It was nail biting finishes in the Xtiv Grand Final especially in the Ladies and Open categories. And in the end, FOUR CHAMPIONS emerged to capture the U12, U18, Ladies and Open Championship title.

In the Open category, the fight for the top honor was between CM Tan Jun Ying and FM Wong Yinn Long, with another pair of talented juniors in FM Lye Lik Zang and Anderson Ang fighting it out for the 3rd and 4th placing. For the FINAL pair, FM Wong Yinn Long maintain his top billing as the favorite – being the 2nd highest rated in the country, to overcome CM Tan Jun Ying resistance to secure a comfortable 2-0 win. But, an upset of sorts happened in the next board when 11 year old Anderson Ang – drawing his first game against FM Lye Lik Zang, managed to secure a convincing win in the second game to secure the 3rd spot of the event. Anderson played well to control the game despite having the exchange down going onto the endgame – rook against bishop, but with clear pawn advantage as Lik Zang’s found it impossible to stop them rolling towards the promotion square.

In the Ladies category, both the Final and 3rd/4th place games went into Armageddon tie break as both pair drew 1-1 at the end of the second game. In the tie breaker of the FINAL game between WCM Nithya and Nurul Akma, the former opted to play the black pieces – as black only needed a draw to win, but Akma had other ideas in mind. Known for her attacking style, Akma earlier made a tactical error when she tried to go head on against Nithya Queenside attack but when the latter ran out of ammunition, Akma stormed her pawns and pieces towards her opponents Kingside and before you know it, was able to checkmate her opponent King on the g8 square. It was an interesting game that exhibits how quick a game can swing from left to right of the board, and how effective a counter attack can be when an attack dwindles down. In the 3rd/4th game, Swetha Thamil Manni managed to outplay Nur Faiqah to secure the final podium spot.

CM Tan Jun Ying managed to salvage his loss in the Open category by securing the Champions title for the U18 category – beating Kavin Mohan by a score of 1.5 – 0.5. The first game ended in a draw but in the second game, it was a tough knight and rook against knight and eventually, under time pressure, Kavin’s King was trapped in the corner forcing him to exchange his rook for a knight, leaving Jun Ying a full rook up for an easy win. In the other game, Lai Hong Jun defeated Muhd Faqih Aminuddin to secure the 3rd spot.

And finally in the U12 category, Ernest Yek had to go through the tie breaker round before being able to claim the U12 Champion against another talented junior player in Yee Hao Loong. In the 3rd/4th placing game, Li Jie Xun outplayed Lee Yun Rui 1.5 against 0.5 to secure the bronze position.

The XTiv Final Knock Out Stage started on Tuesday 10th August with the qualifying Round of 32 involving 128 players that had qualified via GP points collected from the Xtiv Tournament Series that ran between April and July. For the final day today – 15th August 2021, 16 Semi Finalist had managed through the gruesome 2 games per round event that started form 9:00am and ended at 5:00pm.

The organizer and Event Crew, would like to thank YB Tuan Mohd Khairuddin Othman, Selangor Exco for Pembangunan Generasi Muda & Sukan & Pembangunan Modal Insan, for his department’s support, assistance and cooperation, in providing the necessary funding and concept input, in making the event a reality and a huge success. Throughout the 4 series, the organizing team had received more than 2,400 registrations with the last Series 4 clocking more than 700 applications. The Malaysian Chess Federation looks forward for more event collaboration with the State Government in order to catapult and develop chess as a healthy sporting activity especially during such challenging times where Social Distancing is the new norm, and online activities is the way moving forward.

Thank you again YB Tuan Mohd Khairuddin, Officers and Staff at SUK Selangor, and the State of Selangor for their support and contribution in driving chess as a healthy online pastime and competitive activity. CONGRATS to the WINNERS and PARTICIPANTS, parents, teachers, coaches, officials including MCF Committee members, and everyone that are involved and supported our event.

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