Brew Master vs Tyrant Giant Chess Blitz Match

I was privileged to be asked to serve as the match arbiter between the "Brew Master" and the "Tyrant". Both players prefer to not publicise their actual names, so only the chess friends amongst us would know who they are. These are my opinion of them:

The Brew Master is a young chess player who has proven to be a very successful local chess event organiser.

The Tyrant, despite his personal denial, is a very famous chess personality whose tweets never fail to make it onto the biggest chess sites. 

The 2nd Giant Chess Blitz Match which I serve as the arbiter. There were a couple of big mistakes I made in the previous Defender v.s. Tyrant Match . Hence, my key desire in officiating this match is to avoid mistakes altogether. Although I did not make any mistake for this match, there were still learning points for me as the match arbiter.

There are some differences, in that we were playing under the time control of 5+3 (5 minutes initial time + 3 seconds increment starting from move #1) instead of 3+2 that was used in the previous match. But first thing's first, let's enjoy some nice pictures from the event!

Isn't the background lovely? It's a pity not many people know about the Giant Chess set available for booking at Singapore Sports Hub. A lot of my personal friends have been asking me after seeing my pictures shared on social media account. It's right here: https://www.sportshub.com.sg/free . To book this facility, you need to write an email to the Sports Hub and make your request approximately 1 week in advance. These giant chess pieces will be kept when there are no reservations.

Once we finish setting-up, I thought we would be ready to play. Couldn't be more wrong. Make a guess at what would be stopping us from starting right away!

That's right, the passers by! Many were fascinated by the chess pieces and dropped by to take pictures with them. This reminded me of why Chess caught my eye in my teenage days -- I actually feel these "3D" pieces were more elegant looking than Chinese Chess, as Chinese Chess pieces were merely represented by Chinese characters! Although eventually, the reason I picked up Chess over Chinese Chess has more to do with the values and philosophical differences I felt so strongly about. I will probably blog about my personal view on the difference between the 2 in a separate post in the near future.

Beautiful setting sun.

Apparently, even some Black Pink fans were attracted by the aesthetics of the chess pieces before the concert starts! 

We actually waited quite a while for many members of the public to take pictures with the giant chess set before commencing our chess match. But once we start, it's all serious business!

Our yoga neighbours. I'm glad we weren't distracting enough to upset their tranquility! 

During the course of the game, the Tyrant managed to take time to talk a distance away to take some great pictures -- while his clock is running. Do you think chess Goddess Caissa will reward him for contributing to chess promotion and publicity, or punish him for being too full of himself?

Brew Master posing before the actual commence of the match. 

Since the Tyrant is the photo-taker, you are seeing the Brew Master in action.

Yes, the arbiter is watching the clock attentively and didn't move much ^o^

The match is actually ongoing! The Tyrant was taking pictures from afar and the Brew Master obliges with a pose!

There's no need to worry about nightfall as it is well lit.

It's really challenging to manage kiddo spectators. On one hand, we're happy to see kids interested in chess. On the other hand, they were really too near the chess "board". I'm more concerned over their safety, as the 2 adult players are dashing across the board fast. This is 1 of the challenges faced.

Did you guess the result correctly? Even though the best of 10 match could've ended 0-6 in favour of the Tyrant, Brew Master has specifically requested to finish the 10 games -- since the facility has already been booked, let's not waste it! I really like his fighting spirit, and I also respect the Tyrant for playing real chess to the best of his abilities and not dropping any game points out of pity.

A deflated Brew Master throws in the towel. This is actually done specially for a local chess lady =)

  Some Boring Stuff: Arbiter's Match Report X Other Observations X Thoughts as a Chess Fan

• I tend to like to propose the "A-B-B-A" system frequently used in tennis tie breaks to even the odds/pressure of White/Black. I actually hope more chess matches consider adopting this system.
• In the first game, the Brew Master committed an illegal move which was immediately noted by both the arbiter and the Tyrant. However, the Tyrant insisted on not imposing the usual penalty of +1 minutes to the opponent, as the Tyrant was already having a huge time advantage of 2-3 minutes without this 1 minute "gift". There were no further incidents of illegal move made in the remaining 9 games. 
• The Brew Master lost all games largely due to time forfeit / severe time pressure. There were at least 2 games which the Brew Master had very promising, if not winning positions.
• In some of the games, the Tyrant simply played moves which require the Brew Master to react to, where he is furthest away from the clock, due to time pressure. The Brew Master could only make a couple of Heroic struggles living on the 3 seconds increment, but not survive longer.
• There was a single moment whereby the Brew Master touched a piece, hesitated, and then simply asked the arbiter whether touch move applies in this match. Actually, the arbiter saw the incident when it first occurred, but because the "touch-move" appeared to arise out of a slip, the arbiter did not call "touch-move". It was only after the Brew Master asked, and the arbiter confirmed, that the Brew Master honoured the touch move. Precious seconds were lost. On one hand, I am really happy to see such a sporting act, on the other, I'm not sure if I am the cause of Brew Master's plight. Had I called "touch-move" on Brew Master in the first instance, those precious seconds would not be lost. But I genuinely thought it was a slip and was not seeing it as a "touch-move". Oh well. Where judgement call matters!
• There was another instance whereby the clock was paused because of an unwanted external disruption. An adult couple wanted to take pictures in the midst of a game! Even though they were making their request politely, I only wished that they could wait until the game finishes first. I am thankful that both players did not kick up a fuss and we simply paused the clock and continued after the photos were taken and the couple left the chess "board.
• Last but not least, it is important for the arbiter / organisers to "over-prepare" a little. I'm glad I brought this to put the chess clock. If not, I probably have to hold it with my bare hands throughout the match, LOL.
• As the Tyrant continues to clock more and more experience in the Giant Chess Blitz Matches, he will become harder and harder to beat. Any serious challengers should consider training him/herself up before issuing a worthy challenge! 

Glad I brought this portable chair to for the chess clock to rest on. Bought this more than a decade ago when I served as a part-time assistant / runner for a Taiwanese actor who came to Singapore for filming. It also served as an additional seat option when taking the MRT ^o^ 

All in all, I was not expecting the Giant Chess Board to be so well-received amongst members of public. And such a match is actually very fun to watch and officiate over.

Yours sincerely

Ong Yujing (Eugene)

a.k.a. newbie_learner

Siglap South CC Chess Quartet