Kim Steven Yap (born May 21, 1988) is a Filipino chess player. He holds the FIDE title of International Master (IM).
| Kim Steven Yap | |
|---|---|
 Yap at Dubai Open Chess Tournament 2013 | |
| Country | Philippines |
| Born | May 21, 1988 Cebu City, Philippines |
| Title | International Master (2009) |
| Peak rating | 2442 (July 2014) |
Early life
editYap was recognised as a prodigy from Cebu.[1] He is a grandson of Marcelo "Loloy" Ruelan, Cebu's first National Master who was Philippine Open champion in 1959. His father, Lincoln, is an International Arbiter.[2] Lincoln was a varsity player of the University of the Visayas who is now based in Singapore as an instructor at Intchess Asia. His mother, Mona, played for the University of San Carlos. He is the nephew of IM Rico Mascariñas and FIDE Arbiter Marvin Ruelan.[3]
Career
editYap tied for second and third place behind champion Wesley So in the 2007 National Junior Chess Championship.[4] So, who now plays for the United States[5] and reached as high as number two in the world rankings,[6] has been unsuccessful against Yap, losing their three personal encounters.[7]
His IM title was confirmed during the FIDE Presidential Board meeting in Istanbul, Turkey in March 2009.[8]
Yap won an individual gold medal as the top Board 2 player in the 2014 Asian Club Team Chess League in Al Ain, UAE.[9] His performance helped Tagaytay Chess Club capture the silver medal. He defeated three grandmasters in the tournament, Krishnan Sasikiran (rated 2669), Reefat Bin-Sattar (2449) and Petr Kostenko (2484),[10] for a 2679 performance rating.
Yap is coach and trainer of the University of Cebu chess team and was a trainer at the Asean Chess Academy in Singapore.[11] He founded the Cebu School of Chess in 2014.[12] Yap signed a memorandum of agreement on May 29, 2015, with Dr. Marie Ernestine Fajatin, the school founder, and Therese dela Torre of Cebu Chess Masters for Marie Ernestine School Philippine Robotics Academy to be the first private school in the Philippines to include chess into its K-12 curriculum.[13]
Yap earned his first chess grandmaster norm after placing second in the Berkeley Chess School 2018 Summer IM/GM Norm Tournament in Berkeley, California.[14]
References
edit- ^ "Cebu's Kim Yap shocks GM candidate Gonzales". Philstar. The Philippine Star. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
- ^ "Cebu's Rom tops Kasparov Rapid Open". cebudailynews.inquirer.net. Retrieved 2018-09-19.
- ^ "Yap: changing Cebuanos' mindset about chess". Sunstar. SunStar Philippines. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
- ^ "So bags '07 junior chess championship crown". gmanetwork. GMA News Online. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
- ^ "Anand draws with Wesley So, joint sixth". The Tribune. August 26, 2018. Retrieved September 19, 2018.
- ^ Luarca, Roy. "Chess: Wesley So among the early leaders in elite Paris tournament". ABS-CBN News. Retrieved 2018-09-19.
- ^ "Grand Master Campaign for Kim Yap". SBS. SBS. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
- ^ "Title Applications". FIDE. FIDE. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
- ^ "2014 Asian Club Chess Champions League". FIDE. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
- ^ "Kim Steven Yap". Bworldonline. Business World Online. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
- ^ "UC taps IM Yap as coach". sunstar. SunStar Philippines. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
- ^ "IM Yap realizes dream, opens chess school in Cebu". sunstar. SunStar Philippines. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
- ^ ""Chess in Schools" program marks historical breakthrough". Philboxing. Philboxing.com. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
- ^ "Kim Yap, Cebuano chess master, obtains GM norm". Philstar. The Freeman. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
External links
edit- Kim Steven Yap rating card at FIDE
- Kim Steven Yap chess games at 365Chess.com