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The battle for honours at the 19th ASEAN+ Age-Group Chess Championship was always gong to be between the Philippines and Vietnam and this is well reflected after seven rounds.

In U-20 Open, Filipino IM Paolo Bersamina on 6/7 leads Indonesian FM Setyaki Azarya Jodi on 5.5/7 while in U-20 Girls, Filipina WFM Mendoza Shania Mae continues to dominate with 6/7.

For the hosts it is still much the same story in U-18 Open with Filipinos Bernado Dale Jacutina and CM John Merill leading wth 6/7.

Vietnam however already has it’s first Gold through Kieu Bich Thuy in the U-18 Girls who has 6.5/7 and two points clear of her rivals.

In U-16 Open, it is neck to neck between Filipino FM Nouri Alekhine and Vietnamese FM Pham Phu Vinh, both on 5.5/7 while in U-16 Girls, Vietnamese WFM Bach Ngoc Thu Duong is running away from the rest of the field with 6.5/7.

Vietnam’s Nguyen Lam Thien leads U-14 Open with 6/7 with three other Vietnamese and the Filipino top seed half a point behind.

In U-14 Girls, Vietnamese WFM Vuong Quynh Anh is on 6/7 with Nguyen Thien Ngan on 5.5/6 and Filipina San Diego Jerlyn Mae on 5/7.

Another Vietnamese, CM Nguyen Quoc Hy is dominating U-12 Open with a perfect 7/7! and in U-12 Girls, two Vietnamese, Bui Ngoc Truong Nghi and Nguyen Hoang Thai Phuc lead with 5.5/7.

Vietnam also dominates U-10 Open with CM Pham Tran Gia Phuc leading with 6/7 and Nguyen Le Minh Phu chasing with 5.5/7.

U-10 Girls has Filipina Canino Ruelle Gadut practically guaranteeing a Gold to the Philippines with 6.5/7, a whole point clear of a second placed Filipina and one a half points more than the third placed Filipina.

It’s looking good for the Philippines in U-8 Open with Buto Al-Bashir on 6.5/7 and a whole point clear of two chasing Vietnamese.

Vietnam however has all but ensured Gold in U-8 Girls thanks to Dang Le Xuan Hien’s perfect 7/7 score which is far ahead of a large chasing pack of fellow Vietnamese.

It is looking very much to end at least 6-5 in Vietnam’s favour with one match tied but likely to go the way of the Philippines and that would make a final result of 6-6 in standard chess and everything still to play for in rapid and blitz!

Full results at: http://chess-results.com/tnr361398.aspx?lan=1&art=0&flag=30

 

Direct titles will be awarded at the ASEAN+ Age-Group Chess Championships – played in categories U-8, U-10, U-12, U-14, U-16, U-18 and U-20, for both open and girls – held in Davao City from 18-28 June 2018.

The biggest titles available are the International Master and International Woman Master titles which will be awarded to the winners of the U-20 Open and U-20 Girls Championships.

After three rounds, in the U-20 Open, we have India’s FM Sai Agni Jeevitesh J on 2.5/3 in the lead together with Filipino IM Paulo Bersamina, Indonesia’s FM Setyaki Azarya Jodi and untitled Filipino Seviliano Rhenzi Kyle.

Bersamina and also still very much in contention Miciano John Marvin, are both Filipino IMs so they are not gunning for this title but the Philippines by fielding their best are clearly determined to defend the overall title they won in last year’s event in Malaysia where Vietnam lost its long tie domination.

In the U-20 Girls, top seeded Filipino WFM Mendoza Shania Mae who just won a place on her country’s Olympiad team, leads with 3/3  together with her also still perfect untitled country woman Moulic Ella Grace.

All the results can be found at: http://chess-results.com/tnr361391.aspx?lan=1&art=0&flag=30.

The official website is at: https://www.19aagphil.com/ and there is a FaceBook Page at: https://web.facebook.com/Asean-Age-Group-19-Philippines-153692695282958/

 

In preparations for the Batumi World Chess Olymiad, the Nepal Chess Association is organising training camps for it’s national team.

The first is from 4-18 June 2018 and the second will be from 14-28 July 2018.

Here we can see the start of the first camp held at Hotel Taj Holiday in Kathmandu conducted by coach IM & FT Dinesh K. Sharma.

Nepal Chess wishes to thank Geoffrey Borg, Georgios Makropoulous, Bharat Singh Chauhan, Diesh K. Sharma and Castro Abundo Jr and also all those who helped financially and morally with this closed camp.

