Singapore 
Singapore consists only of one main island and 63 other tiny islands. The world's first night zoo, The Night Safari, is located in Singapore. Although English is the official working language, the national anthem 'Majulah Singapura' is actually sung in Malay. 8 in 10 people inSingapore own cell phones. This is good news for any hi-tech technology company. Today the chess community ofSingapore consists of thousands of members on an island populated with approximately only 4.5 million people. 

The 2nd Singapore International Chess Convention was held between the 18th and 30th of December 2005 at Hotel Royal. Not only was this event significant forSingapore , it was significant for the whole of South-East Asia. This convention hosted several events where chess was played and studied from different perspectives. Amongst these events were the Singapore Masters International Open, the Challengers’ Open, the Asian Schools Chess Festival, a FIDE Training Seminar, and a seminar for FIDE Arbiters.  Of the many dedicated organisers of the festival, one notable person stands out: Mr. Ignatius Leong, present General Secretary of FIDE. The resourceful Mr. Leong organised the Asian School ’s Chess Festival, which attracted 145 players representing Mongolia, South Korea, Malaysia, China, Singapore, Indonesia, Australia, India, Sri-Lanka, Philippines, Vietnam and Hong Kong.  

The MonRoi team were honoured to attend such a history-making event, and were doubly happy to see the enthusiasm for the innovative MonRoi system. Brana Malobabic-Giancristofaro, MonRoi’s founder, is pleased to announce that “all the games of the Asian Chess School Festival were broadcasted live and bulletins were produced quickly after the rounds ended.” “Even 7-year olds used the MonRoi devices successfully,” Brana exclaimed, “it looks like it is faster for kids to input chess moves electronically. Pairings are broadcasted to the devices, “ she continues, “games are saved electronically and can be reviewed on a MonRoi device after the game ends.  Chess players who used MonRoi devices did not use paper at any time.”

Ignatius Leong stated that “All chess followers believe that MonRoi has opened a new advancement in technology and is a positive move forward for FIDE to implement as soon as possible.” To say the least, the MonRoi team greatly appreciates the time they spent in the magical land of Singapore.   

Arbiters from Singapore got attached to the MonRoi’s system in the Asian School Chess Festival. They kept 10 player devices and one tournament device. New technology solution was introduced on the first 10 boards of the strong GM Singapore Masters tournament. The tournament was very well managed. Kudos to Ignatius’ team!

GM Zurab Azmaiparashvili, FIDE Vice-President from Georgia, Europen Champion 2003 and former trainer of Garry Kasparov, asked Brana how to use this new device, thinking it would be complicated.  Then he took out his cell phone, which has a chessboard on it, and started playing with it. What is interesting here is that using the chessboard on the Chess Manager is the same as using the chessboard on a cell phone. Zurab said: “Hey. That is all. Wow. OK.”