Caissa Hong Kong Chess Club

chess in hong kong

Preview of HK Juniors Chess Championship 1-2 December 2012

November 28th, 2012

Hong Kong’s main youth chess event will take place this weekend. We look back to see who the players were who made some fame for themselves last year – and how will they fare this time?

Under 18

In this age category we see 4 players from the top 15 of last year, including last year’s number 1, Christopher Masters, and the number 2, Mark Law.

Christopher Masters Winner U18 2011 - Will Chris Prolong His Title?

It will be interesting to see how they and last year’s number 9, Marcus Ho, and number 14, Edmund Yuen, can consolidate their position in the top 15 with competition streaming in from last year’s top 15 players in the age group U13, including the number 1 in U13 last year, Yee Chit Wong, and Julian Lee, number 11 in U13 last year.

Caissa has no players in this age category.

Under 13

With Yee Chit and Julian now in U18, also in this age group we see 4 players who were in the top 15 of last year still in this group, most notably last year’s number 4, Jeffrey Lam, and number 6, Adrian Chui. It is expected that competition is notably intensified with last year’s U10 players streaming in, like Benjamin Oh (number 1 last year in U10), Issac Fung (last year number 3 in U10), Ryan Au (number 4 U10) and Hung Ray Leong (number 5 U10).

Caissa has Sophie Whalley in this age category.

Under 10

With 4 players of the top 5 of last year’s U10 now playing in U13, there are still 8 players in this group who were in the top 15 of U10 last year as well, among which Richard Takasumi, last year’s number 2 in U10 and recent winner of the QBS P4-P5 tournament, Jun Rey Leong (number 4 U10), Gerald Jiarong Xu (number 6 U10 and recent winner of the October 2012 Student Challenger Tournament in the 6-9 years age group), Mike Tsoi (number 8 U10) and Jason Chow (number 9 U10).

Benjamin Oh (right) Winner U10 2011 - Will 2011 Number 2 Richard Takasumi (middle) Win This Year?

The streaming in of talent from last year’s U7 is large (7 players from the top 10 of last year’s U7) and the U10 category will likely be the most heavily contested age group. Because the age difference between U7 and U10 is relatively small, the impact of joining into this group of Marco Ching, last year’s U7 number 1, Peter Zhao (number 2 U7), David Li (number 3 U7), James Kwong (number 4 U7 – and now with great experience from the Youth World Chess Championship in early November), Ben Jabal (number 5 U7), Ronald Choy (number 7 U7) and Nicholas Woo (number 9 U7), will be felt.

Caissa has Bryant Chong, Franz Herrmann, Ruaidhri Neville and Chor Wei Tang in this age category.

Under 7

Only 3 players from last year’s top 15 have remained in this group. However, for Gerent Lee (last year’s number 11), Andy Au (number 13) and Miguel Angel Garceran Wang (number 14 last year and recent winner of QBS P1-P3 tournament and Hong Kong Youth Blitz Chess Champion U8) it will certainly not be walk in the park as in this age group new and unknown talents often first appear. Hard work will be required to stay in the top 15 of this year.

Caissa has Mei Jing Garceran Wang, Miguel Angel Garceran Wang and Aleesha Naqvi in this age category.

Hong Kong Juniors Open 2012 – Participants List Published

November 23rd, 2012

One of the yearly main event organized by HKFC is the Juniors Open. In 4 age categories, U18, U13 (on December 1 & 2), U10 and U7 (on December 2 only) Hong Kong’s youth will compete for the age categories titles.

Caissa has 8 players participating. In the U13 category with 46 players Sophie Whalley will play her first tournament and it will be an exciting experience to participate in one of the main youth chess events in Hong Kong as a first time tournament experience.

In the U10 category we have Bryant Chong, Ruaidhri Neville, Chor Wei Tang and Franz Herrmann all sure to score some points from among the 87 players in this age category.

In the U7 group of 38 players Miguel Angel Garceran Wang and his sister Mei Jing together with Aleesha Naqvi will compete for honor and glory.

Stay tuned!

World Youth Chess Championship 2012 in Maribor Ends

November 19th, 2012

After a tiring 11 rounds of chess at the highest level, the Youth World Chess Championship in Maribor, Slovenia, has ended. Hong Kong’s delegate in the Under 8 age category, James Kwong Wing Ki, started the tournament very strong, as reported earlier, with 3 points out of 4 games.

