Penang dominated the Interstate Chess Championship 2024 held at Kangar, Perlis and hosted by the Persatuan Catur Negeri Perlis. Albeit the domination, it was not an easy ride for Penang especially in the Junior event where they edged Johor Juniors only in the last round to secure the win.

For the Open event, Penang literally ran away with the title and was a clear winner by more than 4 points against runner up Perak. Led by Looi Xin Hao, Loo Pin Xie, Yeoh Yuan Hui and WFM Agnes Chong Kai Ni, Penang amassed an almost perfect score collecting 34 points out of a possible 36 points. A distance second was Perak Axis led by Iwan Schani Ibnu, Afeef Mikhail Arman, Mohd Afif Zainudin, Farihah Nur Aisyah Mohd Azman, and Loganetraa Kulothunkan. Terengganu came in 3rd with Zailan Abas, Hashim Jusoh, Fairul Yusoff, Wan Aizuddin Wan Razali, Abdul Kadir Jailani Ramli, and Ahmad Arif Abdul Rahim. Aside from medals and the right to hold aloft the Challenge trophy, Penang bagged RM3,000 for their effort with RM2,000 going to Perak and RM1,000 to Terengganu.

For the Women event, Selangor Team started very strong but unable to continue the momentum and started to decline down the ladder from Round 5 after losing 0.5-3.5 to Perak Phoenix. Penang took it to the wire and a 2.5 – 1.5 win over Perak in the last round managed to secure them the title. Perak came in 2nd with Johor securing the 3rd spot despite crushing their opponent 4-0 in the last round. Penang again took home the RM3,000 first prize honors, with Perak securing RM2,000 and Johor RM1,000.

It was more nail biting in the Juniors event where Johor succumbed to a 2-2 draw against Pahang Rook, giving way to Penang to secure the title after a convincing 4-0 win over Perlis rook. Johor had beaten Penang in the earlier rounds by 2.5 – 1.5 and the title looks set to be in the hands when Pahang Rook does not play to the storyline and demolished Johor’s hope to break Penang dominance. For their first event National Interstate Junior title, Penang earned RM2,500 for their effort with Johor taking home RM1,500. One of the more consistent Junior team – Melaka Laksamana, secured the 3rd spot having stayed within striking distance but unable to maximize wins against Penang and Johor in the earlier rounds.

PCNP President – Noor Amin Ahmad gave away the prizes for the Open event, with Pahang President – Puan Hamidah Abdul Hamid the Women event, and MCF Secretary – Najib A Wahab, the Junior winners.

The 2023 edition of the Interstate Chess Championship is one of the more celebrated editions with 31 teams participating – 10 each in the Open and Women event with 11 teams in the newly introduced Junior event. The increase in the number of team playing was partly contributed by the Junior event, an initiative mooted by the Persatuan Catur Negeri Perlis in view of the SUKMA 2024 where teams will be represented by players who are 21 year old or younger. Previously, in 2016 when it was held in Pahang, 20 teams took part with 14 teams in the Open event and another 6 in the Women event.

In 2020, at the height of the COVID19 pandemic, the National Interstate series was conducted via Online and had the most teams participating with 33 states. That was the only online edition and the event return to normality in 2022 when Sabah hosted the event with 10 teams taking part.

The Interstate event was first introduced in 2013 with Sabah as the initial host and after skipping a few years, returned in 2016 when Pahang agree to host the event. The event skip another year and Sabah took over again as the host for the 2018 edition. There were no event held in 2019 and 2021. The event returned in 2022 – again held by Sabah, and for the first time, Perlis decided to host the event in 2023.

During the Interstate event in Perlis recently, Pahang – as per interest shown by its President Puan Hamidah Abdul Hamid, has agreed to hold the 2024 series from 31st May to 3rd June 2024.