April's last!

Hi there!

Oh no! I've opened my post with the usual hi there! greeting again. I told myself since this is April's last, I would try to veer away from the usual and prob'bly experiment on ways I have not tried before...

Like posting in Filipino?

Eh kung mag tagalog kaya ako hanggang wagas?

Or prob'bly post like an arrogant I-am-Me, nobody else is IMPORTANT?

And there goes another failed mission from the group who wanted to save Philippine Chess from mediocrity... and another one coming to save the scene...

Hay! Hay! Hay!

Why am I like this today? Feeling like I messed up with my sense of senselessness... Anyways here are some of the updates from The Weekender by Mr. Manny Benitez:

Season of fun for the youth starts Tuesday

CHESS is fun, and so is being young. Put them together and you’ll have an explosion of sheer merriment and joy for everyone.
Which is why starting on Tuesday, May 1, scores of youngsters escorted by their parents will be trooping to The Marketplace on General Kalentong Street in Mandaluyong for what can be the most important and joyful days for them during the summer holiday.

It is to be hoped that these boys and girls will be going there to have fun playing the royal game and not because they only wish to please their parents who may just be “dreaming dreams that they never dared to dream before,” to echo Edgar Allan Poe’s haunting poem.

The National Age-Group Championships for boys and girls will get under way on Tuesday, May 1, and end on Saturday, May 5.
The National Juniors (Under 20) also for both genders will begin on Sunday, May 6, and end on Thursday, May 10.

Hence it will be 10 days of fun and mental exercises for the youngsters who hope to be another Bobby Fischer or Judit Polgar.
Observers expressed the hope that there will be no hanky-panky among parents, some of whom want their children to win “by hook or by crook,” especially when big cash prizes are at stake.

Whether cash prizes are needed in such events remains to be seen. Most critics believe that the chance to represent the country is enough reward for the winners.
There have also been calls for the Age-Group contests to serve as qualifying tournaments for either the Asean or world youth competitions.
They also urged that only the winners can compete overseas so as to preserve the integrity of Philippine chess in the wake of cheating allegations.
They stressed the need for honesty on the part of the players, parents, arbiters, coaches and other tournament officials.

It was also observed that although age-group contests are now popular, many of the winners have performed poorly abroad because of lack of proper training.
Welcome the merry month of May! Remember, chess is fun, and so is growing up.

IM Gonzales grabs board one gold

By Oscar Gonzales

VETERAN GM-candidate Jayson Gonzales defeated seven board one players to romp off with the individual gold at the nine-round National Rapid Chess Tournament held last weekend at the Bulwagan ng Katipunan of Caloocan City Hall.

Gonzales, an international master who needs only one more norm to become a full-fledged grandmaster, scored 7.5 points from eight games in a near-sweep of the 26-team event won by JRR Foundation led by the country’s newest IM, Julio Catalino Sadorra.

Jayson’s lead was so big, he was declared board one champion before the ninth and final round

GM Joey Antonio took the silver and IM Sadorra the bronze.

GM Mark Paragua and 13-year-old IM Wesley So, among the other big guns on board one, failed to win a prize, although Paragua’s team finished second.
Paragua had four wins and four draws while IM So, the reigning national open champion, had four wins and two draws.

With Sadorra on top board, the JRR Foundation team fielded by Bro. Rolly Dizon of the De la Salle University System captured the first prize of P60,000 with a total 25 points, according to Philippine Chess, an Internet column of blogger Kiko Goodman.
Kiko said Sadorra had the support of Ted Ian Montoyo, Xavier Verdum and Verth Alora on boards two, three and four, respectively.
The cash prizes, trophies and medals were donated by Team Unity senatorial candidate and National Chess Federation of the Philippines president Prospero Pichay and Caloocan Mayor Enrico Echeverri.

Gonzales, who had been inactive for four months, was an 11th-hour replacement of Fide Master Roderick Nava, who was indisposed last weekend.The veteran GM candidate said he accepted the challenge to prove he had not become rusty during his four-month layoff from active competition.

Jayson is the head coach of Far Eastern University’s chess team, last year’s UAAP champion.

Ironically, however, despite his winning the individual gold, FEU finished 10th among the 26 teams in the Caloocan Rapid..
Only IM Barlo Nadera held Gonzales to a draw in a Queen’s Pawn game as Gonzales toppled his top-board rivals one by one—NM Efren Bagamasbad in a Sicilian duel, IM Sadorra with the London System, IM Ronald Bancod in another Queen’s Pawn Opening-Torre Attack, IM Oliver Dimakiling in a Slav, GM Paragua with the Chigorin Defense, FM Julius de Ramos in an English game, and IM Richard Bitoon in another Sicilian duel, Taimanov Variation.

The other board winners were David Elora on board two, 8/9, Jojo Aquino on board three, 7.5/9, Mervin Lumidao on board four, 8/9, and Ernie Baltazar on board five, 4/6. Paragua’s team, Time Life A, finished in second place to Sadorra’s JRR, followed by IM Richard Bitoon’s Camanyugan Cagayan Norte in third, NM Ronald Llavanes’ Kawazaki Motors Corp fourth, NM Nelson Villanueva’s Fearless fifth, IM Dimakiling’s Young Veterans sixth, NM Rudy Ibañes’ Caloocan seventh, GM Rogelio Antonio’s Tagaytay eighth, NM Julius de Ramos’ Time Life B ninth, and IM Gonzales’ FEU 10th.

Gonzales’ winning the gold in Caloocan did not come as a surprise. It will be recalled that he defeated the young Chinese superstar, GM Wang Hao (2610), in blitz during the Dato Arthur Tan Open Malaysian Open in 2005, where he finished equal third in the rankings, just behind GMs Wang and Antonio, who took the first and second places.

The Filipino IM attained celebrity status when he won the 17th edition of the New York Masters, finishing ahead of five grandmasters.
Gonzales earned his first GM norm in the Calvia Open in 2004 but narrowly missed earning his second one later that year at the Calvia Olympiad, where he scored a high 8.5 points from 11 games. His second GM norm came when he snared the qualifying score in the second Datu Arthur Tan Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur.

-----
Also included in TW is Chess Piece(CP) Column of The BANG, Mr. Bobby Ang, who generously shares 2 articles every issue. If you have noticed, I have not posted his columns here regularly for a particular reason, CP has an online version and I would rather direct my readers to that link and add traffic to it's site. At first I was doing this religiously but a chess blogger reminded me that this is one way of making enemies (or hurting a fellow blogger or writer) online. So, here is the link instead of Sir Bobby Ang's Chess Piece.

And before I forget, last saturday, Cubao Chess was featured in a prime-time national TV Program, XXX of ABS-CBN!!! The segment was called Cubao Chess Gang. Their modus operandi? C'mon, guess some more! Ouch!

That classic Mate in Two Chess Puzzle! A group of by-standers and on-lookers would encourage the poor victim. Only this time, they would target the victim's mobile phone and make it the "bet" of the game.

My wife and my 8 yr old Patricia were watching closely my reactions. I could only watch in dismay since it gives chess a bad publicity in the minds of the people. You know what? after the segment, Patricia asked me "What would you do Papa if you were the "kawawang lalaki"?

I was about to answer her when my wife blurted out "Papa will never go to such places just to play out his addiction!!!"

Whaaaat? hahahahahah! But honestly, my wife knows such modus and she asked me sometime ago (when it dawned on her that I'm sick of this thing called checkmate!!!) if I've ever been a victim. Her reply to my daughter was in a way my reply to her before, but of course without the addiction!

There were 6 members shown arrested and cases were filed. Robbery was one of them. Hay naku!

What else did I miss?

Ah yah! The National Age Group which runs from May 1 to 5. Tomorrow, we'll be hearing and seeing news about this event. There was a line from Mr. Benitez' article about the Age group which caught my interest. The one that says "Parents behavior during the tournament..."

I can relate to that! I've been a victim of this player's dad who happens to be a Lawyer (a frustrated chess player) he shouted at me in this Alabang Chess Club's Tournaments 3 years ago. He yelled and asked me if I was a parent and if not, I should leave the playing hall. The problem with that? I was not the only one there, in fact I was quietly watching the kids event (sorry but I am really intersted with the up and coming talents of our land) compared to the others who makes noises.

Anyways, that man was really something and he has made a name for himself in the chess community because in one of my chats with a fellow arbiter and friend, Daisy Reyes (of UE Chess Team), she told me that beware of that players father because he acts like your not suppose to breath air (to avoid making sound not noise) when his son is playing. Hay naku! You know who you are, teaching is more of modelling. You want your son to be like you? an _ _ _?

Oooppps! April's last!

Good luck to all the participants of NCFP National Age Group 2007.

See you there!

Dubai Open Rapid Chess Event

Hi!

"The post I made about 9th Dubai Open was the side event, DUBAI OPEN RAPID CHESS CHAMPIONSHIONSHIP were Rustum "tum-tum" Tolentino placed 3rd."

Thank God I've corrected it now!

For checking and confirmation...

Hi there!

I received a very helpful email from one of our readers and he reminded me to check and confirm the following posts I have made:

1. 9Th Dubai Open and
2. 2007 Pichay-Echiverri Chessfest

He told me that I posted a different result of the P-E Chessfest and so now, I am posting the Official result from the NCFP Site:

JRR Foundation rules Echiverri-Pichay chessfest

Final standings after nine rounds:

15 -- JRR Foundation
14 – Time Life-A
13 – Camalaniugan-Cagayan
12 – Kawasaki, Fearless
11 – Young Veterans, Caloocan
10 – Tagaytay-A, Time Life-B, FEU, Apocalypse-A
9 – Almanza, Caloocan Sports, PCU, Tagaytay-B, Caloocan District 2, Apocalypse-B, La Salle-St. Benilde

8 – Zoomex, Dumlao, YCCF-Taguig

SIXTH seed JRR Foundation drew inspired performance from newly-minted IM Julio Catalino Sadorra to capture the title in the 2007 Echiverri-PIchay national rpaid chess team championship held at the Bulwagang Katipunan in Caloocan City Hall.

Sadorra won four of his final five assignments to power JRR Foundation to the title in this nine-round, two-day tournament organized by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) under Surigao del Sur Rep. Prospero Pichay Jr. in cooperation with the Caloocan City government of Mayor Recom Echiverri.

JRR Foundation finished with 15 match points, a full point ahead of Time Life-A and two points ahead of Camalaniugan-Cagayan.

In the ninth and final round, JRR whipped Kawasaki Motors, 3-1, with Sadorra beating NM Ronald Llavanes and Verth Alora downing Joseph Esguerra.

Earlier, JRR drew with Camalaniugan-Cagayan, 2-2, in the fifth round with Sadorra beating IM Richard Bitoon in the top board and Xavier Verdum downing Rhoel Abelgas on board three.

Then, JRR nipped Time Life-A, 3-1, in the sixth round despite Sadorra’s defeat to GM Mark Paragua. Ted Montoyo, Verdun and Alora. Sadorra provided the much-needed victories for JRR.

In the seventh round, JRR drew with Fearless, 2-2, with Sadora winning over NM Nelson Villanueva and Verdum humbling Jayson Salubre.

Time Life-A, bannered by Paragua and Christian Arroyo, nipped Tagaytay-B, 2.5-1.5, in the eighth round and TAgaytay-A, 2.5-1.5, toclinch solo second place.

Paragua drew with GM-candidate Wesley So of Tagaytay-B in the eighth and GM Rogelio Antonio Jr. in the ninth to complete Time Life-A’s triumph.

Camalaniugan-Cagayan drew with Far Eastern University, 2-2, and edged Time Life-B, 2.5-1.5, for third place.

