Cities Results - Round 3

*MINISTRY OF RESORTS WORLD?* *- by Ignatius Leong -*
Yang Berhormat Dato Sabbaruddin Chik announced that chess is under the ‘Ministry of Resorts World’! Speaking yesterday at the official opening ceremony of the Asian Cities Team Chess Championship and the Asian Women’s Chess Championship, the President of the Malaysian Chess Federation, who is also the Minister of Culture, Arts and Tourism, reiterated that most sports associations in Malaysia come under the purview of either the sports or culture ministries. He added that although Chess does not have the same privilege as other sports, but over the years chess has the fortunate continual support from Resorts World Berhad.
After chatting briefly with several of the participants, the Minister played the ceremonial first move with WIM Tamin Upi Darmayana, the defending Asian women’s champion from Indonesia. Eva Repkova, the event’s only WGM, suffered a first round defeat to Vietnamese WFM Nguyen Thi Dung while China’s top seed WIM Xu Yuhua was held to a draw by Indian WIM Anupama Gokhale in the second round. After three rounds, Shijiazhuang from China is leading the 26-team pack in the Asian Cities Team Chess Championship. A local newspaper paid scant notice to the Chinese composition without realising it is the current national provincial team champion. Their 3-1 victory over defending champions Tashkent is hard to believe especially when one takes into account the fact that the Uzbeks fielded all their four GMs. Meanwhile, Palembang are close on the heels with 10 points, one behind the leaders. The Indonesians have been playing without top board GM Utut Adianto who is playing in a GM tournament in the Philippines. Let us see if Adianto’s arrival will help change the order.

Tashkent	Shijiazhuang	1-3
Tehran	Palembang	1-3
Dubai	Padang	1.5-2.5
Johor Bahru	Talesh	0-4
Doha	Chrompet	3.5-0.5
Sydney	Karachi	1.5-2.5
Beirut	Penang	2.5-1.5
Ho Chi Minh City	Singapore	2.5-1.5
Pontianak	Yangon	1-3
Mandalay	Auckland	1.5-2.5
Shah Alam	Abu Dhabi	3-1
Macau	Kuala Lumpur	0-4
Bandar Seri Begawan	Hong Kong	4-0

Shijiazhuang	11
Palembang	10
Talesh	9
Tashkent	8.5
Doha	8
Tehran, Padang	7.5
Dubai	7
Karachi, Yangon, Beirut, Ho Chi Minh City	6.5
Kuala Lumpur, Sydney	6
Auckland, Singapore, Penang, Shah Alam	5.5
Chrompet, Johor Bahru, Pontianak	5
Bandar Seri Begawan, Mandalay	4
Abu Dhabi	3.5
Macau	1
Hong Kong	0