MY STUDENTS AT THE 2015 NSI

THE GIRLS

The beige coloured entries are my private students while those in white are the ones I teach in schools in groups.

3 of the 6 private students scored 6 points or more. Congratulations to Arshia on her 2nd placing in her first NSI! Cadence also did well to finish on 6 but Cheong Sue Lyn let slip another opportunity to finish in the top 3 despite a 5/5 on her first day. Complacency has struck yet again...

I am glad that Claire and Alyssa managed their scores, even when it is their first year with me. All that is required to do better is to have more game practice. The Thomson club sessions on Fridays have definitely helped.

The RGPS girls did satisfactorily as many do not do much outside of their once a week CCA. Who knows what they can be capable of if they can devote more time to the game :-)

THE BOYS

My male private students fared better, with more achieving 6 pts. I Shiang came very close to challenging the Champion but nerves got in the way and he finished his game much too soon to give a fight. Preparation is very important when you are facing the top and it showed that the winner of the Junior Boys was the better prepared. Naython and Christian did themselves proud though they were just outside the top 20. Naython gave his all but could not overcome Jaryl Lee. Christian beat my other student David Tan, mainly because he put in more practice.

The performances of my students who scored below 5 pts were mainly attributed to lack of practice and insufficient preparation. I am sure if they had done that, they are all capable of getting at least 1.5 pts above their current score.

Quite a fair number of games were decided on players making illegal moves (ie not seeing a check or exposing their king in check). These are generally symptoms of inadequate game time as well as poor board vision on the player's part. Conscious effort must be put in to see the possible moves of every piece on the board or else this ailment cannot be overcome.

The private students who scored 5 pts or more are guaranteed a prize from me. Once again, congratulations!

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