Official Bulletin: 21st Malaysian Chess Festival 2026 Welcomes 500+ Players at KL Gateway Mall

Two Decades of Chess Heritage at KL Gateway Mall

The Malaysian Chess Festival proudly marks its 21st milestone edition, gathering over 500 competitors from 15+ federations. The festival opened with three major team and speed events before transitioning into the flagship classical championships.

Opening Event Summaries

• SMS Deen Merdeka Open Rapid Team: 66 teams; Champion: INDONESIA A (16 MP).
• Dato' Tan Chin Nam Junior Team (U12): 62 teams; Champion: CEREBRILL MARCUSCHESS A (31 BP).
• Merdeka Blitz: 115 players; Champion: IM Jiang Haochen (8.5/9).

The organizing team thanks all arbiters, sponsors, and supporters for maintaining world-class tournament standards.

4 events completed. 5 more to go!!

DATMO -Round 1 results

Board No	White Name	White Title	White Rating	Result	Black Name	Black Title	Black Rating
1	Munkhbayar, Gijir	FM	2119	0 - 1	Iniyan, Pa	GM	2609
2	Saparya, Ghosh	WFM	2106	0 - 1	Mitrabha, Guha	GM	2540
3	Ilamparthi, A R	GM	2517	1 - 0	Siddharth, Sai	-	2085
4	Archita, Agrawal	-	2079	0 - 1	Siddharth, Jagadeesh	GM	2513
5	Vijay, Rege	-	2074	½ - ½	Savchenko, Boris	GM	2477
6	Jiang, Haochen	IM	2457	1 - 0	Mahmood Shah, Mukhriez Shah	CM	2069
7	Mohammad Fahad, Rahman	IM	2443	1 - 0	Wang, Jiyan	-	2056
8	Lee, Jing Xi Jonathan	-	2054	½ - ½	Grigorjev, Iljya	IM	2432
9	Ayush, Sharma	IM	2426	1 - 0	Shitiz, Prasad	-	2038
10	Priasmoro, Novendra	GM	2422	1 - 0	Pradiksha, P S	WCM	2021
11	Mohit, S	AIM	2011	0 - 1	Gorovets, Andrey	GM	2420
12	Nazari, Arad	IM	2419	1 - 0	Enkhnamuun, Batkhishigt	WCM	1998
13	Nguyen, Hong Anh	WIM	1971	0 - 1	Bersamina, Paulo	IM	2407
14	Bacojo, Mark Jay	IM	2395	1 - 0	Tin, Shan Wen	-	1971
15	Kz, Abdullah Khairi	-	1970	0 - 1	Liu, Xiangyi	IM	2392
16	Mohammad, Nubairshah Shaikh	IM	2383	1 - 0	Vedant, Yogesh Kale	-	1963
17	Shen, Ree Herng	CM	1945	0 - 1	Viani, Antonio Dcunha	IM	2377
18	Concio, Michael Jr.	IM	2375	½ - ½	Chen, Baize	-	1942
19	Naranzaya, Zorigoo	-	1939	0 - 1	Nguyen, Duc Hoa	GM	2374
20	Arfan, Aditya Bagus	IM	2362	1 - 0	Stalker, Ian	-	1936
21	Nandinjiguur, Chinzorig	WCM	1934	0 - 1	Arca, Christian Gian Karlo	IM	2358
22	Cairel Adrin, Rumi Arjuna Malique	-	1917	0 - 1	Peng, Hongchi	-	2352
23	Nguyen, Van Huy	GM	2348	1 - 0	Tenuun, Tseesuren	-	1911
24	Wee, Yin Lin	-	1909	0 - 1	Avinash, Ramesh	IM	2345
25	Parv, H Hakani	-	1902	0 - 1	Ang, Ern Jie Anderson	FM	2319
26	Casiguran, Phil Martin	FM	2317	1 - 0	Gagloyev, Alan	-	1895
27	Tabor, Erwin D.	-	1894	0 - 1	Nitin, S.	IM	2316
28	Madhesh, Kumar S	FM	2313	1 - 0	Yap, Ray Jin	-	1887
29	Leong, Khai Shen	-	1886	0 - 1	Jiang, Liu	-	2303
30	Aakash, G	FM	2301	1 - 0	Wang, Yi(Bj)	-	1886
31	Batbileg, Boldbaatar	-	1874	0 - 1	Lim, Zhuo Ren	FM	2288
32	Karthikeyan, P.	GM	2283	1 - 0	Vakada, Sriram Jayin	-	1863
33	Asadel, Nadiv	-	1857	0 - 1	Nouri, Alekhine	FM	2279
34	Gajwa, Ankit	FM	2245	1 - 0	Nik Norhisham, Nik Muhd Haziq	-	1854
35	Araki, Dai	-	1839	1 - 0	Niharika, Challa	WFM	2245
36	Saravana, Krishnan P.	IM	2241	1 - 0	Ong, Way Justin	AGM	1836
37	Ishmeet, Singh	-	1817	½ - ½	Asaka, Samuel	-	2241
38	Li, Bo	IM	2229	1 - 0	Gnanaseelan, Jude Dorison	-	1788
39	Azmir, Alif Mikhael	-	1774	0 - 1	Arnav, Agrawal	FM	2191
40	Chen, Meng Boon Marcus	-	2190	1 - 0	Kapoor, Tanush	-	1774
41	Munkhbaatar, Surenmandakh	-	1774	½ - ½	Buyankhishig, Batpelden	WFM	2181
42	Swain, Ashirwad	CM	2180	1 - 0	Baidar, Buyandelger	AFM	1773
43	Berata, I Kadek Winayaka Sentanu	-	1770	0 - 1	Chow, Yi Chen	CM	2161
44	Cheng, Gongpu	-	2157	1 - 0	Wang, Xin Yu Aimee	-	1751
45	Jivan Rao, Gauthm	-	1748	0 - 1	Cong, Dingzhou	FM	2156
46	Yu, Shi	-	2151	1 - 0	Jeyaram, Andika	-	1719
47	Hua, Bochu	-	1696	½ - ½	Alok, Sinha	-	2148
48	Lai, Duc Minh	AGM	2147	1 - 0	Soboleva, Anastasia	-	1665
49	Narayanan, Sri Shiva Kumar	-	1519	0 - 1	Yanayt, Eugene	FM	2137
50	Wang, Yinuo(Ln)	-	2137	1 - 0	Mohd Shahrul Annuar, Muhd Aariz Daniel	-	1518
51	Rahmawati,	-	1517	0 - 1	Ratnakaran, K.	IM	2135
52	Xie, Jiaxiang	-	2358	0 - 1	Kushagra, Mohan	IM	2446
53	Aditya, Varun Gampa	FM	2323	½ - ½	Nguyen, Quoc Hy	IM	2424
54	Laddad, Aadhavan Atish	-	2108	½ - ½	Tan, Jun Ying	IM	2412
55	Manon, Reja Neer	IM	2408	½ - ½	Chong, Jin Cheng	-	2075
56	Mohd Shahrul Annuar, Nur Aara Daniel	-	0	1 - 0 (bye)	bye	-	-

