Results of Recent Local Tournaments
IM Tu Hoang Thong from Vietnam won the event with one defeat. However, the challenge trophy went to 1st runner-up Gregory Choog as IM Tu is not a local citizen nor pernanent resident. The winner of the 1996's event CM Lau Keng Boon was the only player to defeat IM Tu. However, he lost his next game to Gregory Choong and from then onwards never quite manage to recover.
Navin Sawalani was this year's Under-16 Champion. Navin is a student from ACS. He was part of the team who participated in the Asia Teams Championship. He performed well in the Singapore Open too, drawing with FM Chia and NM Lim.
Goh Weiming was the winner of this event. As usual, the blitz demon demolished most of his more established opponents with apparent ease. However, he should concentrate more on long games if he is to make major progress in his chess career.
FM Chia CS was the winner. IM Tu was the highest scorer but because he is not a Singaporean, the trophy went to 1st runner up FM Chia. Dr. Nithia was the only player to have a winning position against IM Tu. It was unfortunate that the good doctor chose the incorrect plan....
Some of the best games will be out soon.
FIDE World Champion, Anatoly Karpov was in Singapore from 26 - 28 November.
He met up with the Minister of Education, Rear Admiral Teo Chee Hean and also held a press conference. When asked how Chess benefits oneself, he said that from chess he learns how to plan his moves in his political career.Karpov also proposed that the education authorities may induct Chess into the local school curriculum.
On the 28th of November, Karpov held a simultaneous match against 25 opponents at the Singapore
Intellectual Games Centre (Bishan). His opponents include some national
players as well as the top local juniors. The fact that more than 200
spectators were present can attest to Karpov's popularity with the local
chess players. Our local tournaments seldom hit the 100 participants
mark...
Karpov Simul Sponsors: Singapore Pools (PTE) LTD
Organiser: Intchess Asia- IA Ignatius Leong, IA Tang Kum Foo
Chief Arbiter: IA Lin Feng (PRC)
Appeals: IA Sun Liang Zhi (PRC), GM Bachtiar Koautly (FRA)
Technical: IA Lim Chye Lye Karpov's manager: GM Bachtiar Koautly (FRA)
Results Karpov won 21 and drew 4 games.
Draws were attained by: Woman Candidate Master Yip Fong Ling, National
Ladies Champion 1994, 1995
Candidate Master Lau Keng Boon, current National Champion
Candidate Master Foo Hsiang Ming, National Junior Champion 1995
James Long, National player.
GM Wu scoring 5.5/6, was the winner of this rather strong event. Players like FM Chia, CM Foo, CM Mark Chan, Dr. Nithianathan, Jopie Massie, Tan Chor Chuan and Kek Wei Chuan were all there.
For details, please check Mr. Chia CS's webpage at a later date.
This is the first time SAFRA, or any MINDEF body for that matter, organizes a chess competition. That is a good start and a good sign for local chess activities. Many chess players lose touch with chess after joining National Service. However, if chess activities can be endorsed as a recognized sport in MINDEF, this will definitely spur chess to greater heights.
(Come to think of it, I did submit a similar Suggestion to my OIC while I was serving NS and even got two dollars as a reward! Anyone wants a treat?)
The National Rapid was held on the 31st of May. This was a one day event, totaling 7 rounds in all. Many top local masters and players joined in the bash, including the 2 international coaches GM Wu Shao Bin and IM Tu Hoang Thong. The latters had been terrorizing the local chess circuits ever since they came and not many can hold them at bay.
Starting round 4, most of the chess celebs dutifully made 3 points. FM Teo Kok Siong was the odd one out. He was clearly out of form, losing to IA Leong in round 3 and to Yee Kah Leong in round 5. GM Wu, the highest rated player in the field, was knocked out of the running by local IM Hsu Li Yang and was later held to a draw by top junior Goh Weiming. Incidentally, Weiming defeated Wu in the same event last year.
Weird things seemed to happen in the last round. Goh Weiming was paired with FM Chia Chee Seng. After less than ten moves, the tactically acclaimed Goh suffered a tremendous tactical oversight, allowing Chia a simple queen check that drops a piece! Apparently, FM Chia was in a good mood. Since he needed just a draw to win the second prize, he offered Goh a draw which the latter gratefully took.
