Yu Bei Hao, 15, wins his group at the Singapore International Chess Open after meteoric rise

SINGAPORE – Singapore Chess Federation’s (SCF) high-performance programme dropout Yu Bei Hao put in a “memorable” display to win the Group B overall title at the Singapore International Open at the Resorts World Sentosa Convention Centre on Dec 5.

The 15-year-old came out on top out of 281 participants in the category for those with an Elo rating of below 1,900, a measurement of a player’s ability, via the International Chess Federation (Fide).

The tournament, held in conjunction with the ongoing Fide World Championship at the same venue, also saw Singaporean grandmaster Siddharth Jagadeesh finish third overall in Group A, for players above 1,800 Elo rating.

Bei Hao’s feat, which comes with a prize of $2,000, was his first major individual title, and comes three months after helping Hwa Chong Institution win the National Schools Team Championships in September.

The Secondary 3 student said: “This experience has been very good. It has been very fun playing at this tournament, and I get to interact with many people, especially people from overseas, which I usually don’t get the chance to.

“I think this has been my most memorable tournament of the year and it’s not even about the result.”

He attributed his form to the hiring of a coach after dropping out of the SCF high-performance programme in June 2022.

Bei Hao said: “I used to be (in the programme), and the requirement is to be 1,200 (Elo rating). But after my rating dropped to below 1,200, I couldn’t continue.

“And after that, my schedule got a bit busy, so even after my rating got back up, I didn’t rejoin the programme.”

Instead, Bei Hao, who is also a member of his school’s chess club, engaged a trainer to hone his skills. Within the next two years, his Elo rating climbed from 1,170 to 1,786.

“I had the help of my coach,” he said. “We have weekly sessions and I also play a lot of tournaments every month. I think they (the tournaments) give me a lot of experience, even if I lose.

“Previously when I lost, I didn’t feel good, but now, even though I lose, I still feel that I learn a lot from it. I go into a game and I don’t feel any pressure, I know I’m going to learn something new.”

SCF chief executive Kevin Goh was proud of Bei Hao’s win, saying: “I’m happy that (he did well). It doesn’t matter whether you are in our programmes or not. I think it’s just important for Singaporeans to win.

“He obviously has done his own work independently of us and I just hope that he continues the momentum.

“And if he ever needs support from the federation, he can always approach us and we can see how we can help.”

In the Open category, Chinese grandmaster Lu Shanglei clinched the gold ahead of Poland’s Szymon Gumularz, while Siddharth managed a great recovery to finish third.

The 17-year-old Singaporean, who fell to 54th place after a loss in Round 4, pulled himself back up the rankings with three consecutive wins in the seventh, eighth and ninth rounds.

Siddharth, who bagged $10,000, said: “I think it was a very strong event with many strong players from the top 100 in the world. I got lucky to finish high at the end, it feels good, but I don’t know if I deserve it.

“My teammates probably played better than me, but I was lucky to win the last game. I lost one game really early, and I didn’t really have any serious intentions of finishing high after that.”

Singapore’s next highest finisher was grandmaster Tin Jingyao, in 15th place.

Goh said: “Siddharth did well, beating a world-class grandmaster (Russian Volodar Murzin) in the last round and finishing third.”

Meanwhile, in Game 9 of the world championship, Chinese holder Ding Liren and Gukesh Dommaraju eked out a sixth straight draw after 54 moves, with the Indian challenger starting with a Catalan Opening.

The best-of-14 match is finely poised with both players tied on 4½ points ahead of Game 10 on Dec 7.