Caissa Hong Kong Chess Club

chess in hong kong

Quarry Bay School all-ESF Primary School Tournament 20 September

September 1st, 2015

Caissa Chess training at Discovery College and in Discovery Bay has gotten into full swing in September. And not a bit too early!

The QBS Junior Star Tournament is the first event of the year and we highly recommend all ESF Primary students to join.

 

qbs 2015

 

Our Discovery College Caissa students have been very successful in the previous editions with and Under Primary Champion in 2012, Upper Primary Champion and Lower Primary Champion and 2nd Place in 2013 and Champion Lower Primary in 2014.

Enroll online here.

Open Dutch National Titles x3 for Hong Kong Youth!

August 11th, 2015

photo 3

 

On 2 August, youth players from Hong Kong and some who were in the USA that time, from Boston, embarked on an intercontinental trip to The Netherlands to participate in the ONJK – Open Dutch Youth Championship 2015 from 3-8 August.

Accompanied by parents, aunt, uncle, grandpa, coach, and together with our local Dutch Caissa girl, who joined us in Holland, our group of total 18 people finally carried eight Caissa Hong Kong’s Chess Club players.

The drive from Schiphol airport to the hotel Erve Hulsbeek took 1.5 hours and once we arrived and checked in, it was the perfect moment to explore the neighborhood and for a big cheers on the terrace and to explore the nearby city center of Oldenzaal to do some shopping.

 

Arrived at Erve Hulsbeek - Cheers!

Arrived at Erve Hulsbeek – Cheers!

Bao Jin Wen ... and the rest ...

Bao Jin Wen … and the rest …

Fong Li and Mei Jing - chess friends forever!

Exploring the area. Nice beach and Fong Li and Mei Jing – chess friends forever!

Into the city

Into the city

Shopping at the local "Park n Shop" called Albert Heijn

Shopping at the local “Park n Shop” called Albert Heijn

 

Round 1 on the next day, 3 August, would not start until the afternoon. After a typical Dutch no-frills breakfast of freshly baked bread, ham, cheese, croissant and such there was still some time to play around – and in Holland that could lead to biking and feeding cows…

 

Erve Hulsbeek Hotel Breakfast

Erve Hulsbeek Hotel Breakfast

The biker girls Mei Jing, Jasmine and Hoi Ching

The biker girls Mei Jing, Jasmine and Hoi Ching

Feeding Number 2059, Hoi Ching's favorite cow.

Feeding Number 2059, Hoi Ching’s favorite cow.

 

Our players were spread out over almost all age groups:

  • Group B (U16): Melvin Cheung and Fong Li Calje
  • Group D (U12): Jasmine Leung and James Wing Ki Kwong
  • Group E (U10): Miguel Angel Garceran Wang
  • Group F (U9): Mei Jing Garceran Wang and Harold Wing Shun Kwong
  • Group H (U7): Jin Wen Bao

 

Early morning players towards the buses for the ride to the playing venue Sporthal 't Wooldrik

Early morning players towards the buses for the ride to the playing venue Sporthal ‘t Wooldrik

Jin Wen warms up before round 1 with former ONJK U9 champion Luuk van Steenhoven

Jin Wen warms up before round 1 with former ONJK U9 champion Luuk van Steenhoven

Jin Wen and James before  round 1

Jin Wen and James on their way to their round 1 game

The tournament has started ...

The tournament has started …

Our analysis corner

Our analysis corner from which we followed and analysed all games (photo: Tu Tran)

 

(See also report FGH Group on tournament site)

The F (U9),  G (U8) and H (U7) would play two tournaments, the first one of 9 rounds in 3 days in their own age group and then another 11 rounds in the subsequent 3 days. A gruesome schedule by any standard.

But in Jin Wen we had a true hero in our team. In the first part of the tournament the G and H category were mixed but Jin Wen emerged as winner of his age group H … and also higher than anyone in the G age group. A true world champion who can add an Open Dutch title now to his list of achievements!

 

Game preparations at Jin Wen's table

Game preparations at Jin Wen’s table

Jin Wen against Wendy

Jin Wen against Wendy

 

 

Cross Table Open Dutch Championship H (U7) & G (U8) mixed

Cross Table Open Dutch Championship H (U7) & G (U8) mixed

Bao Jin Wen - CHAMPION!!!!

Bao Jin Wen – CHAMPION!!!!

 

Our F group players Mei Jing and Harold had a tougher time but still managed to score 4.5 points and ended 14th and 17th respectively.

