More from The Weekender

Hi!

Here's the continuation ofn this week's TW edition by Mr. Manny Benitez:

Paolo ties for first in US Open, now ‘Player of Month’

FOR the first time in US and Philippine history, a Filipino has tied for first place in the US Open, one of the most prestigious events in America.

US Master Anton Paolo del Mundo, a former outstanding Filipino player now residing in the US state of Virginia, finished with the same score as six other players, including four GMs and two IMs.

Two weeks earlier, Paolo topped the 2400 section of the World Open in Philadelphia, a feat not yet achieved by any Filipino in the past.

For these two extraordinary victories, Del Muindo was chosen by the Chess Journalists Association of the Philippines “Player of the Month.”

While still in the Philippines, del Mundo powered the Ateneo University’s high school team to the annual national secondary schools championship four times (see also “Pinoy Gems with a History” on page 8).

In the US, where he finished his computer software engineering course at the University of Maryland in College Park, he has also won honors in individual and team events over the years.

Before moving on to UMCP, which has one of the most prestigious computer science schools in the US, Paolo was a varsity star at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

He led the UMBC team to victory in the US Pan American Championship in the two years he was enrolled there.

In the US Open, his best game was against Roleau where he sacrificed a knight and then a rook to clinch his win in a hypermodern game.

The CJAP is headed by Ed Andaya of People’s Tonight as president with Gus Villanueva of the Journal Group and Manny Benitez of The Weekender as advisers.

Other CJAP officers: Dante Navarro of Philippine Star, vice president; Arman Armero of Standard Today, secretary; Joey Villar of Philippine Star, treasurer; Dani Simon of Police Files, auditor; Noli Cruz of Standard and Cristine Moncada of Malaya, PROs; and Orlando Primo of Dyaryong Orig and Marlon Bernardino of Bandera, business managers.—Marlon Bernardino

Joey, Macmac may extend US visit

BOTH Rogelio “Joey” Antonio Jr. and Mark “Macmac” Paraguja plan to extend their current visit to the United States in order to play in more tournaments there and boost their chances of raising their Elo ratings, according to Weekender sources.

The two leading Filipino grandmasters cited the lack of top-level tournaments in the country since the May elections when NCFP president Prospero “Butch” Pichay lost in his senatorial bid despite reportedly spending a fortune on his poll campaign, conducted mainly through political advertisements in print and broadcast.

Antonio, whose mother and a sister live in the US, is scheduled to play a simultaneous exhibition tomorrow in Atlanta, Georgia, according to journalist Ignacio “Iggy” Dee in an email to The Weekender.

Dee is currently visiting the US with his wife and daughter, who will be studying as a scholar at Georgia State College and University.

Joey also did a simul last week at Carriage Crest Park in Carson City, in the suburbs of Los Angeles, California.

“I plan to stay here (in America) longer and play as many tournaments as I can.,”
he told Dee, adding that “there are no tournaments back home anyway.”

It was also understood that Paragua had the same reason for extending his visit in the US. He went there early last month to play in two minor tournaments before entering the World Open in Philadelphia, but quit halfway through the event.

The last news about GM Paragua came after he had narrowly missed winning the top prize in the Northeast US Open in Stamford, Connecticut because of his final-round loss to a Russian IM.

The Filipino prodigy had four wins in a row before his loss in an event where he was the lone grandmaster.

Paragua is the first Filipino to attain the status of a super GM. This was in 2005-06 when his Elo rating soared to 2621 after a successful European tour.

His rating started to slide back after his dismal performance at the 37th World Olympiad in Turin, Italy, in May last year.

Paragua now ranks No. 3 in the country with 2525, a mere nine points above that of the country’s hottest sensation, IM Wesley So, who has just topped the Under-16 World Olympiad in Singapore.

In his email, Dee said Antonio sounded greatly disappointed and disheartened when he talked about the World Chess Federation’s action in lowering his rating from 2539 in its first version of the July 1, 2007 rating list to 2532 in the second version.

The rating reduction, done after including his loss to NM Ernesto Fernandez in the Philippine Open at Subic last April, effectively lowered Antonio’s ranking in the country from No. 1 to No. 2 in less than a month’s time.

As a result, GM Eugene Torre (2536) rose from No. 2 to No. 1, replacing Antonio.

Dee hopes to meet Antonio in Atlanta tomorrow, Monday.