And just beside them, Dr. Nithia and IM Hsu was fighting hard. Li Yang essayed an unsound pawn sacrifice in a French Exchange with 4.c4, which the good doctor refused because he trusted Li Yang's opening too much! The balance shifted with pendulum frequency. Nithia came out of the opening in fine shape but wasted too many moves with h5 and local_98, allowing Li Yang to gain the upper hand. Deep in the middlegame, however, it became obvious that Nithia's counterplay was rapidly gaining momentum and an upset was about to result. Unfortunately, he had too little time left and in the ensuring time trouble, Nithia dropped a queen. Post mortem analysis by Junior, Chor Chuan and gang found a piece sacrifice that wins hands down for Nithia. This is the second time year Dr. Nithia had a winning position against much stronger player. He had a crushing position against IM Tu earlier this year in the Singapore Open but was unable to convert that. Despite all these setbacks, however, it is clear that Dr. Nithia is not one to be trifled with and he look set to become an "IM Killer" soon! He sure got the killer instinct!
Meanwhile, IM Tu was progressing steadily through the ranks. Not even IM Hsu could stop him. And to no great surprise, IM Tu Hoang Thong is the National Rapid Champion for 1998. Congratulations, IM Tu!
This event was meant to be a fund raiser for SIGC too. SCF planned this tournament to coincide with the inauguration of the Singapore Intellectual Games Center. SIGC is strategically situated at the center of Singapore, in Bishan, right next to Bishan bus Interchange. It boasts of the headquaters of the 4 major mind games: International Chess, Bridge, Chinese Chess and Weiqi.
The WebMaster apologise for the lack for game scores. For detailed game scores, readers can contact the Singapore Chess Federation by telephone at 3529690 or by fax at 3529691.
The 1998's Bukit Batok Community Center Rapid was a resounding success. The number of participants increased from 6 to 141(!) in 2 weeks! Top seeds are GM Wu Shao Bin, IM Tu Hoang Thong, Junior Tay. Tan Chor Chuan, Jimmy Ng, CM Lau Keng Boon, Dr. Nithianathan, CM Foo Hsiang Ming and Kek Wei Chuan.
The deciding round was the 6th round, when the leaders GM Wu and IM Tu, both with perfect scores, met head on. They had to slugged it out because a draw of convenience was not possible as Jimmy Ng and Junior Tay were hot on their heels with 5 and 4.5 points respectively. IM Tu went for a calculated piece sacrifice that gave him more pawns and GM Wu an insecure king. A draw was agreed upon as neither could make further head way.
On board two, national players Jimmy Ng and Junior Tay reached an endgame with Junior being a pawn up in a difficult position to convert. The position is :(W)g4, f3, e4, Ne3, Kd4; (B)h5, g5, f6, e5, Be7, Ke6. By that time, both were already in time trouble. As Junior was unable to make noticeable headway after a few moves, Jimmy claimed a draw, a decision which Junior was not agreeable to. And as a result, there were much discussion between them and the arbiters, as one thought the position was drawn while the other thought otherwise. Eventually, they consulted GM Wu and IM Tu and a draw was their assessment.
In the last round, GM Wu andd IM Tu duly won their games to pull their lead to 6.5 points each. Tan Chor Chuan was close with 6.0 points. IM Tu Hoang Thong was the champion, GM Wu was first runner up and Tan Chor the second. Challenge trophy went to Tan Chor Chuan as the other two are not SIngaporeans. Charlotte Ng was the best women player, edging out Yip Fong Ling with a better progressive score. Best under 12 was Luke Leong from Boon Lay Primary School and best under 14 went to Clement Chia. Congratulations!
(Note: Boon Lay Primary School is famous in Singapore for producing strong chess players. Top juniors like Lau Keng Boon, Goh Weiming, Chua Hanwei, Low Kwee Peng and Charlotte Ng are just a handful of many others. Credit goes to Mr. Khoo Geok Chong for his unrelentless efforts at promoting chess in his capacity as teacher-in-charge of Boon Lay Primary's chess club).
Mr. Tan Puh Chen was the event's organiser and arbiter, assisted by Hon Yi, Khoo, Charlotte Ng, Tan Teck Woon, Lim Yong Kiang, Seow Yong Li, James Long and a few youths from Boon Lay Primary School. On behalf of Puh Chen, I thank everyone for their efforts.
Defending champion Goh Weiming once again clinched the top spot for this privately held event with 5.5/6. Our host and co-organiser Mr. Wong Kwok Meng was a close second with 5/6 and Chua Hanwei was 3rd with 4.5/6.
Out of the original 10 players, Mark Kay, Navin Salawani and his friend were regretably unable to attend. I thanked them for expressing interest and hope they can play next year.
The players were Mr. Wong Kwok Meng, Goh Weiming. Chua Hanwei, Seow Yongli, Tan Teck Woon, Lim Yong Kiang and myself.
