In the beautiful Saturday morning(25 Aug), Tan Jia Yun, Jia Yun’s auntie, Tan Eu Hong and I travel to UniKL Open Chess Tournament organized by Chess Club  of UniKL, Jabatan Hal Ehwal Siswa and Persatuan Catur Kedah Selatan. We have no problem finding our way to UniKL. To our surprise, the preparation for this tournament is excellent. Besides the registration counters, there are food and drink stalls, a clear signboard to toilet, a well arranged space for parents and spectators and more importantly, they did prepare sales counter for me!

A chess set crafted by students of UniKL displayed in tournament hall

8 years old Tan Jia Yun, National Rating 1206	The Tournament Hall
Food stall, drink stall and some other counters just outside the tournament hall	The parents/spectator area
And PS Global Marketing’s sales corner for the improvement of chess, souvenirs and chess equipments
The very important persons in organizing and running this tournaments are :
Mr. Faud, Arbiter and a very kind person who put lots of effort in development of chess	Arbiter Mr. Hamizul(left) and organising chairman Mr. Norazwan. Norazwan is also a regular chess player in Penang.
Mr. Shahril Azuar, teacher advisor of chess club SM Kulim, is a strong chess player himself.	And the very helpful helpers.

Mr. Fuad, Mr. Shahril, Mr. Hamizul and Mr. Norazwan will be of those important men in the development of chess in Kedah, and Malaysia as a whole. I’m very glad to know them, to befriends with them; and also thank them for their efforts in developing the game of chess. I’m looking forward to see them soon in any tournament in Penang and I wish them good luck in their mission and vision in chess. Errr... wait a minute... this is not the end of this story. Sorry, let’s go back...

This tournament attracts more than 120 participants from various states such as Perlis and Perak including players from Pulau Langkawi. An announcement was made by Mr. Faud that the tournament will starts round 1 at 9.30am and it will be a 7-round swiss. And so at 9.30am, the tournament kicks off and since the tournament is not utilizing any rating for seeding, Tan Eu Hong with National Rating 1742 starts round 1 at Table 50 as White.

Not seeded but Eu Hong is hot favorite for the title.

Syed Iskandar will be representing Perlis in the coming Astro Team chess tournament held in KL. This tournament is the warm up, I suppose.

Eu Hong is simply a class above the rest and took the perfect 7/7 to become the champion. Second placing is Tan Wooi Tiong with 6/7(lost to Eu Hong in last round). Third is Kue Chin Wei from USM(lost to Eu Hong in 3rd round)

Tan Eu Hong is the champion of UniKL Chess Open

8-year-old Tan Jia Yun is the runner-up in U18 Girls category!! Watch out guys.

The tournament ends at 6.20pm which is earlier by 10 minutes compared to scheduled 6.30pm. This is good achievement for the first-time organizer of UniKL. Mr. Fuad, Mr. Hamizul, Mr. Norazwan and Co. are all working very hard to run the tournament smoothly. For that, we solute them and syabas!

We were then invited to have some light drinks with the organizer and committee; and we have some talks on the improvement on chess tournament(for next year!), development of chess and plans. I’m really so astonished(but happy), with their enthusiasm in chess!!

During the talks, I suddenly feel that this tournament in not only for chess. It’s for MERDEKA! Our passions, our will to do things better, our open-minded discussions with all, Malay, Chinese and Indian work together toward the same goal... I just can imagine and feel(though tiny) the work of Tunku Abdul Rahman... I hope the spirit of this kind will last forever. So, let’s scream out loud : Merdeka, Merdeka, Merdeka…!!

More pictures :

Syed Iskandar came back strongly after a surprise lost in Round 2 (to Kue Chin Wei), to take the 4th placing.	U18 boys champion fall to Lee Chan Tung, who is only 14 years old. He and Wee Zhao Liang, both from SMK Kulim are the guys to watch in the future.
Wee Zhao Liang is 4th placing in U18 boys. But don’t worry about placing, keep up your good work!	SMK Kulim is the winner in this tournament – having 8 winners(out of 10) in U18B category.
USM team?! All of them win prizes, with the best is Kue Chin Wei(left) who took overall 3rd placing.	U18G champion is actual from U12G category – Nik Siti Sarah
U12G champion Siti Mashitah with 4/7	Norazwan presenting his closing ceremony speech
Lunch at Lunas famous roasted duck. Look delicious huh?	Yeap, you can tell from Jia Yun’s face!!

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.