Paolo’s crowning glory in US Open

AS a child, US Open sensation Anton Paolo del Mundo was already used to success and disappointment and learned to cope at a tender age: taking success in stride and not letting disappointment get him down, as well as meeting disappointments with a smile and not letting successes get into his head.

In fact, a setback would usually spur Paolo on, says his father, Herky, who had taught him chess when he was five. At that time the elder Del Mundo was studying for his master’s degree in Fine Arts, Radio and Television at Temple University in Philadelphia. Herky recalls putting his son on computer chess so he could study for his comprehensive exams. Paolo was barely six when he was first featured in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, after he had defeated a 13-year-old rival from Cagayan de Oro in the first round of Mila Emperado's Metropolitan Kiddies Championship. At eight, Paolo was the youngest student in the newly formed Metropolitan Chess Club under Mila, with GM Rosendo Balinas Jr. as his first teacher. Then came the future GM Bong Villamayor. But the most consistent trainers, Herky recalls, were NM Antonio Calvo and IMs Ricky de Guzman and Idelfonso Datu..

Paolo was about nine years old when he met his first big disappointment. He had earlier represented Quezon City private schools at the NCR Palaro, along with Mark Paragua, when they captured the crown. This time, however, Mark had dropped out after a loss and Paolo was waiting for his assignment from the coaches who were public school teachers while the outdoor opening ceremony was going on in the summer heat.

At the last minute, however, after the two-hour-long ceremony under the sun, Paolo was told he was being replaced by a public school player. Instead of sulking after a huge letdown, he went back to his chess lessons and studied the game every day so he could excel in his next tournament. Paolo was nine when he started playing in US tournaments during their family vacation in the summer months. It was then that he won the Under-13 New York championship. At 11, he met his next big disappointment, in a game he, a 1600 player, had against a 2400 Fide master from Chicago, Albert Chow, who invoked the sudden-death rule to end it—Chow had only three minutes left while Paolo still had half an hour.

The arbiter declared a draw, but Paolo’s dad protested in his behalf and the game was replayed the next day. Soon Paolo won against Chow without using up his time. Again Chow invoked the same rule to protest the loss and a panel of three grandmasters was formed to resolve the issue. After reviewing the position, the panel declared a draw, implying a low probability of a win for the player with a rating lower by 800 points. This did not deter Paolo from taking his next US trip. Spurred again by his disappointment with the panel’s decision, he went back the following year’s summer vacation and topped the Under 2000 section of the New York Open. In fact, he was the virtual winner entering the seventh and final round, having had six wins in a row. He could have won his seventh game but accepted the draw offer from his Russian rival. For his feat he received $7,000 as his prize, much bigger than what GMs got from the same open tournament. In the Philippines, his biggest achievement was powering his Ateneo de Manila High School team to the UAAP championship for four years—from his first year up to his graduation. Paolo was also instrumental for bringing his old coach, IM Datu, to Ateneo, who now serves as the university’s chess program coordinator. He feels fortunate for having trained at the age of 15 under IM Nikolai Andrianov, a former Soviet junior champion who trained the Greek Olympiad team, producing in the process three grandmasters. It was Andrianov, serving as trainer at the MCC for two years, who taught Paolo the finer points in both strategy and tactics. Since then he has not trained under any other master and came up with his own playing style as his highly original game against Elizabeth Vicary in the 2007 US Open will show. In sum, Anton Paolo del Mundo’s sensational victory in the US Open, where he tied for the championship with four leading grandmasters and two international masters, says it all.

• A.P. Del Mundo (2388) – E. Vicary (2155)
Symmetrical English (A37)

1.Nf3 c5 2.g3 Nc6 3.c4 g6 4.Bg2 e5 5.0–0 Bg7 6.Nc3 Nge7 7.a3 d6 8.b4 cxb4 9.axb4 10.Ba3 Nec6 11.Qa4 Na6 12.Nxe5 Bxe5 13.Bxc6+ bxc6 14.Qxc6+ Qd7? 15.Qxa8 0–0 16.Rab1 Nc5 17.Ne4 Ne6?? After 17.Ne6?? 17...Nxe4 18.Qxe4 Qa4 would delay but not avert her surrender. 18.Bxd6! If 18…f5 19.Bxf8 Kxf8 20.Nf6 Bxf6 21.Rb8! 1–0


BOBBY ANG’S BUSINESWORLD COLUMN, CHESS PIECE (1)

Attacking Lesson

VASSILY IVANCHUK’S hot streak continues—he might be the strongest player in the world as of this moment. Around two weeks ago I wrote that Chuckie scored 6/9 in the Russian Team Championships, in the process defeating Alexander Morozevich, then proceeded to Havana where he dominated in the Capablanca Memorial (7.5/9, 2 pts ahead of second placer Lenier Dominguez), and then 3.5/4 in the German Bundesliga.

