“Chess is everything: art, science and sport.” - Anatoly Karpov (Russian chess grandmaster and former World Champion).
DING! The elevator door opens to Level 23 of the 1 Sentral building in Kuala Lumpur. Just as I’m about to step out, a dapper-looking grey-haired man dressed in a smart brown suit quickly strides over, holding the door firmly in case it closes before I get the chance to exit.
I smile gratefully and he beams, ushering me inside what appears to be a meeting room. This must be Tengku Ahmad Badli Shah Raja Hussin, the deputy president of the Malaysian Chess Federation (MCF), the man I’ve come to see today.
Two young women clad in the unmistakable orange with black stripes Harimau Malaya jerseys rise to their feet the moment I enter. The tudung-clad one extends her hand first for a handshake, followed by the other girl. Smiling, they introduce themselves as Alia Anin Azwa Bakri and Tan Li Ting. There’s also another man in the room who’s introduced as Abd Hamid Majid, who I duly learn is an orang lama (veteran) in the Malaysian chess world. He’s also FIDE (Federation Internationale des Echecs or World Chess Federation) International Arbiter.
Quickly scanning the room, I notice a chess set on an oval table in the middle of the room. The black and white game pieces stand to attention at their respective spots, ready for battle. Incidentally, from Sept 23 to Oct 7, both Alia and Tan will be headed to the “battlefield” too for the duo will be representing the country in the World Chess Olympiad in Batumi, the second largest city in Georgia.
ROAD TO GEORGIA
The biennial World Chess Olympiad, explains Ahmad Badli Shah, is akin to the World Cup of chess, where players from all over the world congregate and compete. There are two categories — Open and Women — with each team comprising up to five players, of which four are regular players and one, reserve.
The previous Olympiad in Baku, Azerbaijan, saw the Malaysian women’s team that Alia and Tan represented bagging 1,965 points, enough to place the country at the 25th spot out of 150 countries that competed in the Women category.
“We have a committee to select our top five men and five women. You’ll be surprised that we actually have so many good players. Tan is our country’s top woman player,” explains Ahmad Badli Shah, glancing at the girl.
Both Alia and Tan confide that they’re excited to represent the country again. The Batumi event will be the girls’ third Olympiad. “To be able to stand on that international stage is something that I’ll always cherish. I hope we can achieve more for the next Olympiad,” says Tan, finally joining in our chat.
Eyes shining, Alia chips in: “We’ve improved a lot since we joined the Olympiads. We lost in Norway in 2014 but won two years later in Baku.”
“There’s this saying, ‘...everybody can draw, but not everyone can be an artist’. Same goes with chess. Everyone can play but to become a great player, you need special talent and passion. And these two girls have that,” adds Abd Hamid as the girls throw him a sheepish smile.
For Tan, the shape of every chess piece is what intrigued her to the game when she was only 6. “I thought the shape of the piece, like the Knight, was so cool!” recalls the bespectacled 20-year-old who’s currently studying accounting at Multimedia University.
With a smile, Tan recalls the time when her brother, who was a chess club member at his primary school, taught her how to play. Her passion for the game grew and she decided to enrol herself in a chess club at her school SJKC Lee Rubber, Kuala Lumpur.
“I received serious training when I was 9. I competed at MSSM (Malaysia Schools Sports Council) and I lost badly. Despite the loss, a trainer approached my dad after the game and told him that he saw the talent in me and offered to train me,” recalls Tan, adding that the trainer taught her to conduct an analysis after every game in order to improve her skills.
By the time she was 11, Tan was a regular at national championships and went on to hold the record for being the youngest woman chess player to achieve the National Women Master title. She also holds the title of Women FIDE Master and Women Candidate Master, recognised by FIDE. And just recently, she bagged gold in the Malaysian Chess Championships.
Tan’s teammate Alia also has an impressive record. Her foray into the game was even earlier — at age 4. Perhaps it’s not surprising as Alia hails from a family of chess players.
“I always used to follow my dad to chess games and tournaments. I’ve represented the country since Standard 1 and will continue to do so,” divulges Alia before sharing that she was awarded the Women FIDE Master title for her exceptional skills in chess in 2010.