 

Harold before action

Harold before action

Harold, Jin Wen and Miguel Angel playing football in between the rounds with Matthew and David (not on photo)

Other kind of action: Harold, Jin Wen and Miguel Angel playing football in between the rounds with Matthew and David (not on photo)

Mei Jing against a player with sound blocker.

Mei Jing against a player with sound blocker.

 

In the second part of the F, G and H group tournament, when all three groups were merged and for our kids opponents would thus be stronger, we suddenly see a stronger Harold score 5.5 points now, Mei Jing even getting 7 points and Jin Wen again emerging as champion of all 3 age groups. Well done Jin Wen, you are a true champ, but also to Harold and Mei Jing: huurraaay!

 

Mei Jing sad after would an unnecessary loss cost her a prize - she stayed 0.5 pints behind the first 2 placed girls

Mei Jing sad after an unnecessary loss cost her a prize – she stayed 0.5 pints behind the first two placed girls. Cheer Up Mei Jing, next time better.

Final Ranking FGH after 11 rounds.

Final Ranking FGH after 11 rounds (first 37 of 46 payers)

ONJK 2015 – Caissa HK: Jin Wen Champion again!

 

(See also report Group E on tournament site)

In the E (U10) group Miguel Angel was in top shape! With fierce and intelligent play and a strong will to win he was already champion with still a round to go! But also the last round he did not take it easy and with 12.5 out of 13 he might have broken a record. He was the absolute best player in this age group – good to see that the level of a Hong Kong U10 Champion is strong enough to triumph in other countries, of which Holland is one of the strongest. Well done Miguel!

 

Miguel Angel shaking hands with Casper Bleeker who would end 2nd

Miguel Angel shaking hands with Kasper Bleeker who would end 2nd

Miguel Angel and Wing Ki always in the top of the list

Miguel Angel and Wing Ki always in the top of the list and supporting each other

Miguel Angel and Wing Ki table tennis teamwork!

Miguel Angel and Wing Ki table tennis teamwork against some Dutch!

Analysis of each game was part of the deal.

Analysis of each game was part of the deal.

 

A crucial game and break through was against nemesis Constantijn Beukema. Miguel Angel’s win was important to also beat Kasper Bleeker in round 6. In round 7 followed the only draw against Jan Casur.

 

 

Miguel Angel Champion D group (U10)

Miguel Angel Champion E group (U10)

Miguel Angel's impressive score after 13 rounds: a deserved Champion!

Miguel Angel’s impressive score after 13 rounds: a deserved Champion!

Evening entertainment in the hotel with Mexican music and Spanish water from Opa

Evening entertainment in the hotel with Mexican music …

pp

… and Opa’s Spanish water …

 

(See also report Group D on tournament site)

In the D group our players were Jasmine and Wing Ki. Jasmine had never ever played a longer tournament than the one, max two days, events that had been organized in the past in Hong Kong, mostly rapid. This event, 40 minutes and 30 seconds increment was an entirely different speed.

 

Jasmine in the middle - nervous but always happily smiling

Jasmine in the middle – nervous but always happily smiling – here amidst her team members and coaches

Jamsine with mom

Jasmine with mom Sally

Pep talk from coach Matthew for Jasmine

Pep talk from coach Matthew for Jasmine

 

After 13 rounds Jasmine had accumulated 5 points. Keep it up Jasmine, good job!

 

Jasmine, Mei Jing with Hoi Ching cooling down after a day of chess

Jasmine (orange), Mei Jing with Hoi Ching (white) cooling down after a day of stressful chess

 

Wing Ki also played in the D group and as 11-year old he must have been among the younger players in this U12 age group. Until the very last round it was not sure whether he would be 2nd place or would be crowned Champion.

 

Wing Ki in preparations for his game with some final advice from coach Matthew

Wing Ki in preparations for his game with some final advice from coach Matthew

 

 

Last round. Wing KI had won. All watching the game between Gilian Honkoop and Nathaniel. A win for Nathan or a draw would be enough for Wing Ki to win ...

Last round. Wing Ki had won. All watching the game between Gilian Honkoop and Nathaniel Faybish. A win for Nathan or a draw would be enough for Wing Ki to win … and it became a king vs king and h-pawn draw!

Wing Ki had beaten Gillian in their game and as such claimed the Champion title with an impressive score!

Wing Ki had beaten Gilian in their individual game and as such claimed the Champion title with an impressive score!

Wing Ki gets Champion prize from the Mayor of Borne City

Wing Ki had received the Champion prize from the Mayor of Borne City

 

Congratulations Wing Ki!!! You got our 3rd National Open Dutch title. We can go home proudly!