Many thanks to Mr. Wong for providing a playing venue for this friendly event. Thanks also to his cook for whipping up a feast every time we had to impose on him for lunch. Thanks also to all who participated and we hope you guys enjoyed it as much as we did.
GM Ian Rogers, who was in transit in Singapore with his family while on his way back to Australia, dropped by Singapore Intellectual Games Center for a short visit on the 5th of June. He was accompanied by SCF president Mr. Tang Kum Foo.
Mr. Tang suggested to GM Rogers to give a simultaneous exhibition, as there were ten players at SIGC then, blitzing away before their arrival. GM Rogers agreed and all the players were very excited at the thought of playing a GM! Several notable local players like Jopie Massie, Chua Hanwei, Goh Weiming, Tan Kwan Chong and Navin Salawani were among the ten.
The simul ended in GM Ian Rogers favour with 8 wins and 2 draws. Draws were conceded to Goh Weiming (see his game ) and James Long.
This modest event was held at Nee Soon CC on the 14th of June. It boasted over one hundred participants, separated into categories of U-10, U12, U16 and Open.
That was a rapid chess tourney. Time controls was 20 mins per side, 6 rounds in all.
Faye Kueh and Andre Kueh won the U-10 and U-16 groups easily, Andre without even needing the win the 6th. Jimmy Ng, top seed in the Open Category, duly won that section. 1st runner up was the organiser Michael Siong and 3rd place was James Long.
21st of June. It was a rainy Sunday morning, but that did not deter the 48 chess gladiators from 16 teams from turning up in time for this new-styled event. There have not been any team events of this kind in Singapore, at least not during the last 6 years. This is a good idea to get chess players together, not as individuals but as a team.
The strength of this event was quite impressive (by local standards anyway). IM Tu Hoang Thong, IM Hsu Li Yang, Jimmy Ng, CM Mark Tan, CM Foo Hsiang, CM Lau Keng Boon, CM Mark Chan, FM Alphonsus Chia, Junior Tay, Tan Chor Chuan, Goh Weiming and Chua Hanwei, just to name a few, were all there.
It was tough fighting for the top spot, with so many credible players around. After six gruelling rounds, the team NimzoIndians emerged as champions, closely followed by Knightmare and Bishan East CSC. Congratulations, people!
Below is a breakdown of the winner's encounters, courtesy of Chor Chuan.
Round 1, NimzoIndians - Bukit Batok 'B' 3-0
Round 2, NimzoIndians - Tay Hsu Hsu 1.5-1.5
Round 3, Bishan East - NimzoIndians 2-1
Round 4, Deep Blue - NimzoIndians 2-1
Round 5, NimzoIndians - Nightmare 3-0
Round 6, Darknights - NimzoIndians 1.5-1.5
Held on 28/06/98, this year's Queenstown CC Club Championship had one of its lowest turnout ever, fielding only 17 players. Past figures averages from 50-80 people. This is, of course, not the fault of the excellent organiser, Mr. Lim Chye Lye and his wife.
The Singapore-Malaysia Match happened to be scheduled from 26/06/98-28/06/98, after some delays from our Malaysian friends. It became too late to change the date for QCCCC'98, so the organisers have to go ahead.
Despite the small turnout, there were no lack of strong players. Koh Kum Hong, IM Giam Choo Kwee, Ostric Mooi, Jimmy Ng and Tan Chor Chuan were the top seeds present.
Upsets were inevitable in any event. Other then Ostric Mooi and Koh Kum Hong, the final standings were not reflective of the seeding.
4th seed Jimmy Ng was one of Singapore's representative at the Singapore-Malaysia Match. After his rounds Saturday, he rushed back from K.L. Alas, he still missed his first round. His worst enemy was fatigue, however. After defeating Wong Yoke Siong in round 2, he proceeded to lose the next two games. In was obvious that tiredness was seriously affecting his play. Jimmy withdrew after round 4, havng decided that going home to sleep would be his best move of the day.
IM Giam was not in total form too. He was defeated in round 2 by Ostric Mooi and in round four by James Long. In spite of those, the games IM Giam played were very instructive for any attacking player. His win over Yee Kah Leong was an example of fine attacking play coupled with an accute sense of danger for traps. Kah Leong had no chance at all in that game.
6th seed Tan Chor Chuan, reknown attacking player in local chess cirlces, had an uneventful day. He bungled 2 winning positions in time trouble, against Yee Kah Leong in round 4 and James Long in round 6. Chor Chuan and James Long both made the blunder of their lives in their encounter in the last round. After losing the exchange, James managed to whipped up some kingside counterplay. Being the steady one, Chor Chuan decided to swap queens. Know what he did? He move his queen to d3, attacking James's queen on f1, not realizing his own queen was en prise! That was not the blunder of the game though. The blunder was James missed the winning Qxd3 and played something else! The moral of the story: Look confident when you make any move, so even a blunder will look like a good move!
