General Santos City is a good two and a half hours travel from where I lived
in Toril, Davao City. I and my 2 daughters Caissa Jane and Florence Faith
thus decided to spent part of the holidays by visiting General Santos City and
playing in the 1st Manny Pacquiao Cup Active Chess Tournament scheduled
on Dec.21-23, 2014 at the Robinson's Mall, General Santos City. This was my
1st out of town tourney after passing the bar and it was long time ago. I was
enticed to join as there was a Class B category (1900 and below) with a
champion's prize of P 30,000.00 which I thought I had a chance to win. We left
Toril on Dec. 21, 2014 at around 6:30 A.M and arrived in GenSan at around
9 A.M. We took our brekfast in one of the Jollibee outlet in GenSan. With us
was Cerilo " Bata " Enobio, current president of Metro Toril Chess Association
(MTCA) who hitched a ride as he was also playing in the Class B category
(1900 and below).
( Me in the thick of the fight in 1900 and below category ).
After breakfast we proceeded directly to Robinson's Mall where we were
told that the opening and start of the games will be at 2:00 P.M. We paid
the registration fee of P 500/player and checked-in at Family Country Homes
Hotel to have a short rest. At around 2:00 P.M we return to Robinson's just
in time for the opening ceremonies and start of the game. One of our wishes
was to have a selfie with Manny Pacquiao but he was not present during the
opening.
during the opening ceremony )
Two games were played on the 1st day and I had mixed results. I had an
escape win in my first game but committed an illegal move in a won position
in round 2 when I pushed my pawn to the e1 square without replacing it
with a queen.
(My 2nd round game vs. Daniel Salazar where I committed an illegal move
and lost the game ).
Had a good second day scoring 4 points in 5 rounds. My wife also joined us
and we had a sumptuous lunch at Fiesta Grill and KTV Bar whose tuna kinilaw
was one of the best I ever tasted. Just to remind you, GenSan is the tuna capital
of the Philippines.
( One of the best tuna kinilaw that I ever tasted)
On the 3rd and final day, I won a nice attacking game in the 8th round
but lost my final game which would have ensured me a tie for 3rd place
and a share of the prize money. I ended up scoring 6 points in 9 games
just good enough to tie for 16th-20th place out of 109 players.
(My 2 daughters Florence Faith and Caissa Jane also played in the Class
B category and was paired against each other in the 9th and final round.
Florence Faith scored 3.5 points while her older sister CJ scored 2.0 points).
but lost my final game which would have ensured me a tie for 3rd place
and a share of the prize money. I ended up scoring 6 points in 9 games
just good enough to tie for 16th-20th place out of 109 players.
B category and was paired against each other in the 9th and final round.
Florence Faith scored 3.5 points while her older sister CJ scored 2.0 points).
the 9 rounds tourney. He was awarded the Manny Pacquiao Cup plus the
cash prize of P 100,000.00.
My only consolation was that I had a nice attacking game in round 8 which
left my opponent scratching his head after the heat of battle ended and
earned me a number of high fives and handshakes from players and
spectators. You be the judge...
I refer to this game as the " Caveman Smothered Mate ".
[Event "1ST MANNY PACQUIAO CUP ACTIVE CHESS TOURNEY"]
[Site "Robinson's Mall, General Santos City"]
[Date "2014.12.22"]
[Round "8th"]
[White "Talib Tiboron"]
[Black "Atty. Jong Guevarra Jr."]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteELO "1835"]
[BlackELO "1882"]
English Opening
(Reversed Grand Prix Attack)
1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 f5 4. Bg2 Nf6 5. d3 Bc5 6. e3 d6
7. Nge2 O-O 8. a3 a6 9. O-O Qe8 10. Rb1?!
Too slow. The immediate 10. d4 or 10.Nd5 is better.
10... f4!
It's now or never. Black sacrifices a pawn in exchange for an
attack against white's castled king.
11. d4 Ba7
Black's bishop at a7 would later play a crucial role in a mating attack
against white's king.
12. dxe5 dxe5 13. exf4 Qh5!
Black is now threatening 14... Bh3 followed by Ng4. GM Gawain Jones,
in his book Starting Up: The Grand Prix Attack refers to this attacking
pattern as the Caveman Attack.
14. fxe5 Ng4!
Threatening mate with 15... Qxh2 and the capture of the f2 pawn.
15. h4 Nxf2 16. Qd5+ Kh8 17. Nf4!
It seems that White has weathered the attack as black's queen is
forced to retreat. However, more precise is 17. c5! locking out
black's bishop at a7..
Ng4+ 18. Kh1 Qe8 19. e6 Nd4 20. Bh3 c6?
The immediate 20.. Bxe6 would give black the advantage. However,
the position is still messy and anything can happen.
21. Qg5?
It's now the turn of white to err. 21. Qg2 would have retain the
advantage but white is also on an attack mode and would not want
to retreat his queen.
21...Nxe6!
Indirectly defending his knight at g4. 22. Qxg4 would be a blunder
because of 22... Nxf4! . Black now has the advantage.
22. Nxe6 Rxf1+ 23. Bxf1 Bxe6 24. Qf4 Qe7 25. Bd2 Rf8
All of black's pieces are now directed against white's weakened
kingside.
26. Qg5 Qd6 27.Bf4 Qd4 28. Bg2 Nf2+ 29. Kh2 h6 30. Qe7 Rxf4!
The succeeding moves are worthy of a chess puzzle..
31. Qxe6 Rxh4+
Sacrificing the rook to open up the diagonal for black's bishop.
32. gxh4 Bb8+
Finally, the black bishop joins the fray and delivers a venomous check.
33.Kg1 Nh3+ 34. Kh1 Qg1+
After the rook, it is now the turn of black's queen to be sacrificed.
35. Rxg1 Nf2#
In the final position, black has only a bishop and knight but their
team up was enough to deliver checkmate. Such is the beauty of
chess!
At this point, my opponent called the arbiter as both of our flags fell
down. When the arbiter came, I told him, " Mate prevails ", which was
seconded by the other players who watched the game. I was awarded
the full point. Sha Mat. The king is dead. Long live the king!
0-1
nice game sir
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