GM Jan Gustafsson wow's em all in Bangkok

GM Gustafsson wows ‘em all in Bangkok

Barely 16 hours after he dominated (as expected) the Bangkok Chess Club FIDE rated Friday night blitz held at The Royal Oak Bangkok, Grandmaster Jan Gustafsson (FIDE Elo 2620) continued to wow them by winning all but one of the 20 board Simultaneous Chess exhibition he gave at the O’Shea’s Irish Pub Sports Bar and Hotel.

Both events, hosted by Bangkok Chess Club led by Mr. Kai Tuorila saw a mix of players in attendance. Players of different nationalities came to show their wares. The demographics were so varied wherein intermediate players to masters and master strength, youngsters to professionals came to grace the occasion.

Shin Jingjang, an incoming Year 13 student of Harrow International School of Bangkok and a member of Double Bishop Chess Academy under the tutelage of FM Deniel Causo, got the limelight when he managed to get a draw in the simul by playing with precision the Black side of a Slav Defense game. The game was closely watched by the cheering crowd that saw Shin (founder of ChessMindaway, a Philanthropic chess group) held the truce on move number 34. The simultaneous display was staged beautifully on that warm Saturday afternoon, where the host even provided tables full of food for players and spectators to savor during the event.

As for the blitz event, NM Ric Portugalera draws cheers from friends and the crowd as he came in a close second, just half a point behind the visiting German GM.

P.S. GM Jan Gustafsson is a familiar face in Thailand as he comes to visit the land of smiles on a regular basis. For the record, Gm Jan, the co-founder of Chess 24 and popular commentator in various landmark events around the world had also won the 2011 and 2019 Bangkok Chess Club Int’l Open.

Truly yours,

Winston Joseph Silva

Bangkok, Thailand