Fearless of NM Nelson Villanueva outclassed FEU, 3-1, to join Kawasaki for fourth to fifth places with 12 points.

Sharing sixth to seventh places were Young Veterans of GM-candidate Oliver Dimakiling, which routed La Salle-St. Benilde, 3.5-5; and Caloocan of NM Andrew Vasquez, which downed Philippine Christian University, 2.5-1.5.

As for the 9Th Dubai Cup, I was informed that it was to end on April 30, Monday. I was surprised about this because I got the info from the NCFP forum which I thought was the official one.

I would have to check the Official result of this event.

I am so sorry for this carelessness on my part. It nver occured to me too that there could be side events for Dubai Cup.

My thanks goes to our email sender for reminding me about journalistic issues. Thank you also sending supportive emails.

To all the persons/players maligned with the posts I erroneously made, I am sorry! To all the readers or PCC, I will tell you now that staring today, I'll keep in mind of these concerns, that of making sure of the posts I make here.

9th Dubai Open

Hi again!

I was checking the final result of the 9th Dubai Open and I was so glad to find our very own, Rustum "tum-tum" Tolentino landing on 3rd Spot out of 90 players. He had 7 points out of possible 9. 1st place went to IM El Taher Fouad of Egypt with 8.5 points and 2nd place went to FM Salem A R Saleh of the United Arab Emirates.

Other Filipino players in the event were Ernesto M. Yap who placed at 7th and scored 6.5, closely following him is Roberto Carandang also with the same number of points. Danny Baltazar at 14th, Reyjoy Barlotay, 18th, Axel John Valerio 21st, Marcial Augusto 3oth, FM Antonio Molina 40th, Anita Jasmin Valerio at 55, Carissa Joy Valerio at 62 and Meg Mendoza at 74th place.

Congratulations to all of you!

National Age Group-Juniors 2007

Hi!

Here's something about the coming event:

Time Controls: 1 Hour with an increment of 30 seconds
Game Starts: 1 PM or 1300 hour.

Registration is on-going! We will have a continued update on this. Hopefully I can go there on May 1 for the opening and take some shots.

This is the future of Philippine Chess. Most of the players here are also students who are performing well with their academics.

Watch out for these kids, the will be the ones to change the landscape of Philippine Chess in the future!

So excited about this event!

JAKA Chess Club

As posted by GM Choy of NCFP Forum:

JAKA Chess Club would like to thank everyone who participated in the Pichay Chess Caravan held last April 11, 2007. The whole day affair was organized by the NCFP to give aspiring local players the chance to showcase their talents. Dr. Jenny Mayor hosted the event. Around 40-50 chessplayers from different towns in Pampanga came and match wits against the masters. Simultaneous exhibitions were conducted by NM Alex Milagrosa, NM Edgardo Garma and NM Mario Rebano and many players were able to scalp the masters.

A rapid tournament was played and JAKA bet Robin Chico emerged victorious with 5.0 points from 6 rounds. The winner, together with four other players qualified to the National Finals of the Pichay Chess Caravan. Congratulations to all the winners.

ICAinc

Here is something I hate... announcing the POSTPONEMENT of this Friday's 12 and Under Chess Tournament at the Robinson's Place Imus. I received the information yesterday when I was on my way home, whiling away my free time looking at the coastal waters of Manila Bay going to Cavite.
Sorry folks!

By the way, here are some beautiful shots of Manila Bay.

Nervousness

Hi there!

Today, I scanned the net, chessbase, TWIC, Indochess (Chess Piece), The Weekender, daily papers and other possible source of chess updates, specially the NCFP Forum but there's not much I got about Philippine Chess. Except maybe for the one I got from the Australian chess chat forum.

As I was checking the Chess Training Board, one thread really interested me because I can relate to the question asked by Zwischenzug(his avatar says CC FIDE Master) :

"Hi. All you tournament chess players probably have experienced this from time to time. Often I find myself more scared of my opponent than I am of their chess and wind up hanging a piece in my games. How do you deal with being nervous at tournaments? Anyone has any methods to calm those overly wild nerves?"

From there, a lot of replies came which says a lot:

Phil Bourke (CC Grandmaster)

"I am always nervous before the start of the 1st round for whatever reason, just remind myself that I am ready to play, call to mind a few games that have gone my way, and find that once the first few moves are played, the nerves dissipate quietly. I think that you will find this phenomena fairly normal in a lot of areas. Like before speaking publicly, taking an exam, asking for that first date, etc. The best advice is just be as prepared as you can be. Any sporting person will tell you of the need for many visits to the toilet prior to a big game I tell the kids, that if you aren't nervous, then it can't be important to you."

Denis_Jesoph(CC Grandmaster)

"I began playing competitive chess in the 1950s and I have suffered from nervousness and stress ever since so time doesn't cure it. When I was younger it didn't bother me so much and was a kind of challenge, especially if the toilet facilities were not good. Now it just bugs me and is one reason why I haven't played much chess in recent years. Incidentally, I never give a damn about my opponent - I more regarded chess as a test of my own ability which may have made things worse."

Watto (CC Grandmaster)

"quietly hysterical sums up how I felt before my first tournament games- horrible anxiety about the game, the scoring, the clocks, tournament etiquette, looking stupid, having to deal with failure...

Later I was just very nervous and unable to eat. Aside from the tournament nerves and ego difficulties with being a blundering beginner, I was really interested in chess, and I'm a bit stubborn, so I continued.

Now I’m just a bit edgy beforehand but nothing much more. I don’t feel nervous during the game. Not sure how long you’ve been playing in tournaments, Zwischenzug, but in my case a little bit of time and experience (just under 2 years) definitely has made a huge difference…"

Zwischenzug

"I have an idea, next time I go to a tournament, I'll assume my opponents are nervous also and it would be my job to exploit that . I am planning to go to a tournament this weekend and the last day to register is tomorrow.P.S. I've only been to two and a half tournaments"

Kevin Bonham:

This is only my advice, not necessarily any better or worse than anyone else of around my rating (and probably worse than that of some much better players, although I doubt most superGMs really understand what it is to be a club level player):

When playing someone with a much higher rating, just ignore who your opponent is and just try to play the best move you can in each position on the board. For instance, make it your aim for the game to check each move carefully for basic tactics and try to cut down on blunders.

If you're petrified that this opponent is so strong they will beat you no matter what you do, put the final result of the game out of your mind and just focus on trying to play as competitive a game as you can in the early stages. If by doing this you find that you get to a middlegame or endgame position that really isn't that scary-looking then you should start realising you actually have a chance to not lose, and work towards that outcome (don't get too carried away with "hey I'm going to get a draw" or "hey I'm going to win" as it may be you have missed something tricky.)

Remember that every time you play a higher-rated opponent they have something to lose. This is actually in your favour because if you can get a decent position out of the opening, some of them will panic and do silly things to try to get an edge. Relish the challenge of trying to give a stronger player a scare! (I have noticed that weaker players who really try to sock it to strong opponents and make them suffer often achieve upsets - but this doesn't mean you should go bananas with obviously futile sac-attacks). The good ones will stay calm because they know that even if you are equal in the middlegame, they can probably outplay you in the ending (or that even if you get an edge in wild tactics you will probably make a tactical error later), but not all strong players are sensible.

Also, work on endings! If you know your endgame play is reasonable then you have so much less to fear, and you don't then have to think "the best that can happen is I get outplayed in the ending".

Quote:
How do you deal with being nervous at tournaments? Anyone has any methods to calm those overly wild nerves?

I used to get really bad buildups of nervous tension in my arms before games during tournaments. I would deal with it by going outside and swinging my arms around in circles or backwards and forwards until all the tension was completely loosened up. Looked ridiculous, but quite effective.

Avoid caffeine during games unless you desperately need it to stay awake. Many chessplayers drink heaps of it, but it is rather double-edged in its effects on play quality and on the whole more danger than it's worth.

Frosty (CC Grandmaster)

As a junior (14-18 years of age) I used to get very nervous when playing Interclub matches. I recall at one game at MCC (Elizabeth Street premises?) where I chain-smoked until I made myself physically ill and had to resign my game despite having a good position on the board.

Nowadays (43) I don't get nervous at all and relish the opportunity to play against higher-rated players. As Kevin points out, they have more to "lose" than me, and I love trying to make them work hard for the point.

I guess nervousness really is one major factor in playing the game. I could remember myself when I played in my very first tournament in 2003 (geeh! so so late!) It was the Valentine's day tournament of MCC held in Cafe Lupe. Any reader who remembers this event? it was a big one in terms of the players who joined. I could remember the Dimakiling, TRUMAN HERNAEZ, and Wesley So in the Kiddies.

It was really a nerve wracking event for me. Hahahahah! I thought all along that I'll be playing against first timers and beginners. Hahahah! Was I wrong! really wrong.

My first round assignment, TRUMAN HERNAEZ. I lost. 2nd round, I lost. I lost all my games! $h@#%^&!!!!

Hahahaha! Sorry for that! I think this is the first time I cursed! Sorry again. Am not mad about the result, but I was tremendously mistaken about chess in the Philippines during that time. I even told myself I would not win against that 10 year old PROMIL BOY named Wesley So!

Nervousness? Yes! I didn't even know how to use the chess clock then! It was Truman who had to press my side of the clock before he made his first move as white. Oh man!

But here is something that until now would make me and my friends laugh about whenever I go back and visit Southern City Subdivision in Imus, Cavite Philippines. My chess playing friends in that subdivision would always tell me the story that we have a neighbor who's name is Truman. And they all say that nobody has won a game against him, that this guy is/was Joey Antonio's teammate for Tagaytay and that he's a mainstay of Luneta Team etc. etc.

I haven't got a chance to play against him because I always miss those times when he visits his parents house (southern city). And so, when I told them that I played in this tournament and my first round game was against Truman Hernaez, then came the laughter. Hahahah! "Pare, yun si Truman! Anak yun ni Engineer Hernaez! Yun yung kalaro namin dito! Ahahahahahah! (That's Truman, the son of Engineer Hernaez. He's the one we keep on telling you about!)

And there was one thing I could still remember. Weeks after, I met him in his parents place and he was also surprised to find me there! He was telling me about our game and that my queen was displaced etc. Then came the teasing and egging from the other mokongs!

Anyways, from the Australian Chess Chat, Zwischenzug had a by line which really made laugh:

"I am a brilliant chess player - I just have enormous difficulty proving it."

GM Eugene Torre and more

Hi there!

Since the issue as to who deserves to be called as Asia's First International Grandmaster still hot in one of the threads of NCFP Forum, let me post this piece from The Weekender of Mr. Manny Benitez:

Eugene, Glenn sparkle in Nice ’74

THE 21st Olympiad in Nice on the French Riviera in 1974 occupies a special nook in our hearts, not only because it produced the first Filipino grandmaster—and the first in Asia, at that—but also, for the first and only time ever, our national team defeated a former Olympiad champion, Hungary, 2.5-1.5.

Yes, it was in Nice in June 1974 that Eugene Torre, then aged 20, won his final norm for the GM title and a silver medal to boot on board one.

But the most significant individual board victory was scored by NM Glenn Bordonada, who did a yeoman’s task by beating a Hungarian stalwart, the world-famous GM Gyula Sax—and with Black at that!

Unfortunately, however, Bordonada did not win an individual prize despite his titanic feat. It was four years and two Olympiads later that Glenn won the gold on board four with a phenomenal 77.8 per cent performance rating based on 7.0 points from nine games.