In chess, the FIDE titles are awarded based on performance and ratings. The highest is the Grandmaster (rating greater than 2,500), followed by International Master, Fide Master and Candidate Master. Tan’s rating is 2,000 while Alia’s is 1,996. The 24-year-old graduate from University Malaya, who’s now working as an auditor, utilises her weekends and free time to practise and train others.
“With chess, you can be involved in three major things. You can be a competitive player, a FIDE-certified trainer, or an arbiter like Hamid here,” explains Ahmad Badli Shah. (An arbiter is responsible for ensuring the rules and laws of chess are adhered to.)
GENS UNA SUMUS
Both girls concur that chess has taught them a lot as individuals and definitely taken them places. They love the fact that it also connects them to other people from around the globe. “Chess is one of those games that crosses boundaries. You can play, regardless of your age, gender and race. You can have a boy playing against an elderly person, or man versus woman,” says Abd Hamid, adding that it’s a concept that stays true to the motto that chess players use Gens una sumus, which translates to “we are one people”.
This popular board game traces its origins to almost 1,500 years ago. Originating in India in the sixth century AD, the game was derived from the Indian game called chaturanga. It later spread to Persia. Chess was taken up by the Muslim world when the Arabs conquered Persia and subsequently, through the Moorish conquest of Spain, spread to Southern Europe.
There’s also a theory that chess actually came from China in the 1400 through Burma, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia. From there, it reached Thailand and Malaysia, and later crossed to the island of Java in Indonesia, where chess relics have been found.
In 1949, the Malayan Chess Federation was formed and the first Malayan Chess Championship was held. Now known as the Malaysian Chess Federation, it’s the governing body for all chess events in the country and is responsible for organising the Malaysian Chess Championship. The Federation is also affiliated to the world governing body, FIDE, and is part of the Asean Chess Confederation.
“Since then, many chess events and tournaments have taken place in our country, from school level to national level. But the oldest chess event is the Merdeka chess tournament which will be 38 years old this year,” shares Ahmad Badli Shah, the chief operating officer for Pelaburan Mara.
So are you a competitive player as well? I ask Ahmad Badli Shah. He shakes his head before replying: “No lah. I played chess when I was young. I had a coach in school and at state level. I still play casually with friends. Then I entered MCF and I’ve been helping them, utilising the knowledge that I’ve gleaned from being in the corporate world. That’s pretty much it.”
“He’s being modest!” interjects Abd Hamid with a chuckle. Pride in his voice, he adds: “He’s also the deputy president for the Asean Chess Federation. Now that’s huge!”
Chuckling, Ahmad Badli Shah continues: “I’m helping however I can to glorify our chess players.”
MOVING FORWARD
Chess, believes Ahmad Badli Shah, continues to enjoy some semblance of popularity around the world. However, it doesn’t get to enjoy as much exposure, whether on TV or being supported like other sports.
“We’ve been working really hard to get all the support we can as chess isn’t widely publicised. Last time, we held a fund raising dinner and invited renowned chess players such as Garry Kasparov (Russian chess Grandmaster, former World Chess Champion) and Magnus Carlsen (Norwegian chess Grandmaster and the current World Chess Champion), but not many people, corporates especially, took up the offer,” shares Ahmad Badli Shah, frustration lacing his voice.
Moving forward, he confides that he, together with MCF, will continue to promote the game as best as they can in this country. According to him, there has been a growing interest for the game over the years, if the rising attendance for chess events are anything to go by. More parents are also sending their children to classes to learn to play chess.
“We’ll start from schools. We’d like to have a programme called ‘chess’ at schools. We can even start from kindergarten level. We’ve been working with FIDE and the Kasparov foundation to have a chess syllabus in Malaysia. We want to make chess books available as well,” shares Ahmad Badli Shah.
MCF also envisages having centres for chess excellence to recognise and identify talents. It’s his hope that our country will soon have its own renowned players that can be on par with the likes of chess greats such as Karpov, Kasparov, American Bobby Fischer or current greats like Carlsen, China’s Hou Yifan and Russia’s Anna Muzychuk.
“Right now, Malaysia doesn’t even have Grandmasters. The top one we have is International Master, held by Yeoh Li Tian, who can’t join us today. But who knows, with the right talent and support, maybe we will have a Grandmaster someday,” concludes Ahmad Badli Shah, sounding hopeful.