Caissa Summer Rapid 2026

We were supposed to have a FIDE Blitz and FIDE Rapid tournament one after the other for our July summer tournaments. But organizing events in Hong Kong during this time of year is always a risk - because of a typhoon alert we had to postpone the Summer Rapid from 19 July all the way to 16 August. Enough time for certain people to realize they were missing out! During that time, new signups started coming in until we had to close registration with a full house.

The playing field was an interesting one. More than half of the players were rated. The real eye-catcher though, was the participation of Constantin Mueller. A German player with a staggering rating of 2277. The very strong World Team Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships may still be fresh in our minds, it does not happen that often a player of this caliber joins a local competition. A whole list of Caissa's top students is next in line - hoping they could be the one to tackle the overwhelming favorite.

The first couple of rounds didn't know too many upsets. Ziwen Ha immediately started with a blast, beating Franco Kuan (1662). Ziwen would go on to play a strong tournament and finish on 3.5/6 with a 1684 performance rating. Not too bad for an unrated player!

Constantin, Declan, Shayne and Ziwen all perfect up until round 4

Round four saw the only four perfect players so far facing each other on the first two boards. Xiangyi Meng (Shayne) tried his best against Constantin but had to admit defeat nonetheless. Chi Ngo Chan (Declan) secured victory over Ziwen and got his own chance to measure himself with the favorite.

Lately, Declan has had some tough luck with German opposition and was eager to get his revenge. But also this talented youngster had to resign in time trouble.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Constantin wrapped up his tournament with a win over Ruiyan Ying (Yuki) to score a perfect 6/6. Congratulations Constantin!

Despite this last round loss, Yuki (4) added another trophy to her collection. Best U12 and Best Girl were passed on to Tejas Aravind (3.5) and Tsz Yin Lam (2) as she took the fifth place trophy home, just ahead of Shayne (4).

Jaya Kiran Akurathi and Julien Wing Shek Cheung shared third and fourth place in that order with very solid 4.5/6 scores. Declan finished in a very well deserved sole second place with only losing against Constantin in this competitive field.

Congratulations to all the winners!

• 

•