Basic Etiquette Overlooked in Chess

The most recent experiences I had (first at Singapore Chess Meetup, followed by Thomson CC Chess Club temporarily located at Bishan CC) makes me answer this question easily: Please do NOT interrupt a player during a clocked (timed) game.

Obviously, nobody had ill intentions. But while playing a game, I am really pissed off when friends (i.e. people I know) approached me with a question or say "hi". It would've been absolutely fine at any other time -- except when the clock is ticking and I'm on serious mode.

I apologise for blowing up, but I think it would be good for an observer (i.e. whoever is not playing a game) to see whether a timed game is going on before approaching. At least, please do NOT do it to me again -- I can apologise afterwards, but be warned that vulgarities may come out from a usually mild soul. I can be much more tolerant towards other types of distractions (e.g. kids being noisy nearby), but I really cannot stand direct interruptions disrupting the normal flow of the game. Now I can truly understand the frustrations of "professionals" at work.

"Jokes" aside, here are some of my badly played games. 3 undeserved wins, although some of them may have learning value replaying. This time round, I will just share my personal thoughts on the game without checking with the engines. Will hope to gather some human input to work on improving my game play.

Thanks ahead.

Games Replay: http://view.chessbase.com/cbreader/2019/6/22/Game11476187.html


Chess-play aside, some other random things I'd like to say:

• Am waiting for this marvellous leather travel set to reach me. Will be bringing this out for all my future chess games (Asia Square on Wednesdays, Thomson CC chess Club at Bishan CC on Fridays and Siglap South CC on Sundays).

• Silicone chess board is not the "best" at all. Yes it has its advantage -- can fold it with no issue laying flat with no "wrinkles". But it has very severe issues including but not limited to:
• Gets dirty very easily -- attracts dust;
• Very difficult to swap sides after each game. Much easier on other type of "solid" chess boards; and
• Cannot slide pieces!

That's all for now.

Yours sincerely

Ong Yujing (Eugene)

a.k.a. newbie_learner

Siglap South CC Chess Quartet

newbie's misadventures at SG City Open 2019

So I just finished the 9-round SG City standard Open tournament with a dismal result, scoring only 3 points (1 win, 4 losses and 4 draws) and losing 14 rating points. Was initially ranked #26 but ended #35 (would've been worse if some of the players did not drop out of the tournament halfway). Still, it wasn't a complete flop -- I wouldn't allow it to be a complete waste of time. So what are the positive things that I can gather from it (and share)?

Results and games aside first, there were lots of friendships!

First and foremost, a special shout-out to all my opponents in my tournament, in the order of rounds. There are no secrets, all the pairings and results can be found on chess results. I may not have portrayed myself or communicated properly after our games:

1. Arellano Robert

I understand you are not based in Singapore -- I hope you enjoy your stay, and if time permits, consider dropping by Singapore Chess Meetup or PubXChess, simple the 2 local chess initiatives most likely to be worth your time!


2. Benet Morant Damia (Another player in the QCD Adults Team Chess League)

Thanks for the lesson, my friend =)


3. Tobin Paul Nicholas (Another player in the QCD Adults Team Chess League)

I am grateful for the interesting game we composed together. I'm happy for your great overall results, and I look forward to composing more games with you in future!


4. Sow Miaogeng Malcolm

I really like your mannerisms before, during and after the game, young man! Keep your spirits up and all the best in your future chess games and ventures!


5. Wong Zhenyong Jayden

We have known each other for a while, since our previous games and we share a common Chess Club (Thomson CC Chess Club currently located at Bishan CC due to renovation works). As I have proclaimed after the game, my respect for you has double. I will continue to keep a lookout for your name in future chess tournaments and chess news sites, all the best!


6. Tan Deng Jin Benedict

It has always been a pleasure to play with you. You have definitely improved since our previous encounter. (Was it 1 or 2 years ago?) I don't know how many more "good chess years" I have, but I hope to continue to see you doing well in tournaments!


7. Heng Cho Yaw

Thank you for being so generous in your post-game review with someone you encountered for the first time! I definitely learned something new and important. Best wishes to you!


8. Hema Keertana Vemuri

Okay, your dad and I are actually team mates in the QCD Adults Team Chess League =) Just let me (or your dad) know anytime you'd like a training game! All the best!


