16/06/2025
[ MBPJ 2025 ]
Four of us from Catur Gomen Negeri Sembilan (CGN9) trekked up to Petaling Jaya to become arbiters for a 500-strong chess tournament last weekend. This was the second edition of the same tournament that was organized last year by MBPJ and Cerdik Catur Enterprise, who graciously invited us back again this time around. Including this one, it's the third event working with them over the last three years.
To be honest, I wasn't so certain that I'd get that callback for this year's event. During last year's edition, I made monumental mistakes, and it didn't help that there were many other things that went wrong throughout the day. It felt exponentially worse because it's not "my" event but somebody else's, so I felt really guilty. When I left the venue last year, it felt like it'd be my last time.
When they sent the invite, I was surprised, thrilled, relieved, and terrified in equal measures. I made damn sure I wasn't gonna make the same mistakes again this time around π
This year, I was the Pairing Arbiter in charge of the U14 and U17 categories, handling roughly 180 players in total. The event went relatively well, and all issues that popped up were settled with minimal fuss - it was great π€© Certainly felt like I successfully redeemed myself for last year's cock-ups.
One of the highlights was when I got Soh Wai Ching - the current World Champion in towerrunning - to sign my chess board π₯° I wanted to take a selfie with him too, but I had already accosted him multiple times at that point trying to get that autograph, so my cowardly self didn't push for one π«
The sweetest highlight was when the big boss said they're planning to invite us back for another mega event in a few months' time ππ»
Alhamdulillah π