Based on these performances he was ranked fourth in the July 2007 FIDE Rating list, to wit:

1. GM Viswanathan Anand, India. ELO 2792
2. GM Veselin Topalov, Bulgaria. ELO 2769
3. GM Vladimir Kramnik, Russia. ELO 2769
4. GM Vassily Ivanchuk, Ukraine. ELO 2762
5. GM Alexander Morozevich, Russia. ELO 2758

Last June Ivanchuk won the category-18 Aerosvit tournament in Foros (Crimea), Ukraine. This was a very strong 12-player tournament – the lowest rated participant, GM Onischuk of USA (formerly Ukraine), had an ELO of 2663! This victory is worth an additional 10 pts to his rating.

Then, before he left the Ukraine, he took part in and won the ultra-strong rapid tournament organized by the Bank Pivdenny in Odessa. The other contestants were Grischuk, Radjabov, Shirov, Gelfand, Drozdovskij, Bacrot, Korchnoi, Smirin and Tukmakov – quite august company!

Three weeks later Chuckie came from behind to win the Montreal International Grandmasters Tournament in Canada:

Eighth Montreal International
July 19 to 29, 2007
Hilton Doubletree Hotel, Montreal

Final Standings

1 GM Vassily Ivanchuk UKR 2762, 7.0/9
2 GM Sergei Tiviakov NED 2648, 6.0/9
3 GM Penteala Harikrishna IND 2664, 5.5/9
4-5 GM Pavel Eljanov UKR 2701, GM Gata Kamsky USA 2718, 5.0/9
6 GM Emil Sutovsky ISR 2656, 4.5/9
7-8 GM Kamil Miton POL 2648, GM Mark Bluvshtein CAN 2520 3.5/9
9 GM Pascal Charbonneau CAN 2503, 3.0/9
10 GM Nigel Short ENG 2683, 2.0/9

Average elo: 2650 <=> Category: 16

This new tournament victory adds another 10 ELO rating points. If you look at the world rankings above you will see that Ivanchuk is now seriously challenging Anand to be the top-rated player in the world come the next rating list, which will be in October 1, 2007.

My favorite game from the tournament is given below. Ivanchuk gives a textbook lesson on how to assault the enemy King with a half-open e-file.

Miton,Kamil (2648) - Ivanchuk,Vassily (2762) [E12]
Montreal International (8), 27.07.2007

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.a3
Some people call this the Petrosian System, others the Kasparov System. The former popularized this line in the 60s, the latter in the 80s.
4...Ba6 5.e3
The almost automatic reaction of White to 4...Ba6 is 5.Qc2 but this move is not without its adherents.
5...Be7
Most people consider 5...d5 to be the equalizing line, taking advantage of the position of the Black bishop on a6 vis-a-vis the white one on f1. 6.Nbd2 Be7 7.b4 0–0 8.Bb2 Nbd7 (8...c5 9.dxc5 bxc5 10.b5 Bb7 11.Be2 Nbd7 12.0–0 Bd6 13.a4 Rc8 14.Qc2 Bb8 was unclear in Mascarinas,R (2400)-Romanishin,O (2595)/ Lvov 1981 0–1 (40).) 9.Qc2 c5 10.dxc5 bxc5 11.b5 Bb7 12.Bd3 a6 with chances for both players. Kozul,Z (2605)-Beliavsky,A (2710)/ Portoroz 1997 1/2 (42).

6.Bd3 d5 7.cxd5 Bxd3 8.Qxd3 exd5 9.0–0 0–0 10.Nbd2

In "Chess Today" IM Barsky suggested that a more active plan was 10.Ne5!? with the idea of a stonewall formation after f2-f4. This strikes me as quite a good idea, especially since Black does not have a white-squared bishop anymore. However, Kamil Miton does not have his compatriot Krasenkow's adventurous streak and sticks to slow and steady moves.
10...Nbd7 11.b3 Bd6!

