THOUGHTS OF A CHESS ADDICT

Looking back on my old blog posts, I am reminded of the last time I displayed my chess set collection about 4 years ago. Gee how time flies. I am once again rejuvenated in my quest to have the prominent chess-playing sets which have made their mark in World Championships and illustrious tournaments in my collection. This addictive yet soul-satisfying hobby was rekindled with the discovery of Ebay through a friend who managed to get some real bargains for vintage sets. So I tried my luck. My first succesful acquisition cost me GBP40 for a 4" King Lardy made of boxwood and rosewood. There's a soft spot for the Lardy with its elegantly shaped Knights and dainty mitres of the Bishops not found in the current FIDE tournament sets today. Since then several good bargains came and my Lardy collection now counts to 8, from 2.75" to 4.25" Kings. The Dubrovnik was a favourite but the NOJ version is simply out of my budget. So I settled for this Indian repro which co...

For the Lower Div Boys I am very proud that Gerrard Lim has retained his composure despite a loss in day 1 to finish 8/9 points and emerge Champion, despite the fact that he had just recovered from HFMD a week ago. A very happy boy with his trophy The other pleasant surprise was Ho Ray Ee. He had the luck of the draw on his side bypassing some nemeses but his biggest victory came in overcoming Ethan Lai who was rated 200 points above him. Finishing 7.5 pts and coming in 4th was his best result. I congratulate him for his diligence and focus which saw him through in the last 3 rounds. RongXuan was my addition this year but this boy (5th from the left) is a fighter and a fast learner. He was troubled by poor opening play which caused him to suffer early and often succumbed to losses in his games. This time round he had good positions and was able to cash in some good wins. I am very impressed that he can record his games without skipping a move, a skill even some of my ol...