the GeniusProphecy.com

Welcome to the official blog of GeniusProphecy.com, which has just been launched today (seconds ago, in fact).

An older and much less high-tech blog of GeniusProphecy.com is at http://www.geniusprophecy.com/main/recent-news.html. I currently have no plans of updating the old blog.