The 10th annual End of Year Tournament took place on Sunday December 9th in the spacious cafeteria of Canadian International School, Aberdeen. Well over 150 enthusiastic woodpushers battleted over 6 rounds to declare age divisions honors, U6 – U18.
The U18 section saw an unprecedented strong section, with some of the top scholastic juniors competing. A testament of the growth in Hong Kongs scholastic chess scene, 8 out of the 12 contestants are internationally rated by FIDE. At the end, Seth Peramunetilleke took top honors with 5.5/6pts continuing his scholastic dominance in Hong Kong as he also won the ISF Academy Open back in March with a perfect score. Ben Han from ISF Academy and Gerent Lee from Raimonli College rounded up the top 3 in the section.
The U12 section winner was determined by tie-breaks as it was a close section with 5 kids with winning chances going into the final 6th round. Wilfred Hill-Wood from Harrow International came on top with 5/6pts. Wilfred, under the flag of England for FIDE, has been actively participating and increasing his international rating in various local rated tournaments.
The U10 section came down to a heart-breaker last round match to decide top honors. Matthew Mak of Pun U Wan Yan and Thanneermalai Kannappan of Kennedy went into the 6th round tied with 5/5pts. At the end it was Matthew Mak who came out victorious with an outstanding 6 out of 6 in the section with the last 3 rounds winning against internationally rated opponents.
The hotly contested U8 section boasted close to a third of the total entries with 58 kids in the section. The section was dominated by the internationally FIDE rated players, with 7 out of the 9 rated taking over the first 10 places in the section. At the end it was Danbe Luk from Renaissance College who took clear first in the section with 5.5/6pts and defeating 3 rated players in the last 3 rounds. Danbe has had a busy chess agenda as he has been participating in many of the local and youth international tournaments.
Equally as exciting and promising, the U6 section saw another perfect-scorer in Jonathan You from Kingston. After 6 rounds and a little over 7 hours of chess, a perfect score in this section deserves an applause! Jonathan’s energy nor focus faltered and came on top. Close behind was Yiheng Li who won top honors in the ActiveKids Novice Tournament with a perfect 6/6pts a few weeks back. Annabel Chang rounded the top 3 and only girl to do so in any of the sections, a true veteran in the U6 sections as she has won many honors.
During the tournament break, some lucky kids were treated to a simultaneous exhibition by both International Masters of ActiveKids, Manuel Pena Gomez of Spain and Juan Rohl Montes of Venezuela. The event was rounded up with the prize ceremony and some lucky-drawers went home with raffle prizes.
Here’re the results of the tournament.
Age 5 Winner – Lai Tin Lap Christopher (KCS)
Age 6 Winner – Lucas Yau (ISF)*
Age 7 Winner – Chan Pak Hang Clarence (Raimondi College Primary)*
Age 8 Winner – Channing Li (GSIS)
Age 9 Winner – Zhou Shennuo (N.T.W.J.W.A. Ltd. Leung Sing Tak Pri Sch)
Age 10 Winner – Prakhar Mishra (GSIS)
Age 11 Winner – Ritvik Gupta (GSIS)*
Age 12 Winner – Ng Sze Yu Ryan (QES)*
Age 13 Winner – Liu Pak (KGV)
U6 Section – http://chess-results.com/tnr398693.aspx?lan=1&art=1&rd=6
Champion – Jonathan You (Kingston)*
2nd Place – Li Yiheng (KCPS)*
3rd Place – Annabel Chang (ISF)*
Female Champion – Charlotte Tang (KYS)*
U8 Section – http://chess-results.com/tnr398694.aspx?lan=1&art=1&rd=6
Champion – Luk Kin Tsun Danbe (RCHK)
2nd Place – Lam Cheuk Him Darrel (Pun U Wah Yan)
3rd Place – Puhar Llewellyn Jack (PLK CKY)
Female Champion – Ng Sheung Yu Ryanna (SMCS)*
U10 Section – http://chess-results.com/tnr398695.aspx?lan=1&art=1&rd=6
Champion – Mak Chung Lai Matthew (Pun U Wah Yan)
2nd Place – Kannappan Thanneermalai (Kennedy)*
3rd Place – Uppal Mahir (DC)
Female Champion – Chan Ngo Yu (KYS)
U12 Section – http://chess-results.com/tnr398698.aspx?lan=1&art=1&rd=6
Champion – Wilfred Hill-Wood (Harrow)
2nd Place – Li Joy Ching (Kowloon True Light Middle School (Primary Section))
3rd Place – Liu, Yuan Max (ISF)*
Female Champion – Freiin Von Richthofen Alicia Giselle (CDNIS)*
U18 Section – http://chess-results.com/tnr398701.aspx?lan=1&art=1&rd=6
Champion – Seth Peramunetilleke (DC)
2nd Place – Ben Han (ISF)*
3rd Place – Lee Gerent Chak Yan (Raimondi College)
ActiveKids TCA program has been actively hosting and organizing not only Scholastic tournaments but also rated FIDE Standard chess tournaments throughout the year. One of the challenges Hong Kong kids have is the shortage of these crucial tournaments in order to earn a rating. It is TCA’s goal to help kids develop and distinguish themselves at an international level, with 2019 just around the corner and a new chess tournament calendar to go after, it’s a perfect time to start setting some goals!
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