Caissa Hong Kong Chess Club

chess in hong kong

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

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

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…

Aaditya Mom Pep-talking

Pep-talk for Harold

Oliver’s Grandma Pep-talk

Pep-talk for Miguel Angel

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

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 …

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

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 …

Seven Caissa Players in Hong Kong Delegation to World School Chess Championship 2015 in Pattaya

March 20th, 2015

The FIDE World School Chess Championship in 2015 will take place in Pattaya, Thailand, from 6-15 May. It is truly great to see that HKCF leapfrogged in terms of supporting so many Hong Kong players to attend the event.

A group of 13 of our top youth players, accompanied by 16 persons, shall defend our honor. These heroes (and we are very proud to have seven Caissa kids among them!) are:

Benjamin Oh U15
Katrina Lee G15
Oliver Yau U13 (Caissa Member)
Richard Takasumi U13 (Caissa Member and Student)
James Kwong U11 (Caissa Member)
Miguel Angel Garceran Wang U11 (Caissa Member and Student)
Huang Ho Pang U11
Mei Jing Garceran Wang G9 (Caissa Member and Student)
Deng, Yu Dong Michael U9
Harold Kwong U9 (Caissa Member)
Anika Roy G9 (Caissa Student)
Alan, Pang Bo U7 (Caissa Student)
Bao, Jinwen U7

We will be updating regularly.

Dusit Thani Pattaya World School Chess Championship 2015 – what a terrible place to go to :)