News here and there

It's Sunday afternoon here in the Philippines and we have The Weekender in my inbox now. It's time we spread the news by Mr. Tito Manny Benitez...

Wesley wins again!
NO doubt about it: Wesley So is the Champion of Champions!

The 13-year-old wunderkind from Bacoor, Cavite has added another feather in his cap—the title of “Champion of Champions”—within a mere six months of getting his first national title, a feat never achieved before by a Filipino player.

Already, he wears three national crowns: the 2006-07 Pichay Cup National Open Champion, the 2007-08 National Junior Champion, and now Shell’s “Champion of Champions!”

Just recently, too, he swept off the boards all 18 opponents, kids and grownups alike, in a simultaneous exhibition at the Meralco headquarters on Ortigas Ave., Pasig City.

Wesley won his national open title only six months ago, in mid-December of 2006, and he did it against the strongest players in the country today.

They included all five grandmasters—Joey Antonio, Eugene Torre, Mark Paragua,
Bong Villamayor and Nelson Mariano II—as well as top-rated international masters like
two-time national open champion Darwin Laylo, former zonal champion Ronald Dableo and So’s fellow Turin Olympiad veteran Oliver Dimakiling, whom he defeated in the finals of Shell’s Battle of Champions last Wednesday.

Pilipinas Shell launched this week’s inaugural Battle of Champions to mark the 15th anniversary of the country’s most popular chess series in the grassroots, the Shell National Youth Active Chess Championships for juniors (20 years old and younger) and kiddies (14 years old and younger), which kicked off yesterday at SM Manila.

The Battle of Champions drew 21 players, all former Shell champions that included four IMs, two Fide masters and six national masters. With a rating of 2519, IM So himself was the top seed, followed by his fellow finalist, Dimakiling (2491)

Only four former Shell champions could not join the battle royale as they were all abroad: GM Paragua, who is campaigning in the US circuit, GM Mariano, who teaches chess in Singapore, the country’s newest IM, Julio Catalino Sadorra, who is based in Singapore, and IM Roland Salvador, based in Italy.

The former Shell champions who entered the fray were IMs So, Dimakiling, Dableo and the first Shell champion, Idelfonso Datu; FMs Sander Severino and Julius de Ramos; NMs Oliver Barbosa, Rustum Tolentino, Jake de la Cruz, Cedric Magno and Edgar Eggie Olay; and non-masters Kim Steven Yap, Rodel Alsado, Ivan Gil Biag, Deniel Causo, Bryan Jose, Edsel Montoya, Shelder Nebato, Karl Victor Ochoa, and last year’s kiddie king, Jan Emanuel Garcia, at 11 the youngest combatant.

Those eliminated on the first day were Magno, Montoya, Yap and Ochoa.

On the second day 12 were knocked out and the four left to fight it out on the third day were So, Dimakiling, Barbosa and Dableo.

In the end only So and Dimakiling were left, and the two fought it out in a best of two duel, both ending in draws and extending it to a third, sudden-death game where So, playing Black, forced a draw again to claim the win under the rules of engagement.

O. Dimakiling – Wesley So
Rd. 1, Champions final, Megamall 2007
Torre, London and Colle (A46)

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.Bg5 c5 4.e3 cxd4 5.exd4 Be7 6.Bd3 0–0 7.0–0 b6 8.Nbd2 Ba6 9.c4 Nc6 10.Qa4 Bb7 11.Rac1 h6 12.Bh4 Nh5 13.Bg3 Nxg3 14.hxg3 Bf6 15.c5 a6 16.Ne4 b5 17.Nxf6+ Qxf6 18.Qd1 Nb4 19.Bb1 Bxf3 20.gxf3 Rfd8 21.a3 Nc6 22.Be4 Rac8 23.d5 exd5 24.Qxd5 Qxb2 25.Rfd1 Ne7 26.Qd3?? Best was 26.Qd6 Nc6 27.Qd5, with equal chances, says Fritz Qf6 26...d5! was best 27.a4 bxa4 28.Qa3 ½–½

RP a poor third in Asean Age-Group contests in Pattaya

THE 27-man Philippine contingent has come back home with 42 medals—a poor third to Vietnam, which gathered 143, and Singapore, which had 52.

These figures were taken from the Vietnamese website because the official Asean website excluded the Blitz contests.

What our boys and girls brought home from Pattaya, Thailand:

• Standard—15 medals, broken down as follows: three individual gold, two silver
and two bronze, plus two team silver and six team bronze.
• Blitz—16 medals, broken down as follows: three individual gold, one individual silver and four individual bronze, plus one team gold, two team silver and five team bronze.
• Rapid—11 medals, broken down as follows: two individual gold and one individual silver, plus three team silver and five team bronze.

8th ASEAN AGE-GROUP CHAMPIONSHIPS
Golden but lean harvest of medals

THE 27-man Philippine contingent came back home this weekend from the eighth Asean Age-Group Championships with only a handful of medals to show and more than a mouthful of complaints about getting a raw deal in Pattaya, Thailand.

Charges that the Filipino boys and girls had been treated unfairly appeared to be confirmed by the results posted on the official website: the three gold medals won in Blitz by under-14 champion Haridas Pascua and under-12 vice champion Vince Angelo Medina, individually and by his team, were not included in the official tally.

Earlier, in the medals tally at the end of the nine-round Standard event but before the Rapid event, it was reported that the Philippine team had garnered four gold medals, two silver and three bronze for a total of nine medals.

But when the tournament ended, the official tally posted on the same website showed that the Philippines had only two gold, three silver and three bronze, or only eight in all despite the addition of two medals from the Rapid event—the gold won by under-18 boys champion Paulo James Florendo and by under-16 girls champion Kimberly Jane Cunanan.

As posted on the official website, only two Filipinos won the gold in the Standard event—under-8 girls’ champion Samantha Glo Revita and under-14 boys’ champion Pascua.

Two silver medals in the Standard event were won by under-12 girls’ champion Brena Mae Membrere and under-12 boys’ vice champion Vince Angelo Medina.

Two bronze medals were also won in Standard—by under-8 girls vice champion Marie Antoinette San Diego and by under-18 girls’ champion Aices Salvador.

No results were posted from the Blitz event, most likely due to the protest lodged by Philippine delegation head Willie Abalos and coach GM Joey Antonio, who both denounced an allegedly illegal ruling made by a Vietnamese arbiter.

The Vietnamese awarded the win to his eight-year-old female compatriot at the expense of San Diego when in fact both girls had run out of time. Under the rules, it should have been declared a draw. As a result Marie Antoinette had to settle for a silver.

In an 11th-hour decision, however, tournament officials awarded San Diego awarded the draw and the gold.

If the Blitz medals had been included, the Philippines should have come back home with five gold, six silver and 11 bronze medals.

The bronze medalists in Blitz were Cunanan, under-14 girls champion Chardine Cheradee Camacho; under-16 boys Emmanuel Eumer Songcuya, Joel Pimentel Jr. and Angelo Joshua Nuestro; under-18 girls Aices Salvador and Susan Grace Neri, and under-12 girls’ Brena Mae Membrere and Ma. Leonora Daylo.

It was just as bad, or even worse, in the reporting of the results of the last event, the Rapid.

The official website said there were only seven rounds and that the only Filipinos to win medals were under-18 boys champion Florendo (silver) and under-16 girls champion Cunanan (bronze).

A report published in the Inquirer, however, said Florendo and Cunanan each won the gold after nine rounds. This was confirmed only when the Philippine contingent flew back on Friday to Manila.

Because the Philippines was credited with only eight medals from Standard and Rapid in the tally as posted on the official website, it landed the third slot, behind Vietnam, which had a whopping total of 51 medals (20 gold, 16 silver and 15 bronze), and Singapore with 12 medals (three gold, three silver and six bronze), as posted on the website.

Ironically, most of the coaches and trainers of the Singaporeans are Filipinos.

Behind the Philippines were India (three medals, one in each category), Myanmar (two medals, both silver) and Indonesia (two medals, one silver and one bronze).

One gold medalist who could not go to Thailand was under-12 champ Jan Emmanuel Garcia. Jem won the gold last year in Indonesia.

Garcia, who was last year’s Shell Kiddies active chess king, competed in the “Battle of Champions” organized by the multinational oil company at SM Megamall in Mandaluyong City earlier this week.

The most impressive individual performance in Pattaya was that of 13-year-old schoolboy Haridas Pascua of Mangatarem, Pangasinan.

The national under-14 boys’ champion swept through the nine-round Standard event undefeated and conceded only one draw to score 8.5 points, a full two points ahead of his closest rival from Vietnam.

In Blitz, he won the individual gold and in the Rapid (also known as Active) event, he won the silver after struggling through the first four rounds, making up for it only in the last three rounds.

This was not reflected, however, in the official posting.

Thanks to reader John Manahan, the Weekender was able to get some games up to the fourth round of the Standard competition, where in the third round, Haridas, playing Black, bungled his opening and lost a rook early on.

Pretending to have lost interest in his game, he kept wandering around the tournament hall watching other games and returning only to his board to make his reply.

This probably lulled his Singaporean rival to complacency because in mid-game complications, he suddenly unleashed a fierce assault on White’s king, causing his rival to make mistakes and eventually resign in the face of impending checkmate.

