The Toronto Xiangqi Association
played matches against New York’s top clubs in Manhattan's Chinatown on December
23 and 24. We lost both, but aside from
this the hospitality couldn’t have been better. We were treated to a series of
great meals (fresh flounder and lobster!) and even a party. Much thanks to
Jonathan Choy of the United East Athletic Association for all his help.
The first match was against the
United East Athletic Association, an umbrella organization that has a wide
range of sports and teaching programs in addition to xiangqi. The New
York/Toronto challenge cup, awarded annually, was put on the line for this
match. The players squared off in a small room full of trophies and dragon
costumes. Toronto did surprisingly well, given that our best players were at home.
A drawn match means that the visitors keep the trophy, and the
match was tied when Stephen Fung
spoiled a favorable position, and lost the last game to WeiXuan Gao.
Our next opponents were the New
York North America Xiangqi Association. They treated us to dim sum, and
unfurled a grand welcoming banner. Then they soundly beat our tired team. The
games were presented to a room full of spectators on a large wallboard.
Below are the full results, as
well as four games from the first match. We’ll post the rest later. The overall
highlights were Mou HaiQin’s win against Peter Sung, Stephen Fung’s win against
Gao, and Ji ZhongQi’s’s first win against Stephen.
Mou, Gao, and Ji are three of the
best players in North America. But visitors to Deutscher Xiangqi Bund (//private.addcom.de/dxb/dxbrate.html)
will notice that Tam Bond is the highest rated player in North America. This is
entirely because of his wins against Toronto. We just can’t stop him!
Dec 23 -
UEAA (United East Athletic Association) Vs TXA
New York Toronto
Result
========
======= ======
Round 1
Gao,
WeiXuan Stephen Fung (R) 0:2
Mou,
HaiQin (R) Peter Sung 2:0
Leung,
YinKwong LiangCheng Lu (R) 0:2
total: 2:4
Round 2
Gao,
WeiXuan (R) Stephen Fung 2:0
Mou,
HaiQin Peter Sung (R) 1:1
Leung,
YinKwong (R) LiangCheng Lu 2:0
total: 5:1
Grand Total: 7:5
Dec 24 -
NYNAXA (New York North America Xiangqi Association) Vs TXA
New York Toronto Result
======== ======= ======
Round 1
Tam, Bond
(R) LiangCheng Lu 2:0
Ji,
ZhongQi Stephen Fung
(R) 2:0
Wang
QiHong (R) Peter Sung 0:2
total: 4:2
Round 2
Tam,
Bond LiangCheng Lu
(R) 2:0
Ji,
ZhongQi (R) Stephen Fung 2:0
Wang
QiHong Peter Sung (R) 1:1
total: 5:1
Grand Total: 9:3
By Bill Brydon