HONG KONG OPEN 2013 CHESS PRELIMINARIES ROUND 8

March 26th, 2013

After the dust of the skirmishes in the penultimate round of the Hong Kong 2013 Chess Open Preliminaries last Monday had settles we see four players emerge with 6 points and seven players with the minimal distance possible of 5.5 points.

Melvin Yu’s loss against Alberto Muniz did not dethrone him from first place and if in the last round Melvin manages to defeat Jake Chan, he could possible become the champion. But Melvin better had a very good day because Jake hasn’t lost a single game against three of the top 5 players he met so far.

In that background, next week’s games between Alberto and Chor Yuen Chong and the two FIDE Masters Brian Dew and Javier Martin, will be as important as Luen-Wah Luk’s (FM) game against Edgardo Borigas. Michael Yang, the only youth player (Under 13) who has sustained himself in the top 10 will now have to prove his talent against Chak Man Chan (CM) to qualify for the Finals.

Looking at the tie-break points right now, the loss of our Caissa heroes Peter Whalley and Hannah Dale last week have probably put them out of the top 9 range and Finals of this year. But no worries – both had just picked up chess only a few months after a long hiatus. This was just a warming up …

Pairing Round 9 HK Open Preliminaries 2013

HONG KONG OPEN 2013 CHESS PRELIMINARIES ROUND 7

March 20th, 2013

With draws on the first two boards in round 7 between Melvin Yu and Brian Dew (FM) and between Jake Chan, who is playing a great tournament so far, and Alberto Muniz, there have been very little changes in the top 10. As predicted, this year’s group top 20 is very close in strength and the final ranking will likely remain unclear until the very last 9th round.

Whereas Edgardo Borigas’ second loss in a row, this time against Chor Yuen Chong, has pushed him to 9th place with 4.5 points, still just within qualifying for the finals, Robin Lai, Yuen-Wah Luk (FM) and Michael Yang consolidated their position in the top 10 with a win.

It is also great to see that Caissa’s Peter Whalley has crawled, still undefeated, into the top 10 and also Caissa’s Hannah Dale on 13th position now with 4.5 points is well within range of a top 9 position.

In round 8 each player in the top 10 will be playing against another top 10 player and for sure some players currently right under top 10 will seep into this elite group after next week.

Therefore, chances for our Caissa players are right there next week. But it won’t be easy for Peter facing Edgardo who will be determined to stop his losing streak and Hannah meeting Yui Kuen Pang who should be motivated to continue his winning streak after a poor start.

Let’s wait and see.

Top 34 after Round 7 and Pairing Round 8

HONG KONG OPEN 2013 CHESS PRELIMINARIES ROUND 6

March 13th, 2013

Edgardo Borigas fell to 3rd place after his loss against Brian Dew (FM) in round 6 and Melvin Yu secured 1st place, 0.5 points loose from Brian, by defeating Luen-Wah Luk (FM).

Next week’s game between numbers 2 and 1, Brian and Melvin, will be important, but likely not crucial for the end results yet. Chor Yuen Chong who drew against Jake Chan are both still in full pursuit and also Alberto Muniz is back where he belongs: in a position with 4.5 points to be a serious title contender. As a matter of fact, the whole top 12 can still be regarded as serious title contenders …

The draw between both Caissa players Peter Whalley (draw number 5!) and Hannah Dale have secured them a position with 3.5 points to credibly aim for a place in the top 9 and as such a ticket to the Finals later this year.

Top 34 after Round 6 and Pairing Round 7

Hong Kong – Guangzhou Invitational Tournament. Hong Kong Team Wins Again!

March 11th, 2013

In the weekend of 8, 9 and 10 of March an official Guangzhou Chess delegation visited Hong Kong to play against Hong Kong’s top 15 youth in the age categories U8 to U14.

Many players of the Hong Kong team who had also secured the Pearl Delta Cup 2013 for Hong Kong against Macao, and also played in the Hong Kong – East Lake Guangzhou Chess Club tournament were meeting their Guangzhou age peers on Friday in a double round robin (playing once with black and once with white against the same opponent).

In round 1 Hong Kong beat Guangzhou with 9-7. Hong Kong also won round 2 to end the team match in a win for Hong Kong of 17.5-12.5. From Caissa Miguel Angel won both his games but Mei Jing lost twice and it shows it is not easy to play U8 when you are 6.

On Saturday morning and Sunday morning the tournament changed into a mixed individual event where every player, irrespective of which chess federation or age group, would play 4 rounds in one Swiss paired group.

Congratulations to U14 Peisen Lin from Guangzhou who emerged as winner of the tournament after winning from Hong Kong’s Champion U12 Michael Yang in an exciting 5 minutes blitz when Michael’s time was up 7 seconds before Peisen’s.

End Ranking after 4 Rounds

It is good to see that the top 10 is populated with 6 Hong Kong players, including U10 players like James Kwong and Richard Takasumi.

From Caissa perspective, U8 Miguel Angel’s 2 points, including losses against the champion U14 Peisen and 4th ranked U12 Adrian Chui, were decent enough in this very strong field.

Issac Fung (grey shirt) and Miguel Angel Garceran Wang (blue shirt) ready to play against Peisen Lin

Hong Kong’s Issac Fung (grey shirt) contemplating and Miguel Angel Garceran Wang (blue shirt) ready to play Peisen Lin who is making sure the clock will run in time …

Intermediate Tournament Won by Bryant Chong

March 8th, 2013

After the reorganization of the groups schedules which took effect from March, the Thursday evenings are now when the Intermediate group comes together.

