Caissa Hong Kong Chess Club

chess in hong kong

IM Marcos Llaneza wins 4th Discovery Bay Rapid Open

December 1st, 2014
Caissa 4th Discovery Bay Open Rapid

Caissa 4th Discovery Bay Open Rapid

Show me the whole photo album first before I start reading!

 

The 4th edition of Caissa’s Discovery Bay Open Rapid last Saturday went smooth. We were glad to again have guests coming over from Shenzhen and we were also happy to see some of Hong Kong’s highest rated players, including ‘local chess celebrity’ Daniel Lam and International Master Marcos Llaneza from Spain, join us in our cozy corner of Hong Kong.

 

Thanks Rapid Moms for bringing in your children from far away in Hong Kong and as far as Shenzhen.

Thanks Rapid Moms for bringing in your children from far away in Hong Kong and as far as Shenzhen.

 

We also look back with modest pride to our very own Caissa members, especially our youth players, who definitely made a strong impact and grossed 8 out of the 11 prizes available!

As always in our Open events, players of all age categories were mixed and played against one another, young against more experienced. Youth players, however, played for prizes in their respective age categories of U8 (2007 or earlier), U10 (2005/6) and U12 (2003/4).

 

Young against experienced ...

Young against experienced …

 

In the U8 category Noah (1.5 points) and Kian and Ritvik (both 2 points – note that Ritvik had missed the first 3 rounds) got used after several rounds to the nerves of tournament play and as they began to play slower they started collecting points.

 

Samuel with white against Ritvik

Ritvik U10 playing against Samuel U12

Kian in action

Kian in action

 

Result corner - the most important place in the venue ...

Result corner – the most important place in the venue … Seth making sure he is still on top!

 

It was however our guest player from Shenzen, Jin Hao, also with 2 points, who won 2nd prize ahead of Kian and Ritvik on tie-break. Yet, with 3 points, the Champion of U8 was Caissa’s young talent Seth. Well done!

 

Seth and

Seth and Jin Hao

 

In the U10 category we had a mix of very experienced players as well as some with very little or no tournament experience at all.

 

Pak's little sister checkmates in 1 move!

Pak’s little sister, supporter today, checkmates in 1 move … we’ll be hearing more from her!

 

Kevin was among the first-timers and his 1.5 points is not a bad result at all in this strong field, including adults. Yat Hei, Samuel and Pak all scored 3 points but the 4th prize went to Harold with 3.5 points. Mei Jing defended the honour of all girls in and around DB well by scoring 4 points, ending 12th overall and 3rd in the U10 group.

 

Hapy Mei Jing

Happy Mei Jing

 

Miguel Angel, who was leading this age category until the last round, found Daniel in round 7 to be an obstacle too strong and by losing Miguel Angel ended 7th place overall and 2nd place in U10 with 4.5 points. Teddy did good business in the last round by defeating soon-to-be DB resident Matthew and with 5 points he ended 6th overall and became Champion of this age group.

 

U10 prize winners: Migueal Angel, Mei Jing, Harold and Teddy

U10 prize winners: Miguel Angel, Mei Jing, Harold and Teddy

 

The U12 age group also comprised of some very experienced as well as very new players. Samira scored 2 points and Jay with 3 points ended 4th in this age group. James Kwong with 5 points managed to end 3rd overall and as such he was entitled to get 3rd prize in the Open group. Herewith Toby, with 4 points could collect 1st prize in the U12 group and Richard, also with 4 points, collected 2nd prize.

 

U12 Prize Winners Toby and Richard

U12 Prize Winners Toby and Richard

 

In the Open group then, 3rd prize went to James Kwong, 2nd prize to Daniel with 6 points, only having conceded a loss against the new DB Open Rapid Champion IM Marcos who scored 7 out of 7.

 

New kid in town, Matthew, started off well with 4 out of 4

New kid in town, Matthew, started off well with 4 out of 4

Marco vs. Daniel and Billy vs. Long in the back

Marcos vs. Daniel and Billy vs. Long in the back

Open Prize Winners Daniel, James and Marcos

Open Prize Winners Daniel, James and Marcos

Final Ranking

Final Ranking

 

For youth players this event qualified for the Grand Prix with a pool of 18 points into U12 and 48 points in U10. The points were distributed as per below table with new ranking.

 

YGP Ranking

YGP Score and Ranking per 29 Nov 2014

 

Alexander Ipatov’s Chess Clinic and Simul Great Success

June 15th, 2013

Chess Clinic

Some people know and understand a lot about chess, others can play excellent chess, some others, again, can teach well and some know how to interact with and motivate children: with Alexander Ipatov this all comes uniquely together in one person.

From early morning today, six young players sheltered from the daylong rain at Caissa listening to and interacting with Alexander as he manoeuvred them through the chess opening, middle game and end game stages with real life examples from his own games.

 

Alexander Ipatov Addressing the Students

Alexander Ipatov Addressing the Students

 

Front (left to right): Adrian, Gerent and back (left to right): Aaricia, Mei Jing, Max and Miguel Angel

Front (left to right): Adrian, Gerent and back (left to right): Aaricia, Mei Jing, Max and Miguel Angel

 

The players followed the game Alexander presented on the demonstration board on their own boards and received points for answering questions like: “was black’s move important to fight for the centre?” or “does white, with the pair of bishops, benefit from opening up the game?”

Questions that consumed brain power to the degree lunch was welcomed very much, with the pizza pepperoni on the right being the clear favorite.

 

We get the message... next time only pizza pepperoni (on the right)

We get the message… next time only pizza pepperoni (on the right)

 

The last part of the chess clinic was doing puzzles, solving a puzzle within  1 minute would get you a point. Tough competition: Miguel Angel won the heavily appreciated prize of M&M’s by scoring just half a point more than Adrian, who preferred the chocolate egg anyway. Win-win: indeed, today we have had only winners, with a signed certificate from Alexander Ipatov what many years later hopefully turns out to be a beautiful memory.

 

Alexander Ipatov and David Garceran Nieuwenburg standing behind the students (left to right): Aaricia, Adrian, Gerent, Miguel Angel, Mei Jing and Max

Alexander Ipatov and David Garceran Nieuwenburg standing behind the students (left to right): Aaricia, Adrian, Gerent, Miguel Angel, Mei Jing and Max

 

Simul

After a break of just 10 minutes, Alexander tirelessly continued around 3.45pm with a simul against 16 players until 5.30pm. The large majority of the players had come from outside Discovery Bay and understanding the unique opportunity to play against a World Champion they did their ultimate best.

And one very noteworthy result need to be mentioned indeed: Daniel Lam saved the honor of all challengers by playing a draw. Well done Daniel.

Alexander Ipatov vs. 16 Players: 15.5-0.5

 

Alexander walking around 16 boards: half playing white, half black

Alexander walking around 16 boards: half playing white, half black

 

 

Daniel Lam, observed by his student Issac Fung, the only player not to lose!

Daniel Lam, observed by his student Issac Fung, the only player not to lose!

 

Alexander, thank you for helping Caissa to try to bring chess to life in Hong Kong. We wish you all the best in your future games, matches, tournaments and you have a standing invitation to visit us when you have time again.