• Daniel Chan Yi Ren – Haridas Pascua
Rd. 3, Standard
Sicilian Pelikan and Sveshnikov (B33)

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Nd5 Nxd5 8.exd5 Ne7 9.c3 Ng6 10.Qa4 Bd7 11.Qb4 Bf5 12.Qc4 Rc8 13.Qa4! Qd7? Better but still awkward was 13...Bd7 14.Qxa7 Rb8 14.Nxd6+! Bxd6 15.Bb5 Rc6 16.dxc6 Qc7 17.cxb7+ Ke7 18.Bc6 Bc2 19.Qa6 19.Qb5 was more precise: 19...Bd3 20.Qxd3 Qxc6 Bc5 20.0–0 20.Bd5! seems even better, says Fritz: 20...Rb8 21.Qc4 Bb6 22.Qxc7+! Rd8 21.Qb5 Qb6 22.Qxb6 Bxb6 23.b3 Kd6 24.Bb5 Kc7 25.Ba6 Rd6 26.Ba3 Rf6 27.Rac1 Be4 28.c4?? Bd4! 29.Bb4? Nf4 30.c5?? Rg6 31.Rfe1 Rxg2+ 32.Kf1 Bf3 Missing the mating line: 32...Rxf2+! 33.Kg1 Nh3#! 33.Rc3??

A blunder. Black could now mate the king via 33…Rxf2+! 34.Kg1 Nh3#!; if 34.Ke1 Ng2#! 0–1

• Nguyen Hoai Nam – Haridas Pascua
Rd. 2, Standard
Queen’s Pawn Opening, Torre Attack (D03)

1.d4 c5 2.c3 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Bg5 d5 5.e3 Bd6 6.Bd3 Nbd7 7.0–0 0–0 8.Nbd2 Qc7 9.Qc2 c4 10.Be2 b5 11.Bh4 Rb8 12.Bg3 Bxg3 13.hxg3 Bb7 14.Nh4 g5 14...Ne4 may be tried 15.Nhf3 h6 16.Nh2 Ne4 17.g4 Ndf6 18.f3 Ng3 19.Rf2 Kg7 20.Nhf1 Bc6 21.Nxg3 Qxg3 22.b4 Rh8 23.Nf1 23.e4 dxe4 24.fxe4 Nxg4 25.Bxg4 Qxg4 should keep the balance Qc7 24.Nd2? Best was 24.g3, says Fritz h5! 25.e4?dxe4?? Allows White back into the game: 25...hxg4 should win, e.g., 26.e5 g3 27.exf6+ Kxf6 26.fxe4 Nxg4 27.Bxg4 hxg4 28.e5 g3 29.Rf6 Rh2 30.Nf1 Rxg2+ 31.Qxg2 Bxg2 32.Kxg2 Qc6+ 33.Kxg3 Qh1 34.Rd1 Qh4+! 0–1

• Haridas Pascua – Nguyen Van Hai
Rd. 4, Standard
Queen’s Indian (E15)

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 c5 4.Nf3 b6 5.Nc3 cxd4 6.Qxd4 Nc6 7.Qd3 Bb7 8.e4 Be7 9.Bg2 Nb4 10.Qe2 d5 11.exd5 exd5 12.a3 Nc6 13.0–0 d4 14.Rd1 0–0 15.Nb5 Re8 16.Qc2 a6 17.Nbxd4 Nxd4 18.Rxd4 Qc8 19.Rd2 Be4 20.Qb3 Bc5 21.Re2 Qg4 22.Bf4 Nh5 23.h3 Qg6 24.Ne5 Nxf4 25.Rxe4 Nxh3+ 26.Kh2 Qh5? Best was 26...Qf6 27.Ng4 Qg5, reducing White’s lead 27.g4! White surges on Qh4 28.Qxh3 Qxf2 29.Nd3 Bd6+ 30.Kh1 Qf6 31.Rf1 Qg6 32.Qh5 Rxe4 33.Qxg6 fxg6 34.Bxe4 Re8 35.Bd5+ Kh8 36.Kg2 h5 37.Re1 Rd8 38.Ne5 Kh7 38...Bxe5 offered the last chance for counterplay 39.Nf7 Rd7 40.Re8 g5 41.gxh5 g6 42.h6 1–0

Haridas demonstrated his mastery of the game again in Blitz, winning the individual gold.

Inspired by his example, Vincent Medina also played magnificently, winning the individual gold and helping his teammates win it collectively—the only Filipino team to do so.

Unfortunately, however, there was no record of the games and the results were not even officially acknowledged by the official webmaster.

As in any other competition, there were disappointments from those expected to turn in better results but failed to come up to expectations.

Strangely enough, it was the youngest girls, playing for the first time away from home in an international event in a strange land, who delivered the goods.

On the whole, they performed much better than the better-trained, more experienced female champions.

National under-8 girls’ champion Samantha Go Revita and her vice champion, Maria Antoinette San Diego, both won the gold in in the Standard version of the game.

San Diego got the gold just before she and her compatriots left Pattaya for Manila.

Little Marie Antoinette created the biggest sensation in the first few days when she mated three of her foreign rivals—one after the other in a row!

The only other female player who managed to mate her opponent was national under-18 champion Aices Salvador who, like Marie Antoinette, won the bronze in her age group. But Aices was able to deliver checkmate only once.

• Dharsha Raja Jawahar – Marie Antoinette San Diego
Rd. 2, Under-8 Girls, Pattaya 2007
Sicilian Defense (B50)

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bc4 e6 5.d3 Be7 6.0–0 0–0 7.Bf4 Nc6 8.Bb5 Bd7 9.Bxc6 Bxc6 10.Re1 Re8 11.d4 cxd4 12.Nxd4 e5 13.Nxc6 bxc6 14.Bg3 Rb8 15.b3 Bf8 16.Qf3 Qa5 17.Re3 d5! 18.Na4 18.Bh4 Re6 19.Rd3 should keep the balance Nxe4! 19.Re2 Nxg3 20.hxg3 g6 21.Qf6 Bg7 21...Qc7 was best 22.Qxc6 Rec8 23.Qd6 e4 24.Rd1 Rd8 25.Qc5 Qa6 26.Red2 d4! 27.c3 d3 28.Qc4? 28.Qe3 should be played, e.g., 28…Qc6 29.Qxa7! Qxc4! 29.bxc4 Rdc8 30.c5 Rc6 31.Nb2 31.f3 Ra6 32.fxe4 Rxa4 33.Rxd3 Be5 favors Black Rxc5 Fritz says 31...Bxc3!? seems even better: 32.Nxd3 Bxd2 33.Rxd2 exd3 34.Rxd3 Rb1+ 35.Kh2 Rxc5! 32.f3 Bxc3 33.Na4 Bd4+ 34.Kh2 Rh5#! 0–1

• Marie Antoinette San Diego – Hoang Minh Thu
Rd, 3, Under-8 Girls, Pattaya 2007
Ruy Lopez (C80)

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 Nxe4 6.Re1 Nf6 6...Nc5 7.Bxc6 dxc6 8.Nxe5 should equalize 7.Nxe5² Nxe5 8.Rxe5+ 8.d4! was best Be7 Equalizing 9.Nc3 0–0 10.Re1 b5 11.Bb3 d6 11...d5 12.Nxd5 Nxd5 13.Bxd5 Qxd5 14.Rxe7 keeps the balance 12.h3 Qd7 13.d3 b4 14.Nd5 Nxd5 15.Bxd5 c6 16.Bf3 Re8 17.Bd2 a5 18.Bg4 Qc7 19.Bg5 Bxg4 20.Qxg4 Bxg5 21.Qxg5 Rxe1+ 22.Rxe1 Qd8 22...d5 23.Qe7 Qxe7 24.Rxe7 equalizes 23.Qxd8+ Rxd8 24.c3 24.Re7 was better bxc3 25.bxc3 h6 26.Rb1 Re8 27.Rb6 Re1+ 28.Kh2 Re2 29.Rxc6 Rxa2 If 29...Rxf2 30.a4! 30.Rxd6 a4 30...Rxf2 31.Kg3 Rd2 32.d4 restores the balance 31.c4 a3? 31...Rxf2! may be tried, e.g., 32.Kg3 Rd2, with equal chances 32.Ra6 Ra1 33.d4 33.Ra8+ was better a2 34.c5 Kf8 35.d5 Ke8 36.d6 Kd7 37.Ra7+ 37.g4 should be tried Kc8?? Missing the chance to equalize by 37...Kc6 38.c6! Kb8 39.Ra5 39.Rb7+ was most decisive: 39...Ka8 40.d7 Rh1+ 41.Kg3, with tremendous advantage Kc8 39...Rc1 offered a slim chance to avoid mate: 40.d7 Rd1 41.Rxa2 Kc7 40.Ra8#! 1–0

• Marie,Antoinette San Dieg - Huynh,Thu Truc [B75]
Rd. 4, U-8 Girls, Pattaya 2007
Sicilian Dragon, Yugoslav Attack (B75)

