First Ever "Caissa Round Robin Classic League"
Updated: 19 hours ago
With the long weekend on 17-19 October, we wanted to do something special. After some brainstorming a new idea was born: why not hold a round robin tournament? In a round robin the participants all play against each other. The pairings were known beforehand - giving the chance for everyone to take their preparation to the next level. This makes it a great exercise for players of all levels.
Another advantage of this format is that you're paired with people of your own rating level. There is no randomness of the Swiss pairing involved and every player has a decent chance to lose or win every single game played. This makes it highly interesting for everyone involved and creates many learning opportunities.
This turned out to be a unique event in Hong Kong in the sense that similar concepts have not been tried out on this scale. We opened up four leagues with different rating ranges. Leagues A and B played on the 60+30 time control with six players and five rounds. Leagues C and D were true marathons with eight players and seven 45+30 rounds.
The importance of this first ever event cannot be underestimated. Places were in high demand while League A has to be one of the strongest local chess events held in recent times. The tournament ran smoothly with great sportsmanship and good vibes all over.
One thing is for sure: we put round robins on the map and they aren't leaving Hong Kong anytime soon!
League A
This group was an elite event by all definitions. Not only did the minimum entry rating of 1950 make sure only Hong Kong's strongest players were eligible to join, we also welcomed players of four different nationalities in the six-player round robin - making it a true international tournament.
2276-rated Constantin Mueller from Germany led the field in the starting rank and we can summarize the event in one sentence: experience prevails. While Constantin hadn't played a classical FIDE rated game in over five years, nothing of that rust was visible on the board. He expertly navigated the field and only allowed a draw in the last round against FM Daniel Kai Wing Lam.
Daniel was in contention for the title until the very last round. With a win over Constantin he would clinch first place based on direct encounter. With a loss, however, he would finish in shared second to fourth with Jake Chong and Coach Emile. He decided to play it safe and offered a draw. Constantin showed great fighting spirit and continued playing for a win but eventually allowed a threefold repetition and our top two was known - Congratulations Constantin and Daniel!
League B
The rating requirements for group B were 1750-1950. As organizers we reserved the right to allow exceptions and Caissa Talents Chi Ngo Chan (Declan) and Athan Ngo Wong (Athan) got the chance to prove their worth against an experienced field.
While both got a great start with 1.5/2 after playing a hard fought draw against each other in the first round and good wins in the second round, it was Edgar Lopez De Anda who took the sole the lead with two wins. In the first round he won because Coach David was wearing his digital watch and resigned on the spot. Let this serve as a good learning moment for all - make sure you don't have any digital devices on your person during the game!
Edgar wasn't overly happy with how he got the win, he of course wanted to play chess! Then again, the extra rest won't have hurt and it did set him up for an excellent streak as he raced through the field to score an excellent 5/5. He for sure enjoyed that - congratulations on an excellent tournament!
In second place we find Caissa Talent Zheyi (Joey) Zhang (3) who scored back to back wins after a slow 1/3 start.
League C
If experience was a crucial factor in League A then it was even more so the case in League C. Five Caissa youngsters tried their best against three adults, but at the end of the day, the entire top three was 18+.
Tsz Yiu Christ Lau had an excellent first two days and was leading the field with 3.5/4. In round five he faced his thus far closest competitor Lam Lok Sum with the White pieces. After scoring his fourth win of the event, he only needed two draws in the final rounds to secure first place. Lok Sum bounced back with two wins to finish in second place.
AGM Nok Hang Jonathan Ho had a tough start. After a first-round loss he was able to stop the bleeding and scored three consecutive draws. By the third day he was all warmed up though and scored his first win before drawing in the sixth round. Going into the last round, he was trailing Caissa Talent Xiangyi Meng (Shayne) and Chun Yin Ngai (Felix) by half a point. He defeated Felix while Marcus Jasper Luk gave him an assist by defeating Shayne. This put him in sole third place.
League D
The 1450-1550 category was on an invitational basis. We were very happy to see that the youngest in the field showed great maturity and we didn't come across any issues along the way.
Chun Ho Cheung followed into Christ's footsteps and wrapped up a perfect start with two draws in the final rounds to clinch first place. Franco Kuan (5) came in second after not converting a couple of good chances and with only a single loss. Third place went to Tsz Hei Chui (4) who had the better tiebreak than Caissa Talent Shreenidhi Balaji.
All prize winners
Individual shots
Action Photos
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