I am posting The Weekender by Mr. Manny Benitez for this week. With all honesty, I've been waiting for tis edition because I wanted to find out the remaining contents of GM Bong Villamayor's proposal for a chess development plan in our land. Everyone will agree with me that we can all have the grandest of plans for whatever that captures our passion and that includes our beloved chess. But, like any other plans, unless believed in by the stakeholders, nothing will flourish or be concretized.
So guys, here is The Weekender in full:
The Chess Plaza Weekender
Sunday, Sept. 9, 2007
Quezon Memorial Circle, Quezon City
Vol. II No. 14
ASIAN CONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Another tough fight looms for Torre, et al
THE looming Asian Continental Chess Championship will be a very tough fight for local players to be led by Grandmasters Eugene Torre and Joey Antonio as they will be facing highly rated Asian superstars from China, India, Vietnam and countries in Central Asia and the Middle East.
Even tiny Singapore is expected to be represented by a super GM, Zhang Zhong (2634), freshly “imported” by the Chinese-dominated city state from mainland China.
Besides Torre and Antonio, the local representation will have 13-year-old International Master Wesley So, the country’s foremost prodigy currently ranked No. 4 in the country.
In the wake of publicity saying that all five GMs are taking part, The Weekender wrote to GM Bong Villamayor in Singapore asking him whether he and GM Nelson Mariano II would take part in the 10-day event.
He categorically replied they had not been invited and that they had their work commitments..
Other local stars being lined up for the big event are IMs Oliver Dimakiling, Jayson Gonzales, Ronald Bancod and Barlo Nadera.
Asia’s biggest chess event this year will be held at the Cebu International Convention Center from September 18, when foreign players are due to arrive, to the 30th, when they leave the country. Games will actually begin on the 19th, a Sunday, and wind up on the 29th, a Saturday.
Antonio is expected to arrive on Saturday, September 15, fresh from his victory at the Michigan Open in the United States, according to journalist Ignacio Dee, who interviewed Joey’s wife earlier this week.
Dee, who himself came back recently from a two-week visit to the US where he had a chance to meet Antonio, said the No. 2 Filipino GM decided to cut short his US tour to be able to compete in the Asian Championship. Joey had previously said he would extend his US visit until December.
There has been no confirmation yet that GM Mark Paragiua is cutting short his US tour in order to compete in the 10-day event.
Prospero “Butch” Pichay, president of the National Chess Federation of the Philippines and deputy president of the Asian Chess Federation, has confirmed the attendance of super GMs (those rated 2600 and above) from all over Asia.
China has confirmed that it is sending super GMs Wang Yue (2696), Bu Xiangzhi (2685), Ni Hua (2681), Zhang Pengxiang (2649), Ye Jiangchuan (2632) and Wang Hao (2626).
The Chinese team took the silver in last year’s Olympiad in Turin, Italy.
Among the other superstars expected for the Asian Championship are Indian GMs Krishnan Sasikiran (2676), Penteala Harikrishna (2664) and Surya Shekhar Ganguly (2556); Iranian GMs Ehsan Ghaem Maghami (2610) and Elsham Maridin Badi (2540); and Indonesia’s Utut Adianto (2584) and Megaranto Susanto (2554).
At this writing, it was not known yet who would represent Vietnam, one of the fastest rising chess-playing countries in the region.
The Asian Continental Championship serves as a qualifier for the World Cup, which is also part of the World Championship series.—with contribution from M. Benardino
Filipinos make waves overseas
THE country’s No. 2 player, GM Joey Antonio, heads a number of Filipinos who have made waves overseas by winning top prizes in tough tournaments over the past few weeks (see also page 3).
Antonio topped the 2007 Michigan Open held from August 31 to September 31 in Flint city He swept through the event undefeated to garner 6.5 points from seven games to take the plum. In second place was IM Benjamin Finegold, who had held the visiting Filipino to a draw.
Besides Joey, US Open sensation Paolo del Mundo, GM Mark Paragua and IM Enrico Sevillano hugged the US limelight with excellent results.
Paragua almost took the plum in the Atlantic Open held in Washington, DC, the other week but for his final-round loss to del Mundo, while Sevillano tied for first to third in the 29th Southern California Open held in Los Angeles.
In the Atlantic Open, Paragua settled for fifth place in a tie for fifth to 11th.
In California, Sevillano had four wins and two draws from the six-round event held at the LAX Hilton to share the first to third prizes with IM Timothy Taylor, who took the title on tiebreak, and US Master John Daniel Bryant, who ended up in third place.
In Europe, FM Virgilio Vuelban created a sensation by beating three grandmasters on his way to capturing the first prize in Rome’s Prenestini International Festival.
IM Rolly Martinez followed this up by earning his first GM norm when he narrowly missed bagging the first prize at the Bratto International Open, also in Italy.
Another Filipino IM, Roland Salvador, is currently competing in the Cesenatico International Open in Italy in a bid to earn his third GM norm and the title. After four rounds, the former Shell national champion from Bulacan had 3.5 points.
—Marlon Bernardino
Mexico City spruces up for title series
THE entire floor of the convention center of a five-star hotel in downtown Mexico City is being spruced up and readied for the World Championship featuring eight of the world’s strongest players, which starts on Thursday, September 13.
Led by world No. 1 Viswanathan Anand (2792) and No. 2 Vladimir Kramnik (2769), the participants will be competing for the unified world crown now being worn by Kramnik and the lion’s share of the $1.3 million jackpot.
The six others are Alexander Morozevich (2758), Peter Leko (2751), Levon Aronian (2750), Peter Svidler (2735), Boris Gelfand (2733) and Alexander Grischuk (2726).
Anand of India and Morozevich and Svidler of Russia qualified by virtue of their standings at the 2005 World Championship in San Luis, Argentina, which was won by Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria.
Topalov, however, lost the crown to Kramnik of Russia in their world title reunification match in Elista last year.
Leko of Hungary, Aronian of Armenia, Gelfand of Israel and Grischuk of Russia qualified by winning their candidates’ matches earlier this year.
The opening ceremony will be on Wednesday, but the games will begin on Thursday and wind up on the 29th, with matches to break any ties to be held on the 30th.
The tournament is being organized by the World Chess Federation, also known as Fide, the acronym of its original name in French, Federacion Internationale des Echecs.
YET ANOTHER FILIPINO CHAMPION ABROAD
Vuelban beats 3 GMs to win plum
By Marlon Bernardino
FILIPINO Fide Master Virgilio Vuelban beaten three European grandmasters on his way to winning the plum in Rome’s Prenestini International Festival, finishing ahead of four GMs and one international master.
News of his phenomenal victory did the country proud on the heels of an earlier report that Milan-based IM Rolly Martinez had earned a GM norm in another Italian event, the Bratto International Open, where he took the fourth prize.
Encouraged by his fine showing at the Roman and Prenestini Festival, which was held from August 17 to 19, FM Vuelban, who hails from Cagayan de Oro City, said he was continuing his quest for an IM title and later a GM title in Europe.
“I had a splendid performance here in Rome, beating three grandmasters,” he said in the vernacular.
He went through the six-round event undefeated, garnering 5.5 points from five wins and one draw for a performance rating of 2720.
Behind him were Czech GM Igor Rausis and IM Milan Mrdja of Croatia, 5.0, GMs Oleg Korneev and Igor Naumkin of Russia, IM Bogomil Andonov and GM Milko Povchev, both of Bulgaria.
Among others, the Filipino champion defeated GMs Korneev and Povchev and a third one whom he failed to name..
Vuelban, a former stalwart of the Philippine Navy, also praised IMs Martinez and Roland Salvador for their sterling performance in Bratto as well as IM Joseph Sanchez for his string of impressive wins in France.
IM Martinez settled for the fourth prize of 600 euros by garnering 6.5 points.
He was gunning for the first prize as he was leading the field after the penultimate eighth but got stalled in the ninth and final round when, playing Black, he lost to Russian GM Vladimir Burmakin.
Burmakin pocketed the 1,500-euro first prize after edging out his fellow GM Miso Cebalo of Croatia on tiebreak. The two grandmasters had 7.0 each, just half a point ahead of Martinez.
IM Salvador, who has earned two GM norms, finished with 5.5 points along with 16 other players. The Bratto Open had attracted
In his email to the Weekender editor, Martinez said he was just lucky to finish among the top 10 despite the presence of grandmasters.
“Your newsletter, Sir, is a source of inspiration to us players,” Rolly wrote.
Meanwhile, non-masters rated 2000 and below will have another chance to win prizes at the Metropolitan Chess Club’s weekly active chess tournament gets under way 11 a.m. today on the second floor mezzanine of St. Francis Square, behind SM Megamall, in Mandaluyong City.
Next weekend players rated 1600 and below will fight it out in the same venue.
Today’s event, which is open to amateurs regardless of whether they are rated or unrated, will be a six-round Swiss with time control of 25 minutes.
The champion will receive P4,000. Cash prizes in descending order will also go to the three runners-up and special category winners..
Next weekend’s MCC event is open to young players, 16 years old and younger. The two-day competition will have time control of 90 minutes per game.
Last weekend, folk singer Willy San Juan defeated seventh seed Roberto Torres in just 27 moves of a French encounter to emerge overall champion in the August edition of the MCC’s active chess tournament for players rated 1950 and below.
It was San Juan’s first MCC title.
Tied for second to third with 5.0 points apiece were fourth seed Garry Baltar of Las Piñas and 17th seed Nelson Angeles. Balden Corpuz, seeded 10th, grabbed the solo fourth place with 4.5.
Baltar managed to save a losing position against Elbin Ramos and won on the 37th turn of a King’s Pawn opening.
Third prizewinner businessman Angeles upset fifth seed Garry Garcia in 30 moves of a Scandinavian Defense while Corpuz prevailed over youngster Marc Christian Nazario.
The rest of the top 10 winners: 5. Torres, 6. Ramos, 7. Rolando Gangozo, 8.Romel Valdez of Masbate, 9. Renato Taopa and 10. Garcia.
Nazario and Nigel Galan were adjudged the best junior players.
2007 DATO ARTHUR TAN MALAYSIA OPEN
Sadorra sparkler shows way
ALTHOUGH they did not dominate the event, the 10 Filipino players in the Dato Arthur Tan Malaysia Open (DATMO) started with a bang by winning all their games in the opener despite the absence of the country’s five grandmasters.
