IT’S ALWAYS the case that when tournaments run smoothly without a hitch, it doesn’t make for any excitement. Okay, the success of the event is a credit to the organisers and the tournament director but where is its newsworthiness?
I’m not suggesting that chess tournaments should be mired in controversy or scandal. Oh no, I’d actually prefer a smoothly-run event than one rocked by disputes. A tournament that’s run smoothly will end smoothly and everybody can go home happy. Organisers are happy, players are happy and, in some cases, parents are happy.
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Raja Datuk Seri Azureen Sultan Azlan Shah (left), who is president of Masterskill College of Nursing and Health, playing a game of chess with visually-impaired Nur Feiqha Mohd Halil at the national age group meet. The 14-year-old girl, a gold medallist at the recent Asean Para Games 2008 in Korat, Thailand, plays on a Braille board. |
So this year’s Masterskill-OCM national age group chess championship in Kuala Lumpur has come and gone. Three days of competition in mid-week directly after the general election. Perhaps that was the only wisp of excitement because several parents actually withdrew their kids from the event. Wary of an uncertain political climate, perhaps?
For outstation parents, they wouldn’t want to take risks with their children being so far from home. So the championship was short by some 10 to 20 players. But so what? I doubt if the absent children were missed much by the other competitors.
Parents ... Where would the junior chess players be without their parents? Behind every successful junior chess player stand the proud parents.
At the Olympic Council of Malaysia’s indoor sports arena, parents were everywhere. How could you avoid them when their very presence blocked the passageways and the entrance into the building? They crowded the spectators’ gallery on the mezzanine floor that looked down onto the playing area as if from that distance, they could still make out what their children were playing.
Not all the parents took an intense interest in their children’s chess fortune, though. Some looked positively bored. If not for their children playing, I doubt they would even be present. But they came prepared, of course! A few turned the indoor sports arena into a picnic ground, complete with bamboo mats and even picnic baskets.
Teachers. This year’s national age group event was blessed with the presence of several teachers who had volunteered their services. Some states sent their chess technical advisers to help with the competition, which was a very good move.
To be truthful, the quality of chess organisation at the Majlis Sukan Sekolah-sekolah Malaysia (MSSM) level can often be found wanting. I’ve known of MSSM chess tournaments at state and national levels that adopted some rather questionable chess rules.
So occasions like this national age group event gives the schools’ chess technical advisers a good opportunity to learn about chess organisation and especially, interpreting chess regulations. It’s the smarter states that sent their teachers down to learn. Good for them!
At the closing ceremony, special guest of honour Raja Datuk Seri Azureen Sultan Azlan Shah was spotted attempting to play chess with 14-year-old Nur Feiqha Mohd Halil.
Nur Feiqha is visually impaired. She can’t play chess on a normal chessboard. But when you put her behind the special Braille chessboard, she’s bound to turn into a tigress. If you are not careful, you may end up getting mauled by her. After all, she’s a gold medallist at the recent Asean Para Games 2008 in Korat, Thailand.
Here are the winners of the various age group events: Edward Lee Kim Han (boy’s under-16), Renitha Narayanan (girl’s under-16), Muhd Syakir Shazmeer Azhar (boy’s under-14), Alia Anin Azwa Bakri (girl’s under-14), Tan Wei Hao (boy’s under-12), Nur Nabila Azman Hisham (girl’s under-12), Yeoh Li Tian (boy’s under-10), Nur Najiha Azman Hashim (girl’s under-10), Tan Yong Zhao (boy’s under-8) and Puteri Rifqah Fahada Azhar (girl’s under-8).
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