THOUGHTS OF A CHESS ADDICT

As we say goodbye to 2016, here's some of the confirmed events the public can look forward to and plan: JANUARY The Kickoff Rapid Chess tournament at Nanyang CC on 22 January. Details at SCF website FEBRUARY Thomson Chess Club Champion for members only on February 19. Details shall be announced on the Thomson Chess Club blog soon. Siglap South CC Hong Bao Rapid tournament on February 26. MARCH The 69th National Schools taking place near 20-24 March at Tampines Hub. Details shall be announced later. Other Centres like Thomson, Siglap South and Queenstown should resume their weekly Club activities after January 3rd. The Asia Square meetup continues each Wednesday with consistent crowds of 30+ players so its a good idea to bring your set and clock if you have. Happy Chess in 2017!

Here's a summary report for all students who worked with me in 2016 and also new students that have just enrolled. I use this to monitor their progress and track their areas for improvement. Nathaniel Cheng (3rd from right) started with me May 2016. In the space of 5 months, he has astonished many (including me) in his progress from finishing 35th in last year's Nee Soon East Chess Challenge to 3rd place in this year's National Age Group! I attribute this to constant practice and diligently going through my opening notes. He scored well in positions where he'd gotten advantage from good opening preparation. More needs to be done in his endgames which will form the basis for our work next year. Jayden became my student since March 17 just before the 68th National Schools' Individuals, finishing 25th. He has generally good foundation, but tends to overestimate his own chances in analysis. Having reformed his repertoire to suit his playing style, he has made steady pro...

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 Bre...

We've got a CM in Goh Zi Han for finishing 2nd in the U07 category, while Siddarth won the Blitz in the U09 Blitz tournament though he finished 7th in the standard. A most commendable first time effort ! I reckon that both boys have never imagined that they will be leading the tournament up till Round 5! The pressure mounts after and it is certainly not easy to stay calm and alert in the last few rounds. Stamina and keeping oneself relax is paramount to make the final ascent to the Championship title. Most importantly, one should not worry too much about the placing then and mainly focus on the game in hand. Play your best. When the mind is distracted worrying about tournament standings, it cannot do its best. Physical fitness also plays a part toward the last rounds - it is like running a marathon ! When the body tires, it needs rest. A fresh mind can do more for the player than last minute preparation. Lessons I hope the boys will take with them to the next international tourname...

Our 2 boys who are currently competing in the Asian Schools Chess Championship in Tehran, Iran are doing extremely well after 3 rounds. Zi Han at the U07 is on board 1 with 3/3 while Siddarth at the U09 is on board 2 with 3/3 as well. I am sure they are raising eyebrows now among the Indians, Iranians and the Mongolians :-) Keep up the good work boys! We're proud of you!

Siglap South CC Chess Interest Group finally opens its session yesterday and already 19 have signed up! SCF gave 5 sets with compliments while the CCMC has ordered another 7 more. Special thanks to Ms Caithlin for loan of her sets when there was overwhelming turnout. Most of the children here are mainly post beginners and are looking for over the board practice. The group runs from 3 to 6pm every Sunday. We are looking for a core group of 4 to roster the opening of the Club. Interested? Please reply below in comments or Whatsapp me at 97985479.

 Thomson Chess Club hosted Bulldogs Team on June 24 at the Club Room. The friendly match was played over 12 boards based on 15 10 time control. Bulldogs fielded a very strong lineup of Filipino expatriates for this match. I took the opportunity to invite some senior members and also some inactive adult players with 2 juniors to pit their skills against the visitors. Tan Poh Heng volunteered to be match arbiter.                              Round 1 was in progress and we had a rare visitor in NM Oey Liang Hien, a former Champion who donated his copy of Chess Informant each time he finished it. Others came by like Warren and Ashton Chia who was curious to know who won. The visitors were White on all boards for Rd 1, with a score of 4.5 - 7.5.  There were many interesting games and it was a surprise the inactive adults held their own against the seasoned Filipinos! One of the reasons for organising this ma...

SCF's initiative of having Chess@East has finally taken off with the launch of the new Siglap South CC. This takes place every Sunday from 3 to 6pm at the second floor activity room. There will be 5 sets available for players and more equipment coming should the numbers increase. For residents staying in the East, here's your chance to bring your kids or yourself to have some friendly games. Special thanks go to the CCMC for providing the premises and the admin. Have fun!

The two reports in the Straits Times on chess in the community here did cause a stir among several dormant members, some of which I have not seen for years! As I promised earlier, the Asia Square meetup was featured in the June 9 edition of the Straits Times. Playing chess for the last decade or so has been predominately a junior activity as most adults are busy with career and family to indulge in the game. However, it takes an enterprising Bradley to lug a few chess sets and doggedly lay the tables week after week to create the spectacle that we see below: This spectacle has caused waves on social media and I've read many comments from once active tournament players and former school-team representatives who 're excited enough to come on down and have a few moves with the other like-minded executives around the CBD. There were not enough sets to go around so some have left but promised to return. What's even more encouraging - a few women too joined in (albeit they were f...

In our efforts to beef up training personnel to meet the rising demands from schools and parents, the FIDE Trainer's Seminar attracted 27 participants this time. Lecturer FST GM Thomas Luther flew in 2 days before to prepare for the event, assisted by National Coach GM Bong Villamayor and myself. The trainees come from a vast spectrum, from high rated players and current trainers to parents of chess playing children. Most of them had participated in the SCF Instructor's Course and took on a bigger challenge to vie for the FIDE trainer titles. The 15 hr course was conducted over 4 days on weekday evenings and weekends to accommodate the participants' schedules. There were at least 6 on the waiting list but we could not accommodate them as the room was already full. It was not all work and no play... Once again we thank FST Thomas Luther for his guidance and all participants who signed up for the course, paving the way for more such seminars to be conducted for those wanting ...

