SINGAPORE – It has been an eventful three years for Singaporean chess player Tin Jingyao since he made his SEA Games debut in 2022, when he won a silver and two bronzes.
Several months after that outing in Quang Ninh, Vietnam, he earned his Grandmaster title – becoming the youngest Singaporean at the time to achieve the feat – and has since claimed major scalps like American grandmaster Hans Niemann and Azerbaijan’s Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, while also winning international events.
On the flip side, he also had to grapple with some forgettable results, leading to self-doubt creeping into his psyche.
As he prepares for his second SEA Games appearance in December 2025, Tin believes the experiences have shaped him into a more complete player.
The 25-year-old said: “As compared to then, I’m definitely a much stronger player and the events are also very different this time around, so it will be a fresh experience.”
In May, the National University of Singapore computing student became the first chess player from the Republic to win the Asian Zone 3.3 Chess Championship in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
At the event, he also became the first Singaporean to cross the 2,600 mark in Elo rating – a measurement of a player’s ability.
With less than a month until the Thailand SEA Games, Tin received a timely boost after wrapping up his campaign at the Asian Mind Sports Conference and Festival on Nov 15 with a bronze medal in the blitz event, where he won nine of 11 rounds.
Vietnamese Grandmaster Le Tuan Minh, who also won the rapid title, was top with 10.5 points after winning all but one of his rounds at the Suntec City Convention Centre. His only blemish was a draw with China’s runner-up Zhao Chenxi.
