Black Equalizes

Our very own GM Wesley So, the youngest player in the currently running World Chess Cup was one of the players with white pieces to draw the game in the 4th round. Out of 8 games, 6 were drawn and the only winners were GM's Mamdeyarov and Boris Gelfand.

Heartbreaker Wesley So will try to win his second game in the 4th round with black but if not, he'll be in a very advantageous tiebreak situation: speed, speed and speed chess.

In other news, we received a report from Marlon Bernardino about our other young players qualifying in the ICC GibTelecom Blitz Qualifier Tournament: Jan Emmanuel Garcia and Marc Christian Nazario. I have not checked on the rules yet or the system for the tournament but from what I got, it's a 3.0/g.

Congratulations to all of you.

Send Him Home

My message to GM Wesley So in his 4th round match against GM Vladimir Malakhov is simple:

"Send him home."

So Good, So Strong!

I'm sorry if I would blog about Wesley So for the 4th straight time. I'm sorry if he is doing spectacularly well in the current World Chess Cup.

Doubters, haters and fans of GM Wesley So, there's not enough expletives or adjectives to use how wonderful or beautiful his performance now.

He won his 4th round match against GM Gata Kamsky and this propels him into the 5th round of the Cup. Kamsky is all praises against our very own wizkid.

If you would check our comment box in our previous posts, there was one reader who asked who'd be Wesley's opponent in the 4th with an undertone:

"Before you blog about his wins, wait 'till he be beaten by Kamsky"

Congratulations to you Wesley!

GM Wesley So a.k.a. Heartbreaker

It's another story of another Chessman who sees himself as someone who doesn't deserve to be squashed by an "unknown" 15 year old Filipino named Wesley So.

Reading the Vassily Ivanchuk interview article on the Official Website of World Chess Cup 2009, it's was clear from his statements that he really is a broken hearted man as of the moment. Losing against GM Wesley So, Philippines' current number 1 player, Chukky had to vent his ill-feelings with so unsportman like attitude:

" Having two minutes against ten, you are doomed to failure. So, the result is obvious: an inadequate situation estimation which led to a tragedy. In the second game I was trying to make a balance, but I missed something. My opponent, by the way, played very badly."

If Ivanchuk was a so and so chess player, I would understand it, but he's a world class chess player who was defeated by a world class player, at least give respect to one of your so called colleagues. There is no excuse to losing a game to anybody except of course when you play against cheaters. But a game played on an equal footing, with odds against your opponents, I was expecting congratulatory greetings given to Wesley by Ivanchuk.

And to remind you all,  GM Susan Polgar even had the following words trademarked to her name:

"Win with grace, lose with dignity."

Anyways, Wesley has been called a lot of names but I would call him from now on The Heartbreaker!

In the 3rd round of the World Cup 2009, The Heartbreaker will be playing against GM Gata Kamsky of USA and yes, I'd have to be honest with you, I'd be very, very surprised if our hearbrek kid wins his matches and move on to the 4th but again, I will be the happiest man on earth if he escapes and move on to the next round.

All our prayers for a successful performance in this round! 

TCG Loves Blogging

Thanks to GM Wesley So for my blog drive is back!

Now let me share this link to all of you: The Closet Grandmaster Likes to Blog and the YouTube video:



Great blogger!

GM Wesley So Wins

The game 2 match between GM Wesley So of the Philippines and GM Vassily Ivanchuk in the 2nd round resulted in a draw and that's all what Wesley needed to move on to the 3rd round.

Great job Wesley!

Now I'd be the first one to slap anyone who thinks otherwise about GM Wesley So's achievement so far!

GM So Beats Ivanchuk

To the highest decibel known to man, here I am jumping up and down upon learning that our hero, GM Wesley So beats Ivanchuk in their first game of the 2nd round match.

What did I say a couple of posts ago? The prepared warriors are the ones who has better chances!

Eat that Wesley So doubters!

Pinoys in World Chess Cup

GM Wesley So wins his first game in the first round in the World Chess Cup happening in Russia now. GM Darwin Laylo losses in the first game but wins in the second game of his first round match against GM David Navarra. Third game is the important!

GM Joey Antonio exits in the first round against GM Gata Kamsky. It's time GM Joey concentrate in his bid to enter the Guinness Book of World Records for the most number of opponents played in a chess simultaneous exhibition. I feel bad about his losses as I got excited with all the almost weekly publicity sent out by Marlon Bernardino for GM Joey Antonio.

As for our other warriors in Wesley and Darwin, we wish you all the luck! 

Chess World Cup 2009

While I surf the net for scholastic chess resources for my second term chess class, I make sure I have windows opened for chess news all over the world. One major event this year is happening this month and it is the Chess World Cup 2009.

Three of our grandmasters have qualified (old news!) and for sure they are in the thick of their preparation  for November  20, the day the battles begin. Khanty-Mansysk, Russia is the place to be for the best of the best. 

First round pairing: GM Wesley So with white pieces vs GM Gadir Guseinov of Azerbaijan while GM Rogelio "Joey" Antonio with black pieces vs GM Gata Kamsky of USA, both Pinoys are playing in section 8. GM Darwin Laylo with black pieces will play against David Navarra of Czech Republic on section 3.

GM So is seeded on 59th, GM Antonio on 102nd and GM Laylo on 108th. It would be a miracle if one of our fellow Filipinos reach the final round but with every push and capture, we can never really tell.

Miracles do happen and fortune favors the well-prepared army.

I say:

Go! go! go!
Wesley So, Antonio and Laylo
Here we go!
Philppine Chess, Go! go! go!

Chess Fed in Crisis?

Here is where our blog may serve it's purpose again...

Visit FIDE website and get the not so shocking reality: RP is not in the list again (for the nth time!).

Age group campaigners Florendo and Docena didn't make it to the World Juniors.

Pinoy players not getting their prize money from GMA and Pichay Cup.

Reasons?

May 2010 is causing almost all the delays in our country, not Ondoy, Quepeng nor Ramil!

Philippine chess has so flourished in the last 4 years NCFP, don't let it go to waste!

If you think you've done your part, then hold an election and allow those interested to serve the fed.

Beat The Mark

Our country's pride GM Mark Paragua, will try to hit the record books for achieving the never been achieved before: Do a simultaneous chess game exhibition against 600 + 400 = 1000 opponents on December 27 and 28, 2009.

We'll find out more in the coming weeks!

FICS Revisited

After Friday's simultaneous chess exhibition by Paulo Bersamina at Mahatma Gandhi International School in cooperation with the PE Department and MGIS Chess Club, I had a field day Saturday morning until evening playing at FICS.

It's been awhile since I last played there and as far as I can remember, the last game I had there was during my bored to death times in Morocco. Anyways, I'll share the game moves with you. I lost a lot of games yesterday with time controls of 5/g, 3/g and 2/g. Nobody wants to play lightning with me at FICS and I don't know why.

I got really bad losses and there was one game when I was mated on the bank rank with two knights. Really bad! For a chess fan like me, I have nothing to lose but gain more experience playing the game online.