Led by IM Oliver Dimakiling (2500) in the absence of IM Wesley So (2516), who came down with the flu as they were about to leave for Kuala Lumpur, the Filipino contingent to DATMO had five international masters, four national masters and one woman Fide master, Sherrie Joy Lomibao (2174).
The five IMs were Dimakiling, Julio Catalino Sadorra (2421), Barlo Nadera (2402), Richard Bitoon (2399) and Ronald Bancod (2373).
Hamed Nouri (2426), Rolando Nolte (2396), Emmanuel Senador (2380) and Rhobel Legaspi (2316) were the NMs.
Sadorra’s scintillating win with Black highlighted by a knight-sacrifice that launched a mating combination nine moves deep underscored the Filipinos’ excellent performance in the first round.
His victim was no less than a former Hong Kong champion and Olympiad veteran.
• Chong Chor Yuen (2067) - Julio Catalinco C. Sadorra (2421)
Rd. 1, Sicilian Najdorf (B90)
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e5 7.Nb3 Be6 8.f3 Be7 9.Qd2 0–0 10.0–0–0 Nbd7 11.g4 b5 12.g5 b4! The best defense is offense 13.Ne2 White is the first to blink. 13.gxf6 bxc3 14.Qxc3 Nxf6 would have led to a balanced position Ne8 14.Ng3 a5 15.Kb1 Nc7 16.f4 a4 17.Nc1 exf4 18.Bxf4 b3! Driving a pawn wedge into White’s last line of defense 19.cxb3 axb3 20.a3 d5 If 20...Ne8 21.h4, says Fritz 21.Nf5 Nc5 22.Qc3 Bxf5 23.exf5 Bd6 24.Bxd6 Qxd6 25.Bg2 Na4 25...Rfb8 may be safer 26.Rhe1 Na4, with equal chances 26.Qd2?? Nxb2!
28.Qxb2 Of course not 28.Kxb2 because of 28...Qxa3#! Nxa3+ 29.Kc1 Rfc8+ 30.Nc3 Qf4+ 31.Rd2 Nc4! White resigns because it’s mate in four: 32.g6 Ra1+ 33.Nb1 Nxb2+ 34.Kxb2 Ra2+ 35.Kxb3 Qa4#! 0–1
Nadera, who had the best showing in DATMO, scored the first big win by downing a leading Vietnamese GM—and with Black at that!
• Nguyen Anh Dung (2537) – B. Nadera (2402)
Rd. 3, Queen’s Gambit Declined (D53)
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.e3 c6 6.Nf3 Nbd7 7.Bd3 h6 8.Bh4 b6 Not 8...0–0 9.cxd5 exd5 10.Qc2! 9.0–0 Bb7 10.Qe2 0–0 11.Rac1 c5 12.cxd5 Nxd5 13.Bg3 cxd4 14.Nxd5 Bxd5 15.Nxd4 Nc5 16.Bb1 Rc8 17.f3 If 17.Rcd1 Nd7 Qd7 18.Rfd1 Qa4 19.b3 Qa3 20.Qc2 g6 21.Nb5 Qa5 22.Nc7 Bb7 23.Rd4 If 23.Qe2 Rfd8 Na6 Fritz warns that 23...e5 would lead to a position favorable to White: 24.Be1 Qa3 25.Bb4 Qxc1+ 26.Qxc1 exd4 27.exd4 Rxc7 28.dxc5! 24.Ra4 Qh5!
An amusing position. White’s knight is pinned and the roo khas no target except the knight which is protected by the bishop.
25.Qe2? 25.Qd2 was best to allow White to play on, says Fritz: 25...Rfd8 26.Qe1 Nxc7 27.Rxc7 Rxc7 28.Bxc7 Nxc7! 26.Rxa7? Better but inadequate was 26.Rxc7 Rxc7 27.Bxc7 Nd5 27.Rxc8 Bxc8 28.Bd3 Bc5 29.Bf2 Qe5 If 30.Qe1 Nxe3! 0–1
Off form, Dimakiling finished with 7.0 points to tie for the 10th to 18th places and land the 15th berth on tiebreak. One of his finest efforts was a win with White in the fourth round, after his third-round loss to IM Gary Lane of Australia.
• O. Dimakiling (2500) - A. Nazreen Bakri (2230)
Rd 4, Slav Defense (D10)
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 a6 5.Bd2 b5 6.b3 Bf5 Equalizing 7.Nf3 e6 8.Ne5 Nfd7 9.g4 [Bg6 10.Nxg6 hxg6 11.Bg2 Be7 12.0–0 0–0 12...bxc4 13.bxc4 Nb6 14.c5 should keep the balance 13.f4 f5? 13...bxc4 was best cxd5 If 14...exd5 15.Nxd5! 15.Nxd5!
After 15.Nxd5
15...Ra7 16.Nxe7+ Qxe7 17.Qe1 Rc8 18.Bb4 Qd8 19.d5 a5 20.dxe6 axb4 21.exd7 Qxd7 22.Rd1 Qe7 23.Rf2 Fritz suggests 23.Qg3! Nd7 24.g5 Nb6 25.Rfd2 Qc5 26.Qf2 Re7 27.e4 Qxf2+ 28.Kxf2 fxe4 29.Rd8+ Kf7 30.Rxc8 Nxc8 31.Ke3 Ra7 32.Rd2 Ne7 33.Bxe4 Ke6 34.Kf3 Ra6 35.h4 Ra7 36.Kg4 Ra6 37.Bd3 Ra5 38.Bxg6 Nxg6 39.f5+ Kf7 40.fxg6+ Kxg6 41.h5+ Kf7 42.g6+ Ke7 43.Rf2! The clincher: 43…Ra6 44.Rf7+ Ke6 45.Rxg7 Rxa2 46.Kg5 1–0
Although he ended up 20th in a tie for the 19th to 25th places, veteran NM Senador holds the distinction of winning the shortest game in the Dato Arthur Tan Malaysia Open held last month in Kuala Lumpur.
• E. Senador (2380) – A. Khairul (2316)
Rd 7, Falkbeer Counter Gambit (C32)
1.e4 e5 2.f4 d5 3.exd5 e4 4.d3 Nf6 5.Qe2 Bg4 6.Nf3 Qxd5 7.Nbd2 Bf5?? 8.dxe4 Nxe4 9.Ng5!?
After 9.Ng5!?
Piling it on but 9.c4 was more exact. 1–0
The next fascinating miniature game was won by a Malaysian 13-year-old (White) against his Indonesian rival. It ends in mate executed in a beautiful combination right in the loser’s own backyard.
This is just a “bonus” to readers who like short games.
• Low Jun Jian (2057) – A. Taminsyah (1743)
Rd. 7, Giuoco Piano (C54)
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.b4 Bb6 6.d3 h6 7.b5 Ng4 8.bxc6 Nxf2 9.Qb3 Nxh1 10.Bxf7+ Ke7 11.Nxe5 Kf6 12.Bh5 d5 13.Nf7 Bf2+ 14.Kf1 Qe8 15.Qxd5 Qe6 16.Bg5+!
16….hxg5 17.Qxg5#! 1–0
Now back to games won by Filipinos…
• R. Bancod (2373) – K.J. Hakiki
Rd. 5, Sicilian Rossolimo (B52)
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Bd7 4.Bxd7+ Qxd7 5.0–0 Nc6 6.c3 Nf6 7.d4 e6 7...Nxe4 8.d5 Ne5 9.Nxe5 dxe5 10.Re1 leads to equality 8.d5 Ne5 9.Nxe5 dxe5 10.c4 Nxe4 11.Re1 Nd6 12.dxe6 Qxe6 13.Qa4+ Kd8 14.Na3 Nf5 15.Be3 Bd6 16.Rad1 Ke7 17.Nb5 Rhd8 18.Rxd6!
18…Rxd6 19.Bxc5 The point, pinning the rook Rc8 20.Qa3 Rcc6 21.Rd1 21.Qxa7 Kf6 22.Bxd6 Nxd6 gives White a huge advantage a6 22.Nxd6 Nxd6 23.Qb4 23.Bb4 e4 is playable Qd7 24.g3 Ke6 25.Bxd6 Fritz suggests 25.Bb6!, e.g., 25…Rxc4 26.Rxd6+ Qxd6 27.Qxc4+ Qd5 28.Qg4+ Kf6 Rxd6 26.Rxd6+ Qxd6 27.Qxb7 a5 28.Qb5 Qd2
29.Kg2 Qd3 30.Qc6+ Ke7 31.b3 g5 32.h3 e4 33.Qc5+ Kf6 34.Qxa5 Qf3+ 35.Kg1 Qd1+ 36.Kh2 Qe2 37.Qb6+ Kg7 38.a4 h5 39.Qe3! 1–0
• J.C. Sadorra (2421) - Yeap Eng Cheam (2138)
Rd. 8, Classical King’s Indian (E97)
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 d6 3.d4 g6 4.Nc3 Bg7 5.e4 0–0 6.Be2 e5 7.0–0 Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 9.b4 Ne8 10.c5 h6 11.Nd2 f5 12.Nc4 fxe4 Black has equalized 13.Ba3 Bf5 14.Rc1 g5 15.Bg4 Qd7 16.Bxf5 Qxf5 17.Qe2 Rd8 18.cxd6 cxd6 19.b5 Qd7 20.b6 a6 21.Qd2 Rf4 22.Ne2 Rf6 23.Ng3 Rf4 24.Rfe1 Qg4 25.Ne3 Qd7 26.Nc4 Qg4 27.Na5 Rd7 28.h3 Qh4 29.Qc2 29.Re3 gives Black a chance to restore the balance, e.g., 29…g4 30.Nxe4 Qh5! Nf6 30.Nc4 e3 30...g4 31.Bxd6 e3 32.Nxe3 Rxd6 equalizes 31.Nxe3! Bf8 32.Qd3 Ne8 32...g4 could trigger a series of exchanges: 33.hxg4 Rd4 34.Qc2 Nxg4 35.Nxg4 Rxg4 36.Re4 Rxe4 37.Nxe4’ with White having the edge 33.Re2 Rd4 34.Qb1 Qf4 35.Nef5 Nxf5 36.Nxf5 Better than 36.Qxf5 Qxf5 37.Nxf5 Rxd5! Ra4 Not 36...Rc4 3because of 7.Nxh6+! Bxh6 38.Qg6+ Rg7 39.Qxe8+ Kh7 40.Rec2 Rxc2 41.Rxc2! 37.Re3 Rf7? 37...e4 was better but White would still be way ahead: 38.Ng3 Nf6 38.Rf3 Qd2?? 39.Nxh6+!!
