The Weekender (late edition)

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The Chess Plaza Weekender
Sunday, Dec. 2, 2007
Quezon Memorial Circle
Quezon City
Vol. II No. 26

Two Pinoy stars are born in 2nd GMA Cup

WITH three young Chinese masters at the helm, six Filipino players managed to land among the top 10 at the end of the Second President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Cup International Open. Two of them became stars overnight.

Heretofore virtually unknown Dino Ballecer and Rolando Andador found themselves the cynosure of all eyes when they received their cash prizes from chess czar Prospero “Butch” Pichay Jr. in a simple awarding ceremony last Wednesday.

Ballecer took the fifth prize of US$2,000 while Andador, who earned his first IM norm in the penultimate round, received the solo seventh prize of $1,300.

Besides the birth of the two new stars, the Second GMA Cup saw the rebirth of Paragua as a force to reckon with in international events (see page 12 for games).

In this sense, the Second GMA Cup proved to be a happier event for Filipinos than the first one last year,

Macmac, as he is fondly called by his friends and fans, took the sixth prize of $1,500 on tiebreak with Ballecer at 6.5 points each while Andador was alone in seventh with 6.0 points.

The three other Filipinos among the Top Ten were NM Rolando Nolte and IMs Wesley So and Ronald Dableo in eighth to 10th places. Nolte who was at the top of the group of 5.5 pointers received $1,200 while So and Dableo had $1,000 each along with IMs Oliver Dimakiling and Jayson Gonzales in Nos. 12 and 13.

Also getting $1,000 each were China’s WGM Li Ruofan in No.11 and WIM Huang Qian in No. 14.

The three top prizes in the Second GMA Cup Open, held from November 22 to 28 at the Duty Free Fiesta Mall, went to China’s 18-year-old GM Li Chao ($6,000), GM Ni Hua ($5,000) and NM Zhou Weiqi ($4,000), with Singaporean GM Zhang Zhong ($3,000).

In the GMA Cup Challenge, CM Julius Sinangote captured the P50,000 plum, while his three runners-up—Nicomedes Alisangco, Merben Roque and David Elorta—received P21,667 each as their share of the total P65,000 second to fourth prizes.

● W. So (2531) – Zhang Jilin (2324)
Rd. 1.7, Sicilian Najdorf (B93)

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3² d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.f4 e5 7.Nf3 Nc6 8.fxe5 Nxe5 9.Bf4 Not 9.Nxe5 dxe5 10.Qxd8+ Kxd8, and Black has equalized Qa5 10.Qd4 Be6 11.Nxe5 dxe5 12.Qxe5 Bc5 13.Be3 Rc8 14.Bxc5 Rxc5 15.Qd4 Rc8 16.Be2 0–0 17.0–0 Rfd8 18.Qe3 Bc4 19.Kh1 Bxe2 20.Qxe2 Better than 20.Nxe2 Rxc2 21.Nd4 Rxb2! Re8 Attacking the isolated pawn on e4 21.Qf3 Qb4 The pressure on the isolated pawn grows 22.Rab1 Nxe4 Fritz suggests 22...Qe7 23.Qxf7+ White now has the edge Kh8 24.Rf4! 24…h6 Best was 24...Qc4!? 25.Nxe4 Rxe4 26.Qxc4 Rexc4 25.Rbf1 White is now way ahead Qd4 26.Qf5 Not 26.Qxb7 because of 26...Nf2+ 27.R4xf2 Qxf2 28.Qxa6 Qxc2! 26...Qc5 27.Rxe4 Qxf5 28.Rxf5 Rxe4 29.Nxe4 Rxc2 30.h3 Rxb2 31.Rf7 Rb1+ 32.Kh2 b5 33.Rf8+ Kh7 34.Ra8! 1–0

● Li Ruofan (2417) – D. Ballecer (2374)
Rd. 4.13, Slav Defense (D10)

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 a6 5.Qc2 b5 6.b3 g6 7.Bd3 Bg7 8.Nf3 0–0 9.0–0 Nbd7 10.Bb2 Re8 11.a3 Bb7 12.c5 e5 13.Nxe5 Nxe5 14.dxe5 Ng4 15.Ne2 Nxe5 16.a4 Qe7 17.Bd4 Nd7 18.Rfc1 Nf8 19.Qc3 Ne6 20.Bxg7 Nxg7 21.Ra2 Ne6 22.b4 Qf8 23.Rca1 a5 Attacking the chain at its base a la Nimzowitsch 24.Rc1 axb4 25.Qxb4 Bc8 26.a5 Qh6 27.Rca1 Qf8 28.Rc2 Qg7 29.Rd1 f5 30.h3 Re7 31.Ra2 Rf7 32.Nd4 Nxd4 33.exd4 Re7 34.Re1 Raa7 35.Rae2 Rxe2 36.Rxe2 Re7 37.Qe1 Kf8 38.Re3 f4 39.Rxe7 Qxe7 40.Qd2 Qf6 41.Be2 g5 42.Bg4 Ba6 43.Qd3 Kg7 44.Bf5 h6 45.Bd7 Bb7 46.a6 Bxa6² 47.Qa3 Qe7 47...Qxd4? won't work: 48.Qxa6 Qxc5 49.Bxc6 and White is still winning 48.Bxc6 Qe1+ 49.Kh2 Qxf2 50.Qd3 Not 50.Qxa6?? because of 50...f3 51.Qa7+ Kf6 52.Qf7+ Kxf7 53.Bxd5+ Ke7 54.Bxf3 b4! b4 51.Qxa6?? 51.Qf5 was necessary 51...Qg3+ 52.Kh1 Qe1+ 53.Kh2!, and equality is restored f3! 52.Qb7+ Kf6!

Mate can’t be stopped: 53.Qf7+ Kxf7 54.Bxd5+ Kg7 55.Bxf3 b3 56.Bg4 b2 57.d5 Qf4+ 58.g3 Qf2+ 59.Kh1 b1Q+ 60.Bd1 Qxd1#! 0–1

● R. Andador (2199) - Huang,Qian (2416)
Rd. 5.7, French, Advance Variation (C02)

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3 Qb6 6.a3 Bd7 7.b4 cxd4 8.cxd4 Rc8 9.Be3 Nge7 10.Bd3 Nf5 11.0–0 Be7 12.Nbd2 Nxe3 13.fxe3 Nb8 14.Qe2 Ba4 15.Ne1 g6 16.Qf3 0–0 17.Qf4 f6 18.Qh4 Qd8 19.Qh3 f5 20.g4 Nd7 21.gxf5 exf5 22.Ra2 Bg5 23.Kh1 Nb6 24.Ndf3 Bxe3 25.Rg2 Bd7 26.Nh4 Rc6 27.Nxg6 Rxg6 28.Qxe3 Qe7 29.Rfg1 Be8 30.Qh3 Rxg2 30...Qf7 31.Be2 Qg7 32.Nd3 gives White a big boost 31.Rxg2+ If 31.Nxg2 Kh8 Kh8 32.Bxf5 Nc4 33.Nd3 Ne3 34.Qxe3 Rxf5 35.Rf2 Rxf2 36.Nxf2 Bg6 37.Qf4 Kg8 If 37...Kg7 38.Ng4! 38.Ng4 Qe6 39.Kg2 Qc6 40.Kg3 Qc3+ 40...Kg7 41.Kh4 favors White 41.Kh4 h5 41...Qc6 does not win a prize, says Fritz: 42.Qf6 Qc1 43.e6 Qe1+ 44.Kg5 Qc1+ 45.Qf4 Qxf4+ 46.Kxf4, and wins 42.Kg5 Kh7 42...hxg4 43.Kxg6 Qc6+ 44.Qf6 Qe8+ 45.Kg5 Kh7 helps White 43.Nf6+ Kg7 44.Nxd5 44.Nd7 Bf5 45.e6 Qe1 46.Kxf5 Qb1+ 47.Ke5 Qe4+ 48.Qxe4 dxe4 was playable 44...Qc6 45.Qf6+ The end: 45…Qxf6+ 46.Nxf6! 1–0

My thanks to Pat Lee and the rest of the staff.

3RD PICHAY CUP OFF TO FLYING START
3 int’l open tourneys to be held next year

THE Philippines will host three international open tournaments next year as part of its preparations for the 38th World Olympiad to be held in November at Dresden, Germany.

This was announced by Prospero “Butch” Pichay, Jr., president of the National Chess Federastion of the Philippines, in his address keynoting the opening ceremony of the Third Pichay Cup Open and Challenge, which took off to a flying start at the Duty Free Fiesta Mall.

The three major events will include the President Gloria Macapagal Cup and the Pichay Cup as well as a new one that will give local players greater opportunity to earn the grandmaster and other international titles and norms.

Pichay was introduced by World Chess Federation representative Casto “Toti” Abundo, who also revealed that the former Surigao del Sur congressman had been named by Fide as the world’s best tournament organizer for the year 2007 at its presidential board meeting held in Antalya, Turkey.

Fide held the meeting during the recent World Youth Championships where eight Filipino youngsters competed and where Filipino icon Florencio Campomanes keynoted the closing ceremony.

NCFP director Red Dumuk emceed yesterday’s ceremony with Manny Benitez doing the invocation.

Meanwhile, the US$30,000 Third Pichay Cup Open and Challenge got off to a flying start with the addition of Iranian GM Ehsan Ghaem Maghami to the foreign cast in the Open and the increase in the number of local entries to the Challenge.

Among those expected to sign up was Darwin Laylo, fresh from the World Cup in Siberia.

CHESS IN THE GRASSROOTS
TUP tops First Universiade

THE powerhouse men’s team of the Technological University of the Philippines (TUP) ran off with the championship trophy in the First Universiade hosted by the Manila city government at Harrison Plaza in Ermita from November 20 to 24.

Coached by Rodolfo Malig-on and Eddie Cabe, TUP players also captured three individual gold medals on boards 2,.3 and five.

Eulogio Amang Rodriguez Institute of Science and Technology under coach Percival Macapagal took the second prize while Trinity University of Asia (TUA), coached by WIM Cristine Mariano, settled for third.

EARIST topped the women’s division, followed by TUP and Philippine School of Business Administration (PSBA).

Earist and TUP women had the same coaches as their male counterparts while PSBA women’s team was coached by Bernadette Abrantes.

The individual medalists were:

Board 1-1. Narciso Gumila (EARIST), 2.Philip Christopher Medina (TUA) and 3. Kevin Plata (EAC)

Board 2 -1. Mark Anthony Estabaya (TUP), 2. John Mark Pineda (EARIST) and 3. Gerard Emil Frigillano (PSBA-Quezon City).

Board 3 - 1. John Anthony Pedroso (TUP), 2. Carlo Perfecto (TUA) and 3. John Carlo Mendoza (EARIST).

Board 4 - 1. Gilbert Bedana (TUA), 2. Mark Louie Balderas (TUP) and 3. Emman Noel Aragones (EAC).

Board 5 - 1. Jayson Zamora (TUP). 2. Larez Tagalog (EARIST), and 3. Alvin De Vera (PSBA-QC).

My thanks to reader John Manahan of Valenzuela City.

FM Sales ties for 2nd to 6th in Melbourne tourney

FILIPINO Fide Master Jesse Noel Sales tied for the second to sixth prizes in the Ellwood Bendigo Open, with Australian GM Darryl Johansen capturing the first prize.

FM Sales was the lone Filipino titled player in the Melbourne tournament, which attracted 86 players in all, including two grandmasters, two international masters and four other Fide masters.

GM Johansen finished in solo first with 6.0 points, followed by five runners-up with 5.5 each led by Serbian GM Dehan Antic,

With GM Antic were Australian IMs Stephen Solomon and Leonid Sandler, FM Igor Bjelobrk, also of Australia, and FM Sales of the Philippines.

Eight others tied for the seventh to 14th places, namely, Igor Goldenberg, Mirko Rujevic, Dusan Stojic, Edsil Skiotis, David Hacche, Andrew Brown and Dean Hogg. They had 5.0 each.

Sales migrated to Australia two or three years ago.

8th leg of NCFP Executives & Professionals series in QC

EXECUTIVES from Metro Manila and nearby provinces flocked to the Greenhouse Grille on Matalino Street in Diliman, Quezon City yesterday to compete in the eighth leg of the National Chess Federation of the Philippines Executives and Professionals series.