This game is one of the reasons why I stayed in front of my notebook the whole day:

Mudri 1459 Me 1455
5/G FICS 10/17/2009

1. 1. e4 c6
2. 2. Nf3 Qc7
3. d4 d5
4. Nbd2 Bg4
5. Be2 e6
6. 0-0 Bxf3
7. Bxf3 Be7
8. c3 Nf6
9. e5 Nfd7
10. Qc2 Na6
11. Be2 b5
12. f4 0-0
13. f5 exf5
14. Qxf5 c5
15. Bxb5 Nb6
16. Bxa6 c4
17. b4 Na4
18. Qf3 Bg5
19. Nxc4 Bxc1
20. Qxd1 Bh6
21. Bb5 Nxc3
22. Qd6 Qc8
23. Ba6 Qg4
24. Bb7 Rad8
25. Qc6 Ne2+
26. Kh1 Rxd4
27. Nd6 Ng3+
28. Kg1 Be3+
29. Rf2 Bxf2+
30. Kf2 Rd2+
31. Kg1 Qd4#

0- 1

Fall In Style

Pack those summer clothes and make sure they're all ready for the season of Fall, in style!

Run out of stylish clothing for the season of fall? When you wish you just had those well-fitted blouses and shirts worn only by women of good taste? Too busy for a drive to the mall and head off to your favorite boutique? Just too cozy at home you wouldn't want to be anywhere but right in your living room with your family but just have to have additional back to school clothing for your loving kids? Or you simply want to live the online life of one-button shopping?

I know you have answered yes to all of the questions asked so I will not keep you hanging about this spectacular offer from ShopWiki.com.

As we all know, Shop Wiki is not your "usual" online store that caters to limited products and offers you a not so interesting internet shopping experience. Let's take a good look at what shopwiki can offer us:

Fall style guide:

You see, shopwiki wants you to buy products which you need and what suits your wish. You would have to consider the layering, colors and accessories to match your wits and style. For Fall 2009, we can expect older trends to be made new again. Thanks for the info shopwiki.

Women's Style Guide:

Let me be direct on this... must have's for women means exactly that. You can't go thru this fall season without those dazzling colors of gold, teal and burgundy. From sweaters to dresses, you won't go stale if you match them well. Leather jackets 'a classic and you'd wish you have them on when the cool breeze of the season blows to your direction. Don't forget to layer your clothing and vests of different colors or a black one will surely fit your imaginative style.

So much for the details for women.

For the men of picky taste, let's see what they ca give us.

Simply put, look great this fall for men!

A cashmere turtle neck sweater, military styled jacket, peacoat or a double breasted grey suit and a pair of oversized eyeglasses plus a wool mariner's cap will surely do the trick. A universal man is someone who just loves simplicity with a flare and shopwiki can give you that, all the more.

If I had a teenaged son or daughter, I'll just make sure he or she check out what shopwiki can offer them and for sure, these hard-to-please-I-won't-listen-orgive-in group of people called teenagers would instantly love wiki back to school for teens products.

Oh wait! I need to stop now and have my shopwiki experience! Come and join me now!

Paulo Bersamina @ MGIS

Thank you to Paulo Bersamina for doing a simultaneous chess exhibition at the Mahatma Gandhi International School yesterday. He played against 30 and scored a perfect 30!


Thank you goes to Paulo's family who has always been ready to help and share spread the love for the royal game.


Thank you too for everyone who has made it possible for the event to happen. From the administration staff, ICT academic and technical staff, PE department, teachers, parents and students. Special mention goes to our maintenance staff who made sure the venue was ready for the games.


Thank you to our headmaster, Mr. Lawrence M. Buck for always supporting such undertakings!


Congratulations to all for a job well done!


Some photos sent to me:

Simul @ MGIS

There will be a Simultaneous Chess Exhibition at the Mahatma Gandhi International School on October 16, 2009.

One player will be playing against 30 members of the MGIS community simultaneously. We'll keep the name of our invited player for now.

Good luck to everyone!

GM Hunt for Bitoon

IM Richard Bitoon is doing well on his 3rd and final GM norm at the 4th President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Cup International Chess Championship Sunday night at the Duty Free Fiestamall in Paranaque City.

As of round five, Bitoon carries 4 points and is the only IM in the top 4 placers. He is accompanied on second spot by GM's Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son of Vietnam and Tigran Kotanjian of Armenia. On top spot is GM Wong Meng Kong of Singapore with 4.5 points.

We wish IM Bitoon a steady, GM-caliber performance to finally get that GM title!

Swimsuits at ShopWiki

I know Summer 2009 has just passed and I never went anywhere near water that can be called a beach but I somehow dreamed of walking along the shores with shells shining in the sun. Add to this daydream of mine women running towards the shoreline wearing nicely fit swimsuits.

Ahh! Those were my college days when we were free and crazy. Times when life was easy and all we ever cared about was our next group swimming date, either on a friends' private pool or a beach hidden away from the commercialized thinking of business oriented people.

Have you thought of going out on the beach with your family? Friends and would be friends? If you do and your female friends want to go too, make sure they bring the best fitting and best looking swimsuit they can ever find without going thru the hassles of going to the malls.

At ShopWiki, they offer you the best online shopping experience and more!

So we are now in search for a women's swimsuit and let's be honest to say we don't know what to look for in a swimsuit because we don't wear them, we the male species just don't want to wear them but we want to buy them and give to our female friends and beloved.

We search for Women's Swimsuits and we get the informational site on what to look for when buying one swimsuit.

Buying a swimsuit is peanuts but one has to know some of the great things written at ShopWiki about swimsuits and below are some of them.

Before buying, decide on what you want. That's the first thing to do and it's a lot easier to decide if you know if the one using the swimsuit will go to the beach for tanning purposes or just a pool workout. We also have to consider the print patterns when choosing a suit. Print patterns are connected very well with the body types. These are worth knowing and I am asking you all my dear readers to make sure you visit Women's Swimsuits section of ShopWiki for a lot more.

And since it's springtime, ShopWiki has Women's Spring Style Guide and we ought to tell our female friends about this. From technicolor, graphic, brooming lot, shorts story and the shapes of things, everything have been laid out for would-be buyers to look into.

Oh, I'll have to go now before I get into more details out of amazement and awe because of ShopWiki's wonders.

Happy shopping!

Where is Wesley?

Checking on Rusticbull's blog, I learned about GM Wesley So's second defeat and a first round draw. I saw his photos from his "Fresno Simul" and was really glad to see him on a demonstration board probably discussing something to chess enthusiasts much older than him. I wish Wesley can do this in our country more in the future as well.

Wesley's first two rounds maybe disappointing but we all know that he will come back from these unexpected game results. Good luck to you GM Wesley So!

Self Study in Chess

Chess is part of this schoolyear's PE curriculum in our school, thanks to the progressive and non-traditional approach of our Headmaster. I have had the chance to teach the basics of the game to interested students who were given four choices of sports for this term: basketball, swimming, table tennis and chess and chose the last one. We got seven for this term in my PE Chess class out of 108 students but interestingly, at least five non-registered chess students come to me on a daily basis to hand-in their chess worksheets.

These five middle years program students have asked me if they can do these worksheets even if they're not enrolled in the class for two reasons: a) they want to be part of the chess teams for the coming Manila International Schools Athletic Association or MISAA and b) they want to get a headstart on the subject once they enroll by second or third term.

MISAA is an association of small international schools which is on it's first season and chess tournament and swimming events will be sponsored by Mahatma Gandhi International School. Yours truly will be the commisioner for the chess tournament come January 2010.

