The art of WarCraft III

Passion for the PC earns Sunset Beach’s Dennis Chan a spot on the U.S. team at the World Cyber Games in Singapore.Dennis Chan has led his troops into battle on several occasions, using bow and arrow, sword and shield -- even spells -- to conquer an opponent.

By displaying a keen eye from his aerial view of battlefields, Chan has maneuvered his way to within a few victorious battles of claiming the ultimate title: World Cyber Games Champion.

Chan, 22, departed from his home in Sunset Beach Monday for Singapore, site of the World Cyber Games 2005 Grand Final.

Approximately 700 gamers from 70 countries gathered Wednesday for five days of tournament play, exhibitions, conferences, ceremonies, performances and other special events at Suntec Singapore, a convention center-like venue.

Chan will be competing in the game WarCraft III.

“I’m really looking forward to competing in another world final,” said Chan, who finished in fourth place at the 2004 World Cyber Games in San Francisco. “I’m a competitive guy by nature, and the strategic part of playing, really using the mind, is what intrigues me most about cyber games.”

Chan, a 2001 graduate of Huntington Beach High School who is studying biology at Orange Coast College -- he has designs on becoming a doctor -- said he originally began to play cyber games a few years ago. He first delved into competition when he saw an online advertisement.

He ended up taking second place in that contest and has entered local, regional and national competitions since then.

A world-class player for the last three years, Chan has become a sponsored professional player in a fairly short period of time.

Known as “Shortround” to his gaming colleagues, Chan won the WarCraft III competition at the U.S. finals of the World Cyber Games in September. He’s joined by 15 other Americans -- including one other Californian -- at the Grand Final in Singapore.

The game WarCraft III is a “real-time” game in which a player gathers resources, builds a compound and then uses his army to destroy an opponent’s fortifications while protecting his own.

“It’s not like chess, where you stop, pause and think about your next move,” Chan said. “In a game like WarCraft III, you have to think on the fly and adjust your strategy to what your opponent is doing at any given moment.

“The game is along the genre of real-time strategies. As commander, you watch what’s happening from an aerial overview of the battle. You have an army of soldiers who are trying to destroy an opponent’s base. It’s more of a fantasy battle than anything else.”

At 22, Chan, who has played tournaments in France, Taiwan, Denmark and South Korea, is the oldest member of Team USA.

More than 40,000 gamers attempted to qualify at 120 game centers and through online tournaments since May. Regional competitions took place in July and August, and 184 surviving gamers moved on to the U.S. final held in New York City.

In addition to WarCraft III, other PC competitions held at the World Cyber Games are StarCraft, Counter-Strike, FIFA Soccer, Warhammer 40,000 and Need For Speed. In addition, two Xbox games, Halo 2 and Dead or Alive Ultimate, will be played.

The winner in WarCraft III, Chan said, receives a grand prize of $20,000. Second place isn’t too bad, either, with a $10,000 prize; third gets $5,000.

“Cyber games are really catching on,” Chan said. “We’re all very competitive during a game, but afterward there’s a lot of camaraderie among us players. It’s really interesting to meet up with gamers from around the world. The competition should be fierce.”20051117iq0wosknDOUGLAS ZIMMERMAN / INDEPENDENT(LA)Dennis Chan will play WarCraft III for Team USA at the World Cyber Games Grand Final in Singapore. The Huntington High grad is one of 16 players on the American team.