The prize winners, starting from the Champion, are: Koh Kum Hong, Yee Kah Leong, Ostric Mooi, James Long, Giam Choo Kwee, Richard Lian, Wong Yoke Siong and Tan Chor Chuan. Congratulations to all prize winners, especially to the Champion Mr. Koh Kum Hong. Thanks also to Mr. Lim Chye Lye for having done a good job of running this event.
This year's National Youth Chess Championship was runned under rapid chess time controls of 25 mins per side. Apparently, there was not enough weekends to hold a proper 2 hours aside event without affecting other coming chess championships. However, next year's National Youth should revert back to its originally longer time controls.
Mr. Kenny Chern arbitered this 7-rounds swiss event, which stretched from 04/07/98-05/07/98.
The clear favourites were Navin Sawalani, Mark Kay, Seow Yongli and Gene Ong, Singapore's newest Candidate Master. After 5 rounds, Navin was ahead of his closest rivals by half a point at 5 points. Mark stood at 4.5 points, and Aditya Prasetyo and Yongli at 4 were the leading 4 pointers by progressive. By round six, the winner was decided by Navin's win over Mark. With Aditya and Yongli trailing by a point, even if Navin loses his seventh round, he still tops the pack at an impressive 6/7.
A new player to watch out for is Aditya Prasetyo. After misplaying the white side of the Meran against Navin, and lost, he played remarkably well and simply bull-dozed through his remaining rounds, racking up an almost perfect score of 6/7!
The prize winners, beginning from 1998's National Youth Champion, are Navin Sawalani, Aditya Prasetyo, Mark Kay, Seow Yongli, Luke Leong, Wong Zi Yang and Ho Hua Sze. The best woman player is Miss Gabriell Wong. Congratulations to all prize winners.
Organised by INTChess Asia at SIGC, this category 6 IM tournament (average rating=2390) has 6 players, of which 3 are fighting to get their IM norms. The six players are FM Terry Toh(Singapore, 2400), FM Mas(Malaysia, 2400), Ostric Mooi(Singapore, 2125), IM Hsu Li Yang(Singapore, 2430), IM Tu Hoang Thong(Vietnam, 2480) and GM Wu Shao Bin(China, 2505).
This tournament uses the following time controls: 40 moves in 2 hours, 20 moves in next hour, rest of moves in last 0.5 hour. This is a double round robin event, so every player gets to use both colours against everyone.
The event is still under way. Norm seekers need 6 points.
FM Mas and FM Terry Toh just managed to reach the required 6 points. Mas and Terry each lost only one game, to Terry and GM Wu respectively. This is their last needed IM norm. The top performers are GM Wu Shoa Bin and local IM Hsu Li Yang, each reaching 6.5/10. IM Tu did not do so well with 4.5/10. "IM Killer' Ostric Mooi had probably the worst event of his life, scrapping only 0.5. School has always been taking up lots of his time especially since school starts. Finding the time to make opponent specific preparations in the midst of all these activities is difficult. Well, you'll definitely do better next time. Good luck!
Congratulations to the regions newest IMs Mas and Toh!
Among a moderately strong field ( due to the noticeble absence of Hsu, Toh, Ong and other chess masters ), the top seeds being IM Tu Hoang Thong, NM Lim Kok Ann, CM Malcom Tan, CM Mark Tan, CM Lau Keng Boon, CM Mark Chan and a few Elo 2100+ strength players like Jimmy Ng, Jopie Massie, Ostric Mooi, Tan Chor Chuan and Navin Sawalani, Mark Chan was the surprised winner of this year's National Chess Championship, tieing for 1st-2nd place with IM Tu with 7.5/9 points, undefeated too. CM Lau was a close third with 7/9 points and Navin, this year's National Youth Champion, surprised the odds to come in 4th with 6/9 points!
Top seed IM Tu was the punter's natural choice. Since IM Tu started playing chess in Singapore last year, he had been dominating the local chess scene. The only two reasons why the official winner of many of these events were the 2nd placed players was one, many local masters did not participate in those tournaments and two, he is not a permanent resident nor Singaporean, since only a PR or citizen can keep the challenge trophy. Nobody, however, expected anybody from this championship to tie with him. On top of that, Mark Chan drew his game against the Vietnamese IM. An exubuliant Mark remarked after the tournament, "Finally, I got it ( the National Champion title ) after my third try..." Good for you Mark, and good luck to your games with IM Tu. Because they tied for 1st-2nd place, they have to play a 4-games play-off, date is not comfirmed at the moment.