Going back to these five self-study chess students of varying levels and skills, there is one thing I noticed from them, they are self-disciplined when working with their tasks unsupervised. As always, it's these self-motivated individuals that actually progress towards the mastery of the game.

I have always asked everyone who comes to me for chess lessons to work on the book "Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess" first which I find so helpful whether one has zero knowledge of the game or is in need of a review of the game basics.

Here is the list of the books and websites I give to my students on a self-study chess program:

1. Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess (BFTC)
2. Complete Idiot's Guide to Chess (CIGTC)
3. Chess for Dummies (CFC)
4. Compilation of NM Dan Heisman Articles from Chesscafe.com (CDHA)
5. Chessercizes 1 and 2 by Bruce Pandolfini (CBP)
6. Laszlo Polgar's 5334 Chess Problems Book (The Brick)

I usually ask them to start with Mate in 1 from The Brick while working on BFTC chapters then move on to Mate in 2 and CIGTC. All this time, I tell them make sure they get enough dose of 30 minute or more chess games on a weekly basis if daily games are not possible.

I have always reminded them about performing well in school and at the same time working on their chess skills. Borrowing from Bobby Ang, he told us in my interview with him years ago:

"Chess is suppose to make you a better person."

Beginner's Questions

Hey there!

My chesslife nowadays can be summed up in a week work of chess teaching. First, I facilitate and teach the members of MGIS Chess Club (after school activity) which meet every Tuesday. In there, I have 4 grade 3 students who on the registration day for the club told me that they know how to play chess and are good at it and 3 middle years program students who now knows the secret for learning chess: "The more you know, the more you do not know".

And on Fridays, I teach chess to seven middle years program students who chose chess as their PE classes for this term. These are made up of six grade 6 students, a nonth and a tenth grader. Their personalities really border on the "pilosopos" and deep thinkers (non-academic matters for that) which makes me thank God all the more. Indeed, there is hope when we see the younger generation think issues on a global stage and somehow relate them to how it affects their lives on the local scene. Thanks also to IBO, the governing body for all accredited international schools in the whole universe.

I have two other chess students I teach privately on a twice a week basis and on weekends, I play with my neighbor who asks me all the time if he can borrow an openings book or a strategy book on chess. I have never lend him any yet because I told him he should start with mate in 1, 2 and 3 puzzles before he read up on either of the topics he wants. He insist so I resist!

Anyways, my ASA and chess classes have given me so much joy in sharing and teaching the game to them. Most of them are really novice players and here are some of the questions I got from them which I believe is worth noting to further improve my chess teaching and their chess learning:

1. Question from a grade 6 student during a practice match after discussing special moves, castling:

"Sir, why would'nt my opponent allow me to castle my Queen? I have not moved my Queen or my Rook yet?"

My reply:

"Sorry I forgot to emphasize that castling is a King and Rook special move not for Queens."

2. Question from a grade 3 student after I've lectured on the numerical strenghts of each piece. I used the PESO as my unit of measurement:

"Sir, why are we betting and using money in this game, isn't it gambling?"

My reply:

"Oh, I wish next time we all listen carefully to what teacher is saying so we don't mistakenly think we are betting and using money when we study and play chess...and no, we are not betting and using money here"

3. Grade 5 student complaining about the "very easy" mate in one puzzle book I have given him to work on for 35 minutes.

Student: "Sir, can't you give me a much harder task to work on?"

Me: "Work on the first page then if it's peanuts, I'll give you the next module in that series..."

Moments later, the boy is on the 3rd puzzle of the first page...

Student: "Sir, I need help... can't find the mating move!?"

Me: "Ok, see to it the pieces are correctly placed on the squares, same with the diagram from which you are trying to solve. Remember of the reason for these exercises is meant to hone your board visualization skills. So let's try to do just that, let's use our eyes for now and by then the answers will be as clear as daylight"

These are some of the insight-gaining moments I have had for the past month. Teaching these beginner level students may really be considered as a pain but it also pushes me to consider all the right moves that I make in planning prior to meeting them. As a teacher, one can never really assume that our students have the correct idea of what we are teaching.

On my first year of my teaching, I once was asked what's the greatest benefit I get from teaching and I remember saying this after a moment of thought:

"These young minds teach more than I teach them, they teach me about openness, about courage and about honesty. We may think they know less, but the know more. They know not how to feign naivity, ignorance and innocence. These young minds know that only in honesty and courage to admit we do not know that we start to learn by heart".

Liverpool FC Tickets Now

Ole ole!

All-stars, wannabe's, die-hard fans and haters of Liverpool Football Club, LIVERPOOL TICKETS are now available at SportsBoxOfficeDOTCom. Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez recently announced his new recruit in the name of Sotirios Kyrgiakos will be seeing action immediately.Sotirios Kyrgiakos experience and physicality will hopefully help the Reds in the games to come. The Greek international centre-half is available to make his Reds debut after receiving international clearance following his £1.5million switch from AEK Athens last week.

So what now? Would we want to miss a game of the Reds? Take no chances and never miss a game of the Liverpool FC in the Premier League 2009/10 Season and grab the chance to buy LIVERPOOL FC TICKETS home and away games at SportsBoxOfficeDOTCom, the specialist in providing tickets for the Liverpool Football Club.

Let' s check out Mike Maguire's Liverpool Team of the Decade 2000-2010:

1. Pepe Reina (2005-)
2. Steve Finnan (2003-2008)
3. Jamie Carragher (1996-)
4. Sami Hyypia (1999-2009)
5. John Arne Riise (2001-2008)
6. Dietmar Hamann (1999-2006)
7. Xabi Alonso (2004-)
8. Steven Gerrard (1998-)
9. Gary McAllister (2000-2002)
10. Michael Owen (1996-2004)
11. Fernando Torres (2007-)

I know you've heard all of this before and you actually been fooled before by some online sellers of football games but mind you, this is for real and they don't just sell tickets of football games. Believe me when I say that the best thing that ever happened to ticket buying is SportsBoxOfficeDOTCom, the specialist in Liverpool FC Tickets.

Would you take a chance on missing a great game from the Reds and be left out in the cold when time comes to add a name on the list? For surre you don't want that to happen so book online or call the sales team to get the best online prices for LIVERPOOL TICKETS.

Liverpool FC Tickets Now

Ole ole!

All-stars, wannabe's, die-hard fans and haters of Liverpool Football Club, LIVERPOOL TICKETS are now available at SportsBoxOfficeDOTCom. Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez recently announced his new recruit in the name of Sotirios Kyrgiakos will be seeing action immediately.Sotirios Kyrgiakos experience and physicality will hopefully help the Reds in the games to come. The Greek international centre-half is available to make his Reds debut after receiving international clearance following his £1.5million switch from AEK Athens last week.

So what now? Would we want to miss a game of the Reds? Take no chances and never miss a game of the Liverpool FC in the Premier League 2009/10 Season and grab the chance to buy LIVERPOOL FC TICKETS home and away games at SportsBoxOfficeDOTCom, the specialist in providing tickets for the Liverpool Football Club.