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.f3 d6 8.Bc4 Qc7 9.Bb3 Bd7 10.Qd2 a6 11.0–0–0 0–0–0? 12.Qf2 12.Bxf7 may be tried, e.g., 12…Rdf8 13.Ne6 Bxe6 14.Bxe6+ Kb8 15.Kb1!, and White surges ahead Rde8? 13.Nde2?? 13.Bxf7 was strongest, e.g., 13...Ne5 14.Bxe8 Rxe8 15.Bg5! e6 14.Kb1 Kb8? Best was 14...h6 15.Bb6! Qc8 16.Rxd6 Ne5 17.Ba7+ Ka8 18.Qb6? g5 Missing 18...Nc6! 19.e5 Nxe5! 19.Rhd1 h5 20.a3 g4 21.f4 Nc4?? Black falls apart, says Fritz, suggesting instead 21...Nc6 22.e5 Bf8 23.Rxc6 Bxc6 24.exf6 Bh6 22.Bxc4 Qxc4 23.e5 Nd5 24.Nxd5 25.Nc7#! 1–0

• Aices,Salvador - Tran,Le Tu Uyen [B08]
Rd. 1, Under-18 Girls, Pattaya 2007
Classical Pirc Defense (B08)

1.e4 d6 2.d4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.Bc4 Nf6 5.Nf3 e6 6.Bg5 h6 7.Bh4 Qd7 8.e5 Ng8 9.0–0 d5 10.Bd3 Ne7 11.Re1 0–0 12.Bf6 a6 13.Qd2 Nbc6 14.Ne2 Kh7 15.g4 Ng8 16.g5 Bxf6 17.gxf6 Qd8 18.Kh1 Nxf6 19.exf6 Qxf6 20.Qf4 Kg7 21.Qg3 Nb4 22.Nf4 Kh7 23.Ne5 Nxd3 24.Nfxd3 b6 25.Re3 Qg7 26.Rg1 Bb7 26...g5 gives White greater advantage 27.Nf4 Rg8 28.Rf3 Raf8 29.Qh3 Qh8 30.Nxe6! fxe6 31.Qxh6+!!

Startling but accurate.

31...Kxh6 32.Rh3+ Kg7 33.Rxg6#! 1–0

Paragua to play in World Open, Antonio calls off trip to US

MARK PARAGUA will be the only Filipino grandmaster to play in the World Open after all.

This was learned last night as No. 1 Filipino GM Joey Antonio revealed that he had called off his trip to the United States because of lack of funding.

Antonio, who coached the boys and girls team that competed in the Eighth Asean Age-Group Championships in Pattaya, Thailand, said the Philippine Sports Commission had disapproved his request for funds for his US trip.

He had planned to compete in the cash-rich World Open, which begins tomorrow in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.

GM Paragua is now in the US, where he finished second to American GM Alexandor Ivanov at the 12th Bradly Cup in Windsor, Connecticut last week.

At stake in the World Open, which has several sub-events for different categories of players, are cash prizes amounting to $400,000.

CAAP Non-masters’ 11th-20th prizes: Weekender copies

FOR the first time in local chess tournaments, one of the prizes to be given away at the Chess Arbiters Association of the Philippines’ Rapid Chess Tournament for players rated 1500 and below is The Chess Plaza Weekender, published every Sunday as a miniature newsmagazine.

The non-masters event will be held today, Sunday, at the Ramon Magsaysay High School in Cubao, right across Edsa from Nepa Q-Mart.

Cash prizes and trophies will be awarded to the winners—P4,000 for the champion, P2,000 for the first runner-up, P1,000 for the second runner-up, P500 for the third runner-up and for each of those taking the fifth to 10th places, as well as for the special category winners—top kiddie, top lady and top senior players (aged 50 and older)..

The 11th to 20th winners will each receive a printed copy of the latest issue of The Weekender and those with email addresses will receive copies every Sunday via email.

FIRST LETRAN-CALAMBA NATIONAL NON-MASTERS
FEU’s Arroyo first, QMC’s Macky 2nd

By Oscar Gonzales and Marlon Bernardino

FAR EASTERN UNIVERSITY’S Christian Arroyo slipped past his two scoring peers on tiebreak to top the inaugural Letran-Calamba National Non-Masters Active Chess Championship held last Sunday in the home city of the national hero, Dr. Jose P. Rizal, whose 146th birth anniversary was celebrated last Tuesday.

Arroyo, Macapagal “Macky” Paguital of the Quezon Memorial Circle Chess Plaza and Allan Cantonjos, who also occasionally plays at the QMC plaza, finished in a tie with 6.5 points each from seven rounds.

Paguital took the second slot and Cantonjos the third under the tiebreaking formula adopted by the organizers, the Laguna Chess Association headed by Dr. Alfred Paez and the Colegio de Letran-Calamba.

Arroyo, a member of the FEU Tamaraws chess team under IM Jayson Gonzales as head coach, is from Cagayan de Oro City, Paguital from Davao City and Catonjos from Gingoog City in Misamis Oriental. They evenly divided the first, second and third prizes totaling P18,000.

Another FEU team member, Ronna Reigner Senora, received the Best Lady player award. She comes from General Santos City.

Ms Senora won the award after edging out Charmaigne Casimina.

Both Arroyo and Senora trained under IM Gonzales, who also was the coach of the Philippine team that won top prizes at last year’s Asean Age-Group Championship in Indonesia, and assistant coach of the women’s team in the 2006 Turin Olympiad that for the first time topped Group C.

Other special-category winners: Rommel Ortillo (Top Letran Male Player), Rochell Espina (Top Letran Female), Austine Philip Redondo (Top Letran High School), Dr. Jenny Mayor (Top Executive), Apolonio Regalado (Top Senior), Ervil Villa (Top Laguna), Vicente Vargas (Top Unrated), Christian Nanola (Top Kiddie), and Jayson Mercado (Top Junior).

Four other players shared the fourth to seventh prizes, according to chief arbiter Joel Hicap, an engineer by profession. He named the four as Ali Branzuela of Parañaque City, Raymond Salcedo of Zamboanga City, Jony Habla of Novaliches, Quezon City, and Roel Abelgas of Cavite.

They each finished just half a point behind the three top prizewinners.

The top 30 players and their scores: 1-3. Christian Arroyo, Macapagal Pguital and Allan Cantonjos, 6.5 each; 4-7. Ali Branzuela, Raymond Salcedo, Jony Habla and Roel Abelgas, 6.0 each; 8-13. Ervil Villa, Jayson Salubre, Harrison Maamo, Jose Nino Ocampo, Vicente Vargas and Jenny Mayor, 5.5 each; 14-30. Rodolfo Panopio, Lyndon Sombilon, Richie Jocson, David Elorta, Christopher Rodriguez, Lourecel Hernandez, Ryan Dunca, Rene de Chaves, Rhoebel Legaspi, Roberto Biron, Clement Valledor, Jayson Mercado, Roland Barbon, Edilberto Labuac, Allen Gandia, Allan Macala and Dindo Panghulan, 5.0 each.

The tournament was held on the third floor of St. Martin de Porres Bldg., Colegio de San Juan de Letran in Brgy. Bucal, Calamba City in Laguna.

Dr. Rizal was born in Calamba and studied at the Colegio de San Juan de Letran in Intramuros before proceeding to the Ateneo and later to the University of Sto. Tomas.

To treat his mother’s failing eyesight, the young Rizal specialized in ophthalmology at the University of Heidelberg in Germany.

The cottage where Rizal lived has been declared a shrine to honor and perpetuate the memory of his stay in Heidelberg.

PINOY GEMS WITH A HISTORY
Sanchez shines in GM title quest

ONE adventurous Filipino player who is blazing a trail for his compatriots in Europe in his quest for the grandmaster’s title is Joseph Sanchez, originally from Cebu, the spawning ground for many of the country’s top players from the time of the late national champion Glicerio Badilles to the current crop of international masters.

Now based in France, IM Sanchez first made a name for himself in Italy where he topped many open events over the past few years.

In his latest adventure, the pioneering No. 6 Filipino player led the FIJ Open A held in Cannes on the French Riviera almost all the way, but weakened towards the end and missed bagging the GM result by a very slim, heartbreaking margin—just half a point!

His two wins featured today come from that event where he landed among the top 10, clinching the No. 5 spot on tiebreak.

The FIJ Open was held in conjunction with the Mediterranean Championship won by Turkish GM Suat Atalik, a veteran campaigner on the European circuit.

The final standings in the FIJ Open: 1-4. GMs Nebojsa Nikcevic and Robert Zelcic followed by IMs Marin Boisocic and Ovidiu Doru Foisor, with 7.0 each; 5-8. IM Joseph Sanchez, GM Nenad Sulava, FM Robert L. Hess and IM Roberto Mogreanzini, with 6.5 each; 9-13. GM Mladen Palac and FMs Emiliano Aranovitch, Nicolas Clery, Emmanuel Neiman and Sebastian Feller, with 6.0 each.

Another adventurous Filipino player who has also been making waves in Europe is IM Roland Salvador, a native of Bulacan who went to Europe a couple of years ago and is now based in Italy. I plan to feature him and his games in this series in the near future.

