THOUGHTS OF A CHESS ADDICT

This year, our preparations were severely marred by a string of events from the school curriculum. That made it much harder for the team to assemble and work out a consistent training program. The best that I could do was to gather the team for 3 3-hour sessions to drill in tactical play, opening predictions and bolstering their opening choices. The team started well, despatching Global Indian International 4-0 and RI Team 2 3.5-0.5, with Joven saving a totally lost game when his opponent blundered a Queen. Beating ACI Team B was another good score, though Jonah tried too hard to win and lost. Luck favoured us in the early rounds but not later. After lunch tension mounted as the next 3 teams were all the prize winners. It was here that champions would be forged and we came up short - not so in preparation, but in practical play. Although we secured a 3-1 win against RI Team 1, the next 2 pairings were undoubtedly the toughest as we sat to meet Hwa Chong Institution. Jonah played his he...

  I had 8 students playing in this tournament, as I believe that they can practice their thinking and vision skills better in a 1 hr per side game. All except 1 won trophies, which was a good result for any trainer. Here I want to give some comments on their performance: Mitchell, being the oldest in terms of age but relative young (in terms of tutelage) in my group, once again topped the list of my students' performance with a solid 5.5/7 score. His game against Alfred ,although blemished at the end to a draw, was well-conducted in accordance to his style. What I was impressed about him was the determination he set out to play each game to fully utilise his time and made generally good decisions. I am sure this will translate into another 30 rating pts thereabouts.  Adrian as usual, missed the chance to end up in the top 10 finishers not because of lack of playing strength but lack of determination. His last round game against Lew Zhi Hong started not well but he managed to ...

Some scenes from the recently concluded TCA tournament.                                                      Overview of the tournament hall                                            The holding room for parents with free newspapers provided                                               by SGCC  ...

The TCA Junior Chess Championships at Serangoon Gardens Country Club has become the latest talk of the town on the lips of parents whose participating children were given the best possible conditions of play, both on and off the chessboard. You will never get to see children clambering for space to view their pairings, parents having a hard time finding space to rest after the kids are off to play. The ever efficient SGCC team ensured that pairings were printed on A3 paper and they were also flashed as powerpoint slides in the playing area and holding hall where parents have full view. It usually takes no more than 10 minutes to have everyone seated and ready to commence the round. Lunch was served (as part of the entry fee) which was a relief to all when there was heavy rain on Good Friday morning.  Ice cream was sponsored for the last round and balloon sculpting was pre-prizegiving activity. The kids had a ball! I had 6 students participating, 2 in the Open Section and 4 in the P...

  I monitor my student's performances closely as a measure of my methods and approach to their game. This is the most tangible way of my own assessment as a trainer. Adjustments will have to be made should there be any signs of stagnation or even regression in a student's rating. Often that means either the student is unable to move higher due to tough opposition, or insufficient preparatory work is done before the tournament. Most of my students earned their ratings by participating in the Thomson Chess Club Championship as well as the National Schools Individuals in March. The 3 top scores are Mitchell Han (up 168 pts), Royce Tan (up 159 points) ,Lee Zhong Yi (up 103 pts) and Nicholas Low (90 pts). Others did reasonably well to move up by 50 odd points or more, except some setbacks like Joshua Ong who did not do well at the National Individuals. Chia Dan Peng was below par at the Thomson Club Championships, but his recent showing at the TCA Chess Tournament (performance ratin...

Are you looking for a decently priced FIDE rated Classical Chess Open tournament in May? Do check this out: http://selangorchess.blogspot.com/2012/03/39th-selangor-open-1st-may-to-6th-may.html Though the timing of the event may not be suitable for school-children, anyone with 4 days of leave to spare and wish to take part should strongly consider.

Due to the launch of PA's Community Games initiative, the weekends of May and June have caused the Thomson CC Hall to be fully booked and thus, the Thomson Cup International this year will be moved to July 7-8 instead. Interested participants please take note. The format remains unchanged at 1 hour per side.