The series was initiated by NCFP executive director Samuel Estimo with the backing of Quezon City Rep. Matias Defensor, chairman of the chess governing body.

Among those who attended the opening ceremony were Cebu sportsman Bombi Aznar, GM Eugene Torre, IM Rudy Cardoso and NCFP directors Ed Madrid, Benguet Governor Raul "Rocky" Molintas, Gen.Art Carrillo and Jess Torre.

According to lawyer Estimo in a press release to The Weekender, winners will receive electronic appliances, gift certificates and trophies.

He said winners of each leg would qualify for the grand finals to be held early in the new year.

The Saturday series started nearly three months ago.

WORLD YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP
Gems galore by RP boys, girls

THEY may not have won medals in the World Youth Championship in Antalya, Turkey, but our three boys and five girls who went there produced “many a gem of purest ray serene.”

Indeed, their final scores and standings don’t exactly tell the story of how they performed in their respective age groups.

It is their sparks of brilliance at play that tell of their heroic deeds in the face of adversity: for one full week, they could not change their clothes because their luggage had gone missing for about a week!

All eight—Samantha Go Revita (U8 G), Mira Mirano (U10G), Brena Mae Membrere (U12G), Chardine Cheradee Camacho (U14G), Kimberly Jane Cunanan (U16G), Haridas Pascua (U14 B), Ksrl Victor Ochoa (U16B) and Paulo James Florendo (U18B)—sparkled on occasion under the guidance of their coaches, IM Rodolfo Tan Cardoso and NM Willfredo Neri.

Chardine Cheradee deserves special mention for remaining undefeated until the eighth of 1 rounds when exhaustion caught up with her and caused her first of two losses.

Her homestretch losses cost her the chance to bring back home a silver medal at least.

Similarly, Asean gold medalist Pascua produced a couple of gems, one of which was a fine miniature sparkler, but lost four games in all along the way.

● H. Pascua (2177) – C.RC. Mehar (2246)
Rd. 7, Semi-Slav, Botvinnik System (D44)

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 e6 5.Bg5 dxc4 6.e4 b5 7.e5 h6 8.Bh4 g5 9.exf6 Fritz suggests 9.Nxg5! to keep the balance gxh4 10.Ne5 Qxf6 11.g3 Nd7 Not 11...Bb7 12.Bg2 Qe7 13.Qh5! 12.Qe2! Bb7 13.Bg2 Bg7 Fritz recommends 13...Bb4!? 14.Nxc6 14.Nxb5!? must be considered, says Fritz 0–0?? 14...e5 15.dxe5 Nxe5 could have kept the balance 15.Ne4!

Seeing his queen trapped, Black resigns. 1–0

● M. Fragaki (1922) – C.C. Camacho (2094)
Rd. 3.4, Sicilian Kan (B42)

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3² a6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e6 5.Bd3 Qc7 6.c4 Nf6 7.0–0 Nc6 8.Nxc6 bxc6 9.Qe2 d5 10.e5 dxc4 11.Bxc4 Nd5 12.Nd2 Bb7 13.Kh1 c5 14.f4 Be7 15.Bd3 h6 If 15...Nb4 16.Bb1! 16.Ne4 g5 16...Nb4 17.Bc4 equalizes 17.Qh5 0–0–0 18.Bc2 18.Qe2 Nb4 19.Bc4 Qc6 favors Black Qc6 18...Rhf8 should keep the balance, says Fritz 19.f5? Weakening her position. Best was 19.Qxf7 gxf4 20.Bd2 Nb4! Seizing the initiative and the lead2 0.Bb1 Nd3 21.Bxd3 Rxd3 22.Qxf7 Qxe4 23.Qxe6+ Kb8 24.Rg1 24.Qc6 also leads to mate: 24...Bxc6 25.Rg1 Qxg2+ 26.Rxg2 Rd1#! Qxg2+!


Startlingly decisive, for it’s mate next. 25.Rxg2 Rd1#! 0–1

Reader John Manahan has given The Weekender a statistical picture of the Filipino youngsters’ performance in Antalya.

Samantha Go started at No. 56 and ended up at No. 31 in a field of 73 players, with 6.0 points from six wins and five losses, or a 54 per cent performance rating.

Mira started at No. 70 and finished at No. 30 among 103 players, with 6.5 points from five wins, three draws and three losses, or a 59 per cent performance rating.

Brena Mae started at No. 64 and ended up at No. 52 among 122 players, with 6.0 points from five wins, two draws and two losses, or a 54 per cent performance.

Haridas started at No. 28 and finished at No. 47 in a field of 148 players, with 6.0 points from five wins, two draws, and four losses or a 54 per cent performance.

Chardine Cheradee started at. No. 9 and ended up at No. 23 among 114 players with 6.5points from six wins, three draws and two losses, or a 59 per cent performance.

Karl Victor Ochoa started at 53 and wound up at No. 44 among 168 players with 6.0 points from five wins, two draws and two losses, or a 54 per cent performance The two oldest players, U16G Kimberly Jane and U18B Paulo James Florendo, also tried to hold their ground but were swamped under an avalanche of high ratings.

Kimberly Jane had 4.5 points from three wins, two draws and three losses, to a 56 performance rating, to drop from her starting rank of No. 41 at the start to No. 43 at the finish line.

For his part, Paulo James rose sharply from No. 101 at the start to No. 34 on the basis of his score of 5.0 points from four wins, two draws and two losses, or a 63 per cent performance.

Here is one of his finest efforts, a win with White against a rated Norwegian rival.

● P.J. Florendo – E. Forsaa (2263)
Rd. 1.4, English Opening (A22)
1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.g3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Bg2 Nb4 6.Nf3 N4c6 7.d3 Be7 8.0–0 0–0 9.a3 Be6 10.b4 a5 11.b5 Nd4 12.Be3 f6 13.Nd2 a4 14.Bxb7 Ra5 15.Bg2 Qd7 16.Re1 Rc8 17.Qc1 17.Nc4 was stronger, e.g., 17…Bxc4 18.dxc4 Kh8 18.Rb1 Bf8? 19.h4 19.Nc4! was best Qe7 20.Ra1 Nb3 20...c6 could be tried 21.Nxb3 axb3 22.Bc6?? Missing 22.a4!? Rxa3 22...Nxc6 23.bxc6 Qe8 24.Qb2 23.Qb2 Rxa1 Not 23...Nxc6 24.bxc6 Rca8 25.Rxa3 Rxa3 26.Ra1! 24.Rxa1 f5 25.Bb6? 25.Bb7 was best cxb6 26.Nd5 Qd6 26...Qc5 keeps an even firmer grip 27.Qxb3 27.Nxb6 offers the only chance for counterplay f4 27...Nxc6 and Black can already relax, Fritz notes: 28.bxc6 Bxd5 29.Qxb6 f4! 28.Rd8 29.Ra8 1–0

Games won by the younger players showed a certain degree of maturity in their mode of play as the following selection will show:

● R. Kahliogullari – S.G. Revita
Queen's Gambit, Chigorin Defence (D07)

1.e4 d5 2.Nc3 dxe4 3.Nxe4 Bf5 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.d4 e6 6.Nf3 c6 7.Bf4 Nbd7 8.Bd3 Bxd3 9.Qxd3 Bb4 10.0–0 0–0 11.a3 Bxc3 12.Qxc3 Nd5 13.Qd2 N5f6 14.Bg5 Qc7 15.Bxf6 Nxf6 16.Rfe1 Rfd8 17.Qe2 Rac8 18.Rad1 h6 19.h3 c5 20.dxc5 Qxc5 21.Rxd8+ Rxd8 22.Qe5 Qxc2 23.Re2 Qc4 24.Re1 Qd5 25.Qe2 Qd3 26.Qe3 Qxe3 27.Rxe3 Rd1+ 28.Kh2 Kf8 29.Re1 Rxe1 30.Nxe1 Ke7 31.Nf3 Ne4 32.Ne5 Nxf2 33.Ng4 Nxg4+ 34.hxg4 Kd6 35.Kg3 Kd5 36.Kf3 e5 37.Ke3 e4 38.Ke2 Kd4 39.Kd2 e3+ 40.Ke2 Ke4 41.Ke1 Kd3 42.Kd1 e2+ 43.Ke1 g6 44.g3 f5 45.gxf5 gxf5 46.Kf2 Kd2 47.g4 e1Q+ 48.Kf3 Qe3+ 49.Kg2 Ke2 50.Kh1 Qf2 0–1

● M. Mirano – P. Aktas
Réti Opening: New York/Capablanca Systems (A07):

1.Nf3 Nc6 2.g3 d5 3.Bg2 Nf6 4.0–0 g6 5.d3 Bg7 6.Bg5 Bf5 7.Re1 0–0 8.Qc1 Qd7 9.Bh6 Bh3 10.Bh1 Qf5 11.Bxg7 Kxg7 12.Nbd2 Rad8 13.e4 Qh5 14.Nf1 Qh6 15.Qd1 dxe4 16.Nh4 exd3 17.Bxc6 bxc6 18.Rxe7 Nd5 19.Re4 Nf6 20.Rc4 Rd6 21.cxd3 Rfd8 22.Qa4 Rxd3 23.Rxc6 R3d7 24.Qxa7 Rc8 25.Qa6 Re8 26.Rxf6 Qg5 27.Rf4 Re6 28.Qc8 Qd5 29.Nf3 Ree7 30.Qa6 Rd6 31.Qc4 Qxc4 32.Rxc4 Be6 33.Rd4 Rb6 34.b4 Bd7 35.a4 Bc6 36.N3d2 Ba8 37.b5 Re2 38.Nc4 Rb8 39.Rd7 Rc8 40.b6 cxb6 41.Nxb6 Rb8 42.Nxa8 Rxa8 43.a5 Ra6 44.Nd2 Re8 45.Nc4 Ree6 46.Rb7 Rec6 47.Rb6 Rcxb6 48.Nxb6 h5 49.Nd7 f5 50.Nb8 Ra8 51.Nc6 Ra6 52.Nb4 Ra8 53.a6 Ra7 54.Nc6 Ra8 55.a7 1–0

● B. Membrere – T. Amra
Semi-Slav Defense (D43)

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 e6 5.Nf3 g6 6.cxd5 cxd5 7.e3 Bg7 8.Bb5+ Nc6 9.Qa4 Bd7 10.Ne5 Qc7 11.Bf4 Qb6 12.Bg5 Nxe5 13.dxe5 Bxb5 14.Qxb5+ Qxb5 15.Nxb5 Ne4 16.Bf4 0–0 17.h3 f6 18.exf6 Nxf6 19.Nc7 Rac8 20.Nxe6 Rfe8 21.Nxg7 Kxg7 22.0–0 Rc7 23.b3 Re4 24.Rac1 Rxc1 25.Rxc1 Kf7 26.Rc7+ Re7 27.Rxe7+ Kxe7 28.Bg5 a5 29.Kf1 Ke6 30.Bxf6 Kxf6 31.Ke2 Ke5 32.Kd3 h5 33.f4+ Kf5 34.Kd4 1–0

The winners of each age group where Filipino youngsters competed are as follows:

Under-8 Girls: 1. Ivana Maria Furtado, India, 9.0; 2. Gunay Mammadzada, Azerbaijan, 8.5; and 3. Aydanb Hojatova, Azerbaijan, 8.5.

Under-10 Girls: 1. Anna Styazhkina (1869), Russia, 9.5; 2.Sarah Chiang, USA, 8.5; Gue Yue Fan, China, 8.5.

Under 12 Girls: 1. Marsei Efroimski (1911), Israel, 9.5; 2. Dinara Saduakasova. Kazakhstan, 9.0; 3. Guo Qi , China, 8.5.

Under 14 Girls: 1.WFM Nazi Paikidsi (2292), Georgia, 9.5; 2.WFM Meri Arabidze (2108), Georgia, 8.5; 3. Shalmali Gagari (1988), India.

Under 16 Girls: 1. Keti Tsasalashvili (2161), Georgia, 8.5; 2.WFM Olga Girya (238), Russia, 8.5; 3. Olga Ivanenko (2125), Ukraine, 8.5.

