THOUGHTS OF A CHESS ADDICT

 From my post 2 years earlier, during the start of the COVID pandemic.. A new decade, as I enter the tail-end of my 50's and approaching the 60s. Time now somehow seems finite and there is a urgency to get things done. Too much of it has been wasted in politicking and unnecessary struggles serving no purpose. Neither does running the chess calendar annually and completing each event without hiccups help in the wake of looming issues causing by aging of the chess organising core.  I hope to set a few targets this year, both for myself and the chess scene. As I say goodbye to my P6s, a new crop of players now enter into my teaching fold. It is also time to consider the feasibility of the podcast model vs the 1-to-1 training mode. With the podcast I am able to reach a wider audience (hence not tied tn a small group weekly) but the apprehension remains in whether the local parents are keen to enrol in such self-disciplined learning. Perhaps I should only consider this for 13 year ...

  Remember this scene? Yes, its the Wednesday Social Chess Meetup at Asia Square Tower One that's run by Bradley Loh. Many have passed by and have a go at the chess tables playing for fun, some seriously executing moves at the command of the Brain (in the Hand and Brain variant of doubles). It was a great night out after hours for chess fans to socialise and interact.  Guess what? After 2 long years, we've finally been given the green light to resume the meetup on April 6  from 630pm! For the many who have missed this (you know who you are), do mark your schedules for the return of the Meetup - the crew will be there to set the 10 boards and sets, so we'll be in groups of 5 tables (10 players) with a distance between the 2 groups. Please try to stay within your own groups ok? If you have sanitizers do bring them - we do encourage everyone to practice sanitizing your hands before you leave the Meetup as it will be impractical to clean the pieces. If you are bringing your o...

  With the Government's long-awaited easing of COVID restrictions from March 29, the return of over the board chess is imminent. Many have been eagerly practicing online for the last 2 years, honing their skills in preparation to play FIDE-rated events which can materialise with more people in venues that can take up to 75% of their capacity. As the country moves into endemic mode, we should see the normalising of over the board chess activity as the goal to rejuvenate the once-vibrant  chess scene, from the Asia Square meetups to the QCD Adults League and other similar initiatives. Though I do not envisiage the return of the full scale National Schools' event such as the one above, 75% of the above Sports Hall is achievable with masks on for participants. Certainly the yearning for the National Schools' Teams and National Age Group to be played in such venues is there - but of course we may have to seek the cooperation of parents who would have to play their part in droppi...

  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   OBSE...

 Rather than focus on the trials and tribulations of my time in the Singapore Chess Federation ( a thankless job for many who have been in my shoes), I shall use this space to elaborate on the good that has been done for the chess community. Apart from the chess events organised which saw huge groups of players, this will likely be a thing of the past going forward. Many did not know the immense effort it takes to organise an event like this - a small dedicated team is essential to pull this off. HONOURING THE STAKEHOLDERS We had the Awards Night in 2016-17  to honour not only the players who performed well in the year back in 2016-17, but more importantly the many stakeholders and organisers who helmed the chess clubs and institutions which promoted chess activity. Notable recepients were Kenny Chern ( Toa Payoh West and Cairnhill CC), Seah Hui Yan (Nanyang Chess Club), Bradley Loh ( Asia Square Meetup), Ong YuJing (Siglap South CC) ,Queenstown CC (Lim CHye Lye). We commend t...

 As we say goodbye to 2021, we beckon a new 2022 hopefully with the impending end of the pandemic. I take this opportunity to wish my graduated students Damien, Leonard, Sun, Isaac, JingYi, Kuan Lei, Angela, Omar, Lana, Matthew and Luke, Yu Xiang and Yu Xuan,You Rui and Kexuan all the best in their future and thanks again for the time you have given to chess.  Now on board I welcome  Avery,Armaan, Marius, Theodore, Lucas, Fred, Timothy and Zachary on your chess journey!  COVID has dealth a big blow to the Over the Board chess competition scene and no longer will we get to see huge numbers for our competitions. However, the Youtube has sproud more Chess content than ever with reputable GMs giving free chess content and all it takes is for someone to filter the gold from the weed. I am currently doing that in aid of my current students, encouraging them towards self-learning the basics which I find are more than adequately covered by the selected videos. That will leav...

Many former chess-playing friends of mine are reaching retiring stages of their careers. Some have also pondered whether they would be made redundant in time to come as the brutal attrition at the workplace continues at a punishing pace. I have known at least 2 who have made chess-training their 2nd career option. One is Winston Williams, a former player for ACS and ex Singapore Police Inspector now residing in UK. The other is Marcus Chan, whom I had worked with for 2 years at the CTEP in Malaysia and now a FIDE-rated player. Marcus had switched careers quite early on the contrary but I am sure he has made serious consideration on this matter. When I decided to become a trainer back in 2003, I had realised that my days in IT were numbered owing to the quick advances in technology which I would have trouble keeping up with. Moreover, my passion in teaching chess started way back in the 80s since my student days in RI which convinced me that I had the knack for this trade. Since then I ...