JC student Ashton Chia wants to spread his love for chess to children, seniors
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Hwa Chong Institution's Ashton Chia is the co-founder of Project Zwischenzug, an initiative that aims to use chess as a catalyst for positive change.
ST PHOTO: ARIFFIN JAMAR
- The National Schools Individual Chess Championships saw a record 1,897 participants from 270 schools, marking its largest edition, surpassing 2025's 1,754 players.
- Ashton Chia, a SEA Games bronze medallist, co-founded Project Zwischenzug, using chess to support children with learning challenges and plans to work with eldercare centres.
- Klaus Yeo won the U-20 title after recovering from a loss, while Sreekarthika Velmurugan secured victories in both girls' and open U-14 categories.
AI generated
SINGAPORE – When Ashton Chia first competed at the National Schools Individual Chess Championships over a decade ago, there were just enough participants to fill a community centre hall.
The situation was vastly different on March 17, when the Hwa Chong Institution second-year junior college (JC) student stepped into The Kallang’s OCBC Arena to take part in the inter-school competition for the last time.
Row upon row of tables lined the venue, as participants aged four to 20 sat hunched over their chessboards, deep in concentration in a bid to outwit their opponents.
The 2026 edition was the biggest in the tournament’s history, with 1,897 participants from 270 schools taking part, surpassing the record of 1,754 players from 2025.
Held on March 16 and 17, the competition featured six categories: Under-eight, U-10, U-12, U-14, U-16 and U-20.
Ashton, 17, who finished fifth in the U-20 category, said: “It’s quite surprising because I remember when I first started out, there wouldn’t be so many participants.
“It’s really rewarding to see that there are so many new people getting into the game and that’s a good thing.”
The National Schools Individual Chess Championships 2026 attracted a record 1,897 participants from 270 schools.
ST PHOTO: ARIFFIN JAMAR
Introduced to the game by his cousin when he was in Primary 1, Ashton quickly grew to love it and asked his mother to sign him up for chess lessons during the school holidays.
He started playing chess competitively shortly after and recently featured at the 2025 SEA Games, where he claimed bronzes in the men’s Asean chess rapid team and makruk rapid team events.
Having benefited from the game, Ashton wants to get more people into it.
At the end of 2024, he co-founded Project Zwischenzug, an initiative that aims to use chess as a catalyst for positive change.
Partnering with FaithActs – a community care service that serves children with learning challenges, at-risk youth, disadvantaged families and seniors – Ashton taught primary school pupils chess weekly for about a year, before stopping in October 2025 to focus on his studies.
With his A-level examinations approaching at the end of 2026, he is focusing less on competitive chess but remains committed to his efforts to grow the game. The team at Project Zwischenzug are planning to restart the programme soon to work with an eldercare centre.
He said: “What got me inspired was when I was teaching the kids, you could tell a lot of them would be stressed about schoolwork and everything, whereas when they played chess, it was free and easy.
“There are so many layers to the game, so when they first learn, there are so many steps where they get more and more inspired, and that’s something that’s really inspiring to see.”
While competitive chess has taken a back seat for Ashton, his schoolmate Klaus Yeo surprised his rivals and himself on March 17, when he claimed the U-20 title at the National Schools Individual Chess Championships.
Klaus faced an early setback when he lost the fourth of nine rounds against 10-year-old Fide master Ashwath Kaushik, leaving him momentarily demoralised.
Hwa Chong Institution’s Klaus Yeo surprised himself by winning the Under-20 title at the National Schools Individual Chess Championships.
ST PHOTO: ARIFFIN JAMAR
After the loss, he thought he would not be able to finish in the top five but quickly bounced back with the support of his friends and family.
The 16-year-old won a crucial game against Raffles Institution’s Goh Zi Han in the last round to leap ahead in the standings and clinch the title.
“I’ve been participating in the (championships) since I was in Primary 1, and I’ve faced a lot of tough opponents... Year after year, I wasn’t able to be champion and I would always lose at crucial moments,” said the JC 1 student, who is working towards attaining a candidate master title.
“This is my first year in the U-20 category and with it being U-20, there are a lot more competitive players around... For me, I’m quite proud of myself because I’ve played chess for so long and this has definitely been on my to-do list.”
Raffles Institution’s Goh Zi Han (right) believes there were positives to take from the competition, even as he missed out on the U-20 title.
ST PHOTO: ARIFFIN JAMAR
While disappointed, Zi Han, who had led the rankings after eight rounds, noted that there were positives to take from the competition.
The Year 5 student said: “It was a great experience in general. I’m mostly content with my play but obviously, I will be a little bit upset about the last round because I felt like I had a serious chance to win the tournament.
“Despite that, my opponent played really well and he deserved to win.”
Sreekarthika Velmurugan won both the girls’ and open titles in the U-14 category at the National Schools Individual Chess Championships.
ST PHOTO: ARIFFIN JAMAR
One player who stood out was Sreekarthika Velmurugan, who won the girls’ and open titles in the U-14 category.
Her accomplishment comes a month after the 13-year-old was crowned women’s chess champion at the Singapore National Chess Championships.
Then she dethroned woman grandmaster and 2019 SEA Games gold medallist (women’s rapid) Gong Qianyun, who had won the title 10 times in a row and 11 overall.
The GIG International School student said: “It’s really enjoyable to compete with people equal or even if they are weaker than you because it really tests your strengths across all levels.
“I’ve been improving slowly but surely.”