Under 14 Boys: 1. IM Sanan Sjugirov (2422), Russia, 9.0; 2. Marcei Kanarek (2324), Poland, 9.0; 3. Wang Chen (2311), China, 8.5.

Under 16 Boys: 1.FM Ioan Cristian Chirila (2423), Romania, 8.5; 2.FM Ruben Pereira (2401), Portugalm 8.5; 3. IM Boris Kharchenko (2427), Ukraine, 8.5.

Under 18 Boys: 1. GM Ivan Popov(2539), Russia, 9.0; 2. IM Romain Edouard (2472), 8.5; 3. GM Aleksandr Rakhmankov (2510), Russia, 8.5.

2007 WORLD CUP
Laylo KO’d in 2nd game after draw

LET it not be said that Darwin Laylo got knocked out without a fight early on from the 2007 World Cup by French prodigy Etienne Bacrot.

In fact, the country’s newest grandmaster battled the famous Frenchman to a 71-move draw with White in their first duel in the wintry Siberian resort, Khanty Mansysk, where the World Cup was held.

Darwin lost with Black only after fierce skirmishes that saw White emerge with an extra pawn.

Bacrot is one of the world’s record holders as the youngest prodigy to win the GM title—in 1997 at the age of 14 years and two months. In 2002 he was one of the world’s Top 10.

The 27-year-old Marikina-born Laylo is the country’s No. 5 player with an Elo rating of 2505 while Bacrot is No. 23 in the world with 2695, or 190 Elo points stronger than the Filipino.

Laylo earned the GM title last September when he qualified for the World Cup by wining the seventh slot in the Asian Championship held in Mandaue City in Cebu.

Bacrot is among 44 qualifiers who went on to the second round of the World Cup.

Almost all the favorites hurdled their first assignments, although some, like former world champion Ruslan Ponomariov of Ukraine and the fast-rising 22-yeasr-old Russian star, Evgeny Alekseev, lost their first game to virtual unknowns.

● D. Laylo (2486) – E. Bacrot (2695)
Rd. 1.1, World Cup, Khanty-Mansysk 2007
Slav Defense (D15)

1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 c6 4.Nc3 a6 5.a4 e6 6.Bg5 a5 7.e3 Be7 8.Bd3 Na6 9.e4 dxe4 10.Nxe4 Nxe4

Fireworks erupt early on as both sides try to put pressure on the other.
11.Bxe7! Preventing Black from castling right away Nxf2! 12.Bxd8 Nxd1 13.Bg5 13.Bxa5 Nxb2 14.Be2 Nb8 gives White the edge Nxb2 Equalizing 14.Be2 e5 15.Ra2 e4 16.Rxb2 exf3 17.Bxf3 h6 18.Bd2 White prepares d5 0–0 19.0–0 Better than 19.Bxa5 Nc5 20.dxc5 Rxa5! Nc7 20.Rd1 Ne6 21.Be3 Ng5 22.d5 22.Bxg5 may be more timely, e.g., 22…hxg5 23.d5! Nxf3+! Restoring the balance 23.gxf3 cxd5 24.cxd5 f6 25.Bc5 Rf7 26.Re1 Bd7 27.Rxb7 Bxa4 28.Be7 Be8 29.d6 a4 30.d7 Bxd7 31.Rxd7 a3 32.Rdd1 a2 33.Ra1 Re8 34.Bb4 Rxe1+ 35.Bxe1 Not 35.Rxe1 because of 35…Rb7 36.Bc3 Rc7, and Black draws level once more Ra7 36.Kf2 Kf7 If 36...Ra3 37.Ke2, and White is clearly ahead 37.Ke2 Ke6 38.Bc3 Fritz suggests 38.Kd3! Kf5 39.Kf2 39.Kd3 Kf4 40.Rf1 should give White the edge Rc7 39...Ra3 40.Bb2 Ra6 41.Ke2 should equalize 40.Bd2 Ra7 41.Be3 Ra4 42.Bc1 g5 Restoring the equilibrium 43.Bb2 Kg6 44.Ke3 Rh4 45.Bc3 Not 45.Rxa2 Rxh2 46.Kd3 h5! Rxh2 46.Bd2 f5 47.Rxa2 f4+ 48.Kd3 Rf2 49.Ke4 Re2+ 50.Kd3 Rf2 51.Ke4 Kh5 52.Rb2 Re2+ 53.Kd3 Re6 54.Rb1 Kh4 55.Rg1 Kh3 56.Rg4 56.Bc1 Re5 equalizes Re5 57.Kd4 Re2 58.Bxf4 gxf4 59.Rxf4 h5 60.Rf8 h4 61.Kd3 61.f4 Kg4 62.f5 Kf4 should also equalize Ra2 If 61...Re1 62.f4! 62.Ke3 Kg2 63.Rg8+ Kf1 64.Rh8 Ra4 65.f4 h3 66.Kf3?? Releasing the pressure on the opponent, Fritz notes, saying that 66.f5 was best to restore equality Ra3+ 67.Kg4 Kg2 68.f5 h2 69.Rxh2+ Kxh2 70.f6 Ra8 71.Kg5 Rf8 72.Kg6 Rxf6+! A sharp reply to restore the balance, and a draw is agreed. ½–½

E. Bacrot (2695) – D. Laylo (2486)
Rd. 1.2, Slav Defense (D15)

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 a6 5.a4 e6 6.g3 6.c5 allows Black to equalize, says Fritz: 6...b6 7.cxb6 Qxb6, with equal chances dxc4 7.Bg2 c5 8.dxc5 Qxd1+ 9.Nxd1 Nc6 10.Ne3 Na5 11.Nd2 Bxc5 12.Nexc4 Stronger than 12.Ndxc4 Nb3 13.Rb1 Bd7! Nxc4 13.Nxc4 Nd5 14.0–0 Bd7 15.Rd1 Rc8 16.Ne5 Bc6 17.Bd2 0–0 18.Nxc6 bxc6 19.Rac1 Be7 20.Be1 If 20.e4 Nb4 Rfe8 If 20...f5 21.e3 21.Ba5 h6 22.e3 Bd8 23.Be1 Bf6 If 23...Be7 24.Bf1 24.b3 Ne7 25.b4 Nd5 25...g5 26.Rc5 gives White the edge 26.e4 Nb6? 26...Ne7 was better but not enough to alter the trend 27.a5! White switches to a Q-side offensive Na8 28.Rd6 c5 29.bxc5 Nc7 30.Bf1 Be7 31.Rb6 Na8 31...Red8 32.f4 also boosts White lead 32.Rxa6 Rxc5 33.Rxc5 Bxc5 34.Rc6 Bd4 35.Ra6?? Better was 35.Bb4 Bc5 36.Rc6?? Ruining a winning position, notes Fritz: 36.Bc3 Rc8, and White is winning Bd4 37.Bb4 Be5 38.Bc5!

It’s all over: 38...Rd8 39.f4! 1–0

World No. 2 Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine and most of the other top favorites easily passed muster, except, as mentioned earlier, ex-world champ Ponomariov—the youngest ever to wear the crown, in 2002-2003 at 18!—and Russia’s brightest star, 22-year-old Aeroflot champion Alekseev. Both were upset by virtual unknowns in their initial games.

● V. Ivanchuk (2787) – P. Aderito (2352)
Rd. 1.1, Catalan, Bogo-Indian (E00)

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.c4 d5 4.g3 c6 5.Bg2 dxc4 6.a4 6.0–0 Bb4 gives Black the opportunity to equalize Bb4+ 7.Bd2 a5 8.Qc2 Na6 9.0–0 0–0 10.Qxc4 Ne4 11.Bf4 Be7 12.Nc3 Nd6 13.Qb3 Nf5 14.Rad1 g5 Not 14...Nb4 15.e4 Nd6 16.Rfe1! 15.Bc1 Nb4 16.h3 f6 17.Rfe1 Kh8 18.e4 Ng7 19.Be3 f5 20.Ne5 f4 21.Bc1 Bd6 22.Ne2 Nh5 23.Bf3 Qe8 24.gxf4 Nxf4 25.Nxf4 gxf4 26.Kh2 Bxe5 27.dxe5 c5 28.Rd6 Bd7 29.Qc3 Rc8 30.b3 Qe7 31.Rg1 c4 Not 31...Rf7 because of 32.Bg4!, and wins 32.bxc4 Na2?? Best but not enough was 32...Bxa4 33.Bg4 Bd7 33.Qd2 Nxc1 34.Rxd7 Nb3 35.Qd1 Qh4 36.Qxb3!

The clincher: 36…Rg8 37.Qb6! 1–0

Playing Black, Ponomariov, 24, failed to ward off the ferocious assault on his cowering king launched by his first-round nemesis, 41-year-old Egyptian IM Essem El Gindy in a Nimzo-Indian encounter.

● E. El Gindy (2503) – R. Ponomariov (2705)
Rd. 1.1, Nimzo Indoan (E32)

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 0–0 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.Qxc3 b6 7.Bg5 Bb7 8.e3 d6 9.Ne2 Nbd7 10.Qd3 a5 11.Nc3 a4 12.Be2 Ra5 13.h4 Qa8 14.Bxf6 If 14.f3 Ba6, with equality Nxf6 Better than 14...gxf6 15.Rg1! 15.f3 e5 Not 15...d5 16.cxd5 Nxd5 17.Bd1! 16.0–0–0 e4 17.Qc2 exf3 18.gxf3 Bxf3 19.Rhg1 Be4 20.Bd3 Bg6 21.Rdf1 Qd8 22.Qg2 Qe7 23.Rf3 Kh8 24.e4 Rh5 25.Rf4 c5 26.d5 Re5 27.Rf5 Nh5 28.Rxe5 dxe5 29.Qg4 Nf4 30.Bc2 f6 31.Re1 31.Bxa4 f5 32.exf5 Bxf5 leads to equality Ra8 32.Kd2 A bold decision Bh5 33.Qg3 Be8 34.Rg1 Bd7 35.Bd1 g6 Fritz suggests 35...Rb8!? 36.Bg4 Kg7 36...Be8 37.Kc1 should equalize 37.Bxd7 Qxd7 38.Rf1 Rf8 39.Re1 h6 40.Kc2 g5 41.Rh1 Kg6 41...g4 42.Kb1 equalizes 42.Rh2 h5 43.Kb1 Kh6 44.Nd1 44.hxg5+ lets Black equalize, e.g., 44…fxg5 45.Ka2 Kg6! Qh7 45.Nc3 Qg6 46.Ka2 Ra8 46...g4 47.Rd2 restores the balance 47.Rd2 47.hxg5+ fxg5 48.Qg4 Rf8 favors Black gxh4 Fritz suggests 47...g4! to equalize 48.Qxh4 White now has the edge Qg5 49.Qh1 Qg4 50.Rh2 Kg6 51.d6 Kf7 51...Rd8 could lead to equality, says Fritz 52.Nd5 Rh8 53.Ne3 Qe6 54.Nf5.Missing 54.Qd1! Qxc4+! 55.Ka1 Ke8 55...Ke6 may be tried 56.d7+! Equalizing again Kxd7 57.Qd1+ Kc6 58.Qd6+ Kb5?? 58...Kb7 was necessary to keep the balance, says Fritz 59.Qd7+! Regaining the advantage Ka5 60.Nd6 Qf1+ 61.Ka2 Ra8 62.Rc2 Qd3 62...Ne6 won't improve anything: 63.Rc4 Qxc4+ 64.Nxc4+ Ka6 65.Nd6 b5 66.Qxb5+ Ka7 67.Qb7#! 63.Rc3 Qe2 63...Qxd6 offered the last chance: 64.Qxd6 Ne2 64.Rc4!

A beauty! Black resigns asthere is nothing he can do to stop mate, even if he sacks his queen: 64…Qxc4+ 65.Nxc4+ Ka6 66.Nd6 b5 67.Qxb5+ Ka7 68.Qb7#! 1–0

Alekseev’s conqueror in the first round, Anuar Ismagambetov, is a 21-year-old international master from Kazakhstan who caught the Russian champion by surprise in mid-game complications and outplayed him in the endgame.