• J. Sanchez (2482) – S. Foisor (2342)
Rd. 3, Open A Cannes, 2007
Sicilian Defense (B28)

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 a6 3.c3 e6 3...d5 4.exd5 Qxd5 5.d4 should equalize 4.d4 d5 5.e5 Bd7 6.dxc5 Bxc5 7.Bd3 Qb6 8.0–0 Bb5 9.b4 Be7 10.Be3 Qc7 11.Bxb5+ axb5 12.Qe2 Qc4 13.Qb2 Nd7 14.Na3 Qc6 15.Nd4 Qc8 16.Ndxb5 Nxe5 17.c4 Qb8 18.Bd4 Ng4 19.g3 Bf6 20.cxd5 Ne5 Not 20...Ne7 because 21.dxe6 and White is way ahead 21.Qc3 Rxa3 22.Nxa3 Ne7 23.Rae1 Nf3+ 24.Qxf3 Bxd4 25.Nb5 Bf6 26.dxe6 0–0 27.exf7+ Rxf7 28.Qb3 g6 28...Kf8 won't alter the outcome of the game: 29.Qd3 Ng6 30.Nd6 29.Re6 Kg7 30.Nd6 Rf8 31.Rfe1 Kh6 31...Qd8 offers the last chance 32.Rxf6!


32...Rxf6 33.Qe3+! The point, a double attack g5 34.h4 Rg6 35.Nf7+ Fritz gives this mating line: 35.hxg5+! Rxg5 36.Qxe7 Rxg3+ 37.fxg3 Qa7+ 38.Kh1 Qd4 39.Qf8+ Kg5 40.Qf5+ Kh6 41.Re6+ Kg7 42.Re7+ Kh6 43.Rxh7#! Kh5 36.Qe2+ g4 37.Qb5+! Mate is just around the corner: 37…Qe5 38.Qxe5+ Nf5 39.Qxf5+ Rg5 40.Qxg5#! 1–0

• J. Sanchez (2482) – J. Dubreuil (2278)
Rd. 5, Open A, Cannes 2007
Scandinavian Defense (B01)

1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qa5 4.d4 c6 5.Nf3 Nf6 6.Bc4 Bf5 7.Bd2 Qc7 8.Qe2 e6 Safer and stronger than 8...Bxc2 9.Bxf7+ Kxf7 10.Ne5+ Ke8 11.Bf4, with a slight edge 9.Ne5 Bb4 9...Bxc2? loses to 10.Bf4! 10.g4 Bg6 10...Bxc2 was more precise, e.g., 11.g5 Ng8 12.Nb5 Bxd2+ 13.Qxd2 cxb5 14.Bxb5+ Nc6 15.Bxc6+ bxc6, with equal chances 11.h4 Bxc3 12.Bxc3 Be4 13.Rh3 Bd5 14.Bd3 a5 15.a4 Qb6 If 15...Nfd7 16.f4! 16.0–0–0 Na6 Best was 16...Nfd7 17.g5! White surges ahead Nd7 18.Nxd7 Kxd7 19.Be1 19.Bd2 was more accurate Qxd4? 19...c5 20.dxc5 Nxc5 would have reduced White’s lead 20.Bxa6 Qf4+ 21.Bd2 Qf5 22.Re3 Rxa6 23.c4 Rc8 24.Bc3 Ke8 25.cxd5 25.Bxg7! keeps an even firmer grip: 25...Rb6 26.b3 Rb4 27.cxd5 cxd5+ 28.Kb2! cxd5 26.Rd4 Rc5 27.Rf3 27.Re5 should boost White’s lead: 27...Qh3 28.Rdxd5! Qg6 28.Qe5 Rac6 29.Qb8+ Rc8 30.Qxb7 R8c7 31.Qb8+ Rc8 32.Qe5 R8c7 33.Rxd5!

33...Rxd5 34.Qxc7 Rd7 Not 34...f6 because of 35.Bxf6! gxf6 36.Rb3! 35.Qc8+! Clinching the point, e.g., 35…Rd8 36.Qc6+ Kf8 37.Bxa5. 1–0

15th WORLD COMPUTER CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP
US programs rule in Amsterdam

TWO American chess programs, Rybka of the US and Zappa of Turkey, captured the top prizes in this year’s edition of the World Computer Chess Championship held from June 1 to 18 in the Dutch port city of Amsterdam.

Both swept through the 11-round event undefeated, Rybka scoring 10 points from nine wins and two draws, and Zappa 9.0 from seven wins and four draws.

Highlight of the event was Rybka’s impressive final-round win against former world champion Shredder, which was programmed by Stefan Meyer-Kahlen of Germany.

Twelve programs competed in the all-play-all tournament.

• Rybka - Shredder
Rd. 11, 15th WCCC, Amsterdam 2007
Sicilian Najdorf (B97)

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Qb6 8.Qd2 Qxb2 9.Rb1 Qa3 10.e5 dxe5 11.fxe5 Nfd7 12.Ne4 h6 13.Bh4 Qxa2 14.Rd1 Qd5 15.Qe3 Qxe5 Stronger than 15...Nxe5 16.Nb3 Qxd1+ 17.Kxd1 16.Be2 Bc5 17.Bg3 Bxd4 18.Rxd4 Qa5+ 19.Rd2 0–0 20.Bd6 Re8 21.0–0 f5 22.Qg3 Best was 22.Nc5! Nxc5 23.Bxc5 fxe4 23.Qg6 Rd8 24.Rf7 Qc3 25.Bg4 Nf8?? 26.Bxf8! Zeroing in on g7
Qa1+ 27.Rf1 Qxf1+ 28.Kxf1 Rxf8+ 29.Rf2 Nc6 30.Bh5 Rxf2+ 31.Kxf2 Ne5 32.Qe8+ Kh7 33.Ke3 b5 34.Kf4 Bb7 35.Qe7 Bd5 36.Kxe5 a5 37.g4 e3 38.g5 hxg5 39.Qxg5 Kg8 40.Qxe3 Rf8 41.Be2 b4 42.Bd3 Rf3 43.Qg5 b3 44.Bg6 Rf6 45.Qh5 Rxg6 46.Qxg6 b2 47.Qe8+ Kh7 48.Qb5 Kh6 49.Qxb2 Ba8 50.Qc1+ Kh5 51.Qf4 Bd5 52.c4 Bc6 53.Qf7+ Kg4 54.Qxe6+ Kf3 55.Qxc6+! Ke3 1–0

Defending champion Junior and the highly regarded Fritz were both conspicuously absent. The two super-monsters starred in the “Ultimate Computer Challenge” match held in conjunction with the Candidates’ Matches in Elista recently.

Rybka was programmed by American expert IM Casik Rajlich and Zappa by another American, Anthony Cozzie. Zappa, however, was officially entered by Turkey.

The International Computer Game Association organized the event under the sponsorship of IBM, Sara Computing and Networking Services, and the Foundation of National Computing Facilities of the Netherlands.

CHESS MAGIC (1)
‘Artificial mind’ over matter

WHETHER we like it or not, computer chess is here to stay. It has developed so fast that the strongest program can now easily outplay the best and brightest among us.

This was demonstrated when Deep Fritz defeated world champion Vladimir Kramnik in Germany last year.

Two weeks ago, Fritz itself was humiliated by another monster, Deep Junior, which used a core of 16 processors that could calculate millions of moves per second and “see” almost everything.

Twice Junior defeated Fritz, which only had eight processors—with White in the third of their best-of-six match in Elista during the Finals of the world title Candidates Matches, and with Black in the fourth.

The four other games ended in draws, agreed upon by their human operators.

In both games (the first win, an 85-move marathon, was published on page 2 of the Weekender of June 10), one could see amazing versatility on the part of the machines with artificial intelligence in moving their pieces about.

Because their programs were designed by humans, both Fritz and Junior followed well-established opening systems. I believe that in turn we mortals can learn from the machines as to which variations ought to be used for or against whichever line our opponents may use.

Some of the hallmarks of computer chess play: ultra-high mobility of pieces, economy of moves especially in pawn play that favors a highly dynamic style, intricate maneuvering of pieces that appears, to the human eye, bizarre at times but with perfect timing and synchronization, and, like humans, constant harassment of the enemy.

All these features give computer games a certain magical quality.

• Deep Fritz - Deep Junior
Rd 4, Ultimate Computer Challenge, Elista 2007
Gruenfeld, Exchange Variation (D85)

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Nf3 c5 8.Rb1 0–0 9.Be2 Nc6 10.d5 Ne5 11.Nxe5 Bxe5 12.Qd2 e6 13.f4 Bc7 14.0–0 exd5 15.exd5 Ba5 16.f5! Bxf5!

Abandoning its b7-pawn and allowing White’s rook to take control of its seventh rank

17.Rxb7 Qd6 18.Bc4!

After 18.Bc4!

I wonder whether any human player would do that instead of maneuvering first to allow the natural looking.c4.

18…Qe5 19.Rf3 Rab8!

Now, why give up another pawn and let the enemy run riot in the seventh rank? Fritz believes that 19...Rfb8 20.Rxb8+ Rxb8 21.d6 would have led to equality.

20.Rxa7 Bb6! 21.Ra4 Bc7!

Black threatens a mating attack to force White’s weakening reply.

22.g3 Rb1 23.Re3 Qf6 24.Ra6 Bd6 25.Re1 Rfb8 26.Bf1

26.a4 might be the more dynamic move.

26...h5!

Play in both wings.

