MY STUDENTS AT THE 73RD NATIONAL SCHOOLS

 

The recently concluded 73^rd National Schools Individual Championships started from 13 March drew 1364 participants, which included the Polytechnics and International Schools. The games were played on the LiChess server as a 7-round Swiss tournament for each category.

Below is a report of the performance of my students in the competition. It is a mixed bag of joys and sorrows, where there were nail-biting moments and ecstatic glows when the positional win was executed with good technique, albeit in an online setting.

 

U16

Leonard Loh 31^st  4.5 pts out of 145 players

U14

Ho Ray Ee 45^th 4 pts, Theodore Tan 142nd 1 pt  out of 146 players

U12

Jireh Ting 33^rd 5 pts, Damien Tay 63^rd 4.5 pts , Ryan Heng 99^th 4 pts, Armaan Narwani 2 pts  out of 283 players

U10

Yu Kaiyi 2^nd  6.5 pts, Kyan Heng 10^th 6 pts, Lucas Lim 49^th 5 pts out of 276 players

U08

Timothy Lam 86^th 3 pts out of  133 players

 

OBSERVATIONS AND AFTERTHOUGHT

Overall my  students achieved their results based on the amount of effort put in preparation. Perhaps Ray Ee underperformed owing to nerves as he was a tad cautious and missed opportunities to avoid the losses he had, while Leonard was let down by inadequate opening preparation. Those who had taken their time to think generally made more than the 50% score of 3.5 pts. From my observations, the top finishers were not really tested owing to blunders made by their opponents early in the game, which of course made their wins seem effortless.

The one consistent performance was by Kaiyi who finished 2^nd in the U10. He spent nearly all his time in every game regardless of the opponent’s strength, converting his wins without allowing counterplay. There was 1 game which he got into some trouble owing to his over-cautious treatment of the endgame though 2 pawns up. Fortune favoured him when the opponent walked in to a checkmate with less than a minute on the clock.

Kyan was unfortunate in meeting his nemesis early in the tournament – he could not snap out of the phobia of losing to the eventual champion though he had the better position right out of the opening. Thoughtless exchanges eventually ground his game to a halt when the eventual champion converted his win in style. What I find commendable was that he did not let this defeat douse his spirit. He fought hard for his games, was on the edge in an encounter with Elijah Hui but kept his composure to stay in the game. There were no easy wins delivered by his opponent’s blunders throughout, hence his 10^th placing was well deserved.

As for the others who worked with me for less than a year, their performances were understandably erratic to say the least. Lucas unfortunately had to give a free Rook whilst on the attack and lost quickly, but managed to convert the easy wins towards the later rounds to climb back up to 5 points. In a year I will see his progress accelerate when he curbs his impulsive play, the same issue with Kyan before a couple of years ago. Both boys had good tactical flair and were unafraid to take risks when required.

As for the one who did the most opening preparation, the award goes to Ho Ray Ee. He had revised his lines and was only in trouble in the opening twice. The U14 field is a strong one this year and the serious players were preparing for each others’ pet lines. Hence more emphasis is now required to examine possibilities where the opponent can intercept and take the game into a different fight.

The biggest takeaway from this tournament for the players is that SPEED DOES KILL. Most of the ones who whipped out a move instantly, without pausing to check for the opponent’s intent, were punished. Pre-moving was another sin – it cost Ryan a turnaround win when his opponent placed a Queen right in the path of capture but he pre-moved his pawn to advance. Pieces were hung, forked unnecessarily -  if only the players can spare at least 5 seconds asking if their pieces were safe. Somehow this does not occur much in OTB chess – I wonder why.