During his early years in chess, Abdullah grew up idolizing the former World Chess Champion
Garry Kasparov as well as local two-time chess champion and Malaysia's first International Master (IM) Jimmy Liew.[1]
"Who were my inspiration in chess? During the time when i first started, the Karpov-Kasparov names were going on big, so Kasparov was the main hero. And of course in reading newspapers like The Malay Mail and Utusan Melayu i kept on reading on this player called Jimmy Liew and I've always wanted to see him, he was my local hero".
— Mohd Kamal Abdullah
Abdullah won the Malaysian Chess Championship three times, the first and second being in two consecutive years which happened in 1988 and 1989. After a long hiatus in chess, Abdullah secured his third championship win after three decades which he won the title in 2019.[2] Abdullah has also represented Malaysia in four Chess Olympiads,[3] the latest being in 2016[4] as a replacement for IM Mas Hafizulhelmi.[5]