 

Our 3 National Champions flanked by proud and happy David and Matthew

Our 3 National Champions flanked by proud and happy David and Matthew

 

(See also report Group B on tournament site)

In the B Group it was unfortunate that in round 1 Melvin and Fong Li were paired against each other. The game resulted in a draw. Both Fong Li, who hadn’t seriously played for 3 years, and Melvin, who had never participated in 9 round standard chess tournament within a week, played many draws and it was lack of experience or recent practice that turned some games into some avoidable losses. We had great fun analyzing Melvin’s “immortal”, when he refused a draw while a queen down and 20 seconds on the clock …

Fong Li with 5 draws and a win and Melvin with 4 draws and 2 wins ended just below 50%. The B group is serious business and it is a score to accept with pride and to set as the baseline for … next year?

 

Fong Li and Melvin in round 1

Fong Li and Melvin in round 1

Fong Li in deep thought (photo: Tu Tran)

Fong Li in deep thought (photo: Tu Tran)

Melvin played long games ...

Melvin, the last game of the day, played long games …

Melvin turned out to be a fine badminton player!

Melvin turned out to be a fine badminton player!

Sally and Jing were not bad either ...

Sally and Jing were not bad either …

 

On Thursday, we had half a day off and of course the trip would be to Amsterdam, the only true tourist destination in Holland…

 

From Borne to Amstelveen and from there to Amsterdam by tram

From Borne to Amstelveen and from there to Amsterdam by tram

Arrival at the Museum Plein with the Rijksmuseum in the background

Arrival at the Museum Plein with the Rijksmuseum in the background

Melvin and Miguel ANgel study the chess game at Max Euwe Plein in Amsterdam

Melvin and Miguel Angel study the chess game at Max Euwe Plein in Amsterdam

Live entertainment at Leidsche Plein

Live entertainment at Leidsche Plein

Jasmine, mom and Hoi Ching at the flower market

Jasmine, mom and sister Hoi Ching at the flower market

Terrace at the Dam monument

Terrace at the Dam monument

Jin Wen, a bit ill, carried by his aunt through the Amsterdam channels

Jin Wen, a bit ill, carried by his aunt through the Amsterdam channels

Sally taking care of theBBQ when we for back - supported by Harold

Sally taking care of the BBQ when we got back from Amsterdam – supported by Harold

 

Finally, on the last day it was Opa’s 77th birthday.

 

Jin Wen helps Opa blowing the candles

Jin Wen helps Opa blowing the candles in the hotel

 

Happy Birthday Opa!

Happy Birthday Opa!

The whole group!

Finally thanks to ONJK 2015 for the great organization. Thumbs up from the whole group!

Rectification – James and Miguel Angel win YGP3 in U12 and U10 and are overall 2014-15 YGP Winners in Their Age Groups

June 22nd, 2015

In 2014-15 we introduced the Youth Grand Prix to Hong Kong: a series of 3 tournaments standard chess (90 minutes per person, 7 rounds), 2 Blitz and 1 Rapid event. In each event grand prix points could be won by ending in the top 5 of the player’s age category.

Yesterday Sunday was the last round of the Spring YGP 3 and also the last round of the entire cycle that spanned some 10 months!

As in YGP 3 we had no U14 player we added a 3rd prize to the U12 and U10 age categories and because we had 4 U8 players we also added a Champion prize for that age group.

In the U12 category James could only be overtaken by Oliver if James would lose from Anika and Oliver would beat Miguel. The latter happened when Oliver, with only some 3 minutes left on the clock, surprised Miguel Angel with a checkmate in a complicated rook/bishop (Oliver) vs rook/knight and pawns end game. However, James did not lose from Anika in a rook endgame with 2 extra pawns and as such James became champion in the U12 group, followed by Oliver 2nd and Richard, who had to forfeit 2 games in earlier rounds, on the 3rd place.

In U10 age group, Miguel Angel, despite his loss against Oliver, stayed on top to be champion. Because of a BYE input mistake for Anika in round 4, Miguel Angel was followed by 2nd place Ulysses, who beat Harsh, and 3rd Harold, who with several pieces less miraculously managed to check mate Zeth. However, after correction and adding 0.5 points to Anika in round 4, it turned out that Anika ended number 2 and Ulysses number 3. Apologies for the mistake – and Anika will get her trophy and prize money soonest.

Zeth still remained the best performing player, and thus Champion of U8.

Congratulations to all prize winners!!!

