Category: News

A pack of ten players, including 8 of the tournament’s 20 Grandmasters, lead with a perfect score after three rounds of the Thai Chess Open in Pattaya. The ten include the top four seeds, who have achieved 3/3 with a minimum of fuss while many of their Grandmaster peers have struggled.

Veteran Singaporean Grandmaster Wong Meng Kong had the worst possible Monday, losing to Indian GM Diptayan Ghosh in the morning round and then being upset by Iceland’s lowly ranked Gunnar Runarsson in the second game of the day.

The biggest positive surprise of the tournament has been the performance of India’s Parab Ritviz. Seeded only 82nd, 15-year-old Ritviz has already beaten two of the top 30 seeds to move to 3/3 and challenge the Grandmasters.

Thailand has many players just a point behind the leaders best including local star Uaychai Kongsee.

The Thai Open, with a first prize of 100,000 Baht continues until April 19 at the Dusit Thani Hotel, with round 3 beginning at 14.00 local time on Tuesday. Spectators are welcome and may view the leading games on a giant electronic demonstration board.

Games may be followed live via chess24.com with full results at chess-results.com. The tournament may be followed on Twitter @thaiopchess

A record 19 Grandmasters assembled in Pattaya on Sunday for the 15^th Thai Chess Open and showed why they had achieved their status with a near-perfect 18.5/19 start.

Thailand’s largest and strongest open tournament, organised by the Bangkok Chess Club features world class players such as former World Championship challenger Nigel Short and top seeded Chinese Grandmaster Wang Hao in a field of 190.

Short was the first Grandmaster to finish, beating Filipino amateur Jude Ulanday with a slashing attack in just 20 moves.

In contrast, leading Indian Grandmaster Surya Ganguly was on the brink of defeat against Finland’s Tommy Ilmoni before a faulty attempt to finish the game quickly allowed the Grandmaster to turn the tables.

The only Grandmaster to falter in the first round was Poland’s Kamil Dragun who drew with India’s unheralded Dhanabir Singh.

Thai fans had plenty to cheer about as the top two Thai players in the tournament, Uaychai Kongsee and Wisuwat Teerapabpaisit – both former Thai Champions – won their first games convincingly.

The 2015 Thai Open, a 9 round tournament with a first prize of 100,000 Baht, is being played at the Dusit Thani Resort and continues until April 19, with round 2 beginning at 9am local time on Monday.

Games may be followed live via chess24.com with results at http://chess-results.com/tnr169298.aspx?lan=1

Over 300 players have registered for the 15th Bangkok Chess Club Open.

306 players from 43 different countries are heading to Pattaya for Thailand’s premier chess tournament, to be held at the Dusit Thani from 12-19 April. We are well on the way to breaking the 2013 record of 314 players.

Book your flights now! There is still time to register