Chess master to take on 88 players in simultaneous challenge
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homegun on Sat, 05/10/2008 at 6:16am.
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.
“The aim is not to beat every one but to promote the game itself. Of course, as a chess master, I have to maintain an 80% to 90% winning tally but I often give away draws so that participants would be motivated to do better.
“It is taxing to walk around and keep score during the course of a game but I try my best to prepare myself both physically and mentally before each event,” he said.
Madhavan estimates that the upcoming chess match against 88 players would take up to four hours to complete.
Seremban-born Madhavan, who represented Malaysia in chess tournaments from 1989 to 1994, is an experienced chess coach who has trained students since 1978. From 1990 to 1996, he trained under the late chess grandmaster Eduard Gufeld of Georgia.
Volunteer chess coach Lee Siew Fai said the event was geared to promote chess-playing across the country.
“We plan to introduce the simultaneous chess match in other states as well to increase awareness of the game,” said Lee, who is an aircraft engineer.
RB Land sales and marketing manager Susan Teh said the event would be a novel experience, especially for schoolgoing children.
“It is an exciting event and we hope to hit the target of 88 participants. Registration is free and open to chess players of all ages,” she said, adding that players would also receive certificates of partici-pation.
Source: http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2008/5/10/central/21192826&sec=central
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