Mencatur Kejayaan Di Myanmar

Ramai yang tertanya-tanya tentang nasib serta pergerakkan blogger ini sejurus selepas pemilihan UMNO tempohari. Sejak Oktober fokus blogger berubah ke arah rezeki, yakni kembali ke kerjaya di bidang Pengurusan Syarikat Minyak, dan keluarga, khususnya memajukan projek 2 tahun yang diusahakan bersama di antara beberapa keluarga pemain catur di bawah latihan pemain no 1 negara kini, Mok Tze Meng.

Alhamdulillah,  projek catur yang blogger ini maksudkan kini sudahpun mencapai hampir kesudahan diharapkan cemerlang. Semalam, kontinjen catur Malaysia ke Sukan SEA di Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, telah beraksi buat kali pertama dalam permainan Catur Tradisional Myanmar. Walaupun pemain Malaysia tidak berjaya meraih pingat lagi, ia sekadar selangkah ke hari ini yang memberi 2 peluang keemasan untuk meraih pingat melalui acara Catur Tradisional Myanmar berpasukan. Kita doakanlah kejayaan pasukan kita bersama-sama.

Dengan penyertaan Malaysia ke semua acara Catur pada Sukan SEA ini, yang melihat 18 acara di pertandingkan, sekaligus 18 peluang meraih pingat emas, Malaysia adalah di antara hanya 4 negara yang menyertai kesemua acara pada pertandingan ini, walaupun 8 negara telah menghantar kontinjen Catur ke Myanmar. Sambutan Persekutuan Catur Malaysia di bawah pimpinan YBhg Tan Sri Ramli Ngah Talib terhadap peluang mempertingkatkan prestasi dari 1 Gangsa yang dimenangi pada Sukan SEA ini amatlah dihargai.

Ada yang mungkin tertanya-tanya pula sekarang, kenapakah blogger mengatakan ini projek keluarga? Ini kerana 3 dari anak-anak kami terlibat! Setakat ini, anakanda Aqil sudahpun mula beraksi dalam acara Catur ASEAN Standard Individu dan semalam berjaya seri dengan GM Eugene Toray. Anakanda Ayesha pula terlibat dalam acara Catur Berpasukan pada hari ini. Pada masa ini, kami sudah cukup berbangga dengan keupayaan mereka mewakili negara. Diharap berkat doa dan usaha, bakal bertambahlah sebab untuk kami meraikan mereka.

Alhamdulillah, pasukan Catur telah memenangi pingat pertamanya yakni Gangsa bagi acara Catur Tradisional Myanmar Berpasukan Lelaki. Semoga ini mencetuskan semangat kemenangan berterusan bagi pasukan Catur negara di Sukan SEA ini.

Weekend For Kids As MRT Corp Keeps Getting Whacked

Whilst the Great Wall of Jalan Sultan caught a lot of news on Friday, with more news coming from Pinggir Za'aba in a few of days' time, thought I'd focus on the family obsession of Chess again.

Started escorting kids to National Age Group (NAG) 2013 from Friday, a start of a 3 day event organised by Malaysian Chess Federation (MCF) at University Technology Petronas (UTP) near Seri Iskandar, Perak.

The first photo is an image on the first match on Friday. The second being the 7th and second last game today. My kids aren't doing so well at this stage, but this is their first year and both have another year in their age groups... Yes, I only took two of my sons this year.In

Their sis decided to join a Tunas Puteri public speaking contest instead. Good call on her part, she got second place, the last image! Life presents choices and as long as my kids make WISE choices, the wisest always being to experience new and more enriching things, like my daughter had, rewards would follow!

The jokers in MRT Corp could learn quite a bit from my kids about choices and decision making I reckon!

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Introducing Nyanyak's Aces!

Today is a big day! OK, it is already a big day being one of this blogger's son's 8th birthday. However the same son woke this bloggers up early this morning declaring he wants to go for his first gift, a chess tournament today, where for the first time we will contest as a family team!

The photo above showcases the team as it stands now, with this blogger as team Manager and 'all-round' Ayah! The team's name, Nyanyak's Aces, is in honour of the all sacrificing Nyanyak of course! She has had to stay home to take care of our 'pelapis', but will join us for lunch.

Not sure if we would win anything, but we looked smug in the photo as at least we know we won't be last having won that (second) round. Points will be hard to come by after this with so many strong players! And the team manager sees this as a big day being the first Chess Tournament I've played in after some 27 years!

Hope I don't drag my kids down!

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Investment Choices: Kids' Activities! 1Malaysia Too!

Chess weekends coming fast and furious over the weekends of April, beginning yesterday as March closes actually! My two elder sons r on the final Swiss round of the KL Scholastic where a lower turnout than expected by organisers is compensated by the appearance of some 40% of 'new faces'!

No surprise that numbers of circuit 'regulars' are down as mothers and even kids reprioritise. My son's regular sparring partner had to go to Maths tuition after weeks of missing and even my daughter had to favour Tunas Puteri this weekend in order to get her 'Calit Emas'.

A few observations here. One is on how parents will see the choices to invest their own and their kids' time presenting increased challenges over time. Sure, if a child displays extraordinary talent, choices become obvious, but for the common parent, it is the toil, time and money that will help grow their child's abilities.

One would also think that choices favouring academics are also obvious, but really, they are not always so. Lets say your child has a chance to become a state player then perhaps even play internationally, many parents would allow the skipping of classes and tuition surely.

Another observation today was how 1Malaysia the Chess tourney looked. Having been used to a Chess field being so predominated by Chinese players, it seemed that a more 1Malaysia mix seen at the venue, ironically being Asrama 1Malaysia at Titiwangsa. A slightly Chinese majority still, but a better mix.

Photo is taken using Paper Pictures app. Cool huh?

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The KL And Malaysian Chess Community

This blogger is on the morning shift today with kids at the regular Insofar meet in KL. The system is cool in that it pits players across all ages whilst awarding prizes by age and other groups. It also has a scheme to encourage kids to continue tournament play with a 'scholarship' that pays for playing beyond a first few tourneys.

But what moved me to blog on today wasn't the program but my joy at seeing my kids joining the vibrant community of Chess players in the country. Whilst still very much centred around their school, they have progressively become tournament regulars around KL, such that even my standard 2 boy was familiarly greeted by an adult upon registration.

The space for growth of Chess has transcended beyond the schools system and the formal Youth & Sports Ministry setup, with enthusiasts and players finding interested sponsors for significant events. Nevertheless, a common thread of quality and merit unites the community, as games translate to where one sits in the national ranking.

It is amazing how much can go wrong with a sport in Malaysia. Our underperforming football team, such that recent regional successes were inordinately celebrated, and now troublingly shallow pool of successors to Datuk LCW are the more obvious examples. However, with Chess, I at least see value in the community keeping the game as it should be in Malaysia.

Pairings' out!

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