(The University of Malaya GACC student volunteers were on hand to help in the smooth running of the Malaysian Chess Festival 2008 events)The 28th Astro Merdeka Standard Team Chess Championship 2008 garners 78 teams of which 36 are participating in the Open Category and 32 in the Junior Category.
In view of the Ramadhan month which falls on 1st Sept 2008 and smaller number of teams the players agreed to reduce the number of rounds to 7 to be played over 2 days - 30th Aug to 31st Aug 2008. Time control is revised to 1 hour to the finish. 4 rounds will be played today while another 3 rounds will be played tomorrow followed by Closing and Prize Giving Ceremony.
Play has just begun this morning at about 0930hr. This will be the final series of this year's Malaysian Chess Festival 2008 and will be the last chess tournament to be held at the Wilayah Complex.
Open Category
The Senior category is led by "Pelikan". This category also attracts one foreign entry from the Philippines the "Apocalypse Manila". The Filipino team was in 5th position in the recent Team Rapid event
Junior Team Category
32 Teams are in this Category with Selangor State Team seeded at the top.
