A Note from the Organizer.... and the event after....

As the organizer for the National Closed 2011, I would like to thank everyone for the support that they have given including those who visited the event, came to watch or meet friends, and providing supportive and encouraging reviews, comments, points for improvement, and constructive criticism. Whilst DATCC may not be a 5 star hotel or a posh ballroom or venue with a "Beverly Hills" address, the support was encouraging. One player said, regardless what the place looks like, it is comfortable enough and most importantly, a place where chess players can meet to play because once a game starts, all the players can see are the pieces, the 64 checkered board, the clock and the desire to overwhelm their opponent. Once the clock is pressed and starts to tick, the surroundings will soon be irrelevant....

On a more encouraging note, to think that there was no prize money initially announced, yet players came to play and support the event shows how mature, enthusiastic and positive our players are in looking forward towards improvement. Kudos to everyone - the winners and the players, the wannabes, the 'thought about it', the 'almost made it', just about everyone and anyone....

So... that was the National Closed 2011. But, the bigger event came after the National Closed.... It was the Blitz event.....

32 players took part and the field was unbelievable.... there were 3 IMs playing i.e. Mas, Mok and Jimmy, 4 national Masters i.e. Lim Zhuo Ren, Tan Khai Boon, Kamalariffin Wahiduddin, Yeoh Chin Seng and aspiring juniors i.e. Wong Jianwen, Sumant and Yeoh Li Tian.... It was probably, the strongest local event in recent years albeit it was only a blitz event. At the end of 11 rounds, experienced triumph over youth and those who played in the National Closed (with 9 rounds of "productive learning") played much better than the 2 strongest player in the land - shows practice makes better!

The final results of the blitz event (top 20) are as follows. The complete table can be found here at the chess-results.com website.

Rank	Name	Rtg	Pts
1	Jimmy Liew Chee-Meng	2083	8½
2	Lim Zhuo Ren	1925	8
3	Tan Khai Boon	2018	7½
4	Sumant Subramaniam	1980	7½
5	Loo Swee Leong	1914	7½
6	Mok Tze Meng	2245	7
7	Yeoh Li Tian	1985	7
8	Wong Jianwen	1819	7
9	Mas Hafizulhelmi	2275	7
10	Nik Ahmad Farouqi Nik	1914	6
11	Masrin Erowan	1784	6
12	Fariz Shafruddin	1879	6
13	Ahmad Fadzil Nayan	1909	6
14	Fong Yit San	1760	6
15	Kamaluddin Yusof	1943	6
16	Aron Teh Eu Wen	1593	6
17	Mohd Khair Wahiduddin	1888	5½
18	Gregory Lau	1926	5½
19	Kamalarifin Wahiduddin	1956	5
20	Yeoh Chin Seng	1900	5