Impressions from the Third Kuala Lumpur Open

by ChessBase
4/16/2010 – We recently reported on this event, won by the 16-year-old "wonder-girl from China", and shared the video reports produced by our colleagues at Europe Echecs with you. Today we bring you regular pictorial impressions from the event in the capital and largest city of Malaysia. They were shot by our roving reporter WGM Yana Melnikova, to whose report we have added some spine-chilling videos.
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As previously reported 16-year-old wonder-girl GM Hou Yifan was crowned champion of the Third Kuala Lumpur Open Chess Tournament 2010, which concluded at Hotel Olympic Sports on Monday. The Chinese girl became richer with the first prize of RM 10,000 (Malaysia Ringgits = US $3,100 or €2,300) and the glittering DYTM Raja Nazrin Shah Trophy.

Final top ranking after nine rounds

Rk. Ti. Name
FED
Rtg
Pts.
 TB1 
 TB2 
 TB3 
1 GM Hou Yifan
CHN
2570
7.5
52.0
48.0
43.5
2 GM Nguyen Anh Dung
VIE
2464
7.0
53.0
49.0
44.5
3 GM Mchedlishvili Mikheil
GEO
2634
7.0
52.5
48.5
43.5
4 GM Megaranto Susanto
INA
2527
6.5
54.0
49.5
44.5
5 GM Luther Thomas
GER
2559
6.5
51.5
48.0
43.0
6 IM Swapnil S. Dhopade
IND
2442
6.5
49.5
45.5
41.0
7 GM Dzhumaev Marat
UZB
2525
6.5
49.0
45.5
41.5
8 IM Khamrakulov Dzhurabek
UZB
2509
6.5
49.0
44.5
39.5
9 IM Ashwin Jayaram
IND
2446
6.5
48.0
44.0
40.0
10 GM Cao Sang
HUN
2557
6.0
51.5
46.5
41.5
11 GM Rahman Ziaur
BAN
2558
6.0
51.0
47.0
42.5
12 GM Iuldashev Saidali
UZB
2511
6.0
51.0
46.0
41.0
13 FM De Ramos Julius Joseph
PHI
2314
6.0
50.5
47.5
42.0
14 GM Murshed Niaz
BAN
2413
6.0
47.5
44.5
40.5
15 IM Irwanto Saidikin
INA
2414
6.0
47.5
43.5
39.5
16 FM Chan Nicholas
MAS
2398
6.0
45.0
41.0
37.0
17 IM Duong The Anh
VIE
2425
6.0
44.5
40.5
36.5
18 Laksana Agusta
INA
0
6.0
44.0
40.0
36.0
19 IM Yap Kim Steven
PHI
2416
6.0
39.5
35.5
31.5
20 IM Prathamesh Sunil Mokal
IND
2403
6.0
39.0
35.5
31.5

Impressions from the Third Kuala Lumpur Open

By WGM Yana Melnikova


Straight winner: 16-year-old GM Hou Yifan with 7.5/9 points


Second: GM Nguyen Anh Dung, VIE, 2464, 7.0/9 points


Third: GM Mikheil Mchedlishvili, GEO, 2634, 7.0/9 points


Fourth: GM Susanto Megaranto, INA, 2527, 6.5 points


Fifth: GM Thomas Luther, GER, 2559 6.5/9 points


Twelfth: GM Saidali Iuldachev, UZB, 2511 6.0/9 points


15th: IM Sadikin Irwanto, INA, 2414, 6.0/9 points


45th: WIM Nafisa Muminova, UZB, 2338, 5.0/9 points


At the entrance to Batu Caves, a Hindu Murugan statue


IM Aleksandar Wohl, AUS and GM Thomas Luther in Batu Caves


Batu Caves is a limestone hill with a series of cave temples eight miles from Kuala Lumpur


A coconut milk refreshment pause for Hou Yifan and Mikheil Mchedlishvili


The Kuala Lumpur Tower or Menara Kuala Lumpur

The KL Tower, completed in 1994, is 421 m (1,381 ft) tall, making it the eighteenth tallest freestanding tower in the world. The upper area contains a revolving restaurant, providing diners a beautiful view of the city. The tower also acts as the Islamic falak observatory to look for the crescent moon to mark the beginning of Muslim month of Ramadhan.


Spectacular: a view of the city and the Petronas building from the KL Tower


The city viewed from ground level (with the KL tower in the background on the right)


the Tugu Negara, or National Monument

Tugu Negara is a sculpture that commemorates those who died in Malaysia's struggle for freedom, principally against the Japanese occupation during World War II. The monument depicts a group of soldiers holding the Malaysian national flag aloft. Every year on July 31, Hari Pahlawan (Heroes Day), the Prime Minister and heads of military and the police pay their respects to the fallen heroes by laying garlands at the monument.


China Town in Kuala Lumpur


Menara Berkembar Petronas – the famous Petronas Twin Towers

The Petronas Towers were the world's tallest buildings from 1998 to 2004 (when their height was surpassed by Taipei 101). The towers remain the tallest twin buildings in the world. The 88-floor structures are constructed largely of reinforced concrete, with a steel and glass facade designed to resemble motifs found in Islamic art. Another Islamic influence on the design is that the cross section of the towers is based on a Rub el Hizb (albeit with circular sectors added to meet office space requirements).


The Skybridge of the Petronas Towers

The towers feature a skybridge between the two towers on 41st and 42nd floors, 170 m (558 ft) above the ground and 58 m (190 ft) long. It is not firmly attached to the main structure, but is instead designed to slide in and out of the towers to prevent it from breaking during high winds. The skybridge acts as a safety device, so that in the event of a fire or other emergency in one tower, tenants can evacuate by crossing the skybridge to the other tower.

The Petronas Towers have other uses as well – watch at your own peril...

About the photographer

WGM Yana Melnikova, Russia, is:

  • a graduate of the N. Bauman Moscow State Technical University, management faculty;
  • an organizers of chess events for the Moscow Chess Federation;
  • a member of German chess club Bad Konigshofen;
  • a Woman Grandmaster since 2005.

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