Let' s check out Mike Maguire's Liverpool Team of the Decade 2000-2010:

1. Pepe Reina (2005-)
2. Steve Finnan (2003-2008)
3. Jamie Carragher (1996-)
4. Sami Hyypia (1999-2009)
5. John Arne Riise (2001-2008)
6. Dietmar Hamann (1999-2006)
7. Xabi Alonso (2004-)
8. Steven Gerrard (1998-)
9. Gary McAllister (2000-2002)
10. Michael Owen (1996-2004)
11. Fernando Torres (2007-)

I know you've heard all of this before and you actually been fooled before by some online sellers of football games but mind you, this is for real and they don't just sell tickets of football games. Believe me when I say that the best thing that ever happened to ticket buying is SportsBoxOfficeDOTCom, the specialist in Liverpool FC Tickets.

Would you take a chance on missing a great game from the Reds and be left out in the cold when time comes to add a name on the list? For surre you don't want that to happen so book online or call the sales team to get the best online prices for LIVERPOOL TICKETS.

Philippine Chess Blog Update

Hey there!

I'm back here in our country since the first week of July but this is just my second post since then. I have been receiving chess news in my inbox from NM Bernardino, from Woodpusher Mandirigma and both from NAPCA and CAAP so I can't really say I am in the dark regarding Philippine Chess these days.

What has happened while I was away? Let's see...

• GM's Joey Antonio, Darwin Laylo and Wesley So qualified for the World Cup 2009
• NCAA Chess is on it's 2nd round and the top three are Letran, San Sebastian and La Salle Greehills. It's the 4th spot that's being fought between the Perpetual Daltas and San Beda Red Lions (at least in the Juniors section)
• Shell National Active Chess Championship has began and the most recent one was the Cebu City Leg and by November we will see who's the king in the 30 minute time control among the juniors and kiddies of the land.
• MERALCO Chess Club helped raise funds for the Philippine Para Chess Team with GM Joey Antonio and they doing an encore this time with GM Eugene Torre.
• Chess tournaments here and there which is a big boost for the federation and the community itself.

So far, am so lazy in doing stuffs for my chess improvement but good thing that's going is that chess is a course of study in my school and I teach it as part of the physical education curriculum. Yes, MGIS is offering chess as a subject for interested students and so far, out of 128 students, I have 7 students enrolled in the class for this term.

Maybe this is a start for me or maybe the end for this blog for good and I'll start a new one which will chronicle the path for my personal chess training. I really don't know what will happen but most likely posts will come in trickles and I'm convinced I'm not as affected about it as I was before.

So bye for now and enjoy the game while the bug is still there.!

NCAA Chess 2009

The NCAA Chess Tournament opens this Saturday and there would be 9 Universities/Colleges playing in the double round-robin team tournament.

Good luck to all!

MERALCO Chess Club has been very active in promoting the game the past few weeks and they are now sponsoring a fund raising simul exhibition event for the Philippine PARA Team.

For those interested, please visit MERALCO Chess Club blog for details.

Important Notice

GM Rogelio Barcenilla: please send me an email as soon as possible. I would need to forward an important email coming from a certain Bryan Aguirre of ChessCube.

Back Home

I'm back home without any pasalubongs but so happy and contented that I don't even intend to go out my family's sight for the next 4 weeks.

Please visit my Pinoy Sa Morocco blog for my detailed post about going back home.

For our friends from MERALCO Chess Club, here is my email: philippinechess@gmail.com.

I have not posted here for more than a week and this will continue for another few more weeks. Settling back again is something I'm adjusting to (Heck! It's one and the same!).

NCAA Chess Tournament is right around the corner and it's exciting to know that we've got new chess coaches for 2 universities and we'll see how their teams fare this season.

Good luck and congratulations to Philippine Chess!

Until then!

Home Sweet Home

Touchdown Sunday, 3:10 PM July 5, 2009 at Ninoy Aquino International Airport where my wife and kids had been waiting for almost an hour. Went out of the airport around 400 PM and didn't mind anybody else except my family.

My original July 18 flight was rebooked and this is the main reason why I didn't have any "pasalubongs" as I have planned to do my buying at the MEDINA of FEZ a week before July 18.

There is no place like home!

The loving arms of my kids, the sweet nothings I have with my wife and the constant sad news seen and heard on TV about the Philippine affairs is an assurance that I am where my heart is!

My Morocco experience was, is and will always be a blessing from my God and I will forever be grateful for that!

I met friends, learned a lot from a very different culture and it's people. Found out that sincerity and honesty is a word so foreign among the locals of the country where I stayed for 6 months. A certain "Kuya" even told me that the "word of honor" is non-existent among the locals and I better lower my expectations or I'll be living my borrowed life in Morocco in mysery.

There are good and there are bad experiences I've had and this makes my Morocco adventures perfect. Thanks to all who have joined me in this wonderful 6 month old blog about my adventures in Morocco.

Goodbye and please feel free to find any helpful read here if ever you are planning to visit Morocco. You can even send me an email if you want to find out something about Morocco. I'd gladly help.

Gotta go now and in a week I'll be back to my former day job!

Now that's the best deal I've had!

Home sweet home!

Drawn game?

What is the best continuation here for black? Is this position a draw? Can we say this is the endgame? Or we are still in the middle game? With the presence of both queens, many for sure would say the game still is in the middle phase.

But it gives the feeling that the game is already in the final phase. This is an adjourned game of mine from FICS. My opponent just went off after my white move of Ne3. I still had 7 minutes and 30 seconds and him 33 seconds.

Since last night, I have had 3 drawish endgames but I went on to press for a win which cost me all of those three games. From the position below, I feel it would be better to draw this one. My opponent, just like the three previous ones has higher rating points than mine. But still, with my Q+N+B against his Q+B+B, I have a slight advantage right?

Oh well!

After 42. Ne3

A Toast to Endings

When something ends, you can't help but feel nostalgic about certain striking moments that you are sure to remember forever. For instance, getting off that jet for the first time in the Mohammad V International Airport and meeting Abdel Hak for the first time. I remember what he said, which I did not understand at the time, "fait froid" meaning "It's cold" in French. I remember how the jet lag felt like, and how for three whole days, I had no sense of time and had no other sensations than hunger. And then the first ever complete sentence that I was able to memorize "Tu belle comment une poubelle." (You are as beautiful as a trash can). I went through a whole lot of firsts here in Morocco, half of the list will keep me up until late tomorrow afternoon. And it feels so surreal that now I'm leaving, what I'm doing are the lasts. My last dinner at the table, my last night in my bed, my last venture into the cellar, my last hug, my last kiss, my last photo, my last day, my last glance...

It's weird that I'm even toasting to this ending. It's been a part of me for so long that I would feel cripple without it (believe it or not). I would be leaving behind friends and family, and a country that is so much a part of me now. Leaving is hard. Saying goodbye is hard. Toasting to endings is hard.

I guess I should change my title. A Toast to Beginnings. Only, it doesn't feel much like it yet. It feels like an end. Like everything that has been with me for the past two years and six months will all dissolve into a misty dream. Misty, but still there. Still existing. Always remembered.

I fucking hate goodbyes.

Where am I?

For the last 4 weeks here, I have had nothing much to think about and prepare but my luggage and my papers. Let's see what I have accomplished so far and how I did it. No thanks to the backwards system of the land and the people here:

1. I had to clear my bank account and I had to go back to the bank 3 times before everything was fixed.

2. I had to rebook my flight and I had to go to the agency 5 times and wait for a day only to be told that I won't get it. The agent said my flight rescheduling, for the first time was for free. The following day, I was told I had to pay 900.00 MADS (Dirhams), then I of course had to use my complaining voice, then she tried to call the other airline offices. Then my original flight was cancelled so I had no choice but to give in to the 300.00 MADS fee for my request. Still I didn't get my confirmation and e ticket and had to wait after a week.

