The 14th Annual Hong Kong TCA Scholastic Championship, conducted by The Chess Academy, took place in the stellar facilities of the Crowne Plaza Kowloon East Hotel last Sunday on June 2nd.
Participating in a successful new Team format, an impressive 64 teams of four players from 27 schools competed over Three Sections (Lower Primary, Upper Primary, and Secondary) to determine the Championship.
In order to make the event extra meaningful and inspiring for all our young players, this tournament was also a Charity event whereby a portion of the proceeds will be donated to The Children’s’ Medical Foundation (an organization aimed to provide medical support to underprivileged children in China).
At the closing ceremony, we were also extremely honored to have the Former Women’s World Champion 2017, 2022 Women’s World Rapid Champion, Current China’s National Coach and 2024 Candidates Winner to the title next year – Grand Master Tan Zhongyi make a guest appearance. GM Tan shared some commentary on how she started in chess and her rise to the very top of the chess world, followed by a Q and A with CEO of ActiveKids Grace So. It was certainly an inspiration to our young players and many participants even walked away with autographs and selfies with the World Champ!
The tournament format consisted of 4 players per Team playing at 15 minutes plus 5 second increment over 7 rounds in Lower Primary and Upper Primary section, while the Secondary section with the same time control with 5 rounds.
Results:
The secondary section – it was a runaway victory for the ISF Academy. Led by 4 of the strongest junior players of the last 5 years, Samuel Lam, Ben Han, Justin Cheng and Bu Zhiming. Second place was taken by Chinese International School team A led by Zion Chiu. Third place however was determined by the 3rd tie-break with better individual results from Christian Alliance edging over German Swiss International. Individual standouts for going perfect 5 out of 5 were Samuel Lam and Ben Han from ISF Academy, Owen Guo from German Swiss International and Ethan Ngai from Creative Secondary School.
Secondary Section: https://chess-results.com/tnr943257.aspx?lan=1&art=0&rd=5
The upper primary section was hotly contested in team and individual results. The section having some of the best juniors in Hong Kong, proved to be a nail-biter till the last rounds. At the end of the 7 rounds it was ISF Academy Team A, who triumphed over the field, led by a perfect performance in Brandon Fang. The remaining podium places came down to match point tie-breaks with Chinese International School Team A (+5 =1 -0) led by Nathaniel Chiu, edging out Beacon Hill School (+5 =0 -2).
Upper Primary Section: https://chess-results.com/tnr943236.aspx?lan=1&art=0&rd=7
The Lower Primary section was dominated by ESF Clearwater Bay with an undefeated 7 out of 7, and also 3 of their players claiming top board accolades. The team consisted of the standout Peng sisters, Sonia and Elena, who have been posting strong results all year, along with teammates Jonas Lau with a perfect 7 out of 7 in board two and Max Jin with a strong 5.5 out of 7 on board 4.
Second place was claimed by St. Stephen’s College led by Lincoln Or and third place Beacon Hill Team B led by board winners Andrew Cao in board 2 and Ernest Liu in board 3.
Lower Primary Section: https://chess-results.com/tnr943212.aspx?lan=1&art=0&rd=7
*Students under TCA coaching
