Final World Mind Games Qualifier - IM Jimmy Liew makes the cut! - by Junior Tay

GM Krisztian Szabo, GM Maxim Dlugy, GM Hrair Simonian, GM Petr Neumann, GM Rajaram Laxman, GM Batchuluun Tsegmed and GM Arthurs Neiksans. That's the list of GMs crammed into the final qualifier of the World Mind Games online event. I haven't even begun to mention the chockful number of IMs who were also fighting for the final 15 spots in the World Mind Games Candidates event. The field looks more like an European over-the-board Swiss event than an online thingy. Am I glad that I played in an earlier qualifier...

IMs Goh Wei Ming, Lim Yee Weng, Mok Tze Meng, Jimmy Liew and FM Dominic Lo played in this edition which had 164 competitors in total. It was absolutely brutal as Dominic exclaimed "Every round I'm fighting for my life and still suffering!" - as he took a short break from studying for his medical exams. So much for a peaceful break.

After 6 rounds, Yee Weng decided that he had enough and went to watch EPL on cable instead, even though he still had a chance to make the top 15 having scored 3.5/6 then. Mok went for a toilet break just before the event commenced and missed round 1. He also got disconnected in the final round in a won position, ending up with 5/9. Wei Ming, after working two marathon no-sleep days in a row, gifted a whole rook in a highly advantageous position in the penultimate round, and eventually missed the top 15 after scoring 6/9. Anyway, he was also offering Manchester United and City commentary during the games so the lesson learnt is multitasking is definitely  bad for your online blitz.  Dominic Lo, emerged after 8 rounds with an excellent  5.5 points, needed to win his final round but got ground down.

However, it was Malaysian IM Jimmy Liew who shone today. He first announced his intention of not being there to make up the number by beating American GM Maxim Dlugy in Round 2. In such a big field, it's amazing that Jimmy can end up playing Mok (Rd 7 draw) and Wei Ming (Rd 5 loss). Here's the crucial final round game in which the winner would make the top 15.

So Jimmy emerged 13th with 6.5/9 and the event was won by GM Szabo with 8/9.  GM Dlugy and IM Mohamad Haddouche tied for 2nd with 7.5 points.

You can also read Jimmy's personal account of this event on his own blog.


The 17 round World Mind Games Candidates will commence on 27th October 10pm at the playchess.com Emanuel Lasker Arena at 10pm. The 120 qualifiers will join GMs rated 2550 and above for prizes + an all expenses paid trip to the World Mind Games event in Beijing.