After 11...Bd6

OK, now it is time for the Ivanchuk school for attacking players. Black has a typical position in d4 openings—a half open e-file. Please study carefully how he builds the attack. Take note that he prevents White's knight from going to e5.
12.Bb2 Qe7
Step 2 is to strengthen his hold on the e-file via ...Rfe8 followed by ...Ne4.
13.Rfc1 Rfe8 14.Rc2 Ne4 15.Rac1 Qe6
Black will play ...Qf5 or ...Qg4 followed by ...Re6, ...Rae8, and then swing over his e6-rook to either f6, g6 or h6.
16.Rc6 Nb8 17.R6c2 Nd7 18.Rc6 Qf5 19.Qf1 Rad8 20.Nxe4?
White couldn't think of anything to do and so exchanges knights, but having a pawn on e4 just speeds up the attack.
20...dxe4 21.Nd2
The d5 square beckons, so Black goes ...Nf6 and ...Nd5.
21...Re6 22.a4 Nf6 23.Nb1 Nd5 24.Ba3 Ne7 25.R6c3
It is time, kimosabe.
25...Bxh2+! 26.Kxh2 Qh5+ 27.Kg1 Rh6 28.f3
[28.f4 c5! 29.dxc5 Nf5 and it is not so easy to parry 30...Qh2+ 31.Kf2 Rh3]
28...Nf5 29.Nd2
[29.fxe4 Qh1+ 30.Kf2 Qh4+ 31.Kg1 (31.Ke2 Ng3+) 31...Ng3 32.Qf3 Rf6 wins]
29...Qh2+ 30.Kf2 Qh4+ 31.Kg1 Ng3 32.Qd1 exf3 33.Qxf3
[33.Nxf3? Qh1+ 34.Kf2 Ne4+ 35.Ke2 Qxg2+ 36.Kd3 Nf2+ resign]
33...Qh2+
It is not yet time for 33...Rf6? since White has the resource 34.Be7 pinning the rook against the queen.
34.Kf2 Rf6
Winning the queen.
35.Qxf6 gxf6 36.e4 Nh1+ 37.Rxh1
[37.Kf1 Qf4+ 38.Kg1 Qxd2; 37.Ke3 c5! 38.dxc5 (38.d5 f5) 38...Qh6+]
37...Qxh1 38.Be7 Qh6!
The threat against Nd2 saves the rook.
39.Rg3+ Kh8 40.Nf3
[40.Bxd8 Qxd2+ 41.Kf3 Qc3+ 42.Kf4 Qxd4]
40...Re8 0–1

After this neat lesson you should go to the nearest barber shop and try it out right away. Have fun!

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

This column was first published in BusinessWorld on Monday, August 6, 2007.

BOBBY ANG’S BUSINESSWORLD COLUMN, CHESS PIECE (2)

Pawn Endings

PAWN ENDINGS is one of the great testaments to how beautiful and inexhaustible our game of chess is. What does it say about the infinite possibilities of a chess game when an endgame with reduced material, with only pawns left on the board, can be so unpredictable?

Pawns can only move in one direction and so any master can count moves and play it to perfection, right? Wrong. Despite the limited material, pawn endings are often very difficult, abounding in study-like subtleties, and paradoxical ideas are oftentimes encountered.

The 1987 World Junior championship was held here in the Philippines, in Baguio City. An unknown Indian player named Viswanathan Anand scored his first major international victory by winning the title ahead of the favored Soviets Ivanchuk, Serper and Akopian. Other soon to become famous players were Patrick Wolff (USA), Ferdinand Hellers (Sweden), Simen Agdestein (Norway), Jeroen Piket (Netherlands), Matthias Wahls (Germany) and Ivan Sokolov (Netherlands).

This was a very strong tournament, and fighting chess prevailed. The following game impressed me greatly.

