GilaChess Thoughts
Chess blogging for money
I mentioned in the Malay Mail interview that Malaysia is quite active when it came to blogging about chess. I would like to encourage more local chess enthusiast to start up a chess blog.
In past, blogging was for personal use such as recording daily events making it more of an online diary. Of course [...]
If you are in Vietnam..
Prepaid card in a foreign country. I found that it was useful in the Philippines to get a prepaid card for my phone. If someone calls me from Malaysia I’m charged for receiving the call and the cost is high. So it’s economical to get a local prepaid card.
It’s the same in Vietnam. [...]
How life imitates chess
I really like this book. It gives me a peek at how extraordinary people like Gary Kasparov thinks, his philosophies in life and basically the things he believes in.
Saw the book in a Borders bookship for about RM 49 and I recommend it highly. There are even chess advice on how to train. [...]
Professionalism and Team Spirit through dresscode?
Chessdom reports on the European Chess Club:
This year’s ECC marks the beginning of a wonderful new development – chess teams have a dress code - matching shirts with logos, names and sponsors listed. The new dress code is as pleasant to the eye as useful in increasing the team’s name recognition and integrity.
I remember some [...]
Wang Hao then and now
He lost his baby fat from his face
Latest picture is from the World Mind Sports Game which is ending today.
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Questionable Ads?
I have not been active on this blog lately but with while posting the KEC tournament information I saw the following ad on GilaChess.com:
and this..
Dating sites ? Google Ads are supposed to be context sensitive meaning that it will try to match advertisements that are related to the web content. Since GilaChess is [...]
Local player’s benefitted?
Catching up on chess news, I re-read Quah Seng Sun’s article on Malaysian chess at the crossroads:-
Will we see another Merdeka chess festival of the same level as this year’s? Will there be another Malaysia open chess championship that can match the pulling power of the Arthur Tan memorial? Do our local players benefit from [...]
Hibernation mode
Not much local chess activities until after Hari Raya so this blog will be ‘resting’ for a while.
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Kosteniuk World Women Champion 2008
This was the first time I watched a chess game live (on PlayChess.com) and it was a liitle disappointing as I was rooting for Hou Yifan. Anyway the general opinion is that she will be Women Champion eventually (hopefully next year).
Name
Rating
G1
G2
G3
G4
Total Points
Kosteniuk, Alexsandra
2510
1
½
½
½
2.5
Hou, Yifan
2557
0
½
½
½
1.5
Related :-
Chessbase report
Chessdom report
[...]
Nice Wooden Chess sets
Top 6 boards at the 4th Pichay cup are using DGT chess sets which are nice wooden sets. On lower boards they use PVC boards but the chess pieces are still wooden sets. I saw some wooden chess sets in the supermarket and the price is pretty cheap. Wish I had time to shop [...]
MP3 songs
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Minyak Cap Kapak?
Seen at one of the tables at PGMA. At least 2 Chinese players have it on their table while playing. I guess it’s used to ‘enhance’ alertness.
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Li Chao
It’s easy to know when Li Chao is winning a game. He’ll put his hands in his pocket and walk around the tournament hall. The less time he spends on the board, the better the indication that the game is in his favour
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Where does the money come from?
One thing I regret during DATMO (again!) is not working harder to find the opportunity to talk or interview the players particularly the Chinese players. WGM Zhang Jilin told me last year alone she travelled to about 70 countries playing chess!
It’s amazing that an above average player like Zhang Jilin (ELO 2300+) can [...]
A vacuum that needs to be filled
This is just my personal opinion and not anything official.
With the end DATMO ended, there is a big vacuum in the Malaysian Chess calendar. Nature abhors a vacuum and I’m sure some other new tournament that will fill in this gap. This tournament, perhaps not on the scale of DATMO, but an international Open [...]