It was also at the 23rd Olympiad held in Buenos Aires 1978 that the Philippines achieved its highest-ever ranking, finishing seventh in the world. Since then, the national team has not duplicated its feat. And that was the only time the country finished among the top 10 in the premier global event.

Glenn was not the only Filipino to win a medal in Buenos Aires. NM Glicerio Badilles took the gold on the reserve board—for Hong Kong, where he stayed for a while under martial law.

Actually, the Philippines had also been among the top contenders at the 18th Olympiad held in Lugano, Switzerland, in 1968 where at one point it was vying with England for second place overall.

Its loss on all four boards to the powerful Soviet Union in the fifth round, however, proved too heavy a drag, and in the closing rounds, the Philippines started faltering.

Fortunately, the team managed to qualify for the Group A final while England did not make it.

On the Philippine team were Eugene Torre and his brother Vic, Ruben Rodriguez, Rico Mascariñas, Glenn Bordonada and Ricardo de Guzman.

In the 1974 Nice Olympiad, it is clear that Torre on top board and Bordonada on the lower board combined to lift up their team.

It is also clear from the score of his game against Sax—dug up from the archives by journalist Ignacio Dee—that what sustained Bordonada was his indomitable fighting spirit, which obviously inspired his teammates. A pity that he chose not to become a fixture on the Olympiad team!

Glenn went on to write a pithy chess column for the Inquirer but his career as a corporate executive—he is one of our pioneering computer experts—made him leave the game, and he never played competitive chess again.

• Gyula Sax, HUN (2505) - Glenn Bordonada, PHI
21st Olympiad, Nice, France, June 17, 1974
Caro-Kann ,Panov-Botvinnik Attack

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.c4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.cxd5 Bg7 7.Bb5+ Nbd7 8.d6 e6 9.Nf3 0–0 10.0–0 a6 11.Be2 b5 12.Ne5 Bb7 13.Bf4 Nb6 13...Nxe5! was stronger, e.g., 14.Bxe5 Ne8! 14.Bf3 Nfd5 15.Nxd5 Nxd5 16.Bxd5 16.Bg3 Re8 would have given White a clear edge.

16…Bxd5! 17.Qd2 f6 18.Nd3 Ra7
18...Rc8 19.Nb4 favors White.
19.Rfe1 g5 20.Bg3 h5 21.h4
21.h3 f5 22.Be5 f4 would have given White a distinct advantage.
21…Bh6
If 21...gxh4 22.Bf4!
22.Bh2
22.Nc5! should be played, e.g., 22…gxh4 23.Qxh6 hxg3 24.d7 Rxd7 25.Nxd7 Qxd7 26.Re3 gxf2+ 27.Kxf2, and White would have a huge advantage.
22...Rg7² 23.Nb4 Bxg2!!

After 23…Bxg2!A bold offer of a bishop against a GM just to breach his defenses.
24.Qe2?? Under pressure, the GM crumbles.
24…gxh4! 25.Bg3 Bb7 26.Qxh5 hxg3 27.Qxh6 Qxd6 28.Nd3 gxf2+ 29.Kxf2 Qg3+ 30.Ke2 Qf3+ 31 Kd2.

White resigns without waiting for Black’s next move as he realizes that he is about to be checkmated.0-1

Also,do check out this write up from Mr. Bobby Ang's Chess Piece Column which appears regularly at BusinessWorld and an online version can be seen at Indochess.

Torre Book

HI! Guess what? Due to the good graces of well-known businessman Don Manolo Lopez, we have finally found a publisher for our book on the best games of Eugene Torre. Details are:

Title: 40 YEARS OF PHILIPPINE CHESS (Eugene Torre and his games).

GM Eugene’s tournament chess career started in the 1967 Meralco Open, where a brilliancy prize inspired him to work harder at it. It is now 2007, 40 years later, and his career has become synonymous with Philippine chess.

Authors: GM Eugene Torre and myself. Raul Sol Cruz from Meralco has agreed to join the team as a researcher

Publishing Date: December 2007

Dimensions: Book will be 6.75” x 9.75”, as is customary nowadays with quality chess publishers. There will be approximately 240 pages.

Games:50-60 games, not necessarily wins. We also look at the historical perspective and Eugene himself wants to include crucial games that he lost. For example there is this game with Gyula Sax of Hungary in the 1982 Biel Interzonal, where he only needed a draw to qualify for the second consecutive time to the Candidates’ matches. Or his game against Zoltan Ribli of Hungary in their candidates’ match – Eugene got winning chances but botched it and even lost the game. What would have happened had he qualified for the next round? Would he have managed to get by former world champion Vassily Smyslov?

I make this announcement today, April 20, because it is my birthday, and I wanted to do something that would give me great pleasure.

My entire Holy Week was spent putting together all the material that have been amassed since we first started on this project last 1998. One thing that struck me when I reviewed the material was how his career intersected with that of the great Hungarian GM Lajos Portisch.

C’mon, don’t shock me by asking who Portisch is. In fact, Lajos Portisch celebrated his birthday early this month. He was born April 4, 1937 in Zalaegerszeg, Hungary. His positional style earned him the nickname "Hungarian Botvinnik".

Hungary has always had a strong chess team. In the early 19th century the legendary player Geza Maroczy was the top Hungarian and led his country to two Olympiad victories. He was among the chess elite and was often mentioned as among the strongest players never to become world champion. After the second world war the leader of the Magyar cause was Laszlo Szabo, another chess legend but who, in contrast to Maroczy, was of the combinational persuasion.

Starting the late ’60s up to the early 90s the undisputed top dog in Hungary was Lajos Portisch. He participated in twelve straight Interzonals and qualified for the World Chess Championship candidates cycle five times. He also led the Hungarian chess team to the gold in the 23rd Chess Olympiad held in Buenos Aires with a personal score of 10 out of 14. This was the only Olympiad not to be won by the Soviet Union between 1952 and 1990.

Eugene Torre met up with Portisch in the 2nd round of the Finals of Nice 1974 Olympiad, and played beautifully to defeat Lajos and lead his team to a giant upset over the Hungarian team 3-1. Keep in mind that Hungary placed 2nd in the 1972 Skopje Olympiad to realize the enormity of the feat. A few months later Portisch got his revenge by beating Eugene in the Manila 1974 international tournament.

In the 1979 Rio de Janeiro Interzonal Portisch tried too hard to beat Torre in the first round, sacrificed unsoundly, and lost. He almost got his revenge in 1982 Toluca Interzonal. Eugene was just coming off a 5-game winning streak and was in the lead in the interzonal – the entire Philippines was doing nothing except talking about how an Asian or for that matter a Filipino would be qualifying for the Candidates’ matches for the first time in history, and all he needed was to draw the remaining three games. Everything seemed to be going as planned since the game in the 11th round vs Portisch was adjourned in what looked like a draw. Our delegation was not rejoicing though, for they knew something that the rest of the country did not – Eugene had sealed a weak move. The game continued the next morning and when it was adjourned for the second time it looked like a loss – Eugene was two pawns down in a king and knight endgame. News traveled back fast, and this time the mood in the local chess clubs was down – the general consensus was that there was only a 20 per cent chance to draw.

And then the miracle – completely exhausted from a whole night of analyzing and unable to find the way to a draw, Eugene fell asleep and in the early morning the way to the draw came to him in a dream.

I am sorry, but to read the whole story you have to buy the book.

Here is their last decisive game (so far!) with each other, from the 1990 Manila Interzonal.

Portisch,Lajos (2590) - Torre,Eugenio (2530) [A21]
Manila Interzonal (13), 1990
1.d4 d6 2.c4 e5 3.Nf3 e4 4.Ng5
Heading for f4.
4...f5 5.Nc3 c6

Portisch plays this system a lot with White. Many players would be tempted to play 5...h6 with the idea of cutting the Knight out of play with 6.Nh3 g5. However, White has the strong move 7.Ng1! planning 8.h4 and Black finds out he is overextended.

6.Nh3 Na6 7.e3 Nf6 8.Be2 Be7 9.0–0 0–0 10.f3 Nc7 11.Qb3 Kh8 12.Bd2 Ne6 13.fxe4 Nxe4 14.Nxe4 fxe4 15.Rxf8+ Nxf8 16.Nf4 Bg5 17.Rf1 Qe7 18.Nh5 Ne6!

Threat is ...Nxd4.
19.Bc1 g6 20.Ng3 Kg8 21.Qc2
[21.Nxe4 Nxd4 22.exd4 Bxc1 (not 22...Qxe4? which is refuted by 23.Bxg5 Qxe2 24.Bh6! White wins a piece at the very least) 23.Rxc1 Qxe4 24.Qd3 Bf5 is equal]
21...d5 22.cxd5 cxd5 23.Qb3 Qd6 24.Bd1 b6 25.Bd2 Ba6 26.Be2 Bb7 27.Bb4 Qc6?
A mistake. He should have played 27...Qd7 . You will see why next move.
28.Bg4?
[28.Nxe4! wins a pawn. Black cannot retake because of 28...dxe4 29.d5 Qxd5 30.Bc4 wins]
28...Ba6

The wind-up by Eugene is very good. From here to the end watch how he ties up his opponent's forces.

29.Re1 h5 30.Bh3 Bh4 31.Qc3 Qe8 32.Qa3 Bd3 33.Bxe6+ Qxe6 34.Bd6 Rc8 35.Be5 a5! 36.h3 Rc2

Threat is ...Qf7.

37.Kh2 Be7!
If 37...Qf7 right away then 38.Qd6 creates complications.
38.Qb3
On b3 the enemy rook is attacked, so that 38...Qf7 is met by 39.Rf1!
38...Qc6! 39.a3 a4 40.Qa2 Qb5

Eugene threatens ...h4 followed by ...Bf1 and White can't stop him. 0–1
The overall score between Torre and Portisch is favorable for the Filipino, 3 wins 5 draws 2 losses. Not bad at all.

Come December, beg, borrow or steal. But don’t miss your copy of 40 years of Philippine Chess – Torre and his Games.

---
Here is an old one about El Eugenio and his games.

"December, December,
come cold or hot,what we want
'is Bobby Ang's book 'bout
Eugene, come now, come now! - chess_kiko"

National Age Group Juniors 2007

Registration is on-going for the 2007 edition of National Age Group (May 1-5) and National Juniors (May 6-10) which will be hosted by the very progressive City of Mandaluyong. The site venue will be Marketplace Shopping Mall. A total cash prize of PhP 138,000.00 is up for grabs. Each Category, 18,16,14,12 and 8 boys and girls will receive 5000, 3000, 2000, 1000 and 500 respectively (1st-5th). For the Juniors, a total of PhP 80,000.00 for the winners. PhP 10,000.00 goes to the men's division champion and PhP 10,000.00 will go to the women's division champion.

Please call the following for registration: 536-8507/ 09204871453/ 09277209260/ and 091655198676.

Meanwhile, a total of 26 teams joined the Echiverri-Pichay Chessfest which were bannered by the top players in the land. JRR Foundation of ruled the event with a total winning points of 25. This is the team of Bro. Rolly Dizon of the De La Salle University System (One La Salle!) members: IM Catalino Sadorra on board 1, Ted Ian Montoyo, Xavier Verdum and Verth Alora on boards 2,3 and 4 respectively. They received a total cash prize of PhP 60,000.00 and individual medals and trophy from Caloocan City Mayor Recom Echiverri and NCFP Senatorial candidate Prospero Pichay. 2nd place went to Kawasaki Motors Corp and the members are Ronald Livanes (1), Noel De la Cruz (2), Rolanzen Loyola (3) and Ronald Esguerra (4). They received a total cash prize of PhP 40,000.00. The 3rd place went to GM Mark Paragua's team, Time Life who received PhP 20,000.00.

