THE 8TH JOHOR INTERNATIONAL OPEN CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP 2023 BEGINS

 From 5th 11th July 2023, a total of 85 players, 24 in the Masters and 61 In the Amateurs, will do battle for honours in the 8th Johor International Open Chess Championships 2023 at the Fairview International School Campus in Johor Bahru.

The Johor Open is the second in the ASEAN Chess Event series, the first being the Thailand International Open held in Chiangmai from 28th June to 4th July 2023.

Chiangmai saw no less than three players achieving International Master title norms and with a significantly stronger Masters (average rating of 2303) at the Johor Open, this number is expected to significantly improve!

Top seed is Grandmaster Diptayan Ghosh From India, and in first round play defeated Malaysian National Champion FIDE Master Lim Zhouren with the black pieces.

Discounting surprises, his main challenges are expected to come from Indonesians No. 1 and No. 2, Grandmasters Susanto Megaranto and Novendra Priasmoro who are also the second and fourth seeds, and Chinese International Master Chen Qi B who is seeded third.

In total there are 16 titled players from eight countries, of which four are Grandmasters, eight are International Masters and four are FIDE Masters.

The 8th Johor Open International Open Chess Championships is being organised by the Johor Chess Association as part of the ASEAN Chess Event series open tournament initiative of the ASEAN Chess Confederation, and all details can be found at its website: www.johorchess.net and at https://chess-results.com/tnr789586.aspx?lan=1.

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GM Sivuk Vitaly emerged champion of the 7th Johor International Chess Open 2022 scoring 7.5 points from 9 rounds.

• GM Sivuk Vitaly had 6 wins, 3 draws and 0 loss.
• Wins include games against
• IM Soozankar A.M.
• IM Gunawan Ronny
• Dinh Nho Kiet
• IM Yeoh Li Tian
• GM Nguyen Duc Hoa
• IM Sadikin The Irwanto
• and draws against
• IM Muthaiah Al
• GM Priasmoro Novendra
• IM Harikrishnan A Ra

Grandmaster Sivuk Vitaly is incidentally the defending Johor Open Champion having won the event back in 2019. After that the event was on hiatus due to Covid-19 restrictions. The grandmaster takes home with him a cash prize of RM 8000 for his efforts.

Grandmaster Priasmoro Novendra who recently won the Penang Open, also had the same 7 and a half points as Grandmaster Sivuk Vitaly but had to settle for 2nd place due to Sivuk Vitaly’s better tie break.

International Master Harikrishnan A Ra from India, took 3rd place with a score 6 and half points. He takes home with him the prize money of RM 3000.

Despite losing two games in the tournament, International Master Yeoh Li Tian finished 4th place earning him the prize money of RM 2000.

Vietnamese Grandmaster Nguyen Duc Hoa won RM 1000 for his 5th placing.

6th to 10th place are FM Banh Gia Huy, IM Nolte Rolando, FM Kurniawan Muhamad Agus, FM Laohawirapap Prin and IM Bancod Ronald respectively.

A total of 78 players took part in this tournament.

Interactive Cross Table here

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10th JOHOR RAPID CHESS OPEN 2023 (after Round 3)

 More than 160 players participated in the recent 10th Johor Open Rapid 2023 held at Fairview International school at Dato Onn , Johor Baru which saw three International Master (IM), a Fide Master (FM) and two Candidate Master(CM)  .

The tournament was graced by seven nations including Singapore, Indonesia, India, China, Korea and USA.

International Master (IM) Azarya Jodi Setvaki from Indonesian emerged joint champion together with International Master (IM) Pavel Shkapenko who represented FIDE the world chess governing body after they both beat six of their respective opponents before finally drawing in the final round with second place. Both of them earned RM1,100 respectively in the process.

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Six players were tied for third spot, among them include Jiang Haochen from China, CM Owen Michael from Indonesia, CM Shreyans K. Shah from India, FM Ignatius Leong from Singapore and our Malaysians Teoh Yi Hearn Lawrence and Chow Ming Jack a local teacher here.

Catogory prizes include Best lady which was won by Malaysian Ivonne Tan Yi En  followed  three other fellow Malaysian ladies who were tied for the second placing  namely wheelchair bound Lim Yee Jin, Lau Yen Lin and Joana Chin Ying Xuan.

Best Under 12 boy Dhivyeesh Balakrishnan, best under 12 girl Khor Zhi Rou, Best U10 boy Shrinivvas Vijayakanesan, best under 10 girl Singaporean Ng Hsuan Jen Danielle Wudijono, best under 8 boy Choong Ee Sean and Best under 8 girl Koh Hui Qi.

 Another spotlight off the tournament was on the youngest contender of the tournament was 6-Year Old Malaysian Loh  Hyun Ren who  came in 125^th place among 166 contenders beating two other contestant in the process.

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A SUCCESSFUL 8TH JOHOR INTERNATIONAL CHESS OPEN

Jul 12, 2023 — by Steven Cheong in Report The Masters section of the 8th Johor International Open was for most of the round very hard fought. The likely winners and norm candidates were effectively playing a mini round robin amongst themselves. The 24 players had by the second round dropped to 22 players with one illness and then later to 20 due to exhaustion! PHOTO: Priasmoro with Johor Chess Association Vice President and his Trophy Defending champion Indonesian Grandmaster Novendra Priasmoro, the fourth seed, was one of the favourite. He is no stranger to winning tournaments in the region – the Bangkok Open when just an International Master, and of course the Malaysian Open. He had used all that experiences to already be the champion before the last round with 7/9. PHOTO: Fighting chess. Priasmoro’s final round game against China’s Chen Kallin was almost the last to finish! Top seeded Indian Grandmaster Diptayan Ghosh did his best but was clearly feeling the effects of several months on the road in three different countries – Singapore, Chiangmai and now Johor Bahru. He had indeed chalked up some amazing results with one first place and two unbeaten second places. The 8th Johor International Open Chess Championship 2023 is part of the ASEAN Chess Series, a number of events designed by ASEAN Chess Confederation President Ignatius Leong to revive and accelerate the development of chess in the region. While the open event will now take a break, a series of title norm round robin tournaments are being planned. Even if the main objectives are title norms and the chance to get or increase ratings, the Johor Open offered a record prize fund and number of prizes for a regional event, and with the proposed addition of a third section – Challengers – to the existing Masters and Amateur at the Laos International Open in 2024, these opportunities will only increase. PHOTO: Perhaps Diptayan’s biggest impact was the example he showed to the young local players of how a chess professional conducts himself – both an excellent role model and an organiser’s dream. PHOTO: Singapore International Master Jagadeesh Siddharth had an excellent tournament, sharing second place with Diptayan with 6/9 but short of the Grandmaster title norm he was in contention for earlier.

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