39...Bxh6 40.Qg6+ Rg7 41.Qxe8Kh7 42.Rf8 Fritz cites this mating line: 42…Qxf2+ 43.Kxf2 Rf4+ 44.Rxf4 gxf4 45.Rc8 Rg3 46.Qf7+ Bg7 47.Qh5+ Bh6 48.Bxd6 Rg7 49.Bxe5 Rxg2+ 50.Kxg2 f3+ 51.Kxf3 a5 52.Qf5#! 1–0
YOUTH PREVAILS OVER EXPERIENCE
Karjakin captures NH Tournament
UKRAINIAN Sergey Karjakin, 17, who holds the world record of being the youngest person ever to become a grandmaster—at 12 years and seven months old in 2002—has emerged as the top scorer in the just-ended NH Tournament in Amsterdam.
The Scheveningen match- tournament pitted the Rising Stars, a team of five of the world’s highest-rated junior players, against Experience, a team of five of the world’s strongest veteran GMs. It is a round-robin event in which members of one team get to play all the members of the opposing squad.
With two junior players, Karjakin and Ivan Cheparinov, 20, of Bulgaria as the top scorers, the youth team won over the more experienced but older squad, 26.5-23.5.
Karjakin (2678) had 7.0 points from 10 games and Cheparinov (2657) 6.0.
In a tie for third to fifth places were German Artur Jussupov (2583) and Bosnian Predrag Nikolic (2646), both of Experience, and Dutchman Jan Smeets (2538) of Rising Stars, with 5.5 each.
Russia’s Alexander Khalifman (2632) of Experience was in solo sixth with 5.0, followed by Dutchman Daniel Stellwagen (2631) of Rising Stars in fifth with 4.5, Slovenia’s Alexander Beliavsky (2653) of Experience, 4.0, and Serbia’s Ljubomir Ljubojevic (2550) of Experience and India’s Parimarjan Negi (2529) of Rising Stars, 3.5 each.
Ljubojevic is the oldest participant at 56 and Negi the youngest at 14.
By topping the annual event between the world’s top young stars against top veterans, Karjakin has earned the right to take part in the Amber Blindfold and Rapid tournament to be held in March next year in Monaco on the French Riviera.
• S. Karjakin (2678) – Pr. Nikolic (2646)
Rd.4, Ruy Lopez (C92)
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0–0 9.h3 Re8 9...Na5 10.Bc2 should equalize 10.d4 Bb7 11.a4 Qc8 If 11...Na5 12.Nbd2 12.Ng5 Nd8 13.Bc2 Bf8 14.Nd2 c6 15.b4 Ne6 If 15...Qc7 16.Bb2 16.Nb3 Nd7 17.Na5 Nxg5 18.Bxg5 Qc7 19.Nxb7 Qxb7 20.Bb3 Nb6 21.axb5 axb5 22.Rxa8 Rxa8 23.dxe5 dxe5 24.Qe2 Be7 25.Be3 g6 26.g3 Nd7 27.f4 exf4 28.gxf4 Qc7 29.e5 Nf8 30.Rf1 Ra3 31.Qb2 Ra6 32.f5 32.Bd4 c5 33.bxc5 Bxc5 gives White the edge c5 Fritz suggests 32...Qxe5: 33.Qf2 c5 34.bxc5 gxf5 35.Bd4 Rg6+ 36.Kh1 Qe4+ 37.Qf3. with equal chances 33.Qf2 33.c4 gxf5 34.Rxf5 Rg6+ 35.Kh2 was also playable Qxe5 34.bxc5 gxf5 35.Bd4 Rg6+ 36.Kh1 Qe4+ 37.Qf3 Ne6 38.Qxe4 fxe4 39.c6 Bd6 39...Bd8 40.Be5 should equalize 40.Bb6 Kf8? Weak, says Fritz: 40...Rh6 41.Bxe6 fxe6 41.c7!
Decisive.
41…Bxc7 Not 41...Nxc7 42.Rxf7! 42.Bxc7 Ke7 43.Ba5! 1–0
• A. Jussupow (2583) – S. Karjakin (2678)
Rd. 7, Colle System (D04)
1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.e3 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nbd2 cxd4 6.exd4 Bf5 7.Nh4 Bg4 8.Be2 Bxe2 9.Qxe2 e6 10.Nb3 Qc7 11.g3 0–0–0 12.Bf4 Bd6 13.Bxd6 Qxd6 14.0–0–0 Qc7 15.Nf3 Ne4 16.Kb1 Rhe8 17.Nfd2 Nd6 18.Rhe1 f6 19.Qh5 g6 20.Qf3 Qf7 21.Nf1 g5 22.Ne3 h5 23.Nc5 b6 24.Nd3 Kb7 25.Ka1 a5 26.Rc1 Fritz suggests 26.Qg2 e5!
Wresting the initiative with the idea of swapping queens.
27.dxe5 fxe5 28.Qxf7+ Nxf7 29.Rcd1 g4 30.Nc1 d4 31.cxd4 exd4 32.Nc2 Nfe5 33.Re4 Nf3 34.Rxe8 Rxe8 35.Kb1 Re4 36.Nd3 Nce5 37.Nxe5 Rxe5 38.Kc1 Re4 39.Rd3 Kc6 40.Kd1 b5 41.b3 b4 42.Kc1 Kc5 43.Kd1 Re5 0–1
• I. Cheparinov (2657) – A. Jussupowr (2583)
Rd. 6, Petroff Defense (C42)
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d4 d5 6.Bd3 Nc6 7.0–0 Be7 8.Nc3 Nxc3 9.bxc3 0–0 10.h3 h6 11.Re1 Bd6 12.Ne5 Qh4 13.Qf3 Be6 14.Rb1 Nxe5 14...Bxe5 leads to equality: 15.dxe5 Rab8 16.Bf4 15.dxe5 Bc5 16.Be3 b6 17.Bxc5² bxc5 18.c4 c6 19.Qe3 Qe7 20.c3 dxc4 21.Bc2 Bd5 22.f4 Rab8 23.f5 Qg5 24.Qf2 Rxb1 Restoring the balance 25.Rxb1 Rd8 26.Rd1 Rb8 27.Rd2 g6 28.h4 Qg4 29.Re2.gxf5 30.Bxf5± Qg7 31.Qf4 Re8 32.Bh3 Kh8 33.Re3± Rg8?? 34.Rg3!!
34...Qh7 Of course not 34...Qxg3 because of 35.Q4xh6#! 35.Qf6+ Rg7 36.Bf5! 1–0
PINOY GEMS WITH A HISTORY
Barlo, steady and steadfast
FOR too long, Barlo Nadera has been in the doldrums, until last month when he sparkled at the Malaysia Open. His robust performance came as no surprise, considering that he is one of the most reliable players in the country, an international master who plays solid chess and appears “calm, cool and collected” at the board.
Why can’t Barlo rise above himself?, one may ask, considering his high degree of mastery of the game.
At the risk of being called “racist” in its narrower ethnic context, I’d like to posit a thesis, which is, that most of us who were born and grew up outside Metro Manila have a kind of inferiority complex in relation to those born and bred in the Big City.
This is especially true in chess, an intellectual sport that by its very nature puts on the line a player’s pride, pique and ego and where psychology plays a key role in the outcome of a game.
Such a mind-set is especially true in the case of Cebuano-speaking Pinoys—the largest linguistic and ethnic group in the country. This is the same mind-set that gave birth to the silly shibboleth in its negative context—Imperial Manila!—foisted by panicky politicos in the controversy arising from the “Hello Garci” scandal.
This is a battle-cry with historical as well as geopolitical overtones that underlines the age-old rivalry between Manila and Cebu in light of Magellan’s “discovery” of the archipelago and this country’s past colonial and present-day “democratic” power structure and ethno-socioeconomic relations.
Come to think of it, seldom if ever has a Cebu-born-and-bred master dominated the national chess scene.
Be that as it may, I must say that Nadera has always had the potential to win and wear the national crown, but has been held back by certain factors beyond our ken to comprehend or analyze. On any good day, however, he still has, at 42, the capacity to beat any and all comers.
He showed this—that he is as gritty and as gutsy as the next guy—in the recent Dato Arthur Tan Open in Kuala Lumpur where he had the best performance among the 10 Filipino players. Over the years he has played excellent games and I have selected two of his finest efforts on record.
• B. Nadera – G. Barbero
Rd. 11, 36th Olympiad, Moscow 1994
Classical King’s Indian (E94)
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.Nf3 0–0 5.e4 d6 6.Be2 Na6 7.0–0 e5 8.d5 Nc5 9.Qc2 a5 10.b3 Nh5 11.g3 f5! 12.Ne1 fxe4 13.Be3 13.Bxh5 should be examined more closely, says Fritz: 13...gxh5 14.Be3!, with equality Bh3 14.Bxc5!?
A bold decision, giving up the exchange for greater mobility of pieces.