27.a4 c4 28.Rc6

28.Bxc4 Rxc1 c1 29.Qxc1 Bc5+ 30.Re3 Qe5 favors Black.

28...Ra1 29.Bxc4 Bd7 30.Rf1 Qe7 31.Rxd6 Qxd6 32.Qf2 Qb6 33.Bf4??

After 33.Bf4??

A grave error. 33.Be3 was safer and stronger, e.g., 33...Rxf1+ 34.Bxf1. Black now inleashes a winning attack on White’s king.

33...Qxf2+! 34.Kxf2 Rb2+! 35.Ke3 Rxa4 36.Bd3 Rxh2

Black now evens material, gaining the initiative and a superior position.

37.c4 Ra3 38.Kd4 h4 39.g4 Rh3 40.Be2 Rhb3 41.Ke5 Rb2 42.Re1 Raa2 43.Bd1

If 43.Bd3 Bxg4 44.c5 Ra8! It’s now just a matter of technique.

43...Ra6! 44.Bc1 Rb8 45.Rg1 h3 46.Rh1

Better but not enough was 46.Bc2!

46...f6+!

After 46…f6+!

Driving back White’s king as a foot soldier assumes sentry duty to free the rook for other duties.

47.Kd4 Ra1! 48.Bc2 g5

Play on both sides again. It’s almost over. The rest is just a matter of course.

49.c5 Bxg4 50.c6 Kf7 51.Rf1 Rh8 52.d6 h2 53.d7 Ke7! 54.Rh1 0–1

CHESS MAGIC (2)
Kieseritzky’s amusing losses

POLISH-GERMAN player Lionel A.B. Kieseritzky is best known in chess history as the guy whom the great Adolf Andersson had beaten in what has been dubbed the “Immortal Game” or, as Europeans would prefer to call it, “Immortal Partie.”

This was a game the two played for a wager at Simpson’s Divan in London in 1851, made famous by Andersson, the strongest player in Europe at the time.

Andersson’s double-rook sacrifice, meant to take Black’s queen far from the scene of action so it could not stop White’s mating attack with minor pieces in the back rank, astounded the chess world.

To cap it all, White sacrifices his queen to get the knight out of the way, making the game the most brilliant ever recorded in classical times.

It is said that computers have found Andersson’s early sacrifice of the rooks faulty, but at that time, it made a great impact on the chess world for its incredible depth and sheer beauty.

• A. Anderssen – L. Kieseritzky
Immortal Game, London 1851
King’s Gambit Accepted (C33)

1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Bc4 Qh4+ 4.Kf1 b5 5.Bxb5 Nf6 6.Nf3 Qh6 7.d3 Nh5 7...Ng4 8.Nc3
c6 9.Bc4 leads to equality, says Fritz 8.Nh4 8.Rg1 keeps the balance Qg5! 9.Nf5 c6 9...g6 10.Nd4 Bg7 was safer 10.g4 10.Ba4 might be a viable alternative Nf6 11.Rg1 cxb5 12.h4 Qg6 13.h5 Qg5 14.Qf3 Ng8 15.Bxf4 Qf6 16.Nc3 Bc5?? Fritz suggests 16...Qc6, e.g., 17.Qg3 d6 18.Bxd6 Bxf5 19.Bxf8 Kxf8 20.gxf5 Qh6, with equal chances 17.Nd5 Better was 17.d4 Bf8 18.Be5, and White is way ahead Qxb2 18.Bd6?? Missing the superior 18.Nc7+! Kd8 19.Re1 Bxg1 20.Nxa8 with a clear lead Bxg1 18...Qxa1+ was more precise, e.g., 19.Ke2 Qb2!, and Black is winning (of course not 19...Qxg1??becaue of 20.Nxg7+! Kd8 21.Bc7#! 19.e5! Blocking the return path of the bishop Qxa1+ 20.Ke2 Na6??

After 20…Na6??

Unwittingly setting the stage for White’s brilliant attack. 20...Ba6 was best but White would still be ahead: 21.Nc7+ Kd8 22.Nxa6 Qc3 23.Bc7+ Qxc7 24.Nxc7 Nc6 25.Nxa8 g6.
21.Nxg7+! Kd8 22.Qf6+!! Nxf6 23.Be7#!! 1–0

Six years earlier, Kieseritzky met the same fate at the hands of a player known only in game collections as Michelete, obviously a Frenchman as the game was played in Paris.

How Kieseritzky found his queen trapped by his own pawns is an amusing situation never to be duplicated in the millions of other recorded games in chess history

• Michelet – L. Kieseritzky
Paris, 1845
King’s Gambit Accepted. Muzio Gambit (C37)

1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 g5 4.Bc4 g4 5.Ne5 Qh4+ 6.Kf1 f3 If 6...Nh6 7.d4 f3 8.Nc3, with equal chances 7.d4 7.Bxf7+!? is worth looking at, says Fritz, e.g., 7...Ke7 8.Bc4, with equality Nf6! 8.Nc3 Bg7 Best was 8...Bb4 9.Qd3 d6 10.Nxf7 Rf8 9.g3? 9.Bxf7+ Kd8 10.Qd2 should keep the balance Qh3+! 10.Kf2 d6 11.Nxf7 Rf8 12.Ng5 Qg2+ 13.Ke3 Bh6 13...Nc6 14.Nb5 Kd8 15.c3 was the best line 14.Kd3! Nc6 If 14...Bxg5 15.Bxg5 c6 16.Bb3! 15.a3 Bxg5 Missing 15...Na5! 16.Bxg5! Nxe4?? 17.Qe1?? 17.Nxe4 Bf5 18.Bd5 should give White a distinct advantage Bf5 18.Nxe4 f2 19.Qe3 Kd7 20.Bd5 Restoring the balance Rae8 21.Raf1 Bxe4+?? 21...Bg6 was the only rescuing move 22.Bxe4! White surges ahead Rf3 23.Qxf3! gxf3? 24.Bf5+ Re6 25.d5 Ne5+ 26.Kd4 h5 27.dxe6+ Ke8 28.Bf6 h4 29.Bxe5 dxe5+ 30.Kxe5 hxg3 31.Kf6!?

After 31.Kf6!?
Stronger was 31.Bg6+ Kd8 32.Rd1+ Kc8 33.e7 b6 34.e8Q+ Kb7 35.Be4+ c6 36.Qxc6+ Kb8 37.Rd8#!, but the text also secures the point. 1–0
Kieseritzky was no pushover, and this miniature sparkler clearly shows his strength and wit as a master.

• Shulter - Kieseritzky
Paris, 1846
King’s Gambit Accepted (C33)

1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Bc4 Qh4+ 4.Kf1 b5 5.Bxb5 Nf6 6.Nc3 Ng4 7.Nh3 Nc6 7...c6 8.Be2 d6 equalizes 8.Nd5 Nd4 8...Bd6 may be tried 9.Nxc7+! Kd8 10.Nxa8 f3? 10...Nxb5 was best 11.d3 f6 12.Bc4 12.Qd2 Bd6 13.Bc4 boosts White’s lead d5! 13.Bxd5?? Bd6?? Missing 13...fxg2+ 14.Kxg2 Ne3+ 15.Bxe3 Bxh3+ 16.Kg1 Bc5!, winning 14.Qe1?? White’s turn to miss his best shot, 14.e5! fxg2+ 15.Kxg2 Qxh3+!!

After 15…Qxh3+!!
Powerful and decisive.
16.Kxh3 Ne3+! 17.Kh4 Nf3+! 18.Kh5 Bg4#! Simply beautiful! 0–1

MY FAVORITES
Tartakower, warmhearted master

ONE author and player I admire is Savielly Tartakower (1887-1956), a doctor of laws who played great chess and became a grandmaster six years before his death.

Dr. Tartakower was regarded as one of the 10 top players in the world from 1926 to 1930.

Born in Russia to Jewish parents from Poland and Austria, he left his homeland at the age of 16 to study abroad, first in Geneva, Switzerland, and eventually in Vienna, Austria, where he lived for many years and obtained his doctorate in law in 1909, according to the Oxford Companion to Chess.

Journalist Ignacio Dee has, however, dug up an old unpublished tribute to Dr. Tartakower written by the late American chess icon Hans Kmoch (1894-1970), an influential writer/journalist, player, organizer and arbiter of tournaments, and promoter par excellence of the game.

Readers will recall that it was Kmoch, best known for his book, Pawn Power in Chess, who named Bobby Fischer’s brilliancy with Black at age 13 against Donald Byrne “Game of the Century.”

Kmoch recalls in his manuscript that Tartakower had many friends as a student in Vienna but after a visit to Russia which had become the core of the Soviet Union, he came back a very bitter man who preferred to be a loner, keeping other people at bay with acerbic remarks.

Before his visit to his communist homeland, the Soviet Union, Tartakower had been a perfect gentleman, behaving himself in public always with dignity and proper decorum.

“His standard of behavior, whether arguing or joking, was high, as was his standard of living. Noblesse oblige was in his blood. He hated noise, loved cleanliness, never economized on tips, and was impeccably honest,” Kmoch wrote about his idol.

But after the death of his elder brother while fighting for the Austrian Army on the Russian front, and after his 1925 visit to Moscow where he met his only sister for the last time, Tartakower changed.

