KL TO HOST INTERNATIONAL CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP NEXT MONTH

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 29 (Bernama) -- It will be a match-up of legends versus
talents at the Raja Nazrin Shah Invitational Masters and International Open
Chess Championship to be held at the Swiss Garden Hotel and Residences Kuala
Lumpur from Sept 4-10.

This year, the Championship will showcase an Invitational Masters GM round
robin tournament where four veteran grandmasters, Joseph Sanchez (Philippines),
Nguyen Anh Dung (Vietnam), Tahir Vakhidov (Uzbekistan) and Dr Wong Meng Kong
(Singapore) will vie for honours in competition with six young players including
Malaysia's great hope, International Master Mas Hafizulhelmi.

In taking on Grandmasters, Mas, 28, will be joined by other top Asean GM
prospects in International Masters Oliver Barbosa, Richard Bitoon, Nguyen Van
Huy, Goh Wei Ming (all with recent GM norms) and Jahongir Vakhidov, who made his
first IM norm at the KL Open last year.

As in previous years, there will also be an International Open, bringing
together the most competitive field ever seen locally as half the entries are
internationally titled players.

Malaysia will again depend upon youth to fly its flag, with 18-year-old
National Champion Lim Zhou Ren heading the local challenge, which will also
include its very best young talent, U-14 Boys Champion Roshan Ajeet Singh and
U-14 Girls Champion Tan Li Ting, as well as the Penang-based brother and sister
duo of U-10 Boys Champion Teh De Juan and U-10 Girls Champion Teh De Zen.


Organised by the Kuala Lumpur Chess Association (KLCA), the Championship is
made possible by sponsorship from the Masterskill Education Group Berhad through
its Corporate Social Responsibility Program.

KLCA President and Masterskill Education Group Berhad GCEO, Edmund
Santhara, expressed his pleasure at seeing more young people coming
forward to hone their skills in the game of chess.

"Masterskill is excited to see that the game of chess has grown in leaps and
bounds, as this is our fourth year running this event and the talent that we see
now is amazing," he said in a statement here Monday.

Held under the auspices of the Malaysian Chess Federation (MCF), the
Championship is registered with the world Chess Federation (FIDE) as an
international title and rated tournament.

This Championship will be played over nine rounds using the FIDE Swiss
System using the FIDE time control of 90 minutes for the first 40 moves,
followed by 30 minutes for the remainder of the game and an additional 30
seconds per move starting from move one.