14…Bxf1 15.Bxf1 dxc5 16.Nxe4 Qe7 17.Nd3 b6 18.Re1 Rae8 19.Bg2 Bh6 20.Nc3 e4 21.Nxe4 Ng7 22.Qc3 Qd8 23.Ne5 Nf5 24.Nc6 Bg7 25.Qc1 Qd7 26.Bh3 h6 27.Bg4 Qf7 28.Kg2 Kh7 29.f4 Kh8 30.h4 Bd4 31.Qd2 Qg7 32.Qd3 h5 33.Bh3 Ba1 34.Qf3 Bd4 34...Nd4 35.Nxd4 Bxd4 36.Be6 should restore the balance 35.Re2 Qf7 36.Kh2 36.Ng5 Rxe2+ 37.Qxe2 Qf6 gets the edge Bg7 Fritz suggests 36...Kg8 as worth a try 37.Ng5 Rxe2+ 38.Qxe2 Qf6? 38...Qe8 was the more precise move 39.Ne5! Nxg3? 40.Qd3 Nf5 41.Ne4 Qd8 42.Nxg6+ Kg8 43.Ng5 Qf6 44.Bxf5 Qb2+ 45.Kh3 Black resigns, but 45.Kg3 might be quicker, e.g., 45...Bd4
Kg7 47.Nxf8 Qf2+ 48.Kh3 Qe3+ 49.Qxe3 1–0
• V. Milov (2626) – B. Nadera (2403)
Rd. 3, 34th Olympiad, Istanbul.2000
Queen’s Gambit Declined, Exchange (D35)
1.d4 e6 2.c4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5 c6 6.e3 Be7 7.Bd3 Nbd7 8.Nge2 Nf8 9.Qc2 Ne6 10.Bh4 g6 11.0–0 0–0 12.Rad1 Re8 13.f3 a6 14.Kh1 Bd7 15.Qb3 b5 16.Bb1 a5 17.Qc2 Ng7 18.e4 dxe4 18...b4 19.Na4 should equalize 19.fxe4 Ng4 20.Bxe7 Qxe7 21.Qd2 Qh4 22.Qf4 Ne6!? Tempting White to launch a premature attack so as to get the enemy queen out of action, but Fritz suggests 22...f5: 23.h3 b4! 23.Qxf7+! Kh8 24.h3 Ng5!? Fritz believes 24...Re7 should be tried, e.g., 25.Qf3 Ng5 26.Qf4, with equality, but Black is trying to bait White into a trap… 25.Qf4 …which, however, White had also seen: 25.Qxd7?? Nxh3! 26.g3 Nhf2+ 27.Kg2 Qh2+ 28.Kf3 Rf8+ 29.Nf4 Rxf4+ 30.Kxf4 Rf8+ 31.Qf5 gxf5 32.exf5 Rg8 33.d5 Qh6+ 34.Kf3 Qe3+ 35.Kg2 Ne5 36.Rxf2 Rxg3+ 37.Kf1 Ng4 38.Rdd2 Nh2+ 39.Rxh2 Rg1#! Rf8!
26.Qxf8+ Virtually forced Rxf8 27.Rxf8+ Kg7 28.Rdf1 Bf5 29.Nf4?? Worsening his position, says Fritz. Better was 29.Rxf5 gxf5 Kxf8 Missing the more decisive 29...Nf2+30.Kg1 Nf3+ 31.gxf3 Nxh3+ 32.Nxh3 Qg3+ 33.Kh1 Bxh3! 30.Kg1 Ne3 31.Rf2 Nf3+ 32.gxf3 Qxf4! White resigns in the face of mate on the horizon: 33.Ne2 Qg5+ 34.Kh2 Qh4 35.Kg1 Bxh3 36.Bd3 Qg5+ 37.Kh2 Bg2 38.Ng3 Qh4+ 39.Kg1 Qxg3 40.Bf1 Bxf1+ 41.Kh1 Bg2+ 42.Kg1 Bxf3+ 43.Rg2 Qxg2#! 0–1
MY FAVORITES
Shirov: flickering fire on board…
ALEXEI SHIROV is one giant of a player that is still on the global center stage but is rather a shade out of the spotlight because of a relatively bad year. However, he remains the favorite of fans who love a lively, exciting and crackling fight.
The title of his bestselling book, Fire on Board, captures the essence of the man as a romantic and towering figure, both in person and on the board where he has figured in many a titanic and fiery struggle for the past two decades.
Shirov who was born in the Latvian capital Riga on July 4, 1972, can be the personification of a modern titan: tall and sturdy as a person and full of passion in both his personal life and career as a player.
It seemed providential that he married an Argentine with a romantic name, Veronica Alvarez, in 1994. They moved on to Spain where they lived in the scenic coastal city of Tarragona and where he owned an apartment and became a Spanish citizen.
That marriage did not last long as his roving eye caught the sight of a Polish girl, Marta Zeilinska. He left Veronica and marched down the aisle with Marta. His eye still kept roving, however, until he married Lithuanian WGM Victoria Cmilyte, and settled down with her back in his Riga home. He still plays for Spain, though.
Because of his fighting style, Shirov has been compared, and rightly so perhaps, to his idol and compatriot, the late Mikhail Tal, a combinative and combative superstar extraordinaire.
Since his world title match with Kasparov fell through for lack of funding in 1998, Shirov’s career has taken a rollercoaster ride.
This year he started quite poorly when he ended up last in January’s highly prestigious Corus Tournament in the Dutch resort of Wijk aan Zee.
• A. Shirov – J. Lapinski
Daugavpils 1990
King’s Gambit Accepted (C37)
1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 g5 4.Bc4 g4 5.0–0 gxf3 6.Qxf3 Qf6 7.e5 Qxe5 8.Bxf7+? Kxf7 9.d4 Qxd4+ 10.Be3 Qf6 11.Bxf4 Ke8 Missing 11...Nc6! 12.Nc3 Nc6 13.Nd5 Qg6 Fritz suggests 13...Bc5+! 14.Rae1+ Be7?? 15.Bd6! Kd8 16.Qf8+!
16...Bxf8 17.Bxc7#! 1–0
• A. Shirov - V Kramnik
Linares 1993
Queen’s Gambit Acepted (D20)
1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.e4 c5 4.d5 Nf6 5.Nc3 b5 5...e5 6.Bxc4 a6 7.Be2 leads to equality 6.Bf4 Qa5 7.Bd2 b4 8.e5 bxc3 9.Bxc3 Qa6 10.exf6 exf6 11.b3 Be7 12.Bxc4 Qd6 13.Ne2 0–0 14.0–0 f5 15.Re1 Nd7 16.Ng3 g6 17.Rxe7 Qxe7 Equalizing 18.d6 Qh4 19.Qd5 Rb8 20.Nxf5?? Condemned by Fritz as a blunder, saying 20.Re1 was best gxf5 21.Re1 Qg4 22.f3 Qg6 23.Re7 Bb7 24.Qd3 Nb6 25.Ba1 Nxc4 26.Qc3 f6 27.Qxc4+ Kh8 28.Kf2 Qh6 Missing his best short, 28...a6! 29.Bc3 Qg6 30.d7 Rbd8 31.Qxc5 Rg8 32.g3 f4 33.g4 Rdf8?? A transit from better to worse, says Fritz 34.Qd4 White’s turn to miss his best move, 34.Qf5! Qh6 35.h3 Ba6?? Best was 35...Qxh3! with a mating threat 36.Kg2 Qh4 37.Qxf4!
If 37…Qg5 38.Qxg5 Rxg5 39.Re8! 1–0
• V. Topalov - A. Shirov
GM Tournament, Linares 1998
Gruenfeld, Exchange (D85)
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 3...Bg7 4.e4 equalizes 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Bb5+ c6 8.Ba4 0–0 9.Ne2 Nd7 10.0–0 e5 11.f3 Qe7 12.Be3 Rd8 13.Qc2 Nb6 14.Bb3 Be6 15.Rad1 Nc4 16.Bc1 b5 17.f4 exd4 18.Nxd4 Bg4 19.Rde1 Qc5 20.Kh1 a5 21.h3 Bd7 22.a4 bxa4 23.Ba2 Be8 24.e5 Nb6 25.f5 Nd5 26.Bd2 Nb4! 27.Qxa4 Nxa2 28.Qxa2 Bxe5 29.fxg6 hxg6 After the smoke of battle has cleared, Black can be seen with a passed pawn 30.Bg5 Rd5 31.Re3 Qd6 31...Bxd4 was sharper 32.Qe2 Bd7 33.c4 Bxd4 34.cxd5 Bxe3 35.Qxe3 Re8 36.Qc3 Qxd5 37.Bh6 Re5 38.Rf3 Qc5 39.Qa1 Bf5 40.Re3 f6!
A fine move that keeps White at bay.
41.Rxe5 Qxe5 42.Qa2+ Qd5 43.Qxd5+ cxd5 44.Bd2 a4 45.Bc3 Kf7 46.h4 Ke6 46...g5 might be quicker 47.Kg1 Bh3?! Dubious. 47...Be4 secures the point 48.gxh3 Kf5 49.Kf2 Ke4 50.Bxf6 d4 51.Be7 Kd3 52.Bc5 Kc4 53.Be7 Kb3! 0–1
GAMES OF GIFTED KIDS
…but never had a burnout as a kid
IN my 30 years as a chess columnist both here and in Hong Kong, I have never come across a story saying that Alexei Shirov had an early burnout as a precocious child.
My impression is that he didn’t try to rush up the ladder too fast but developed at his own pace until he became under-16 world champion in 1988 and world junior (U20) vice champion at 18 in 1990.
Besides these two honors, his other achievement as a teenager was to capture the plum in the 1991 Biel Festival, the one won by 16-year-old Magnus Carlsen of Norway this year.
Alexei was 20 when he became a grandmaster in 1992, quite “old” compared with today’s child prodigies like Sergey Karjakin of Ukraine, who bagged the title at 12 years and seven months in 2002, and Parimarjan Negi of India, who made it at 13 years, four months and 22 days last year.
(Let’s keep our fingers crossed that neither wunderkind, or others of their rare breed, will flame out, like doomed jet fighters silenced beyond the sound barrier, before reaching full adulthood.)
The games he won as a child show that Alexei took big or undue risks even then with either color. One senses in most of his games that winning is not really what he is after, but a chance to use his extraordinary combinative powers as a player.
Even as a child, he was known to bounce back quickly after a loss, a knack he still shows to this day.
This game he won as an 11-year-old kid graphically illustrates his adventurous spirit on the board.
• A. Shirov – V. Zhuravlev
Riga 1983
French Defense (C10)
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Nf3 Ngf6 6.Bd3 Nxe4 7.Bxe4 Nf6 8.Bd3 c5 9.0–0 cxd4 10.Nxd4 Be7 11.Bf4 0–0 12.Re1 Qb6 13.Be5 Bd7 13...Nd7 14.Bxh7+ Kxh7 15.Qh5+ Kg8 16.Bxg7 Kxg7 17.Re3 gives White the edge 4.Re3 Rfd8 15.Rh3 g6 If 15...h6 16.Qe2 16.Qf3± Be8 17.Nb3 Nd7 18.Bd4 Qc7 19.Rxh7 e5 19...Kxh7?? will be a fatal blunder, e.g., 20.Qh5+ Kg8 21.Qh8#! 20.Bxg6 20.Qh3 Bf6 21.Bc3 was more precise Nf6? Missing 20...fxg6!? 21.Rxe7 exd4, with equality 21.Re1 Best was 21.Bf5 Nxh7 22.Bxh7+ Kf8 23.Re1, and White is way ahead Rxd4 22.Nxd4 Nxh7??