This year's National Schools Individuals Chess Tournament 2012  at Northland Primary School saw significant results from my students who competed. Preparatory work started in February with close monitoring on their state of knowledge of opening lines, coupled with drills on tactics with lots of game practice online and OTB. I shall cover the various Age Groups, from the youngest to the oldest.   UNDER 8 BOYS    Visakan did well to come in 9th position though he could have done better in my opinion. Malcolm Sow emerged 15th with 5 pts, after 1 month of training. UNDER 9 - 10 BOYS Royce Tan (who started with me a few months ago) made good progress this year after we made some changes in his White repertoire. He was playing the King's Indian Attack as White, which I feel was not the right choice for his personality given that he loves open positions where his pieces could attack. Generally strong in tactics, playing the KIA is akin to caging a soaring eagle. With his n...

Dear members,        As promised we are starting a league of slow games for you who prefer to spend some time thinking about your game. The time control is 1 hour per side. The chief focus is to get members to appreciate the game of chess through the discipline of thinking, planning and strategising.        We will prepare a crosstable which will allow you to play any player at most twice, with alternating colours. The aim is to for each member to play as many games on Fridays. The last round will be on March 30, where we will then add up the total points gained by each member. Prizes will be given to the top 3 placings.        All members please write to me at johnwong@pacific.net.sg to register. The closing date fot registration is Feb 1 2012.

It was a fun-filled and no-incidents day at the Thomson Club Championships, althought some players who signed up for the Seniors ended up at the Juniors instead due to a mis-categorisation at registration. I apologise to all for this and we will do better next year. Tan Wei Liang showed and won the Seniors with 6.5/7 after some months of inactivity. Many of his games were filled with complications but experience told in the end. Here's a happy Tan Wei Liang, with tournament chief arbiter Christopher Lim , presented with the Jimmy Ng Challenge Trophy for the Senior's Champion. The Junior's Section was approximate in numbers to the Senior's with 44 entries. This was the total number of entries for the whole tourmament last year! So it was a blessing that many chose to take part. Some of the top Juniors wanted to play in the Seniors, like Ashvin, Tommy, Qing An and I truly admire their desire to play against stronger opponents without worrying about whether they will event...

85 entries have been received at closing for our Annual Thomson Chess Club Championship. All are now members of the club and are free to come by every Friday to our weekly practice sessions starting  7pm. We are giving away books and some trophies as prizes. Winners get first pick from a selection of 30 books displayed throughout the tournament. The aim is to encourage chessplayers to read about the game and foster their knowledge and skills on their own apart from relying on lessons. It has been proven that knowledge gathered through reading will always stick. This event will be SCF rated and we will try to put up the starting list on Friday.

1.       The tournament is organized by the Thomson CCMC and the games shall be played according to the FIDE Laws of Chess for Rapid Chess (G/25). Players may choose to play in the SENIORS (no age limit) or   JUNIORS (Aged 12 and below) section. 2.       ELIGIBILITY : This tournament is open to members only. Players paying the entry fee shall be made members of the Chess Club and are entitled 1 year membership with immediate effect. 3.       VENUE : Thomson Community Club Hall, 194 Upper Thomson Road Singapore 574339 4.       PAIRING : Swiss System of  7 Rounds,  time control  25 minutes each side to finish. 5.       SCHEDULE: 15 th January Sunday 10.00 am to 5.50 pm . Please report  by  9.30am. Walkover time for Round 1 is  25 minutes.  Prize  Giving Ceremony  at 6.30pm. 6.    PRIZES : A minimu...

It's the time of year when plans are made for the forthcoming year ahead, reminding ourselves how we can improve upon the happenings past. Looking back, some of the students have made significant strides in their performance, but will need the January SCF rating list for verification. Others have moved, though slower, but are surely playing better when I first worked with them. My resolutions for my students for the New Year will be: To score minimum 4.5 pts /7  for all 7 rd Swiss tournaments they participate To ensure that they spend either 4 hours a week on chess-playing or equivalent of 50 puzzles a week, with   the cooperation from parents To help them gain about 30 rating points per tournament For the better students, they should prepare for the top 5 spots in the local major age-group tournaments. Achievement in chess does spur confidence in the child, however we must always emphasise that all good results come from thorough preparation and hard work. To inspire the...