A. Ismagambetovn (2479) – E. Alekseev (2716)
Rd. 1.1, Sicilian: Pelikan and Sveshnikov

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Qb6 5.Nb3 Nf6 6.Nc3 e6 7.Bg5 Be7 8.Qd2 0–0 9.0–0–0 Rd8 10.Qe1 d6 11.f4 a6 12.Kb1 Qc7 13.Bd3 b5 14.Rg1 b4 15.Ne2 e5 16.g4 exf4 Fritz suggests 16...a5! 17.Nxf4! Qa7 Not 17...Nxg4? because of 18.Nd5 Qa7 19.Nxe7+ Nxe7 20.e5!, and White stays ahead 18.Bh4 a5 19.g5 Ne8 19...Ng4 could be tried, says Fritz. 20.Bf2 Qb8 20...Qb7 21.Bc4 a4 also favors White 21.Nd5! Bf8 22.Bb6 Bb7 If 22...a4 23.Nd2! 23.Bxd8 Qxd8 24.Bb5 Nc7 25.Bxc6 Bxc6 26.Nd4 26.Nf6+ may be better, e.g., 26…Kh8 27.Nd4, and White surges on Bb7 26...Bxd5 27.exd5 Nxd5 28.Rd3 gives White a boost 27.Nf5 Best was 27.Nf6+!, Fritz notes: 27...Kh8 28.Qh4 gxf6 29.gxf6 Nxd5 28.exd5 Not 28.Rxd5?! Bxd5 29.exd5 Qb6! Kh8 29.Qf2 Rc8 If 29...a4 30.Rg3! 30.h4 Rc5 If 30...a4 31.h5! 31.Ne3 Rc7 32.h5 Bc8 32...a4 will benefit White: 33.g6 Qe8 34.Rdf1! 33.Rdf1 33.Qf4keeps an even firmer grip, says Fritz a4 34.Nf5 b3 35.cxb3 axb3 36.Nd4 bxa2+ 37.Ka1! Kg8 If 37...Bh3 38.Ne6! Bxe6 39.dxe6,. and White is winning 38.g6 fxg6 38...f6 39.gxh7+ Kh8 favors White 39.hxg6 hxg6 40.Rh1 Qf6 41.Qh2!

The persuader, and Black resigns: 41…Qxf1+ 42.Rxf1.1–0

Both Ponomariov and Alekseev, however, evened the score in the second round. .

Ironically, it was the world’s young superstars like 20-year-old Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan, 17-year-old Sergey Karjakin of Ukraine and 16-year-old Magnus Carlsen of Norway, who seemed to find it easy to qualify for the next round of the World Cup.

Karjakin’s games, in particular, could be presented as models for other players as they were executed according to the best principles of chess in almost all phases and with either color.

● S. Karjakin (2694) – E. Matsuura (2511)
Rd. 1.1, Closed Ruy Lopez, Anti-Marshall (C88)

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0–0 8.h3 Bb7 9.d3 Re8 10.Nc3 h6 11.a3 Bc5 12.Nd5 Nd4 13.Nxd4 Bxd4 14.c3 Bc5 15.Nxf6+ Qxf6 16.Be3 d6 17.Qh5 Re7 18.a4 Rd8 19.axb5 axb5 20.Ra5 c6 21.Bxc5 If 21.Rea1 Rf8 dxc5= 22.Qe2 Qd6 23.Qe3 Bc8 24.Bc2 Be6 25.Rd1 Red7 26.Ra6 Rc7 27.c4 Qd4 28.Qxd4 cxd4 Fritz suggests 28...Rxd4!? as an interesting alternative: 29.b3 Kf8! 29.c5= Kf8 30.Rda1 Ke7 31.Bd1 g6 32.Rb6 32.b4 f5 33.exf5 gxf5 lets Black equalize h5 33.Raa6 Rdc8 34.h4 Kd7 35.g3 Ke7 36.f4 f6 37.Kf2 Bd7 38.Bb3 Rf8 39.Ke2 Bg4+ 40.Kd2 Bd7 41.Ra1 Be6 42.Kc2 f5 42...exf4! was best, e.g., 43.gxf4 g5, with equal chances 43.Re1 Bxb3+ 44.Kxb3 exf4 45.gxf4 Ke6 46.Ra6 Rd8 47.e5 Re8 48.Rg1 Rg8 49.Kb4 Kd5? Missing 49...Kf7 50.Rga1! Ke6 51.Ra7 Rgc8 52.Rxc7 Rxc7 53.Ra8 Rh7 54.Rf8 Ra7 55.Rf6+!

Decisive: 55…Ke7 56.Rxc6!, and wins. 1–0

● E. Matsuura (2511) – S. Karjakin (2694)
Rd. 1.2, Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defense (C65)

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.0–0 Nd4 6.Nxd4 Bxd4 7.Nd2 c6 8.Ba4 d6 9.Bb3 0–0 10.c3 Bb6 11.Nc4 Bc7 If 11...Bg4 12.Qc2, keeping the balance 12.Bg5 h6 13.Bh4 a5 14.Ne3 Bb6 15.Nf5 15.Rc1 may be tried Bxf5 Black has equalized 16.exf5 d5 17.Kh1 Re8 18.Qf3 e4 19.dxe4 Rxe4 20.Bg3 Bc7 21.Bc2 Re7 22.Rfe1 Bxg3 23.Qxg3 a4 24.Re3 Rxe3 25.Qxe3 Qc7 26.Re1 Ng4 27.Qg3 Qxg3 28.fxg3 Kf8 29.h3 Nf6 30.a3 b5 31.Kg1 Re8 32.Rf1 Re2 33.Rf2 Re1+ 34.Rf1 Rxf1+ 35.Kxf1 Ke7 36.Ke2 Kd6 37.Ke3 Ke5 38.g4 Nd7 39.Bd3 39.Ke2 is better but it won’t alter the trend, notes Fritz Nb6 40.Be2 Nc4+ 41.Bxc4 bxc4 42.h4 c5 43.Kf3 d4 44.g3 g6 45.fxg6 fxg6 Black resigns realizing the futility of further resistance. 0–1

● T. Radjabov (2742) – V. Genba (2413)
Rd. 1.1, Tarrasch Defense (D32)

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 c5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Bf4 c4 7.e3 Bb4 8.Be2 Nge7 9.0–0 0–0 10.Rc1 Bf5 11.Nd2 Bxc3 12.bxc3 b5 13.g4 13.Re1 Re8 allows Black to equalize Bg6 14.h4 h6 15.Bg3 Re8 16.f4 f6 16...Qd6!? is worth looking at, according to Fritz 17.f5 This keeps the balance Bf7 18.Qc2 a5 19.g5 hxg5 20.hxg5 fxg5 21.Nf3 Nc8 22.Ne5 Qd6 23.Bg4 Rxe5 23...N8a7 was the saving resource 24.Qh2 White is now way ahead Re4 25.Bxd6 Rxg4+ 26.Bg3 Nb6 27.Qh3 Re4 28.Rc2 Nd7 29.Rh2!

The decisive blow: 29…Rh4 30.Bxh4! 1–0

● M. Carlsen,M (2714) - Zhao Zong Yuan (2491)
Rd. 1.2, Bogo-Indian (E11)

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.d4 Bb4+ 4.Bd2 Qe7 5.g3 Nc6 6.Nc3 Bxc3 7.Bxc3 Ne4 8.Qc2 Nxc3 9.Qxc3 0–0 10.Bg2 d6 11.d5 Nb8 12.0–0 e5 13.c5 Bg4 14.Rac1 a5 15.Rfe1 Na6 16.cxd6 cxd6 17.Nd2 b6 18.Qe3 Nc5 19.b3 Bd7 20.a3 Bb5 21.b4 axb4 22.axb4 Nd7 23.Ne4 Rfb8 23...f5! 24.Nc3 Bc4 should equalize 24.Rc7! Qd8 25.Rc6 Bxc6 Equalizing 26.dxc6 d5 27.cxd7 If 27.Rc1 dxe4 28.c7 Qe8 29.Qxe4 Ra7 30.cxb8=R Qxb8 dxe4 Restores the balance 28.Bxe4 Ra4 29.Bc6 Rxb4 30.Qxe5 Qf8 31.Rd1 Rd8 32.Rd3 Rg4 33.Re3 Rg6 34.Qe7 Re6 35.Rxe6 fxe6 36.Qxe6+!

Black resigns in the face of certain defeat: 36…Kh8 37.e4! 1–0

Former world championship challenger Nigel Short, 42, of England has been the biggest titan yet to fall by the wayside in the ongoing World Cup in Khanty-Mansysk.

Among the young players, the biggest to fall was reigning world junior champion Ahmed Adly of Egypt, 20, who lost to former US champion Gata Kamsky.

Short (2649) lost to a 19-year-old German grandmaster, David Baramidze (2569) in the two-game playoff after drawing both games in the first round.

Baramidze carved out a win in the first game of the playoff. In their second game, the Englishman failed to find a winning line and agreed to a draw, giving the qualifying slot to the German teenager. Unfortunately no games from the playoffs were posted on the Net.

A total of 126 players, including Filipino GM Laylo, showed up in the Siberian resort. Only two of the qualifiers failed to show up because of visa problems--

GM Short is expected to compete in the Propero Pichay Jr. Cup Open, which begins tomorrow. He has had a bad year and is probably seeking to regain his form in this tournament organized by the NCFP as part of the Asean circuit.

NCFP president Pichay is concurrently deputy president of the Asian Chess Federation.

Among the top favorites who swept through the first round without any loss, besides Ukrainian icon Ivanchuk, are Carlsen, Karjakin, Radjabov and two-time world junior champion Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, both of Azerbaijan, Levon Aronian of Armenia, Alexei Shirov of Spain and Latvia, Peter Svidler of Russia, Vladislav Tkachiev of France and Bu Xiangzhi of China.

Two of the most exciting games were won by Aronian and Tkachiev.

● L. Aronian (2741) – J. Hobaica (2427)
Rd. 1.2, English Opening (A16)

1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d5 3.cxd5 Nxd5 4.g3 Nxc3 5.bxc3 g6 6.Bg2 Bg7 7.Rb1 Nd7 8.Nf3 Not 8.Bxb7 Bxb7 9.Rxb7 Nb6! 0–0 9.0–0 Rb8 10.d3 c5 10...Bxc3 11.d4 should equalize 11.d4 Qc7 12.Bg5 e6 13.Qa4 a6 14.Rfd1 b5 15.Qa3 Re8 16.Bf4 e5 17.dxe5 Nxe5 18.Rd5 Bb7 18...f6 19.Qxc5 Qxc5 20.Rxc5 gives White a clear edge 19.Rxc5 Nxf3+ 19...Qe7! was best : 20.Nxe5 Bxg2 21.Kxg2 Bf8! 20.Bxf3 White is now way ahead Qe7 21.Bxb8 Bf8 22.Re5 22.Bxb7 would have given White the upper hand, says Fritz Qxa3 23.Rxe8 Bxf3 24.exf3 f6 25.Rd1 Kf7 26.Rc8 Bc5 27.Rc7+ Ke6? 28.Rc6+ Missing 28.Kg2!, e.g., 28...h5 29.Rc6+ Kf7 30.Rd7+! Ke7 29.Kg2 h5 If 29...Ke8 30.Bf4! 30.Rd5 Bxf2 30...Qxa2 31.Rdxc5 h4 32.gxh4 Qg8 also gives White winning chances 31.Bd6+!

Black resigns with his king and queen skewered by the white bishop. 1–0

● V. Tkachiev (2661) – C. Balogh (2562)
Rd 1.2, Queen’z Gambit Declined (D39)

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.e4 Bb4 6.Bg5 c5 7.Bxc4 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Bxc3+ 9.bxc3 Qa5 9...Nbd7 was better, e.g., 10.Nb5 0–0 11.Qd4 e5! 10.Bb5+ 10.Nb5 allows Black to equalize: 10…Nxe4 11.Qd4 a6! Bd7 11.Bxf6 gxf6 12.Bxd7+ Nxd7 13.0–0 a6 14.Rb1 Qc7 15.Qh5 Nc5 16.Rb4 Qe5 17.Qh4 If 17.Qh6 Qg5 18.Qh3 Rg8! Rd8 17...Qxe4!? should lead to equality: 18.Qxf6 Rg8! 18.Nf3 Qxc3 19.e5 f5 20.Rc4 Qa5 21.Ng5 If 21.Qf6 Rf8 Ne4 21...Nd7 22.f4 h5 23.Rfc1 gives White the edge 22.Rxe4 Missing 22.Nxe4!?, e.g., 22…fxe4 23.Qxe4 Qxa2 24.Rc7! fxe4 23.Qf4 Rf8 23...Qc7 24.Nxe4 h6 25.Nd6+ Kf8 26.Nxb7 was also playable 24.Nxh7 Best was 24.Nxe4!, e.g., 24…Rg8 25.Nf6+ Ke7 26.Rb1!, and White surges ahead Rh8 25.Ng5 Rf8? 25...Qc7 was necessary 26.Nxe4! Kd7 26...f5 27.Nd6+ Rxd6 28.exd6 gives White a huge lead 27.Rc1 Rc8 28.Nf6+ Ke7 29.Ng8+!

