Tuesday, July 19, 2005

Life is a game... Chess is serious

The annual Penang Chess League has recently been completed with my team, the Old Frees ++ (Plus Plus, not double check) winning by a margin of three points. This is by no means an amazing feat. But during the third week of the tournament, we had a scared as we only managed a "meagre" 3.5 point haul in round five and six. This was a horrendous result, watching our 2.5 point lead being cut to only 0.5 by the Mind Chess Enterprise Tutors who blew away OFA Balls2U and PACL A. Both Heng Meng and Cheng Teik could have performed better and we would have a secure final day of the tournament but it was not meant to be. Heng Meng drew both his games against Eoh Thean Keat (OFA Balls2U) and Tan Eng Seong (PACL B) while Cheng Teik drew with Chan Kim Chai (OFA Balls2U) and squandered a completely winning game to the eventual reserve board prize winner, Lim Chin Teng (PACL B).

Despite being only half a point ahead going into the final day, we still pushed on with full confidence, knowing that the Tutors now had to face two tough rivals while we will have a relatively easier time. We swept the last two games 3-0 against OFA D and Renesas A. I managed to score a perfect 8/8 as a bonus and hopefully a morale booster to continue playing chess. I have said time and again that I have quit playing chess for fun and will only play for money. Greedy as it may seem, I still believe that there are more productive things I can do with my time: like playing Warcraft III and talking to Baby.

So anyway, the 1st prize of this tournament was RM 1500 but we have to split it among four people and the way in which we decided to split the money is of course not pulicly disclosed. But I can assure you guys that I can now afford an MP3 player and perhaps buy something nice for my baby. As you can clearly see, chess has been my only source of income this summer. Four Sundays of leisure led to a net revenue of 300 bucks or so. Not too bad for a lazy bum like me.

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