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A TABLE WITH SINGAPORE ROOTS

The Straits Times

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November 23, 2024

Local company using wood sourced here for piece of world chess c'ship history

- Melvyn Teoh

A TABLE WITH SINGAPORE ROOTS

When reigning world champion Ding Liren and challenger Gukesh Dommaraju square off from Nov 25 for the World Chess Championship at Resorts World Sentosa, it will be a battle of Asia's best – China versus India.

But what local chess fans and spectators might not know is that there will be a Singapore touch to the table that will be used for the main event from Nov 25 to Dec 13.

The best-of-14 series will be played on a bespoke table made by local furniture company Roger&Sons with locally sourced wood. An electronic chessboard, provided by the International Chess Federation, will be fitted onto it.

Roger&Sons was approached by the Singapore Chess Federation (SCF) two months before the event.

Ryan Yeo, 29, operations director of Roger&Sons, said: "They first approached us to see whether we can commission a table for the game.

"Then over a few months of planning, once we got the design locked down, that's when we started fabrication.

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