 

Zeth Champion U8 with coach Matthew Tan

Zeth Champion U8 with coach Matthew Tan

Prize Winners YGP3 with coach Matthew (left to right): Harold, James, Miguel Angel, Zeth, Richard, Ulysses and Oliver – we are missing Anika who won 2nd prize in U10

 

Caissa HK Spring YGP Cross Table End Ranking after Round 7

Top players in each age category U14, U12 and U10 would be fully sponsored, including return flight, lodging, additional training etc., to join the Dutch Youth Open 2015. Prerequisite was that players would play minimal 3 YGP events and as such unfortunately we have no U14 winner.

The final YGP ranking after 6 events shows a strong winner in Miguel Angel in U10 and James in U12. We wish our YGP champions, and of course our other players who will join the Dutch Youth Open 2015, good luck, success and fun from 3-8 August. We will be reporting from there!

 

YGP 2014-15 Final Ranking

YGP 2014-15 Final Ranking

James and Miguel Angel lead their age groups after Round 6 in YGP 3

June 17th, 2015

In last Sunday’s round 6 James consolidated his 0.5 points lead by winning against Aaditya. He is also a full point ahead of Oliver, the number 2 in his group U12.

Miguel’s hard -fought win against Harsh kept him also a full point ahead of the numbers 2, 3 and 4, Andy, Anika and Aaditya, all with 3.5 points in the U10 age category.

 

Harsh vs. Harsh, the last game ...

Harsh (white) vs. Miguel Angel in a long and the last game …

 

Coming Sunday will be the last match in the YGP cycle and we will hand out the prizes to the winners of the Spring YGP3 and we will announce the overall YGP winners in the the age categories U12 and U10 who will get a fully funded trip to the Dutch Open!

Below the pairing for round 7 and the ranking after 6 rounds.

Pairing Round 7 Caissa YGP 3

Ranking after 6 rounds YGP 3 Caissa

Team of 3 wins first choice of Candy

June 7th, 2015

Saturday we played a small team tournament instead of internal competition in DB. The board 1 players in each team played against one another, the board 2 players against each and so for each board.

 

Prize/Candy Table

Prize/Candy Table

 

The winning team would gain the honor to go first to the candy table to select their preferred candies, the 2nd ranked team would go second and so on.

Despite having 1 player less, team A ended first, team B powered by girls and the brothers Noah and Nathan ended 2nd, team D ended 3rd and team C was 4th.

Team A: 7.5 points

  1. Miguel Angel
  2. Chor Wei
  3. Christopher

Team B: 6.5 points

  1. Mei Jing
  2. Samira
  3. Noah
  4. Nathan

Team C: 4.5 points

  1. Vincent
  2. Suneh
  3. Maximillian
  4. Leonard

Team D: 6 points

  1. Bryant
  2. Jay
  3. Seth
  4. Kian

 

Team B Mei Jing, Samira, Noah, Nathan against Team C Vincent, Suneh, Max, Leonard

Team A Miguel Angel against team D Bryant

Team A Miguel Angel, Chor Wei, Chris against team D Bryant, Jay, Seth, Kian

Nathan is very pleased having achieved an amazing stalemate against Kian

Nathan (with white) is very pleased having achieved an amazing stalemate against Kian

Updated (5 June) – YGP3 has 6 Players with 3 points after 4 rounds

June 4th, 2015

Differences are minimal in the top half of the YGP cycle. Just like in the YGP1 and YGP2 editions, there surely won’t be a walk-over for any player and we need to sit tight until the final round to see what will eventually happen.

Such tight competition makes this tournament one of the most worthwhile events for our youth as it is also the only event in Hong Kong for youth with regular/standard time control of 90 minutes.

The ranking after 4 rounds here below:

Cross Table Rank after Round 5

Cross Table Rank after Round 5

 

Below the pairing of round 5:

Pairing Round 5 Caissa Hong Kong YGP 3

 

 

First 7 players registered for Open Dutch Youth Championship

June 2nd, 2015

onjk banner

 

The Open Dutch Youth Championship is now only 2 months away. We have 7 Caissa kids enrolled and with over 10 accompanying persons joining our Hong Kong Bauhinia should create an impact among the Dutch tulips!

Melvin, one of the top scorers in the Secondary section of the HKJCC inter-school, and doing well in our Friday Spring Open, will play in Group B, 1999 or later.

Jasmine and James will play in Group D, 2003 or later.

Miguel Angel, Dutch Champion 2 years ago in Group G, is our player in group E, born in 2005 .

Harold and Mei Jing will play in Group F, born in 2006.

Jinwen, current School World Champion U7, will aim for his next title in Group H, born in 2008 or later.

Of course coach Matthew will also be in Holland to support our team.

If still interested to join – do let us know!

World School Chess Ends – One World Champion and one 3rd Place!

