Torre loses anew

And here's another Weekender, Extra Edition from Mr. Manny Benitez:

Extra!!! The Chess Plaza Weekender
Wednesday, 16 Jan. 2008
Quezon Memorial Circle, Quezon City Weekday Edition

AS TORRE LOSES ANEW IN TARAKAN
Wesley whips Barlo to take solo second

RP trio intact in Group B as Jayson closes in on Mark
By Marlon Bernardino
THE world’s youngest grandmaster appeared to regain his form in the ongoing Asean Masters Circuit in Tarakan with a brilliant win on Tuesday to seize solo second place.

Fourteen-year-old Wesley So, officially recognized now as a grandmaster by the tournament organizers, outclassed his compatriot, IM Barlo Nadera, to stay 1.5 points behind Group A solo leader GM Zhang Zhong of Singapore, a former national champion of China who had dealt him his only loss in the third round.

In other developments:

● GM Mark Paragua and Fide Master Rolando Nolte played a peaceful draw to conserve their 1-2-3 positions in Group B even as IM Jayson Gonzales soared to solo second past Nolte in third with a well-execute win against Malaysian FM Mok TzeMeng, Paragua led with 6.0 points, followed by Gonzales with 5.5 and Nolte 5.0 in an all-Filipino show of strength.

● GM Eugenio Torre suffered his second loss in Group A to slide back to a tie for sixth and seventh places with equally unlucky Indonesian GM Susanto Megaranto, who also suffered his second loss. They had 3.5 each, half a point behind IM Tirto of Indonesia, NM Hamed Nouri of the Philippines and IM Mas. Hafizulhelmi of Malaysia.

● In Group C, 14-year-old WNM Christy Lamiel Bernales suffered her third loss to drop to a tie for sixth to seventh places. She had been in second place until she lost her delayed first-round game to WIM Beverly Mendoza last Sunday. Still in first place with 6.5 points from seven games was Indonesian IM Irwanto Sadikin, followed by his compatriot, GM Edhi Handoko, and FM Graham Chua of Singapore in a tie for second and third with 5.5 points.

In a stunning display of tactical fireworks, Wesley (White) went after Barlo with what looked at first as a premature assault led by a knight and a bishop to tear Black’s French Defense barricades apart.

The assault was triggered by an innocent-looking pawn sacrifice on the sixth turn that enabled White to quickly penetrate Black’s position and send his king fleeing as early as the 12th move.

After a few more moves, it was clear that Black’s position was on the verge of collapse as Wesley massed all his forces against the fleeing king.

The end came on the 29th turn when Wesley checked the enemy monarch with his knight backed up by his queen, a bishop and two rooks all aimed at Black’s weakened back rank.

It was the Bacoor schoolboy’s third win, his first having been against GM Megaranto in the fifth round and the second against NM Nouri in their delayed first-round duel.

GM So had drawn three games—against Indonesian FM Cecep Koshashi in the second round, GM Torre in the fourth and IM Tirto in the sixth.

His only loss was to GM Zhang in the third round.

Here is the score of Wesley’s brilliant win as analyzed with the help of Fritz:

W. So (2526) – B. Nadera (2417)
Rd 7, Asean Masters, Tarakan 2008
French Defense (C17)]

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Ba5 6.b4 cxb4 7.Nb5 Nc6 8.axb4 Bxb4+ 9.c3 Be7 10.Ba3 a6 11.Bxe7 Ngxe7 12.Nd6+ Kf8 13.Bd3 Qc7 14.Qh5 Nd8 15.Ne2 Bd7 16.0–0 Nc8 17.Nxc8 Rxc8 18.f4 Qb6 If 18...Kg8 19.Rf3!, with distinct advantage 19.Rab1 Not 19.Bxh7 Bb5 20.Rfb1 Qc6Q! Qa7 20.Kh1 Not 20.Bxh7?! b6, and Black equalizes b5 21.f5 exf5 22.Bxf5 Rc6 Fritz suggests 22...Kg8 23.Nf4! Rxc3??. 23...Bxf5 24.Qxf5 Qe7 gives White a big lead 24.e6! Bc6 25.Rbe1 26.e7+! Ke8 27.exd8=N+! Kxd8 28.Qxf7 Qf6 29.Ne6+! The coup de grace, and Black resigns as he will still get mated even if he gives up his queen. 1–0

With four more rounds to go, IM Gonzales, FM Nolte and NM Nouri looked likely to earn their GM and IM norms.

TITANIC STRUGGLE IN WIJK AAN ZEE
Aronian, Carlsen still lead after draw

EARLY leaders Levon Aronian of Armenia and his teenaged Norwegian rival, Magnus Carlsen, held on to their joint lead after battling to a draw in the fourth round of the Corus Super Tournament in the Dutch resort of Wijk aan Zee Tuesday.

All the participants in the three categories as well as the honorary mini-tournament of four famous senior players took a day off on Wednesday.

Aronian, 25, and Carlsen, 17, will still lead the 14-player main event with 3.0 points from two wins and two draws each when hostilities resume on Thursday.

Breathing down their necks were four rivals led by another young superstar, 20-year-old Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan, who also halved the point with his compatriot, two-time world junior champion Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, 21.

The three others were former world champion Vladimir Kramnik of Russia, Dutch champion Loek van Wely and Judit Polgar of Hungary, the lone female player in the event.

The four had 2.5 points each.

Each of them posted his or her first win in the fourth round—Kramnik with against Pavel Eljanov of Ukraine, Van Wely against another former world champion, Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria, and Polgar against Boris Gelfand.

Reigning world champion Viswanathan Anand of India vs Michael Adams of England as well as Peter Leko of Hungary vs Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine also ended in draws.

Meanwhile, GM Tigran L. Petrosian held at bay his toughest opponent yet, veteran campaigner and Olympiad player Smbat Lpuitian, in the sixth round of the 68th Armenian Championship.

With the draw, Petrosian still held the solo lead with a score of 5.0, 1.5 points ahead of his closest rivals, Artashes Minasian, Ashot Anastasian and Lputian himself.

Only Tigran Kotanjian among the leading players scored a win, with White against Samvel Ter-Sahakyan.

Petrosian has remained unbeaten after six rounds.