Chess on the move in Hong Kong

With great success, The Chess Academy of Hong Kong has conducted The 9th Annual Hong Kong Scholastic Championship 2018 in June 10

The event was organized by ActiveKids, ActiveKids has been specializing in delivering unique, top-quality educational programs to schools and children of all ages in Hong Kong and Greater China.

The tournament was also Sponsored by SmarTone, an elite network Company in Hong Kong, it was with high anticipation that the Tournament, for the first time, was able to present the Games using the Electronic Boards, which allowed the attending public to observe the children and young people in full action.

The event was divided into four Sections, involving 150 children and youth, who were struggling for 7 hours to achieve the Awards offered by ActiveKids and SmarTone, both at the Individual Level and by School Teams. The Rapid Tournament was played under the Swiss System at 6 rounds with a reflection time of 25 minutes per game per player. It was played at Kellett School - 7 Lam Hing Street, Kowloon Bay.

The big attraction was the presentation of 2 DGT digital boards, which allowed the attending audience to witness the best games of Division 4.  These Boards will be used for future activities of classes and events of importance.

The Founder of ActiveKids Grace So as well as representatives of the SmarTone Company were present at the Award Ceremony.

The winners by age group were:

Age 5 Winner – Oliver Hill-Wood (Harrows)
Age 6 Winner – Jonathan You (Kingston) *
Age 7 Winner – Luk Kin Tsun Danbe (RCHK) *
Age 8 Winner – Savin Peramunetilleke (DC)
Age 9 Winner – Mak Chung Lai Matthew (Wah Yan)
Age 10 Winner – Dai Andrew Sicheng (ISF) *
Age 11 Winner – Liu Yuan Max (ISF)*
Age 12 Winner – Joseph Yan (CDNIS) *
Age 13 Winner – Liu Pak (KGV)
Age 14 Winner – Esmond Wong (PLKCKY)
Age 15 Winner – Christopher Qian (ISF)*
Age 16 Winner – Charles Liu (PLKCKY)

The winners by groups at the individual level and by teams were the following:

Division I – Individual
Champion – Xue, Tian Hao (Victoria Kindergarten)
2nd Place – Annabel Chang (KCS)*
3rd Place – Dan Lupu (Kennedy)

Division I – Team
Champion Team – Victoria Kindergarten
2nd Place Team – KCS
3rd Place Team – Kennedy School

http://chess-results.com/tnr359872.aspx?lan=1&art=4

Division II – Individual
Champion – Jacob Lu (SIS)
2nd Place – Samuel Lam (ISF)*
3rd Place – Zhou Shennuo (N.T. LEUNG SING TAK PRIMARY SCHOOL)

Division II – Team
Champion Team – Pun U Association Wah Yan Primary School
2nd Place Team – RCHK*
3rd Place Team – Discovery College, GSIS, SIS

http://chess-results.com/tnr359873.aspx?lan=1&art=4

Division III – Individual
Champion – Seth Peramunetileke (DC)
2nd Place – Oliver King (HKIS)
3rd Place – Wilfred Hill-wood (Harrows)

Division III – Team
Champion Team – HKIS
2nd Place Team – ISF * & KCIS

http://chess-results.com/TurnierSuche.aspx?lan=1

Division IV – Individual
Champion – William Shi (Delia School of Canada)
2nd Place – Cheng Justin Hong-Chen (ISF)*
3rd Place – Ben Han (ISF)*

Division IV – Team
Champion Team – ISF*
2nd Place Team – KGV

*are The Chess Academy ActiveKids Students/Schools

http://chess-results.com/tnr359876.aspx?lan=1&art=4

Since 2004, ActiveKids has been specializing in delivering unique, top-quality educational programs to schools and children of all ages in Hong Kong and Greater China. With over 60+ participating schools and clubs, we have established an unparalleled track record of CREDIBILITY, GROWTH, AND UNIQUENESS with an ever-growing network of partner organizations.

The Chess Academy (TCA) is the #1 Chess Program in Hong Kong with the best coaches and curriculum. We are also specialists in conducting major tournaments.

TCA was founded with the dual objectives of teaching world-class, international chess strategies and skills to children and, even more importantly, building a child's character through chess. Chess requires a thorough understanding of rules, a belief in fair competition, learning from mistakes and the desire to challenge oneself. Through this process, children will develop stronger spatial reasoning, improved attention span, better sportsmanship and higher levels of confidence.

Chess teaches Thinking!