The 19th ASEAN+ Age-Group Chess Championships 2018 is now underway following a grand opening ceremony at the Royal Mandaya hotel in Davao City, Philippines.

With 366 players from 12 countries, this year’s championship is the fourth biggest in history and once again the battle for bragging rights as the overall winners will very much be between the hosts and defending champions Philippines and perennial ASEAN chess powerhouse Vietnam.

Representatives of the Major of the City of Davao and the Philippine Chess Commission which underwrote the event were very much in evidence and demonstrated a strong commitment to the event in both words and deed.

On top of the ringing endorsements, the legendary Eugene Torre, Asia’s first Grandmaster, was nonetheless asked to further inspire the participants!

ASEAN Chess Confederation (ACC) and National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) President Prospero “Butch” A. Pichay Jr, also the Congressman from neighbouring Cagayan de Oro City, and very much a Mindanao native, was a very articulate keynote speaker, giving due credit to the parties involved in making the event happen while sharing his love of Mindanao and it’s capital Davao City.

Pichay also made the ceremonial opening moves with a young Vietnamese champion who really wanted to play on, before Ruel V. Canobas, NCFP Director In-Charge officially declared the ASEAN+ Age-Group Chess Championships 2018 open.

In the closing remarks, ACC Founding President Ignatius Leong congratulated Pichay on his leadership and Davao City for its organisational excellence while recognising the critical role played by co-founder Dang Tat Thang from Vietnam for the survival and flourishing of the ACC and the ASEAN Age-Group Championships for almost two decades.

Musical and dance performances

Highlights of the opening ceremony

In the end, the cross table shows the final results. But for a real taste of what went down over six days at the QCD-Prof Lim Kok Ann Grandmasters Invitational,  enjoy the in-depth and insightful round by round coverage by Junior Tay at: https://qcdchess.com/news

Let us congratulate both Singapore’s No. 1 Kevin Goh Wei Meng on making his final GM norm and Gong Qianyun who fought for hours after all had finished to take home the point she needed to complete the WGM title!

The Korean Chess Federation (KCF) under the auspices of the Asian Chess Federation (ACF) and FIDE,
invites national chess federations in the region to participate in the Eastern Asia Juniors and Girls
Chess Championship, to be held in Gangneung, Korea, during 1st– 9th August 2018.

Download regulations here: Eastern_Asia_Juniors_Chess_Championship__2018

Pattaya has long been a favorite venue for international chess tournaments in Thailand thanks to tourist friendly beach resort hotels and infrastructure just two hours from Bangkok.

Numerous Bangkok Chess Club Open Championships and ASEAN Age-Group Championships and even the World Schools Championships have received rave reviews.

Now there is a new event – Thailand Pattaya Open Chess Championships – with many of the same organisers to be held from 24-31 October 2018. Prospectus is here: Open-Amateur-Regulations. 

Adding to the Open and Amateur sections will be the Thailand Pattaya Youth Chess Championships held from 20-14 October 2018. Prospectus is here: Thailand-Pattaya-Youth-2018.

School chess is continuing to grow in Nepal. The Annapurna Maitri Rating Open Tournament 2018 was held in five sections, Open, U-12 Open, U-12 Girls, U-10 Open and U-10 Girls and saw 344 participants.

The organisers Annapurna fittingly lifted their 14th title as overall winners. See: http://chess-results.info/tnr359433.aspx?lan=1&art=1

Singapore is seeing, from the 7th to 12th of June, perhaps the strongest chess tournament held there in recent years – the QCD-Prof. Lim Kok Ann Grandmasters Invitational.

QCD is a new sponsor for Singapore chess and is committed to helping support this event for the next three years which already in its first edition has been seen many in the local community stepping forward with very generous financial contributions.

Yes, what more when beyond the usual creating of title norm opportunities for local talents, the event was also in honour of Prof. Lim Kok Ann, the Father of Singapore Chess!

Everything you need to know about the event is at www.qcdchess.com with live games broadcast on major live game viewing sites www.chess24.com and www.playchess.com and picked up by mobile Apps like Follow Chess.

Here we instead share photos from the first opening ceremony, tribute and first round so as to appreciate the wonderful atmosphere where the entire local chess community came together.

Participants and the Organiser’s Support Team from SCF

 

Guests, Players and Supporters!

 

Opening Ceremony

 

Prof. Lim Kok Ann Tribute

 

All who came are chess players!

 

 

Key People Behind the Scenes – The Coordinators at Work

 

Round One is Underway