9. Kong Zi Yau Bernadette

I don't know if GGWP is something young kids come to understand these days (or is it too old-fashioned already), but congrats for the win. All the best in your future games and tournaments!


Other shout-outs (not in specific order):

Jeremi -- finally we met for the first time. I'm glad you found my suggestions on where to play chess in Singapore useful, and I believe we will continue to meet in local tournaments. By the way, if you are seeing this, I'm not sure if you'd like to consider joining the ongoing QCD Adults Team Chess League? I'm not sure if I have mentioned this to you before, but feel free to take a look!

William -- thanks for the friendship / companionship. I hope you enjoyed the tournament experience in your maiden tournament!

Seng Chin -- thanks for dropping by in person!


Okay, this is a chess tournament report after all. So let's look at some games and positions! Also, in order to protect my opponents, I will remove mentions of their actual identities. I will only identify myself =)

And the games are not arranged in order of the rounds. They are arranged in "themes".

So here we go. Just want to qualify that this is a beginner reviewing his own game, so please take the comments with a pinch of salt. But if you have any suggestions to tips to offer the newbie, please feel free! Thanks ahead.


The Most Sinful (Un)Played Game

Game Position after 35.Be2

White offered a draw with the move 35.Be2. Why would Black (me) accept it when only Black is able to play for a win? Because 1. I'm a chicken, 2. I respect opponent's rating too much and 3. I was not in a good state of mind-- in my head, I keep telling myself that "I'm bad at endgames", so a draw is an acceptable result. At the point of the draw offer, I recall myself having 3 or 4 minutes, I kept thinking of the continuation until I had 46 or 47 seconds left, before I decided to accept a draw. In fact, I worked out something along ...e5-e4, then eventually get my Black Knight to d4 and press. But, because I lost confidence in my endgame, I accepted the draw. Amongst my 9 games, this must be the most sinful game -- it's never as big a sin when you play on and lose. It's a sin when you leave "what it could have been" hanging.


The Most Talked About Game 

Game Position after 46...Rxe7

White (me) has been an exchange up since move 25, but Black was resilient and refused to open up the position. White sacrificed a pawn in order to open up the position, but fell into time trouble doing so. Here, the clearest path to victory, which was pointed out by friends, other players and trainers, is to go for 47.Rd8+ followed by Rb8 to pick up the loose pawn on b6 and the Queenside pawn majority, which all could become connected pass pawns, should prove conclusive. But instead, White played the ultra-timid move of 47.Rd3?! Why? Because the only thing White wanted to achieve, is to not fall for any Knight fork under time trouble. LOL

The Most Educative Games I felt I learned the most from these 2.

Game Position after 8...Nxc3

White (me) played 9.bxc3 almost casually. In my opinion during the game, the c3 and d4 builds a mini pawn chain to limit the scope of the dark square Bishop on g7, the Queen on b3 is doing a decent job attacking the b7 pawn and defending the backward pawn of c3. But I under-estimated the weakness of the doubled c-pawn. While this position should be perfectly playable, I did not find comfort with it and got into a very bad position soon to follow. It's either I learn up how to play this position, or to go for something else I prefer. In the actual game, Black managed to exploit White's weakness on c4 and the advantage for Black grew to the point of no return.

Game Position after 9...Qb6 10.Kf2!

While 10.Kf2 was not completely new (I have seen this idea before), it was really cool for a newbie to see it in an actual tournament game. The actual game continued 10...Rc8 (I play as Black) 11.Kg3! I actually smiled seeing this in the game. Not that I suspect White is playing wrongly -- but man is it not impressive to see it over-the-board!

How should a beginner be taught to understand White making 2 consecutive King moves in the early opening phase of the game, when there are still other undeveloped pieces? More interesting is that based on a quick check of the database, this is not a new idea at all. In fact, the 2 consecutive King moves is indeed one of the top recommended options for White!

After the game, my opponent kindly explained to me, that I should try to understand this as White castling manually, while improving his own King position (It's even better than White got to push up his pawns serving as King cover, and that in the latter stages of the game, the centralised King position can even be an advantage in endgames.) Also, in his opinion, the only plan for Black that made any sense in this position, is to castle Queenside. Insisting to open up the c-file here "will never work" because White will always be able to exert adequate control to nullify the entire c-file. Black has no concrete point of penetration, which equates to wasted tempo. Meanwhile, White will most likely be faster over the Kingside advancement. Or at the very least, Black should never ever castle Kingside (which was what I did in the game). I don't know how long it will take for me to come to appreciate this. All the more I am grateful to learn this tip.


