Caissa Hong Kong Chess Club

chess in hong kong

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

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 …

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 2015 in Pattaya after 3 Rounds

May 9th, 2015

As mentioned on the HKCF web site the World School Chess in Pattaya is 3 rounds into the event.

With 14 players and about at least as many supporting and accompanying persons and two top trainers, IM Matthew Tan and IM Marcos Lleneza, we are the largest HK delegation for as long as most can remember.

The hotel is of nice quality, the food comparatively weak, but the chess playing hall is excellent with enough space for the players, high ceiling and no parents allowed whatsoever … what a relief to children, trainers and officials! Per federation only 1 person at a tine can access the playing hall to have a look from the side line and so far all is going smooth.

Day 1: the HK Delegation gets briefed by Caissa and HKCF President David

HK getting seated for the opening ceremony (notice the Caissa flag?!)

Alan in Thinking Pose before Start of Round 1

Anika before Round 1

Our Caissa flagship-kids after round 3 are Anika and Richard with 2 points – below the full list:

G9 Anika: 2
O13 Richard: 2
O9 Aaditya: 1.5
O7 Alan: 1
G9 Mei Jing: 1
O9 Harold: 1
O11 James: 1
O11 Miguel Angel: 1
O13 Oliver: 1

The points truly do not reflect the playing strength as some of our players simply gave away very good to winning positions and we will try to tighten this in coming days.

Analysis after Round 1

Marcos and Matthew both in full Analysis gear with their pupils

Marcos and Matthew both into Full Analysis with Their Pupils after Round 2

Of course we also follow and support our non-Caissa players, we are here as one HK team, and some are doing very well so far:

O7 Bao Jin Wen: 2.5
O9 Michael: 2.5
O11 Huang Ho Pang: 2.5
O15 Benjamin: 2
G15 Katrina: 1 (Katrina will not play from round 4)

Despite being in the country of excellent food, the meals are not the greatest assets of this tournament and after round 3 we decided with a group of 17 Hong Kong players/supporters/trainers to venture into the city …

17 of us in Tuk Tuk

Nice and Easy Dinner at Food Court in Mall

Entertainment in Mall

Pathena Netherlands vs. Caissa Hong Kong Internet Match Decided in “extra time”

May 4th, 2015

VIEW THE FULL ALBUM HERE

Our Caissa Hong Kong Kids (left to right): James, Aaditya, Alan, Anika, Mei Jing, Richard, Miguel Angel and Harold

Sunday 3 May, in preparation of the World School Championship in Pattaya, Thailand, starting later this week, we had organized a practice internet match against the top youth of the Netherlands in the U9-U11 age group.

As mentioned earlier, through our Dutch Partners we were provided with Playchess.com accounts and as a first ever for Hong Kong chess our 8 kids played against a team of their age peers over 9,000KM away.

The Dutch team comprised of following players:

1. Tommy Tran
2. Liqin Lu
3. Javeria Komal Zubair
4. Circe Janse
5. Saad Komal Zubair
6. Kimmily Tran
7. Jesse van Dongen
8. Yisha Chen

Pathena Dutch Team

Alan and Anika having fun warming up before the match

Richard and Harold right before the Match: Jokes on the Chat …

The pairing was based on two rounds: in round one board 1 of HK played against board 1 of Holland, board 2 against board 2 and so on. In round two, board 1 of HK played against board 2 of Holland, and board 2 of HK against board 1 of Holland, board 3 against board 4 etc.

The scores of our team members were (R1, R2):

1. James (0,1)
2. Miguel Angel (1, 1/2)
3. Richard (1, 1/2)
4. Aaditya (0, 0)
5. Alan (1, 1)
6. Harold (0, 0)
7. Mei Jing (0, 1)
8. Anika (1, 0)

Both round 1 and 2 thus ended in 4-4!

Analysis by parents and grandparents …

Mei Jing in Deep Thought

It was suggested by the Dutch team to play a decisive blitz and we do not walk away from a challenge, of course not …

The Decisive Blitz Round: our Top 4 Boards

However, whereas in regular time we might have gotten somewhat too little from the 4-4 results, especially in round 2, our Dutch opponents were clearly the better blitzers. The maximum we could get out of this decisive round was 2.5 points: James and Anika won their games and Miguel Angel drew. Nonetheless, a big applause to all our players who gave it their all during this long and memorable day.

Congratulations to the Pathena Holland team. Well done! We are looking forward to a rematch though!

Special thanks to our Dutch partners Pathena Chess and Delemare Chess Academy for having coordinated the Playchess.com internet logistics and for having provided through the Royal Dutch Chess Federation Playchess.com accounts for our kids who can still use these for a year for free – and we will practice online blitz! Also thanks to Matthew for his coordination here on the ground with the Dutch.

Final thanks to all our Caissa kid parents for helping to bring in laptops and staying positively involved until the end.

Caissa Youth in Final Preparation for the World School Chess Championship: Pizza

April 27th, 2015

In the upcoming youth internet match against The Netherlands on Sunday, May 3 we will play two rounds against eight top youth players on the other side of the world – let’s get in the mood for the upcoming World School Championship!

