Dispong Kiatnarongrob participates Thai Championship

8 June 2025

A total of 72 players showed up for the 2025 Thai Championship. Normally, this is a tournament far removed from our radar, but this edition was special. Our Thai resident Dispong Kiatnarongrob had temporarily left Belgium behind to compete in his home country's national championship. Out of the 72 players, he was seeded 11th and had to face, among others, the current world number one, Anon Hongthong, and former world champion Rujipas Aunchulee. These players had ratings of 2639 and 2422 respectively and were clear favorites for the title.

Still, the tournament had the potential to be highly unpredictable, with no fewer than 41 unrated players. Their level was impossible to estimate, and it was entirely possible that some of them could perform at a very high level. Ultimately, Thanakorn Sinsaen emerged as the best among that group, scoring five points out of eight games and finishing in a shared twelfth place.

Dispong Kiatnarongrob did just slightly better. He won an impressive six of his eight games and finished in a shared fifth place (eighth after tie-breaks). This was just short of qualifying for the semifinals, which required a score of 6.5/8. He played two games against unrated players, losing one. Thanakorn Sinsaen (18-46) proved too strong in the first round, but he secured a smooth victory in round four against Kai Ye Lim (12-52) from Malaysia.

In addition, he played three lower-seeded players, winning all of those games: Chawalit Pruksajamroon (52-12), Grichawit Tatinij (22-42), and Parinya Ratchusiri (44-20) were among the defeated. He managed to avoid the absolute top contenders, but still faced the fifth, seventh, and eighth seeds. He lost to Pharisorn Sritaraphan (29-35), but won against Charinee Mitmean (17-47) and Jacky Gan Chin Leng (22-42) from Singapore. That last game was especially important, as it was played in the eighth and final round.

Dispong Kiatnarongrob can look back with satisfaction on his trip to Thailand. The title was unexpectedly won by the fourth seed, Woramet Hempijit (rating 2073), who proved too strong for Anon Hongthong (23-41) in the final. Rujipas Aunchulee narrowly lost the semifinal to Anon Hongthong (33-31) and also lost the play-off. He ended up in fourth place after losing to Pharison Sritaraphan (31-33).