Mark Wang – eight tournaments and counting …
Mark Wang WeiQiang 王伟强 defeated 2010 Toronto champion Lin ShiXiong 林世雄 in the final match of the 2014 Toronto Open Championship, making him the first player ever to win the title four straight times.
His victory streak now surpasses that of Phuc Nguyen 阮友福, who won the Toronto Open in 1997, 1998 and 1999. Mark, Phuc, and Peter Sung 宋德柔 are now tied for the distinction of having won the most Toronto championships in total, with four apiece.
Mark has also entered and won four Speed Xiangqi tournaments during this period: three in 2013, including the December final, and one so far this year. This means he has won eight straight tournaments, an unprecedented feat in club history. We heartily congratulate him.
Ngo Khai won the Senior’s Championship
Lin ShiXiong was not at his best in the final, but was very sold during the preliminary Swiss tournament. He finished with four wins and three draws, half a point behind Mark, and qualified for the top match on tie-break.
In the third place match, Jimmy Yao 姚建華 came from behind to beat Chen Lin 陳林 after three tough games. He ended the tournament with a pretty chariot sacrifice to force checkmate with two cannons.
Rounding out the prizes, fifth place went to Guo Lei (郭磊), sixth place went to Zhu Chengqian (吴啟), Li Donghui (李东辉) finished seventh, and TXA director Gary Li (李国良) finished eighth. Ngo Khai won the senior’s championship, and Wang Yixiang (王义祥) was the Senior’s runner-up. There were 30 players in the field.
Like most of the TXA’s tournaments, this one took place at New Kennedy Square in Markham and was jointly organized by the TXA and the Scarborough Seniors Chess Club.
The preliminary tournament took place on July 26, 27 and August 3; the final matches took place on August 3. Afterwards, most of the players went to the New Mongkok Restaurant at New Kennedy Square to celebrate the tournament as well as several birthdays.
Below is a gallery of pictures taken during the tournament. More can be found on our Facebook page.