Our eight Caissa players are: Richard, James, Miguel Angel, Harold, Mei Jing, Anika, Aaditya, and Alan (in order of age, more or less). Each player will play one game with black and one with white.

Practice for World School in the weekend - with parents supporting

Caissa Kids Practice for World School in the weekends – with parents supporting

Aaditya looks around while Anika studies the position from higher altitude. In the back Richard watches his dad Koji play against Miguel Angel

Aaditya looks around while Anika studies the position from higher altitude. In the back Richard lunches and watches his dad, Koji, play against Miguel Angel

We will primarily play for honor and glory but we are also trying to arrange a nice prize for the players of the winning team.

Through our Dutch partners, Pathena Chess and Delemare Chess Academy, internet accounts via the Royal Dutch Chess Federation will be arranged on Playchess.com.

After each round we will get together to briefly discuss the games as to also create a valuable learning experience.

Time: 15.00 – 19.00
- Pizza lunch: 15:00-16:00 (that should motivate!)
– Round 1: 16.15 – 17.00
– Discussion of games and break
– Round 2: 17.45 – 18.30
– Discussion of games and conclusion

Playing time: 20 minutes per person + 5 sec increment per move

We will be trying to stream the match live on our Caissa YouTube channel – stay tuned!

Caissa Starts Preparing HK Youth who Participate in the FIDE World School Championship

April 20th, 2015

World School Championship 2015 - Pattaya Thailand

The official site of the FIDE World School Chess Championship 2015 is up and running and the start of this mega chess event is only some two weeks away.

In an earlier post we listed the players who are going to represent Hong Kong in this event and we are glad to see we have another Caissa student join, Aaditya Kadam, former U7 Hong Kong National Champion.

What will we be / are we doing in preparation?

All our Caissa kids have already started with extensive training with our coach IM Matthew Tan and rest assure that our friends who do not train with Caissa have also been sitting around the board already, training with their coach IM Marcos Llaneza.

Both coaches Matthew and Marcos will join the players in Pattaya to support them also on the spot.

IM Matthew Tan training the Caissa Girls Anika and Mei Jing

As for Caissa, our training is done in groups of 2, max 3, players. Richard with Miguel Angel, Anika with Mei Jing, Aaditya with Alan, Miguel Angel also with Aaditya and so on. Each session is 90 minutes and covers all aspects of chess. With 1.5-4.5 hours training per week, complemented with 1-2 weekly games of Standard chess, the players have already invested a lot of their precious time into the preparation in the past weeks. Applause!

On Saturday May 2 (still tentative) we intend to hold a parent information evening, not only for Caissa student parents but all HK players parents are welcome, to prepare both players and accompanying persons on what to expect, daily routines, when to analyze games, social activities, joint meal taking etc.

On Sunday May 3 we will have a practice inter-land chess match via internet playchess.com against top youth from Holland (playing at European Championship at that time). From 4pm-8pm eight of our players divided in 2 teams of 4 players will play a round robin of 4 rounds against their Dutch opponents and after each round the individual games will be analyzed in the group with Matthew.

Our 8 players from Caissa students/members are:

Richard
James
Miguel Angel
Aaditya
Mei Jing
Anika
Harold
Alan

We will stream the event on Youtube for anyone to watch!

Finally, within 1-2 weeks before departure (exact time still to be scheduled) we will have a 2x 2 hours training and preparation with all Caissa students together, for bonding and team spirit. Individual tailored players report will be created by Matthew to enhance strengths and avoid weaknesses at the event.

We are getting ready …

Ritvik, Ben and Samuel Successful in AK Novice Tournament

April 13th, 2015

We congratulate our students who played in last Sunday’s Active Kids Novice tournament.

Wendy in the 11+ age category scored 3 points and ended 6th; however, places 2-4 were not that far with 4 points and Wendy would have gotten 2nd prize if she would have won her last game. Next time Wendy!

In the 9-10 age category Samuel played a very good tournament. He stayed calm, even under high pressure of the last decisive game, which he had to win to receive a prize. And he did. Towards an end game with both sides promoting pawns Samuel kept his cool which resulted in 3rd prize – his first silverware. Well done Samuel!

AK Novice Tournament 9-10 years End Ranking

AK Novice Tournament 9-10 Age Category

Samuel poses with IM Marcos Llaneza

In the age category 7-8 years Andrew ended 6th place, like his sister Wendy in 11+, and with 3.5 points he was very, very close to a prize too.

However, the spotlight of this age category went this time fully to Caissa’s young and upcoming talents. Ben, who had the previous day already won a prize in Caissa’s Open spring blitz, was hungry enough to again collect a prize and ended 2nd with 4.5 points.

Ritvik, always in for a few jokes, is quickly growing into a solid, calm and serious player when behind the board, and that reflected in the excellent result of 5 points and the Champion Prize to remember this great achievement for many years to come.

Well done to our boys who won the prizes but also to our students who didn’t – yet! Keep on training and playing and your time will surely come.

AK Novice Tournament 7-8 Age Category

Ritvik and Samuel – deservedly proud and happy!

