THOUGHTS OF A CHESS ADDICT

The faces tell it all..prizes or none, on the students who took part in the Kickoff Tournament organised by SCF at the Toa Payoh Sports Centre on Sunday 11 January. 7 prize winners in the respective categories ! I want to congratulate Naython Tan on his superb performance today in the Cat 4G section, 2nd with 5.5 pts, as well as Soh Rui Yang though he finished on 5th by tiebreak. Good job boys! Andre and Ethan Chiam started their first tournament and I'm so proud of them after they watched Sue Lyn in action and learnt so much about taking their time to record their games and think. Ethan managed to record till move 35 and he was unexpectedly not crying over his loss. They have grown to learn how to deal with losses and I'm sure they will look forward to playing their next tournament. I Shiuo scored 4 pts while Jasper managed 2.5 pts. I Shiuan and Sue Lyn are in Cat 2 and clearly the strength of the participants meant extra effort to win every game. Both lost against the Champio...

Many may find this book archaic in presenting the study of pawn structure with its quirky terms like leucopenia, telestop, ram etc. But if you take that away and understand its content, Pawn Power is a classic book on pawn structures that no budding chess-player can avoid studying. Evidently this came about when we were discussing a game between Cyrus Nisban and Lee Jun Wei. Someone opined that the position was wrongly played by Black having a Benoni pawn structure, where White broke through the centre with the advance e5. The pawn advance is thematic (at least to those who read the book). When discussing the position further, it seemed that Lee did not realise that his c8 bishop was a hindrance and his battle plan should involve the exchange of that bishop. Again, such understanding can only be attained if one were to read books like Pawn Power in Chess.  The study of pawns pervades not only in the opening but also into the middlegame and endgame. Of course, computer analysis may ...

This year passed really fast, with the pace of competitions increasingly punishing as well. With more on my plate, it is necessary to monitor all students closely and with 2015 looming, a heavier schedule means less time for personal recreation. Those who have put in conscious effort had better results especially Sue Lyn, Malcolm, Gavin and Bryan. Gavin trained till May before he stopped for PSLE and resumed right after. Sue Lyn managed to overcome her 2 nemeses this year and I am very proud of her. We look forward to bigger successes next year at the coming AAG in June, by then she should be ready. Those who did not do well in the National competitions this year ought to reflect on how they spent their time. I believe most of the students in this category did not take their lessons to heart and made effort to remember what was covered. Upon going through their games, many mistakes especially in counting and calculation were spotted. Opening variations were not well executed, often the...

Sue Lyn decided on participating this event on a whim. It was after the National Rapid and I guess she wanted to redeem herself after the slightly disappointing showing there. She rattled off a series of wins in the first 5 rounds, beating the likes of the Champion, along with Alfred Chua and Elmer Arrocena who finished 2nd and 3rd respectively. She also took the Best Women's Trophy ! Though she lost the next 3 games, she managed to compose herself to win the final game and secured 6/9.  If only there was more time spent on reading my opening notes...still, a most commendable effort!

A total of 366 registered for the National Age Group Championships played at the Jurong East Sports Hall. Some foreign entries from India, Malaysia spiced up the competition and gave our local juniors good opportunities to pit their skills against.  The above managed to garner some of the trophies and my congratulations to them for the work they put in their preparations. Gavin lost the playoff for the best Singaporean result in the Under 12, while Cadence was 10th in the Under8. Sue Lyn lost her last game against Amanda Chan, having beaten the other 2 favourites Erica Chin and Kong U-Ham to finish 4th overall. Bryan came in 8th place overall. Caleb and Isaiah not in the pictures Others who took part missed out of the top 10 places but I'm sure they had all matured during the gruelling 4 days. Some took defeat painfully and could not continue, while on the other end of the spectrum, we also have those who did not think much about losing a game. The correct attitude towards treating...

Here are some of my students who took part in the Toa Payoh West CC Tournament on 7 December, playing in the Under 7, Under 9 and Under 13 sections. The U13 Section was won by Tan Qi Xuan who I taught for over a year. He was able to focus on his game and between rounds read my opening notes whilst his friends were busy playing with their computer games. Hence his victory was well deserved. Drawing the last game, he scored 6.0 pts out of 7 and took home $55 cash plus a trophy.                                My other students fared well, Arshia winning the Under 7 section with full score, while Christian (3rd in Under9), Rui Yang, Jaryl, Jasper and Joshua (5th placing in Under13) )took home trophies as well. Ju;ius and Teck Yong managed 6th and 7th respectively in the Under 9. Jaryl took a break from chess and resumed his lessons to prepare for this tournament. A 7th placing is a satisfactory result His brothe...

The following results of my students after 4 rounds of the 2014 National Age Group: Zachary Leong                Boys  U8        2.5 pts Cadence Loh                   Girls  U8        2.0 pts Lee I-Shiang                   Boys U10       3.0 pts Isaiah Ng                        Boys U10       2.5 pts Malcolm Sow                 Boys U10       2.0 pts Naython Tan                  Boys U10       2.0 pts David Tan                      Boys U10       1.5 pts Cheong Sue Lyn            Girls U10       ...