Tan Khai Boon won the USM (Engineering Campus) Chess Open at Nibong Tebal which was the last tournament of year 2007 in Penang. He finished sole winner with 7.5/8 points, followed by four 7-pointer Anthony Liong, Muhd Syakir, Evan and Thong Yung Chen. We bring you pictorial report.

Tan Khai Boon finished high this year with 6 title - Grand Prix 3rd leg, Grand Prix final, Penang Closed, CRC Taiping, Gerik Open and USM Nibong Tebal!

USM (Engineering Campus) Chess Open at Nibong Tebal

At 7.30am, A 44 seater bus, an 8 seater Toyota Unser and two 5 seater Proton WIRAs carrying players, parents and arbiter, departed from Penang Island to Nibong Tebal for the last tournament of year 2007 - USM (Engineering Campus) Chess Open at Nibong Tebal. The trip took about 30 minutes.

Reached USM compus at 8.30am and we are so glad that the preparation for this tournament well managed -- registration counters, a well arranged tournament hall, space for parents and spectators, USM food stall and gladly, a sales counter for my PS Global Markering!

A glance at the tournament hall.	Well arranged table and chair.
Spectator area	Ismail Ahmad at registration counter.
USM sales corner	Arbiter and result reporting counter/desk

PS Global Marketing sales corner

The tournament attract more than 150 participants from various states; including players from Perak, Kuala Lumpur, Selangor and Kedah. The tournament kicks off at 9.15am and the battle begins...

Participants checking the pairing for round 1	Starts of round 1
A very strong player from Perak, Tan Wei Kai in action. He finish overall 11 with 6/7.	Tan Yik Ping, the 8 seed finished 9th placing
Chicken rice for lunch	Leow Yong Jie didn't know where he gone wrong in game 4 against Mr. Wong Teik Choy and seek my help. Very good learning attitude.
The amazing 8 year-old OZY(Ooi Zhi Yang) started off with an impressive 4.5/5. He finished 5.5/8 at 22/160. Impressive!!	A confident stare that weakens opponent... (Evan Timothy)
8 year old girl Kelly Lim's finished overall 44/160 with 5/8 is definitely an outstanding result. She deservely take the U8G title.	Hot shot Vietnamese girl Do Thi Thoung last round lost to Wee Zhao Liang means she is out of top 10 with 5.5; While Zhao Liang finished 6th!
Puteri Rifaqah manage to hold Do Thi Thuong to a draw. This proves her second placing at U8G is not a fluke.	Second seed Ismail Ahmad, the Ex-World Police Chess Champion finished 8th as a result of last round lost to Thong Yung Chen.
Thong Yung Chen last round encounter with Ismail Ahmad where he won and take 5th placing.	Round 7 encounter between Champion Tan Khai Boon and runner-up Anthony Liong.

Top 30 finisher in USM (Engineering Campus) Chess Open :
1 TAN KHAI BOON, Open 1880 7.5 35.5 45.0 41.50
2 ANTHONY LIONG ING KEAT, Open 1752 7 34.0 45.5 38.00
3 MUHD SYAKIR SHAZMEER AZHA, U15B 1632 7 33.5 43.5 36.50
4 EVAN TIMOTHY CAPEL, Open 1576 7 32.0 44.0 36.50
5 THONG YUNG CHEN, U18B 1566 7 32.0 41.0 34.00
6 WEE ZHAO LIANG, U15B 1375 6.5 31.0 42.5 32.00
7 POH KER HAW, IPT 1393 6.5 29.5 37.0 29.50
8 ISMAIL AHMAD, Open 1856 6 32.0 45.5 31.00
9 TAN YIK PING, U18B 1666 6 30.0 38.5 25.50
10 KEOK KAI EN, U15B 1359 6 29.5 42.5 31.00
11 TAN WEI KAI, U18B 1450 6 29.0 44.5 30.00
12 CHUA KIAN MENG, U18B 1453 6 29.0 40.5 27.50
13 NG YONG QUAN, IPT 1545 6 29.0 38.0 23.50
14 CHAN CHEE WENG, USM 1418 6 28.0 39.0 27.00
15 HOH TJUN YEE, U18B 1475 6 28.0 39.0 26.75
16 WONG HAO, U12B 1420 6 27.0 37.0 24.75
17 HOH TJIN HUI, U10G 1348 6 27.0 36.0 23.50
18 LEE CHAN TUNG, U15B 1216 6 26.5 36.5 25.50
19 MUHAMMAD ASYRAF B. RAMLI, IPT 1100 6 26.0 38.0 27.50
20 TAN EU HONG, Open 1784 5.5 30.5 45.5 28.75
21 DO THI THUONG, Open 1600 5.5 29.5 40.5 25.75
22 OOI ZHI YANG, U10B 1177 5.5 28.0 40.5 24.00
23 SANJEEVWA, U18B 1100 5.5 27.5 39.5 22.25
24 MUHD IRFAN HAQQIM AZHAR, U10B 1435 5.5 27.0 35.0 22.00
25 HOH TJIN LI, U15G 1343 5.5 26.5 39.0 24.25
26 AZHAR MOHD SAID, Open 1439 5.5 26.5 37.5 24.25
27 LIM CHENG KUAN, U15B 1269 5.5 24.5 35.0 22.00
28 JANET TAN JIA YIN, U18G 1297 5.5 24.5 34.0 20.75
29 LIM CHENG JUN, U10B 1227 5.5 22.5 33.5 20.75
30 ANAS BIN ABDULLAH, U18B 1100 5.5 21.5 37.5 24.25
For detail result, please visit PCA website at www.pca.bayanbaru.com