“With grim sarcasm and pride, he kept people at a distance, forcing them into the position of opponents. He became bitter and mistrustful, concealing himself behind remarks that, for all their sharp wit and originality, made him appear cynical and cruel,” Kmoch wrote.

“But in fact he was soft and warm and very human. Few people knew of his love for poetry, and he loved it in the three languages he knew perfectly: Russian, German, and French, not to mention Latin and Greek,” he noted.

Be that as it may, one can glean from Kmoch’s tribute to the man that Dr. Tartakower was a rare specimen of European genteelness: “impeccably honest” to the point of bring too scrupulous—he is said to have torn to shreds a wad of banknotes that his friends and fans wanted him to receive as a prize but depriving the real winner!

“Tartakower died, but his books will live. Aside from their chess value, they reflect a truly warm heart, for he had nothing but praise and deep sympathy for chess players,” Kmoch said, adding that “Tartakower lives among the immortals.”

• Geza Maroczy - Savielly Tartakower [A84]
Rd. 4, Teplitz-Schonau Int’l, Germany 1922
Dutch Defense (A85)

1.d4 e6 2.c4 f5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.a3 Be7 5.e3 0–0 6.Bd3 d5 7.Nf3 c6 8.0–0 Ne4 9.Qc2 Bd6 10.b3 Nd7 11.Bb2 Rf6 12.Rfe1 Rh6 13.g3 Qf6 14.Bf1 g5 15.Rad1 g4 16.Nxe4 fxe4 17.Nd2 Rxh2 18.Kxh2 Qxf2+ 19.Kh1 Nf6 20.Re2 Qxg3 21.Nb1 Nh5 22.Qd2 Bd7 23.Rf2 Qh4+ 24.Kg1 Bg3 25.Bc3 Bxf2+

After 25…Bxf2+!

26.Qxf2 g3 27.Qg2 Rf8 28.Be1 Rxf1+ 29.Kxf1 e5 30.Kg1 Bg4 31.Bxg3 Nxg3 32.Re1 Nf5 33.Qf2 Qg5 34.dxe5 Bf3+ 35.Kf1 Ng3+! Mate is in the air: 36.Qxg3 Qxg3 37.Re2 Qh3+ 38.Ke1 Qh1+ 39.Kd2 Qxb1 40.Rh2 Qb2+ 41.Ke1 Qxh2 42.Kf1 Qe2+ 43.Kg1 Qg2#! 0–1

• Savielly Tartakower - Akiba Rubinstein [C28]
Rd. 20, Moscow Int’l Tournament, USSR 1925
Vienna Game (C28)

1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.Be3 d6 6.Bxc5 dxc5 7.Nge2 Na5 8.Bb3 Nxb3 9.axb3 0–0 10.0–0 Ng4 11.h3 Nh6 12.f4 exf4 13.Nxf4 f6 14.Qf3 Nf7 15.Rf2 Ne5 16.Qg3 c6 17.Nh5 Qe7 18.Raf1 Kh8 19.Nd1 Bd7 20.Ne3 Rad8 21.Nf5 Bxf5 22.exf5 Qd7 23.Rf4 Rfe8
24.Kh1 Re7 25.Re4 Rde8 26.Qh4 Kg8 27.Qf2 b6 28.Rfe1 Kh8 29.R1e3 Kg8 30.Rg3 Kh8 31.Rxg7

After 31…Rxg7

31…Rxg7 32.Nxf6 Qe7 33.Nxe8 Qxe8 34.Qf4 Re7 35.f6 Ng6 36.Rxe7 Nxe7 37.f7! 1–0

GAMES OF GIFTED KIDS
GM Negi, pride of New Delhi

THE world’s youngest grandmaster today is an Indian lad by the name of Parimarjan Negi, who was born in New Delhi on February 9, 1993.

Negi, the pride of New Delhi, was only 13 years and 142 days old when he earned his GM title in June last year while campaigning on the European circuit.

He actually started his international campaign for the title in the prestigious Corus Tournament at the Dutch resort of Wijk aan Zee in January 2005, when he was only 11, a month short of his 12th birthday.

Before launching his campaign, he trained extensively under Indian and foreign players, including Britain’s foremost prodigy, Nigel Short, under whose wing Negi still studies to improve his game.

Parimarjan is basically a positional player whose tactics occasionally explode into fireworks on the board.

A clear vision of the board and oodles of patience as he searches for the best move in any given position are considered to be his main strengths. This is why most of his games are long-winded, comparable to those of other universally acknowledged positional players like former world champion Anatoly Karpov.

Negi is also regarded as a very fine endgame player.

His trips abroad have been made possible by his sponsors, a group of Indian corporations based in New Delhi that finances his training and participation in international tournaments.

The Indian economy is booming, mainly because of its computer software industry centered in Bangalore, a northeastern city dubbed the “Silicon Valley” of Asia.

Parimarjan himself is a computer buff, as are most of the young chess wizards of today.

One of his best-known games is his win with White against an Azerbaijani woman grandmaster 10 years older than he in Wijk aan Zee 2005.

• Parimarjan Negi (2316) - Zeinab Mamedjarova (2349)
Rd. 7, Corus C, Wijk aan Zee 2005
Petroff Defense (C42)

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Nc3 Nxc3 6.dxc3 Be7 7.Bf4 0–0 8.Qd2 Nd7 9.0–0–0 Nc5 10.Nd4 Ne6 11.Be3 Nxd4 12.cxd4 c6 13.f3 Be6 14.Kb1 b5 15.Bd3 Rb8 16.g4 b4 17.h4 Qa5 18.b3 Qc7 19.g5 a5 20.h5 a4 21.g6 axb3 If 21...Qa5 22.Be4! 22.cxb3 Bf6 23.Rdg1 Ra8 24.h6 fxg6 25.hxg7 Qxg7 26.Qc2 Be7? 26...Qf7 was necessary to keep the balance, says Fritz 27.Bh6 Qf6 28.Bxg6!

After 28.Bxg6!
Demolishing the king’s hiding place. From hereon, mating threats abound.
28...hxg6 29.Rxg6+Kf7 30.Rxf6+ Kxf6 31.Bg7+! Kf7 Not 31...Kxg7+ because of 32.Rh7! 32.Bxf8 Rxf8 33.Rh7+ Ke8 34.Qxc6+ Kd8 35.Kb2 Rg8 36.Rh2 Missing a mating line, 36.Qb6+! Ke8 37.Qb5+ Bd7 38.Qe2 Rg2 39.Qxg2 Kd8 40.Qg7 d5 41.Qxe7+ Kc7 42.Qxd7+ Kb6 43.Rh6+ Ka5 44.Qxd5#! Bd7 37.Qa8+ Bc8 38.Rc2 Kd7 39.Qc6+ Missing the quickest mating line, 39.Qa7+! Ke8 40.Rxc8+ Kf7 41.Rxg8 Kxg8 42.Qxe7 Kh8 43.f4 d5 44.f5 Kg8 45.f6 Kh8 46.Qg7#!, but Black has had enough. 1–0
Another notable game he won with White shows his patient positional style and endgame play.

• Parimarjan Negi (2352) - Sergey Erenburg (2582)
Rd. 4, Hastings Chess Congress , England 2005
Caro-Kann, Classical Variation (B18)

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.Bc4 e6 7.N1e2 Bd6 8.h4 h6 9.Nf4 Bxf4 10.Bxf4 Nf6 11.Qe2 Nbd7 12.h5 Bh7 13.0–0–0 Nd5 14.Bd2 N7f6 15.Bd3 Bxd3 16.Qxd3 Qc7 17.Qa3 Qe7 18.Qxe7+ Nxe7 19.f3 0–0–0 20.c3 Rd5 20...Ned5 21.Ne4 equalizes 21.Ne4! Rxh5 If 21...Ne8 22.g4!
22.Nd6+ Kc7 23.Nxf7 Rxh1 24.Rxh1 Rf8 25.Ne5 Nd7 26.Nd3 Rf6 27.Re1 Ng6 28.Re4 b5 29.Be1 Ne7 30.Bg3+ Kd8 30...Kb6 31.Bf2 Ka5 32.Nb4 favors White 31.Be5 Rf7 32.Bd6 Nf5 33.Rxe6 Nxd6 34.Rxd6 Rf6 35.Rxf6 Nxf6 36.b3 Ke7 37.c4 Kd6 38.Kd2 Nd7 39.Ke3 a5 40.Ke4 bxc4 41.bxc4 Ke6 42.Ne5 Nf6+ 43.Kd3 Kd6 44.c5+ Kc7 45.Nc4 Nd5 46.Ke4 Nc3+ 47.Kf5 a4 48.a3 Nb5 48...h5 49.Kg5 Ne2 50.Nb6! boosts White’s lead 49.Ke5 Also playable was 49.Kg6 Nxd4 50.f4 h5 Kd7 50.Nb6+ Ke7 If 50...Kc7 51.f4! 51.d5 cxd5 52.Kxd5 Nxa3 53.Kc6 Ke6 54.Nxa4 Quicker was 54.Kb7 Nb5 55.Nxa4! Nc2 55.Kb7 Nd4 56.c6 Ke5 57.c7 Nb5 58.Nc3 Nxc7 On 58...Nxc3 59.c8=Q! 59.Kxc7 Kf4 60.Ne4 h5 61.Kd6 g5 62.Nxg5 Kxg5 62...h4 offered the last slim hope 63.Ke5 Kh4 64.f4 Kg3 65.f5 Kxg2 66.f6 h4 67.f7 h3 68.f8Q h2 69.Qa8+ 69.Qg8+ was nire decisive: 69...Kf2 70.Qa2+ Kg3 71.Qb3+! Kg1 70.Qa1+ Kg2 71.Qb2+ Kg1 72.Kf4 h1=Q 73.Kg3!!