Full results here: https://s3.chess-results.com/tnr1474019.aspx?lan=1&art=2&rd=1&flag=30&SNode=S0

DATMO 2026 -Round 1 "upsets"

🇳🇱 THE "UPSET DRAWS" 🏆
When rating gaps don't matter...

👇 Upsets don't happen when a weaker beats a stronger one..

⚡ Board 37 – The Giant Killer
🟢 Ishmeet Singh (1817) held YouTuber Samuel Asaka (2241) to a draw.
➡️ That’s a gap of nearly 425 rating points – bridged like it was nothing.

⚡ Board 47 – The Underdog Strikes
🟢 Hua Bochu (1696) drew with Alok Sinha (2148).
➡️ Giving away over 450 points – and still walking away with half a point.

⚡ Board 5 – The Statement
🟢 Vijay Rege (2074) split the point with GM Boris Savchenko (2477).

⚡ Board 8 – No Fear
🟢 Lee Jing Xi Jonathan (2054) drew IM Iljya Grigorjev (2432).

⚡ Further Down the Leaderboard...
🟢 Munkhbaatar Surenmandakh (1774) drew WFM Buyankhishig Batpelden (2181).

🟢 IM Mark Manon (2408) and IM Michael Concio Jr. (2375) –
➡️ Both were held to draws by opposition rated 300+ points below them.

Full results: https://s3.chess-results.com/tnr1474019.aspx?lan=1&art=2&rd=1&flag=30&SNode=S0
#DATMO #MYchessFestival #Chess #UpsetDraws #UnderdogStory #ChessTournament #RatingDoesntMatter #ChessLife

♟️ SMS Deen Merdeka Open Rapid Team Chess Championship 2026

 

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👥 264 players | 🏛️ 66 teams | 🔁 9 intense rounds of rapid chess

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🏆 Co-Leaders Watch
👑 BRAINBOX - FEEL MY HOLY ATTACK & INDONESIA A
Both sit at a perfect 8 Match Points — setting up a thrilling title race.

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🚀 Breakout Surprise of the Tournament
⭐ INDONESIA B (an all-WIM squad)
Stormed into 3rd place after a stunning 4-0 sweep over SMS DEEN TEAM 1 — proving that experience and synergy can topple any giant.

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🇲🇾 Malaysian Hopes
How are the top local talents faring against elite international grandmasters and masters?

• 🧠 FM Lim Zhuo Ren

• 🏅 GM Yeoh Li Tian

• 🔥 IM Poh Yu Tian

All three are flying the flag high in a fiercely competitive field.

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📋 Round 5 – High-Stakes Board Pairings
⚔️ The pressure intensifies as the top boards clash. Who will blink first?

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🔮 What’s Next?
⏳ With 5 rounds remaining, every move matters. Expect tactical fireworks, rising stars, and possible upsets as the leaderboard takes its final shape.