This past Sunday evening we had the pleasure of participating in the special Reds against Racism tournament, hosted by FC Bayern Munchen. In a field of 13 teams, spreading from Hong Kong all the way to Argentina, and some countries in between, around 300 kids took part in this team arena event. TCA would end up in 3rd place, behind OFS (Overseas Family School) Singapore, and East Anglian Jr Chess, which was composed of various Jr chess clubs in the UK.
Soon after the team arena, the individual portion of the event started. With the opportunity to be paired against Grandmaster’s Alonso Rossell, Spain and Michael Bezold, Germany, many took the challenge. Our own TCA student, Michael Lam was one of the lucky ones to be paired, and although lost I’m sure there is a great lesson, don’t get many options to play Grandmasters!
In this position, white played d5, weakening e5 and the GM did not forgive.
THE CHESS ACADEMY is in collaboration with FC Bayern Munchen of Germany to participate in this exciting and meaningful Cross-border “Reds Against Racism” Online Tournament on March 25th.
Date: March 25th (Sat) Time: 19:00 Keynote Speakers: * Viswanathan Anand (former Chess World Champion) * Dana Reizniece-Ozola (Deputy Chair FIDE Management Board and Deputy President European Chess Union (ECU))
The event encompasses the following three main parts: • 19:00 to 20:00 HKT Pre-tournament programme organized as a video conference During the pre-tournament programme we will briefly introduce all participating teams. In addition to that, we will also highlight the main theme of the event, which is associated with the International Day against Racism. We are extremely pleased to welcome some very prominent members of the international chess community, who have also offered their support:
Dana Reizniece-Ozola (Deputy Chair FIDE Management Board and Deputy President European Chess Union (ECU)) will join our video conference as a keynote speaker and talk about the importance of the fight against racism. Viswanathan Anand (former Chess World Champion) will deliver a video message addressing the participants of our event and sharing his view on this topic.
Furthermore, representatives of the FC Bayern Munich will also join our event to introduce the various initiatives through which the club supports tolerance in our society and international understanding. For the video conference the Zoom platform will be used.
• 20:00 to 21:00 HKT Team tournament with teams from 4 continents The team tournament is intended to be the main sporting event and will be played as an “arena team battle” on the lichess.org platform.
• 21:15 to 22:15 HKT Individual tournament This tournament is open to all children from the clubs, schools and organizations, which participate in the team tournament. It is providing children who want to continue playing after the team event with an additional opportunity to play.
The TCA’s 13th ISF Academy Chess Open took place on Sunday March 5th in the spectacular facilities of ISF. With an attendance of well close to 230 enthusiastic participants, from 60+ schools, playing across 4 divisions. The day included with activities such as valuable live-experience interviews from our Top TCA coaches and exciting raffles to complement the energy-charged, well-attended tournament. We are happy to be back hosting one of the biggest interschool tournaments in Hong Kong, and we hope that everyone involved had a positive experience!
Based on the excellent results from our TCA students, we are extra pleased to note that our TCA program has really helped grow the chess community, as well as developed some strong chess players in Hong Kong.
(*) Schools/Students from our TCA programs
Age Winners
Age 5 winner– Pang, Helena (The ISF Academy)* Age 6 winner – Tsai, Aquinas (French International School)* Age 7 winner – Kong, Adrian (Chinese International School)* Age 8 winner – Wang, Kai Ming (Pui Ching Primary School) Age 9 winner – Yeo, Declan Ren Kai (Singapore International School)* Age 10 winner – Tsui, Long Hei Brayden (Diocesan Boys’ School)* Age 11 winner – Wong, Kainos (CAIS) Age 12 winner – Xia, Weijun (Kowloon Tong School PS) Age 13 winner – Zhu, Nathaniel Adrian Yi-xing (CIS)* Age 14 winner – Lo, Jason Jun-San (La Salle College) Age 15 winner – So, Adrian Tsz Yui (Canadian International School HK)* Age 16 winner – Hu, Roy (Hong Kong International School) Age 17 winner – Lam, Ying Hong Gabriel (Kellett School)
U6 Section
In the smallest section Under 6, for age and number of players, Ao King Chee came on top with 6pts. This section is always exciting to watch as most times, it is the students’ first in-person tournament, and nerves come into play! Moving several pieces in one go, using both hands, accumulating illegal moves, you will see them all in this section. More importantly, of course, it is the experience and learning opportunity gained.
Top 6 Individual Winners 1st place – Ao, King Chee (HK Ling Liang Church Kindergarten) 2nd place – Li, Nathaniel (The ISF Academy)* 3rd place – Chiu, Yat Fan Jacob (The ISF Academy)* 4th place – Tong, Zanye (Kennedy School) 5th place – Lau, Sze Ching (St. Catherine’s International Kindergarten)* 6th place – Lin, Micah (Chinese International School)*
Top 3 Female Winners 1st place – Lau, Sze Ching (St. Catherine’s International Kindergarten)* 2nd place – Pang, Helena (The ISF Academy)* 3rd place – Wong, Reina (The ISF Academy)*
Lower Primary
The Lower PrimarySection saw the only perfect score of the entire tournament performed by Jonathan Lundberg. It is an incredible achievement of concentration and endurance!
