Announcement of DATCC activities

Let me start by taking the opportunity to wish all our Muslim readers and supporters, Selamat Berpuasa. As usual, another update on the events and happenings at DATCC, and chess activities in and around the country (where the information is available).

For August, the Malaysia Chess Festival is back from 17^th August to be held at CitiTel Hotel MidValley, Kuala Lumpur. The Festival will kick off with 3 major events to run concurrent – the 8^th Dato’ Arthur Tan Malaysia Open, the Ambank Chess Challenge and the 2^nd Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng International Seniors Open. Players meeting is scheduled on the 17^th August at 8:00pm with Round 1 to start the following day on 18^th August.

During the Malaysia Open first break, an Age Group event will be held on Sunday, 21^st August starting at 8:30am and to date, more than 180 aspiring young chess players have already registered in the various age group category. The Malaysia Open will then continue until Thursday, 25^th August and to cap the Malaysia Open event, the usual Merdeka Blitz/Lighting Chess will be held on the same day between 2:00pm and 6:00pm. This is a fast pace chess event where players have 5 minutes to complete their games.

After the conclusion of the Malaysia Open, the Merdeka Individual Rapid shall take place on Friday, 26^th August played over 7 rounds. On 27^th and 28^th August (Saturday/Sunday), the ASTRO Merdeka Team event will be held and at present, more than 60 teams have registered for the annual gala.

After a one week break for Raya and Merdeka celebration, the chess galore will continue with the Raja Nazrin International Open Chess Championship organized by the KL Chess Association to be held at Swiss Garden Hotel starting from 4^th September to 11^th September 2011.

Following that, the MCF National Arbiter Seminar has been scheduled from 16^th September to 19^th September to be held at DATCC Kuala Lumpur. The seminar is suitable for chess players, aspiring arbiters, teachers, organizers including parents and fans who would like to learn more about the Official Chess Rules, Swiss Pairing, and general tournament organizing tips and pointers. An optional day is also available for those who would like to learn using the Swiss Manager program, a popular chess organizing program used by organizers/FIDE to run its events.

For more information on forms, schedules, etc for some of the selected events organized, please do not hesitate to contact Najib Wahab at +6016 338 2542 or write to najib.wahab@chess-malaysia.com. Otherwise, kindly visit our website at http://www.chess-malaysia.com or http://datcchess.blogspot.com for more information and news.