In round 5 and 6, which were played on one day, James lost both games, albeit from opponents with FIDE ratings as high as 1632 and 1565 from Romania and England respectively.

Mostly, when you have a FIDE rating, it means you have played a lot of games and in Hong Kong it is unfortunately for youth (and adults alike for that matter) virtually impossible to gain a rating in the absence of enough tournaments. In an event like a World Championship, a decisive factor is exactly experience, i.e., having played enough games.

James recovered well by winning in round 7 against another FIDE rated player (1520) from the USA but it was around then that James started to have to struggle with illness and fever and consequently rounds 8 and 9 were lost.

In round 10 and 11, somewhat fever free, James scored two draws, including a draw against a 1579 FIDE rated player from Cyprus – ending the chess adventure with 5 points out of 11 games.

James' Last Game against Russian Grigorii ter-Saakian (Result: Draw)

Here at Caissa and in Hong Kong we are proud of James! With games well over 2 hours and sometimes 3 hours, James broke his own, and probably also the reader’s record, of having played over 24 hours of demanding chess in some 10 days.

See you soon back in Hong Kong!

Mei Jing Shared 1st Place and Champion of Girls Under 6

November 18th, 2012

In the capable hands of Alberto Muniz, Sydney Lai, Christopher Masters and Joe Lau, the Active Kids Novices tournament last Sunday 18 November (players would have roughly played less than 3 tournaments) was a smooth ride from participant perspective – that is not an easy feat with over 80 young players who are often still figuring out on the board what tournament play is about!

Caissa was represented by our girls Aleesha and Mei Jing in the age category Under 6.

Mei Jing Ready for her First Game

Aleesha Ready for Her First Game

Jay and Regis played in the age category P1-P3.

Jay - Extra Motivated after Last Week's Friendly Against ISF

Regis - Completely Relaxed in his First Tournament

In the age category P4-P6 we had Chor Wei giving it another try in his 3rd tournament after Quarry Bay School tournament and the friendly against ISF.

Chor Wei Calm behind the Black Pieces

The tournament was played over 6 rounds. In the age category P4-P6 Chor Wei got off well with 2.5 points out of 3 but then had to admit 2 loses before winning the last game. With 3.5 points Chor Wei ended strong on 6th place out of 20 players in this age category.

In the P1-P3 age category Jay also started well with a win, but then lost 3 times in a row before winning again. With Jay gradually slowing down his speed of doing his moves, big improvements are expected in the near future. For now Jay ended with 2 points on 25th place out of 39 players.

In the same category Regis scored 3.5 points which is a score well above what is expected for a first tournament. Regis can be proud of his 14th place and his playing style shows hints of a lot more to expect in the near future.

In the Under 6 age category Aleesha showed considerable improvement compared to the Quarry Bay School tournament by scoring 2 points through a win and 2 draws.

In the same age category Mei Jing was very motivated. A couple of her games were the last to end.

Mei Jing Playing until the Final Moments to Squeeze out another Win

With such a mindset deservedly Mei Jing progressed to a shared first place where based on tie-break points she ended second of her age group and became Girl Champion.

Well done Mei Jing: Caissa is proud to have another champion among its members!

Happy Mei Jing Receiving the Girl Champion Cup from Sydney (left) and Alberto (right)

The Prize Winners

World Youth Chess Championship in Maribor, Slovenia

November 12th, 2012

After 4 rounds, Hong Kong’s delegate to the Youth World Championship U8, James Kwong Wing Ki, is showing strong performance: with 3 points out of 4 games James is number 20 out of 136. Today rounds 5 and 6 will be played.

Daily updates are on the WYCC site.

After 4 rounds James is in the top 20 of the World Youth Chess Championship U8 IN an interview

From Hong Kong we tried to interview James and his supporting family for an interim update.

Question 1: How does James feel?

James feels very excited to have this invaluable opportunity to play with those strongest chess player from the world in his age category. In addition, he also has good moments playing with those players from England And Scotland who stay in the same place, Hotel Arena, a 5 minutes walk from the 2 tournament venues, Hotel Habakuk (where U8 play) and Hotel Dras (for the rest of the age categories).

Question 2: How is the environment?

