IHG 2011

(delayed post. Drafted it ages ago. Just waiting for some photos before I can post it.)

For international chess, this year was quite a success since we made it to the semi-finals for the first time. Historic result.

Could have gone on to the finals (and win it as well) if one of my key players have won one of the crucial match in the semi. I could see he is sad after losing that match, which is unavoidable as the opposition on that board is strong. Thus, the match in the semi-final was a close one, losing 3-2 to Hall 13.

To be honest, I am actually quite happy with the team's performance despite losing in the semi-finals against hall 13. The team really gave the best despite not having enough strong players. And some of them have amazing fighting spirit. Some talents were also discovered, and I am quite surprised that one of my players could actually move so fast when there are just seconds remaining on the clock. :)

Hopefully next year, we could create history by getting gold. But that could only happen IF there are strong freshies coming to Hall 11. If not, this might be the only time we could achieve a result like this.

Comments on the matches

About the matches, I faced tough opposition on first, second round and also the semi-finals. In the second round, I lost to a really strong player from hall 1. In fact, I have actually googled his name after that and found out he have gone for so many international tournaments including the asean junior championships, drawing with top juniors from Malaysia. Obviously, I am not his match although I did tried my best to hold the game. Perhaps next time, I would be more prepared when I face him again.

However, for that round, we won against Hall 1 with a 3.5-1.5 score. Although Hall 1 did somehow won the IHG this year, we actually have beaten them earlier in the preliminary rounds. :)

As for this tournament, I have definitely enjoy it. All of the players in the team (and non-players) were quite close with one another. It somehow came as a surprise that there were actually quite a lot of things to talk about besides chess.

I could proudly say this is the best team I have ever participated in. It's even better than the team event in the Merdeka Championship a few years back. :)

Picture of the team:






Definitely one which I would always remember. :)

Next tourney: NUS vs NTU (friendly match). It seems I can never get enough with chess. Lol. But studies is also a main priority for now. Better be serious in that although there's no hope in getting second upper. :)