Fourteen (14) Malaysian youngsters took part in Asian qualifying rounds of the the first ever FIDE Online World Cadets & Youth Rapid Chess Championship 2020. Eight (8) boys and six (6) girls represented Malaysia in the various ASIAN Zone age categories – U10, U12, U14, U16 and U18, which started on Friday 11th December and concluded yesterday 13th December 2020.

At the end of the 7 rounds event, Malaysian Chess Federation is proud to announce that two (2) Malaysian representatives – Anderson Ang Ern Jie (for the U10 Open category) and Poh Yu Tian (for the U12 Open category), have both finished in the top three placement which should qualify them to the final round of 16 to be held starting from 19th December 2020. Both Anderson and Yu Tian completed the event in 3rd placing of their respective ASIAN age group and if they continue their good run, both players will have a shot at becoming the best Junior player in the world.

En route to his bronze achievement, Anderson did well to secure 5.5 points out of 7 rounds, losing only in the final round to India’s Mrinmoy Rajkhowa who came in second. Interesting to note that Anderson was leading the pack going into the 6th round and a win in the 7th round would have made him the sole winner for his age category.

On the other hand, Poh Yu Tian was sharing the top spot after drawing his 6th round game with the eventual winner China’s Xiao Tong, but was unfortunate to lose to Kazakhstan FM Ansat Aldiyar in the final round which pushed him back into the 3rd spot.

In any event, the Malaysian Chess Federation CONGRATULATES all players for the devotion, focus and effort that they have displayed throughout the campaign regardless what their final standings may be. You all have performed your best and have made the country proud – KUDOS to everyone.

The full result for all our representatives at the event can be found at https://chess-results.com/tnr539370.aspx?lan=1&art=25&fedb=MAS

The Malaysian Chess Federations also wishes the best of luck to both Anderson Ang and Poh Yu Tian in continuing their chess journey to be the best that they can be.

#MalaysiaBoleh #togetherwecan