davidgn0

On a beautiful crisp blue-sky Saturday,18 players representing the chess federations of Japan, France, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Korea, and The Netherland had gathered to face off in the traditional Osaka Wine Cup in the tatami-unique setting of the scenic Katashimo Winery. Chess at the Winery The youngest player was 6-years old Caissa student Kikyo Honda , playing his first tournament and the highest rated players were Caissa coach IM Matthew Tan , who flew in from Hong Kong, and local chess...

On 30 November 2025, Scholastic Chess in Kansai was placed on the map of scholastic activities. Endorsed by the Japan Chess Federation the 1st Kansai Scholastic Chess Tournament attracted dozens of players from the wider Kansai area.

Early this year we had a booth at a large after-school activities Expo in Hong Kong. For the first time then we created banners, visuals, thought about what presents to give, offer what kind of discount when sign up on the spot and how to compete with our neighbours who had fancy computer simulation games, bikes to ride or offered remote controlled race cars … it took 3 months of preparation. In Osaka, we started high up the learning curve and a total preparation time of 10% compared to the...