Imus Chess Association, Inc.

Hi there!

Short notice, but I hope we still attract more players.

On April 27, 2007, Friday, Imus Chess Association (ICAinc), together with GM Eugene Torre (of Fianchetto Construction) will be conducting a 12 year old and Under Chess tournament at the Robinson's Imus. Exclusive for Imus, Cavite residents only. Registration Fee is waived off since this is the Imus Chess Association's way of giving back to the children of the taxpayers of the Municipality of Imus Cavite.

For details and information, please contact Mr. Asi Bagaipo, ICAinc Founding President at 09198339908/046-415371. Or watch out for further announcements here at PCC.

Good luck to ICAinc!

Dubai Open, CLOSED FOR WESLEY!

Sadly, after wishing well for The Whiz Kid, here's news from The Weekender:

IM Wesley So and his father, William, failed to fly to Dubai yesterday owing to the cancellation of their United Arab Emirates flight.Marz Marcial, FCPL president of UAE, apologized for the incident, which he said was due to a “miscommunication between the sponsor and the travel agent in Dubai.” Wesley was supposed to compete in the Dubai Open, which opens today.Marcial, however, pledged to sponsor Wesley’s trip in July for the Dubai Junior Open.

And another shot in the back for us chess loving Filipinos. Here's a story from Chessbase.
And what's the matter with the article? Something is really wrong because we also have to read about GM Eugene Torre.

One common denominator can be seen from both, Asia's first International Grandmaster! Arrrgh! Now, it's either the chessbase writer was mistaken or or he was mistaken? But the writer wrote: "and thus arguably the first ever Asian grandmaster" (Jamshid Begmatov). Hahahahah! There is NO ARGUMENT here, Eugene Torre is, as awarded by FIDE, is Asia's first GM nothing more, nothing less!

And now, from The Weekender:

Gloom over Pinoy players as Chinese rule the roost
By Ignacio Dee

GLOOM has once again settled on the nation’s chess community in the wake of one of the worst disasters to hit Filipino players ever—in the Philippine International Open Championship and Challenge at the Subic Freeport, which ended last Thursday.

The only silver lining in the rain clouds hovering over Philippine chess has been the emergence of the country’s newest international master, Singapore-based Julio Catalino Sadorra, 20. He clinched the title by beating his compatriot, veteran IM Barlo Nadera, in the penultimate eighth round.

In a sense, the Subic Open disaster was even worse than that of the first President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Cup last November, when only one Filipino landed among the top 10—Hamed Nouri, 28, then a little-known player from Negros Occidential, who ended up at No. 8.

This time, NM Nouri did not land among the leaders and it was 55-year-old Eugenio Torre, Asia’s first GM, who got the 10th berth.

Even in the absence of its two highest-rated players—Zhang Pengxiang, last year’s GMA Cup champion, and Bu Xiangzhi—China made a clean sweep of the top five places, with No. 3 Chinese GM, Wang Yue, 20, winning the diadem on tiebreak over his two compatriots, GMs Zhang Zhong, 29, and Ni Hua, 24. They had 7.0 points each.

To complete the sweep, teenaged GM Wang Hao and 21-yearold GM Zhao Jun took the fourth and fifth prizes with 6.5 each.

Then followed three six-pointers, but with no Pinoy among them—GMs Ehsan Ghaem Maghami of Iran, Susanto Megaranto of Indonesia and Li Shilong of China.

The fourth batch of leaders had 6.0 points each. Nine Filipinos dominated the group, but the top one—No. 9—was a young and untitled Chinese player, Li Chao.Even the special awards went to foreign players: Lalith Babu of India as Top Junior Player, over Boris Diez and Jan Emmanuel Garcia, and Irine Sukandar of Indonesia as the Top Female Player, over Cristy Lamiel Bernales and Kimberly Jane Cunanan.

Torre, the oldest among the local players, was right behind Li on tiebreak, followed by Indonesian GM Utut Adianto, American GM Varushan Akobian, IM Oliver Dimakiling, IMs Sadorra and Wesley So, GM Mark Paragua, Zhao Ziyang, GM Joey Antonio, NM Mirabeau Maga, NM Anthony Makinano, and IM Ronald Bancod, in that order.

The doyen of Filipino players had earlier defeated American GM Akobian, but went down against GM Ni Hua in the next round.

GM Torre had a good chance again against GM Ghaem Maghami in the last round as he has playing White and had opened with his favorite Trompowsky Attack.

But the Iranian GM evaded the Filipino veteran’s vigorous thrusts in mid-game skirmishes and eventually gained the upper hand, which he converted into a full point after 54 moves to send Torre sliding down to No. 10.

Asia’s first grandmaster—he won the title in the 1974 Nice Olympiad—has been the country’s mainstay in foreign competitions like the Olympiad since then, almost without letup. While most of his contemporaries abroad have been replaced by younger GMs, Torre still ranks among the country’s top three players and may be No. 1 now.

While this could be interpreted as a tribute to his longevity as a top-ranked GM, it could also mean there has been not much progress in the Philippines by way of developing fresh talents over the past 33 years.

The very slow progress—the Philippines today has only five grandmasters while England, which had its first GM in the person of the late Tony Miles in 1976, two years later than Torre, now has more than 30—can also be blamed squarely on the lack of a training program.

As Mrs Eleanor So has put it in an email to the Weekender editor: “In my opinion, as what I have observed from my son Wesley…there’s one strategy that I think we missed: Proper training.

“Parang kanya-kanyang training na lang. Parang ‘bahala na’ system. Sariling kayod. Wesley trains on his own. If there’s no one to guide/educate him properly, walang asenso. It would be better if there’s a coach that trains our chess players.

“Hope you could do something to help them. Kawawa lagi ang mga Pinoy. They want to do their best, to bring honor to our country.”

Although the tournament appeared to run smoothly, there were a few hiccups like the failure of the organizers, the National Chess Federation of the Philippines and the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, to provide daily bulletins on the games.

The NCFP website was inadequate, with reports posted a day late. Neither did the media give the event, the largest chess tournament held yet in the country this year, the publicity it deserved.

Strangely enough, it was bruited about that Filipino players themselves did not want their games posted because their rivals, potential or otherwise, would get to know their “secret” tactical weapons.

It is as though their play is of international standard, which has been belied by the results of recent international competitions that top-rated Filipino players have entered.

The tournament director was Willie Abalos and the chief arbiter Casto “Toti” Abundo, the NCFP delegate to the World Chess Federation (Fide) where he is the expert in charge of the global rating lists. Both are members of the NCFP board of directors.

The Philippine Open and Challenge was held under the auspices of the NCFP, headed by Rep. Prospero Pichay, in collaboration with the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, Globe Telecoms and Free Duty.

Bernardino shines Down Under

WEEKENDER contributor Marlon Bernardino has outshone his Filipino rivals in two Australian events—the Sydney International Open in suburban Parramatta, New South Wales, and the Rooty Hill Active Chess at the RSL Chess Club—during a visit Down Under, highlighted by the Filipino’s upsetting a Russian grandmaster.

In the Sydney Open, Bernardino, a 29-year-old US and Filipino national master, and Fil-Aussie Woman International Master Arianne Caoili scored the highest among the 13 Filipino participants, who included Fide Master Jesse Noel Sales and NM Homer Cunanan, head coach of “multi-titled” San Sebastian College.

Russian GM Georgy Timoshenko (2566), the third seed, captured the diadem on tiebreak over Serbian GM Dejan Antic (2443). Both finished at the helm of a 143-man field with 7.5 points apiece.

GM Antic caught up with Timoshenko in the final round when he beat fourth seed Murray Chandler (2548) of England in the final round while the Russian, who had been leading the field, settled for a draw with Israeli GM Viktor Mikhalevski (2590).

The winners were followed by four players who scored 4.0 points each, namely, GM Mikhalevski, ninth seed IM Zhao-Zong Yuan (2476) of NSW, ninth seed GM Darryl Johansen (2456) of Victoria and 13th seed IM Gary Lane (2421) of NSW.

Bernardino and Caoili, a Filipino-Aussie player, had 5.5 to points each and tied for the 30th 42nd places. According to an ACF newsletter received by the Weekender, NM Bernardino landed the 33rd berth and Caoili the 40th.

Behind them, besides FM Sales and NM Cunanan who had 5.0 each, were Leonardo Tenorio, 4.5, Angelito Camer, Levi Descallar, Mario Aisa and Lorenzo Escalante, 4.0 each; Allen Setiabudi and Julius Ceasar Marquez, 3.0 each; Mario Pieno, 2.0, and Ely Tzcordca, 1.0.

NM Cunanan who was in contention for an IM norm lost to IM Paul Garnett of New Zealand in the eighth round. The only one to earn an IM norm was Australian Gareth Oliver, according to the Australian Chess Federation.

Meanwhile, a report in a Fil-Ausssie blogger’s website said Bernardino also won a double-round-robin invitational event last Sunday at the residence of the Descallar family at Plumpton, also on the outskirts of Sydney.

Bernardino took the plum with a 1.5-.05 win over NM Cunanan in the final round to score 10 points from 11 games.

Among those who took part was FM Sales, the 2005 Australian Open champion.

In the Sydney Open, Bernardino (2136) had the satisfaction of scoring the biggest upset in the Sydney Open when he outwitted Russian GM Sergei Shipov (2592) in the penultimate eighth.

The Shipov-Bernardino game caught the attention of most spectators as they saw the Filipino stop the Russian GM, bringing him down to a tie for the 30th to 42nd places with 5.5 each.

Bernardino’s win against Shipov buoyed his hopes for an IM norm but unfortunately, he lost to FM Igor Bjelobrk (2386) of NSW in the ninth and final round of the Sydney Open.

Benardino had a slight mid-game advantage arising from a Reti Opening but his game crumbled in a time scramble in the last few moves.

As a result, Bjelobrk finished in a tie for seventh to 14th places.

Journalist Ignacio “Iggy” Dee quoted Cathy Rogers, wife of No. 1 Australian player, GM Ian Rogers, as saying that the Russian GM’s loss to the Filipino “was the shock of the event, although Shipov’s run was forgettable.”

Dee recalled that Shipov used to be among the top 25 players in the world, but now spends most of his time annotating games “in his exemplary style” for Russian chess websites.

Actually, as in most games, Shipov and Bernardino made mistakes in mid-game skirmishes.

Black committed the first positional error in reply to an interesting 20.g4!? when he weakened his K-side with 20…h5?, creating further holes in his dark squares.

Incredibly, however, White failed to exploit this and chose to centralize his knight instead of swapping off the dark-squared bishops so as to weaken further Black’s position.

From then on, there was an explosion of tactics that favored Black, forcing White to give up the exchange, rook for the light-squared bishop.

But then, let Spanish-Aussie IM Javier Gil, who competed in the 1986 Asian Juniors in Manila, analyze the game (his italicized notes in quotes).

• Sergei Shipov – Marlon Bernardino
Rd. 8, Sydney Int’l Open, 2007
Semi-Slav (D46)

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 e6 5.e3 Bd6 6.Bd3 0–0 7.0–0 Nbd7

“A rather passive variation. 7…dxc4 is the main line of the Meran variation of the Semi-Slav Defense.”

8.e4 dxe4 9.Nxe4 Nxe4 10.Bxe4 Nf6 11.Bc2 b6

“11…h6 is considered the better move.”

12.Bg5

“Without having done anything special, White enjoys a small advantage.”

12…Bb7 13.Qd3 g6 14.Rad1 Be7 15.Qe3 Qc7 16.Qe5 Qd8 17.Rfe1

White’s initial slight advantage is slightly growing.