3. Then my dough. I had to travel 50 kilometers to get what I needed.

Oh well, even my boss told me something like "this is Morocco Francis, Morocco!" It didn't sound like a compliment about her own country though.

Open Up with a Knight Sac

Here's a game I had this morning before going to one of Morocco's ancient city of Fes:



My 18. Nh4 was a bait to open up my opponent's King side which black took with 18...Qxh4. From there I knew I could penetrate into his castled King. I had a couple of sacrifices which turned out to be fine. My 19. f4 move started my "boa constrictor". Hehehe! I thought I could be a copycat of the original boa constrictor world champ.

Some of the positions that made me use much of my 30 minutes:

After 22. Nc6

After 30. Qh4+

After 40... Ke8

A series of sacrifice that gave me space advantage and lots of tactical motiffs which allowed me to seize the attack. I like this won game of mine!

Serve All, Earn More

Chess tournaments organized for ratings of 1000 and Under, 1200 U, 1400 U, 1600 U, 1800 U, 2000 U and Open division in the Philippines anyone?

Most of the tournaments I find listed at Hector Santos Jr' Pinoychess Portal are either Kiddies, Junior and 1950 and below. Aside from the major tournaments, there are no chances for those I-want-to-experience-playing-in-a-chess-tournament people.

Although the USCF is really shaky and looks like on the verge of a meltdown due to internal fighting and financial politicking, I still believe they had or have one of the best marketing plan to promote the game and improve their federation's self-sustaining financial growth.

By providing categorized tournaments based on their ratings or lack of it, you allow the chess playing and paying population to spend some of their money and help in the development of the game in the country. Financial income help support and promote any sports and in the Philippines it has always been about funding issues.

Aside from the Executives Tournaments, where master strength players rule the circuit, I don't find any events suited for the the I-W-T-E-P-I-A-C-T people.

Would there be any master strength player trying to register in 1800 U tournaments and be a clear winner of the PhP 5,000 cash prize for the champion?

Definitely, these organizers would know who and what rating these players have. Unrated division would definitely be a surprise hit among us and this would be an avenue to increase the population of the chess community.

Serve all and earn more, any takers?

Professionalize NCFP slowly but surely, one brilliant move will swing the position towards a winning game!

Free Downloads at Chessgambiter

Here is another chess blog full of giveaways like chess ebooks, instructional videos, funny photos and a lot of cut and paste articles. This one is a haven for those who loves pressing the download load button for free.

The owner of the blog wisely organized the downloads for everyone's content! Visit the site at Chessblog for chessfuns.

Not much FICS activities for me as my account was suspended for a week due to unplayed tournament games. Anytime now my suspension will be lifted, until that time I'd have to content myself with other tactical training servers and do some uploading of the photos I took over the past week.

Gears for the Serious Chessplayer and Blogger

I've been chess blogging for the past four years and thanks to chess and blogging for it brought me to a place where I can blah blah my thoughts here to suit my heart's content. I met people from all walks of life who have a lot to say about the game. For some, chess is their life while for some, they hate the game with a big H. There are kinks and there are stinks in any field of endeavor and fortunately, the chess kingdom was and is continually blessed to have most of the nuts and skunks around the royal squared circus.

From my standpoint (which I could not even call a vantage point), I have quietly classified but not stereotyped residents of the kingdom into two:

1. The Players. These are the the major residents of the kingdom. They make life easier for everyone and they sustain the addiction for everyone to enjoy. They produce a lifetime of specimen for everyone to look into and positively or negatively criticize. Hence the word analyze should be replaced with ass-ess (pun intended). But still, I can still differentiate the types of players we have. The Professionals, the school varsity, the amateur, the rising stars, the hopefuls and the hopeless. All of these tags are based on the question"So why are you playing chess?"

The modern chess player have gizmos and gadgets to rely upon. They use numerous datebase and store them on reliable laptops and notebooks. It's important to know where to buy them and for the players with loaded schedule, there is only one place to go and it's at GearZap.Com.

I can't imagine anyone among these players who have not in anyways used a computer once and checked for a variation in their choice of opening, or analyzed and endgame database. A chessbase analysis I found on YouTube:

Most of them own either a notebook or a laptop and for sure they have Laptop accessories, from headphones to screen protectors (man the hours of staring at the glare) to external drives where they store millions of chess games not including their own games.

2. The Kibitzers. Some lightyears ago, kibitzers were simply defined as those who gives comments on a game still being played. But now we have a lot of kibitzers, from bloggers to anonymous blog commentators. There are types of kibitzers and they fall on three categories: The informed, the misinformed and those who thinks they are the information themselves. Where do I fall? The misinformed!

Just like the players, these bloggers have the need for laptops and notebooks. My own 3 year old laptop is on it's way to "hand-me-down" lane and I have been contemplating which brand I'll be getting when I come home in July. One important factor I'm really looking into is the laptop weight and the accessories that goes with it.

I am using the Acer Aspire 4310 and I guess I'll be getting a new one but am not switching brands. Acer Aspire One Accessories seem to be a good choice.

Although I have decided on getting another Acer notebook, this did not prevent me from looking into the Asus products specially the Asus EEE Accessories. Lots of choices, good choices at that with reasonable prices and customer friendly assistance.

The best thing with this is that one can buy these stuffs online!

One thing I regret the most is that I never bought the external drive and extra battery for my laptop before going overseas. I knew there would be lots of games to store and my need to plug on the electric power is very evident now as I write this post.

These are the gears for the serious chessplayer and bloggers. We all kow the capability of each resident of the kingdom, we just have to appreciate what they can do to further the revolution, chess revolution.

Do Not Expect

Reviews about the country and it's people below. I stumbled upon these links and thought most of these reviews, good and bad, are very truthful!

1. 10 Bad Things About Morocco
2. They Don't Who They Are
3. Mixed Reviews
4. Child Abuse Story from A Moroccan
5. The People

If there is one thing stuck in my head about these people which I'll be bringing with me in my head for the rest of my life is this comment I got from an elderly who have lived here in Morocco for the past three decades:

"Lower your expectations... or do not expect anything at all from them. That way you won't have to suffer for the rest of the time you are staying here in Morocco!"

Ouch man! That would be quadruple ouch!

Sounds Of Chess

Saw this SoundColor Of Chess Blog link advertised at the main console of Free Internet Chess Server, something to sleep on after a tiring day full of chess:



Ignis of the SoundColor blog and Abuscadoser of YouTube maybe one and the same person responsible for the beautiful and creative work of art. Congratulations to you and may we see more of your works!

Still on the topic.

Unidentified Sound Object Blog featured Deep Green: Sound Design for Iphone App and creating sounds for the pop culture's consumers' gotta to be one of the best in the world.

Let me have my hat tipped to all the creative creatures of chess before I go to sleep!

Saved By The Fork

I played a 30/G at FICS and it resulted in a draw this time with the black pieces. Below is the position after 47. Bf4 and it felt drawish but then I wanted to push it to the limit. Since I was down by two pawns and from the previous 46 moves we played, I felt too that I can take on my opponent further.

