Chess master to take on 88 players in simultaneous challenge
By C.S. NATHAN
CHESS enthusiasts have an opportunity to take part in a record-breaking chess feat to be attempted on May 18 at the RB Land office in Seremban 2.
Local chess candidate master Collin Madhavan will be taking on 88 chess players at the same time in what is known as a simultaneous chess challenge. The event will be witnessed by representatives of the Malaysia Book of Records.
A simultaneous chess match is when a player (usually an expert) takes on the challenge of playing against a certain number of players at the same time.
It is not only a display of chess skills; the match is also a test of memory as the main player has to keep track of all the on-going games.
The current world record for a simultaneous chess game is held by grandmaster Susan Polgar of the United States who played against 326 players in a sixteen-and-a-half-hour match in 2005.
The RB Land Simultaneous Chess Challenge 2008, the first of its kind in the state, will be hosted by property developer RB Land and co-sponsored by www.quantum.88.
Madhavan, a mathematics tutor and double-record holder, is gunning to break his own record of simultaneously playing against 71 players set at a similar event in Kuala Lumpur last December.
Source: thestar.com.my
Good luck! It’ll help boost chess in Malaysia.
Actually Colin is a professinal chess coach (who also gives maths tuition to kids) and who is only able to teach beginners and players under 1400. At best a mediocre player when he plays, (and even in his youth that was very occasional due to his fear of losing), he never won any kind or level of tournament. He has in recent years somewhat rewritten his chess resume as to how he obtained a 2200+ rating and represented Malaysia. At close to 50 years he has to be admired for applying for the Candidate Master title and showing it off but is not surprisingly satisfied with that “achievement”. His latest self promotion gimmick builds on setting a “record” by playing a simultaneous exhibition against mainly beginners. The real Malaysian records involving 100s of strong players was set yearly in the 90s at National University Team Championships involving National Champions and even included a blindfold simultaneous exhibition by a genuine Malaysian player and FIDE Master Mok Tze Meng. But this was done for love of the game and not to gain an entry in a Book of Records.
Glad to have something about chess in the public domain. Chess is too quiet in Malaysia, and having some chess activity that is highlighted in the press is always positive. Anonymous 10:45:00 should be out there like Colin; promoting chess to one and all (kids and parents, and why not?!) instead of griping like sour grapes.
Mrs Teoh
Anyone who makes such strong statements and indulge in a bit of character assassination, yet does not have the guts to reveal his/her real name, such statements can hardly be taken seriously.
I have known Colin for almost 30 years and I know he is doing this record to bring recognition to chess and popularise the game in Malaysia. Example, I cannot remember the last time a piece of chess news appeared in a national newspaper. Furthermore it did not appear in a chess column but in the main national news section.
The poster claims another record in the 90s. Whether that is true or not is not relevant. If it was done for the love of the game, it should not even be brought up , as if to challenge this current record. I really doubt the motive of the poster in writing his/her comment.
Colin is the only person who actually conceived the idea of setting a chess record and actually carrying it out. This is to his credit and I think some people are kicking themselves now for not thinking of it first. But that’s alright,as someone once said
, records are meant to be broken. It will generate more interest in the game in Malaysia, and that, dear anonymous, is the real objective that my friend Colin Madhavan has envisoned.
And by the way, I’m Jimmy Liew, International Master.
Dear Susan,
Thank you for putting us (Malaysian) in your blog. True to its objectives (for chess enthusiasts, updates on interests and important chess news), you had announced to the world that chess is alive in this part of the world. The task is to discuss it productively!
Unwittingly, comments posted thus far seem to lead you into an arbitraging position. It is ironic that there are chess website/blogs of Malaysian origin, and yet, Malaysian chess “enthusiasts” had chosen to response in your blog. Your “Susan Polgar” IP must have made the difference! Branding is really serious business and offers advantages in sustainability.
I have come to know Collin in August 2005. I have great respect for him when I noticed the swarm of chess playing children surrounded him in the Merdeka Chess Championship in Kuala Lumpur. Since children don’t lie, it indicated the children spontaneously love him. His intention to bring chess to the masses is genuine. Incidentally, I too have contrived a plan to bring chess coaching skills to the lowest level of social strata. http://www.themalaysian.com.my/issue10.htm refers. Our approaches appear to rhythm in common purpose. I decided to walk with him in securing corporate sponsorships for his endeavours.
We should be welcoming the involvement of http://www.quantum88.com (underwrites the Simul) and RB Land (hosting the event). An event of such nature involves logistics and consumes cash. Admirably, both companies knew nothing about chess!
Susan Polgar’s name got dragged into it is because a reporter asked about world records during the KL Chess Challenge 2007 and the CEO of http://www.quantum88.com uncannily declared that there will be a series of simul across Malaysia. And these series will culminate into a challenge for the world record! Of course, it is of gross injustice to hold him to “his words” as he is not a chess player and is unaware of the implications of his reply. It is NOT our intention to associate our simul with that of Susan’s; one is in the super league while ours are to “play ambassadors” to promote the game. We can only wish that http://www.quantum88.com has allocated a budget big enough for more chess events…
For all the smarting uneasiness of the “chess purists”, perhaps we should know that, I, a non-rated and unheralded chess player is putting in the effort to bring chess to the masses. Chess belongs to everybody and is much bigger than any one of us! I think Susan (Polgar) will agree to this too!
From the heart and mind of a “chess realist”/Lee Siew Fai