The Most Devastating Game It is not necessarily the loss which bled the most rating points. Rather, in this game, Black (I) had exerted strong control and dominance for most of the game, only to lose it after a few careless moves under time pressure.

Position after 35.Re1

Black (me), with a pawn ahead, was seeking to make headway on the Queenside. My primary goal was to simplify (via exchange of pieces where possible) to reduce potential to attack me, especially my somewhat vulnerable King). Here, seeing that Black finally had a point of penetration, I played 35...Qh3 immediately. After White played 36.Qg3 to force an exchange of Queens, surprisingly perhaps, I got somehow shaken -- objectively, the exchange of Queens achieves what exactly I wanted. Yet mysteriously, I got "loss". After 36...Qxg3 37.Kxg3, I played a newbie-like 37...Rc3+ allowing 38.Kf4, and here, I still did not realise that White's only source of counterplay, is ...e5-e6. I had so many opportunities to guard it -- e.g. ...Rc6 is one, ...Re8 is another. Yet I missed both and went for 38...Rfc8, thinking that the Queenside advantage is adequate. After 39.e6! I really got flustered, realising I screwed up real bad, and even though it was still a playable position, I simply collapsed. The feeling of dropping a winning position is not easy to cope =(

I don't have "Titles" for all my games, but I'm sure any patient reader can easily identify my "Most Peaceful Game" from the full list of games.

External Link to All Games Here:
http://view.chessbase.com/cbreader/2019/6/13/Game110610656.html 


Some Side Issues On Etiquette, Laws of Chess Discussion etc.

The following are my personal views and queries. It is okay to subscribe a different view.

1. I think we learn how to behave properly over time and experience. Hence, we need to be more tolerant with players who play their maiden tournament or first few tournaments when they do the wrong things. Despite what "everyone" says, I don't think everyone knows where to read up on "proper chess etiquette for tournaments".

For instance, telling your opponent you are going to the toilet is not only unnecessary, but potentially distracting your opponent. There should be minimum to no talking with your opponent, unless you are offering or declining a draw (In fact, you can also decline a draw by just making a move on the board without saying anything). There should not be any discussions between players during the game, and if you need assistance or clarification, you are supposed to approach the assistance of an arbiter -- that's their role.

2. Draw offer initiated by the losing or disadvantaged side is part of the game. Deal with it. But repeated draw offers which can distract or annoy the opponent, is not permissible! If you are not happy with the repeated draw offers from the opponent, please seek assistance from the arbiter.

3. The choice to resign is a very personal one. Even in a completely lost position, sometimes I take time to come to terms with the loss before initiating the resignation. That is my right, and I think my opponent(s) are obliged to respect it.

Minimally, do not demand/expect your opponent to resign. It's his/her right to play on, no matter how bad the position is. Also, I understand that some coaches teach their students to never resign a game -- after all, you do not win a game from resignation. I think the real learning point from this teaching, is that often beginners give up the games too early. Hence, better to force the player to play the game out. Even if the game is still lost, one can see whether he/she can learn something from playing on.

On the point regarding "coming to terms with the loss", even though it is not hard and fast, or universally accepted, I do feel stronger and stronger, that the winner should NOT initiate the handshake. By waiting for the loser to initiate handshake, it ensures that the side who lost would have come to terms with the loss beforehand. I do feel that winner initiating handshake may be misread as "rubbing it in" under all the stress and negative feelings with losing a game. Or at least, one should observe facial / body cues from the opponent before initiating a handshake. Only do it when the opponent seemed ready would be my personal suggestion.

4. Please honour touch move and please by all means, remind your opponent when they did not honour touch move. The only practical situation I can imagine a player not calling on opponent's touch move is that the original move is potentially a better one than the amended move, LOL. And then, under such circumstances, should the arbiter observing this touch move interfere? ^o^

5. There was this actual situation whereby Player X committed an illegal move. Player Y was claiming the illegal move, but in his eagerness, he pressed his clock instead of stopping / pausing it. Should Article 7.5.3 apply on Player Y? Under FIDE Laws of Chess Taking Effect from 1 January 2018,

   "7.5.3 If the player presses the clock without making a move, it shall be considered and penalized
   as if an illegal move."