Best wishes to CM Mark Chan, CM Lau Keng Boon and Navin Sawalani, who have earned their place to represent Singapore in this year's Olympiad. Good luck, guys.
Jopie Massie is my choice for the "Player of the Moment" award if there is such an award. Jopie played a tremendous tournament. He had a great start, 3/3, only to be downed by Malcom and Navin in rounds 4 and 5. Then he gathered his wits and scored 3/4 from his last 4 games to complete with a respectable score of 6/9. But that is not the end of the story. IM Tu and CM Lau (1996 National Champion undefeated with 7/9! ) were both forced to contribute 0.5 points each to Jopie in rounds 8 and 9 after they were unable to crack Jopie's stubborn defence. Go over game 9 to see how Jopie made the draw against the Elo 2480 IM look easy! Click to see game 8 and game 9 (NOTE - The score for these 2 games may not be 100% accurate as they were reconstructed from memory. Any mistakes are deeply regretted). Once again, great play by this veteran player.
The National Women Chess Championship was held together with the Nationals. Cythia Yap is the proud winner of this year's National Womens. Miss Yap was won the same event in 1997 too. Miss Ong Yi Pin and Miss Tan Ming Jin took 2nd and 3rd places respectively. It is a pity there are very few active women chess players in Singapore. Chess is a sport that should be enjoyed by both men and women. The fact that more men play chess than women should not deter the latter from taking up this very fun and exciting game. Three cheers for all the women who participated this time and I hope more will take up the baton next year.
A total of 17 teams took part in the National InterClubs, held at SIGC from 08/08/98 - 10/08/98. There were 3 divisions in all and as usual, the games from the National Division created the most sensation.
IntChess was the highest seeded team. With one IM, and three FM and NM, IntChess was certainly the most impressive team among the six. Even their reserve was a CM!
Second seed Cairnhill 'A' was no push over either. Top board was held by Singapore's top IM Hsu Li Yang, while the newest National Champion Mark Chan defends board 2. FIDE rated 2200+ Kivisto and FM Ong Chong Ghee handled the last 2 boards. Completing their team was reserve Navin Sawalani. Navin is not only this year's National Youth Champion, he also earned a place in our Olympiad squad by coming in fourth place in the National Championship.
With the departure of IM Hsu after completing his studies, NUS lost their best player. However, in his place came two new players. CM Foo Hsiang Ming and CM Tan Tzer En are no strangers to top level chess, and with their help, NUS '1' will still remain good winning chances in the Interclubs. This time NUS fielded IM Terry Toh, CM Malcom Tan, CM Foo Hsiang Ming and CM Gregory Chong. Kek Wei Chuan and James Long made up the reserves.
The other three teams are Cairnhill 'B', Queenstown and Bukit Batok 'A'.
Cairnhill 'B' was originally placed in Division 1. It was pushed up to National Division when there is a division short. They have no certified masters in their midst. However, with the likes of Tan Chor Chuan and Lim Geok Hock, Cairnhill 'B' still packs a powerful punch. Queenstown fielded their InterClubs "regulars". Jopie Massie, Yee Kah Leong, Seet Cheng Bok, Teo Kok Cheng and Lim Chye Lye made up the entire team.
Bukit Batok 'A' fielded a few new faces this year. "New faces" because they had been representing other clubs, but new to chess? Never! In order of boards, they boasted of Jimmy Ng, Junior Tay, CM Lau Keng Boon, Goh Weiming and Low Kwee Peng. All of them are notorious hackers in the local circuit and thus had much chess experience.
After many hard fought battles, the smoke finally cleared. Cairnhill 'A' emerged Champion in the National Division with 16 points, way ahead of 2nd place IntChess by 1.5 points. NUS '1' came in 3rd place with 11 points. In Division 2, Cairnhill 'C' came in tops while NTU A is the Champion is Division 3.
Congratulations to all winners.
A total of 26 participants took part in this internal chess event, as NUS Open is meant only for its undergraduates.
With the absence of last year's champion Malcom Tan, IM Terry Toh and freshman Tan Tzer En (1994 National Champion!), and people like Gilbert Koh, Hsu Li Yang and Lim Geok Hock who had graduated, 1998's NUS Open was admittedly weaker. However, there were still plenty of fight as National players Kek Wei Chan and CM Foo Hsiang Ming were in too, not to mention "dark horses" like Ang Junaedy, Jing Ding and Ho Hua Sze.
