TOKYO BILINGUAL CHESS CLUB

Tokyo Bilingual Chess Club proudly announces that four TBCC teams are going to enter the Japan Team Championship 2024 for the sixth time as an official member club of Japan Chess Federation (JCF).

 

Event: 2024 JCF Japan Team Championship

Date: September 28 (Sat) & 29 (Sun), 2024

Place: Curian, Ooimachi, Shinagawa-ku

Time Control: Swiss 6 rounds, 30 min + 30 sec/move, National Standard Rated

Team Composition and Board Order
A team shall consist of 4 players (maximum 6 players per team) who are listed below:

 

Team A 

Alex Averbukh (Captain)

Tristan Chih

Sui Okubo

Yunjia Zhou

 

Team B 

Joan Miquel Bruno Serra (Captain)

Haruki Shimagaki

Fumihiro Kitahara

Saya Kikuchi

 

Team C 

Abraham Gil (Captain)

Kairi Akiyama

Shota Yano

Ian Rankin

 

Team D

Kai Tatsumi (Captain)

Alan Alikulov

Natsuki Takizawa

Paulo Galvez

 

Captains per team are appointed.  Board order is subject to change.  All teams shall abide by these rules and regulations and any matters not covered for in these rules and regulations shall be at the discretion of the TBCC director or the head coach whose decision shall be final and no correspondences shall be entertained.

 

Coach

Welcome Mr. Tornike Sreseli for 2024 Team Championship as a coach of TBCC teams for two years in row.  Mr. Tornike will provide analysis and preparations to players as they finish the round on site on an availability basis for one day. 

 

Uniforms

All players must be in the TBCC team polo-shirt and proper attire for two days.

 

Practices

Come play in our lessons over the weekend in Osaki! (Sat. & Sun. 10:30-11:30 & Sat. 13:15-14:45)  It's a great opportunity to meet your members.  Kids who play on a team need time to bond.  Location details will be provided upon registration.

 

Cancellation Policy

All players are expected to play all rounds of the day(s) confirmed unless Coach decides and withdrawal is required for medical or other emergency reasons.  No refunds will be given after August 19, 2024.

 

Chess Is A Team Sport!

Do not underestimate the power inherent in playing as a team or the reward felt by teammates who enjoy a very different level of achievement by participating together.   TBCC assigns every new player and experienced player (Captain) on our team to be a tournament buddy, who will help go over games during a tournament, offer moral support, and participate in a special practice before the first tournament to help the new student get ready.

 

Moms & Dads Volunteer (Backup) Wanted! 

 

JCF requested official clubs to offer at least one volunteer person to support the team championship for two days if the club sends more than two teams to the team championship.  Tasks appeared simple and easy.  If you are available for one of two days on site, please let us know. 

 

If your family member of the player wants to become a backup member of the team read requirements of participation and send us email to contact.us@beaconsq.info by 5pm, September 20th, 2024. (JCF membership is required.) Submitting the email results in the automatic placing of a candidate for the TBCC teams.  Participation is free.  Please understand that the backup member is required to be present before each round, however, most likely NOT playing unless a player's withdrawal is confirmed for medical or other emergency reasons. 

15 players from at least 10 schools participated in our Pen Pineapple scholastic tournament held by the Tokyo Bilingual Chess Club on August 17, 2024. 

Congratulations to our 2024 Pen Pineapple Chess Tournament winners:

 

Class A: Kairi Akiyama with 5.5/5.0

Class A: Shota Yano with 3.5/5.0

Class A: Sui Okubo with 3.0/5.0

Class A: Fumi Kitahara with 3.0/5.0

 

 

The energy in the room was incredible in a social distancing manner!  Every player earned a certificate just for participating and, to keep our young masters striving, the 1st place winner in respective section received a free entry to the next tournament. Parents, chess players, and siblings all had a positive experience and went home with prizes and smiles!

The Tournament Director, Santiago C ., and Joan S., Senior Instructor, settled any type of dispute that arose during the game. TBCC recruit instructors who are passionate about the ways that chess improves kids' classroom performance and social development. 

 

Also, thank you for being the best photographer, Hiroko A., Kairi's mom, in our chess community!  It was a huge help and much appreciated.  We could not hold chess tournaments without them! 