Ivanchuk,Vassily (2480) - Hellers,Ferdinand (2490) [E41]
WJrCh Baguio City, 1987

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 c5 5.Bd3 Nc6 6.Nge2 cxd4 7.exd4 d5 8.cxd5 Qxd5 9.0–0 Qh5 10.Ne4 Nxe4 11.Bxe4 Bd6 12.Bf4 Bxf4 13.Nxf4 Qxd1?!
White has the better ending. Black should have retained queens, perhaps by 13...Qg5.
14.Rfxd1 Bd7 15.Nd3!
It was not yet time for 15.d5?: after 15...exd5 16.Nxd5 0–0–0! Black has equalized.
15...Rc8
[15...Nxd4? 16.Bxb7 Rb8 17.Nc5 Black's position becomes very uncomfortable]
16.d5! exd5 17.Bxd5 b6!
Black cannot castle due to 17...0–0? 18.Nc5 Rc7 19.Nxd7 Rxd7 20.Bxc6 Rxd1+ 21.Rxd1 bxc6 22.Rd7 and wins.
18.Re1+ Kf8 19.Rad1! g6 20.Ne5 Nxe5 21.Rxe5 Re8 22.Rxe8+ Bxe8 23.Rc1 Ke7 24.Rc8
[24.Rc7+? Kd6 it is Black who wins]
24...Rf8 25.Ra8 a5 26.Ra6!
[26.Rb8 b5 27.Ra8 a4 28.Kf1 Bd7 it is dead even]
26...Kd6 27.Bb3 Bb5
[27...Kc5 28.Ra8]
28.Rxb6+ Kc5 29.Rb7!
[29.Rf6?? a4! 30.Bxf7 (30.Bc2 Re8 31.h4 Re2) 30...Bc4 Black wins]
29...a4 30.Bxf7 Rd8 31.h4 Rd1+ 32.Kh2 Rd2 33.Kg3 Rxb2 34.Be8! h6
By this time both players were calculating many moves ahead. For example 34...a3 35.Rxb5+ Rxb5 36.Bxb5 Kxb5 37.Kf4 wins for White. Let us see: 37...Kc4 38.Ke3 Kc3 39.g4 Kb2 40.Kd2 Kxa2 41.Kc2 h5 42.g5 Ka1 43.f4 a2 44.f5 gxf5 45.g6 f4 46.g7 f3 47.g8Q f2 48.Qg7#
35.h5 g5
[35...gxh5 36.Rxb5+ Rxb5 37.Bxb5 Kxb5 38.f4 wins]
36.Rxb5+ Rxb5 37.Bxb5 Kxb5 38.f4 gxf4+ 39.Kxf4 Kb4 40.g4 Ka3 41.g5 hxg5+

Doubtless Hellers was expecting 42.Kxg5 Kxa2 43.h6 a3 44.h7 Kb1 45.h8Q a2 and it is a draw, since the white queen cannot prevent the black pawn from queening unless it stalemates the black king. However ...
42.Ke3!
And now there is no stalemate. We can calculate this to the end: 42.Ke3 Kxa2 43.h6 Kb1 44.h7 a3 45.h8Q a2 46.Qb8+ Kc2 (46...Ka1 47.Kd2 there is no stalemate so the white king will go to c2 followed by Qb2 checkmate) 47.Qe5 Kb1 48.Qb5+ Kc2 49.Qc4+ Kb1 50.Qb3+ Ka1 51.Kd2 followed by Kc2 and Qb2 mate. 1–0

Alexei Shirov, one of the greatest attackers of modern day chess, said in his book, Fire on Board, that his greatest strength lay in the endgame. I am sure anyone reading the book would have lifted an eyebrow on such a statement, but Shirov explained that in the endgame all that counts is calculating ability, and as a tactician this is exactly his forte.

In the recently-concluded Montreal tournament a game from the first round caught my eye. Emil Sutovsky is well known as a brilliant tactician while Harikrishna is more of a positional player, but Sutovsky got himself outplayed beautifully in the pawn endgame.

Harikrishna,Pentala (2664) - Sutovsky,Emil (2656) [D87]
2007 Montreal Empresa CAN (1), 20.07.2007

