GM Paul Velten Wins Inaugural Caissa Osaka Blitz

On 27 September Caissa Osaka Chess Club held its first tournament in the Higashinari Ward Center. The tournament was run as a Round Robin with a 5m+3s time control. The player field was strong, with GM Paul Velten, FM Simon Bibby (Osaka Champion) and CM Kan Nakahara (the upcoming generation) joined by chess regulars from Japan and abroad.

Arrival of the Players

In Round 1 it seemed somewhat unfortunate to have the Top Seeded Paul and Simon play against each other so early. And ending in a draw it could look like the steam was out of the event - but it turned out to be very different!

Going From Round to Round

Going from round to round both Paul and Simon kept winning. Kan played a very strong tournament too and other than a loss against Paul and Simon it was Leonard who managed to earn half a point against Kan.

In the middle zone Yuta (5 points), Leonard, Atsuya and David (all 4 points) stayed close.

In the tail of the group Taiwanese student Che Chi (2.5 points) and Takefumi (2 points) were accompanied by our special guest today, Edouard, from the Osaka Expo French Pavilion (winning pavilion!) who played his first ever tournament.

Coming back to the start game between Paul and Simon: both ending with 8.5 points, a decisive blitz of 2m+1s was the cherry on the chess cake today. Paul managed to win that game and became Caissa Osaka Chess Club's first Champion!

The Decisive Game: GM Paul Velten vs FM Simon Bibby - first 30 seconds

The other prize winners:

Left to right, top row: 6th Leonard, 5th Atsuya, 4th Yuta. Left to right, bottom row: 3rd Kan, 2nd Simon, Champion Paul.

The tournament had an excellent atmosphere in which complete beginners shared the same boards with Masters. And in good harmony, we shared a refreshing post-workout lunch!

Post-Tournament Joint Lunch

Although this first event was small in quantity, the quality and the friendly-competitive vibes, made up for that in many ways.

Our next OTBBTO (Over The Board Blitz Tournament Osaka) will be held on Saturday 18 October. Join us then!