After 73.Kg3!!

Making the enemy queen utterly useless, e.g., 73…Qf3+ 74.Kxf3 Kf1 75.Qf2# ! 1–0

BOBBY ANG’S BUSINESSWORLD COLUMN, CHESS PIECE (1)
Candidates Matches

THE Final Round of the Candidates’ Matches is over. Here are the results:
WCh Candidates s/f Elista RUS (RUS), 06-13 June 2007
(first-named is the winner)

GM Levon Aronian ARM 2759 vs GM Alexei Shirov ESP 2699, 3.5-2.5
GM Peter Leko HUN 2738 vs GM Evgeny Bareev RUS 2643, 3.5-1.5
GM Boris Gelfand ISR 2733 vs GM Gata Kamsky USA 2705, 3.5-1.5
GM Alexander Grischuk RUS 2717 vs GM Sergei Rublevsky RUS 2680, 5.5-3.5

My favorite is the following game. It ends in a draw but what an exciting battle!

Shirov,Alexei (2699) - Aronian,Levon (2759) [E15]
WCh Candidates Finals Elista RUS (2), 07.05.2007
Queen’s Indian Defence

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.Qc2
The alternative 5.b3 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Be7 is the main line, but has been played so often with analyses sometimes stretching past move 30 that it became hard to look for new ways to play for a win. Shirov prefers to go for a gambit which became popular after Gelfand used it to defeat Aronian (!) in Dortmund 2006.
5...Bb7 6.Bg2 c5 7.d5!?
For a measly pawn investment White gets better development, pressure along the d-file and the h1–a8 diagonal in exchange for a measly pawn. A quick check with the opening trees reveal that in the international chess circuit for the last two years white has been scoring very heavily with this gambit, something like 82%.
7...exd5 8.cxd5 Nxd5
Capturing with the bishop is more popular. I am sure though that this will soon be abandoned en masse, since no one has yet come up with an antidote against Gelfand's treatment: 8...Bxd5 9.Nc3 Bc6 10.e4 followed by Bf4 and 0–0–0 Black is hard put to find equality: Gelfand,B (2729)-Aronian,L (2761)/ Dortmund 2006 1–0 (33).
9.0–0 Be7 10.Rd1 Nc6
Trying to relieve pressure on the long diagonal. Peter Leko used to play Black this way, but lately shifted to 10...Qc8. Aronian is a known specialist in the Queen's Indian, so definitely he has something in mind.
11.Qa4
A novelty. Just a few days earlier, in their individual match, Bareev played 11.Qf5 against Judit Polgar. After 11...Nf6 12.e4 d6 (12...0–0? 13.e5 Ne8 14.Rxd7; 12...g6 13.Qf4 0–0 is supposedly best play) 13.e5 Qd7 14.Qxd7+ Nxd7 15.exd6 Bf6 16.Re1+ Kf8 17.Nc3 material is now equal but Black is left defending an inferior endgame, in which she was not successful. Bareev,E (2643)-Polgar,J (2727)/ Elista RUS 2007 1–0 (64).
By the way, the knight cannot be taken: 11.Rxd5? Nb4 12.Qd1 Bxd5 (12...Nxd5? 13.Ne1 is incorrect) 13.a3 Bxf3 14.Bxf3 Nc6 Black is easily winning.
11...Nf6 12.Nc3 0–0 13.g4!
A nice new opening idea, designed in tandem with Qa4. The d5 square is of prime importance in this position and g2-g4 threatens to kick the Nf6 away.
13...Nb4!
Shirov commented in the post-game press conference that Qa4+g4 was prepared specially for this occasion, but when he was reviewing the variations before the game he spotted this move, which maintains sufficient counterplay for Black. Nevertheless, he decided not to change his opening plan.
14.a3
White has to be careful as his g-pawn can either be a strength of a weakness. For example, the greedy 14.g5? is met by 14...Bc6 15.Qb3 Ne4 g5 will fall.
14...Nbd5 15.Nxd5 Bxd5
Not 15...Nxd5? 16.Ne5
16.g5 Bc6 17.Qh4
Preventing ...Nh5
17...Ne8 18.Ne5 Bxg2 19.Rxd7

After 19.Rxd7



19...Bb7!!

A big shock. Obviously 19...Qc8 20.Rxe7 looks bad for Black, but in such cases one usually expects Black to grit his teeth and prepare to defend to the death. Aronian prefers to sacrifice his queen and fight back with his active pieces. This is possible of course because his king is not exposed, his pieces have possible outposts, and his pawn structure sound.
20.Rxd8 Rxd8 21.Be3 Rd5 22.Nf3 Nd6 23.Qa4 b5 24.Qc2
[24.Qxa7?? Ra8 25.Qb6 Bd8 wins the queen]
24...Nf5 25.a4 b4
[25...Nxe3? 26.fxe3 Bxg5 , winning the g5-pawn, is not advisable. White has 27.Kf2 followed by e3-e4]
26.Rd1 Rxd1+ 27.Qxd1 Nxe3 28.fxe3 Rd8 29.Qc2 g6 30.h4 Bd6
He didn't want to allow Ne5 followed by Ng4.
31.Kf2
[31.Nh2 to bring the knight to g4 is met by 31...Bc8]
31...a6 32.Nd2 Bf8 33.Nc4
Shirov has managed to block the queenside and is now planning to advance his e-pawn to e6.
33...Bc8!
Of course, controlling e6.
34.Qe4 Be6 35.b3 Rd5 36.Kg3 h6! 37.gxh6 Bxh6 38.Qf3 Kh7 39.e4 Rh5 40.Nd6 Bg5!
The bishop is immune to capture because of ...Rh3+.
41.Nxf7 Bxh4+ 42.Kg2 c4!?
Very complicated, but Aronian probably reasoned that he has a perpetual anytime he likes, and so he is just testing the waters to see if White will blunder.
43.bxc4 Kg8
During the game I thought 43...Be7 was decisive since it wins the knight. It turns out that White has the simple 44.e5! which holds everything and even might win.
44.Nd6 Rg5+ 45.Kh1
[45.Kf1? Rg3 46.Qf4 Bh3+ 47.Kf2 Rg4+ the end; 45.Kh2? Bg3+ 46.Kh1 Rh5+ 47.Kg2 Bxd6 48.Qf6 Re5]
45...Rg3 46.Qf4 Rh3+ ½–½
Aronian has to take the perpetual or lose the game.

Reader comments and/or suggestions are urgently solicited. Email address is bangcpa@gmail.com.

This column was first published in BusinessWorld on Monday, June 18, 2007.

BOBBYANG’S BUSINESSWORLD COLUMN, CHESS PIECE (2)
Four to Mexico

THE Final Round of the Candidates’ Matches is over. Here are the results:
WCh Candidates s/f Elista RUS (RUS), 06-13 June 2007
(first-named is the winner)

GM Levon Aronian ARM 2759 vs GM Alexei Shirov ESP 2699, 3.5-2.5
GM Peter Leko HUN 2738 vs GM Evgeny Bareev RUS 2643, 3.5-1.5
GM Boris Gelfand ISR 2733 vs GM Gata Kamsky USA 2705, 3.5-1.5
GM Alexander Grischuk RUS 2717 vs GM Sergei Rublevsky RUS 2680, 5.5-3.5

The four winners will play in the Mexico City tournament to decide the world champion alongside Vladimir Kramnik, Viswanathan Anand, Peter Svidler and Alexander Morozevich to produce an eight-player, 14-round double round-robin event September 12th-30th 2007. If the winner of that event isn't Vladimir Kramnik then there will be a further match between Kramnik and the winner.

Aronian vs Shirov

This was for me the most exciting match. Aronian won the first game and the second was the fantasy draw which I annotated last Monday. The third and the fourth saw both players exchange missed wins. So, despite all the pyrotechnics, this was the only decisive result.

