THOUGHTS OF A CHESS ADDICT

The last 2 months of 2016 promises lots of chess activities in Singapore! The coming Admiralty CC tournament on Nov 27 will kickstart the season, followed by Toa Payoh West CC on Dec 4 and the Cairnhill Chess Festival on Dec 10-11 promising a hefty $700 first prize for the Open Section! After that comes the National Championships and the 2nd SG Amateur Championships on 17-23 Dec with the top 3 places given entry to the 2017 National Championships! On the International front, the Asian Nations U14 will begin soon on 4 Nov and the Penang Heritage Open on 5-10 Dec. Many Singaporeans have made it an annual affair to take part and we see a healthy turnout this time for those keen on upping their ratings in Standard Chess in Penang. 2016 has been a vibrant year with 2017 even better .. watch this space!

The QCD 33rd National Age Group Championships is being held this year at Bartley Secondary School on Jalan Bunga Rampai near the junction of Bartley Road and Upper Paya Lebar Road. Drivers can enter via Joo Seng Road or Little Road along Upper Paya Lebar Road. For players taking the bus/MRT, you are requested to walk along Bartley Road till the intersection with Upper Paya Lebar Road. There is a small path that will take you  along Jalan Bunga Rampai and a 200m walk to the school gate. The tournament hall is on Level 2 and is fully air-conditioned . The Black route above is for those alighting from CC12 (Bartley Station) while the Red route is for those coming from CC11 (Tai Seng station). The side gate to the school is not open as the distance from the side gate to the tournament hall is approximate to that of the Black route. Drink stalls are open but not the food stalls so you need to scout along Upper Paya Lebar Rd (many stalls along Little Road - Pereira Rd) and there is a Breadta