I was again at the crossroads between 47...BxB4 and 47... Bxa3. I took the pawn and 5 moves later I was hanging on for my dear life.

I knew I had to keep my knight for a possible fork that would save this game which I had to survive from the opening until the end. I was confident by the way during the middle game while the white pieces were breaking down the barriers to my king. I knew he would overreach and again, I felt his moves were not as fatal.

The position after white's 69. Kd2 which I gladly replied with 69...Nc4+:

Oh I wish I could show you the entire game but this game took 99 moves for white before we agreed to a draw. We ended the game with me having 7 minutes and 3 sec to spare while my opponent had 30 sec.

Right after the 47th move, I had to keep in mind the three features of an endgame which were discussed in the Just The Facts: An Endgame Book post namely 1) Zugzwang 2) Active/Aggressive King and 3) Importance of passed pawns.

This game I played against berrard of FICS. Thirty minute games are long enough to have an endgame to ponder on!

Chess Terminology

From our last post, we received one helpful reminder from on of our readers and this led me to check out for the first time the web definition of the term "book draw". Wikipedia has one good page meant for inquiries like this.

Book draw is

"An endgame position known to be a draw with perfect play. The name reflects that traditionally the analysis has been found in the chess endgame literature, but in simplified positions (currently six pieces or fewer) computer analysis in an endgame tablebase can be used."

We all know what a book draw is but it helps if we know what are the elements contained in it. And here I did not find any web entries for such queries.

Here is the page to go to for your Glossary of chess - Wikipedia.

Stargazing

For almost 5 months now I have never looked up and gazed at the stars on a night sky until tonight. I played football with my ward awhile ago and enjoyed the night with him trying to catch a falling star.

Of course he "saw" almost every shooting star there is which I expected anyway. How lucky he was for seeing these stars and unlucky I was for missing it by a split second. I love the night sky and I love the sentimentality it brings.

Tonight I was again brought back to my place in Imus. Most of the nights after dinner, I would sit on our white monoblock chair located just outside the service door of our house. With the cool winds suburban sky brings and the dim lights on the streets of our village, I get to chit-chat with my wife and update each other on how our day went by. There are good and there are bad nights but one thing I remember most is how I crave for each moment I spend in that little sanctuary of mine. There were nights I'd consume 2 bottles of my favorite light beer while wrapped in the embrace of the chilly nights of our veranda and just pass time 'till I feel like sleeping.

All these I reminisced and long for awhile. I looked up and realized I was missing "home" like hell. In less than 4 weeks I'll be home and get back to my usual life and I bet I'll go thru the adjustment period but I'm ready for it.

In German they say "Shon Heimat Shon" while in English it's home sweet home. In Filipino? "Wala pa ring tatalo sa Alaska!" Harharhar! Kidding aside, in Filipino we say "Iba pa din ang nasa sariling bayan!"

Anyways, I guess I've captured a piece of emotion which Van Goh felt when he painted that Starry Night Over The Rhone painting and Don Mc Lean's Starry Starry Night song.

Oh well! I better go now before I dwell deeper into Van Goh's life story.

Just The Facts: Endgame Book

Yesterday I spent my day in Casablanca and Rabat with my ward. In Casablanca, he attended his weekly Yoga-3C sessions and in the afternoon he did a two hour ice skating in Megamall, Rabat. Don't be misled, Megamall they call it but our minimall in the Philippines is even mega than theirs.

So what has the book got to do with it?

I brought my newly printed Just The Facts! Winning Endgame Knowledge In One Volume by GM's Lev Alburt and Nikolay Krogius. This is the seventh and final volume of Comprehensive Chess Course, one of the all time bestseller.

There are three distinguishing characteristics of an endgame according to them:

1. Endgames favor an aggressive King;
2. The Importance of passed pawn is greatly increased in the endgame;
3. Zugzwang- the "compulsion to move" when doing so forces a player into a worsened or even losing position - is often a factor in the endgame while almost unheard of in the other games.

I read up and finished the first chapter and early morning today, I played white with a 10 minute time control at FICS and reached this position below:

It was my 35th move and I did a Kg2 hoping to go up the rank and protect my f4 pawn then trap his N on f5. The game continued: 35...f6 36.Kf3 fxe5 37.fxe5 Ke6 38. g4 Nf6 39. exf6 gxf6 40. h4 c5 41.Ke3 f5.

I was at the crossroads between trapping his Knight and positioning my Bishop on c5 square but I chose to overpower the enemy and did the former.

After black's 41...f5



I was way up on time here, my clock was just hitting the 5 minute mark while my opponent has less than 3 minutes to use. It took me about a minute to decide whether I'll take the pawn on f5 or push my g pawn to 5th rank.

I also had to consider with fear the dominating center control of black's pawn with his King on e6. Whew!

The game continued with 42. gxf5+ gxf5 43. h5 passed pawn right? I wanted to push as much as I can to distract the black King 43...Kf6 44.Bc7 at least activate my sleeping Bishop 44...Kg5 threat on my passed pawn but I can't do anything to protect it so I tried to inch closer with another threat 45.Bd6 d4+ 46. Kf3 I did'nt want to allow his f pawn to march further on 46. Ke2 Kxh5 47.a4 Kg4 48. Bc5 a6 I thought he would move d3+ before he pushes his a pawn on the 6th rank but he did not 49. Bxd4 Kf4 Now I can breath better when I saw my Bishop controlling the a7-g1 dark diagonal. It's time to wait for the zugzwang and I think Bishops are a good piece for this.

The game continued with 51. a5 I wanted to make sure that my Bishop will be placed protected on b6 square no matter what 51...Ke4 52. Bb6 f4 From here I knew I'll take the point here or I'll draw at least.

After 52...f4



Sixteen moves later my opponent resigned with the position below:



I had to be patient as I had to wait to win any King opposition he threw but with a Bishop on my side, it was easier. Both Kings had to sway to the rhythm zugzwang and opposition were playing in the end.

The game was perfectly amateurish with a lot of wasted opportunities but I learned a lot from this game. I hope I can play more long games on FICS and read further on the book.

Bye for now! I'll go out and feel the wind and the heat of the sun. I just might watch another French film at the downtown.

Coordinated Tactics

While half of the world is asleep including my household, I was helping my body degenerate more of my healthy cells by playing games at FICS in the middle of the night until the wee hours of the morning. I could not join any tournaments since I was included in the suspended for not playing last night in the tournament I joined in.

Heck! They should know better than this, haven't they heard that I multi-task on my computer? Since I mix my post session documentation (Yes, it's a self-imposed safeguard for my teaching job) with my online chess playing, I had to do meet my deadline before moving those pieces!

Another 3/G time control with multiple tactical traps set by black which white fell into. Lucky me!

Gotta go now!

Professionalize Chess

Hi there!

Have not posted for the past few days but I have been playing at FICS almost every night and have been training with tactics at Chess.com and Chess Tactics Server. I placed second again this time in a 5 minute tourney at FICS, reached my highest 2000+ performance rating at chess.com but saw my 1400+ rating on chess tactics server go down to 1200+ rating.

Just like the stock exchange, things can be so rumbly and twisty when the world is shaky!

