Nicholas and Chuin Hoong set out to strike in rapidchess

HO CHI MINH CITY: With the first SEA Games chess competition starting today in Vietnam, the Malaysian chess players are gearing up to make the first moves. 

The campaign will get going with the individual rapidchess competition where Malaysia’s national champion, 17-year-old Nicholas Chan, and former national champion, 20-year-old Lim Chuin Hoong, will be competing with 16 other players from eight countries. 

Though they will be among the youngest competitors in this event, both Nicholas and Chuin Hoong have realistic chances of upsetting their older opponents such as grandmaster Utut Adianto (Indonesia), grandmaster Eugene Torre (Philippines) and Wu Shaobin (Singapore). 

In rapidchess games, strategies are not so important as tactics due to the shorter time control. Younger players who are tactically sharper will find that they are able to compete on a more equal footing with the older, more experienced opponents. 

Chan and Lim could find the going toughest against players like grandmasters Dao Thien Hai and Tu Hoang Thong (both Vietnam), international master Mark Paragua (Philippines) or even up-and-coming Singaporean youngster Jason Goh. 

Malaysia also have a relatively young team in the team rapidchess competition which starts tomorrow. Apart from Nicholas and Chuin Hoong, the others in the five-man team are 17-year-old Jonathan Chuah, another former national champion, 19-year-old Marcus Chan and the old man of the team, 40-year-old Ismail Ahmad. 

Apart from the individual and team rapidchess events, there will also be two other events for individuals and teams played with normal time control. That starts on Monday.