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Bc4 c5 8.Ne2 Nc6 9.Be3 0–0 10.0–0 Na5 11.Bd3 b6 12.Rc1 e5
Black has to keep the tension in the center. If he releases it then White would have a free hand attacking his king. For example, 12...cxd4 13.cxd4 e6 14.Qd2 Bb7 15.h4! Qe7 16.h5 Rfc8 17.e5!? Rxc1 18.Rxc1 Rc8 19.Rxc8+ Bxc8 20.Bg5 Qc7 21.Bf6 Nc6 (It would be a mistake to capture 21...Bxf6 22.exf6 Qd8 23.Qg5 Qe8 24.Nf4 the thematic sacrifice on g6 is coming) 22.Qg5 h6 23.Qc1 g5 24.Bb5 Bd7 25.d5! exd5 26.Nd4 and wins. Carlsen,M (2690)-Ivanchuk,V (2750)/ Morelia/Linares 2007 1–0 (35).
13.dxc5 Be6 14.c4 bxc5 15.Bxc5 Bh6 16.f4 Re8 17.f5 Qc7 18.Bf2 Bxc4 19.Bxc4 Nxc4 20.Nc3 Nb2 21.Nd5 Qxc1 22.Nf6+ Kg7 23.Nxe8+ Rxe8 24.f6+ Kg8 25.Qxc1 Bxc1 26.Rxc1 Nd3 27.Rc3 Nxf2 28.Kxf2 h5 29.Rc6 Re6?
The decisive mistake, and after this Harikrishna has a forced win.
30.Rxe6 fxe6
After 30...fxe6
This can be used as an instructional material on winning a K+P endgame.
31.g4! hxg4
Forced. 31...h4 32.g5.
32.Kg3 Kf7 33.Kxg4 Kxf6 34.Kh4! a5
Or 34...a6 35.a3.
35.a4 Ke7
[35...Kf7 36.Kg5 Kg7 37.h3! Kf7 38.Kh6 Kf6 39.h4 transposes]
36.Kg5 Kf7 37.Kh6 Kf6 38.h4! Kf7 39.Kh7 Kf6 40.Kg8 1-0
You can see yourself all the way to the end: 40.Kg8 g5 (40...Ke7 41.Kg7 Kd6 42.Kxg6 Kc5 43.h5) 41.h5 g4 42.h6 g3 43.h7 g2 44.h8Q+.
Games like this are the reason we play chess. Like love, like music, it has the power to make men happy.

Reader comments and/or suggestions are urgently solicited. Email address is bangcpa@gmail.com.
This column was first published in BusinessWorld on Friday, August 10, 2007.

Chess quote

“That's what Chess is all about. One day you give your
opponent a lesson, the next day he gives you one.”
—Bobby Fischer


FROM MY SWIVEL CHAIR

Weekender thrives on interaction

THIS week’s featured “Pinoy Gems with a History” on page 8 would not have been possible without the proactive help of US Open “co-champion” Anton Paolo del Mundo’s dad, Herky, a regular Weekender reader.

Not too long ago, I was inspired to write about Joseph Henry Blackburne, one of the greatest chess pirates in history, by a letter from reader Joe Molina, who cited the “swashbuckling” player of 19th-century England.

Both Del Mundo and Molina reside in the United States, Herky in Virginia and Joe in Washington, DC, by coincidence on the US East Coast (or the Atlantic seaboard).

Locally, journalists Ignacio “Iggy” Dee, now on a US visit, and Marlon Bernardino help out in the coverage, Iggy on the Net and Marlon on the happenings in the world of chess, both within Philippine shores and overseas.

Iggy and Marlon do it in the spirit of voluntarism and absolutely without reward except the satisfaction of fulfilling their love of writing and the game.

My point is, The Weekender exists precisely for the enjoyment of its readers and that it thrives on their participation in the making of this weekly publication. I do enjoy writing and editing my newsletter because it makes me feel useful once more as a journalist despite my advanced age, but I’d like to believe everyone who gets a copy every Sunday enjoys reading it just as much, or even more.

Without readers, The Weekender would have no reason for its existence. For emphasis, I must say that this is your publication, and I am just the instrument for putting it together. Somebody has to do it, and it happens to be me.

How I wish, though, that there were more articles contributed by you, the reader. Or, I must add, more solvers of the problem composed by my friend, ever creative Joselito P. Marcos.

Here is what you may and can do:

• Contribute your views—in writing—on what is apparently going on in Philippine chess: the failure of the federation to hold its election of officers as mandated in its constitution and by-laws, the factionalism within its board, the way tournaments are being held, the NCFP decision to hold a major national event without imposing registration fees on players but without cash prizes, either, etc.
• But then, look at the brighter side, too. Comment on the magnificent showing of our prodigies led by IM Wesley So in the Under-16 World Olympiad in Singapore, the US Open victory of Paolo del Mundo, the performance abroad of our players like GMs Joey Antonio and Mark Paragua, IMs Enrico Sevillano, Roland Salvador, Joseph Sanchez, Rolly Martinez and Julio Catalino Sadorra, along with NMs Jake Banawa and his brother Cholo in California, as well as the emergence of IM Ronald Bancod and WIM Catherine Pereña as new leaders on the national level, etc.
• In sum, look at both sides of every issue and don’t hesitate to make known your views and perhaps suggestions on what must needs be done to improve the state of Philippine chess.
• Remember, this is your publication and it will rise or fall depending on your support or the lack of it. Iinteraction is the key to success of any medium in these days of cyber technology.

Welcome aboard!