Skip to main content

THOMSON CUP INTERNATIONAL 2013

The turnout of 73 players was less than satisfactory, probably because there is still a week of school before the holidays begin on 1 June. Nonetheless, the tournament went ahead with the best playing conditions for the participants and we truly thank those who came to play.

Some of my students took part, all except 3 won prizes. For the Silver section, Nicholas Low finished 11th while Zhong Kai and Nicholas Teo came in 17th and 6th respectively. Adrian Yeo won Best Performance for Gold Section (as he was rated below 1600 and came in 13th). 

 

I managed to persuade my new student to play and he enjoyed his tournament making friends in between games.

                                   

The games at the Gold Section were fiercely contested, with Tan WeiLiang and Jared Neubronner (both our past winners) leading the pack at Round 3, but fortunes started to change at the 2nd day. Weiliang could not convert his attack against Robert Suelo and lost, crashed against Cyrus the next round which ended his hopes of regaining the title. Robert continued his winning run with a win against Urcan Olympiu setting the showdown  between him and Tin JingYao in the final round. Interested readers can follow the commentaries wonderfully captured by Junior Tay here.  

For the first time in our tournament history, 3 players tied for first in the Silver section and the winner had to be settled with a playoff of 1 blitz game. The winner was Warren Lim who is now the Silver section champion and will look forward to playing in the Gold Section next year.



The winner on tie-break (as JingYao beat Robert and Urcan overcame Paul Butteumueller) was a beaming Cyrus Low who captured his first Thomson title, having outplayed Kelvin Wee at the last round. Cyrus was put to the test in games against Urcan ,who at one stage had a passed pawn ready to queen but was kept on the ropes to play for a draw in view of time pressure). He went into a theoretically inferior position against Tan Weiliang but kept his cool and started making inroads when Weiliang blundered a pawn who had 3 pawns for the piece plus rook against Rook and Bishop. A well deserved victory for Cyrus who has supported the tournament for the past 4 years and we look forward to his title defence next year.


All participants had burgers this year for their meals which went down well with the children. Hopefully we will get a better turnout next year. 

Thanks to Chris, Kenny, Hafiz, Weixiang and Brandon for all the help given during the 2 days! And of course to Thomson CC for the use of the hall. 









Comments

  1. IM Kevin GohMay 29, 2013 at 9:37 PM

    Hi John,

    Just a correction - the line Cyrus played against Weiliang is actually a theoretical line that is championed by several 2600s and has been established to be sound and fully equal. It seems that there is more than 1 way to draw against the 6.Bg5 Najdorf.

    Thanks,
    Wei Ming

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

HOW TO PARK AND GET TO TAMPINES HUB

To get to Tampines Hub the best way from the Central and West, take the PIE and exit at 3B and drive towards  Tampines Ave 2. You can go via Tampines Ave 7 and join Tampines Ave 4, then turn right at the junction of Ave 5. There is less traffic on this route than if you are to come from the Simei Exit and up Tampines Ave 5. The  EW(2) line station  is also quite close. DT32 is not ready yet. As for parking, there is an open car park just after the Hub. Drive past the Hub, turn round the corner and you'll see the entrance on the Ave 5 curve. This is a coupon parking carpark and open-air (60cts 1/2 hr) and has about 200+ lots. The other place to park is across from the Tampines Hub at Block 858-864 which is open to public 7am to 7pm coupon parking. You can enter this carpark from St 83 Block 864 and navigate towards Block 859. If you go round till you see a green sign on your left, the road leads to the Drop Off and North Plaza Carpark entrance.  Proceed straight in to park at B2 onw
Post a Comment
Read more

STUDENTS AT THE 74th NATIONAL SCHOOLS INDIVIDUALS

Once again, another year and another NSI takes place over the board this time at Overseas Family School. 1364 players signed in for the event making it a record turnout. It is massive and my congratulations and thanks go to the organising team of arbiters and helpers who worked hard to ensure minimal delays to get each round going. The playing conditions were good with the only regret that the zonal prizes could not be given out at the prize-giving. A few of my private students took part and I share their results : In the Secondary section, Ray Ee (my oldest student) managed 6/9 pts and came in 23rd (just outside the top 20) in the U16 while Daniel (who just started a week ago) did well at 18th on 6/9. Wen Chen was placed 43rd on 5.5/9. Ryan played right after returning from a school camp and fatigue set in the first day, but fortunately he picked himself up to finish 5.5 pts in 45th position. Damien went on vacation and did not take part.  Renee was placed 17th overall in the U12 Girl
Post a Comment
Read more

STUDENTS AT THE NAG 2022

Once again, the NAG came and went with its fair share of upsets and surprises. The Senja-Cashew CC Hall was a big venue that can house more than the reported 487 participants - if only the timing and notice was given earlier to the participants who would have required time to plan their schedules.  U14 My currently oldest student Ho Ray Ee finished 7rh out of   62 participants, while Wen Chen who joined me in June this year finished 19th.  Ray Ee has prepared well for this event chalking only losses to Satvik and Jaime. Wen Chen was unfortunate to lose to Jaime blundering a Rook when winning. He then went on to lose the 2nd game in the last day to Yu Bei Hao hence dropping to 19th. My assessment is that both players lack game experience in handling tense situations - which can be improved by playing purposeful blitz regularly. Blitz is often seen as a bad way of training but when used purposefully. there are good outcomes from it.  U12 Damien Tay and Ryan Heng had both completed their
Post a Comment
Read more