May 14th, 2015

On the site of the Hong Kong Chess Federation you can find a short entry on the end results of the World School Chess Championship 2015 in Pattaya. Playing under HKCF flag, Bao Jin Wen became World Champion U7 and Michael Deng ended 3rd pace in U9.

 

Michael Deng with Proud Mom

Michael Deng with Proud Mom

U7 World Champion Bao Ji Wen with Proud Family

U7 World Champion Bao Ji Wen with Proud Family

 

This is probably the best performance ever for Hong Kong. As commented on the HKCF web site, these chess results are indeed remarkably good, however, what was at least as big a win was to see our Hong Kong children bond towards a team. Elephant riding, go-karting, water polo and by and large taking joint meals was the energizing glue between the heavy chess program at World Championship level, aka, playing 4 to 6 hours of serious chess competition per day, especially on the days of double rounds.

 

Scoring Table Hong Kong Players

Scoring Table Hong Kong Players

 

The tournament over 9 rounds was run very smoothly in an amicable atmosphere. Everything started and ended in time and there were no incidents that affected the mood of players negatively.

 

After the children were in the playing hall, the nerves of (grand)fathers and coaches were tested ...

After the children were in the playing hall, the nerves of (grand)fathers, offcials and coaches were tested …

 

Our U9 Caissa girls Mei Jing and Anika scored 4.5 and 4 points respectively – a good score and the baseline for what is to come.

 

Anika Showing other Talents on Social Nite

Anika Showing some of her other talents on Social Nite

 

Also our Caissa boys Alan Pang Bo, Aaditya, Harold, James, Miguel Angel, Oliver and Richard were nothing short of their peers with scores ranging from 3 to 4.5 points. Also here, this is the baseline to improve from in the future.

U11 Huang Ho Pang and U15 Benjamin with 5 and 4 points respectively can also look back at a fine tournament.

 

Only rarely a computer game came out - here the "leak" was with Miguel Angel and Oliver

Only rarely a computer game came out – here the “leak” was with Miguel Angel and Oliver…

Aaditya Mom Pep-talking

Aaditya Mom Pep-talking

Pep-talk for Harold

Pep-talk for Harold

Oliver's Grandma Pep-talk

Oliver’s Grandma Pep-talk

Pep-talk for Miguel Angel

Pep-talk for Miguel Angel

And more pep-talk ... here for Richard

Lucky Richie – no pep-talk but quickly going through some lines with dad before start of the game …

James and Harold meet the new U7 World Champion Bao Jin Wen

James and Harold congratulate the new U7 World Champion Bao Jin Wen

Playing against the new World Champion U7

Having Fun Playing against the New World Champion U7

 

Thank you all fathers, mothers, grandmoms/dads and Caissa’s coach Matthew and Active Kids’ coach Marcos for having contributed in making this event a success by any standard.

Also good job to Alberto Muniz, who was Hong Kong’s section International Arbiter in the girls section.

In this event Hong Kong made a difference. More to come …

Pairing Round 3 Spring Competition and YGP3

May 14th, 2015

With many of our top youth playing in the World School Chess we had to postpone one round of both the YGP3 Cycle on Sunday and Spring Cycle on Friday evening as well as Saturday competition in Discovery Bay and all lessons of last weekend.

But we will be back and below the pairing of round 3 of both the Spring Open on Friday, with still various BYEs due to late traveling in from Thailand of a handful of players, and the YGP3 on Sunday which should be full house!

Pairing Round 3

Pairing Round 3

Pairing Round 3

Pairing Round 3

Status after 6 rounds World School Chess Championship

May 11th, 2015

Today was a rest day, that is, from 3.30pm a voluntary blitz tournament would be organized as a side activity. The morning would thus require no preparation today, so what better to do than going for … elephant riding! So there we went with 22 of us.

 

Elephant Riding

Elephant Riding. Left: Oliver, with Huang Ho and Huang Ho’s Mom. Right: Anika and Dad with Meijing

James and Harold with dad in the middle

James and Harold with their Dad

 

After elephant riding, dehydrated and all, some water polo in the swimming pool offered an excellent way to cool down. James, Harold, Miguel Angel and Richard were the team that took on Matthew, Oliver, Anika, Meijing, Aaditya and Alan. With two versions going around not sure who won …

 

sada

Water Polo to Cool Down

 

After all the fun, tomorrow morning will be the start of a serious day again with preparation from 10.15am to push ourselves up the ranking. Note, by the way, the impressive score of U7 Bao Jin Wen of 5.5 out of 6!

World School Chess 2015 - Ranking after R6