Conducted by National Coach GM Bong Villamayor, the course was well attended by many enthusiasts, parents and also teachers who wanted to learn insights on how to approach the teaching of the game to beginners.

The THOMSON CHESS FIESTA 2016 will take place on May 28 and 29 just before the June holidays begin. Please download the registration forms here

We are gathering more people than the above picture tonight. Possibly 2 rows instead of one. So we can be in the news. This should help in publicising chess in Singapore, do come on down tonight to make it an event. See you all there .

There are 24 signed participants for the coming SCF Instructor's Course from May 2 to 4. See you all there.

There are several initiatives taken by the SCF lately to address the shortage of chess trainers in Singapore. Firstly, the FIDE Trainer's Seminar on May 12-15 has attracted 25 participants. The SCF Instructors' Course from 2-4 May aims to get locals who are chess-players to consider a career in teaching chess in schools at the Beginner's and Elementary Level. Hence you need not be a strong chess player to come for this course. However, basic knowledge of chess and the FIDE Laws of Chess is an important pre-requisite. For those who want to attend the course but have little knowledge of chess, they can consider signing up for the condensed Beginner's Course for Adults in April. We urge those who are considering a change from their current jobs, to join the current trainer's pool for a less hectic and enjoyable time.

Over a thousand chess players gathered at Pasir Ris Sports Hall to fight for top honours at this year's National Schools Individuals (NSI) 2016. Held over 4 days to avoid the logistic tussle, the tournament was well run by a small team of 12 arbiters and pairing officials. There were no major delays and what's  impressive was the A-C Div competition where the noise level was down to 60 db as compared to the Primary section (>90). Then again with 803 young school-children you can expect major noise issues but generally they were managable. The rankings of my students: LOWER JUNIOR GIRLS 2  Sun Shilian  RGS Pr 8 18 Tan Xuan Ying  CHIJ Toa Payoh 5 22 Lim Yen Jie Sophie   CHIJ Toa Payoh 5 25  Chan Yi Jin Elyse  CHIJ Toa Payoh  4 26 Wu Dan Dan  RGS Pr 4 27 Tong Rui Wen  Natalie CHIJ Toa Payoh 4 34 Grace Angelina Tjengal  CHIJ Toa Payoh 4 39  Lim ...

Dato Tan Chin Nam celebrates his 90th birthday today! He is the Grand Old Patriach of chess in Malaysia and many times sponsor for many of our tournaments in Singapore. Together with Dr Lim Kok Ann and ST Lee, he has pioneered the growth of chess development in China and is also instrumental in creating the chess superpower that China is today. Back in Malaysia, the Malaysian Open and Merdeka Tournaments are run annually with the inception since the mid 80s thanks to his generous sponsorship. The DATCC and now White Knight Chess Academy are another of his intiatives to foster growth in Malaysian chess. Thank you and Happy Birthday SIR!

Well, with the support of chess enthusiasts and rejuvenated ex players, the Singapore chess club scene is slowly but surely coming back. Witness the number of players at the last Spore Chess Meetup last Wednesday at the Asia Square mall! This is in comparison with the Rizal Park or Washington Square Park chess arena and the numbers are growing! We also see interest among some women who came by to learn how to play. That's most encouraging. Now with interest in starting weekend chess playing sessions in the East and also more CCs offering their venues for tournaments, we are seeing a renewed interest in playing chess (not checkers) on the island. In time to come, we should have good numbers in the tournaments and perhaps gearing towards larger scale events like a World Championship to be held here?!

What are they? I am afraid some of these names below may be alien to young chess players, who may not have even known who I am talking about. Let me just flash out the titles first, then I will go in depth on my next posting. I own most of them by the way.

Having lost my copy of the Singapore Chess Digest August 1986 ( 25 years ago) which this article of mine was published, I took a trip to the Library to retrieve it and reproduce it unabridged: LETTER TO THE EDITOR Dear Sir,     Chess clubs are created solely for players and enthusiasts to interact and exchange ideas regarding the game. It is often the hive of chess activity in strong chess—playing nations like the USA, Britain and West Germany, where friendly matches and club leagues are most popular.    However, chess clubs today seem to have lost their grip on the chess scene in Singapore. Poor attendances, little activity between clubs and, judging from the number of clubs that have been formed then closed after some months of hunger pangs, the direction of chess is vague and uncertain. Just what does a chess club serve to do for the interested player?    Well, it is certain that all clubs want to provide competitions for players, be it friendly mat...

Noted that SCF has closed the registration for the FIDE Trainer Seminar in May due to overwhelming response. The number expected from the FIDE website was 20. The one I attended in June 2015 had only 7 participants.

A whoping 93 participants graced the Lim Kok Ann Memorial Blitz event yesterday held at the Bishan CC hall from 2 to 6pm. This is quite unprecedented compared to previous editions of the event. This is the first time incremental time control of 3 mins with 2 sec increment was introduced in the local chess scene. The event was won by GM Bong Villamayor on 9 pts followed by IM Enrique Paciencia. A photo: We've got feedback from some adult players to do this on a regular basis. Guess its up to the CC chess clubs to work on this, or go join the Asia Square chess meetup on Wednesdays.