Go to: Commentary Games Players tsh Reports Standings Photos Prizes

Back to 2011 King's Cup Live Coverage

2011 King's Cup Commentary: Round 21

[ ]

Go to: Round 1, Round 2, Round 3, Round 4, Round 5, Round 6, Round 7, Round 8, Round 9, Round 10, Round 11, Round 12, Round 13, Round 14, Round 15, Round 16, Round 17, Round 18, Round 19, Round 20, Round 21, Round 22, Round 23, Round 24, Round 25, Round 26, Round 27, Final Round 1, Final Round 2, Final Round 3.

Ricky Purnomo (IDN) is one of the first to finish and approach the Thipsamai pad thai station. He jokingly offers me his tally slip and calls it his pad thai voucher. It's an excellent idea: if only the winner got to eat, we'd see some really good games played.

The pad thai is very good, certainly the best takeaway pad thai I've had, though it's much better served fresh in the restaurant with a full range of condiments. Amnuay Ploysangngam (THA) ordered vegetarian versions for the large number of vegetarian players and staff; it looked tasty too.

I was so tired at the end of the day that when we went downstairs to a seafood restaurant for staff dinner, not only could I not keep my eyes open, I actually ate food without photographing it first. So you'll have to just imagine how good the seafood tom yam, thai basil squid, fish cakes, steamed fish and other dishes were: sorry!

Komol Panyasophonlert (THA) closes the day with a cumulative record of 0-3 against Charnwit Sukhumrattanaporn (THA) and 18-0 against players not named Charnwit, beating Chollapat Itthi-aree (THA) for a third time, 426-335 at Board 1. Manop tells me that Komol is having a really good crossword game year, and that earlier he won the local triple crown event, where the top players in the English, Thai and arithmetic versions played in a combined tournament, where the game version changed in rotation each round.

At Board 2, Siu Hean Cheah (SGP) played Charnwit for the third time and beat him for the third time, 484-422. So in North American parlance, Charnwit is Komol's daddy, Cheah is Charnwit's daddy and Komol is Cheah's daddy.

At the end of the third and penultimate day, it's Komol in first at 18-3; then Cheah and Thacha Koowirat (THA) at 15-6; Jakkrit Klaphajone (THA), Nigel Richards (NZL), Odette Carmina Rio (PHL) and Charnrit Khongthanarat (THA) at 14-7. Komol will start tomorrow playing Jakkrit and Odette; Cheah and Thacha play each other twice. It looks like Komol needs to go at least 3-3 tomorrow to make it to the finals, with an outside chance of success at 2-4. Everyone else needs to do a lot better than that.

Good night!