CAISSA'S FATHER

MY MANILA CHESS JOURNEY LAST PART- THE 2012 METROLIROT CUP

2012-01-28T17:50:00.001-08:00

( The championship match- coach vic vs. metrolirot )

This is the last part of my Manila Chess journey. To read part IV just click
http://metrolirot.blogspot.com/2012/01/my-manila-chess-journey-part-iv-2012.html

( semi-finals match- sheriff vs. coach vic )

In the other semi-final match, coach Vic made short work of sheriff 2-0 thus the finals cast of the 2012 Metrolirot Cup is completed. Me and coach Vic would be playing a 2 games match at 20 mins/game. Coach Vic is Vicente Vargas III from Cabuyao, a chess coach of Letran Calamba (college) and Caritas Don Bosco School (HS/Elem). He has an NCFP rating of 1874 as compared to my 1835 which I got from joining an NCFP sanctioned tourney 12 years ago. Obviously, Vic Vargas is the favorite in the finals.

Complete semi-finals result:

Semis:
Ricky - metrolirot 1-2
Sheriff - Vic 0-2

We decided to rest for a while and eat supper before the final showdown. After eating we discussed the subject common to our heart, chess and more chess plus a little bit of politics. As it started to get dark, I suggested that we start playing our final match.

( Talking about chess and more chess. From left clockwise: alland, wordfunph, metrolirot, kardopov, shadowleaf, and spawn2. Not in photo were pulsar and pinoymaster77- Not their real names but usernames in chessgames.com)

( The finals match )

In the 1st game I played white and coach Vic used the Sicilian Defense. I countered his Sicilian with the Grand Prix Attack. Prior to the metrolirot cup, I played at the Toril Absolute championships which was a 9 round swiss system and among my preparations there was the grand prix attack. Unfortunately, I was not able to make use of the line in the toril championships but it came handy during the metrolirot cup. Coach Vic was obviously not familiar with the line thus I had an easy win in game 1. I annotated game 1 at the end of this feature.

( Me receiving the champion's prize from Allan Dinglasan )

In game 2, Coach Vic used the h3 line against my KID and after I replied with ...c5 the game transposed into the Modern Benoni defense. I tried to wrest the initiative in the queenside by sacrificing my b pawn thus the game once again transposed into the Benko Gambit line. Coach Vic was able to play a timely Bh6 and after the exchange of dark squared bishops, my game slowly collapsed.

( Coach Vic receiving the runner-up prize from alan dinglasan)

A 3rd and final game is in order and after a choice of colors, Coach Vic played white. This time around I used the Dutch Defense Leningrad variation which is akin to the KID. THe game was nip and tuck and during our mutual time trouble, I was able to concoct a mating attack which coach Vic was not able to parry. I won game 3 and thus was declared the 2012 Metrolirot Cup champion. Thus ended my Manila Chess journey. Special thanks to atty. Nanobrain, Atty. Roy Hirang, epistle, pulsar sheriff, spawn2, kardopov, shadowleaf, ricky, coach vic, pinoymaster77, wordfunph and venue host allan dinglasan for making my journey fruitful and memorable. Hanggang sa uulitin!

( Chief organizers of the 2012 Metrolirot Cup- Allan Dinglasan and wordfunph )

[Event "2012 Metrolirot Cup"]
[Site "Biñan, Laguna"]
[Date "2012.1.22"]
[Round "1"]
[White "metrolirot"]
[Black "coach vic"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteELO "1835"]
[BlackELO "1874"]

Sicilian Defense - Grand Prix Attack

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 a6 3. a4 Nc6 4. f4 d6 5. Nf3 g6 6. Bc4 Bg7

7. O-O e6 8. f5!

The start of the grand prix attack. Coach Vic blurted, " Too agressive."
and played 8...exf5. I think he was not familiar with the line.

8...exf5 9. d3!

At present, many Sicilian players sidestep this line because for just
a pawn white is able to establish a dangerous initiative in the kingside.

9...h6 10. Qe1 Nd4 11. Nxd4 Bxd4+ 12. Kh1 Ne7 13. exf5 Bxf5
14. Qh4 Nc6?

14...d5! 15. Ba2 g5 16. Qg3 Be6 with slight advantage for black
according to Houdini.

15. Qg3 Ne5 16. Bd5 Qd7 17. Ne4 Bxe4 18. dxe4 c4 19. c3 Bb6 20. Bf4!

With simple developing moves, white has now established an
overwhelming advantage. Black has no way of defending his d6
and f7 pawns.