The final mistake, enabling White to unleash a direct assault.
23.Bxh7+! Kxh7 24.Qh5+ Kg8 25.Nf5! If 25…Bd7 26.Nxe7+ Kg7 27.Qg5+ Kf8 28.Rxe5! 1–0
• A. Shirov – S. Petrenko
USSR 1984
Sicilian Dragon, Yugoslav Attack (B78)
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3² d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 0–0 8.Qd2 Nc6 9.Bc4 Bd7 10.0–0–0 Rc8 11.Bb3 Ne5 12.Bg5 Nc4 Missing the equalizer, 12...Re8! 13.Bxc4² Rxc4 14.e5 dxe5 15.Nb3 Rc7 16.Nb5 Bf5 Best was 16...Bxb5 17.Nxc7 17.Qxd8? loses to 17...Rxc2+! 18.Kb1 Rd2+ 19.Ka1 Rdxd8! Rxd2 21.Bxd2 Qxc7 18.Kb1 Rc8 19.Ka1 b6 20.c3 a5 21.Nc1 a4 22.a3 Be6 23.Bh6 Bh8 24.h4 Nd5 25.h5 e4 26.hxg6 fxg6² 27.c4 Qxc4µ 28.fxe4 Qc5?? Best was 28...Nc3 29.Qd8+ Kf7 30.Rdf1+ Bf6
31.Qxb6 Ne2! 29.exd5! Qxa3+ 30.Na2 Qb3?? Black crumbles under constant drubbing: 30...Bf5 was safer 31.dxe6 Re8 32.Rh3 Qb5 33.Nc3 Qb3 34.Qd8!
It's all over: 34…Qxd1+ 35.Qxd1 Bg7 36.Bxg7 h5 37.Qd3 Kxg7 38.Rg3 g5 39.Rxg5+ Kh8 40.Qd4+ Kh7 41.Qg7#! 1–0
• I. Jakobson – A. Shirov
Riga 1985
Sicilian Najdorf (B90)
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e5 7.Nb3 Be6 8.Qd2 Be7 9.f4 Ng4 10.f5 Bd7 11.Nd5 Nxe3 12.Qxe3 Bc6 13.Nb6 Bg5 13...Bh4+ 14.g3 Bg5 15.Qg1 equalizes 14.Qf2 Bxe4 15.Nxa8 Nd7 16.Nd2 Bh4 Equalizing 17.g3 Bxh1 18.gxh4 0–0 19.0–0–0 19.f6 may be tried, e.g., 19...Bd5 20.fxg7 Kxg7 21.0–0–0 Qxa8 22.Nf3, with equality Qxa8 20.Bd3 b5 21.f6? 21.Qe3 was best Nxf6 22.Qf5 Bd5 23.Rg1 Qd8 24.a4 Kh8 25.axb5 axb5 26.Bxb5 h6 27.Bd3 Qa5 28.c3 Rb8 29.Qf2 Ne4!!
A sacrifice that ends the game.
30.Qg2 g6 31.Nb1 Nc5 32.Qe2 Black resigns without waiting for Black’s reply 0–1
CHESS MAGIC
Black is OK, indeed!
GAMES that show the power of the human mind over matter are often won by White for the simple reason that he is the first-mover. By the same token, Black has to exert extra effort to overcome his inherent weakness as second-mover in order to create a magical gem.
I have been wondering whether this hypothesis of mine held a grain of truth, and so I started looking for black pearls on the Net when—presto!—I stumbled on two such games without effort.
Both, however, were won by foreign players, prompting me to look for a similar brilliancy won by a Filipino master.
Well, it didn’t take long for me to find one that met the standards of what I think deserves a place in this series.
Before I go any further, however, I’d like to tell the reader that the title was taken from a slogan popularized by Hungarian GM Andras Adorjan, who once mauled me in a simultaneous exhibition he staged in Hong Kong over a decade ago.
I remember that he came to Asia to promote his new book, Black is OK Forever!
• Li Ying P.,(2159) – D. Laylo
Rd. 1, 37th Olympiad, Turin 2006
French Exchange Variation (C01)
1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.d4 4.dxe6 allows Black to equalize: 4…Bxe6 5.Nf3 Nc6! exd5! 5.Nc3 Nc6 If 5...Bb4 6.Bd3! 6.cxd5 Nxd5 7.Bc4 Be6 8.Bb5 Nxc3 9.bxc3 Qd5 10.Bf1 0–0–0 11.Nf3 Qa5 12.Bd2 Re8 Gaining the upper hand 13.Be2 Bc4 14.Ng1 Ba3 15.Kf1 Qa6 16.Bxc4 Qxc4+ 17.Ne2 f5 18.Be3 f4 19.Bxf4 Rhf8 20.Bg3? Re6 Missing 20...Rf7 21.Qd2 Rfe7 22.Re1 Nxd4 23.cxd4, with a huge advantage 21.Qd2 21.d5 was better Rfe8 22.Re1 Nxd4!!
Shattering White’s illusion of safety.
23.cxd4 Not 23.Qxd4 because of 23...Rxe2! Bb4 24.Qc1?? 24.Qb2 was necessary Rxe2! Black resigns in the face of a mate in two: 25.f3 Rxe1+! 26.Kf2 R8e2#! 0–1
• V. Anand – V. Ivanchuk
GM Tournament, Linares 1991
Sicilian Scheveningen (B87)
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bc4 e6 7.0–0 Be7 Black is behind in development, Fritz notes 8.Bb3 0–0 9.f4 b5 10.f5 10.a3 was better b4! Equalizing 11.Na4 e5 12.Ne2 Bb7 13.Ng3 Nbd7 14.Qe1 a5 15.c4 Qc7 16.Qe2 Rfc8 17.Bg5 Nc5! 18.Rac1 h6 19.Be3 Ncd7 20.Bf2 Ra6 21.Rc2 Qb8 22.Re1 Qa8 23.Qd3 Ng4! 24.Nf1 Ndf6 25.Nd2 Nxf2 26.Kxf2 Bc6 27.Rcc1 Qa7+ 28.Ke2 Rd8 28...Ng4! 29.Qf3 Nxh2 was more precise 29.Bd1? d5!!
It's all over, says Fritz in describing this “mind over matter” move..
30.cxd5 Nxd5 31.exd5 Rxd5 32.Qb3 Bg5! 33.Rc2 Bxd2! 0–1
• V. Bologan (2673) – S. Karjakin (2562)
Rd. 1, Pamplona Int’l 2003
Sicilian Najdorf (B90)
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e5 7.Nb3 Be6 8.f3 h5 8...d5 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Nxd5 Bxd5 11.Qd2 9.Qd2 Nbd7 10.a4 Be7 11.Be2 Rc8 12.0–0 0–0 13.Rfd1 Nb6 14.a5 Nc4 15.Bxc4 Rxc4 16.Qd3 Qc8 17.Nd2 Rc6 18.Nf1 Nd7 19.Bf2 Bg5 20.Ne3 h4 21.Ned5 h3 22.g3 Re8 23.Nb4??
Falling for the mirage with an innocuous move that proved to be his undoing: 23.Qf1 was the saving resource.
23...Bc4!! . Sleight of the mind!
24.Nxc6 Bxd3 25.Na7 Qb8 26.Rxd3 Nc5 27.Rdd1 Ne6 28.Nd5 Nd4 29.Rxd4 exd4 30.Bxd4 f5 31.c3 Qd8! The coup de grace: 32.b4 fxe4! 0–1
Chess is an art and so is magic, which relies on illusion created by smoke, mirrors and sleight of hand.
To my mind, magical gems are the highest form of art in this game that we all love.
G.M. BONG VILLAMAYOR’S PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
Historical background traced
Continued from last week
CHESS is a sport, a form of recreation, an art, and a science believed to have originated in Asia. Millions throughout the world regardless of age, sex, class or religion play it. In the Philippines, chess experienced a renaissance of sorts with the happening of two pivotal events in the early seventies which fired up the imagination of Filipinos, young and old alike: the meteoric rise of American Bobby Fischer who broke the long succession of Russian world champions and the historic rise and installation of Eugene Torre as Asia’s first Grandmaster.
The National Chess Federation of the Philippines is affiliated with the world’s highest chess council, the World Chess Federation, popularly known as Fide, taken from its original French name, Federacion Internationale des Echecs, which governs the conduct of major tournaments in the Philippines. Fide is a very powerful body which regulates the conduct of international tournaments including the world championship matches, maintains an up-to-date and elaborate system of player ratings and classification, prescribes rules and confers international titles such as Grandmaster, International Master, Fide Master and International Arbiter. The NCFP, in turn, performs the same functions as these apply to local tournaments and players.
Through the years, the national federation has been beset by funding problems, depending for its survival on the generosity of patrons and sponsors, mostly from the private sector. It was only in recent years—with the sensational feats of Filipinos in international events—that the federation was given “quasi recognition” by the government through the Philippine Sports Commission. Even then, the federation is not a beneficiary of PSC largesse on a regular basis, the reason given being that chess is a non-Olympic event. (Now chess is already included in the SEA Games, therefore very much recognized by PSC and POC).
The incontrovertible fact is, chess is one of the most popular and prestigious sports in the world, our country not excepted, and chess events are avidly followed by millions of sports fans, chess players and non-chess players included. Here, it is worthy to note that the immense popularity of chess does not necessarily equate with large screaming crowds of spectators rooting for their favorites. Unlike other spectator sports like boxing or basketball where the course of a contest is evident in shots and punches, chess is a bit static visually as it is played by players sitting virtually motionless for hours on end, huddled over the board in playing halls where any kind of noise is prohibited. Reading chess or its results is definitely preferable to watching chess as it is actually played, but this does not detract from the fact that the game is hugely popular.
Needless to say, Philippine chess has demonstrated time and time again that it can deliver results in international competitions. Suffice it to say that its potentials are limited only by the amount of hard work and resources that could be mobilized for its continued and sustained growth. With the enlightened vision of the new PSC leadership, and PSC’s holistic and forward- looking approach to sports development, the NCFP may yet get a needed shot in the arm to pursue its goals and advance the cause of Philippine chess.