17…Re8 18.Qe3 Nh5 19.c5 Ng7 20.g4!?

“My first impression was: sure, this take away the f5 square from Black’s knight, but is this weakening of the K-side really necessary?However, I now believe that g4 is actually quite a good move. What happens over the next few moves, however, is very strange indeed. [Bxe7 Qxe7 21.Be4, with a slight advantage].”

20…h5?

“Looks very tempting, but this is actually a serious error.”

21.Ne5?? After 21.Ne5??

"Absolutely unbelievable,” says IM Gil, adding: “Not only does White miss what looks like a forced win, he blunders a bishop instead. [20.Bxe7 Qxe7 21 Qh6!] And the threat of 23.Ng5 leads to a winning attack for White. Unlike other variations where Black hasn’t moved his h-pawn, …f6 is not available now as g6 would be on.”

21...f6?? “21…Bxg5 wins a piece for nothing.”

At this point, IM Gil expresses some misgiving about the accuracy of the score. “There’s probably some transcription error… but this is just too hard to believe. White must have played h4 at some point.”

22.Bxf6 Bxf6± 23.Qh6 [23.Bxg6 “This was interesting also.”
23…Bxe5 24.dxe5 Qh4 25.Bxg6?[25..f3] “With threats such as Rd7, or taking on g6, Black’s h-pawn remains pinned.” 26.Kf1?? 26.Kh1]

“And given White’s threat of Qh7 and Qh8. Black must have forced perpetual with …Qf3 and …Qg4.”

26...Ba6+ 27.Rd3 Bxd3+ 28.Bxd3 Nf5

“Blocking the white bishop. White’s attack vanishes now”

29.Bxf5 exf5 30.e6

[Deep Fritz says 30.Qxc6 does not win a prize, 30...Rac8 31.Qd5+ Kh8 and Black would have a huge advantage.]

30...Qc4+

[Best was 30...Rad8!? and Black can already relax, says Fritz, e.g., 31.Qe3 f4 32.h3 fxe3 33.hxg4 Rxe6 34.Rxe3 Rxe3 35.fxe3 hxg4 36.cxb6 axb6 37.a4 Rf8+, and Black wins]

31.Kg1 Re7!

[Nailing the point, e.g., 32.Qxh5 Qxc5!] 0–1

In Rooty Hill, Bernardino tied with NM Cunanan in scoring the highest score of 5.5 points each in the six-round Swiss Open, but Cunanan won the plum on tiebreak.

Bong Cunanan, the pride of Pampanga, and Bernardino finished the tournament undefeated to lead a field of 18 players.

The two met in the sixth and final round with their lively game ending in a draw.

Two players, Cassettari and Mahmodi, tied for third to fourth with 4.0 points each, followed by five others (Jovi, Tenorio, Kresinger, Galvez and Quesada) with 3.0 each and two, Descallar and Jamshidi, had 2.0 each.

That's it for now! Need to earn a living!

Tidbits...

"NM Marlon Bernardino shocks an out of form Shipov in the inaugaurals of Sydney International Open, IA Casto Abundo as the Chief Arbiter of the coming 9th Dubai Open, GM Antonio settles for 2nd place in the Bangkok Open, Echeverri Rapid Team Tourney is up... Philippine Chess is alive"

My Wish for Wesley

Hi there!

After our national pride's 15th place finish in the recently concluded Philippine International Open, Wesley So still is aiming for his 2nd GM norm in the 9th Dubai Cup.

For a very nice write up I found on the web about The Next Pinoy Superstar.

I have always wished and hoped for Wesley's capture of that GM title since November 2006 when he made our country proud in his Internationale Bayerische Schaha Meisterschaft, Bad Wiessee, Germany performance. He tied for 2nd place, earned first GM norm and received the Creativity Award chosen by Russian website e3e5. The only non GM within the top 10 finish. Well, he'll be the 4th youngest GM in the whole wide world if he gets the title before October 2007, his birthday month.

Late December 2006, he missed the chance to get that 2nd norm, if I remember it right in the Singapore Open and now in the Philippine Open. I am not so sure of the other tournaments he played in between this two but I really wish he will get that 2nd norm.

We'll try to wish for his 3rd and final GM norm when he hurdles this one. Let's really hope he does not get that "2nd Album Jinx" we call in the music industry. 2nd GM Norm Jinx? No! We don't want that, what we want is 2nd GM Norm!

Good luck Wesley!

Last hoorah for this post: I completely missed the Xavier Advanced Chess Clinic organized by Mr. John Sy and lectured by IA Rolly Yutuc, NM and Coach Erwin Carag (Xavier and UP Prep School) and the Philippines premier chess trainer using computer aided instructions (CAI) and journalist, Mr. Bobby "The BANG" Ang this past 2 weeks. I really regret missing this one. For those who were able to attend and hear them teach, congratulations! You can share it to us here at PCC!

Till then!

Top 10 of Philippine Open 2007

Hi there again!

We now have the result of the Philippine Open 2007:

Wang Yue (2656) at first place with 7 points from China, followed on 2nd and 3rd by Zhang Zhong (2544) and Ni Hua (2531) respectively with 7 points also. Wang Hao (2638) at 4th place and Zhao Jun (2554) 5th round up an all-Chinese GM first five.

At 6th, we have an Iranian GM, Ghaemmaghani Ehsan (2599) with 6 points and Indonesian veteran Megaranto Susanto (2530) on 7th with the same points of our Iranian visitor.

At 8th we have Li Shilong (2552) also with 6 points. Li Chao (2525) with 5.5 points at 9th and to round up the top ten, we have our very own, GM Torre (2532) at number 10.

We have seven Chinese out of ten in the top ten. Lucky for us we have a Filipino hanging in there. Also while we are in this topic, yesterday I asked about IM's Jayson Gonzalez and John Paul Gomez. Am wondering why there is/are no entry or entries coming from Vietnam? No Vietnam - China matches? I would like to see who performs better on a neutral (Philippines) ground. I thought about this since we Filipinos "used to" dominate Asia in sports (and other fields, my Dad says this to me often with Pride and Dignity). What would the result be if they go against each other? C'mon, we lost our SEA Games Chess dominance against the Viets and yes, Asia is now Super dominated by China. Interesting one!

Congratulations to all of you! Again, the Royal Game lives on!

After this International Open at Subic, we now head to one of Metro Manila's busy city, Caloocan for the 2007 Echiverri-Pichay National Rapid Chess Team Championship set April 21.

This time, we ought to get the updates easier, maybe, if time permits, I'll be able to post updates myself from the game hall itself.

Flickr on PCC

Hi!

Today, I was able to complete the procedure in adding flickr services in our blog. I was using an old image storage on the net but somehow found it more efficient to use this flickr for blogging. It gives the blog a very Filipino taste (at least the photos do)

The photos come from the compilation I've had since last year dealing with Philippine Chess.

Hope you all enjoy it! I might have included you there too, who knows? So check it out!

Pinoys in the Philippine Open '07

Hi there!

Philippine Open 2007, as what we've read from the papers (a day late) are well dominated by the Chinese visitors. As most observers in the NCFP Forum would say:

"Chinese GM's can beat us anytime of the day" - handlename: chesstrainer

And another one says

"...the Chinese players is way above the level of chess played here. Maybe once in a while, a win or two will appear but overall they are just too strong for Filipinos to handle. They are dominating the international tournament circuit nowadays...Hey guys those 2600+ SuperGM ratings are hard earned and it shows on the way they play and conduct themselves in tournament" - handlename: darkthought

But the observation which striked me most was darkthought's last post. He lamented on the performance of our young IM's hoping to get a GM norm. We have IM's Oliver Dimakiling (Champion in the recent Iligan Open) and Whiz Kid Wesley So. Scratched from the tournament were IM's Darwin Laylo and Ronald Dableo. They were not allowed to join or register although they presented a Temporary Restraining Order. These 4 young IM's hopefully, will get their GM titles in time. As for the Darwin and Ronald, they would have to wait for 6 months-1 year.

On the bright side, a Singapore-based Filipino FIDE Master will be getting his 1st GM norm (we have to confirm/clarify this) though.

Anyways, here's darkthought's post:

"BTW, GM norm quest of our International Masters is stalled anew, as IM Dimakiling nor Wesley So, even if they win their last round assignment can produce a GM performance. IM norms on the otherhand are within reach of NM Bagamasbad and Ernesto Fernandez. A draw would be enough for them to get the norm. FM Julio Catalino Sadorra is the last and only hope of the Philippines to get the elusive GM norm! A win against GM Zhang Zhong would be enough to get the GM norm! IM norm for this Singapore base woodpusher is already secured prior to round 9"

Aside from them, we saw our top 3 chessers, GM's Joey, Eugene and Mark trail closely behind by a point the tournament leaders (our Asian bros Chinese). It is a good sign for Mark to perform well again on this level. At the start of the tournament, I was hoping he would to take away all those doubts (there would always be) and try to establish his reign once again .

Here's something that escaped my head until now, where is our GM candidate Jayson Gonzales? IM John Paul Gomez? did they join this event?

For the other tournament dubbed as Philippine Challenge, The names Julius Sinangote and Branzuela Ali tops the chart.

As for the Tournament Evaluation (all events, seminars and lectures ought to be evaluated right? professionalism is guarded by a concrete and constant method of evaluation)

Media and Marketing aspect? NEEDS IMPROVEMENT! as a Special Needs teacher, we were trained to always look at the situation in a positive light. Instead of saying FAILED, use the term NEEDS IMPROVEMENT. This way, its a win situation where the failed student will focus on improving!

A lot of people are saying that this tournament is a great one. With the players and games played it should be. But we don't have any copy of the games. Tsk! Tsk!

We are still on the road to become a professional federation. But hopefully, we don't stop there, on the road. We should reach our destiny! That is to be a PROFESSIONAL FEDERATION FOR CHESS IN THE PHILIPPINES. Programs, directions, people handling it's ways.

Got a question here...

Do we have our own (truly our own) NCFP office? or we are borrowing a space from Congressman's Office?

Still a long way and we better be ready for the challenges that lay ahead in our quest for the first Filipino World Chess Champion.

Timely article

Hi there again!

There is a thread in the NCFP forum which asks the question "College Degrees of our Chess PLayers?" which I think is starting to get hot as the discussion on focusing on chess solely or on studies...

The article below, taken from The Weekender,I guess ends all those discussion. Read through it to find out.

Wesley’s sparkler in Dubai Open

EVER alert in his search for gems on the Net, journalist Ignacio “Iggy” Dee has found another sparkling game won by the country’s foremost child prodigy, IM Wesley So, at the Dubai Open in April last year when he was only 12½ years old.

• Wesley So (2254) - Fouad El Taher (2468)
Round 4, Board 9, Dubai Open, April 26, 2006
Vienna Game {C26)

1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d3 Bc5 4.Nc3 d6 5.f4 Ng4 6.f5 h5 7.Nh3 Ne3 7...c6 8.Qf3 would have equalized 8.Bxe3 Bxe3 White cannot castle K-side 9.Qf3 Bc5 9...Bh6! was an interesting alternative 10.Qg3± Rg8? 10...Rf8 was better, but White would still get the edge 11.Rf1 11.Ng5 leads to a great advantage, e.g., 11…Rf8 12.Nh7 Rg8 13.Bxf7+ Kxf7 14.Qg6+ Ke7 15.Nd5+ c6? 12.Bxf7+!

After 12.Bxf7+!

A decisive sacrifice that shatters Black’s defenses.