After round 4, the clear leader was Kek after he dealted Hsiang Ming a crushing defeat, as he took the lead with 4/4. Immediately behing him was Jing Ding (3.5/4), Foo Hsiang Ming (3/4) and James Long (3/4). Kek was apparently on a roll in this tournament as he became the run-away winner when he defeated Jing Ding in round 5. Not satisfied with that result, Kek went on to win his last game with ease and became the 1998 NUS Open Champion. Congrats!
There were six women players in this event too, a remarkably good figure considering past records. Miss Tan Siok King emerged the best women player. Well done, Siok King!
The three day event from 14/08/98 - 17/08/98 ended uneventfully.
Apart from a few hiccups, which was not unusual for a big scale event like that, everything went reasonably well.
The last day was especially exciting. Throughout the three days, team chess was the dominant feature. On Sunday, the last day however, a special program was implemented by chief arbiter and organizer Mr. Michael Siong. He and CM Lau Keng Boon decided to give a public simultaneous exhibition in the name of charity. Anyone who wished to play against any of them just need to pay a small fee (children $5, adult $10). All proceeds go to MINDS, an organization for the intellectually disabled people in Singapore. Apart from the simul and team registration fees, sales of specially desgned T-shirts helped raise funds too.
It has been a great event. Not only the people from MINDS stand to benefit from the charity drive, the publicity raised from various newspapers benefited chess in Singapore too. Now, more people will know about this game and many will grow to love it.
Here, I would like to extent much thanks to the sponsors Great World City, Brand's, Fiesta and . Thanks also to the many volunteers from Singapore Polytechnic, NUS and members of the people whom have contriibuted their part to make this event successful. Thanks are too extended to the hundreds of participants and well-wishers, without whom this event would not have been possible. Finally, a special thanks to an annonymous person who donated $50.00 to play in the simul, when he/she needed to pay only $10.00. The sum he gave is not exceeding huge but it is the thought that counts.
IM Tu Hoang Thong pocketed the $500 first prize as he waltzed to an easy 5.5/6 win in the Queenstown Open after giving NM Koh Kum Hong a draw from an extremely advantageous position (just like GM Wu did against Koh last year.
This may sound derogatory - about Koh but to his credit, he notched up beautiful positional wins over Dr J Nithianathan and Ong Yew Chiang. The latter game was particularly beautiful as he played a series of strong Knight moves which culuminated in a swift Kingside crush as Ong was converging onto Koh's centre and Queenside. Kum Hong also managed a draw against CM Fu Hsiang Ming after dropping a pawn in an intricate QGD Meran. According to Fu, he shoved all his pieces onto Hsiang Ming's Kingside for a gung-ho attack and the youngster had to play accurately for his draw.
National Champion Mark Chan used up much more than his fair share of luck after running into lost positions against CM Malcolm Tan, IM Giam Choo Kwee and the dangerous Mooi Kok On. By the skin of his teeth, he won all three games! Malcolm hallucinated and gave a free piece...(and the $300 second prize) after imagining his Queen could capture back in a zig-zag manner...(too much bridge and mahjong, I guess). Mooi was caught by a two move cheapo and Giam just failed to finish him off. Mark's wiles however, failed against IM Tu and he had to settle for 2nd place. A good result though, as Mark was visibly fatigued by playing four tournaments back to back...(Asian Interclubs, Nationals, National Interclubs and now Queenstown)
IM Giam Choo Kwee and FM Alphonsius Chia joined Koh Kum Hong at 3rd spot with 4.5 points after a hard fought draw in the final round. FM Alphonsius had to overcome his adversary FM Chan Peng Kong by outlasting him from the black side of a Smyslov Caro Kann (4...Nd7) with careful defence against Chan's all out attack.
Upsets... Yee Kah Leong followed his draw against FM Teo Kok Siong (at the Nat'l Interclubs) with wins over CM Ong Yew Chiang and SCF 2135-rated Tan Chor Chuan before IM Giam and Jopie Massie put him in his place. Tan Boon Keong managed to hold Dr Nithianathan to a draw. Francis Guok outplayed an overambitious Fu Hsiang Ming in a Knight + pawns ending which went to the wire. The game was decided by one tempo... Francis' concentration was very impressive during the blitz finish.
1st IM Tu Hoang Thong 5.5 / 6
2nd CM Mark Chan 5
3rd NM Koh Kum Hong 4.5
HDB(Housing and Development Board) was the champion of the Interstaturory Board Chess Championship held 2 weeks ago at SIGC. Leading the team from HDB was NM Kok Kum Hong, who made perfect score. His teammates played well too. Congratulations, HDB!
Hmm, chess friends, now we know who to turn to if we ever need any interest free housing loans, don't we? (Hehe).