POTENTIALS AND PROBLEMS
Membership and Affiliation:
There is a minimal available data on the actual number of people who are now actively or regularly engaged in tournament chess. Although the NCFP organizes a number of important tournaments nationwide, many of these are being held beyond the federation’s auspices or sanction. That is not to say that unsanctioned tournaments are “unauthorized” for there is no rule in the NCFP that penalizes the conduct of non-sanctioned events. What this means is that the NCFP does not have adequate resources to extend its reach to the widest possible field. The result is that many of the unsanctioned tournaments and consequently the participating players fall outside the NCFP’s ratings and classification process. At any rate chess tournaments, sanctioned or unsanctioned, are being held at the following levels: barangay, municipal, provincial, regional, national, intercities and municipalities, intramurals, interschools and universities (UAAP, NCAA, other leagues), interclub/association, inter-government agencies (GCAA), etc. As per its records, there are affiliated clubs and individual members registered with the NCFP. The number of registered individual members corresponds with the total number included in the official list of NCFP-rated players.
Institutional Linkages:
The NCFP relies heavily on its linkages with affiliated clubs and private institutions for the execution of its projects. Indeed major tournaments at the national and regional levels are dependent on the generosity and social-conscience of private companies that provide prize money and expenses for organizational costs. Local tournaments are virtually impossible to implement without the help of benefactor-companies. The NCFP also relies on the assistance from some government agencies and LGUs that are able to extend financial help and the use of facilities, but not on intermittent basis. The media principally print and to a lesser extent, TV and radio have been very supportive in terms of generating publicity and information about the tournament proceedings and other developments. Chess is very fortunate to have good contacts in media.
Geographic Coverage:
Chess is played practically in all areas of the country, its popularity eclipsed perhaps only by basketball. More than any other sport played locally, chess enjoys the widest representation geographically and across social strata. It has mass appeal. It is not an “elite” sport like golf or shooting. It draws participants even from far away as Muslim Mindanao. Over the years, the federation endeavored to bring chess to the barangays, to the grassroots teeming with yet undiscovered talents. To date more and more tournaments are being held far from Manila. At no other time in Philippine Chess history have there been more regional tournaments, master circuits events and open-style competitions held in the countryside.
Sectoral Reach:
Men and women play chess, although the former traditionally dominate the sport. This dominance is not expected to wane in the foreseeable future, but interestingly a lot more women are taking part in tournaments. Also, more and more kiddies are participating in chess tournaments. Rich and poor alike are attracted, even addicted to chess. Here it is worth noting that in Philippine tournaments there are fewer well-to-do players than economically marginal ones. But this is perhaps just a function of social stratification wherein the poor vastly outnumber the rich, so that consequently the poor will always be more in numbers in any social activity. Perhaps that is just as well since master titles are awarded to more “poor” players than rich ones. That should be an interesting subject of study.
Probably an important factor on why there are not more numerous participants despite the game’s popularity is that it takes quite a bit of time to complete a game. Standard formats prescribe time limits of two hours each for players to complete 40 moves with additional time controls until the game is concluded. This has led to the increasing popularity of “active chess” (called “rapid chess” in Europe—Ed)” format, which shortens playing time, and the adoption of more Swiss-style competitions, which cut the number of playing days. This in turn reduces the costs involved in conducting tournaments.
Public Acceptability and Profile:
As mentioned, the media play an important part in popularizing the sport. Virtually all tournaments organized by the NCFP in cooperation with various sponsors receive good media play. No NCFP-organized tournament has ever been drawn up without a media component. Meanwhile, chess fans adore National Masters, most especially International Masters and Grandmasters; wherever they go, they are revered as heroes by their fans. Since tournaments began moving away from Manila, these masters have been increasingly getting more visible in the provinces. These roving chess stars are walking advertisements of chess.
Achievements in Local and International Competitions:
The country has produced four Grandmasters (this was as of 2004; there are now five of them), less than two dozen International Masters, FIDE Masters and less than a 100 National Masters. Many of them have either won or performed creditably in tournaments abroad including the Asian Juniors, Asian Cities, Asian Zonals, Interzonals, and various European and American Open Tournaments. Not surprisingly, Filipinos are feared not only in the Asian Circuit but also in the World Chess Olympiad where the country has consistently placed in the upper half of the standings, even placing 7th and 11th overall in two of its best Olympiad results.
CAPABILITIES
Programs:
At the moment the NCFP is focused on organizing various tournaments in cooperation with private and government institutions, including the PSC. These tournaments are held annually and are rated accordingly. In addition, the federation organizes qualifying tournaments and takes charge of sourcing funds for the participation of individuals to teams in international events. In between the tournaments the NCFP should conduct seminars to expand the base of qualified arbiters and tournament directors capable of properly organizing and supervising tournaments. The federation should also prepare and implement a Chess Trainers Program to increase the number of chess experts who can teach specially to young children.
Program Management:
Operating on a shoestring budget, the NCFP has been constrained to limit its objectives to “doables”, i.e., the implementation of activities enumerated above. In this respect and based on the successful implementation of major national and regional tournaments held annually, the NCFP has accomplished the targets that it has set for itself. The work involved in the running of tournaments, keeping track of players ratings, notifying affiliates of developments and myriad other odd and ends exert heavy strain on the NCF’s administrative capacity. It is not surprising, therefore to find the NCFP office records—important in analyzing trends for the purpose of this study—are practically useless if not entirely non-existent in certain aspects. This is one of the areas that the NCFP intends to devote more time on and consider in the Action Plan section of this report. The NCFP gets a lot of suggestions from well meaning sectors, including the players themselves on what kind of projects it can take on for the benefit of chess but most of the plans require time and resources that the NCFP has very little of. The federation leadership, however, is painfully aware of the directions it will have to take in order to address the perceived shortcomings and meet the demands in the medium term.
Funds Utilization:
In terms of priority, NCFP funds are spent for prize money, supervision of tournaments, rentals, and administrative work, in that order. In all candor, the federation admits the fact that a formal reporting system is practically non-existent except in its somewhat primitive form whereby the following pecking order is in place: the Utility man reports to the Executive Director, who then reports to the Secretary General, who reports to the President, who reports to the NCFP Board. By way of check and balance, however, as a strict rule being followed in all financial transactions, the Treasurer’s approval is required in disbursements such as in issuances of checks, payment of salaries and rentals, subject to availability of funds that is often inadequate.
Funds Mobilization:
The NCFP draws heavily on contributions from private and government sources, but time constraints prevent a more thorough and detailed analysis on how funds are allocated. Suffice to say that donors require a breakdown of proposed expenses for tournaments before funds are either disbursed by the donors themselves, or given to the NCFP, whose disposition is based on the proposed budget. The funds go mainly to prize money and tournament supervision. The rest, if any is left, is allocated to expenses in the federation office. Expenditures for travel to foreign tournaments are almost exclusively borne by the PSC, subject to the latter’s prior approval. Private donations are also sources of funding.
Allocation of Work:
The federation staff, assisted by a pool of arbiters and stewards, handle matters related to direct tournament supervision. Arbiters and stewards are hired on “need” basis, i.e., if there are tournaments to be held. The NCFP president’s staff assists in coordinating with donors, preparing letters, issuing press releases and announcements—all this for free. All donations and contributions are sent to the Secretary General who deposits the same in the federation’s name. No withdrawals are allowed without the President and Treasurer’s signature and approval. Volunteers are seldom available and their contribution to the NCFP’s overall output is not that much. Affiliate clubs, specially the more active ones such as those in Cebu, Davao, Iloilo, Bicol, Palawan and Bacolod, contribute the most in terms of organizing events in their respective areas, but these tournaments are mostly localized and seldom open to players from other regions in view of the huge costs in travel and board for visiting players.
IMPLICATIONS
The importance of tournaments in developing our players’ potentials to the full cannot be overemphasized since these tournaments represent the highest form of training in any category. It is quite evident, however, that the NCFP will have to expand its activities beyond holding tournaments if our country is to produce more high-caliber chess players. In recent years it is becoming increasingly clear that our country’s dominance in Asian chess cannot be maintained unless a second renaissance occurs.
Already, countries such as China, Indonesia, India and even Vietnam are mounting a serious challenge to Filipinos in International tournaments. (In Southeast Asia alone, Vietnam is clearly the main threat to Philippine dominance especially in the SEA Games.) Collectively, Filipinos are without question stronger players because of two distinct factors: a good chess environment and decades of chess culture; but other nations are slowly but steadily gaining ground, possibly because of long-term planning and scientific training for their elite and mass-based players. The NCFP believes strongly that the task that lies ahead lies in expanding the base of talented young players through programs that would adequately address the following problems:
a: The severe lack of technical references such as books, periodicals, journals and computer chess programs (such as Chessbase) which are necessary to enrich, update and expand our player’s knowledge. The NCFP or an independent institution should establish a chess library within its Training Center or Chess Academy.
b. The inadequacy of the NCFP’s own administrative and operational capabilities due to the lack of manpower and equipment. The federation needs to be strong and efficient to service the needs of its members and affiliates. A reporting system should be put in place, and networking by provincial and regional coordinators improved.
c. The NCFP’s over-dependence on contributions and donations to finance projects. It should engage in revenue generating activities to complement donated funds. These activities could take the form of book publishing, distribution and marketing of chess sets, clocks, decals, and other paraphernalia, A strict imposition of payment of membership and affiliation dues, rating fees, etc.
d. The lack of regimented, state-assisted physical, psychological training and theoretical preparation for top players, specially those included in the national chess pool. The NCFP with the help of PSC or other institutions should set up a national training center or chess academy, preferably based at the PSC to keep top players and representatives in shape and provide opportunities for growth for promising young players.
e. The lack of skilled trainers or teachers who could teach young people proper chess techniques and strategies. Selected masters should be trained on how to teach chess effectively to young kids and prodigies.
f. The lack of arbiters and tournament directors in many areas who could properly supervise tournaments on an accepted standard. Arbiters and Tournament Directors’ Seminars should be held on a periodic basis to widen the pool of qualified tournament officials.
g. The NCFP’s unclear status arising from the fact that chess is presently a non-Olympic event that prevents it from getting standard PSC support. NCFP should be granted full NSA status. (NCF acquired this status in 2003.)
h. The lack of an efficient player ratings system which is needed to properly conduct tournaments and in order to accurately chart and gauge the chess player’s progress. NCFP must have its own computerized house ratings system updated on a quarterly basis. Also, FIDE rated events should be organized to give everybody a chance to have international ratings (ELO rating).
i. The lack of strong women players in contrasts to the marked improvement in playing strength among women in other parts of the world. More young women players should be trained and given support.
j. The lack of an exchange program that would enable the Philippines to learn from the experiences of other countries in effectively implementing a comprehensive chess development program. Exchange Programs in the future must be considered in the federation’s development plan.
k. The lack of an extensive network of affiliated clubs, starting from the municipal level up to the regional level, which could help NCF achieve its aims. Players should be encouraged to organize chess clubs at the grassroots level to promote the rapid development of chess.
