TXA President Elton Yuen at New Kennedy Square on Sunday
Toronto Xiangqi Association president, Elton Yuen 阮國衡, who has organized countless events for Toronto Xiangqi Association, joined Sunday’s speed Xiangqi tournament only in order to even the number of players. In a fitting result for our silver anniversary year, he finished clear first with five wins and two draws.
Elton Yuen during the 1987 Toronto Championship
The Winter Season running of the Toronto Speed Open was our fourth speed Xiangqi tournament of the year. It was held on November 24 and organized by the Toronto Xiangqi Association and the Scarborough Seniors Chess Club. It was held at and sponsored by the New Kennedy Square Mall in Markham.
Shanhang Zhang 張善行 took second place on tie-break after tying with Li Chen 陳利. Both scored 5/7 and qualified along with Elton for the championship final on December 22. This will be a 7 round round robin (10’, 10”) and will likely be held at New Kennedy Square. Watch this site and our Facebook page for final details.
The full results of the tournament are in the table below. Updated tables showing the top prize winners from all four of this year’s speed tournaments and the qualifiers for the Dec 22 final can be seen further down or in this earlier post.
Elton Yuen at the 2004 Canadian championships
The Winter speed tournament was Elton’s first serious competition since he stepped in during the 2004 Canadian Championships in Vancouver. It was also his first victory in a tournament held in Toronto. His previous best result was second in the 1983 Toronto Open, 30 years ago!
Elton may have surprised himself, but not necessarily others. Those who have known him for many years have always considered him to be a stronger player than he let on.
Two-time Toronto champion Paul Ng 吳嶽林 began the resurgence of veterans in September when he finished second in our Q3 Toronto Speed Open.
Full Results of the Toronto Speed Xiangqi Open, Winter Season
Results of TXA Speed Xiangqi Tournaments, 2013
| Season | Champion | 1st Runner-up | 2nd Runner-up | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring - February | Zheng Ziwei (鄭志偉 | Zhang Shanhang 張善行 | Li Chen 陳利 | |
| Summer - June | Mark Wang WeiQiang 王伟强 | Zhang Shanhang 張善行 | Zheng Ziwei 鄭志偉 | |
| Autumn – September | Richard Li YaChao 李亞超 | Paul Ng 吳嶽林 | Aihong Guan 關靄洪 | |
| Winter – November | Elton Yuen 阮國衡 | Zhang Shanhang 張善行 | Li Chen 陳利 | |
| Final – December | Mark Wang WeiQiang 王伟强 | Richard Li YaChao 李亞超 | Shaoming Xia 夏守明 |
Qualifiers for Speed Tournament Final, December 2013
| Zheng Ziwei (鄭志偉 | Q1 Champion | Qualified |
| Mark Wang WeiQiang 王伟强 | Q2 Champion | Qualified |
| Richard Li YaChao 李亞超 | Q3 Champion | Qualified |
| Elton Yuen 阮國衡 | Q4 Champion | Qualified |
| Zhang Shanhang 張善行 | Q1, Q2, Q4 1st Runner up | Qualified, not Available |
| Paul Ng 吳嶽林 | Q3 runner-up | Qualified, not Available |
| Li Chen 陳利 | Q1, Q4 2nd Runner up | Qualified |
| Aihong Guan 關靄洪 | Q3 2nd Runner up | Qualified, not Available |
| Shuoming Xia 夏守明 | Q2, Q3 3rd Runner up | Qualified as substitute |
| Jimmy Yao 姚建華 | Q3 3rd Runner up | Qualified as substitute |
| Lin Chen 陳林 | Q4 3rd Runner up | Qualified as substitute |