All levels of beginners are encouraged to participate in our monthly tournaments, engaging them in low-risk and fun environment against similarly skilled players.  These tournaments go beyond pieces and squares, introducing new players to the rules and etiquette of competitive chess and exposing them to other elements not easily translated from casual play.  Plus they are FUN!

We can't wait to do this again in October for the Halloween Tournament. 

During super humid & hot summer season in Japan, from New Caledonia, Grand Master Samy Shoker visited Tokyo Bilingual Chess Club to play a simultaneous exhibition and blindfold game against kids, junior and adult players on August 3th, 2024.  

It's not everyday chess players in Japan get to hear from a grand master.  This event was the 3rd time as Samy comes back to Tokyo every summer. 

GM Shoker played seperate chess games against 18 attendees at one time—twelve children and five adults, ratings from approximately 400 up to 2200+, including CM Alex and Joan sensei.  It was announced that his opponents should wait for him to appear at their boards before they make their moves.  Your best chance to draw or win against a chess master is to play in a simultaneous exhibition. 

How did grandmaster develop the blindfold chess ability? GM Samy😎demonstrated a blindfold chess game against us formed into a team of 15.

 

Blindfold chess is a form of chess play wherein the players do not see the positions of the pieces and do not touch them. This forces players to maintain a mental model of the positions of the pieces. Moves are communicated via a recognized chess notation, done by CM Alex Averbukh.

Everyone had a fun time watching and learning more about the game, and the players all enjoyed playing such a famous grand master who came from outside of Japan.  We also had a surprise guest, IM Shinya Kojima, who has stopped by during the event to observe his student's game.  Also, photo credits go to Joan sensei. Thank you for beautiful photos!  It is absolutely astounding that we have access to these talented coaches.

 

Thank you to GM Shoker for a lasting, memorable, and inspirational experience that will be remembered for years to come for kids. 

Now, ‘Meet GM Shoker!’ Fundraiser is complete. We just wanted to say a huge thank you to support part of GM Shoker’s flight costs!  We couldn’t do this simultaneous exhibition without amazing people like you. 

 

We’d love to keep in touch to let you know the difference that your support has made in the chess community in this country.

A BRAVE NEW WORLD!  NEW OPPORUNITIES if you are interested in sponsoring global-minded young chess players!  Build and grow your brand with Tokyo Bilingual Chess Club!

 

TBCC Sponsorship is open to individual, groups of supporters and large and small businesses, which allows you to obtain opportunities to reach a specific demographic, such as multinational corporations and communities inside and outside of this country.  It increases visibility for the company and its brand through CSR activities. 

 

TBCC is currently seeking sponsors for our tournaments, events, fixtures and materials during the forthcoming season as follows: 

 

●　Chess sets, chess clocks, uniforms, trophies and other fixtures

●　Expenses for travel, accommodation, other fees of chess coach associated with TBCC players in various internal and overseas tournaments

●　Expenses for travel, accommodation, other fees of chess master invited to TBCC events

 

Tokyo Bilingual Chess Club is looking for sponsors to replace chess sets and clocks.  TBCC is currently using used chess sets and clocks donated by parents and a former Japan Chess Association.  (Thanks always for your support!)  These chess sets and clocks are damaged and broken recently and required to be replaced for internal tournaments.  Especially, chess clocks are broken so easily with TBCC's little players who are so curious with chess clocks 😢

 

The fact of young players who are representing Japan in the various world championship by a selection from the National Chess Society of Japan is that expenses related to the championship is paid by each family of the player.  Depending on a financial situation of the family, a talented and unbeaten young player sometime needs to give up enrolling the world championship which would result in his/her great experience and future challenges.  Imagine being given such an international opportunity, the total costs would be X,000,000 yen for travel and accommodations for a young player plus Dad/Mom to visit the other end of the globe for two weeks💦

 

Additionally, pro-rata expenses for travel, accommodation, other fees for a wonderful GM chess coach, who comes all the way from Serbia and supports the Japan Team during the world Championship, is paid by each family of a player.

 

Your sponsorship will be recognized on the TBCC's various courses of benefit plans as follows: