Philippines Singapore Chess
Singapore's Elliot Wong Yen-Hsiu and the Philippines' Mark Jay Bacojo test their wits in a game of chess Philippine Chess Team Photo

KEY POINTS

  • Asia's best young chess players converged for the Hong Kong Bauhinia Under-18 Chess Invitational
  • Singapore's Elliot Wong Yen-Hsiu took home top honors in the individual category
  • The Philippines won in the team category

A collection of best young chess players from the Philippines and Singapore were crowned as champions at the 2022 Hong Kong Bauhinia Under-18 Chess Invitational, which took place at the Regal Oriental Hotel in Kowloon from December 27 to 30.

The international tournament featured 22 of the best wood pushers aged 10-17 years old from countries such as the Philippines, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Hong Kong.

The action was split into two parts, with the main event being a standard chess competition, while the Blitz Bowl featured a friendly competition.

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In the individual category of the main event, Singapore's Elliot Wong Yen-Hsiu took home top honors.

Meanwhile, Mark Jay Bacojo of the Philippines came in as the first runner-up.

Rounding out the Top Six of the field were Hungi Yun of Soutj Korea, Clarance Foo Jiu Yarng of Malaysia, Yiheng Li of Hong Kong and Zong Ze Cheah of Malaysia.

Philippine Under-18 Chess Team
The Philippines' Under-18 Chess Team hailed as champions in international invitational Philippine Chess Team photo

In the main event's team competition, it was the Philippine team composed of Bacojo, Ayana Nicole Usman and Alexandra Sydney Paez that reigned supreme.

Malaysia, on the other hand, settled for a bridesmaid finish. South Korea and Hong Kong ended up as second and third runners-up respectively.

In the friendly Blitz Bowl competition, Isaak Huh of South Korea prevailed in the individual category, whereas Mark Jay Bacojo of the Philippines came in as first runner-up once again, followed by Singapore's Elliot Wong Yen-Hsiu and hometown bets Boris Chan Wang Ip and Jamison Edrich Kao.

Furthermore, the Blitz Bowl team competition saw the Asian Federation take home the championship, and Hong Kong finished in second place.

Geoffrey Kao, the honorary president of the Hong Kong Chess Federation, called for more support and appreciation for chess players in Asia.

"Although chess is a mind sport, a four to five-hour game demands no less energy than a typical physical sport, and the players also need to put in much time in training," said Kao. "I hope that more and more people in Asia will learn about chess as a mentally and physically rewarding intellectual sport and support our players."