The killing blow that decides the game.

29...Kd7?? 29...Rxg8+ 30.Qf6 was better but mate could not be stopped, either 30.Qd4+! Mate can’t be stopped: 30…Qd5 31.Nf6+ Ke7 32.Qb4+ Rc5 33.Nxd5+ exd5 34.Qxc5+ Ke6 35.Qd6+ Kf5 36.Qf6+ Ke4 37.Rc3 b5 38.f3+ Kd4 39.e6#! 1–0


ADVANCE MATCH IN MOSCOW
Anand-Kramnik duel drawn twice

TWICE they fought with their wits with the help of computers and twice they failed to make any headway, dramatizing the fact that they are evenly matched despite, or because of, the cyber help that they got.

In a sense, the brief encounter in Moscow gave us a glimpse of what may happen when world champion Anand and the man he ousted from the throne, Vladimir Kramnilk, face off in a match next year.

The winner of the 2008 Anand-Kramnik match will face whoever wins the World Cup now going on in Khanty-Mansysk in Siberia.

Just before their Moscow match, Kramnik had vowed to wrest the crown back from Anand next year.

He made the vow soon after his phenomenal victory in the Mikhail Tal Memorial Match held also in Moscow.

● V. Kramnik (2785) – V. Anand,(2801)
Rd. 1, Advance Match, Moscow 2007
Semi=Slav, Meran Variation (D47)

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 c6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Bd3 dxc4 7.Bxc4 b5 8.Bd3 Bb7 9.a3 Bd6 10.0–0 0–0 11.Qc2 a5 12.e4 e5 13.dxe5 Nxe5 14.Nxe5 Bxe5 15.h3 Re8 16.Be3 Qc7 17.Rad1 Rad8 18.Ne2 Bd6 19.Nd4 Nh5 19...Bh2+ 20.Kh1 Bf4 21.Bxf4 Qxf4 22.Nf3 leads to equality 20.Rfe1 Nf4 21.Bf1 Ne6 22.Nxe6 Rxe6 23.f4 f6 24.Qb3 Qf7 25.Bb6 a4 26.Qa2 Rd7 27.Be2 g6 28.e5 Bc7 Not 28...fxe5 29.Bg4 Rde7 30.Bxe6 Qxe6 31.Qxe6+ Rxe6 32.fxe5 Rxe5 33.Rxe5 Bxe5 34.Rd8+ Kf7 35.Rd7+ Ke6 36.Rxb7 Bxb2 37.Bc5!, when White gets overwhelming advantage 29.Bxc7 Rxc7 30.Bg4 f5 31.Bf3 Kg7 32.Rd8 Ree7 33.Qxf7+ Kxf7 34.Red1 c5 35.Be2 c4 36.R1d6 Be4 37.Kf2 Re6 38.R8d7+

Apparently behind in the fight for space, White acts to ensure a draw.

38…Rxd7 39.Rxd7+ Re7 40.Rxe7+ Kxe7 41.g4 fxg4 42.hxg4 42.Bxg4? b4 43.Be2 c3 44.bxc3 bxa3 gives Black a huge advantage Bd5 43.Ke3 b4 44.Kd2 Fritz notes that 44.axb4? won't lead to the expected results: 44...c3 45.Bd3 cxb2, and Black has a big advantage c3+ 45.bxc3 bxa3 46.Kc1 Ke6 47.Kb1

On White’s offer the two agreed to a draw.½-½

● V. Anand (2801) – V. Kramnik (2785)
Rd. 2, Advance Match, Moscow 2000
Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defense (C67)

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0–0 Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 5...exd4 6.Re1 f5 7.Nxd4 Nxd4 6.Bxc6± dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.Nc3 Ne7 10.h3 Prophylaxis Ng6 11.Bg5+ Ke8 12.Rad1 Be6 13.Nd4 Bc4 14.Rfe1 Bb4 15.Bd2 Rd8 16.a3 Bxc3 16...Rxd4 17.axb4 a6 18.Re4 Rxe4 19.Nxe4 would favor White 17.Bxc3 Nf4 18.Kh2 c5 19.Nf5 Rxd1 20.Rxd1 Ne6 21.f3 Bb5 22.Rd2 h5 23.Kg3 Bc6 24.Kf2

24.Kh4 g6 25.Ne3 Ke7 was also playable but wouldn’t change the outcome. With this in mind, the two gladiators agreed to a second draw. ½–½

Aveskulov captures Ukrainian championship, 3 tied for 2nd to 4th

WITH its superstars not taking part, a 21-year-old grandmaster, Valeriy Aleskuvo (EL0 2545), won the Ukrainian National Championship, with three other players tied for second to fourth places.

Aleskuvo’s runners-up were 36-year-old GM Evgenij Miroshnichenko (2651), 17-year-old GM Yuriy Kuzubov (2582) and 25-year-old Eldar Gasanov (2503).

The young champion finished with 6.5 points from nine games, half a point ahead of his three runners-up.

The tournament was held from November 17 to 25 in the city of Kharkov

EVEN KARPOV COULDN’T VISIT HIM IN JAIL
Kasparov jailed over anti-Putin rally

FORMER world champion Garry Kasparov was jailed for five days virtually in isolation on charges of helping organize an allegedly illegal protest rally against Russian President Vladimir Putin in central Moscow last Saturday.

According to media reports from Moscow, Kasparov was freed on Thursday but only after he had been detained in solitary confinement.

He warned that his arrest and detention showed that Russia had drifted toward a dictatorship, saying that it served as a warning to others.

All visits to the Russian chess icon’s detention cell were forbidden as part of his punishment.

Not even his old rival, former world champion Anatoly Karpov, could pay him a visit despite the latter’s being a member of the powerful Public Chamber, a government body with oversight functions over Russian jails and as such has the right to visit detainees.

A member of parliament, Vladimir Rhyzhkov was also turned away by guards when he tried to visit Kasparov in his detention cell at a central city police station.

Karpov had tried to visit Kasparov in jail last Tuesday but was turned away by prison guards.

The protest rally of about 3,000 anti-Putin demonstrators near the Kremlin was broken up by baton-wielding riot police on Saturday.

As head of The Other Russia coalition of opposition forces, Kasparov has been one of the harshest critics of President Putin whom he has accused of
reviving the repressive Soviet.

Trouble erupted when about 100 protesters tried to break through police lines toward the election commission. It was not known whether Kasparov was one of the 100 marchers.

Reports from the scene said Kasparov was arrested while leading the rally and that he was beaten up for allegedly resisting arrest.

The crackdown on protesters appeared to be nationwide with at least one political party leader shot dead.

Police have also raided the headquarters of opposition political parties, including Kasparov’s coalition.

Opposition leaders had earlier alleged that the Putin administration was curtailing the political rights of Russian citizens in order to ensure the election of pro-administration candidates in presidential elections scheduled for today.

The pre-election crackdown has drawn international outrage. Amnesty International has accused the Putin government of clamping down on political dissent on the eve of the national elections and called on the Kremlin to respect human rights.

The official campaign got off the ground on Wednesday while Kasparov was being held incommunicado in jail.

Putin is not running for reelection but is expected to run in March for a parliamentary seat from where he could be elected Prime Minister. Having already served two terms he is not eligible anymore for reelection as President.

Putin has accused the United States of meddling in Russian affairs through Kasparov.

PINOY GEMS WITH A HISTORY
Macmac ends two-year drought

AT last, 22-year-old Mark Paragua has regained his winning form after two years of a seemingly endless drought that saw him lose precious Elo points and plummet from the dizzying heights of global superstardom—the first Filipino to achieve it—as No. 1 in the country with 2617 to now No. 4 with only 2514.

Macmac did right by going to the United States in a bid to break away from whatever had been bugging him here that led to his disastrous performance at the 37th World Olympiad in Turin last year and subsequent local and foreign tournaments.

The change of scenery for a few months did him good because when he came back, flashes of his old brilliance started to mark his play, culminating in his victory in the Tanauan Open hosted by the First Asian Institute of Technology and Humanities (FAITH) just over a month ago.

That he has regained his fighting form and self-confidence was clearly shown in the first round of the just-concluded Second President Gloria Macapgal-Arroyo Cup held at the Duty Free Fiesta Mall in Paranaque City.

● M. Paragua (2514) – Gu Xiaobing (2300)
Rd. 1.9, PGMA Cup, Duty Free Fiesta Mall 2007
Queen’s Gambit Declined (D38)

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 Bb4 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Bg5 Nbd7 7.e3 c5 8.Qc2 Qa5 9.Bd3 c4 10.Bf5 0–0 11.0–0 Re8 12.Nd2 g6 13.Bh3 Bf8 14.Bh4 h6 15.e4 g5 16.Bxd7 Bxd7 17.Bg3 Nxe4 18.Ncxe4 dxe4 19.Nxe4 Qf5 20.Be5 Re6 21.f3 Rc8 22.Rae1 f6 23.f4 If 23.Bg3 Ra6, with equality g4 Missing his best shot, 23...fxe5!, which should keep Black in the game: 24.fxe5 Qg6! 24.d5! Ra6 25.Qc3 Zooming in on f6 25...Kf7 Not 25...fxe5? because of 26.fxe5 Qg6 27.Rf6 Rxf6 28.Nxf6+ Kh8 29.Nxd7!, and White takes a commanding lead 26.d6! Driving a wedge into Black’s shaky position Be6 Of course not …fxe5, or else the black queen falls; 26...Rxa2 27.Nxf6 Be6 28.Ne4 favors White 27.Bxf6 Bxd6 27...Rxa2? is no good, says Fritz: 28.Ng5+ hxg5 29.fxg5! 28.Bh8 Bf8 29.Ng3 Qc5+ 30.Kh1 Kg8 31.Bd4 Qb4 31...Qc6 32.Qe3 Bc5 33.f5 favors White 32.Qc2 Bf7 33.Qf5 Rd8 34.Bc3 Qc5 34...Qd6 was best, Fritz notes 35.Qxg4+ Rg6 36.Qh4 Rd3 37.Ne4 37.f5! might be the shorter path: 37...Rgxg3 38.hxg3 Qd6, and White surges ahead Qf5 38.Nf6+ Kh8 38...Rxf6 39.Bxf6 Bd5 40.Re5 boosts White’s lead 39.Re5 Qc8 40.f5 Rg5 40...Rxg2 won’t be of help because of 41.Re7! 41.Ne4 Rg7 42.Qxh6+! Rh7 43.Re8+!!

Forcing mate: 43…Rxc3 44.Qxf8+ Bg8 45.Qxg8#! 1–0

As a teenager in quest of the GM title, Macmac produced a lot of gems. Here is one of them, against a top superstar of today.