Apparently MOE was not consider an Interstat board. It will be most interesting to see how a team with Ostric Mooi, Junior Tay, Khoo Geok Chong, Yip Fong Ling and Lim Chye Lye would fair in this event.
Mr. Kenny Chern was chief arbiter for this event.
The 30th of Aug also saw a local event held not in JB,but at Cairnhill CC.This is a yearly event with the 6 'professions'(doctors,lawyers,engineers,accountants,architects and surveyors)participating in various games---golf,tennis,relay events,etc. and chess as well.
Surveyors had insufficient players and withdrew,while architects did not field any team.
Doctors(the defending champions)won the tournament easily with 'comebacks',Wong Meng Liong,Jeremy Lim,Leong Khai Pang and myself with a tally of 11.5 out of 12 pts(with the same score & team as in 1997!).
4th boards drew in the crucial Law vs Accountancy Match.Law won the 3rd board.
After a 4-0 rout of both the law and accountancy(led by Hariharan & ChoongLiongOn)teams,Drs. were declared champions,without even having to play the final round, while the lawyers and accountants were tied at 3 points each.
The last round was a close fight for 2nd place and the score was still tied after the lawyers won on Board 1,but lost on Board 2,with the 4th Board splitting the point!
However 'comebacks' Gregory Vijayandran,Andrew Ee,Eddy Seah and current player Francis Guok clinched 2nd place with a 3rd board win over the unfortunate accountants who were relegated to 3rd place this year.
First of all, on behalf of NUS Chess Sub-Club, I wish to thank CM Malcom Tan and Mr. Hu Hai Yu for taking time to give this remarkable performance. We are grateful also to the players who took the challenge and played their best against the masters. (Mr. Hu Hai Yu is the master who gave the simul in the chinese chess section).
In the international chess section, there were a total of 20 players. Although there were no regular tournament players among them, some of these 'unknown' are pretty strong too! Some of these unknowns were International students (Malaysians Siew Wan, Ailing, Peter, Darwin, Michael and Chian Han) residing in Sheares Hall. The best player Hor Wei Han, also a Malaysian, happened to be the only person to mar Maclom's almost perfect score by drawing with him. Wei Han played the black side of the kings indian defence. I applaud his courage because Malcom is known for his deep theoritical knowledge, especially in his favourite defence the KID. Wei Han sac the exchange on the c-file in sicilian dargon style to create tremendous pressure along the h8-a1 diagonal on on the c-file. The counterplay was enough to hold for a draw.
Nick Sim and Martin Lee were the other 2 players with wasted chances. Nick is a first year engineering student at NUS. He had a winning position against Malcom but fell for a devious tactic that turned the tables in Malcom's favour. Martin was 1994's National Youth Chinese chess champion. Using his deep understanding of the pieces, he played remarkably well to reach an endgame where he is slightly better. Unfortunately, Martin ( using his own words ) self-destructed by throwing away a piece. He was among the last few players by then.
The final result is 19.5/20, overwhelmingly in Malcom's favour. It is the hope of the chess club to bring this event to a new level next year by increasing the number of participants. Great job, everyone.
Other than Biz-ad and Arts faculty who were unable to field a complete team, the other faculties all sent at least one. Law, Engineering, Computer Science, and Science were the participating faculties. Law and Science were the only faculties to field one womens and one mens team.
The event was a 5 rounds round-robin with 4-2 format.
Law(men) faculty was the top seed among the six teams. Top 3 boards was Malcom Tan, followed by CM Foo Hsiang Ming and Germany state player Frank.
It was a relief for everyone that IM Terry Toh could not make it for that event, else Law faculty will resemble and Olympiad lineup!
But in chess, anything can happen. Law(men) and Science(men) met in round one. Second seeded Science(men) had '98 NUS Open Champion Kek Weichuan holding board one, followed by James Long, Hor Wei Han, Jing Ding and Soh Chin Ann(r).
The result of this clash? 3-1 win in Science favour!
From that moment onwards, we ( I am in Science, in case you don't know ) never looked back. Final Score: 17.5/20.
Law(men) tried hard in the remaning 4 rounds and won them in convincing style to emerge a worthy second. Final Score: 15.5/20.
Comp. Science and Engin tied for 3rd at 11/20 each but Engin won on tied break with more match points.
Law(women) and Science(women) put up a good fight among the more season players. Law(women) fielded the reknown Tan Ming Ju (SCF 1900+!) and Vanessa. Unfortunately they are all there was to the team. They had to play every round 2 players down and that was truly demoralising. Science(women) played their best too. In spite having very little tournament experience, they fought all the way. That is the attitude, gals!