MISSION STATEMENT
To promote the growth and development of chess in support of the government’s sports development program.
OBJECTIVES IN THE SHORT TERM
• To expand the base of young and talented chess players.
• To regain the country’s dominance of Asian Chess and move on to higher levels.
• To strengthen the NCFP’s operational capability to perform it’s assigned tasks.
KEY STRATEGIES
• Implementation of grassroots chess education and training programs focused on the youth in coordination with the PSC, the DILG and DECS.
• Implementation of a rigorous training program for top rated players as well as for promising ones, using the national pool as core.
• Upgrading the NCF’s manpower and equipment to adequately respond to the needs of its stakeholders.
ACTION PLANS
The following action plans must be based on the priorities of coming events in the tournament calendar of FIDE. But first we must classify them according to type.
FIDE EVENTS TO PREPARE FOR:
A. FOR MEN & WOMEN -
• WORLD CHESS OLYMPIAD
• ASIAN ZONALS (Vietnam, June 2003)
• CONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
• SEA GAMES CHAMPIONSHIP (Hanoi, Vietnam)
• ASIAD GAMES
B. FOR BOYS & GIRLS –
• WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
• WORLD YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIPS
• ASIAN JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
• 2003 ASEAN AGE GROUP CHAMPIONSHIPS (Brunei, June 2003)
CLASSIFICATION OF TOURNAMENTS
Tournaments that are organized on a national scale with mass participation or limited/elite participation, also with the objective of selecting the best representatives of the country.
• National Championships (Men & Women)
• National Age-Group Championships (Boys & Girls)
• National Team Championship
• InterCities Team Event
• InterProvince Team Event
• National Seniors Championships (60 and above)
• National Inter-Schools Team Event
NCFP SANCTIONED EVENTS –
Tournaments organized by different groups/institutions under the supervision of the NCFP.
• FIDE Rating Tournaments
• Executives Tournaments
• Inter Commercial Team Events
• UAAP, NCAA, etc.
• Inter Government Team Events
• Inter Bank Team Event
• AFP-PNP Olympics Team Event
CLUB TOURNAMENTS –
Tournaments/ activities organized by local chess clubs in their areas duly affiliated with the NCFP.
• Philippine National Artists Tournament
• Non-Masters Tournaments
• Media Tournaments
All of these Tournaments must have a summary tournament report signed and submitted to the NCFP Tournament Committee by the Chief Arbiter and Tournament Director, for the purposes of rating its participants and updating its membership status.
This in turn will help NCFP generate revenues through registration fees, rating fees, and affiliation fees through proper identification of its members.
=================================
Editor’s footnote:
GM Buenaventura “Bong” Villamayor submitted this paper to the NCFP in 2002 but it has been gathering dust since then. The Weekender is delighted to publish this in full to give readers insights on what has been happening within the game’s official governing body. That is, whether or not it has earnestly and honestly pursued a well-conceived development program for Philippine chess to stay ahead of its rivals, at least in Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
Readers are urged to contributed their ideas on how to improve this well-prepared program that by and large has remained unimplemented..
BOBBY ANG’S BUSINESSWORLD COLUMN, CHESS PIECE (1)
Chess Secrets
LAST week's discussion with our readers of a lesson I received from reading Bent Larsen's tips on how to open a chess game ("if you are not afraid of unclear pawn sacrifices then you have no opening problems") motivated some readers to request me to write about some more of these GM lessons.
I, of course, am more than happy to accommodate them.
GM Adrian Mikhalchishin recently produced a Training CD on the Chess Secrets of the Champion. This is one CD everyone must get, for the author really does explain some concepts which I have never heard of before, but on hindsight appear to be effective.
Former world champion Mihail Botvinnik had the famous “flank against centre” strategy, which is reputedly one of the cornerstones of positional play. He liked to attack the center by means of flank thrusts like ...g4.
Did you know that Mihail Tal liked to play for a win by changing the material balance, usually by giving up two pieces for a rook? The position which arises is still equal, but due to the inequality of material composition both sides have to play differently to maximize the potential of their pieces, and it is in this difficult phase that Tal reigns supreme.
Tigran Petrosian is well-known for his exchange sacrifices, but have you ever heard of his white squares strategy? This is usually resorted to as White against the King's Indian Defence. The 9th world champion likes to play on the white squares, exploiting the weaknesses of his opponents and the strength of his own pieces on the white squares.
And now we come to our main point of discussion for today. Have you ever heard of the Makogonov rule? No? Who the heck is Makogonov anyway!?
Well, I am sure you have encountered his name. In opening theory there is a Makogonov Variation in the King's Indian Defence (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.h3) and in the Grünfeld Defence (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.e3 0-0 6.b4). His most significant contribution in the field of openings is to help develop a certain system of the Queen's Gambit Declined which is now called the Tartakower-Makogonov-Bondarevsky (or TMB) System.
Vladimir Andreevich Makogonov (August 27, 1904 - January 2, 1993) was a chess player from Azerbaijan who lived in Baku for most of his life. He became an International Master in 1950 and was awarded an honorary Grandmaster title in 1987.
Makogonov is virtually unknown outside of the Soviet Union, but is highly respected in his country as a player and coach. He was one of the world's strongest players in the 1940s, but he is to make his greatest contributions to the cause of Soviet Chess as a coach. He helped Vasily Smyslov prepare for his 1957 World Chess Championship match against Mikhail Botvinnik. He also trained Vladimir Bagirov and Genrikh Chepukaitis, the famous blitz player. To show how highly regarded Makogonov is, in the 1970s the Patriarch Mikhail Botvinnik contacted him and requested that he coach a certain player in his chess school who is fantastically brilliant, has a photographic memory, but deficient in positional chess. The name of this pupil is Garry Kasparov.
Anyway, Makogonov taught a special rule, which is the "Theory of the Worst Piece": In a position where there are no direct threats on both sides, it is necessary to spot the worst piece and try to improve or exchange it.
Korchnoi,Viktor (2673) - Spassky,Boris V (2549) [D85]
St Petersburg m (2), 27.03.1999
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Bd2 Bg7 6.e4 Nb6 7.Be3 0–0 8.Be2 f5 9.exf5 Bxf5 10.Qb3+ Kh8 11.Nf3 Nc6
In an earlier game Black did not properly safeguard e5 and continued 11...a5!? to which White replied 12.Ne5! a4 13.Nf7+ Rxf7 14.Qxf7 Nc6 15.a3! and Black's position is dangerous. Take note that he cannot capture the d4-pawn: 15...Nxd4 16.Bxd4!? Bxd4 (16...Qxd4 17.Qxe7) 17.Rd1 e5 18.Nb5 c6 19.Nxd4 exd4 20.0–0 Black has to give up the advanced pawn. 20...d3?? is pushing it a bit too far. It is refuted by 21.Bxd3 Bxd3 22.Rfe1 the threat of Re7 wins.
12.d5
Spassky's opening experiment has not proved very successful. White's control of the center gives him the better game.
12...Ne5 13.Rd1 Qc8 14.0–0 c6 15.Nd4 c5 16.Nxf5 gxf5 17.f4 Nf7 18.Rfe1 Nd6 19.Bf3 Nbc4 20.Bf2 Bf6 21.Qc2 Rb8 22.b3 Nb6
This is the position which GM Mikhalchishin used to illustrate the theory of the worst piece. There are currently no direct threats and White must form a plan of attack. His worst piece is the f3-bishop, which is better located on e6, but there is no way for it to get there.
After determining that the position of his bishop cannot be improved, White now realized that the next worst piece is his knight. Why not transfer it to h5 where it can threaten the bishop and perhaps allow his rook to the 7th rank via e7.
23.Ne2!
Incidentally an attack is discovered against Black's c5-pawn. Rather than defend it passively Spassky advances to c4 and forces exchanges.
23...c4
Mikhalchishin points out an important possibility here after Black's last move - aside from Ne2-g3-h5, it can also go Ne2-d4-e6. Which one is the better square for the knight? Should it go to h5 or e6?
The eminent GM first tackles bringing it to e6: 24.Nd4 cxb3 25.Qxb3 Qc4 26.Ne6 Rfc8. White has succeeded in putting his knight on the powerful e6 square. But what has he actually gained? It looks great but does not attack or threaten anything!
The conclusion was that White should stick to his original plan - better to bring the knight to h5.
24.Ng3 cxb3 25.Qxb3 Qc4 26.Nh5 Qxb3 27.axb3
The bishop is the only defense of the e7-pawn, so Spassky has to find a way to cover it a second time.
27...Nbc8 28.Nxf6 exf6 29.Re6
Threat is Bxa7
29...b6
The theory of the worst piece can be applied a second time - now it is the d1–rook which is not doing anything. Better to bring it to the 7th rank.
30.Rc1 Rb7 31.Rc6 Rd7 32.Bd4 Kg7
Everything is defended. Now we apply Makogonov's theory for the last time - what is white's worst piece? Well, the answer is the King. He should bring it into action.
33.g3 Kg6 34.Kg2
Korchnoi's intention is to bring his king to h5. That way, he can easily win the f5 pawn.
34...h5 35.Kh3
But now Black realizes that the h5-pawn cannot be saved, so he gives it up for swindling chances.
35...h4 36.gxh4
[36.Kxh4?? Rh8+]
36...Ne4 37.Bxe4 fxe4 38.Bxf6 Kh7 1-0
The triumph of the "Theory of the Worst Piece".
Reader comments and/or suggestions are urgently solicited. Email address is bangcpa@gmail.com.
This column was first published in BusinessWorld on Monday, September 3, 2007.
BOBBY ANG’S BUSINESSWORLD COLUMN, CHESS PIECE (2)
Bancod wins in Tagaytay
IM Ronald ("Onat") Bancod won the selection tournament organized to form our four-man team to Macau for the Asian Indoor Games in late October this year.