Player Y did actually press the clock without making a move. But by "common sense", it does seem harsh, if not awkward to penalise Player Y as having made an illegal move under this situation. I wonder what fellow chess enthusiasts / players / arbiters would have to say on this =)

6. The conduct of the whole tournament was generally peaceful. However, there was this 1 incident observed that bugged me quite a bit. This teenager was banging the clock at every move and it was not only annoying to his opponent, but to me as a nearby board as well. Doing it under time pressure, or a few times due to accident can be understood. But this teenager (whom I shall not name and shame), did it on each and every move! In fact, I think he was trying to intimidate his younger opponent, and I was actually thinking through the FIDE laws of chess on how, or whether an arbiter can actually punish the teenager for this. Given the situation, can an arbiter issue a warning to the player for unsporting play?

That's all for now!


Yours sincerely

Ong Yujing (Eugene)
a.k.a. newbie_learner
Siglap South CC Chess Quartet

Halftime Report: Round 4 in the QCD League (24 May 2019)

Finally, I found enough time and energy to get back on my coverage of the QCD League 2019. I don't think I will do any retrospective coverage of the previous rounds. (Sorry!)

This was a rather meaningful round for my team (8.c4!). First, our team scores was -2 = 1 + 0 (2 loss 1 draw 0 win) , so we certainly hoped to achieve better results. Second, I am seeking to break my personal doughnut after a poor -2 = 0 + 0 (2 losses with 0 draws and 0 wins). But the most important of all, is that 1 of my team mates, Nirag, is playing his last game for us as he would be migrating -- you'll be missed my dear friend, but I would be following any news and update on your sons in their chess ventures ahead!

Pre-match "Preparation"
We were paired against Team Knight Riders, a newly formed team which I helped to matchmake. To be honest, despite knowing a few of the other teams members, I don't really know the rest. So my pre-match advice to my team mates was "Don't bother to try preparing anything, just play your normal game." Because of the random board pairings employed in this league (the pairings were only released 1 hour before the commencement), it reduces the likelihood or efficiency of "reparations". So in short, there was probably zero preparation.

My Personal Game
My game was the first to finish. I will share the actual course of it, followed by how it (may have) affected the team dynamics.

Disclaimer: Do note that I am still a struggling learner to seek improvement. Hence, take my comments with a pinch of salt. But if you have any tips and suggestions, especially different views or opinion, please feel free to share with me so that I have a chance to learn and improve!

As always, the same game was analysed differently. In the first version, I just write down my own thoughts during the game, and in the second version, I run the one-click tactical analysis function from Chessbase 15.

Click here for the game replay: http://view.chessbase.com/cbreader/2019/5/25/Game581305125.html

Team Dynamics 
Because my game was to the first to finish, I was hoping it could have a positive psychological impact to the my team mates. Unfortunately, both of my neighbouring boards lost. And while watching the final game being played out, a lot of thoughts crossed my mind. The one I remember the most was: should I, in my capacity as captain, inform my team mate that he has to play to win? I know that would've exerted pressure, which can either have a plus or backfire. In the end, I decided to "mind my own business" and let him play his own game. And what an endgame treat it was! Frankly, if I was playing in my team mates' shoes, I would've been trying to find a way to secure a draw -- which comes to the point I want to bring out and confess:

Unlike most other chess players, I don't "play to win". I start off all games with "play to not lose" mentality, which I think is really hindering my own growth and development. If anything, it really hurts my results even when playing with weaker opponents. So if there are any fellow "newbies" starting out, I really hope you can not be like me and start off with the correct "play to win" attitude.

To Let the Game Run Smoothly v.s. Executing the FIDE Laws of Chess Strictly
In this deciding game (my team 8.c4! was trailing team Knight Riders 1-2), there came a situation whereby the player from team Knight Rider actually committed an unintended illegal move. For readers who are unfamiliar with the FIDE Laws of Chess, you actually need to promote a piece properly. You cannot just push your pawn to the 8th rank and press the clock. Under the laws of chess, this would've constituted an illegal move, and the punishment would be to award 2 minutes to the opponent (i.e. my team mate). "Everyone" saw it, but my team mate was not interested to making a claim. In fact, shortly after, the player from team Knight Rider committed a second illegal move. This time, grabbing the King and mistaking it as the Queen. Again, under the FIDE laws of chess, this should have been penalised as a game forfeit. Again, my very sporting team mate let it go, and shortly after, he won the game anyway.