12...Kxf7 13.Qg6+ Kf8 14.f6 gxf6 15.Rxf6+ Qxf6 16.Qxf6+ Ke8 17.Ng5 Rf8 18.Qg6+ Kd8 19.Na4 Bf2+ 20.Kd2 Ke7 20...Bg4 won’t change anything anymore—21.Qg7 Nd7 22.h3! 21.Qg7+ Ke8 22.Nh7! 1–0

Dee says this miniature sparkler was chosen “Game of the Day” by chessgames.com.

Now 13, Wesley who is competing in the Philippine International Open at Subic Freeport plans to take part in the Dubai Open again when it gets under way on April 21 in the UAE, his mother, Leny, has told the Weekender.

Both open tournaments will give Wesley a chance to achieve GM results. He already has his first GM norm, earned at the tough 2006 Bad Wiessee tournament in Bavaria, Germany, where he finished seventh, the only non-GM to be among the top 10.

It was also in Bad Wiessee that Wesley played a game chosen for its creativity by the Russian chess website, “e3 e5.”

Wesley who will turn 14 in October has a good chance of becoming a grandmaster at 13. The youngest GM today is India’s Parimarjan Negi, who earned his GM spurs at the age of 13 years, four months and 22 days last year.

The youngest ever to win the coveted title is Sergey Karjakin of Ukraine, who did it at the age of 12 years and seven months in 2002.

Besides Negi, two others made it when they were 13—Magnus Carlsen of Norway (plus four months and 27 days) in 2004 and Bu Xiangzhi of China (plus 10 months and 13 days) in 1999.

Wesley, who plans to study business management, will be enrolling in first year high school at the St. Francis of Assisi College System in Bacoor, Cavite, according to his mom.

It is understandable that his parents, William and Leny, do not wish to disrupt Wesley’s studies for the sake of chess, given that he is also doing very well in school.

Most world champions have been able to combine chess with their profession and even excelling in both the academe and in this challenging game of kings.
Emanuel Lasker, a German Jew, was a highly respected philosopher-mathematician.
Dutch icon Max Euwe had a doctorate in mathematics and taught the subject in a university in Netherlands while at the same time doing and administering statistical research for the Dutch government.

Mikhail Botvinnik, the only champion to have won back the crown twice (from Vassily Smyslov in 1958 and from Mikhail Tal in 1961), was an electrical engineer who was responsible for setting up the grid in the Caucasus mountains of his native Russia.

More recently, Garry Kasparov finished his university studies in languages and is an established author in English. He is now actively engaged in Russian politics.

On the other hand, there are quite a number of world champions who devoted their life exclusively to the game—Vladimir Kramnik, Veselin Topalov, Viswanathan Anand, Ruslan Ponomariov, Anatoly Karpov, Alexander Alekhine, Jose Raul Capablanca and Wilhelm Steinitz, to mention some of them.

Apparently, it all depends on the individual and such circumstances as the socioeconomic and political conditions obtaining in his homeland.

Unfortunately in the Philippines professional players cannot live by chess alone, not like golf, boxing, basketball and, lately, billiards. Perhaps the NCFP can help chess players in this regard by organizing commercial leagues in the major cities nationwide.

In time, however, if the peso strengthens further and if the national economy becomes firmly entrenched in the global economy, Filipino players need not be dependent on their wits and wagers alone and be called, rather derisively as they are now, “hustlers.”

...

The next article deals with the exploits of Asia's first ever International Master, Rodolfo Tan Cardoso. I met him in one of the NCFP-Executive Chess Circle-CAAP (now ACAP) seminars last August 2006. I got the chance to ask him some questions and personally and he was very much willing to help out thechess scene in our country. It was also during this time that he spoke of our Philippine Team's performance in Turin, where he told me that there is so many things to improve on. With the current happenings in Philippine Open, I guess it's timely we go back to basics and concentrate on winning for our country.

And now, here is one of the articles I found in The Weekender:

Down memory lane with Cardoso

DURING the opening ceremony of the Pichay Chess Caravan at the QMC Plaza on Easter Sunday, IM Rodolfo Tan Cardoso brought his audience back with him down memory lane to 1956 when he became one of only four Filipino players ever to play in an international event, the 12th Olympiad in Moscow.

The three others were Florencio Campomanes, now 80 and recovering from critical injuries he suffered in a car crash two months ago, the late Glicerio Badilles and Carlos Benitez, now in San Francisco.

These four intrepid Pinoy stalwarts braved the Cold War, then at its height, and risked possible diplomatic ire from the US-led Western powers and their Filipino allies by going to Moscow with the help of the Lopez-owned Manila Chronicle.

Fortunately, the Philippine team, playing without any reserves, made history by topping Group C, with Cardoso himself winning the silver medal on board four, next only to the great Soviet GM David Bronstein, who a few years earlier had challenged Mikhail Bronstein for the world crown.

Two years later, in the 1958 Interzonal at Portoroz, he defeated Bronstein himself.

Indeed, 1956 is a watershed in the history of Philippine chess. It was in that year that Cardoso, a 19-year-old college student from Alaminos, Pangasinan, where he was born on Dec. 25, 1937, won the national junior crown.

In 1957, he became Asia’s first international master by winning the Asian Zonal and the first and only Filipino ever to beat the American genius, Bobby Fischer, in a game one on one. This was in the third round of the Pepsi Cola-sponsored match in New York, which Fischer won, 6-2.

Here is the first game he won in an international event, in the second round of the Moscow Olympiad:

T. Venkatraman (IND) vs Rodolfo Tan Cardoso (PHI)
Irregular Defense (A40)
1.d4 e6 2.c4 b6 3.Nc3 Bb7 4.e4 Bb4 5.Qc2 Nf6 6.Bd3 Nc6 If 6...c5 7.a3 Bxc3+ 8.bxc3 7.Nf3 d5 8.cxd5 exd5 9.e5 Nd7 10.0–0 Nf8 11.Ne2 a6 12.a3 Be7 13.Be3 f6 13...Ne6 14.Nf4 gives White the edge 14.Rac1 g6 15.Rfd1 Better was 15.exf6 Bxf6 16.Nf4 Qd6, with White way ahead Ne6 16.Bh6 Best was 16.Nf4 Nxf4 17.Bxf4 f5, with overwhelming advantage Kf7 17.Nh4 Missing 17.Nf4! Nxf4 18.Bxf4 Rg8! 18.Nf3 Bf8 Not because of 18...Rh8 19.Nf4 Nxf4 20.Bxf4 and White surges ahead 19.Be3 Bg7 20.Nf4 Nxf4 21.Bxf4 Re8 22.Re1 Qd7 23.h3 Re6 24.h4 Kg8 25.h5 fxe5 26.dxe5 Rf8 27.Bg3 Bh6 Not 27...gxh5 because of 28.Bxh7+ Kh8 29.Bf5! 28.Rcd1 Best was 28.Ra1 Rxf3!

After 28…Rxf3!

The start of a brilliant counterattack.

29.gxf3 Nd4 30.Qb1 Nxf3+ 31.Kg2 Nxe1+ 32.Rxe1 Qf7 33.hxg6 hxg6 34.Qc2 c5 35.Kg1 Bf4 36.Qe2?? 36.Bf1 was the saving move c4! The winning stroke 37.Bc2 Rxe5 38.Qd1 Bxg3 38...Rg5! might be quicker 39.fxg3 Rxe1+ 40.Qxe1 d4 41.Bd1 Bc6 42.Qe5 Qe8 43.Qxe8+ Bxe8! If 44.Bf3 Kg7! 0–1

As the most junior player, Rudy Cardoso played on board four, with Benitez on board three.

Asing Badilles played on board one in a strategy that made him a sort of sacrificial lamb. Campo himself was on board two.

Here is Carling’s fine win with Black in the eighth round:

Carlos Benitez (PHI) vs P. Tumurbator (MGL)
Ruy Lopez, Chigorin Defense (C99)
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 b5 6.Bb3 Be7 7.Re1 d6 8.c3 0–0 9.h3 Na5 10.Bc2 c5 11.d4 Qc7 12.Nbd2 cxd4 13.cxd4 Bb7 14.Nf1 Rac8 15.Re2 d5 16.Nxe5 Nxe4 16...dxe4 17.Bg5 leads to equality 17.f3! Nf6 18.Bg5 Rfe8 If 18...Nc6 19.Nxc6 Bxc6 20.Qd3! 19.Bf5 Rcd8 20.Rc1 Qd6 21.Ng3 21.Qe1 Nc4 would have given White a clear edge g6 22.Bb1 Nd7 Equalizing 23.Bf4 Nxe5 Best was 23...Qf6!, e.g., 24.Qd2 Nc6! 24.Bxe5 Gaining a distinct advantage Qd7 25.Bc7 25.Rc7! was stronger, e.g., 25…Qe6 26.Qd2! Nc6 26.Bxd8 Rxd8 27.Rc3 b4 28.Rce3 Bf6 Restoring the balance 29.Rd2 Bg5 30.Nf1 Bxe3+ 31.Nxe3 Qe7 32.Ng4 Re8 33.f4 f6 34.Kh2 h5 Missing the equalizer, 34...Kg7! 35.Bxg6 hxg4 36.Bxe8 Qxe8 37.Qxg4+ Kf7??

After 37…Kf7??

A blunder in a bad position. Best was 37...Kf8.

38.Qh5+! Kf8 39.Qh6+ Kg8 40.Rd3 Qb8 40...Qe4 offered the last chance for counterplay, e.g., 41.Rg3+ Kf7 41.Qxf6! This leads to mate: 41…Qxf4+ 42.Qxf4 Ne5 43.Rg3+ Ng4+ 44.Rxg4+ Kh7 45.Qf7+ Kh6 46.Qg6#! 1–0

PCC Blog Team Update

Hi there!

I am posting this write up with a saddened heart. Yesterday, I announced Mr. Manny Benitez' joining Philippine Chess. I am taking it back because for now, he can't join. There was some miscommunication about "member" of Philippine Chess as to 'Blog Team Member" of Philippine Chess.

So for now, back to solitary posting but we still can post articles from The Weekender of Mr. Manny. I guess timing is the key here.

Moving on...

I heard the Don Bosco Chess Tournament held last Sunday, April 15 was a success. Around 150 players joined the Rapid 16 and Under event. I am still trying to get hold of the final results...

It's summer time and we hear a lot of planned chess tournaments here and there. If you have some announcements, pictures to share, send it here so that we can show the whole world the grassroots chess in the Philippines...

PCC Blog Team

Hi there!

Over the weekend, I thought of inviting chess people (and writers) to take part in writing for our blog. Automatically, I thought of two people (it's not that hard to guess who they were) and really prayed that it will be okay for them. These two gentlemen, of status and credebility unquestionable, somehow has continued to provide great write-ups regarding chess in our country and the whole world.

And today, I finally got the nerve (kapal!) to ask them via text and email. The second one has agreed already and even asked me what is expected of him! My God! Just to think of giving him instructions (actually informing him, not instructing him) scares me. But as my mom would always tell me whenever she perceives my undecidedness over something she thinks will help my professional teaching career, "No Guts No Glory!" Thanks for this one sir!

I am still awaiting for the other one... He writes not to teach, but to inspire. As what I have read in one of his replies to one of his readers. Really still praying that he agrees.

So for now, there will be two bloggers for Philippine Chess. PCC readers, let's welcome Mr. Manny Benitez.