Caissa and Discovery College continue to collect Prizes

April 2nd, 2015

March was a good month for youth chess in Hong Kong. First of all we played out the Caissa Winter YGP with our Teddy emerging as champion.

A week later we had a dozen of our players participate in the Aktive Kids event bringing home personal and school trophies.

The week thereafter, on March 22, our kids again booked success, for school and personal, in the HKCF official inter-school event.

On 28-29 March it was HK Chess Juniors’ turn to hold an inter-school event and it went smooth. Compared to the official HKCF tournament a week earlier the venue was very crowded and too many parents within ‘intervening’ distance but the advantage was that the location offered outdoor areas where children in between their rounds could play.

Coach Matthew making sure the team is ready – and they were!

Discovery College participated with one team in Lower Primary and these Caissa pupils showed great spirit.

James on board 1 faced tough opponents and scored a good 3 points. On board 2 Seth, after a small dip after round 1, won a few in a row and ended with 4 points. Nathan on board 4 was less distracted now by the clocks and also scored 4 points, very good for a P1 student. Noah on board 3 was in top form and scored the full 7 out of 7 – and like last week collected a personal prize, but this time the top scorer prize!

James (back), Seth (standing) and Nathan and Noah analysing during the breaks

Noah, Nathan, James and Seth celebrate with Matthew

Proud coach Michel with happy Nathan and Noah

The team ended 5th out of 22 teams and that is a great result – well done DC team!

But Caissa also has students who do not go to Discovery College. In the Lower Primary Ritvik ended 7th with his Swiss German team and with 5.5 points got a personal prize: 3rd prize topscorer board 1. Nice!

Jake, who just started 3 weeks ago as Caissa student from scratch played on board 2 of the Hong Kong International C in his 1st tournament and for him this tournament was about getting experience only.

Caissa’s players in the Upper Primary were also active. Caissa student Howard played a great tournament and in his Quarry Bay School team B got 2nd top scorer prize on board 1 with 6.5 points. Impressive!

On board 2, Caissa member Toby Mak in the Quarry Bay School A Team, scored 6 points and got 2nd Prize Topscorer board 2 and 2nd prize for the team. Anika from Swiss German team A scored 5 points on board 2 – and with some more luck would have had a full point more.

Finally, in the Secondary we are very proud of Melvin Cheung who got shared 1st prize topscorer on board 1 of HK International Team A with 6 points. That is by any standard an impressive score. Congrats Melvin.

Melvin with 6 points on board 1 wins 2nd Prize

Melvin with 6 points on board 1 wins and wears 2nd Prize medal

Teddy Wins Winter YGP2

March 12th, 2015

By defeating Marco, Teddy became the winner of U10 and the Champion of the YGP2 with 5.5. points. Teddy, our Caissa pupil, has developed strongly in the last couple of months. Well done!

Front: Harsh (white) vs. Oliver. Back: Marco (white) vs. Teddy

James, who won against Richard, became winner of U12 and also got 5.5 points but ended 2nd overall on the 4th tie-break, that is, Teddy had more wins with black.

Andy defeated Miguel Angel by a good occupation of Miguel’s back rank with his white rook. Herewith Andy ended 2nd in U10 and Miguel Angel 3rd.

Although Oliver won his game against Harsh, it was Ronald by defeating Mei Jing who with 4.5 points could claim 2nd prize in U12.

Final Ranking Cross Table Winter 2015 YGP2

Ronald had left earlier and did not get his prize handed out – but the other prize winners got their trophy and cash prizes handed out by coach Michel.

Miguel Angel 3rd place U10 YGP 2

Andy Au 2nd Prize U10

Teddy Yang, Winner U10 and Tournament Winner

James Kwong Champion U12

Finally the ranking of the YGP:

Ranking YGP per 8 March 2015

Teddy and and James share first place in YGP2 … and meet next Sunday

February 25th, 2015

With Miguel Angel drawing against Richard in round 5 Teddy has emerged on the top position again after his win against Ronald in that same round, sharing 1st place with James who won against Marco. The game to watch in round 6 will be James against Teddy!

Teddy with white against Ronald breaking through the center

Below the ranking after round 5 and the pairing for round 6:

Cross Table Ranking after Round 5

Long You Leads Winter Open

February 9th, 2015

The game between the until-then only two undefeated players last Friday ended in a win for Long who met David’s Sicilian with the c3 variation.

Henry’s good-looking sacrifice of a piece for 2 pawns and a strong king side attack did not go as planned against James who found enough of his white pieces readily positioned for the win when black’s assault had run out of steam.

Our 9 years old Miguel Angel came under dangerous fire of several pins and attacks all around his defensive white pieces but he still managed to win the game after Conrad’s miscalculation of move order cost him a rook.

Miguel Angel vs. Conrad – Long in background watched by Melvin

Koji and Michel maneuvered their pieces around for a long time before finally the end game with rook + piece and few pawns on both sides grounded into a stand-still and draw.

Koji with white vs. Michel

The ranking and score table are below, as is the pairing for next round when the game between James and Long could be crucial for the championship:

Cross table after Round 5

Pairing Round 6