The Malaysia Chess Federation – Chess in Malaysia

As the foremost chess organization in Malaysia, you can imagine that the Malaysia Chess Federation has played an important role in the development of the game in the country. Here is a timeline of some of its more significant accomplishments and activities.

The Malaysia Chess Federation or MCF is the main chess governing body presiding over all the chess events in Malaysia. The MCF is primarily responsible for promoting and coordinating major chess events in all 13 states of the country. MCF is a member federation of the world governing body, FIDE, and is also a member of the ASEAN Chess Confederation. Here is a look at the MCF’s various activities over the years:

1973 This was the year when the Chess Association of Malaysia or CAM was deregistered. The association was actually the precursor of the Malaysia Chess Federation. The MCF carried on with overseeing chess events in the country, and one of its first presidents was the late Dr. Foo Lum Choon.

1974 Dato Tan Chin Nam became the President of the newly reorganized Malaysian Chess Federation, and one of his first actions was to invite China to join the 1st Asian Team Championship as an observer.

1976 This year was notable for the Malaysian team’s refusal to participate in the men’s and women’s category of the 22nd Chess Olympiad, which was held in Haifa, Israel.

1978 Because of the Malaysia Chess Federation’s sponsorship of the People's Republic of China–which resulted in China being inducted into FIDE–the federation was invited to send a delegation on a Goodwill Tour Of China, which happened from April 1 to April 16.

1978 The Malaysia Chess Federation fielded a team to join the 23rd Chess Olympiad, which was held in Buenos Aires.

1985 This was the year when the annual chess match between Malaysia and Singapore began. The first match in this series of events was hosted in Kuala Lumpur.

1990 On June 24th, The MCF arranged for a delegation of the top Soviet Grandmasters to visit Malaysia to play in a 10 player simultaneous match against local chess players.

Concurrent with this event was the 1990 East Zonal, which was held at in Shah Alam, Kuala Lumpur. The event was organized by the Malaysia Chess Federation in cooperation with Majlis Perbandaran Shah Alam.

1995 In January of this year, the first issue of Majalah Catur or Chess Magazine was published. The magazine would only last for 6 issues before it ceased operations.

1998 Malaysia managed to produce a second international master after 14 years. Mas Hafizul Helmi achieved this victory at the International chess IM tournament, which was held in Singapore.

2000 The close of the millennium ended on a positive note for the Malaysian Chess Federation with a series of double round-robin masters’ tournament. These events were participated in by six of the country’s senior and junior players, and were held at the Putra World Trade Centre.

2002 The MCF organized the World Youth Olympiad. This event was open to players born in 1986 or later. Some of the countries that participated were China, Singapore, and Hong Kong, who each fielded two teams, and Australia and Malaysia, who each sent three teams. Malaysia later added a fourth team after Zambia backed out of the event at the last minute.