A mini-tournament was held among the most advanced in the Intermediate group with the following results:

Bryant Chong: 5 out of 5
Maxwell Moore and Jonathan Chow: 3.5 out of 5
Ian Sum and Jay Hugh Ahn: 3 out of 5

Bryant Wins Intermediate Mini-Tournamanet

Bryant Wins Intermediate Mini-Tournament

Hong Kong Open 2013 Chess Preliminaries Round 5

March 6th, 2013

As mentioned in an earlier entry, this year’s preliminaries are fierce and after 5 rounds, with Edgardo Borigas and Melvin Yu, the only two players who had 4 points after 4 rounds, drawing against each other, no one can boast a score of 100 percent anymore.

Chor Yuen Chong, playing with black, recovered well from his loss against Melvin last week by beating Robin Lai in what seemed to be a shoot-from-the-hip style of middle game with Robin managing to have his white pawns on a5, b5, c5 and d5 and Chor Yuen similarly having planted his king side pawns on the 3rd rank – with almost all other pieces still on the board that is!

Also in the top 10, in addition to Melvin and Edgardo, we have 3 other players who haven’t lost yet: Luen-Wah Luk, Brian Dew and Peter Whalley (! Caissa). Unfortunately, next week Peter will play against fellow Caissa member Hannah Dale.

Other Caissa player David Garceran Nieuweburg, who is feverishly browsing the internet to find out more about Ginko Biloba and other food supplements and sleep therapies to help brain power … sank to 45th place after losing against Mason Ching.

Rank after Round 5 and Pairing of Round 6

Hong Kong Macao Interport: Hong Kong Youth Keep Pearl Delta Cup in Hong Kong!

March 3rd, 2013

The 2013 edition of the Hong Kong – Macao Chess Interport, held on Saturday March 2 at Caissa Chess Club in Discovery Bay, took place in a competitive but very pleasant atmosphere underlining the roots of a friendly event between the two sister cities, going back many decades.

The 16 players from Macao were accompanied by 17 supporters in the form of parents, chess officials and a trainer. The 16 players from Hong Kong, having the home advantage, had at least as many supporters visiting and contributing to a great ambiance.

Although a friendly match, at stake was the Caissa Pearl Delta Cup which today would either stay in Hong Kong or would go to Macao: the city with most points today would keep the Cup until the next match.

The Payers: Hong Kong Team Left - Macao Team Right

The Players: Hong Kong Team Left – Macao Team Right

The Pearl Delta Cup

Exchanging Formalities between Macao Chess Federation and Caissa Chess Club

Exchanging Formalities between Jose Silvereinho President of Macao Chess Federation and David Garceran Nieuwenburg of Caissa Chess Club

Exchanging plaques between Macao Chess Federation and Hong Kong Chess Federation

As mentioned in an earlier post, the match would evolve between four players in each age category Under 8, Under 10, Under 13 and Under 14-18 in a rapid chess double round robin format. Each player would play two opponents twice.

Under 8 Category

Hong Kong U8 Players (left to right): Miguel Angel, Gerent, Harold, Mei Jing

In team B Harold Kwong and Mei Jing Garceran Wang (Caissa) scored 3 and 2 wins out of 4 games respectively. Both Harold and Zheng Hai Ming from Macao ended with 3 points and in a decisive blitz Zheng Hai Ming secured the win and the top scorer prize of this group.

For team A Gerent Lee and Miguel Angel Garceran Wang (Caissa) played very strong and scored 3 and 3.5 points respectively, resulting in the top scorer prize for Miguel in this group.

Results Hong Kong Macao Interport Pearl Delta Cup 2013 U8

Gerent Lee and Leung Ian Kei Shaking Hands

Harold and Meijing Ready

Under 10

Hong Konng U10 (left to right): James, Richard, Edrien, Bryant

Hong Kong U10 (left to right): James, Richard, Edrien, Bryant

In team B Edrien Borigas and Bryant Chong (Caissa) scored 3 and 2 points respectively contributing to a 5-3 win for Hong Kong in this subgroup. As Edrien and Macao’s Gong Ka Yi both ended with 3 points also here the top scorer prize winner had to be determined by a blitz game. The first blitz ended in a draw by stale mate but the second game was won by Gong Ka Yi.

In team A Richard Takasumi and James Kwong faced strong Macao players and scored 1.5 and 3 points respectively to secure the sub group win by 4.5-3.5. The 3 points for James were enough to also win the top scorer prize.

Results Hong Kong Macao Interport Pearl Delta Cup 2013 U10

U10 in Action

Under 13

Hong Kong U13 (left to right): Michael, Benjamin, Wilson, Sophie

Hong Kong team B, Sophie Whalley and, actually U10 Wilson Mueller, (both Caissa), faced a very strong girl duo from Macao who managed to win all their games! As a consequence, a blitz game was required between Macao’s Luo Yihua and Wong Kit to determine top scorer prize which was won by Luo Yihua.

Team A with Michael Yang and Benjamin Oh did very well, scoring 3.5 and 2.5 points respectively. The 3.5 points for Michael was enough to get him the top scorer prize in this group.

Results Hong Kong Macao Interport Pearl Delta Cup 2013 U13

Benjamin and Michael in deep thought

Under 14-18

Hong Kong Under 14-18 (left to right): Marcus, Christopher, Fung Ting, Saloni

Our team B was Hong Kong’s girl duo team with Fung Ting and Saloni Anandpara playing very well, scoring 3 and 2 points respectively. Fung Ting had enough with these 3 points to become top scorer in this group.

Team A with fine players like Christopher Masters and Marcus Ho, scoring 2.5 and 3.5 points respectively, played strong and Marcus’s 3.5 points were worth top scorer prize.