I'd like to share a little about him. This is the unedited email exchange I've had with him a month or two ago:

Manny Benitez:

Butuan is still very close to my heart because I studied there [Grades II to V from July 1945 to mid-September 1946; and Father Urios College--third year AB in 1956-57(?)], taught at Butuan Central from 1953 to 57, got married there to the former Annie Villareal (cousin of Nonoy, Tony, Swit, Julius, and Nene Tupaz and auntie of Laurice Guillen) in July 1955, but we left in May 1958 for good. We are now residing here in QC and sometimes visit our children and g-children in HK and the States. Btw, I'll be 73 in August.

The Weekender is my hobby, having been a chess columnist for about 30 years here and in Hong Kong and a retired journalist (Evening News, Manila Times, ABS-CBN, Times-Journal, Manila Times again--as editor-in-chief in 1987-88--and TODAY, as well as a 15-year stint off and on with the HK Standard/iMail and SCM Post in the former British colony).

Local Updates from The Weekender

From The Weekender:

Dimakiling captures Iligan Open

TURIN Olympiad veteran IM Oliver Dimakiling captured the Iligan Open held recently in the capital city of Lanao del Norte, NCFP regional coordinator Rey Urbiztondo reports in his latest Chess News Today newsletter.

Dimakiling won on tiebreak over Maximo Ramos, a former junior champion who is making a comeback. They had 7.5 points each, and evenly shared the first and second prizes totaling P125,000.

The P211,500 event, which attracted 76 players from all over the country, took place from March 30 to April 1 at Lailai Gradens in Palao, Iligan City under the auspices of NCFP president Prospero “Butch” Pichay and City Mayor Lawrence Cruz.

Ramos, who was born in Pagadian and now lives in Sindangan, Zamboanga del Norte, was national junior champion in the 1980s.

IM Richard Bitoon and NM Roger Sarip finished with 7.0 points each to share the third and fourth prizes.

Other winners were. Bengt Largo, NMs Emmanuel Senador and Levi Mercado, Jose Bryan and Jhonnel Balquin, in that order from fifth to ninth with 6.5 each, and NM Ernesto Fernandez in 10th place with 6.0.

Here is how Dimakiling (White) outclassed Ramos in a Queen’s Gambit Declined:

1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Qc2 0–0 6.Bg5 Nbd7 7.e3 dxc4 8.Bxc4 c5 9.dxc5 Nxc5 10.0–0 a6 11.Rfd1 Qe8 12.a4 b6 13.Nd4 Bb7 14.Bf4 Rc8 15.Qe2 Kh8 16.Bg3 Ra8 17.f3 Ncd7 18.Rac1 Nh5 19.Bf2 g6 20.g4 Ng7 21.e4 Nc5 22.b3 Nd7 23.e5 f6 24.exf6 Bxf6 25.Ne4 e5 26.Nd6 Qb8 27.Ne6 Nxe6 28.Bxe6 Be7 29.Nxb7 Nf6 30.Bd7 Qxb7 31.Bc6 Qa7 32.Bxa8 Qxa8 33.g5 1-0

Macala captures non-masters

ABOUT 200 people flocked to the Quezon Memorial Circle Chess Plaza on Easter Sunday for the much-awaited Pichay Chess Caravan’s chess festival, launching a daylong “fiesta” that saw the victory of Luneta Chess Plaza habitue Allan Macala in the non-masters tournament that highlighted the visit.

A total of 163 players competed in the afternoon event, 53 of whom had earlier pitted their wits against four masters led by the Garma brothers, Chito, an International Master, and Edgar, a Fide master.

IM Garma scored a perfect 10 points from 10 games, while his brother had nine wins and one draw. FM Garma was held by Alcon John Datu, who later won the top kiddie player award in the non-masters.

NM Mario Rebano had 12 losses and eight wins against 20 players while NM Rudy Ibañez had eight losses, four wins and one draw against 13.

In the afternoon, a lively and highly instructive chess clinic was conducted by Asia’s first international master, Rodolfo Tan Cardoso, who lectured on the basics of tactical play based mainly on his own wins at the Olympiad and other events.

Earlier in a short talk at the opening ceremony, Cardoso had traced the development of chess in the country, starting from 1956 when the Philippines for the first time sent a four-man national team to the 12th Olympiad in Moscow.

He recalled that the team came back with the honor of being the highest scorer in Group C and with himself winning the silver medal on board 4 (see also “Pinoy Gems” series on page 7).

In her talk, Atty. Charito Planas, president of the Quezon City Parks Development Foundation, Inc., exhorted all chess players of voting age to vote wisely by picking candidates with a solid record of performance in their respective fields of endeavor.

Planas was introduced by QMC Plaza management committee member Alfredo V. Chay, board secretary of the QCPDF and Weekender circulation manager.

The Pichay Chess Caravan, which aims to promote chess in the grassroots under the leadership of five-time Executive champion Jenny Mayor, is named after the president of the National Chess Federation of the Philippines, Surigao del Sur Rep. Prospero “Butch” Pichay, who is seeking a senatorial seat on the Team Unity Ticket.

Dr. Mayor, a dentist by profession, is an NCFP board director and heads its committee in charge of chess development in the grassroots.

The Chess Caravan’s non-masters tournament attracted more than 50 youngsters among its163 players. The children’s parents formed the bulk of the scores of spectators that thronged the plaza.

Macala, a Cebuano-speaking non-master, and unheralded Danilo Silva garnered 6.0 points each, with Macala winning on tiebreak.

They were followed by Mario Simborio and Michael Mallari in third and fourth with 5.5 each, followed by Andres Bautista, Gabriel Nagallo, Raymond Salcedo, Julius Sinangote, Stephen Manzanero, Samson Boniporeck, Roberto Torres, Gerardo Rodrigo and Randy Culangan with 5.0 apiece.

Nagallo won a special award as the top Quezon City player.

Bunched half a point behind them were Jose Lorica Jr., John Anthony Pedroso, Rogelio Seguban Jr., Alcon John Datu, Jaime Criste, Same Rile, Nelson Angeles, Christy Lamiel Bernales, Jupiter Samurai, Christopher Megino, Kathleen Ann Mendoza, Edgar Panganiban and Rene Domaycos.

The top lady award went to 13-year-old Christy Bernales, who played in the Southeast Asian Zonal in Phu Quoc, Vietnam, last January.

The QMC Plaza has formed a club and plans to hold at least one tournament a month.

Meanwhile, plans are afoot to put up a training class of beginners to be conducted by Caloocan instructor Juan Tapel Jr. during the summer vacation.

Among the first applicants is Adi Maronilla, the five-year-old prodigy who last year astounded the country by mental feats like naming all the constellations in the heavens and capital of most countries in the world, as well as identifying the flag of each nation.

The class will have eight training sessions to be held every Sunday.

Joey’s devastating defeat at hands of Loek
By Bobby Ang

In these modern times, you hardly ever see a Filipino game published in the mainstream chess literature, but it seems that GM Rogelio Antonio Jr. has achieved the negative immortality of losing a spectacular game to GM Loek Van Wely of the Netherlands during the 2006 Turin Olympiad.

The game was featured as the lead article in the very well-circulated Chessbase Magazine 113 on DVD complete with video, audio and GM commentary, is commented on in several chess magazines, and was awarded as the 2nd most important theoretical novelty of the period. I confess to be watching the game online during the chess Olympiad, and I thought GM Joey was winning until a few moves towards the end.

I guess I’ll have to show it to you now.

Van Wely,Loek (2655) - Antonio,Rogelio Jr (2539) [E37]
Turin Olympiad (Men) (11), 02.06.2006

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 d5!?

As pointed out by Van Wely, a few weeks before the Olympiad he had won a nice game with White against Joel Lautier in the Dutch League. Since this game took place after the rest day, alarm bells were ringing that GM Joey might have a theoretical novelty up his sleeve. However, Van Wely had studied the game himself and was quite confident of his preparation, so ...

5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.Qxc3 Ne4 7.Qc2 c5 8.dxc5 Nc6 9.cxd5 exd5 10.Nf3 Bf5

Now there is a threat of a discovered attack on the white queen with ...Ng3.

11.b4

White is daring Black to go into the complexities of 11...Ng3 12.Qb2 Nxh1 13.Qxg7, but GM Joey prefers another line of attack.

11...d4

This is the latest wrinkle, introduced by Anand, but after this game maybe we can already assess it as "exciting but dubious". The idea is that the discovered attack ...Ng3 now becomes a real possibility, since White no longer has the resource Qb2.

12.g4!? Bg6 13.Qc4 d3!?

Anand's move with which he took Kramnik by surprise. If White takes with the pawn 14.exd3 Qf6 attacks the rook and knight on f3 simultaneously. White could probably work his way through the complications and preserve the material balance, but his king position would become exposed. On the other hand if he takes with the queen then 14.Qxd3 Qf6 15.Rb1 Ne5! looks extremely dangerous for White.

14.Bg2!?

Loek is the first to vary from his game with Lautier. There the continuation was 14.Be3 Qf6 15.Rd1 dxe2? (If I know GM Joey he probably intended to play 15...0–0–0!? here) 16.Bxe2 0–0 17.0–0 Nc3 18.Rd6 Van Wely had the advantage which he pushed on for the victory. Van Wely,L (2647)-Lautier,J (2682)/ Enschede 2006 1–0 (48).

14...Qf6 15.Ra2 Ne5

Kramnik vs Anand from 1999 Dortmund continued 16.Qb5+ Nc3 17.Qc4 and they shook hands. Van Wely has seen something in the position.

After 15...Ne5
16.g5!

This is the big improvement. Loek commented that it was easy to find the improvement if you have a “silicon friend”. Indeed, if you analyze with Fritz then the text is its very first suggestion.

16...Nxc4 17.gxf6 Nc3?

GM Joey misassesses the position and continues to play for a win, whereas he should have been more conservative and continued 17...Nxf6 18.Nd2 Nxd2 19.Rxd2 0–0–0 where White has an edge, but it is still a game.

18.fxg7 Rg8 19.Ra1 0–0–0

Van Wely writes that his teammates were worried about the game, but everything was under control.

20.Bh3+! Kb8?

Better was 20...f5 although White keeps a big, possibly winning, edge with 21.e3 Rxg7 22.Nd2 Nxd2 23.Bxd2 Ne2 or (23...Ne4 24.Rg1 followed by f2-f3) 24.f3 followed by Kf2. GM Joey was suffering from a hallucination, which I will point out later.

21.Bf4+ Ka8 22.Rc1 dxe2
[22...Nxe2 23.Rxc4]
23.Rxc3

Now, realizing that there is no mate on d1, GM Joey resigns. 1–0

A devastating defeat!

------------------

Notes on Sir Bobby's Article:

I know a story about super GM Loek Van Wely. He played someone at the MSN Zone some time around 2006, probably March or April against an unknown Special Ed Teacher from the Philippines. Their first 2 games went in favor of the super GM, in an ultra-super nerve wracking 5 minute blitz game. Then came the 3rd game which the teacher won with a checkmate. Then followed another seventeen games which saw the teacher beaten into dust and ashes. Ouch! Then came the revelation, because online games do not usually have the hi-how are you? - what's your name? and where you from? conversation, it happens at the end of the match, the clueless beaten up, lowly chess playing teacher asked, from where are you and what's your name? becuase you made me feel like this is the first time I played chess... came the reply, "Peter Van Loek, GM from the Netherlands, and you play well against a super GM!" Whaat? Yup! GO and check my name at chessbase!"

Lesson of the incident? Play online games as much as you can because you'll never know who'm you're gonna mess up with. Hahahahhaahah!

You know who that guy is?

Almanza Chess Club

Hi there!