View of the event! Boys and Girls compete equally

The Chess Academy program offers a progressive course to students of all ages. We are structured to teach players from introductory lessons to advanced competition levels. We have the highest-ranking and most experienced coaches in Hong Kong - from National Trainers to FIDE Masters to International Masters

Our Team

# 1 Chess Program in Hong Kong!

The Chess Academy has the highest Level of coaches in Hong Kong! Led by International Master and experienced Top-ranked FIDE chess coaches.

 Juan Röhl

International Master

Edgar de Anda

USCF Expert

                                           Sigappi Kannappan                                        
                                  Women FIDE Master (WFM)                          
                                   Winner of Title WFM in 42nd World Chess Olympiad,      National Arbiter (NA)   

Sydney L.

National Instructor (NI)   
FIDE Arbiter (FA) 

National Arbiter (NA)  

                                              Chris Pang                                                                                          Candidate Master (CM)                                
                                        National Arbiter (NA)                                     

  Joe Lau
                     Developmental Instructor (DI)
          National Instructor 

Ryan L.
Chess Coach  

ActiveKids Founder Grace So said: “Looking back 14 years ago, there were not many extracurricular activities for children to choose from, and often times, the quality of these programs was not very consistent. Thus, I realized then that there was a big gap between what children needed and available high-quality extracurricular activities”.

Grace So graduated from Brown University with a BSc degree in Civil Engineering. She then worked in investment banking at Morgan Stanley in New York and Hong Kong. After attaining her MBA from The University of Chicago, Grace worked in consumer marketing for Proctor & Gamble and Bristol-Myers Squibb. With her extensive experience in different businesses, Grace founded ActiveKids in 2004.

Grace said: “Based on my business background and inspiration from my three children, I see that children do have a great need for quality educational and fun activities, so I took the opportunity and created ActiveKids “.

ActiveKids is now a leading provider of extracurricular activities in Hong Kong and Shanghai. Each year, more than 60 partner schools attracting thousands of kindergarten and elementary students. ActiveKids has six programs for extracurricular activities and a summer travel plan for Beijing. They are:

- Science Adventures (Hands-On Science)

- The Chess Academy (International Chess)

- Stormy Chefs (Creative Cooking)

- RoboCode (Robotics and Coding)

- Art Crafters (Art&Craft)

- Mission Runway (Design&Presentation)

- Tsinghua Young Global Leaders (Language and Culture Immersion)

The Chess Academy, known as the number one chess program in Hong Kong, is the pioneer of children’s chess programs in Hong Kong. In operation for the last 14 years, The Chess Academy program not only teaches children to play chess but also organizes small and large-scale tournaments to offer a comprehensive chess experience for children. The program boasts the highest ranking of coaches in Hong Kong. Juan Armando Röhl Montes, who is an International Master (IM) of Chess, joined The Chess Academy in November last year.

IM Juan Rohl in a Campament

Juan Röhl attentive to the movements of his students

The Chess Academy is a progressive program in which students are divided into three levels - beginner, intermediate and advanced. Students have the opportunity to be promoted to the next level once a control test is applied. Instructors would determine the test results together with other factors to consider if the students can advance to the next level. Juan points out that “chess is an activity that develops a lot of intellectual processes. It is proven that playing chess is very beneficial to children. It can stimulate their logical thinking skills and the capacity for concentration. Their ability to solve problems as well as their analytical capacity can also be enhanced through playing chess. These are really the important elements for children to be successful individuals especially in today’s complex and competitive world.”

A typical lesson at The Chess Academy is normally an hour long and consists of theoretical and practical activities. Students learn to play chess by doing, thinking, solving and analyzing. “The progress of each student is evaluated so that we can identify those who are especially talented. We would then conduct customized training sessions for the talented students to prepare them to be successful chess players” says Juan.
 The Chess Academy has nurtured many high performers and Champions in the Lower, Upper Primary, as well as secondary sections in Hong Kong and Asian tournaments. Some of our high caliber instructors have also been on the European National Teams and have even coached numerous FIDE Masters (FM), and Women International Masters (WIM).

In addition to chess classes, The Chess Academy is also very experienced in organizing tournaments. They run at least six major tournaments throughout the year. “Our tournaments are open to the public. Children who want to prove their chess knowledge and skills in official competitions are encouraged to participate in our tournaments. It is also a social event for children to make some new friends!”
Chess in Hong Kong is becoming a more popular extracurricular activity. Juan hopes to see the inclusion of chess in the teaching material of Hong Kong schools. “In the European community, it is very common that chess is used as a material in schools. In my opinion, if children wish to be good chess players, they first need to love chess a lot. An early exposure to chess can not only boost their brain power but also promote the love of chess in our children.”

Photo a Big Event in ISF School.

Web Page: http://www.activekidshk.com/

Blog: https://thechessacademyhk.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/activekids.com.hk/

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