On September 15 and September 16, two qualifier tournaments were held to determine who would earn a coveted spot at Judit Polgar’s Global Chess Festival. The first tournament was an Open event, conducted online on the night of September 15, featuring a field of 10 skilled participants. Over the course of 9 intense rounds, each player faced off against their peers, vying for the chance to qualify. Among these competitors, one player stood out – NM Alex Wang.
With one round remaining, Alex Wang secured his victory, exhibiting exceptional prowess on the chessboard. He not only claimed his final game but also completed the tournament with an astounding perfect score of 9/9. Following closely behind was Felix Guo, who secured second place with an impressive score of 7/9. As a result, Alex Wang was selected as the male representative for ICEA in the Open Section, while Esther Jou earned the honor of representing ICEA in the female category.
On the morning of September 16, another tournament unfolded, this time in the form of a 7-round robin competition, with 8 participants in contention to represent ICEA in the Scholastic Section. Early on, the competition was fierce, and two players, Felix Guo and Isabella Yu, found themselves neck and neck in the standings. However, Isabella’s fortunes took a downturn when she missed a critical win against Inay Vellore, resulting in a drawn game. Another draw ultimately placed her one point behind Felix Guo.
In the pivotal final round, fate pitted Felix Guo against Isabella Yu, and Felix emerged victorious, securing both the game and the tournament with an impressive 7/7 score. Inay Vellore rallied in the closing rounds and secured the second position with a commendable score of 5.5/7. However, despite the strong competition, it was Isabella who was chosen to represent ICEA as the women’s representative, concluding the tournament with a solid score of 5/7 points.
– reported by Felix
on behalf of ICEA Chess Team
