Bibinogs\" post_id=\"2022229\" time=\"1619972640\" user_id=\"163126:

Hi all,
Im wondering if anyone is keen to play Chess online? My daughter is 9 and is probably an intermediate level for her age – she’s keen to play more games but most of her friends do not play. Please let me know so I can add your child to my girl’s contact list on Chess.com, thank you!
Here are my thoughts on the various Chess schools:

1.\tPowerchess – As one mummy has mentioned, the owner tends to go on and on about how superior his school is (because he hires Grandmasters to teach), and how his students got into their preferred secondary schools using via Chess as DSA. We’ve been with this school for 9 months, but we haven’t seen any GM teachers (I believe her current teacher is an IM). Though this technically isn’t an issue for me as long as the teacher teaches well, but Powerchess charges more than 2x the rate of other Chess schools. There is also no progress report or inhouse OTB tournaments, just the usual vague comments that “she’s doing well”. Also, my girl attends a fixed day per week and there are usually only 1-2 younger kids around - she ends up winning them (Im not against that but part of the learning curve is to play against stronger players).

2.\tSingapore Chess Federation – They offer a very structured curriculum, and students have to complete Beginner, Elementary, Intermediate and Developmental modules before you embark on further training to participate in national or FIDE-rated tournaments. Their theory-based approach may not appeal to all students, but personally my daughter prefers SCF to Powerchess

3.\tChess Academy (Katong) – We are leaving Powerchess for Chess Academy next month, so I don’t have any constructive comments on this school yet. However, we went for a trial and the owner was very welcoming towards my daughter – he gave her a free chess annotation notebook and told her that whether she joins him or not, he is happy to analyse my daughter’s games against my husband and we just have to whatsapp him the annotated games. He also invited her to join an OTB tournament that he is hosting at Sports Hub library. At Powerchess, which costs more than 2x Chess Acad’s rate, the owner didn’t bother organizing OTB tournaments or making an effort to improve our games.

4.\t Asean Chess Aacademy (Bt Timah Shopping Centre) – When we decided to leave Powerchess, I was hoping we will like this as much as Chess Academy Katong as this school is much nearer to my home. The trial lesson my girl attended was taught by a GM. However, my daughter said the lesson consisted of only playing against other children at short time controls, and the teacher didn’t explain her mistakes thereafter. Fees wise, they are pricier than Chess Acad but still comparatively cheaper than Powerchess.
Hope my reviews helped. If anyone has any queries feel free to pm me 😊

Just came across this, it seems Im not the only one who had a bad experience with them!

https://singaporeuncensored.com/mum-complains-about-chess-schools-service-owner-ask-her-to-call-police/

Sheena_1\" post_id=\"2050900\" time=\"1638878347\" user_id=\"45423:

Thanks for notifying! Something to lift my son up as well.

I realise there is no mention about the award ceremony for acad merit award (students who are top 25% but not eligible for merit bursary award). The letter only mentions merit bursary award application.

Past 2 years my son has been getting the academic merit award. That’s still ongoing right?

Thanks 🙏

I think it will be the same process as previous years - the community centre will give out the prize (Popular vouchers) in an awards ceremony sometime in January.

This is off- tangent - but the Edusave certs are out! Check your mailbox

Yes my daughter said SHE THINKS the number of questions in OAS and question paper didnt tally in one of the GA papers (she cant recall which one!) and at first she panicked and wanted to frantically anyhow shade what’s left as time was running out. Try not to worry too much.

Ah thanks for the info skii…so there are no answers to the impossible questions?


revils_ling…indeed! I see it as a learning experience since the p3 exams were cancelled and the kids dont have much "real exam" experience. My girl’s friend, also taking the paper, came over for a playdate yesterday and they had lots of fun - let the holidays begin!

Yes actually I am not holding much hope (she said she didnt finish the papers) and I dont think I will transfer her even if she does make it in. Im just kpo…the papers are like a mythical unicorn that everyone is trying to know more about (especially the GEP prep centres), but the kids themselves who’d seen the papers usually cannot recall much!

Yes actually I am not holding much hope (she said she didnt finish the papers) and I dont think I will transfer her even if she does make it in. Im just kpo…the papers are like a mythical unicorn that everyone is trying to know more about (especially the GEP prep centres), but the kids themselves who’d seen the papers usually cannot recall much!

revils_ling\" post_id=\"2047578\" time=\"1637668330\" user_id=\"136480:

Jacq0206\" post_id=\"2047575\" time=\"1637666840\" user_id=\"195947:

Why my som told me ytd english was harder than today’s math? His english is not that strong but sounds like he did quite bad on ytd’s paper….

He said today he not only finished all but got time to check. But i dont think he got chance as we nvr sent him for tuition since p1….:(

I think it depends on each individual when it comes to difficulty level for the various papers. My son's English is also not top notch but he reads widely (both fiction and non-fiction books). According to his feedback after 2 days, he ranked Maths paper as the easiest (it was easier than he expected), followed by GA 1 + GA 2 (both on par), then English paper last (but still manageable). He had time to check through all his papers, except GA 2 Part 2 (which they did today).

An interesting aspect for GEP testing that I didn't know prior to my son's experience is that he told me they were given sample/practice questions (\"examples\") to do before actually starting on the GA papers (for both days). And these \"examples\" also came with answers + explanations that the kids could refer to after attempting them. For e.g., 5mins would be allocated for attempting 7 \"examples\". And the kids are allowed to refer back to the \"examples\" & explanations when they come across similar type of questions while doing the actual GA papers.

Thanks revils_ling, I only found out about sample questions after reading your post - my daughter does selective talking :roll:
She ranked the difficulty level from easiest to hardest 1. Math 2.GA1 3. GA2 4. ENGLISH. She came back reciting a few hard Math questions but she couldnt remember anything from English at all (might as well be a foreign language!).
Anyway, glad that this is over, enjoy the school holidys :rahrah:

my girl didnt finish too…she said GA2 was really tough!

Ah I see thank you…i initially felt a tad bad for giving her the wrong info. Anyway it’s ok as she did not even remember if she answered Eng or Math-based GA questions! All the best to everyone going for the paper tomorrow.