● Mark Paragua - Levon Aronian
Rd. 6, 7th Anibal Open, Linares 2000
King’s Indian Attack (A04)

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.0–0 0–0 5.d3 c5 6.e4 Nc6 7.Nbd2 h6 8.c3 e5 9.Nc4 d6 10.a4 Be6 11.Nfd2 Re8 12.Ne3 d5 13.exd5 Nxd5 Better than 13...Bxd5 14.Nxd5 Nxd5 15.Qb3! 14.Ne4 b6 15.Nc4 Re7 16.Re1 Rd7 17.Qe2 Nde7 18.Bxh6 Bxc4 19.dxc4 Bxh6 20.Nf6+ Kf8 21.Nxd7+ Qxd7 22.b4 cxb4 23.cxb4 Rc8 24.b5 Na5 Fritz suggests 24...Nd4 as a viable alternative, e.g., 25.Qxe5 Rxc4! 25.Qxe5 Nxc4 Not 25...Rxc4? 26.Rad1 Qc7 27.Qh8+ Ng8 28.Bd5! 26.Qh8+ Ng8 27.Rad1 Qf5 28.Qd4 Bg5 28...Qc5!? is an interesting alternative, says Fritz 29.Bc6 Qc5 30.Qg4 Rb8 31.Rd5 Qb4 32.Red1 Bf6 33.Rc1 Bc3 34.Qf4 Rc8 35.Rd3 g5? 36.Qf5 Best was 36.Qxg5 Be1 37.Qf4! Ne7 37.Qh7 Not 37.Qxg5 Bd2 38.Rxd2 Qxd2 39.Qxd2 Nxd2! Bg7 Best was 37...Bd2 38.Qh6+ Kg8, and White surges on 38.Qe4 Qxa4 39.Rxc4 Qa1+ 40.Kg2 a5 41.bxa6!

Black has had enough: 41

MY FAVORITES
Kramnik, as consummate artist

FORMER world champion Vladimir Kramnik is one of my top favorites—but only as a player and for his artistic wizardry, but not as a human being because of what I perceive is a lack of sportsmanship and fairness in his dealings with his rivals.

Basically, Kramnik does not seem to know the meaning of gratitude. Take, for instance, his relationship with his erstwhile mentor and “godfather,” Garry Kasparov, who chose him as a member of the Russian team for the 1992 Manila Olympiad.

Kasparov also handpicked him as his challenger for the 2000 Classical World Championship Match in London.

After wresting the crown from his former benefactor, Kramnik refused to defend his new title against Kasparov who, he said, should first go through a qualifying tournament. Such an incomparable ingrate, indeed!

In the same vein, he required his prospective challengers to go through the same process but delayed his title match against challenger Peter Leko of Hungary by a couple of years.

In his world title reunification match against Fide champion Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria last year, Kramnik behaved boorishly by vanishing into his sanctuary, the men’s restroom, after making his every move—probably just to taunt his rival, who had the official title while his was unofficial.

One may therefore say that what Kramnik lacks in sportsmanship, he has plenty of in petty gamesmanship!

This early, he has vowed to take back the crown from the reigning champion, Viswanathan Anand of India, when they come face to face next year.

The two rivals had a two-round Advanced Match—that is, with the aid of computer programs—in Moscow on Friday last week, and it ended in a tie with both games drawn.

I am looking forward to their world title match next year, hoping that Anand will win as he did in Mexico City last September when Kramnik ended up in a tie for second place in the world title tournament.

● V. Kramnik – G. Kasparov
Rd. 2, Moscow 1994
King’s Indian, Classical Petrosian (E93)

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.d4 0–0 6.Be2 e5 7.d5 Nbd7 8.Be3 Ng4 9.Bg5 f6 10.Bh4 h5 11.Nd2 Nh6 12.f3 Nf7 13.Qc2 Bh6 14.0–0–0 c5 If 14...Be3 15.Kb1 15.dxc6 15.g4 Bxd2+ 16.Rxd2 g5 gives White the edge bxc6 16.Kb1 a5 16...Nc5 17.Bf2 should equalize 17.Na4 c5 If 17...Be3 18.Nb3 18.Nc3 Be3 19.Nd5 Bd4 20.Nb3 Bb7 21.Nxd4 cxd4 22.f4 Rb8 23.Rhf1 Nh6 24.c5 Bxd5 25.exd5 Nf5 26.fxe5 Nxh4 27.exd6 Ne5 27...f5 28.c6 Qb6 29.Bd3! gives White a clear advantage 28.Rxd4 Nf5 Not 28...Nxg2? 29.Re4 Qe8 30.Bd3!, when White takes a big leap 29.Rxf5 gxf5 30.Qxf5 Kg7 If 30...Rb4 31.Rd2! 31.Bxh5 31.Rh4 was better, says Fritz Rh8?? 31...Rb4 was playable: 32.Rd2 Qc8 32.Rg4+!

An unpleasant surprise, Fritz comments as White surges on.

32...Kf8 Not 32...Nxg4 because of 33.Qg6+! 33.Qe6 Rb7 33...a4 offers a small chance for counterplay: 34.Ka1 Rb4, but White stays ahead 34.c6 Rxb2+ 35.Kxb2 Qb6+ 36.Ka3 Qc5+ 37.Ka4 Qc2+ 38.Kb5 Qb2+ 39.Ka6 Qe2+ 40.Kb7 Rh7+ 41.d7! Black surrenders because of the threat of mate that not even a Kasparov can stop: 41…Qb5+ 42.Kc7 Rxd7+ 43.cxd7 Qc5+ 44.Kb7 Qb5+ 45.Ka8 Qa6+ 46.Qxa6 Nxg4 47.Qe6 Ne5 48.d8Q+ Kg7 49.Qdxf6+ Kh7 50.Qh6#! 1–0

● Garry Kasparov - Vladimir Kramnik [D47]
Int’l Tournament, Dos Hermanas 1996
Semi-Slav, Meran System (D48)

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 e6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Bd3 dxc4 7.Bxc4 b5 8.Bd3 Bb7 9.0–0 a6 10.e4 c5 11.d5 c4 12.Bc2 Qc7 13.Nd4 Nc5 14.b4 If 14.Qe2 Rd8,w ith equality cxb3 15.axb3 b4 15...exd5 will boost White’s lead: 16.Nxd5 Nxd5 17.exd5 Bxd5 18.Re1+ Ne6 19.Nxe6 Bxe6 20.Qh5! 16.Na4 Ncxe4 17.Bxe4 Nxe4 18.dxe6 Bd6 19.exf7+ Qxf7 19...Kxf7 20.Qh5+ g6 21.Qh3 should equalize 20.f3! Qh5 21.g3 21.fxe4 Qxh2+ 22.Kf2 0–0+ 23.Ke3 Qxg2! will benefit White 0–0? 21...Nxg3 and Black could well hope to play on: 22.hxg3 0–0! 22.fxe4 Qh3 23.Nf3 23.Qe2 was better, says Fritz: 23...Rxf1+ 24.Qxf1 Qxf1+ 25.Kxf1! Bxg3!!

Stepping up the assault on the enemy king.

24.Nc5 Not 24.hxg3 Qxg3+ Rxf3 Eliminating the defender 25.Rxf3 Not 25.Qxf3 because of 25…Qxh2#! Qxh2+ 26.Kf1 Bc6 27.Bg5?? Terrible, says Fritz, but what else could White do to save the game? 27.Ra5 Bc7 28.Qd4 Bxa5 29.Bb2 Bb5+ 30.Nd3 Bxd3+ 31.Qxd3 Qh1+ 32.Ke2 Qg2+ 33.Rf2 Qg4+ 34.Kf1! Bb5+ 28.Nd3 Re8 29.Ra2 Qh1+ Missing 29...Bxd3+ 30.Rxd3 Qh1+ 31.Ke2 Qg2+ 32.Ke3 Rxe4#! 30.Ke2 Rxe4+ 31.Kd2 Qg2+ 32.Kc1 Qxa2 33.Rxg3 Qa1+ 34.Kc2 Qc3+ 35.Kb1 Rd4! The final nail, and White resigns. 0–1

GAMES OF GIFTED KIDS
Ferocious, even as a child

VLADY KRAMNIK was only 16 when he won the world crown for Under-18 boys and only 17 when he won the individual gold as first reserve player in the 1992 Manila Olympiad after being handpicked for Russia’s national team by Garry Kasparov, his benefactor whom he would dethrone eight years later.

Indeed, as a child prodigy, Kramnik was known for his ferocity at the board that somehow seems to be in conflict with what normally is his deceptively gentle mien.

That ferocity, however, was not of the spectacular, brutally violent kind that is associated with Kasparov, probably the most ruthless opponent that a player could ever meet during his prime.

Kramnik’s ferocity was more subtle, sensitive to the slightest nuances on the board—the hallmark of an artistic soul.

This was encapsulated in this famous quote from Kramnik himself: “For me art and chess are closely related, both are forms in which the self finds beauty and expression.”

I have selected two games that demonstrate such artistry—and ferocity—even as a child.

● V. Kramnik – B. Podlesnik
Int’l Tournament, Sochi 1989
Sicilian, Pelikan & Sveshnikov (B3)

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.a4 Not 7..Nd5 Nxd5 8.exd5 Nb8! a6 Equalizing 8.Na3 d5 9.exd5 Nd4 10.Be3 Bc5 10...Nxd5 11.Nxd5 Qxd5 12.c3 gives White the edge 11.Nc4 Qe7 11...Nxd5 would have kept the balance: 12.Ne4 Nxe3 13.Nxe3 Qc7 12.Bd3 0–0 Better than 12...Bg4 13.f3 Bf5 14.0–0! 13.0–0 Bg4 14.f3 Bh5 15.Kh1 Rad8 16.Bg5 b5 17.axb5 axb5 18.Nd2 b4 19.Nce4 Rxd5 20.Nxc5 20.Bh4 Ne6 21.Nxf6+ gxf6 22.Ne4! was playable Qxc5 20...Rxc5 should be tried: 21.Ne4 Rc7! 21.Bxf6! White makes a quantum leap gxf6 22.Ne4 Qe7 23.Ra7!? Sacrificing the exchange to deflect the queen from guarding f6 Qxa7 24.Nxf6+! Launching a direct but speculative assault on the enemy king.
Kg7 25.Nxd5 Qc5 26.Ne3 Bg6 27.Qe1 Both sides redeploy their forces f5 28.Qf2 28.c3 may be more precise, e.g., 28…bxc3 29.bxc3 with a clear edge Ne6 If 28...e4 29.c3 Nxf3 30.cxb4 Qxb4 31.Bc2! 29.Qe1 If 29.Qd2 b3 Qd4 29...Nd4 would have restored equality 30.b3 Nf4 31.Bc4 Re8 32.Qf2 Rd8 33.h3 33.Qh4 was stronger, e.g., 33…Rd7 34.Qe1, with a distinct advantage Qd2? Fritz suggests33...Qc3 as a viable option 34.Qh4! Re8?? A mistake, but the game is lost in any case 35.Rd1 Nxg2 35...Qxd1+ offered the last chance for counterplay, e.g., 36.Nxd1 h6 36.Nxf5+!!

Shattering Black’s pawn shield to get at the king.36.Rxd2 would be a useless try 36...Nxh4 37.f4 exf4.
36…Bxf5 37.Qg3+!.1-0

● A. Filipenko – V. Kramnik
Int’l Tournament, Sochi 1989
Queen’s Fianchetto, Nimzowitsch (B00)

1.e4 b6 2.d4 Bb7 3.f3 If 3.Bd3 Nf6 4.Nd2 e6! e6 4.Be3 Nf6 5.c4 c5 6.d5 Bd6 7.Nc3 Be5 8.Bd3 exd5 9.cxd5 0–0 10.Nge2 Re8 11.Qd2 a6 12.a4 d6 13.0–0 Nbd7 14.Nd1 Rc8 15.Rc1 Nf8 15...Kh8!? should be considered, says Fritz 16.f4 Bd4 17.Bxd4 cxd4 18.Nf2 N8d7 19.b4 a5 20.Nxd4 20.Ng3 axb4 21.Bb5 Re7 should give White the edge Rxc1 21.Rxc1 axb4 22.Qxb4 Nc5 23.Bb1 If 23.Bb5 Re7 Nfxe4 24.Nxe4 If 24.Bxe4 Nxe4 25.Ne6 fxe6 26.Nxe4 Bxd5 27.Nxd6! Nxe4² 25.Nc6 Bxc6 26.Bxe4 Bd7 27.Bf3 Qf6 28.Rd1 Instead of 28.Qxb6 Qxf4 29.Rf1 Qxa4! g6 29.Qxb6 Bxa4 30.Rf1 Rc8 31.Qe3 Bd7 32.h3 Rc4 33.Be4 Qd4 34.Re1 Qxe3+ 35.Rxe3 Rd4 36.Kf2 Bb5 If 36...Kf8 37.Bf3! 37.Kg3 Fritz suggests 37.Re1!? to restore equality Bc4 Attacking the isolated pawn on d5 38.f5 Kg7 39.fxg6 hxg6 40.Bf3 Bxd5!