Aronian,Levon (2759) - Shirov,Alexei (2699) [D20]
WCh Candidates Finals Elista RUS (1), 06.05.2007
Queen’s Gambit Accepted

1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.e4 e5 4.Nf3 exd4 5.Bxc4 Nc6 6.0–0 Be6 7.Bxe6 fxe6 8.Qb3 Qd7 9.Qxb7 Rb8 10.Qa6 Nf6 11.Nbd2 Bd6 12.b3 0–0 13.Bb2 Bf4 14.g3 Bh6 15.Ba3 Nxe4! 16.Bxf8 Nxd2 17.Nxd2 Bxd2 18.Ba3 Qd5?!
After this move White manages to exchange queens. 18...Ne5 may be a better way to proceed with the initiative.
19.Qc4 Qxc4 20.bxc4 Ne5 21.Rab1 Rd8 22.c5 Nc4 23.Bc1 d3 24.Rb7 c6 25.Bxd2 Nxd2 26.Rd1 Ne4 27.f3 Nc3 28.Rd2 Nxa2 29.Rb3 Nc1 30.Rb1 Ne2+ 31.Kf2 e5 32.Ra1 Rd5
I was watching this game online. The moves from here until the end were blitzed out due to mutual time trouble.
33.Rxa7 Rxc5 34.Rxd3 Nd4 35.Rd2 h6 36.f4 Nb5 37.Ra8+ Kh7 38.f5 Nd4 39.g4 Rc3?
A pity. After such a great tussle Shirov overlooks that he has to play 39...h5 after which a draw would have been the probably outcome.
40.Rb2 h5 41.Rbb8 Shirov cannot prevent mate. 1–0

Leko vs Bareev

Peter Leko dominated this one. Bareev prepared a special variation of the Caro-Kann for this match and in the first game was close to victory. Blunders in time trouble and Leko’s resourcefulness turned the win into a loss. When Bareev trotted the line out again in the 3rd game Leko was ready and scored a powerful victory.

Leko,Peter (2738) - Bareev,Evgeny (2643) [B17]
WCh Candidates Finals Elista RUS (3), 08.06.2007
Caro-Kann Modern

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7
This move, rather than 4...Bf5, is known as the Modern Line. Bareev has only played it once before in his career, so perhaps we can surmise that he prepared this specially for Leko. However, using it in games 1 and 3 of this match and losing both times does not augur well for its reputation.
5.Ng5 Ngf6 6.Bd3 e6 7.N1f3 Bd6 8.Qe2 h6 9.Ne4 Nxe4 10.Qxe4 Qc7 11.0–0 b6 12.Qg4 Kf8 13.Qh4 Bb7 14.Re1 Kg8 15.Qh3 Re8 16.c4 Nf6 17.Bd2 c5 18.d5 e5?
By hook or by crook 18...exd5! must be played. Now Bareev is not given a chance to recover.
19.Bc3 g6 20.Qh4 Kg7 21.Nd2
Threatening f2-f4.
21...Qd8 22.Bc2 Bc8 23.Ba4 g5?! 24.Qg3 Nh5 25.Qf3 g4 26.Qd1 Re7 27.h3! Nf6 28.hxg4 Bxg4 29.f3 Bc8 30.Re3!
Nice move signalling the start of a major piece invasion. The follow-up will be Qe1–h4.
30...Nh5 31.Qe1 f6 32.Qh4 Nf4 33.Ne4 Rf7 34.g3 Ng6 35.Qh5 Bb8 36.Bc2 f5 37.f4! Re8
[37...fxe4 38.Bxe4 Rf6 39.fxe5 loses just the same]
38.Nf2 Rf6 39.Rae1 e4 40.Bxe4 fxe4 41.Nxe4 1–0

After this second loss Bareev’s resistance was at an end. It appeared that he did not have a Plan “B” to use if he is trailing, because in the 5th, a must-win situation, he stuck to his solid Caro-Kann and the result was a short draw.
Kamsky vs Gelfand
This was the least interesting match. Gata Kamsky obviously did not put in special opening preparation for the Elista Candidates’. He was trying to win “for free”. Gata got away with it in the semi-finals against Mikhail Gurevich, but Boris Gelfand was something else.
Gelfand is a veteran of candidates’ matches. He defeated Vladimir Kramnik in the Candidates’ Semi-Finals of 1994 4.5-3.5 at a time when Kramnik was considered invincible (I should qualify that he still is). Even more impressive: also in the 1994 Candidates, not only did he defeat Michael Adams 5.0-3.0, he even took away Adams’ girlfriend!
Gata Kamsky played the London System in the 3rd game, then thought for oodles of time in the first 10 moves, leaving himself three minutes for his last 30. He then blundered around and was three pawns down at the first time control. He could have resigned then.
He made a determined effort to win game 5, but once again his poor preparation did him in:
(305) Kamsky,Gata (2705) - Gelfand,Boris (2733) [B52]
WCh Candidates Finals Elista RUS (5), 11.06.2007
Sicilian Moscow Variation
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Bd7 4.Bxd7+ Qxd7 5.c4 Nf6 6.Nc3 g6 7.0–0
Kamsky needed a win to stay alive, so he should have played 7.d4 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Bg7 9.f3 0–0 10.Be3. What is wrong with the text? Well, in the 2003 European Championship, the game Delchev vs Ivanchuk continued as in this game ...
7...Bg7 8.d4 cxd4 9.Nxd4 0–0 10.f3 Rc8 11.b3
And now Ivanchuk uncorked ...
11...d5!
This novelty simplified quickly for the draw. Since then this maneuver has been considered a drawing weapon. Naturally Kamsky should have avoided it at all costs.
12.exd5 Nxd5 13.Nxd5 e6 14.Bh6 exd5 15.Bxg7 Kxg7 16.c5 Na6!
[16...Rxc5? 17.Nf5+ Qxf5 18.Qd4+]
17.Nc2 Nxc5 18.Qd4+ f6 19.Ne3 Ne6 20.Qh4?!
There was nothing wrong with 20.Qxd5, except that the game would be drawn soon after 20...Qxd5 21.Nxd5. Kamsky decided to give up a pawn for some attacking chances.
20...Rc5 21.Rad1 d4 22.Ng4 Rf8 23.Rfe1 Rh5 24.Qg3 Rd5 25.Rd2 Qd6 26.Qh4 h5 27.Nf2 g5! 28.Qe4
[28.Qxh5? loses to 28...Rh8 29.Qg4 Qxh2+ 30.Kf1 f5! winning the queen]
28...Re5 29.Qb1 Rxe1+ 30.Qxe1 Rd8 31.g3 Nc5 32.Qe2 a5 33.Qb5 b6 34.a3?
A blunder, but he was already losing anyway.
34...Qe6! 35.Rb2 d3 36.b4 axb4 37.axb4 Nb3! 38.Qa4
[38.Nxd3 Qe3+ 39.Nf2 Qc1+]
38...Nd4 39.Kg2 Nc2 40.Rxc2 dxc2 41.Qxc2 g4! 42.fxg4 hxg4 43.Kg1 Rd4 44.Qc7+ Kg6 45.Qc2+ f5 46.Qc3 Rc4 47.Qd2 Kh7 48.h3 gxh3 49.Nxh3 Qc6! 50.Qe3 Rc1+ 51.Kf2 Qc2+ 52.Kf3 Rf1+ 53.Nf2 Rxf2+! mate next move 0–1

On Monday we will take up the exciting Grischuk-Rublevsky match!

Reader comments and/or suggestions are urgently solicited. Email address is bangcpa@gmail.com.

This column was first published in BusinessWorld on Friday, June 22, 2007.

Khalifman at helm of Kings’ tourneyFORMER world champion Alexander

Khalifman of Russia has taken the lead in the ongoing Kings’ Tournament in Bazna, Romania.

After six rounds, the Russian veteran had 4.0 points from five games, followed by Armenian GM Rafael Vaganian, with 4.0 from six games, and GMs Zoltan Ribli and Lajos Portisch of Hungary, and Alexander Beliavsky of Slovenia tied for third to fourth with 3.0 from six games.

All the 11 participants are players of middle age who once were kings of the game in their respective homelands.

FROM MY SWIVEL CHAIR
Keeping abreast of the times

GOOD to know that the Philippines will host next year’s Asean Age-Group Championships, the premier youth team and individual event in this part of the world, as announced by NCFP president Prospero Pichay, who is also deputy president of the Asean Chess Confederation.
—0—
IN fact, Pichay has chosen the venue, the Subic Freeport, which hosted the Philippine Open two months ago. How ready are we to play host? Judging by what happened at the Philippine Open, we are not ready, as ill-prepared as we were for the Age-Group competitions in Pattaya.
—0—
FOR one thing, there was inadequate media coverage of the Philippine Open. There were no daily bulletins issued by the organizers and there were no reporters, not even provincial correspondents, at the scene. Up to now, there is no database of games from that event available to journalists.
—0—
COVERAGE of the Payatta event has also been sporadic and minimal. Cockfighting gets better coverage than chess, if we are to go by what appears in the sports section of my favorite newspaper. Even Shell’s inaugural and unique and exciting Battle of Champions received poor media exposure.
—0—
EITHER it’s true that practicing journalists nowadays demand a steep price for publicity—a very unethical. abusive and dishonest practice that must be condemned by everyone—from tournament organizers, or that tournament organizers just don’t really care about promoting the game.
—0—
THE problem is that we Filipinos have not kept up
with modern technology. IT, or information technology, is a mere shibboleth as far as our leaders are concerned. The best example of this is the NCFP website, which has been as dead as a doornail since Election Day.
—0—
THIS is one reason for the meager publicity given to chess. Had the webmaster of the NCFP website been fed with the news from Payatta, it would have been a bonanza for newspaper reporters to cover the event. The problem really lies in the hierarchy of values on the part of both media people and chess leaders.
—0—
I AM proud to say that the Weekender thrives on the wealth of information and vital data available on the World Wide Web. Even as a columnist with TODAY, I made sure to get the latest news from the Net. Why don’t my brethren in the media do the same? Let’s all keep abreast of the times!