POH YU TIAN, MALAYSIA'S YOUNGEST CHESS PLAYER WITH IM TITLE

GEORGE TOWN, July 21 (Bernama) -- Penang young chess player Poh Yu Tian was awarded the title of International Master (IM) after obtaining a rating of 2,429 in the 8th East Asian Youth Chess Championship (EAYCC) held here.

Poh, 15, is the youngest and 10th player in Malaysia to win the title and the 3rd in Penang.

His outstanding performance among Malaysians, winning first place in the under-18 open category, champion of the rapid event as well as participation in the Blitz event, qualified him to be the first recipient of the PMX Cup trophy.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s daughter, Nurul Nuha Anwar, presented the trophy to Poh at the closing ceremony of the EAYCC here last night.

Poh's father, Poh Leong Pat, when met, thanked the organisers for choosing his son to receive the trophy.

"Poh has completed three 'norms' with a rating of 2,429 for the IM title and the focus after this is to get the 'Grand Master' title. To do that, he needs to complete three more 'norms' and I believe he can do it," said the father.

Apart from Poh, four other Malaysian chess players under the International Chess Federation (FIDE) also managed to raise their respective titles at the tournament.

They are the winner of the under-14 female category, Ainul Mardhiah Afif (Woman FIDE Master - WFM); second place winner in the open under-14 category Kavin Mohan (Chess Master - CM),  as well as second and third place winners in the open under-10 category, Chow Yi Chen and Yap Ray Jin,  who also earned CM title.

 Meanwhile, Penang Chess Association (PCA) president See Swee Sie said Penang was selected to host the tournament to enable it to scout for more young talents.

"Competitions like this enable Malaysian players to get ratings to increase their respective titles because going to competitions abroad is expensive, so the opportunity to hold a tournament here is a good exposure and should be taken advantage of as much as possible.

"We see very good potential in young players such as Poh Yu Tian. Although he is only 15 years old, he has already won the title of IM and we hope that after this he will try to win the title of Grand Master (GM) because Malaysia has yet to have a player who has reached that level, " he said.

A total of 358  participants from 17 countries took part in the tournament which started on July 12  and was jointly organised by PCA and the Malaysian Chess Association (MCF).

Malaysia sent 74 players who competed in six categories. Overall,  the Malaysian team managed to grab second place after collecting two gold, two silver and one bronze.

China won first place in the tournament with five gold, three silver and five bronze medals while Vietnam took third place with two gold and two silver.

--BERNAMA