Great job done by Tournament Director Mr. Hon Yi.
IM Giam Choo Gwee finally made it to the Veteran's Club! As a result, the strength of the National Veterans in future will be boosted even more with this valuable addition.
NM Lim Kok An is the other favourite contender for the top spot. Prof had done well in the recent World Veterans.
The other regulars are Mr. Fook, Mr. Amos, Mr. Seet and many other 'uncles' I cannot put any names to. My apologies.
The results are not out at the time I am writing this. Do check out the results at SCF official website at "CHIACS", or make a trip to SIGC to check out their notice board.
Similarly, I do not have the results to this event yet. The following is as much as I have right now.
Players are IM Tan Lian An, Wong Meng Leong, CM Mark Chan, Jopie Massie, Dr. Nithia, Tan Chor Chuan, Ostric Mooi, Kek Wei Chuan, Jimmy Ng and James Long.
Jopie dropped 2 games to Lian An and to Meng Leong. Dr. Nithia drew with Lian An and with James Long, Kek Wei Chuan drew with Tan Chor Chuan but lost to Mark Chan, Mark lost to Ostric but defeated Meng Leong, James Long drew with Nithia but lost to Chor Chuan.
Jimmy withdrew due to personal commitments.
James Long missed rounds 5 because he was playing in the IFG and could not make it to round 6 due to illness.
Please check out the results at SIGC or with SCF. The results will be here eventually but guranteed to be late!
Awaiting contribution as I do not have the news.
Awaiting contribution as I do not have the news.
Awaiting contribution as I do not have the news.
Top seed GM Ian Rogers won the Cairnhill CC Open with and impressive 6.5/7. The presence of GM Tu Hoang Thong, GM Wu Shao Bin, IM Tu Hoang Thai, IM Dede Liu, as well as several top local players (Wong Meng Leong, Junior Tay, Kenneth Tan, Malcom Tan, Goh Weiming, Nithianathan etc) failed to make an impression .
Many players missed chances of win or draw against Rogers. GM Tu could have drawn his game while Junior Tay had a winning position. With accurately play, of course. As usual, the stronger player prevails, and GM Rogers steered through all obstacles to win the S$1600.00 top prize + challenge trophy. Congratulations!
GM Tu Hoang Thong(VIE), GM Wu Shao Bin(CHI), IM Liu Dede(IND) and Wong Meng Leong(SIN) shared the prize money from 2nd-5th positions.
This event attracted 66 players from 14 different countries. Among the nationalities were Indonesians, Vietnamese, Chinese, Malaysians, Philipinoes, Indians and even Hungarians! The attractive prize monies help much, no doubt, especially in the current cash strapped environment.
Comments:
The event was well runned by professional arbiters and the playing environment was rather good (air-condition, analysis room, 2 boards per table ).
Time controls of 2 hours per side to play and finish is most acceptable. A general increase in the quality of most games were observed. Lets hope that this trend will continue.
However, the room was rather crowded with over 70 people in it most of the time.
Insuffiicient chess sets in the analysis room.
The high entry fees(S$50.00 for non-members of Cairnhill CC) must have discouraged many from playing. Players under 21 should be charged a lower fee.
The Christmas Overnight Rapid was won by GM Tu Hoang Thong. GM Wu Shao Bin was 1st runner up. Congratulations to both grandmasters.
Please check out SCF official webpage for tournament details.
Comments:
It was a good idea to celebrate Christmas with a night of chess bashing. Refreshments were provided during the countdown to Christmas day.
However, the entry fees are just too much, compared to the priize monies. For a S$20.00 entry fee, top prize is a measley S$100.00. At least people can argue that for S$50.00, they have a chance to win top prize of S$1600.00 at Cairnhill CC Open, but a 1:5 ratio is ridiculous.
It could have been fun to spent Christmas morning with fellow chess friends playing chess all night, but the average woodpusher like myself will surely feel the pinch, especially with GMs and IMs around, our chances of winning any prizes is close to negligible.
The Wong Kan Seng Challenge Trophy (also known as the National Intellectual Games, in honour of Minister of Parliament Mr. Wong Kan Seng) was an excellent idea. This team tourney requires each team to sent two representatives from each of the four intellectual games (International Chess, Chinese Chess, Weiqi and Bridge) to make up a team of eight. The scores achieved by each game are added up to give the total score for each team.
Nanyang Technological University took top spot, winning the 1st Wong Kan Seng Challenge Trophy and the S$1600.00 prize money.
Singapore Weiqi Association was 1st runner up, "Kamikaze" came in 3rd while NUS "A" took 4th spot. Congratulations to all winners.