Because it was a very happening full-day event for me, I would have to skip the not-as-interesting details. Also, my personal update and reporting on Round 2 of the QCD Adult Teams Chess League would have to take a back seat (Sorry, my 8.c4! team mates. Despite making a dramatic comeback from 0-2 to tie the match 2-2, which I witnessed the drama unfold in person, my chess goddess' event experience has priority!)
Things of GREAT Interest to Me:
- Photo-taking and Autograph Session with Ju Wenjun
- 15+0 Training Game
- Ju Wenjun's Simul with 35 students
- Post Event Dinner & Drinks (!)
Photo-taking and Autograph Session with Ju Wenjun
I don't think there were that many adults who attended the event as members of public (i.e. non-parents who are hoping their kids get to play in the simul). To the best of my knowledge, I ended up as the only one who had to queue twice for the autograph / photo-taking session, because I was taking way too much time! Not that I am complaining -- I am happy about it. In fact, I had mini A4 posters to be printed in preparation for this event (wish I actually prepared as hard before I play a tournament game, LOL)
Out of the following autographs, are you able to guess which is the one most meaningful to me?
Answer: The simplest one with the message, "Greetings to my Singapore Chess Fans!". The original picture was originally acquired through Olimpiu G. Urcan, a great chess writer, scholar and journalist, and was dated 18 Feb 2019. I thought it was cool for me, the fan(boy) to show up in person as a response to her greeting. Which was why I requested her to sign and date her signature ^o^ Was pleasantly surprised to get a simple response from Ju Wenjun, that "I remember this one!" A small pity for this picture is that Olimpiu declined to be on stage with me for the photo-taking/autograph session. Also, she misunderstood my request -- I only wanted her to date the signature for this particular message, but she dated on all subsequent posters instead. Of course, I did not want to cause any more confusion and happily accepted her kind gesture.
I have been asking the teachers in charge before my turn, whether there is any issue for me to get multiple autographs. Initially, they all assured me that it was alright, but after realising I do have quite a number, in fact, 9! I was requested to re-queue. Not a problem to me at all, since I was prepared to re-queue in the first place.
During my "re-queue", Ju Wenjun actually asked, "How did you have so many pictures (of me)?" Remembering the advice from Seng Chin, a fellow Siglap South CC Chess Quartet member, that I should take care to avoid making myself appear as a "Stalker", I made a one-word reply, "baidu" (百度), the Chinese search engine, and we just laughed.
In addition, I also had the help of my fellow chess friend, Weng Chew, who runs the Cashew Chess Club and the Senja Cashew Chess Club to help take and share some photographs at the event. Sorry to bother you on your birthday, but here's wishing you many years of great health and good chess ahead!
Due to my poor skills and poor equipment, the pictures taken with sharable quality are limited. Again, I thank Olimpiu, Weng Chew, and the Overseas Family School Staff for helping me.
The Overseas Family School was thoughtful to prepare chess sets for players while waiting for the event to unfold.
Mr Weng Chew queuing for the autograph
Mr Weng Chew with Ju Wenjun
First but not the last...
More to come.
If I recall correctly, this is where the mini question ("Where did you get so many pictures (of me)?"and my one-word answer ("baidu") came about.
Apologies to those behind me in the queue, which got longer and longer ^o^
How fortunate to be just side-by-side with my chess goddess
Victory achieved at last! And yes, I am a supporter of PubXChess Initiative. Hence, my preference to wear their T-Shirt during local chess events.
Ju Wenjun with the participants. The draw was done first before the lunch break followed by the simul event proper.
(Note: There was also a blitz game between Ju Wenjun and Overseas Family School Chess Teacher Dijana. Unfortunately, I was unable to take any quality picture for sharing.)
15+0 Training Game
Who cares about lunch when there is chess to be played? I was fortunate enough to get to squeeze in a 15+0 training game. And it has to be the King's Indian Defence (KID) which I always struggle against when I play White. But that makes it all the more a valuable learning experience! I only hope that I recorded the moves correctly, but only getting 4-5 hours of week daily for the past week certainly didn't help ^o^ And yes, in response to Chessbase 15's one-click analysis question in the end, I lost on time.
Personal Training Game
Ju Wenjun's Simul with 35 students
Frankly, I think I took more than 100 pictures =) But I will only show the few more decent looking ones -- man I really need to up my photo-taking game!
The best looking picture I have for the simul, courtesy of Olimpiu once again!
The rest of the pictures taken by myself are of sub-par quality =(
At last, here comes the more special shots for the simul event!
As a patzer, I really liked Lauren (Board #2)'s position when I observed it live -- surely, Black's protected past pawn makes a difference?
A more reader-friendly version. My beginner's view is that Black has something given the protected pass pawn on c4, which would cause White some inconvenience. I'm not saying that Black is winning, but I do not think Black can be worse. I stand corrected by my stronger chess friends and Stockfish 10, both evaluating the position as equal.
Ju Wenjun - Lauren Rice
Actual Game Position before ...Qb7 and d5 was played.
The only 2 games remaining, both representatives from the Singapore Chess Federation. The scores was 32.5-0.5, with the only draw achieved by Jayden Wong. Clocks were introduced, set at 10 minutes with zero increment. Because Ju Wenjun already has a winning position in Board 1, she focuses on Board 2. Wenjun only turned back to Board 1 upon hearing the pressing of the clock.
It soon became a 1v1 affair. And our young Singapore champion was still recording her every move (while her precious time was ticking away)! But hey, not everybody gets to play the Women's World Champion every day, so on top of learning and review, that's another big reason to record the moves.
Final Result: Wenjun won with a total score of 34.5-0.5.
A fine display by Lauren Rice, who earned the respect from the spectators.
Wenjun with Jayden Wong, the young hero for the day!
Wrapping up: Wenjun with the Chess Teachers for Overseas Family School
Confession of an over-zealous Spectator
As an arbiter, I believe in ensuring the game was fair. While taking photos and observing the Simul, there were actually multiple incidents of unfairness -- some of the kids were exchanging ideas with one another, and some kids were even outright moving their pieces on the board to analyse when Ju Wenjun was making her rounds. Incidents like delay playing a move when Ju Wenjun comes back to the board is also arguably unfair -- since other students are observing this requirement. As a spectator with "arbiter's blood", I really wanted to point out these observations to the arbiters on the field. But that would have created a scene and disrupted the flow of the event. Glad I managed o curb my "inner demons" and let it slide.
Also, I'm really happy to see that the Chess Teachers of Overseas Family School actually telling the students nicely about their infringements, and what they should and should not do -- e.g. offering a draw in a lost position is not being respectful. And then, the forever dilemma of when / whether to resign in a lost position occupies my mind. Some games were outright lost but because the kids refuse to resign and "play till the end", it was dragged unnecessarily. While I personally respect resignation as a very individual choice, I am beginning to feel otherwise for Simul events. For 1v1 standard official tournaments, yes, you can do whatever you want (resign as and when you want to). But for simul, my current view is that one should resign and not drag on the game unnecessarily.
Post Event Dinner & Drinks (!)
With very special thanks to Mr John Wong, I was able to join the informal post-event dinner and drinks session with Ju Wenjun. Although I did not get a chance to speak with her directly, it's all good. Goddesses can be appreciated from afar ^o^ Here's wishing her a safe trip back to Shanghai, and may she continue to produce more great and entertaining games for the chess community!
Thanks for tolerating my "fanboy" piece.
Yours sincerely
Ong Yujing (Eugene)
a.k.a. newbie_learner
Siglap South CC Chess Quartet
