THOUGHTS OF A CHESS ADDICT

This is always an interesting subject for anyone who has known the rules of the game, learnt openings and basic endgames and started playing chess. What is next for the player, you ask? To teach the fundamentals of attack, I can honestly find no other book that explains the subject as didactic as JN Walker in his book "ATTACKING THE KING". Through simple examples, he brings to the reader the important ingredients one needs to have before an attack on the King can be launched. Here he also dispels the myth of Scholar's Mate, as well as the rash notion of using only a few pieces to start the assault when the centre has yet to be sufficiently controlled. I am often amazed how students can be made to solve tactical puzzles, yet not explained how these positions are obtained in the first place?  It's like watching the dish pop right out of the oven, tasting awesome but not knowing what goes into it. JN Walker's approach mirrors closely to another great classic " T...

The official tournament name is much too long, so I've shortened it to get to the meat of this post. I have to say the organisers tried their very best to attend to every detail in the ballroom to give the ideal conditions for play and I am impressed, though chief Najib Wahab is still not satisfied when I thanked him. It was a great feeling say hi to many old friends, like IM Jimmy Liew, Ronnie Lim, Jonathan Chuah who are competing. plus others like Limono, Daniel Lam (who worked in Singapore some years ago and now resides in HK) plus my former CTEP student (albeit only 8 days in 2 years) Sumant. He has grown quite a bit, both in size and his chess. I couldn't get a win at blitz from him! It was a good feeling when your student bests you. I brought 4 students to this tournament to give them exposure to international competition. Mitchell, Nicholas and Royce travelled with their families while Adrian came with me with Jimmy and Poh Heng. We had a great time on route, giving the ...

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 Club shall be closed as many of the members are getting ready for their SA tests which are important as it forms a significant part of their total score at the year end result. I shall be away from Singapore from May 10 to 16. Club activities shall resume from May 16 onwards.

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...