Caissa Hong Kong Chess Club

chess in hong kong

Jay, Ian and Joshua in top 3 after 13 rounds

March 24th, 2014

Last Saturday we played rounds 11, 12 and 13 in the Beginner/Intermediate group in Discovery Bay and after 13 rounds the top 3 have now accumulated over 200 points.

In round 11 Joshua had an important win over Ian who was leading the group until then and as Noah upset Wo Hang, who was in the top 3 then, through a solid checkmate Jay’s win over Koza was enough to put him on the top spot. Aleesha beat Roshan on time and Ritvik’s win against Saga pushed him up further without loss. Kian avoided stalemate and checkmated Christopher.

In round 12 Ian recovered strongly by winning against Koza, but as also Jay won against Wo Hang and Joshua beat Kian, the top 3 remained unchanged. Christopher beat Roshan and Saga won against Hop Hang while Noah stalemated and Ritvik in a very winning position.

Round 13 saw Jay, Joshua and Ian win again, against respectively Ritvik, Wo Hang and Koza and Aleesha and Saga scored their second win of the day against Hop Hang and Roshan. Noah lost against Kian in a very equal game.

 

Rank after 13 Rounds - 22 March 2014

Rank after 13 Rounds – 22 March 2014

 

 

Discovery College wins prizes at the 2014 Hong Kong inter-school

March 10th, 2014

The yearly inter-school tournament, like last year held at the ESF South Island School, attracted 20 schools which brought in 60 teams of 4 players in the Primary section on a gloomy and cloudy Sunday 9 March 2014. This seems to be a decent turn up somewhat less than in previous years, however, it is only a fraction of the 569 Primary Schools in Hong Kong and one might wonder why it is that only 240 students out of the 320,000 registered Primary school students could find their way to a national event which in various other countries can be counted among the most prestigious yearly school events around.

Nonetheless, our very own Discovery Bay’s Discovery College, one of the youngest schools around, participated for the third time, this year with 3 teams; almost all players Caissa members or students – of course!

Hopes were high this year because after a spot in the 40s 2 years ago, and in the 20s last year, the Discovery College team A with Richard Takasumi, Miguel Angel Garceran Wang and Mei Jing Garceran Wang had a line-up consisting of the champions of the ESF Schools in both Upper and Lower Primary, and together with Chor Wei Tang, who in recent tournaments consistently scored very well, a place in the top 10 should be within reach…

Team C

Team C unfortunately was incomplete due to sickness of our board 2 player. Koza on board 1 could not find his form but James and Saga did some points gathering for the team. Team C ended on the 59th place.

 

Interschool 2014 Results team C

Interschool 2014 Results team C

 

Team C: Saga, James, Koza

Team C: Saga, James, Koza

 

Team B

In Team B everybody scored some points and Suneh on board 1 did a good job carrying the burden of playing the strongest opponents each match. Kian on board 2 with 2 wins and Ashlin with 3.5 points on board 4 fought well for the team each match but a special contribution came from Justin who became top scorer of this team – in his first tournament ever. Good job!

 

Team B Scores

Team B Scores

 

Team B: Justin, Ashlin, Kian and Suneh

Team B: Justin, Ashlin, Kian and Suneh

 

Team A

Our Team A players were as experienced as any of the players in any of the title candidate teams. And the team was motivated and performed very well. Only in the last round, fighting for the top spot, Team A had to accept a loss against ISF Academy A, who became the the new inter-school champions – and congratulations to ISF.

As Koji Takasumi, who coached Team A for the day, said before the last round: we did all we can and we had maneuvered ourselves to be able to play for the Title – no matter the outcome of that last game. And indeed, compared to just 3 years ago we have come from afar and at Caissa we are very proud of our members who did their utmost best for their school – and still conquered a trophy, 6th Prize, for Discovery College.

Miguel Angel, with his monsterscore of 6.5 out of 7, also received the top scorer prize of all the Board 2 players.