SELECTION TOURNAMENT (Men)
30 Jul - 03 Aug 2007
1 IM Ronald Bancod 2373, 8.0/11
2 IM Wesley So 2516, 7.5/11
3 NM Rolando Nolte 2396, 7.0/11
4-7 IM Barlo Nadera 2402, FM Roderick Nava 2329, IM Jayson Gonzales 2461, NM Arlan Cabe 2299, 6.0.11
8 IM Richard Bitoon 2399, 5.0/11
9-10 NM Emmanuel Senador 2380, NM Alex Milagrosa 2232, 4.0/11
11 FM Mirabeau Maga 2368, 3.5/11
12 FM Fernie Donguines 2380, 3.0/11
The above players all passed through a nine-round qualifier staged in the Marketplace in Mandaluyong City, topped by IM Richard Bitoon on tiebreak over Alex Milagrosa.
It was a bit strange to see that this tournament, which was supposed to showcase the best of Filipino chess, did not have a single Grandmaster. Bong Villamayor and Nelson Mariano are both doing coaching chores in Singapore while Joey Antonio and Mark Paragua are campaigning in the United States. GM Eugene Torre, as you all know, is busy writing his autobiographical book "Eugene Torre, 40 Years of Philippine Chess".
By the way, recently someone asked me what the significance of 40 years is to GM Eugene's career. Well, he started his chess career in the 1967 Meralco tournament, forty years ago, get it?
Back to the tournament. Ronald Bancod started the tournament with three short 10-move draws and then defeated Wesley in a pivotal match.
Bancod,Ronald (2373) - So,Wesley (2516) [A47]
Selection Tournament (Men) Tagaytay City (4), 31.07.2007
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.Bf4 c5 4.c3 b6 5.Nbd2 Bb7 6.e3 Be7 7.h3 0–0 8.Bd3 cxd4 9.exd4 d6 10.0–0 Nbd7 11.Re1 Re8 12.a4 a6 13.Bh2 Nf8 14.a5 b5 15.b3 Bxf3 16.Qxf3 d5 17.b4 Bd6 18.Nb3 Bxh2+ 19.Kxh2 N8d7 20.Nc5 Nxc5 21.bxc5 Nd7 22.Qg3 Qb8 23.f4 f5 24.Qe3 Nf6 25.Qe5 Kf7 26.Re2 h5 27.g3 g6 28.Kg2 Qxe5 29.Rxe5 Re7 30.Kf3 Rh8 31.Re2 Rg8 32.Rae1 Ree8 33.Re3
So far so boring, right? 33...Ne4 would keep the status quo, but who wants a draw? Definitely not Wesley.
33...g5 34.fxg5 Rxg5 35.Kf4 Rg6?
Mistake. 35...Rg7 or 35...Rgg8 is equal.
36.Rxe6! Rxe6 37.Rxe6 Kxe6 38.Bxf5+ Kf7 39.Bxg6+ Kxg6 40.c6
Oops…
40...Ne8 41.Ke5 Kf7 42.Kxd5 Ke7 43.Kc5 Kd8 44.Kb6 Nd6 45.g4 hxg4 46.hxg4 1–0
This was a signal to change gear and Onat stretched his win streak to five by beating in succession Jayson Gonzales, Alex Milagrosa, Roderick Nava, and Arlan Cabe. Three rounds before the end he already had a sizeable lead over his closing pursuers, and three ultra-short draws in the final rounds was sufficient to clinch first place.
Wesley recovered from his 4th round loss to Bancod and finished second. Do you know that Wesley So is only 13 years old but is the highest rated player in the event? Is that the first time anything like that had ever happened?
In contrast to the rest of the participants who noticeably tired after competing in the qualifier in Marketplace and immediately proceeding to Tagaytay for the Selection Tournament, IM Wesley So lost none of his energy and combativeness. He played the two best games in the tournament. Here is one of them.
So,Wesley (2516) - Donguines,Fernie (2380) [B15]
Selection Tournament (Men) Tagaytay City (3), 01.08.2007
1.e4 g6 2.d4 c6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.f4 d5 5.e5 h5 6.Nf3 Bg4
A popular maneuver in Black formations such as this is to fortify the strongpoint on f5 by 6...Nh6 7.Bd3 Bf5. Here in the Philippines we have this player Ed Veloso who relies on this formation with Black. It is a tough nut to crack.
7.h3 Bxf3 8.Qxf3 e6 9.Be3
White has to be careful with move orders here. No less than Bobby Fischer made a mistake here in his game with Petrosian in the 1970 USSR vs Rest-of-the-World match. He played 9.g3 with the intention of continuing Be3 and 0–0–0, but after 9...Qb6! it was not so easy to castle queenside anymore. After 10.Qf2 Ne7 11.Bd3 Nd7 12.Ne2 0–0–0 13.c3 f6! Black has already more than equalized. Fischer,R-Petrosian,T/ Belgrade 1970 1/2 (32).
9...Nd7 10.Bd3 h4 11.0–0 Ne7 12.Ne2 Bf8 13.b3 Nf5 14.Bf2 Qa5 15.a3 b5
White's goal in this opening is to open the position up favorably to fully utilize his two bishops, while Black wants to keep things closed. This move is almost obligatory when Black plays ...b7-b5, otherwise the position would be closed beyond redemption.
16.c4 Rb8?!
Black's position is a bit awkward. Fernie decides to remove his rook from the long diagonal first (where it is being watched by the white queen) before initiating exchanges. Take a look at how quickly Seret's position deteriorates: 16...bxc4 17.bxc4 Rb8 (17...dxc4? 18.Qxc6 the reason why Fernie moved his rook to b8) 18.Rfb1 Rxb1+ 19.Rxb1 Nb6 20.cxd5 cxd5 21.Bb5+ Kd8 the Black King's position is insecure. Sokolov,A (2505)-Seret,J (2410)/ Thessaloniki olym 1984 1–0 (30).
17.cxb5 cxb5 18.a4! bxa4 19.Rxa4 Qb6 20.Rfa1 Rb7 21.Nc3 Qc6?
Black's position is quite bad, but this move allows Wesley to mount a full-scale assault.
22.Rc4!! Qb6
[22...dxc4?? 23.Qxc6]
23.Rc8+ Ke7 24.Qxd5!! Bg7
[24...exd5 25.Nxd5+ Ke6 26.Bc4! wins]
25.Rxh8 Bxh8 26.Bxf5 gxf5 27.Qf3 Ke8 28.d5
It is now only a matter of time.
28...Qb4 29.dxe6 Nxe5
[29...fxe6 30.Qh5+ Kd8 31.Qxh8+ Qf8 32.Qxh4+ wins]
30.fxe5 Bxe5 31.Qc6+ 1–0
There is another game which is even more impressive, but we have run out of space. I will present it in a future column.
One or two years ago I wrote about the Philippine "dream team" which we sent to the 1974 Nice Olympiad: Eugene Torre, Rudy Tan Cardoso, Renato Naranja, Rosendo Balinas, Glenn Bordonada and Ramon Lontoc, Jr. In the next issue we proposed tongue-in-cheek a "nightmare team" - GM Joey Antonio, IMs Ronald Bancod, Chito Garma, Luiz Chiong, NM Ed Ortiz and the late Ben Flores. If we send this group to represent our country in team competition, by the time the event is over everything would be in disarray, blood would have been shed, and the Philippines banned from future participation for a long, long time.
I just realized now that Ronald Bancod will be board 1 for the Philippines in the de-facto Asian team championship for 2007. And I saw the headline in Manny Benitez' "Weekender" newsletter screaming that "RP hopes pinned on Bancod".
Heaven help us.
Reader comments and/or suggestions are urgently solicited. Email address is bangcpa@gmail.com.
This column was first published in BusinessWorld on Friday, September 7, 2007.
FROM MY SWIVEL CHAIR
Estimo throws down gauntlet
THE Weekender has received a letter from NCFP executive director Samuel Estimo virtually throwing down the gauntlet at the federation itself in a strange case of a key official denouncing his own organization.
We are publishing the letter in full to help clear the air within the chess governing body, and will give the same privilege to any other individual or entity that feels alluded to, in the hope that it will help achieve our goal of helping effect reconciliation and unity within the NCFP hierarchy and ranks for the game’s sake.
“Dear Sir:
“The National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) is a queer sports association with identity problems. Its official address in its Articles of Incorporation has been abandoned without any board resolution effecting the same. Except when it banned some prominent players, the NCFP board of directors has not met with a quorum since it was treacherously organized in March, 2006.
“The NCFP is now facing a suit because of the questionable banning of the players. One director was also sued for libel over the same issue.
“During his time, FIDE Honorary Chair Florencio Campomanes always consulted the old PCF board on important policy matters. It was the lawful thing for him to do despite the presence then of ‘rebel’ directors in the PCF.
“It is different today. Only 2 or 3 directors consult each other and decide the fate of Philippine Chess, never mind the suggestions of the majority members of the board.
“The NCFP is the only organization in the world whose executive director is the last to know about the program of activities of his own federation. It is actually being managed by a busybody director who has no mandate from the board, but is cleverly taking advantage of the understandable ‘silence’ of its generous president. This director takes his orders from Russia and from Tagaytay City. He has also
headed all delegations to international chess competitions using funds of the federation and from financial assistance given by the Philippine Sports Commission.
“Local grandmasters are complaining about their unequal treatment vis-à-vis their foreign counterparts competing in our shores. Local arbiters are also ruing the employment of foreign arbiters in our own tournaments when there are enough of them who are equally, if not, more qualified. Local players lament the disappearance of national events with rich prizes just to accommodate international tournaments, all of which were won by foreign GMs. And FIDE ratings of local players appear or disappear depending on how their images project on the radar screen of a Russia-based NCFP director.
“The NCFP today is a rudderless sports boat!
“Very truly,
“ATTY. SAMUEL D. ESTIMO
“NCFP Executive Director”
Unfortunately, Estimo did not make any comment in his letter on the issue of how the National Master title is awarded..
Neither did anybody from the NCFP volunteer any information being sought by this newsletter on the basis of petitions from Jose “Dodong” Romero Jr. and Hugo Villanueva, former local players who now live in the US.
Chess quotes
“Chess is a beautiful mistress.” -Bent Larsen
“You have to have the fighting spirit. You have to force moves and take chances.”
—Bobby Fischer
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The Weekender
Quezon Memorial Circle
Quezon City
Manuel O. Benitez
Editor & Publisher
Alfredo V. Chay
Circulation Manager
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And that's all for now!
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