The ASIAN Nations Online Cup (MEN Section) which started today, saw participation from 38 ASIAN countries with India ranked as the top seeded country having 5 GMs in its line up amassing an average FIDE rating of 2609. Kazakhstan with 4 GMs and 1 IM is ranked second with an average FIDE Rating of 2516 and Iran came in next with 5 GMs in its line up with an average FIDE Rating of 2485. For our boys, Malaysia is seeded 25th with an average FIDE rating of 1831

There were some hiccups at the start of the first round which saw player’s colors were mixed up but it was later rectified by the organizer, and the event concluded its first scheduled 3 rounds of play around 7:00pm local Malaysian time.

Malaysia was paired against 6th seeded Australia in Round 1 and with an average FIDE Rating of 2371 for the down under team, it was a hard fought games for our Malaysian lads – going down 4-0 in the one sided encounter.

We did better in the the second round beating Qatar 3-1 with Tan Jun Ying as the only casualty having lost his Board 1 game against Qatarian IM Husein Aziz Nezad. Team Captain Subramanian Sivanesan, and youngsters Poh Yu Tian and Anderson Ang Ern Jie did well to win their encounters on Board 2 to Board 4 respectively.

In round 4, we were paired against the slightly higher rated team of Jordan who fielded 3 IMs and 1 CM. After the dust had cleared and although the Malaysian boys lost to the Jordanian team, youngster Poh Yu Tian did well to snatch a full point having beaten IM Sameer on Board 3 while handling the White pieces, while another youngster Anderson Ang Ern Jie drawing against CM Malek Saef to minimize the score line to 2.5-1.5 in favor of the middle east country

After three rounds of play, Poh Yu Tian is Malaysia’s best performer with 2 points out of 3 games followed by another youngster Anderson Ang Ern Jie with 1.5 points out of 2 games.

The ASIAN Nations Online Cup for the Men category will now go on a 5 day break and Round 4 will resume on Friday at 2:00pm local Malaysian time. For more information on the results and pairing, please CLICK here to follow the tournament at www.chess-results.com

For the Women category, Malaysia – seeded 21st out of 31 countries, will start its campaign tomorrow facing 6th seeded Iran national team. Games will start at 2:00pm local Malaysian time and those interested to follow the games, can login to www.chess.com and search for the players’ handle ID to follow their games. The Women pairing and standing can be found by clicking HERE to follow it on www.chess-results.com

The Malaysian Chess Federation wishes both our Men and Women Teams ALL THE BEST in their endeavors and hope that they can perform their very best to make the country proud

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