Top three Sabah Master winners to compete in Malaysian Chess in KL
Chess is a gymnasium of the mind. It is a combination of art, science and sport.
Chess will make you a creative thinker, a problem solver, you will have better memory retention, better concentration and visualisation skills and most importantly, it will teach you to have good sportsmanship.
“It is proven that a child who is a good chess will do much better in their academic compared to their peers.
“They are able to concentrate better in school, they have good visualisation skills, they are creative thinker and they enjoy solving difficult problems,” said Sabah Chess Association (SCA) president Muammar Julkarnain at the closing ceremony of the Sabah Master 2020 Championship at the Sabah Chess Academy in Kingfisher here recently.
Although chess has long been associated with a child's school academic, Muammar believed that the game could also complement other areas of a child's development, including other sports activities.
“Take for example the game of football, if some of the football players played chess for recreational, their performance on the football pitch can be seen through their decision making, creativity and composure.
“Being a good chess player will also make you a strategic player. Another example of a strategic player or sportman is none other than Manny Pacquiao. He is considered as one of the greatest boxers of all time. He has both the physical and mental strength.
“An article, if I am not mistaken from the Philippines, claimed that Manny Pacquiao also plays chess during his free time and will compete with other chess players in his country just for fun. There is much food for thought there,” he said.
Meanwhile, Muammar said the Sabah Chess Association (SCA) was currently introducing chess as part of schools co-curriculum to ensure a child can excel in both academic and sports.
“We are not pushing chess to schools to create a chess champion, that is not our main purpose anymore, but we want chess to complement other discipline in a child's development.
“One of SCA's visions back in 2009 was to find potential chess players where we will nurture them, guide them and turn them into a Grand master by 2019.
“Unfortunately, we did not achieve our vision because till today, Malaysia is still unable to create any Grandmaster.
“Although we did not achieve our initial vision, I call it as a ‘successful failure' as we did not fail completely, because it is not the end result that matters but how we achieve towards our vision,” said Muammar, adding that between 2009 and 2019, SCA had successfully set up its very own chess academy and had written their very own chess book which would be in the market by this year.
“Our vision for 2020 and the years to come is to create chess as a culture.
“If we create a champion, it will only benefit that player. But if we create a culture it will broaden the horizon.
“By creating a culture, we are able to approach more students especially from rural areas to get them excited in the game of chess as it is not an expensive learning tool,” he added.
The Sabah Master 2020 Championship saw former state champion David Chin being crowned champion after defeating 14 other players in a round-robin tournament, where each contestants will meet all the other contestants in turn.
The second and third place winners were Awang Mohd Syafie Mohd Kifflee and Masrin Erowan.
All three winners will represent Sabah in the Malaysian Chess Championship in Kuala Lumpur next month.
The SCA will be organising many chess competitions this year including the Kaamatan Chess Open, the Sabah Chess Ladies Open, and the Borneo International Chess Challenge 2.0.
Further details and information can be found on the association's website at www.sabahchess.com or the Sabah Chess Association group on Facebook.