Hong Kong teen Kao chasing chess master status after historic victory in Spain tournament
- Jamison Kao believes he can reach candidate master ranking sooner than expected after winning Christmas event
- The 14-year-old paused school to play in the Asian Games last year, and will continue to focus on chess for next several months
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Hong Kong teen Jamison Kao believes he can become a chess candidate master sooner than expected after becoming the first Asian to win a prestigious event in Spain.
The 14-year-old racked up six wins and three draws on his way to finishing third in the B Group Sub-2000 category at the Gran Hotel Bali International Chess Festival in Benidorm last month, before taking the Sunway Sitges International Chess Festival title in style just before Christmas.
Competing against 101 players from 30 countries in Barcelona, Kao’s victory marked a historic moment, with the Hongkonger becoming the first winner from Asia in the tournament’s 10-year history.
“Winning these major tournaments means a lot to me as it is one of my first major victories overseas,” he said. “It was a very exciting experience playing for the championship and I have learned many new things during this trip.”
The candidate master ranking is the first rung on a ladder that the game’s best players must climb if they want to reach the ultimate position of grandmaster, occupied by the likes of Norway’s Magnus Carlsen, a five-time world champion.
The teenager said appearing at the regional competition had helped improve as a player, and raised his understanding of the game.
Currently on a 19-game unbeaten streak, Kao said he could now evaluate positions faster and save a lot more time for the other parts of a chess game, and his improvement was reflected in his ranking points.
Kao only had 1,651 points to his name during the Asiad, but now possesses 2,027 points after strings of results in Spain.
“I have high hopes of reaching 2,200, or 2,300 points before September, I recently had a massive jump in my ratings thanks to my training in the summer,” he said. “I hope further training will allow me to make the jump [to CM] sooner.”
A candidate master typically has between 2,000 and 2,199 ranking points, with titles progressing to master, international master, and grandmaster, which usually occurs between 2,500 and 2,700 points.
Kao will travel to mainland China next week to train in Chengdu for a fortnight, and is expected to enter several tournaments in February and March, before representing his city at the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games, from November 21 to 30, in Bangkok.
While Kao is not expected to return to school until later this year, father Geoffrey Kao, said it was too early to decide what action they would take if his son continued to improve as a chess player.
“We plan to have Jamison continue to pursue his passion regardless of our decision,” he said. “Ideally, he can return to school, but at the same time he’ll need to get additional support from the school if he needs to be away from Hong Kong for a long period.”