The environment in Maribor is excellent. Here is a photo taken in the city with 2 female arbiters there. Lovely weather and not too cold. People are very nice too.

James in Maribor with Two Lady Arbiters

Question 3: excited that Kasparov will visit?

James is of course very excited about the coming of Kasprov. We heard that he will be here for 3 days. Hope we will have the opportunity to take a photo with him or even chat with him.

Question 4: Were you preparations in Hong Kong useful or is it all different here at the top?

We think the preparation was to provide a solid base for James as far as possible. I hope this trip is a chess learning journey for James which will open his eyes to the chess world.

Question 5: We wish you good luck in the second half of the tournament. Any message for your friends at home?

We hope that we could share this wonderful experience and hi Miguel, hope you will be the next one to go.

ISF too strong for Caissa (at the moment …)

November 12th, 2012

The friendly match on Sunday 11 November between ISF School and Caissa Discovery Bay Chess Club in Wan Chai started with a good lunch.

Some Caissa Players and Parents Warming Up with a Lunch

Caissa could gather 7 players in the end but because ISF brought 5, as earlier agreed, Mei Jing was glad to skip the match (very nervous) and we had to rotate 2 players.

ISF is one of the best schools when it comes to youth chess and that was exactly what we found out through 2 rounds of 30 mins per person per game.

Round 1

On board 1 we had two of Hong Kong’s youth champions facing off: Caissa’s Miguel Angel Garceran Wang (Hong Kong Junior U8 Blitz Champion) against Marco Ching (Hong Kong Junior U8 Champion). Miguel built up his attack with queen and knight carefully on the king side and managed to win enough material for a quickly following check mate.

On board 2 Caissa’s Ruaidhri, not yet used to notating of a game, gave away a heavy piece in the confusion around writing down the moves and lost the game against Ben Jabal.

Round 1: Board 1 (back) Marco (left) against Miguel and board 2 (front) Ben against Ruaidhri (right).

On board 3 Caissa’s Bryant against Sabrina also got distracted by having to write his moves and in response moved increasingly faster, which resulted in inaccuracies and a loss.

On board 4, Caissa’s Chor Wei got in troubles on the back rank against Christopher and he had to give away material. Enough for Christopher to win.

On board 5 Caissa’s Franz played his first tournament and with writing of moves and all had to admit a loss early in the game.

Round 1: (front left) Bryant, (middle right) Chor Wei and (back right) Franz

Caissa lost the first round with 4-1 …

Round 2

In round 2 Miguel Angel (with white) beat Marco again (well done!). Ruaidhri, not having to write down the moves anymore, was a piece and a couple of pawns up against Ben but he could unfortunately not convert his winning position into more than a draw. In any case, a big improvement. Bryant, Chor Wei and Jay (who had replaced Franz) played better without the hassle of writing but put themselves at a disadvantage by playing much faster than needed. Round 2 Caissa lost 3.5-1.5.

Yet the mindset of the players was excellent, very motivated. With the exception of Miguel Angel, nobody had yet written down their games before in a tournament. All such details matter and it is just a matter of time, and continued practice, that results will improve.

Individual Tournament

After the friendly match we played 5 rounds of individual chess of 15 mins per person per game. This tournament was finally won by ISF’s Marco who managed to defeat Miguel (2nd place) this time. Congratulations to Marco.

Mei Jing with 3 Queens (!!!) Chasing Chor Wei's King into Checkmate

A thanks to Sydney Lai for hosting and running the event.

We’ll be back!

Caissa Prepares for Friendly Match Against ISF School

November 9th, 2012

Caissa 5-squad youth will meet the renowned-for-chess ISF School at the Active Kids Learning Center (AKLC) in Wan Chai for a friendly match on Sunday 11 November from 2pm-6pm.

In Caissa’s team we have lined up our members who are students from both international schools in Discovery Bay, DBIS and DC:

Board 1: Miguel- Angel
Board 2: Ruaidhri
Board 3: Bryant
Board 4: Franz
Board 5: Mei Jing

We wish our squad success and good luck. Stay tuned for the results of this exciting unique event.

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9 November 2012 18:06h – BREAKING NEWS – Chor Wei is also joining the team.

Chor Wei Tang in Deep Thought (Photo: Collin Mahadvan on www.Kids4Chess.com)