Top 6 Individual Winners 1st place – Lundberg, Jonathan (International College HK)* 2nd place – Tong, Zachary (Kennedy School) 3rd place – Chen, Ryan (Canadian International of School HK)* 4th place – Wong, Hoi Cheung (HHCKLA Buddhist Wisdom Primary School) 5th place – Luk, Marcus Jasper (Singapore International School) 6th place – Tan, Darius (Stamford American School)*
Top 3 Female Winners 1st place – Huang, Karis (Kellett School)* 2nd place – Sun, Vivian Youtian (Beacon Hill School)* 3rd place – Srivastava, Twisha (Beacon Hill School)*
Upper Primary
The Upper Primary section was closely contested with 85 players fighting for top honors. Even after 7 rounds, there was a four way tie for first place at 6 pts.
This section is particularly interesting as many of the players started their chess journey during the pandemic years online. It will be a delight to see them progress now in in-person tournaments.
Top 6 Individual Winners 1st place – Chiu David Zion (Chinese International School)* 2nd place – Chan Tsz Lik Nicholas (Chinese International School)* 3rd place – Fang Brandon Jun Qiao (The ISF Academy)* 4th place – Bhatewara Shaunak (PLK Lam Man Chan English Primary School)* 5th place – Poon Pak Yu (PO LEUNG KUK CAMOES TAN SIU LIN PRIMARY SCHOOL) 6th place – Wang Julian Samuel (Singapore International School)
Top 3 Female Winners 1st place – Lau, Chloe (Bradbury School)* 2nd place – Wang, Rosemarie (Singapore International School) 3rd place – Chen, Renee (Canadian International of School HK)*
Secondary
Also a very interesting section in terms of growth, it has come to our attention that The Secondary Section has been growing steadily, and that simply means our younger players are growing up and continuing to play chess! This is of course very rewarding to see. One of the toughest sections, Cheng Tsz In managed to upset number one seed Justin Cheng. Justin has been on top of the brackets of scholastic chess for years. Another important note, 12 players of the 43 players were internationally rated.
Top 6 Individual Winners 1st place – Cheng Tsz In (Wah Yan College, Hong Kong) 2nd place – Cheng Justin Hong-Chen (The ISF Academy)* 3rd place – Lam Ying Long Michael (Kellett School)* 4th place – Lu Jacob (Singapore International School) 5th place – Su Bo Ruei Marcus (Island School) 6th place – Lee Chu Yuan, Felix (Shatin College)
Top 3 Female Winners 1st place – Ah Chong Leonie (St. Paul’s co-educational college) 2nd place – Chan Sze Wing (St. Mary’s Canossian College) 3rd place – Lam Alyssa (Australian International School HK)*
While results were being calculated, the players were treated to a presentation by GM Gallego explaining his journey in chess, a true treat as it is very rare to have a chance to meet a person with that accolade. In the end, some lucky players went home with chess sets from raffles.
Overall Interschool Results
The results for the schools are calculated by cumulating the points from the top 4 players of each school. Not only do students from 1st to 6th places were able proudly bring their trophies back to their schools for display, but the top four 1st prize winners from each section also received a book voucher of $1,000. Hope that all the awards would help encourage the players to continue to strive for excellence.
Interschool Results
Age 6 & Under section 1st place – The ISF Academy* ( Li Nathaniel, Chiu Yat Fan Jacob, Li Otto and Pang Helena) 2nd place – HK LING LIANG CHURCH KINDERGARTEN (Ao King Chee) 3rd place – Kennedy School (Tong Zayne)
Lower Primary section 1st place – Chinese International School* (Sutton William, Chan Charles, Kong Adrian and Chen Glenn) 2nd place – Beacon Hill School* (Shi Edward, Fu Jotham, Sun Vivian Youtian and Srivastava Twisha) 3rd place – The ISF Academy* (Lau Clement, Chan Ying Shue, Chau Brandon and Sun Guang Alex)
Upper Primary section 1st place – Chinese International School* (Chiu David Zion, Chan Tsz Lik Nicholas, Chiu Silas Nathaniel and Han Leon) 2nd place – The ISF Academy* (Fang Brandon Jun Qiao, Tang Oliver, Yau Chase Xuanfu and Lai Jonas) 3rd place – Singapore International School (Wang Julian Samuel, Wang Rosemarie, Chan Miles and Ouyang Shuhang Toby)
Secondary section 1st place – The ISF Academy* (Cheng Justin Hong-Chen, Ip Hugo, Wong Kadyn and To Glenn) 2nd place – Yew Chung International School of HK (Lam Ho Ching Carston, Lai Ching Hong Wilton, Gupta Hardik, and Telders Daniel) 3rd place – Kellett School (Lam Ying Long Michael and Lam Ying Hong Gabriel)
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