MSSC TO HOLD FIRST TEAM CHESS CH'SHIPS

PENANG, Sat - The Malaysian Schools Sports Council will hold its first national students team chess championships at the Dewan Sri Pinang from Dec 28 to 30.

It is being held here to coincide with the Pesta Celebrations and will be officially declared open by the Minister of Education, Dato Hussein Onn at 3pm on Dec 28.

Following the opening a chess display of an internationally well known match will be held by pupils of the Han Chiang Primary School on a board 32 feet square. The pupils will be dressed as chess pieces.

Ten States will be taking part in the championships and they are divided into three groups for the preliminary rounds which will be on the league system.

The winner of each group will qualify for the final rounds also on the league system for the first three places.

The runners-up of each group will then play a round robin for the fourth, fifth and sixth places.

The groups are: 'A' - Selangor, Trengganu, Perlis, 'B' - Negri Sembilan, Perak, Kedah, Pahang, 'C' - Kelantan, Johore and Penang.

The teams are Selangor: Wahid Karim, Woo Beng Keong, Lee Yee Meng, Peter Wong - Manager: Rene Cheang

Trengganu: Phua Chuan Seng, Chan Chong Leong, Mohd Noor Harun, Tan Boon Tat - Manager: Lim Chin Eng

Perlis: Annuar Abdullah, Abdul Razak Abdullah, Kamaruddin Kasa, Mohd - Manager: Akil Ali

Negri Sembilan: Chuah Poh Soon, Wong Chee Foo, Lew Wing Kwong, Au Leck Chai - Manager: Lee Thean Hoe

Perak: Liew Yoong Wah, Chuah Han Leong, Phan Leong Kim, Thye Fook Keong - Manager: Tan Chong Wah

Kedah: Ong Boon Keat, Lim Ee Seng, Lim Soon Keat, Asit Chatterjee - Manager: Tan Kok Huat

Pahang: Ng Kam Weng, Goh Ching Woo, Thong Thiam Seng, Abdul Rashid Hassan - Manager: Abdul Rahman Sabri Hamid

Kelantan: Bakhtiar Md Fakruddin, Ahmad Raddi Ahmad, Wee Tiong Keow, Wan Ismail Wan Yusoff - Manager: Rawi Abdul Rahman

Johore: Jamaluddin Hashim, Lee Boon Kwang, Tan Hai Hong, Tan Sung Hee - Manager: Tan Seng Hui

Penang: Quah Seng Sun, Low Khea Wah, Yeo Khee Huat, Lee Teik Leong - Manager: Gong Wooi Mau

Competition chairman Mr Fang Ewe Churh, Headmaster of the Han Chiang Primary School here, stated that during the championships an exhibition of photographs taken by him at the 26th Chess Olympiad for men and the Fifth Chess Olympiad for women in Skopje, Yugoslavia, would be held.

Mr Fang, who captained the Malaysian team there, also took several slides of the championships and these would be shown as well.

The chess championship will end on the evening of Dec 30 when prizes will be given away by Mrs Tan Teik Beng, wife of the Chief Education Officer, Penang, at a closing ceremony.

There was little coverage of the championship in the newspapers when it was being played, but the following two reports of the end of the championship appeared in The Straits Echo and The Star on 31 Dec 1972:

PENANG, Sat - Selangor emerged champions of the Malaysian Schools Sports Council's three-day inter-State chess championships which concluded at the Dewan Sri Pinang today.

Penang were second and Negri Sembilan third. Selangor obtained 4 1/2 points. They defeated Penang by 2 1/2 - 1 1/2 and drew with Negri Sembilan 2-2. Penang had 4 points and Negri Sembilan 3 1/2 points.

Perak, Kelantan and Trengganu, who were all in Group 'Y', were challenging for the fourth, fifth and sixth places. Perak finished fourth with 6 1/2 points, Kelantan fifth with three points and Trengganu sixth place with 2 1/2 points.

At the prize-giving ceremony and dinner tonight the Deputy Chief Education Officer, Encik Hashim Mydin, addressed the gathering. Mrs Tan Teik Beng gave away the prizes.

The results of the final rounds are:

Round One: Group X - Penang bt Negri Sembilan 2 1/2 - 1 1/2, Group Y - Trengganu drew with Kelantan 2-2

Round Two: Group X - Selangor bt Peanng 2 1/2 - 1 1/2, Group Y - Perak bt Trengganu 3 1/2 - 1/2

Round Three: Group X - Negri Sembilan drew Selangor 2-2, Group Y - Perak bt Kelantan 1-3

(The Straits Echo)

PENANG, Sat - Selangor scrapped through to win the Malaysian Schools Sports Council chess tournament by a drawn last game against Negri Sembilan today.

The draw earned them 4 1/2 points to edge runner-up Penang who obtained 4 points while Negri Sembilan secured third position with 3 1/2 points.

It was only in the last game that the decision was known when Lee Yee Meng of Selangor drew with Chua Poh Soon of Negri Sembilan.

Had Poh Soon beaten Yee Meng, Penang would have been the champion, since at that stage Penang already had 4 points, Selangor 3 1/2 and Negri Sembilan 3.

Other results in this game are: (Selangor players mentioned first): Wahid Karim drew with Wong Chee Foo, Woo Beng Keong bt Lee Tin Kha and Peter Wong bt Lew Wing Kwong.

This morning, they defeated their arch-rival, Penang 2 1/2 - 1 1/2 points in a hard-fought game of the final rounds among the three finalists. The other finalist is Negri Sembilan.

The first match between Selangor's captain Peter Wong and Penang's Beh Hoong Pin ended in a draw. This was followed by another draw between Lee Yee Meng of Selangor and Lee Teik Leong of Penang.

The third match between Selangor's Woo Beng Keong and Penang's Khaw Teik Kooi also ended in a draw.

Then came the most exciting match of the morning between Wahid Karim of Selangor and Quah Seng Sun, the Penang skipper.

Seng Sun battled desperately for a win to enhance Penang's chances of winning the championship.

However, the cool and steady Selangor player managed to hold back the Penang captain's attack. After nearly two hours of sheer determination and lots of concentration, Wahid managed to defeat Seng Sun.

Wahid's victory over Seng Sun was perhaps the deciding factor in deciding the championship.

Penang had earlier defeated Negri Sembilan 2 1/2 - 1 1/2 points.

(The Star)