Of course, good sportsmanship should be commended. However, for learning purpose, I hope all players new to or unfamiliar with the current laws of chess can take that little bit of effort to avoid such a situation as a measure to protect yourself (in the "real world" out there, not all your opponents would be so sporting and let this slide). In fact, this is not the first time illegal move via pawn promotion has occurred. I have observed this infringement quite a few times in the QCD league already.

Yet if I take away my arbiter hat for a while, I can kind of understand why enforcing an illegal move can really disrupt the flow of the game and cause unhappiness to 1 or both players. But then, arbiters have no choice according to the FIDE Laws of Chess. If they observe an illegal move, they are supposed to step in. Hence, I also hope that chess players can be patient and understanding if any arbiter's call go against their favour -- they are just doing their job, doing what is prescribed in the FIDE laws of chess.

Conclusion
I was pleasantly surprised when a spectator approached me and talked about the many chess posts I wrote. You mean anyone other than myself actually reads them!? =). I'm sorry that I have reduced my frequency a little -- these days, I only write when I have enough time, energy and inspiration. I hope they can continue to be somewhat entertaining and not a complete waste of time.

As the first half of the tournament is reached, let's take a look at the current standings!

I will continue to try my best to improve my personal games and hopefully help the team strive for the best results possible. We can only go up from here ^o^

And I do have a confession to make. While hearing some of the chess players ask about the best chess club/site in Singapore at present, I couldn't help boasting about Brad's Singapore Chess Meetup. I mean, I can back up my claim -- is there any other chess club or site in Singapore that has a minimum of 30 attendees and more than 60 players during its peak on a weekly basis? If you know of one, please let me know! Otherwise, you are more than welcomed to check out the Singapore Chess Meetup!

Thanks for reading!


Yours sincerely
Ong Yujing (Eugene)
a.k.a. newbie_learner
Siglap South CC Chess Quartet

Fun, Unofficial Time Formats

It's been a while since I posted something. This is mainly due to my recent non chess-related interest, following South Korea's long-running variety show, Running Man. Jeon So Min, is my clear favourite in the show.

I finally found enough time and spirit to make a short post due to the long weekends!

Did you know that the regulars at the Singapore Chess Meetup came up with this special time format which was quite enjoyable? We refer to it as "10 second chess (10s)". In a nutshell, you have 10 seconds to make each move. The 10-second timer resets with each move, and there is no accumulation of time to subsequent move(s).

Instructions on how to set the Clock for 10s

1. The way to do this, is to use Delay mode, where the initial time is 0:00 and the delay is 10 seconds / move.
2. If you are using a chess clock model similar to LEAP PQ 9903, you can make the adjustment from option #10.
3. For this particular format, do remember to switch on the sound/alarm (assuming your clock has this function). As seen in the video, the effect is that the timer will beep once per second when there is only 5 seconds left on the clock.
4. Happy playing!

Interestingly, players who are good at blitz may fare poorly in this format. The general tip/trick, seems to be, that one should try to maximise the 10 seconds per move.

Last but not least, my personal favourite time format is actually hourglass, which I tried out playing with a kiddo at Siglap South CC some time ago.

Care to share what is your favourite 'fun' time format that is not used in official tournaments?


Yours sincerely
Ong Yujing (Eugene)
a.k.a. newbie_learner
Siglap South CC Chess Quartet

Personal Chess Journal (5 May 2019)

According to chess.com games archive, it's been more than 4 years (!) since I started playing online chess. I will fully attribute this to the greater enjoyment derived from playing chess over the actual board, with a real person sitting right before me. BUT, I have to say, that I find playing a lot of blitz games useful in a couple of things, like tactical sensing, copying with time pressure, and above all, getting more familiar with the type of opening positions I play.

This is how I would divide my chess playing time:

• Play Blitz games online -- it is useful in that all game moves are automatically recorded for review
• Play Rapid games when playing at various chess sites -- I should be able to record most of the game moves (esp. opening/midgame)
• Play Standard games at chess tournaments -- this should be the ultimate test to the application of whatever little chess knowledge I have.

