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SCF AGM - AN IMPORTANT DATE

 It is the annual general meeting of the Singapore Chess Federation, an organisation I was involved with on and off since 1985. This year's event carries with it an important constitutional change.  The Term of Office for the Board is now increased to 3 years from 2, in accordance witht the guidelines set by the SportsSG. The rationale is to allow the Board a longer time to effect its policies with Board members now limited to a span of 10 years. They can be re-admitted after a break of minimum 2 years of absence. There are also term limits imposed for the President and Vice President (redesignated from current title of Deputy) to a total of 10 years. There will be no extensions after 3 terms are served. These changes are healthy going forward, as they main good governance and transparency in the running of the Federation.  As more and more adhoc groups are organising and running chess events, some of them should avail themselves to be counted as stakeholders in the admin...
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2ND RERUN OF SERIES ZOOM CLASS FOR IMPROVERS

For those who have missed the series, I am doing the 2nd re-run of the Zoom Class for Improvers to start in July-August 2026. We can start only if we get a minimum of 6 students for the sessions. $100 to be paid upfront before the start, with presentation slides AND the video of the full session given to each participant. A sample clip for the first session on Visualisation. Interested ? Please drop me an email at jfan2003@gmail.com with the header " Zoom Class for Improvers" and we can take it from there. To reiterate the topics that I am going to cover, they are:  Date Topic   Board Awareness and Board Vision   What to watch on Youtube?   How to study Chess Books / Courses   Playing online for improvement     Selecting an Opening that suits you Please read the Prospectus of the above topics here
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ZOOM 2ND INTAKE STARTED!

 We had a good interactive session Monday past.  For those who are still keen to attend the remaining 4 sessions ( please see previous post for topics), please email me jfan2003@gmail.com. I will get in touch with you to set it up.
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PROSPECTUS FOR ZOOM CLASS FOR ADULT IMPROVERS

 A short prospectus on the upcoming Zoom Class for Adult Improvers (saves me the effort of explaining to prospective students) Rather than present what many chess content creators have done on Youtube, I would focus on these 5 topics which are relatively left neglected in a chess player's journey towards self improvement. Having been a chess trainer for more than 20 years, my experience about chess improvement as a player hinges mainly on these 5 topics.  BOARD VISION Many do not see the importance of developing good board vision ie the ability to visualise movements on the chessboard OFF the chessboard. Kids in general can't tell where the squares are based on the coordinates and often rely on the printed edges - so it is hardly surprising that they often misplace their Kings and Queens should the pieces be set up on the "wrong" side. That means the White pieces are placed on the 7th and 8th rows instead of the 1st and 2nd. Second, they have difficulty knowing the co...
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TANGLIN CC CHESS CLUB

 Since the Tanglin Open in 2022, the notion of running a regular Chess Club during the renovation of my Thomson Chess Club beckoned me. There was a regular vacant spot on Friday nights at Tanglin CC from 6-10pm so I jumped at it.  The room can fit 14 players comfortably but can take up to 18 if more than half the players are kids. Here we practice mainly longer time controls starting from 15 mins + 10 secs to 1 hr + 30sec increments. All games played here are with increments. I do not advocate playing 0 increments in this Club because it is detrimental to chess improvement and thinking. With the constraints set, it is not possible for Tanglin Chess Club to accomodate post beginners - for that I am sure that there are other Clubs which have more room and can take in newbies to the game.  So the minimal that I ask for is for one who knows how to play and can record a chess game.  Friday nights are often rather quiet once the games start, everyone takes their game serio...
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MY STUDENTS AT THE NSI OCBC ARENA MARCH 16-17

 1897 registered for the NSI this March 16-17 @ the OCBC Arena. A new venue, with good access by public transport. This sets another National record for the number of participants in a National Chess event. Good news, but perhaps a good reflection point. 2 students took part in the U10 category - Gabriel scored 5/9 and had a won position against Shaun Yeo before he blundered his Queen in time trouble. He also managed to draw against Leanne Tan (39th), both commendable achievements given that this is his first NSI. He is now fired up to do more for his game and I am happy that he has now adopted the habit of reviewing his games after play. This will go a long way towards improvement. Jarell just joined me not long ago - he was not familiar with the coordinates and had difficulty recording his games. Nonetheless he picked up 5.5 pts this year finishing 125th out of 467 players.  My ex students also fared well, one scoring 5 pts while the other was the U10 Champ.   For ...
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