Or previous post at Chess.EuHong.NET

Winners of each category are :
Open Category
Champion TAN KHAI BOON
1st Runner-up ANTHONY LIONG ING KEAT
2nd Runner-up MUHD SYAKIR SHAZMEER AZHA
Fourth EVAN TIMOTHY CAPEL
Fifth THONG YUNG CHEN
Sixth WEE ZHAO LIANG
Seventh POH KER HAW
Eighth ISMAIL AHMAD
Ninth TAN YIK PING
Tenth KEOK KAI EN

Best IPT Best USM
First NG YONG QUAN CHAN CHEE WENG
Second MUHAMMAD ASYRAF TEOW CHENN YANG
Third NORAZWAN AHMAD BOKHARY

Age Group
U08B U08G
First TANG WEI KIT KELLY LIM PEI YING
Second MOHD AZIZ FARHAN PUTERI RIFAQAH FAHADA
Third ENG YING XUAN PUTERI MUNAJJAH

U10B U10G
First OOI ZHI YANG HOH TJIN HUI
Second MUHD IRFAN HAQQIM CHUAH YI NING
Third LIM CHENG JUN NURUL SYAZWANI HAMIZUL

U12B U12G
First WONG HAO TANG KAR KHEI
Second LEE JING XUAN LIM YU NING
Third CHONG SHAO HONG FATIN MASYITAH MAS'UD

U15B U15G
First LEE CHAN TUNG HOH TJIN LI
Second LIM CHENG KUAN WONG SIEW TING
Third TAN YIK XIAN JOANNE LIM PING CHUEN

U18B U18G
First TAN WEI KAI JANET TAN JIA YIN
Second CHUA KIAN MENG NURSYUHADA MOHD SAHID
Third HOH TJUN YEE OON CHIA HOEY

Winners photo :

U8G winners (from left) : Kelly Lim, Puteri Rifaqah and Puteri Munajjah. Kelly Lim is the champ but is mistakenly given the bronze...


U10G winners (from left) : Chuah Yi Ning, Hoh Tjin Hui and Nurul Syazwani(With them is Chin Chee Boon, the organiser). At 10, Hoh Tjin Hui finished overall 17 with incredible score of 6/8!! And if you take a closer look on the result, she is overall girls champion!


U12B winners (from left) : Chong Shao Hong, Lee Jing Xuan, Wong Hao and organiser Chan Chee Weng. Wong Hao has won many U12 Champion early this year including MSSPP Champion. UPSR exam force him to stop chess for a while but it seems he is not affected at all!


U12G winners (from left) : Tang Khar Khei, Lim Yu Ning and Fatin. The first title for Tang Khar Khei at the end of year 2007 will be a great start for year 2008!


U15B winners (from left) : Tan Yik Xian, Lim Cheng Kuan, Lee Chan Tung and Chan Chee Weng. This is one of the two categories that is not won by Penang player. Lee Chan Tung is from Kulim.


U18B winners (from left) : Hoh Tjun Yee, Chua Kian Meng and Tan Wei Kai. Another one that is not won by Penang, Tan Wei Kai is from Perak.


U18G winners (from left) : Janet Tan, Nursyuhada and Oon Chia Hoey. Janet Tan also has a good achievement in year 2007, winning no less than 4 titles including this one!

Ng Yong Quan(in pink) takes the best IPT player with 6/8 (overall 13)


Por Ker Haw who once hold a draw as black pieces against GM Nigel Short(in simul), finished 7th.



A very strong player from Kulim - Wee Zhao Liang is number 6


Thong Yung Chen with 7/8 takes 5th placing



Evan also 7/8 (with only lost to Khai Boon) takes RM100 for his effort(4th)


Malaysia National U15 player Muhd Syakir finished 3rd without losing any game


Anthony Liong finished runner up(again!?)


The overall champion for USM (Engineering Campus) Chess Open, Tan Khai Boon receiving top prize - RM250

The tournament ends at 7pm and we, i.e. Khai Boon, Anthony Liong, Eu Hong and I, travel to Batu kawan for dinner as early celebration to Year 2008! The foods are very good but the 20 minutes trips are kind of bumpy. Anyway, we ended our USM Nibong Tebal trip happily and I would like to wish everyone a happy new year filled with joy and happiness. See you all in year 2008!



About Author
PS Lim is a chess enthusiast. He is also a successful coach in Penang, having produced two U12 Penang champions for two consecutive years in 2006 and 2007.

Before becoming a coach in 2006, he was active in competitive chess for many years. His "retirement" from competitive chess has not stopped him from investing his time and efforts in the development of chess in Penang, especially in guiding young players to become successful chess players.