It’s all over: 40.Bxd5 Rxd5, and Black wins. 0–1

CHESS MAGIC
Vladimir the Wizard

AMONG the current crop of outstanding players, nobody can perhaps surpass the record of Vladimir Kramnik in the sheer sparkle and number of his gems.

Obviously this stems from his attitude toward chess more as a form of art than just a mind game.

In turn, such an attitude, as expressed in the quote cited in the preceding page, stems from his creative impulses.

To be creative is to be original, of course. Although Kramnik follows strictly the principles of the game, especially in the opening systems that he likes, his games show a strong tendency at almost every turn to look for the least expected but the most effective way of achieving his strategic objectives.

As a result, his style of play especially in his younger years has been, as always, as flexible as could be.

All too often, the tactical motif in many of his games follows well-established norms but applied in a unique “Kramnikian kind” of way—more subtle than sharp, more esthetic than spectacular.

This is especially true in his current style of play, which was sharper in his youth but is becoming subtler as he mellows through the years, especially after he had recovered from his rare arthritis-like disease in the New Millennium.

Indeed, it is his artistry and creativity that shine through his wizardry with either color,

● V. Kramnik – P. Leko
Rd. 14, Classical Chess Championship, Brissago 2004
Caro Kann, Advance Variation (B12)

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.h4 If 4.Nf3 e6!, says Fritz h6 5.g4 Bd7 6.Nd2 c5 7.dxc5 e6 8.Nb3 Bxc5 9.Nxc5 Qa5+ 10.c3 Qxc5 11.Nf3 Ne7 12.Bd3 Nbc6 13.Be3 Qa5 14.Qd2 Ng6 15.Bd4 Nxd4 16.cxd4 Qxd2+ 17.Kxd2 Nf4 18.Rac1 h5 If 18...Nxd3 19.Kxd3 Ke7 20.Rc7 19.Rhg1 White now has a distinct advantage Bc6 20.gxh5 Nxh5 21.b4 a6 22.a4 White plans b5 Kd8 23.Ng5 Be8 24.b5 24.Ke3 g6 gives White the edge Nf4 25.b6 Nxd3 Fritz suggests 25...Rc8!? as the best move for practical purposes, although White would still have the edge 26.Kxd3! Boosting his advantage Rc8 27.Rxc8+ Kxc8 28.Rc1+ Bc6 29.Nxf7 Rxh4 30.Nd6+ Kd8 31.Rg1 Rh3+ 32.Ke2 Ra3 33.Rxg7 Rxa4 34.f4 Better than 34.Nxb7+ Bxb7 35.Rxb7 Rxd4, restoring the balance Ra2+ 35.Kf3 Ra3+ 36.Kg4 White prepares the advance f5 Rd3?? Black falls apart: 36...Ra1 was better, e.g., 37.Rc7 Rg1+ 38.Kh5 Rb1 39.Nf7+! 37.f5! Rxd4+ Fritz suggests 37...Rd1, hoping against hope: 38.f6 Rf1 38.Kg5 exf5 39.Kf6 Rg4 40.Rc7 40.Nxf5?! is a useless try, says Frit: 40...Rxg7 41.Nxg7 Bd7, with equal chances Rh4 40...Rg7 won’t stop mate: 41.Kxg7 f4 42.e6 d4 43.e7#! 41.Nf7+!

Black resigns, seeing the mate in two: 41…Ke8 42.Rc8+ Kd7 43.Rd8#! 1–0

● B. Gelfand (2665) – V. Kramnik (2765)
Rd. 2, European Club Cup, Berlin.1996
Semi-Slav (Rd. 2)

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 e6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Bd6 7.g4 If 7.Bd3 0–0, with equality Bb4 7...Nxg4 leads to equality: 8.Rg1 Nxh2 9.Nxh2 Bxh2 10.Rxg7 8.Bd2 Qe7 8...Nxg4 9.Rg1 h5 10.h3 also equalizes 9.a3 Bxc3 10.Bxc3 b6 11.Bd3 11.Rg1 Bb7 keeps the balance Ba6 Equalizing 12.Qa4 dxc4 13.Qxa6 cxd3 14.Qxd3 0–0 15.g5 Nd5 16.Bd2 f5 17.0–0–0 c5 18.Kb1 b5 19.Qxb5 Rab8 20.Qa5 Rb3 21.Ka2 Rfb8 Putting pressure on the backward b2-pawn 22.Rb1 22.Bc1 may be safer, Fritz notes e5 23.Rhc1 Qe6 24.Ka1 exd4 25.Rxc5?? Desperation, but this starts the deterioration of White’s position. 25.g6 h6 26.Qa4 also favors Black Nxc5 26.Qxc5 26.Nxd4 offered a slim chance: 26...Qd6 27.Nxf5 Nc3! 27.Nxd4 If 27.bxc3 Rxb1+ and it’s mate next via …R8b2#! Rxb2!! 28.Rxb2 Qa2+!!

The height of artistry: if 29.Rxa2 Rb1#!!! 0–1

BOBBY ANG’S BUSINESSWORLD COLUMN, CHESS PIECE (1)
I hate Kramnik

I WAS a bit puzzled with the rules of the world chess championship held last September in Mexico. It was an eight-player, 14-round, double round robin event. Apparently, If the winner of that event wasn't Vladimir Kramnik then there would be a further match between Kramnik and the winner.

Yes, you heard right. If Kramnik had won the Mexico tournament then the issue of world chess champion is settled. If he loses, a match will be arranged between himself and the winner. As Kasparov so aptly put it, Kramnik gets loss odds!

Anyway, Anand won in Mexico. Rather than congratulate Vishy on the nice victory and prepare himself for the rematch in 2008, what does Kramnik do?

In a recent interview with “New in Chess”, there was this question as to whether he felt like he lost his title.

Answer: “Not really. Maybe it will come at some point, I don’t know. I think not ... OK, to lose in a match means a lot to me, because this means you’re weaker than the other player. but in a tournament ... You know, we can play this tournament next month and I can win or Svidler will win. There are a lot of random factors in a tournament. Of course, Vishy fully deserved to win here, but I am not sure that if we have the same tournament once more in one month that it would be the same. I’m not sure at all. When you win a match, this is usually because you are simply better. But OK, I have been World Champion for seven years, I don’t mind lending my title to someone else for half a year. That’s not such a big deal. If I lose my match against Vishy then I will really know that I am no longer World Champion.”

To me, it appears that Kramnik is just sour-graping by rehashing the argument that a world championship should be won in a match and not in a tournament. I strongly disagree with this – a world championship is earned by winning the world championship competition as designated by the sports governing body.

I am surprised to see in various internet sites that some people actually believe him. Don’t they know that you shouldn’t trust a person who has, over his career, changed his mind and taken opposite views when it suited him? His pronouncements vs actions have not been consistent. Consider:

1. When Kramnik made his smashing international debut during the 1992 Manila Olympiad he declared that his goal is to create something over the chessboard. He has since given up that creative approach and gone destructive. Nowadays the emphasis is on neutralizing opportunities for his opponent to complicate, play super-solid chess, and try to simplify the game so that his fabulous technique can take over.

2. He refused to play in the 1997 Groningen FIDE KO World Championship, claiming that it was unfair that some players were seeded to the second round – everybody should start in the same round. Spoken in great democratic tradition. Problem is he went against those same principles when he accepted to play in the PCA World championship which had an even more elitist approach—without going through qualifications he was to play Shirov for the right to challenge Kasparov for the crown. But it gets worse—Kramnik lost to Shirov, but then agreed with Kasparov to play a world championship match in 2000, completely bypassing Shirov.

3. After defeating Kasparov in 2000 Kramnik refused a rematch by insisting that the world championship should not be individual challenges but must come within a structured system of elimination matches/tournaments, forgetting how he became champion in the first place.

4. Before agreeing to play in the Mexico world championship he made this condition that he will play, but if he loses then he has the right to play the winner in a match. Well, Kramnik has always maintained that as world champion he should be careful what he says since he would be speaking for all chess players in the world. Wrong. Kramnik probably meant chess mercenaries.

OK, I have said my piece.

Having said all that, I guess it becomes imperative to also state that as a player Vladimir Kramnik is as awesome as ever. When he plays the Catalan as White it is as if Black is immediately put on the defensive and has to play with superhuman force in order to hold the balance. Anything less would mean a loss.

The Catalan is usually reached via 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.g3. I will show you a great Kramnik victory over a virtually invincible foe.

It is generally known that in the closed openings, such as the Queen's Gambit, Black's main problem is the development of the queen's bishop. The Queen's Indian (as a complement of the Nimzo Indian) aims to solve precisely this problem, by developing the bishop on b7 (or as the case may be a6) after 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b
6.

In the Catalan opening, White anticipates this plan and takes control of the long diagonal first. The pressure along the "Catalan" diagonal is obvious and Black frequently has problems with the development of his queen side.

Kramnik,Vladimir (2769) - Leko,Peter (2751) [E05]
WCh Mexico City MEX (12), 27.09.2007

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 Be7 5.Nf3 0–0 6.0–0 dxc4 7.Qc2 a6

The "obvious" 7...b5 is bad because after 8.a4 c6 9.axb5 Black cannot recapture with 9...cxb5? because 10.Ng5 wins the rook. Black cannot block the bishop's diagonal with 10...Nd5?? due to the mate on h7.

8.Qxc4 b5 9.Qc2 Bb7

White has wasted a lot of time recapturing the pawn and one would think that Black equalizes rather easily. It is not so.Why? Well first of all the advance of the queenside pawns leaves the Black queenside vulnerable, and besides the unguarded nature of his bishop allows White to get in a few tactical threats.

Black's plan of action is to play ...c5 On the other hand if White can put a lot of pressure down the c-file then he will win in the ending.

10.Bd2

White's three main choices are 10.Bg5, 10.Bf4, and the text, which is really quite devious. Its idea is to play Ba4 followed by b2-b4 to make a blockade on the dark squares in the queenside. He, of course, has to wait for Black to play ...Nbd7 first, as otherwise a simple ...Nc6 would force the bishop back.

10...Be4 11.Qc1 Qc8

Karpov's move, threatening ...c7-c5 right away.

12.Bg5

This move carries a hidden subtlety. White plans 13.Nbd2 and now 13...Bd5? is a blunder. White has 14.e4 Bb7 15.e5 wins a piece.

12...Nbd7 13.Qf4!

A strong novelty, planning to intensify the pressure on the c-file by means of Rc1. Other games with this position continued 13.Nbd2 Bb7 14.Nb3 c5 15.Bxf6 gxf6 White had the initiative, but Black's resources were enough to hold the draw.

13...Bb7 14.Rc1 Bd6 15.Qh4 h6 16.Bxf6 Nxf6 17.Nbd2

White has the initiative, but he has to find something soon or Black will find a way to force through ...c7-c5 and the game becomes equal.

17...Re8 18.e4 Nd7 19.Nb3 a5 20.Nc5 Be7

Capturing the knight would seriously incapacitate is b7-bishop.

21.Qf4 e5!

Wins some material due to the ...Bg5 skewer, but it appears that Kramnik is baiting Black to win the material because he believes White will have strong compensation.

22.Nxe5 Nxe5 23.dxe5 Bg5 24.Qf3 Bxc1 25.Rxc1 Rxe5

For the exchange White has a powerful night on c5, a pawnroller soon, and the better developed pieces. Is it enough? Kramnik makes it look like a forced win.

26.Qc3 f6?! 27.Qb3+ Kh8 28.Qf7!
The threat is Nxb7 followed by Rxc7.

28...Bc6 29.Nd3 Re6 30.Nf4 Rd6 31.Ng6+ Kh7

32.e5! fxe5 33.Bxc6 Rf6 34.Qd5 Qf5
[34...Rxg6 35.Bxa8]

35.Bxa8 Qxf2+ 36.Kh1 Qxb2 37.Qc5 Kxg6 38.Be4+ Kh5 39.Rb1 1-0

It is hopeless: 39...Qd4 40.Qxd4 exd4 41.Rxb5+ g5 42.Rxa5 is trivially won.

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

This column was first published in BusinessWorld on Monday, November 26, 2007.

