The 2024 CTCA Chess Team Championship organized by CTCA Chinese Taipei Chess Association was held on November 3, at the Beitou Resort, in Taipei. This event was open to teams of both students and chess enthusiasts. A three-member team of Dr. Jeremy Mandelkern (IBT faculty), and two MCU students, Angelil and Destiny Sisior (IBT program, junior/freshmen, sisters, who’ve previously represented their home nation of Palau in multiple Chess Olympiads), were this years 2024 champions in the college category, just finishing ahead of NTU and other Taiwan colleges/universities.
This is the second time that Dr. Jeremy Mandelkern, Angelil Sisior, and Destiny Sisior, have teamed-up to participate in such a team chess tournament held in Taiwan, the 1st time of which, the results of the team were not particularly great so expectations amongst the team were not very high, according to player/coach Dr. Mandelkern, “We just wanted to do our best, enjoy the event, and try to win some distinction for our school.”.
The first round didn’t start particularly smooth with Uber transportation issues leading to both Angelil and Destiny needing to race to the venue to arrive within time just to play round 1 without forfeit. Due in part to the improvised assistance of attending chess parent and MCU faculty member, Jeannette Yuen, Angelil and Destiny arrived before all of their time had expired. With diminished clocks, they banged out some good moves and team Ming Chuan University pulled-off a surprise victory in their round 1 match! Later, the team would compete with players from National Taiwan University (NTU), National Taipei University (NTPU), and Fu Jen Catholic University (FJU) and rather to the team’s surprise, finished as the top collegiate team.
Dr. Jeremy Mandelkern has been participating in chess tournaments for over 20 years, and is a US CHESS FEDERATION CM titled player. He was the champion of the Amateur Chess Team at the 2011 US National Chess Championship, and is ranked 50,509th in the world and 2,058th in the US. After coming to Taiwan, he has periodically competed and has won the Taipei Team Championship in 2018 and 2019, and is currently an advocate for young chess talents in Taipei, Taiwan.
Sisters Angelil Sisior and Destiny Sisior, both from Palau, were influenced by their mother’s background as a chess player, and began to learn chess at a young age and became players. They are currently ranked 37th in Palau (Asian Ranking 61,073th) for Angelil Sisior, ranked 69th in Palau (Asian Ranking 81,371th) for Destiny Sisior, and this year they were both awarded the title of WCM Woman Candidate Master by the FIDE International Chess Federation.
Destiny Sisior says that chess is more of a hobby for her than something she has to study every day, so she has never received any special training in chess, and although her mother is a chess player, she has never taught them. She joined the team with sister and teacher simply because it was fun, and not have any special plans for what kind of challenges.
Destiny Sisior, “I want to continue to participate in the future, but it’s just fun that matters most.” The team was very happy to bring home an accolade for Ming Chuan University.
Dr. Mandelkern, “It’s good experience for Angelil and Destiny and always very special representing Ming Chuan University, even if in just an unofficial capacity, competing, and finishing ahead of distinguished universities like NTU!”.
