On Jan. 26, Taipei American School topped this year’s Interscholastic Association of Southeast Asian Schools chess tournament, halting International School of Manila’s reign from last year. The online tournament was hosted by the TAS Chess Club.
The club nearly defeated all other schools, ranking first with a score of 26.5. Only two losses and three draws were made. ISM and Singapore American School both tied at second place, with 16. Last year, TAS placed second at 19.5. A player is awarded a point if they win, and half a point for a draw, A total of six rounds were played.
This year’s TAS players were: Alex C. (‘22) on board one, Andrew C. (‘22) on board two, Rem Y. (‘19) on board three, Louis A. (‘21) on board four, Kevin on board five and Calvin S. (‘19) on board six. One alternate, Ryan C. (‘20), played and won a fifth-round game against ISKL. The lower the board number, the higher the player’s skills.
“The two freshmen [Alex and Andrew] were insanely good. They’re twin brothers, by the way,” Kevin said. They were the top No. 1 and No. 2 players in the team.
The boards were ordered by “each person’s objective level of play on average,” according to an internal email briefing by Rem. “Our lineup this year is the strongest I’ve seen in chess,” he wrote.
International School Bangkok forfeited early before the tournament officiated. All other schools won against them by default.
The forfeit also caused a 35-minute delay, causing the second round to begin in 11:40 a.m. “They just didn’t show up this year,” Kevin said. “They showed up last year and they just forfeited in the middle of the tournament.”
Rem won his bet. “I also offered to buy everyone a McDonald’s meal of their choosing if we won, and I’m happy with my investment,” he said.