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

I HEAR from my good friend Manny Benitez that the chess column of NM Edgar de Castro has been axed. Mr. De Castro has been writing in the Philippine Star weekly since 1993. I guess that means that “Chess Piece” of Businessworld is the only regular chess column left in the Philippines.

Manny Benitez was the long-time columnist for Philippine Star. I was a great fan of his, particularly after he featured a game of mine from an Executive tournament (heh heh, kidding):

Ang,Roberto - Tumambing,Vic [B53]
Executives' Open Active Chess Center for Asia, 1994

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Qxd4 Nc6 5.Bb5 Bd7 6.Bxc6 Bxc6 7.Nc3 Nf6 8.Bg5 e6 9.0–0–0 Be7 10.Rhe1 h6 11.Bxf6?! gxf6 12.Kb1 Qc7 13.Rd2! you will see the reason for this later 13...b5? 14.Nd5! Bxd5

[14...exd5 15.exd5 Bb7 16.Qxf6 Rg8 17.Rde2 and wins. Now you see why White played 13.Rd2]

15.exd5 e5 16.Qd3 a6 17.Nd4! Kf8
[17...exd4 18.Rde2 Ra7 19.Qxd4 pressure is too much]
18.Nc6 Bd8 19.Qe4 Qd7 20.g4 a5 21.a3 Rc8 22.Rd3 Rc7 23.Rb3 Rb7 24.a4 b4 25.f4 Kg7

26.fxe5 fxe5 27.Rf3 f6 28.Ref1 Rf8 29.h4 Bb6 30.g5 hxg5 31.hxg5 f5 32.Rxf5 Rxf5 33.Rxf5 Qe8 34.Rf6! Bc7 35.Rh6 1–0

Then, in 1993, when Manny Benitez moved over to the newspaper TODAY, he recommended Edgar de Castro to replace him at the Star, and there he stayed till now. A 14-year run, a great journalistic career.

Chess columns have been declining over the years. The 70s was the high point of chess journalism in the country. At that time the columns came almost daily – the best one was probably that of Hon. Florencio Campomanes, who aside from covering the local and international chess scene also chronicled the exploits of Eugene Torre in his European campaign for the GM title.

After the title was achieved in 1974 during the Nice Olympiad, “Campo” wrote a 22-part series on “The Making of a GM” which was completely fascinating reading. He spoke about the team preparation, the behind-the-scenes stories, the interaction of the “dream team” members with each other, and the commitment of all towards putting the best face possible forward for the Philippines. They should have put all these columns together into a book—it is a guaranteed bestseller as well as a historical marker. One of my most treasured possessions is the bookbound newspaper clippings I have of this epochal series. And that is saying a lot, coming from someone who has personally autographed Bobby Fischer/Boris Spassky caricatures from the 1992 Rematch of the Century.

Another great writer (and some would say the greatest) was the late GM Rosendo Balinas Jr. He had one advantage over “Campo” – whereas the former FIDE President was a brilliant writer, he would usually just give the bare score of chess games together with a few sentences describing the action. “Bali” could write very well himself, being a lawyer and all, but his analysis of games was of sufficiently high quality that you would be motivated to clip his column out of the visitors’ desk newspaper, sneak it out of the office and into the home and later on, while your wife and children are asleep, slip out of the bedroom, bring out the chessboard, and go over the games slowly well into the wee hours of the morning. He was that good.

Bali had his own magnus opus. In 1976, after his sensational victory in the Odessa International Tournament, he wrote a 16-part series on “The Conquest of Odessa.” He told the story of the controversy during the 1975 Marlboro tournament where, in response to a remark by GM Lev Polugaevsky that he had been very lucky in the tournament, he blurted out that he did not fear the Soviet grandmasters and is willing to face them anytime anyplace. Shortly, the Philippine Chess Federation received a letter from the Soviet Chess Federation inviting Rosendo Balinas to play in the Odessa tournament. Was it to teach him a lesson? Well, whatever the motives were Bali accepted the invitation, went to Odessa and shocked the whole world by winning it ahead of chess legend David Bronstein, former USSR Champion Vladimir Savon, future US Champion Lev Alburt, US Champion James Tarjan, and many many more GMs and IMs. When Bali came home he wrote about his experiences. Another masterpiece whose newspaper clipping I have greedily hoarded over the years.

Perhaps another one who belongs to the elite of Philippine chess journalism is Judge (and National Master) Rosendo Bandal, Jr. He had columns with Bulletin Today (now named Manila Bulletin) from 1972 until he moved to Dumaguete City as RTC Judge in 1987. He also had columns for a number of years with Economic Monitor, Sports Weekly

Unlike Campo and Bali, Bandal concentrated more on the games and his annotations were always deeply researched and meticulously prepared.

Other great writers were NM Glenn Bordonada, NM Nito Acosta, and Chris Mangulabnan.

A lot of people go around calling themselves chess journalists, whereas in fact they are only reporters. It is like the technician who pretends to be an engineer, or the statistician who thinks he is a mathematician or (horror of horrors!) the bookkeeper who likens himself to an accountant. Dream on.

Writing is an important training tool as well for players. During the 1969 International Tournament in Belgrade, former world champion Mikhail Botvinnik and GM Lev Polugaevsky were taking a stroll around the avenues of Belgrade. Here is Polugaevsky’s recounting of events:

“Bovinnik suddenly asked me: ‘Are you writing any sort of chess book?’

“I glanced at him in surprise, and mumbled in reply that I played and prepared a lot, that I was still young, and that I would start writing sometime in the future. Towards the end of this lengthy explanation I suddenly sensed its complete lack of conviction, but even so Botvinnik’s retort quite overwhelmed me: ‘Why don’t you admit it – you’re a lazybones! You should be ashamed of yourself! It’s the duty of every grandmaster to write books.”

Not only should our leading players be writing books, they should be analyzing their own games and publishing their analysis. That way any mistakes can be pointed out and eliminated. The readers can also learn from the top players’ experiences and everyone will benefit from it.

I have read many articles offering advice to players on how to improve their chess. Some of them too shallow, some of them too general, and some of them too bizarre.

Bizarre? Well, “Rapid Chess Improvement” from Michael de la Maza suggests that after your opponent makes a move you should “make a physical movement. Initially I shuffled my legs but found that they got tired in long games. Now I shift around in my chair, move my arms up and down, or wiggle my toes (5 seconds; total time: 5 seconds)”.

For better chess you should wiggle toes!? He doesn’t explain why you should do so. He also tells you to get a set of problems and concentrate on finding the solution in 37.5 seconds. Huh!?

You know, just for kicks I actually tried playing against the computer and wiggled my toes after every move. The conclusion is the same—to beat the computer the only surefire way is to pull the plug and claim time forfeit.

OK, after going through all of that nonsense it is time to give some really good advice: to improve you have to analyze your own games and publish them.

For the benefit of our readers I present to you the game between Polugaevsky and Balinas mentioned above.

Balinas,Rosendo C (2355) - Polugaevsky,Lev (2645) [A21]
Marlboro GM Classic (4th) Makati (3), 04.10.1975

1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 d6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.d3 f5 6.f4 Nf6 7.Nf3 Nbd7 8.Bd2 0–0 9.Qc2

Preparing to castle queenside.
9...c6 10.0–0–0 Qe7 11.e3 Nc5!

Black is targeting ..e5-e4.

12.fxe5 dxe5 13.d4 e4! 14.Ne1 Ne6 15.Kb1 Bd7 16.Bf1 Rac8 17.h3 c5 18.d5 Ng5 19.Be2 Nf7 20.Ng2 Ne5 21.Bc1 Ne8 22.Nf4 Nd6

Does anyone doubt that Black is the one who is playing for a win?

23.b3 b5 24.Nxb5 Nxb5 25.cxb5 c4

I wrote about this in 2001: "Looks like White is going to be wiped out real quick, huh? Well, Bali has just begun to fight".

26.d6! Qf7 27.Nd5 Nd3 28.bxc4 Bxb5 29.Ne7+ Kh8 30.Nxc8 Rxc8 31.Bxd3 exd3 32.Rxd3 Rxc4?

A mistake. 32...Bxc4 is much better: 33.Rb3 Qe8! White is hard-put to hold the position. The retreat of the queen has many purposes, one of which is to support the rook when it comes to the b-file to pin White's queen against the King.

33.d7!

Why not 33.Qb3? Well, that was the point of White's 33rd move, decoying away the bishop, because with the bishop still on b5 there would follow 33...Rb4! 34.Qxb4 Bxd3# checkmate!

33...Bxd7 34.Qb3 h5 35.Bb2! Ba4 36.Bxg7+ Kh7 37.Qb8! Bc2+ 38.Ka1 Qxg7+ 39.Rd4 Rxd4 40.exd4 Qxd4+ 41.Qb2 Qxb2+ 42.Kxb2

Attack is over. White wins.

42...Be4 43.Rd1 g5 44.Rd7+ Kg6 45.Rd6+ Kg7 46.Kc3! Bg2 47.Kd4 Bxh3 48.Ke5 f4 49.gxf4 g4 50.f5! h4 51.f6+ Kf8 52.Rd8+ Kf7 53.Rh8 1–0

Reader comments/suggestions are urgently solicited. Email address is bangcpa@gmail.com.
This column was first published in BusinessWorld on Friday, November 30, 2007.

FROM MY SWIVEL CHAIR
NCFP election: January 19

I’M GLAD that Butch Pichay has taken it upon himself to push for an early election of officers in the NCFP Board as the launching pad for healing the rift that has long plagued the game’s national governing body.

A little bird has told me that of the 15 directors, eight met in a closed-door board meeting that set the date for the NCFP election for January 19.

The meeting was nearly aborted by the failure of a director who reneged on his promise to attend. Fortunately, another one who had not made an earlier commitment showed up.

Pichay presided over the meeting, which then passed a resolution setting the date for the election and calling for reforms,

The Weekender stands four-square behind the Pichay plan to weed out the deadwood and the recalcitrant in order to solidify the federation’s stance toward honest-to-goodness reforms.

Such reforms are necessary if the New Year program providing for incentives for players to raise their levels of strength as reflected in Elo ratings is to succeed. I say amen to that.
—0—

READER John Manahan has written a fine piece summing up the bad and good things that emerged from the just-concluded Second President’s Cup, as follows: “A SAD day for Philippine chess! It started on the early morning of November 26 as lone Filipino representative to the World Championship Cycle, GM-elect Darwin Laylo, lost to super GM Etienne Bacrot of France, who surely doesn’t play a game of chance in chess as he does in poker.

“Then four of our IMs lost the chance to catch the elusive GM title by failing to get their final GM norms in the 2nd GMA Cup. International Masters Wesley So, Ronald Dableo, Oliver Dimakiling and Jayson Gonzales, all of them at the helm trailing the Chinese GM’s by a full or half point going into the last three rounds of the tournament, only to stumble anew against the mighty Chinese!!! Even our fifth IM, Julio Catalino Sadorra, who is looking for his first GM-norm lost his game against a Chinese. Our youngsters were not even spared in this series of bad breaks: our brightest hope for a golden or silvery finish in the World Youth Age Group Chess Championship, Cheradee

Camacho, faltered for the first time in the eighth round!.

“The brighter side of this story was that GM Mark Paragua had taken up the cudgels and tried mightily to bring about a nice ending to this sad story. Another thing is that this tournaments, staged through heroic efforts of NCFP president Prospero Pichay, has produced numerous talents that had been previously untapped, proving that we are not lacking in talent!

“A year ago it was Hamed Nouri, then the Visayan giant killer Kim Steven Yap! And now Rolando Andador,and JC Sadorra are showing their wares!

“Even Ballecer, out to prove a point, is playing chess now on a different level. Mathematically the three had excellent chances of getting GM norms on the homestretch, with Andador already assured of an IM-norm, Ballecer half a point away of it and Sadorra two wins away from the GM-norm. Nolte also needed a perfect 2/2 for the GM-norm while Senador, Hamed and Barbosa a sweep of their two remaining games for the IM-norm.”

But then, this was not to be!

================================= The Weekender
Quezon Memorial Circle
Quezon City
Manuel O. Benitez
Editor & Publisher
Alfredo V. Chay
Circulation Manager
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Published every weekend
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