This is my current self-identified weaknesses:

• Over-eagerness to push pawns to engage without adequate preparation (esp. placing the Rooks on the files most likely to open up
• Opening bias -- I should stop playing side-lines for the sake of sidestepping. Instead, acquire the knowledge required to play the position correctly. (Yes, especially when playing against the King's Indian Defence as White.)

Let's see how I would fare in this coming SG City 2019 Open tournament!

Friday Night Casual Training Game

It was a great feeling to see so many adult players in the QCD Chess League 2019 playing training games at the same place! I actually love the temporary location of the Thomson CC Chess Club's chess site at Bishan CC (first floor, just below Singapore Chess Federation).

Anyway, I was glad to have played this long game with Ms Zhemin. After losing 0-3 several weeks ago, I finally managed to even out our head-to-head records a little with a win tonight =) More importantly, I felt I learned something out of it. Truth be told, at certain phases of the game, I felt uncertain even though by the general principles, I thought that I have not committed any chess sin and surely I should be able to punish my opponent for breaching the opening principles and falling so behind in development speed. I guess this is something all fellow beginners / club players like myself need to experience and grow from.

Even though the game was played without the use of a clock, I took extra care to ensure that the time consumption was reasonable (i.e. I would not have flagged, or ran into time trouble, had the game been played under 90+30 conditions).

The game replay can be found in the following link. As per my current practice, I first describe my own thoughts and feelings during and after the game, without the use of engine, before checking for tactical mistakes using Chessbase 15's Tactical Analysis function, and compare the 2.

External link to game replay: http://view.chessbase.com/cbreader/2019/5/4/Game99188734.html


For this particular game, I'm glad that I wasn't too far off at large. Perhaps the big moment for me in the opening phase of the game was this:

I was playing the opening moves based on general principles. I wasn't even trying to play anything too fanciful after a standard-looking move of 7.Nc3, and then a question popped up in my head: What am I supposed to do against 7...Qb6 which targets against my d4 pawn? I was actually quite worked during the game, and even though my instinct of 7...Qb6 8.d5 seems passable by the engine's standard, it was uncomfortable enough to upset me. There is still much more imbalance for me to learn to appreciate, and I cannot just look at things superficially, that White seems to have dropped a pawn. White does get quite a bit of tempo for it.

Back to Playing Online Chess

It was around 3-4 years ago, when I stopped online chess completely after finding out the wonderful Singapore Chess Meetup started by Bradley Loh. Why would I waste time playing online, when I derive the greatest satisfaction playing chess games in person over the board? I think that was why I quit online chess. Another reason was the abuse and swearing online that sours the gaming experience.

But I have to admit, that blitz games have its important place in a chess players learning. I do find it useful in experimenting and checking one's familiarity with openings, coping with time pressure/stress, as well as tactical sensing checks. Yet I wish the games are recorded (I recall my original reason to buy a DGT Smartboard Set was to record the blitz games I play over the board!). Hence, I have decided:

• To play more games of slower time control (standard or rapid) at various chess sites. This allows me to record and review the games. Of course, given the practical considerations such as time constraint (we can play more games under rapid time controls) , I suspect I would be playing more rapid games at the various chess sites I visit, and the standard games would mainly be clocked during tournaments. I would play blitz games as a form of warm-up.
  
• To play blitz games online whenever I feel like it. The best part is that the games are all recorded as played. Also, I have agreed to play some correspondence chess with my QCD team mates as part of training and preparations. 

Now I really understand why they say chess is life. Because it takes up the bulk of your lifetime ^o^


Yours sincerely
Ong Yujing (Eugene)
a.k.a. newbie_learner
Siglap South CC Chess Quartet

Meeting His Chess Goddess Ju Wenjun

My chess friends, especially my in-group from Singapore Chess Meetup would know that there are 2 female chess personalities whom I regard as "goddess" -- Anna Rudolf, who made a video message for me (!) as well as Ju Wenjun, who came to Singapore today! As a chess enthusiast who hardly travels overseas (packing luggage is too much a hassle for me, LOL), I can't thank the Overseas Family School enough for bringing my chess goddess, more popularly know as the reigning Women's World Chess Champion, to Singapore. Of course, I would not give up this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get up close with my chess goddess ^o^

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