About our post for today, I found a good thread at PinoyChess Informe about chess coaches. Names were posted and promoted. Good reviews and good exchanges. So far so good but while reading the thread I thought of one simple question about chess in the Philippines.

Chess is in the schools now, chess is on the streets, chess is found online, chess is everywhere! This is good news for all of us! NCFP and DepEd working together for chess development on a nationwide scale is awesome.

How do we professionalize chess?

Paid tournaments? Paid expenses for the players whenever they join tourneys? For sure teachers who would teach the subject will have their bank accounts loaded with chess related deposits.

Has anyone thought of going to Professional Regulation Commission and ask for a certification or licensure for chess coaches and teachers? I know, I know this is way too advanced an issue for the current stage of the chess development in our country. Forward thinking anyone?

My fear is that professionals or those whom we call as licensed practitioners of their chosen field, would simply look into the chess world as uncertified/unlicensed field of experts. Undocumented facilitators bordering on blind leading the blind.

Or maybe TESDA? Technical Education and Skills Development Authority provides certification for citizens who are inclined and in the field of skilled work.

It's like when one applies for a chess coaching job and the would-be employer looks for a proof that one can coach or teach chess what do we say?

Of course we have seasoned Filipino trainers and coaches in the field and I would love to see them given the piece of paper that says certified chess coach, signed and duly authorized by NAME OF CERTIFYING AGENCY.

Look into this.

Saturation Point: Maximum

Hi there!

It's been awhile since I played with my Picasa 3 and tonight, I pressed on the saturate button under the effects menu to my satisfaction. The results were just what I've wanted, pastelized!

My very willing subject, Sadik. His moustache, his eyeglasses minus his classic cigar puffing moment. No smoke this time Sadik!

I took this photo on our way back to Ifrane Centerville. This one fronts the National Park I always go to. Today I went there with Ate Wilma. This was a natural looking capture before pressing on the saturate mode three times pastelized!

This one I took from the veranda, opposite my room and right next to my ward's room. I missed the farm workers picking fruits from these trees.

My oh my! My unfixed, Oh no, my fix it now things!

What did I tell you? He is more than a willing subject for me. But you know what? Each time he shows up for work and drive all of us in his red checkered longsleeves, I am reminded of the early days of Eddie Vedder and Pearl Jam. They were never seen in concerts and MTV's without that reddish checkered longsleeves which most Filipino bands copied to the hilt. Anyways, I pressed the black and white button once, then saturate, lastly black and white button again. I loved the effect here!

Here, Ate Wilma took the shot. I did a combination of glow, feather and sharpen effects here.

This last one, I wanted to create a nostalgic feel of the place and at the same time capture the surroundings as wide and as clear as I can. Sadly though, my camera is a point and shoot which means it cannot do a wide angle shot. If I try to do a panoramic shot, my subjects would be far and small and if I zoom in on my subjects, I won't get the background.

Anyways, Nikon D 40 would have to wait for awhile or if I win in a lottery, I'd buy a high end Nikon SLR camera. Thing is I don't bet on any lottery.

PSI: The Missing Link?

Rewind: Philippine Sports Institute or PSI was launched last year December 10, 2008 to be exact with optimistic views from Philippine Sports Commission Chairman William "Butch" Ramirez "that the first fruits of this endeavor might manifest itself during the 2012 London Olympics."

Among the catchy and hopeful words we heard and read, this seems to be logical at a time when we are learning the ropes as a nation to "scientify" our efforts to bag that first ever Olympic Gold:

"The institute will provide training and education to coaches and other individuals who will be developed into well-rounded trainors and teachers whose new skills will also be distributed to far-flung corners of the country where professional coaching expertise is lacking."

As a sports loving nation, we have achieved those little glories and big time feats on the global arena but it's a pain and shame to know that we have not brought home one gold from the Olympics.

Fast forward: NCFP and DepEd worked hand in hand and signed the most important memo ever circulated in the RP's Public School System's offices and that is the inclusion of chess in schools. With the right "insiders" for both agencies we got it right at the first month of 2009. Brother Rollie Dizon, former president of the De La Salle University and member of the NCFP Board of Directors and NCFP President Prospero Pichay Jr, it was a done deal right from the start.

Presently the training and workshop is going along and right on track the targeted october month for the initial offering of the subeject for our students.

Now where is Philippine Sports Institute in this? I would love to see private school educators enroll themselves at PSI for chess in the school program. when will PSI start to operate and offer courses for everyone?

Do not be the missing link that was never found.

Just dont!

Comic Relief

For the past two weeks I have not had a good run here in Morocco for reasons I can't really post here. But today is different and it started with a good call from Alice, informing me her flight details and some side info's.

In the afternoon around 430, I played football with my ward around 30 minutes and damn it was tiring for someone who has chosen the path of the pear-shaped body. While resting and gasping for air, I saw someone made use of a Mercedes Benz C 270 as the football goal and practiced his goal kicks several times. of course I could not laugh out loud with this but I was really, really having fun quietly on my sit. To add to that, the guy just enjoys his moment while the driver of the car was so grumpy (who wouldn't be?) but just could not do anything about it.

Comic relief it was.

I guess the word for today is KARMA. I have witnessed twice today the revenge of KARMA. I can tell you the last one but the first I choose to shut up.

The crazy guy who made use of the Benz as his football goal was later brought to the clinic to fix his bruises on his left hand. He stepped on the ball while trying to hit that imaginary Euro Cup kick of his and came down on the floor.

Oh well!

My WANA subscription expired today so I'm using my boss' Internet connection.

Am going now have a good night! Laughter really is a medicine for all times!

Sunday Chess

Sunday Tactics and an escape from a sure defeat at FICS below:



Vodopija (1471) - Me (1383) [D00]
FICS Blitz , 14.06.2009

1.d4 d5 2.Nc3 Bf5 3.a3 Nf6 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.g3 e6 6.Bg2 Bd6 7.0–0 0–0 8.Re1 Ne7 9.Nh4 h6
10.Nxf5 Nxf5 11.f3 Bxg3 12.hxg3 Nxg3 13.Bf4 Nfh5 14.Bxg3 Nxg3 15.e4 Qh4 16.exd5 exd5
17.Nxd5 Rad8 18.Ne3 Rxd4 19.Qc1 Re8 20.Ng4 Rxe1+ 21.Qxe1 Rxg4 22.fxg4 Qxg4 23.Qe8+ Kh7 24.Qxf7 Qd4+ 25.Kh2 Qh4+ 26.Bh3 Qg5 27.Rg1 Qd2+ 28.Rg2 Nf1+ 29.Kh1 Ng3+ 30.Rxg3 Qe1+ 31.Rg1 Qe4+ 32.Bg2 Qh4+ 33.Bh3 Qxh3# 0–1

NOTE: My blog just won't show the PGN games properly anymore. I don't know why! Anyways I'm trying the PGN Game Converter of ChessVideos.tv.


A classic basic Queen movement hoping for my opponent's blunder while his time is running out. This was a 3 0 time control and the game ended with him having 27 seconds while I had 36.

I don't know why he moved Rg2 on his 28th move when he could have chosen the KxNg3. From there I knew I had a chance because I felt he was more conscious of possible time lose than his winning pieces and position.

Oh well!

Final position:



I thought these things happen only in fairy tales.

Well for the scans I did this morning, I included two pages from Chess Echecs Magazine I bought for 62 MADS last last week. It helped a lot that I don't understand written French language which forced me to rely on the diagrams and tried to solve them based on what my eyes can see.