Congratulations Miguel Angel and congrats Team A with your Prizes and congratulations to all players in all the 3 teams for the fighting spirit and sportsmanship they showed throughout the whole day.

 

Team A Results

Team A Results

 

Koji Pep-Talking Team A

Koji Pep-Talking Team A

 

6th Prize for Team A

6th Prize for Team A: Mei Jing, Richard, Miguel Angel and Chor Wei

 

Miguel Angel Top Scorer Board 2 Prize

Miguel Angel Top Scorer Board 2 Prize

And of course, Caissa also greets all the other players that play or train at Caissa, and all who haven’t done so yet, and who equally did their best defending their own school. Well done all of you!

All results can be found here.

Winter 2014 Finals – Edwin Borigas Champion Blitz

March 1st, 2014

After GM Hou Yifan finished her simul around 11.15am, the rest of the day the chess club was dedicated to the Winter 2014 Farewell Blitz Open.

The preambule to this event was the Standard Chess competition that was spread out over 7 weeks in the dark winter months of January and February.

The full capacity of 32 players was still further strecthed to accommodate 36 players: 18 players were U12, 11 players had a FIDE rating, we had 5 children join from Shenzhen and we were glad to see our adult friends from Shenzhen Umberto, Stuart, and Eugene, coming in again to play in our tournament.

Over 9 rounds the tournament ended on a high note for Edwin Borigas who, on tie-break against Daniel Lam (the winner of the Standard Chess competition) became the champion with 8 points. Eugene Livensky, the winner of our anniversary rapid tournament in July last year, ended 3rd with 7 points.

The number 2 in the Standard Chess competition, Joseph Wong, ended 4th with 6 points to claim the Best Unrated prize.

 

Edwin Borigas Champion Open Blitz

Edwin Borigas Champion Open Blitz

 

Prize Winners Adult Group

Clockwise: Daniel Lam Collects Champion Standard Chess and 2nd Prize Blitz, Joseph Best Unrated Player Prize and Eugene 3rd Prize

 

In the U12 category we proudly crown our own Caissa member Richard Takasumi to Champion again, on tie-break, followed closely by numbers 2 and 3, Ronald Choy (the Champion U12 in Standard Chess) and James Kwong, also with 5 points.

 

Richard Takasumi Champion Open Blitz U12

Richard Takasumi Champion Open Blitz U12

Ronald Choy Champion U12 Standard Chess and 2nd Prize Blitz U12

Ronald Choy Champion U12 Standard Chess and 2nd Prize Blitz U12

 

Thank you all for your competitive but Fair Play mindset. It made possible to have a smooth tournament, despite the crowdedness and mixture of players from 6 years old up – and we look forward to organize more.

 

Final Ranking Caissa Winter 2014 Blitz Open

Final Ranking Caissa Winter 2014 Blitz Open

 

Some more photo impressions:

 

Front to left: Arjun - James, Cyril - Billy, Eugene - Stuart

Front to Back: Arjun – James, Cyril – Billy, Eugene – Stuart

Front to back: Edwin – Stuart, Daniel – Yee Chit

Hoda in Deep Thought against his Young Opponent

Hoda in Deep Thought against his Young Opponent

Aravind in Deep Thought against yet another Young Opponent

Women World Champion GM Hou Yifan Visits Caissa for Simul

March 1st, 2014
Group Photo Simul Players and Women World Champion GM Hou Yifan visiting Caissa Chess Club Hong Kong

Group Photo Simul Players and Women World Champion GM Hou Yifan visiting Caissa Chess Club Hong Kong

 

Women World Champion GM Hou Yifan turned just 20 years old last week while in Hong Kong. What Yifan achieved in chess in just 20 years is exceptional and we were truly honored with her presence. We all, youngsters and adults alike, by seeing this friendly, modest and likeable chess prodigy in action, surely were given a boost of motivation to try to excel ourselves too in whatever we do.

In her game against 21 players Yifan won 20 games and a noteworthy results was achieved by Stuart Holt, the only player who managed to draw. Well done Stuart!