Join the 1st Almanza Chess Club (Las Pinas) Non-Mater 2100 and Below (standard rating) Active Chess Tourney, Tuesday, 9:00 AM, May 1 2007. Venue will be at Guzman Building Rosal cor Gladiola street, TS Cruz Subdivision, Las Pinas City. Ault Entry fee at PhP 250.00 and Mixed Kiddies, 16 and Under Php 150.00. For further details, Please contact 09215290644 or 09196227966.

For updates on Philippine Open results, check it here.

2nd round Update

As posted by micrab of our NCFP Forum:

As heard over DZSR Sports Radio 918 AM, after two rounds, 12 players remain unbeaten, among them are our very own GM Torre, IM Wesley and Hamed. Two rounds will be played today. GM Paragua was able to bounce back with a win in round 2.

Subic Open 1st Round Results

Finally! They have responded...

Please click here to view the results of the 1st round results of the Subic Open.

Not much news except for the much publicized continued slump of our very own GM Mark Paragua and other 4 upsets. All am really waiting for is Wesley So's 2nd GM norm to happen in this event.

Also, the Xavier Advance Chess Clinic is on-going with Mr. Bobby Ang's lecture on Computer Aided Chess Training to happen on April 14 and 21, from 10 in the morning to 1130.

On Sunday, April 15, The Don Bosco Institute-Makati will be hosting a tournament. It will be a 7 round-swiss system and I really interested with the results of the 14 and Under event. Watch out for the results here.

As of now, I am glad to have finally read in the papers (and internet) the result of the first round of Subic Open. I wish to end this post with a happy note... happy note!

Subic Open?

Hi there guys!

Lately, I have not made enough effort in posting for Philippine Chess for the following reasons: first, I am seriously considering on moving on to a new job (probably college teaching or consultancy) and secondly, again, I feel like just not having the will to write about chess ( and play).

But anyways, I have learned that the game of chess is played around the world and in our country everyday, in official or unofficial status even without the coverage of the media. Not to mention even with the "NEWS BLOCKOUT". Hahahahah! What's there to hide about? among the chess audience? Can't find any write ups in the newspapers nor even in the NCFP official Website regarding the on-going (?) Subic Open.

Hay! Hay! Hay! I got one from Philippine Daily Inquirer but it didn't say much about the first round result. All it says was that the 3 Filipino IM's suspension stays, and that only the NCFP has the right to reverse it's decision. Poor Ronald, Darwin and Chito. Yes, IM's Ronald Dableo, Darwin Laylo and Chito Garma were not allowed to play in the present Philippine Open being held at Subic, Olongapo City.

So what's next? I guess even the NCFP people don't know. I'll try to check Amiel del rosario's very updated blog, The Closet Grandmaster and find out what he's got.

Till then! Regards to all the readers of Philippine Chess! Your feedbacks make my blog-life worth posting!

Feedback from one of our kababayan:

My name is Trifee Miaco: trifee@hotmail.com - one in a group of Filipino chess players based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada - I go to your website to feed my hunger for Philippine chess news. Thank you!

Nitoy's Chess Clock Repair ... his new and correct address should read:

Nonito "Nitoy" Medina
Chess Clock Repair
Near ETG Pawn Shop and
front of San Pedro Market
Poblacion, San Pedro,
Laguna
Cell # 0918-325-8633

I have not seen the Official Website for the on-going Philippine Open . Hope NCFP knows better now, tournament organization and communication wise.

Let's wait for a little while.

After the Holy Week Break

Today, April 10, is the start of the Philippine Open to be joined by 20 foreign players led by the 1st GMA Cup Champion, GM Pengxiang. Ceremonial moves will be between Representative Picahy and GM Penxiang. Philippine delegation is heade by GM's Joey Antonio, Eugene Torre and Mark Paragua. So who says Mark is on his way out and into Singapore? At least he can prove his critics wrong.

Alongside this event is the Philippine International Challenge for players 2200 and below.

Olongapo City is the host for this event which runs from April 10-20 2007. May this event bring us closer to our dreams, that of a united world (hehehe!) thru sports.

In another news, VETERAN campaigner Allan Macala captured the Pichay Chess Caravan non-masters tournament at the Quezon Memorial Circle Chess Plaza on Easter Sunday.

Macala garnered 6.0 points from seven games and won on tiebreak over Danilo Silva to lead a field of 163 untitled players in a day highlighted by simultaneous exhibitions by four masters and a clinic by Asia’s fist international master, Rodolfo Tan Cardoso.

We are seeing the activation of Quezon Memorial Circle Chess Plaza and it won't be long before it holds more major tourneys for Philippine Chess. More power!

Joey on top!

From The Weekender:

Joey now No. 1 in RP as Torre, Paragua tie for second & third. Wesley climbs to No. 4 on Fide list for second quarter even as ratings of four GMs slide down. Veteran Grandmaster Joey Antonio has climbed to the top of the Fide list of 100 active Filipino players despite a 12-point drop in his rating, bumping off GM Mark Paragua from the premier post.

IM Wesley So made the sharpest climb, from No 12 with 2418 on January 1 to No. 4 with 2519, or a rise of 101 points

Paragua who has lost 41 points since January 1 tied for the second and third spots with Eugene Torre whose rating also fell from 2547 to 2532 during the first quarter.

Antonio’s rating dropped from 2551 to 2539 on the basis of 17 games.

The World Chess Federation (Fide) issued the list for the second quarter covering games played over the three months ending mid-February.

The top 30 players: 1. GM Antonio (2539), 2-3. GMs Torre and Paragua (2532) 4. IM So (2510), 5.Rogelio Barcenilla (2503) 6. IM Joseph Sanchez (2497) 7. IM Oliver Dimakiling (2491) 8. IM Darwin Laylo (2486) 9. John Paul Gomez ((2476) 10. IM Jayson Gonzales (2461) 11. NM Hamed Nouri (2454) 12. IM Roland Salvador (2452) 13. IM Ronald Dableo (2451) 14.GM Nelson Mariano (2447) 15. IM Enrique Paciencia (2431);
16. GM Bong Villamayor (2425) 17. IM Rolly Martinez (2422) 18. NM Oliver Barbosa (2420) 19.IM Rico Mascariñas (2416) 20. IM Richard Bitoon (2412) 21. IM Yves Rañola (2409) 22. FM Julio Catalino Sadorra (2407) 23-24. NMs Rolando Nolte (2405) and Sander Severino (2405) 25 IM Barlo Nadera (2399) 26 IM Ricardo de Guzman (2398) 27. IM Chito Garma (2396) 28. FM Fernie Donguines (2387 29. NM Emanuel Senador (2381) 30.NM Ernesto Fernandez (2376).

Exactly 100 names were listed.

Arguelles wins QMC plum

NON-MASTER Efren Arguelles upset National Master Andrew Vasquez in the penultimate fourth round and outwitted upcoming young star Mari Joseph “MJ” Turqueza in the final to make a clean sweep of the inaugural tournament of the Quezon Memorial Circle Chess Plaza Club yesterday.

Arguelles, who takes care of the plaza, won the trophy on a tiebreak over another high-rated non-master, Christopher Megina. Both finished with a perfect 5.0 points from five games to lead a of 44 players who took part in the “chess is fun” event held for prospective members of the club.

Arguelles and Megina shared the cash prize at P400 each from the P2,000 jackpot donated by the club president, lawyer Gene Turqueza.

The third prize was shared by NM Vasquez, candidate-master Julius Sinangote, Louie Salvador and Joseph Carpio at P100 each. The four had 4.0 points apiece.

Special category prizes of P150 plus trophy each also went to the best performers.

Nine-year-old Mervince Yanzon won the top kiddie award, Mari Joseph “MJ” Turqueza the top junior, Rolando Elcano the top senior, and Myra Carla Aguilar of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines the top lady.

Board chairman Manny Benitez and director Ray Hipolito awarded the prizes in a ceremony led by Turqueza, the father of MJ.

Alfredo V. Pichay, a member of the board, served as tournament director and NM Erwin Carag and Jun Tapel as arbiters. Carag volunteered to be the arbiter while Tapel played in the “chess for fun” tournament.

A membership meeting presided over by Turqueza, the lawyer-father of MJ, followed the tournament to formalize the registration of the club as a non-stock, non-profit corporation with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The meeting, however, turned into a stormy session when plaza habitué Joey Carinan complained that he was left out as an incorporator of the club although it was he who had prepared the SEC registration papers.

Pending resolution of the issue and the possible amendment of the incorporation papers, Turqueza suspended the implementation of the P50 monthly dues and adjourned the meeting.

Meanwhile, the Pichay Chess Caravan will stop over at the QMC Chess Plaza on Easter Sunday to hold a clinic, rapid tournament and a simultaneous exhibition.
Winners will receive cash prizes, chess sets and reading materials.

The caravan has been visiting barangays in Metro Manila and outlying provinces and cities to help propagate the game in the grassroots.

It is a nationwide project launched by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines under Rep. Prospero Pichay of Surigao del Sur.

IM Datu holds clinic for jail inmates

ATENEO head coach IM Idelfonso Datu held a chess clinic and tournament for the Manila City Jail inmates last Monday under the joint auspices of the Rotary Club of Manila San Miguel and the Philippine College of Criminology.

The outreach project was designed to teach the inmates a wholesome and educational way of passing the time by playing the game of kings.

The one-day chess clinic included basic as well as intermediate instructions on how to play the game.

A five-round blitz tournament followed the clinic.

Erwin San Jose of D#8 won the event with a 36-move win from a Queen’s Pawn opening over M. Djambangan in the last round.

Jerry Macacua of D#7 finished in second place after beating Emmanuel Manggaya of D#6 in 45 moves of a Caro-Kann game. Manggaya ended up in third.

The fourth to sixth places went to Jaime Castillo of D#11, Glenn Peña of D#1 and Aldin Bautista of D#9.

Special problem-solving awards were given to Abel Cruz and Lindon.

IM Datu conducted the clinic with the help of the Ateneo women’s chess team and in coordination with the jail warden, Supt, Allen Sullano Iral.

The Rotary Club of Manila San Miguel under its president, Gregory Alan Bautista, donated 30 chess sets to the Manila City Jail.

P220,000 Iligan Open kicks off

THE annual Illigan-NCFP Open Chess Tournament kicked off yesterday with a big field of players from all over the country competing for cash prizes totaling a whopping P220,000.

The champion is to receive P75,000 plus trophy—a prize more than three times that of last year’s event. The other big winners will also receive both cash and trophies.

Most of the participants came from Lanao del Norte and nearby provinces.

The event, which is being be held at the Lanao Chung Hua School‘s gym in Patau, Iligan city, is a joint project of the city government and the National Chess Federation.

MCC tourney today for 1900 and below

THE Metropolitan Chess Club is holding an active chess tournament today for non-masters rated 1900 and below at St. Francis Square (behind SM Megamall) in Mandaluyong City.

At stake is a total pot of P10,000 with P3,000 going to the champion.

A consolation prize of P500 will also go to the top unrated player as well as to the top under-12 kiddie.

The six-round Swiss event will have a time control of 25 minutes per player per game.

Cam Norte leg of Bicol series under way

THE three-day Camarines Norte leg of the Region V (Bicol) Championship gets under way today at the Provincial Capitol in Daet.

The series, held under the auspices of NCFP president and Surigao del Sur Rep. Prospero “Butch” Pichay and NCFP secretary general and Tagaytay Mayor Abraham “Bembol” Tolentino, kicked off at the Albay Provincial Capitol with a three-day Swiss on March 17-19.

This was followed by the Camarines Sur leg, which was held from March 24 to 26 at the LCC Shopping Mall in Naga City.

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Philippine Chess is alive and kicking! Thanks to all of you!