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 PSLE and had little time to prepare for the NAG, which was evident in their play as they were missing tactics and blundered pieces mid-game. Damien scored 3.5 pts to finish at 52nd place while Ryan ended 57th. On a consolatory note, they did well for their PSLE and got to their choice schools.
U10
The U10 is often fiercely contested owing to the huge pool of talents. Kyan Heng has outdone himself this time, started well with 3/3 when disaster struck. A careless lapse cost him a good finish but he managed to recover to get the 3.5 pts out of the last 4 games and end in 10th position with 6 pts. He chose to play it safe against his compatriot Nicholas Kuo than to stake it out which to me is a sign of maturity.
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