Answers to follow next Sunday.

Grassroots in the Classrooms

Sunday morning it is here and as I was preparing to post a 2 page tactical exercises for everyone, I received an anonymous comment/letter which deserves to be published in full here:

"I have this thought lingering long long ago - - How can chess be propagated in the grassroots

In my sojourn in my and my wife’s hometown, I have at least distributed 10 chess sets free, to my relatives, friends and acquaintances. These people have the interest in this sport, but lack the capability to purchase a decent chess set…which is not a priority expense in their list.

The more chess is propagated, the more well have of Wesley like revelations. Now, with the DepEd’s involvement, this set shortage will become acute,.

Imagine a 50 student class, discussing chess with only 1 miniscule chess set! and in the provinces, if they are blessed to have one.

Learning will be impeded, and interest may wane.

NOW, HOW ABOUT THIS:

What if the Grade 6 students, in their Vocational subject (we have this eons ago), have a project to fabricate the “Chess Pieces” abstractly – from locally available materials;

The pieces can easily be cut from round tree branches around 25mm in diameter. From this, the knights can be curved, pawns can be a simple cylindrical shape, Bishops pointed, etc.

A nationwide contest can be held for the design so that the pieces fabricated anywhere in the Phils should be standard in shape and size and migrating later to the Staunton standard will have a smooth sailing.

Chess board can be assigned to the girls, which can easily be fabricated from cut cartoons and squared colored papers pasted

Whats your say on this?"

I felt I had to and I need to reply.

Come October, chess will be taught in most public schools in the Philippines. I say most because as hopeful and wishful we can be, implementation of a nationwide project will definitely be tough. For sure the preparation for October has been done as early as February 2009. Dissemination of memorandum from Aparri to Jolo would have made the publicity much easier with all the chess blogs and websites on Philippine chess helping the cause.

Summer of 2009 GM Bong Villamayor, NCFP and DEPED trained "higher decks" teachers.

Expectedly, the agencies involved in this project started at the top level, administrators and coordinators of public schools and districts. One topic that should have been discussed during the teacher training and workshop is Chess 101 for the clueless.

No I don't intend to poke fun at these stressed and abused public servants called teachers for not knowing the how's of chess and the technicalities that goes with it. I can imagine how confusing it was for them learning the different rules of the game: touch and move, Triple repetition, 50 move rule, Time controls and the Swiss System are just some of these.

Positive still about all of these, there are teacher who are effective in what they do and there are students who are interested in what is served on the table. There will be teachers who would opt to take the road less travelled and there would be teachers who would definitely shy away from teaching this course.

Students will either walk the path other succesful chess people took and there would be students who would rather take up violin classes or Taekwondo sessions. I have experienced this myself with my own children and they'd rather do something different than what they're seeing from their parents.

Am I out of the line now? Well going back.

Asking students to create chessboards out of cartons and other materials is just one of the many possible and plausible projects teachers can give their bored students.

Before I left for Morocco, I taught one Summer Chess class in Mahatma Gandhi International School. Basic topics like the names of the squares, piece movements and board visualization activities we did. And these kids were Koreans who didn't know English and chess at the same time.

I remember I had them draw a chess board and had them post in our room. There were some who worked tirelessly and with gusto but there were some who'd rather be somewhere else.

When I was in college taking my BS in Occupational Therapy, we were asked to create our own "Hemphil Kit" which we will use in our 3 month internship in National Center for Mental Health-Mandaluyong. For one term I burned the midnight oil and slashed my parents purse for the following: glue, scissors, crayons, illustration boards, plastic caps and paints and all gadgets we needed thinking we were able to save on costs if we make our own kit instead of buying them overseas.

By the way, this Hemphil Kit is used to assess psychiatric patients of their daily internal balance.

You know what? I found out later that the money I used to complete the kit is just the same if I bought the Kit.

My point is, we tend to skimp on things we ought to have and need and we overspend for the things we do not really need.

A Eureka Chess set is around 450 Pesos. A phone load from Globe or Smart can range from 25 to 300 Pesos consumable.

It's a good idea to create or make your own chess set if it would help the student remember the squares and pieces accordingly. But for teaching resources? I don't think so.

I have taught for a year in a public school in Imus Cavite and there are alternatives to the excuse "No Budget." Politicians and well meaning people will always help out once they are told of the need and it's goodness for the community.

Don't get me wrong about you lingering idea. It will definitely part of the Filipino chess student's to-do list come October. Distributing chess boards maybe one of the tactics to be used by election candidates this coming 2010. Right?

My thughts on the chess in the schools program?

This is not an assurance that everyone will get into chess and become the next Eugene Torre or Wesley So. This is not your all-in-all-pass nationwide chess project that will bring glory back to our country.

Every color and every hue is represented by me and you, take a slide in the slope.

Kaleidoscope world it is!

Deep Blue's Blemish

Hello again everyone!

The past two weeks I've been reading much about computer chess, it's history most specially. With the global chess industry amounting to millions of dollars, computer chess is in the frontline selling like hotcakes and giving the so-called geek millionaires enough reason to continue to spend their lifetime and "nerdity" in developing the best chess software in the world.

I was surprised to find an article on Man Versus Machine as a hoax, which brought me back to the times when the Loch Ness Monster was finally revealed as staged by one of it's perpetrators on his deathbed. My fantasies crumbled and my beliefs challenged until the time I believed no more and lived life outside of the fairy tale land.

Could it be true that the matches between deep Blue and Garry Kasparov in 1997 were all staged?

Chess 960 Please

I completely forgot about the Fischer Auction that happened the other day, June 10. Thanks to all those chess blogs for their posts. How I love the music that goes with the video, so calming and yet hopeful.







Since we're here now, I'd like you all to watch and look back at how the world's grandmasters viewed Bobby Fischer after his death at Chess.FM Blog post called Fischer Remembered.

Fischer's life has been sold but his contributions to the game will live forever. Something I got from the Fischer Remembered video:



"He has given more to us than what chess has given him..."

Something I wish FIDE take on is Chess 960 and mandate that it becomes the standard chess. It will definitely kill rote memorization of opening theories which has given the game that too scholarly air.

Here is another YouTube video about Fischer:



Don't you just love these sentimentalism over Bobby Fischer?

Philidor's Bloodline

Hello everyone!

As I celebrate my birthday here in Morocco, far from my family and my Eureka chessboard, I was lucky enough to have passed by a magazine stand and saw two familiar non-English word printed as a title for a magazine : Europe Echecs!

I knew it would'nt be in English but still it's about chess. The fact that I've been frustrated for the past five months in searching for a cafe' that is teeming with chess playing crowd nor any bystander seating in one corner and outsmarting each other with the game.

This is June issue of Europe chess which has a front cover that translates to "The International Grandmasters of France, Children of Philidor"

Just in case you missed your History of Chess 101 class, Francois-Andre Philidor was born in France and always considered music as his life and not chess.

I'd like to link you to two sites I read after catching fire looking at the diagrams and photos from the magazine.

A book called The Life of Philidor, Musician and Chessplayer and The chess games of Francois Andre' Philidor.

It is, as I said, in French so I had to content myself in replaying the games from the magazine which was enjoyable anyways!

Philidor Defense?