Skip to main content

MATCH WITH BULLDOGS TEAM JUN 24

 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 match is to get a feel for the possible setup of an adult chess league in Singapore, which can only work if we can coax inactive players to return to play. I am glad that with the good press coverage over the recent weeks, many have rekindled their interest to come back, which I believe is unprecedented since the last Chess explosion we had was in the 80s. With more centres sprouting and the recruitment of more volunteers, we can  rebuild the Community Club Chess centres that once thrived with several players young and old to play rather than compete. Expanding the network of chess playing centres and rejuvenating the chess club culture is what makes Singapore a true chess-playing nation, which may then set the path for professional chess to be introduced when the conditions are ripe. 


After a temporary setback the visitors regrouped and decided to stick to the same board order while I made some changes to Thomson's. Rd 2 ended with a 8 - 4 victory for Bulldogs, bringing the total score 12.5 - 11.5 in favour of Bulldogs. What matters is the great friendly spirit fostered and promise of more matches to come. 

To that, we celebrate!

 




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

HOW TO PARK AND GET TO TAMPINES HUB THIS NSI

To get to Tampines Hub the best way from the Central and West, take the PIE and exit at 3B and drive towards  Tampines Ave 2. You can go via Tampines Ave 7 and join Tampines Ave 4, then turn right at the junction of Ave 5. There is less traffic on this route than if you are to come from the Simei Exit and up Tampines Ave 5. The  EW(2) line station  is also quite close. DT32 is not ready yet. As for parking, there is an open car park just after the Hub. Drive past the Hub, turn round the corner and you'll see the entrance on the Ave 5 curve. This is a coupon parking carpark and open-air (60cts 1/2 hr) and has about 200+ lots. The other place to park is across from the Tampines Hub at Block 858-864 which is open to public 7am to 7pm coupon parking. You can enter this carpark from St 83 Block 864 and navigate towards Block 859. If you go round till you see a green sign on your left, the road leads to the Drop Off and North Plaza Carpark entrance.  Proceed straight in to...
Post a Comment
Read more

STUDENTS AT THE 75TH NATIONAL SCHOOL'S INDIVIDUALS

The playing Hall at OFS The 75th National School's Individuals 2024 created a record of 1606 registered entries, such that it was necessary to host the event over 2 venues. The Secondary U14-16 sections were held at Senja Cashew CC ( the original venue) while the other Primary Sections and the U-20 were at Overseas Family School.    This year saw record numbers in the U08, U10 and U12 sections with the U12 totalling 465 players, the U10 with 380. The tiebreaks were able to determine the Champion of each section where both the Open and Girls were competing together. For each age-category, 10 Zonal prizes were awarded to the North,South,East,West clusters as well as the non-MOE International Schools.  The U20 was won by Charlene Mak being the first woman to dominate the U20 Open section. Other interesting finishes was the 2nd U20 placing won by Yu Kaiyi from Compassvale Primary who skipped the U12 to play higher. My ex-students Ryan and Daniel Chan with Leonard Loh also pla...
Post a Comment
Read more

TIME TO SAY GOODBYE

 December draws to a close, ending 2023 and some of my students' journey with me as coach. I had the pleasure to be involved in training Daniel Chan, Er Wen Chen, Timothy Lam, Asher Neo, Wang Yuhan, Toby Herman, Magnus Lim, Eden Harris Yong, Leonard Loh, Emma Lo, Kevin Ng, Damian Tay and lastly Ho Ray Ee, my longest student to stay with me for 6 years. Yes, this may be the largest group of students that left in my years of teaching. Some decided to move on to other trainers (a good sign, as they are seeking other paths to chess improvement) while most I had to end the relationship as coach due to low interest in the game after some months.  As for Ray Ee who joined me  in 2017, I am of course saddened that he is graduating from my fold but yet proud of what he has achieved. His results were consistent, often finishing well (NAG 7th in 2022, 9th in 2019, 4th in NSI 2018). He has also played in the Selangor Open this year , gaining 77 rating points while getting another 31 ...
1 comment
Read more