20... Nd3 21. Bxd6 Nf2+ 22. Rxf2 Bxf2 23. Qe5+!

Not 23. Qxf2 because of 23...Qxd6

23...Kd8 24. Qxh8+ Qe8 25. Qf6+

Final position

Black resigns. 1-0
Replay the game below.

MY MANILA CHESS JOURNEY PART IV- THE 2012 METROLIROT CUP

2012-01-27T12:31:00.000-08:00

This is a continuation of my Manila Chess journey. To read part III just click http://metrolirot.blogspot.com/2012/01/my-manila-chess-journey-part-iii-round.html

At around 2:00 p.m of January 22, 2012, I rendezvous with spawn 2
and his group at SM Bicutan and together we proceeded to the house
of Allan Dinglasan at Biñan, Laguna where the 2012 Metrolirot Cup
will be held. The tourney has became a tradition among BW/GETS
members who are based outside Metro Manila or abroad who want to
sponsor a tourney in order to touch based with fellow members based
in Metro Manila. The event is more like a get together complete with
foods and drinks rather than a serious tourney whereby Metro Manila
based players welcome their visiting member. The 1st to be organized
was the Bubuli Cup middle of last year for member bubuli who
vacationed from the US. Next was the NF3em Cup held last November
in honor of then Japan based member Nf3em.

(Participants of the 2012 metrolirot cup, front row from left: spawn2,
jasper, metrolirot,sheriff, and allan dinglasan. second row/at the
back:coach vic, ricky, richee,shadowleaf, kardopov, pulsar and
pinoymaster77. Not in photo was wordfunph who was the photographer.)

A warm welcome greeted me upon arrival in the residence of Allan
Dinglasan. I was surprised to see a huge tarpaulin bearing my
picture and the tourney prominently tied at the gate of Allan's
house.

(Stallwarts of BW/GETS: pinoymaster 77 and wordfunph )

After exchanging pleasantries and picture taking, we decided to
eat merienda before plunging into action. Wordfunph decided for the
drawing of lots to determine the seeding and pairing. Eight players
were entered into the main draw which was a best of 2 games knock-
out sytem at 20 mins/game. I had a tough luck as I was paired vs.
defending champ pulsar right in the 1st round.

( metrolirot vs. pulsar in 1st round action )

In the 1st game, pulsar again essayed the French defense. In the
3rd game of our match, I beat him using a sideline in the Advance
variation. Sensing that he has something in his sleeves, I dare
not to repeat our game and instead used the 3.Nd2 Tarrash variation.
I saw that he was a bit surprise with my opening choice and soon I
was able to exploit his isolated d pawn which is black's perennial
problem in the French Tarrash exchange variation. Soon I was 3 pawns
up and it was just a matter of time before pulsar would resign, so I
thought. Suddenly, pulsar sacrificed his rook and in the ensuing
exchange I realized that he has a perpetual check with his queen. Not
again! This guy is really a tough nut to crack, I was telling myself.

In the 2nd game, I used the Modern Defense in answer to his d4
opening wary that he has something prepared for my King's Indian
Defense. I emerged a pawn up in the opening but my queen was
driven out of play.

( metrolirot vs. pulsar - game 2 position )

In the aboved position, I defended my rook at f7 by playing...Raf8.
Pulsar answered with Rxf7 and after I played...Rxf7, pulsar
immediately played Rc8 check. I said okey and played ...Bxc8. Pulsar
shook his head and resign as obviously he failed to reckon in his
analysis that I had a bishop at h3. I was now on to the semi-finals.
Complete results of the quarters:

Quarter:
spawn2 - Ricky 0.5-1.5
shadowleaf - Sheriff 0-2
Jasper - Vic 0-2
metrolirot - pulsar 1.5-0.5

( Players in action )

I was paired with Ricky in the semi-finals. He was wordfunph's
sparring partner. He was a good practical player but still lacks
opening savvy. In our first game, I played white and made an
interesting knight sac at f7. Ricky was not equal to the task and
defended poorly and soon was forced to gave up his queen to avoid
mate. I just need to draw our last game to enter the finals but
the same was easier said than done. I employed my pet KID against
Ricky's d4 opening and obtained some advantage in the opening.
However, I rush things in the middle game allowing Ricky some
counter play. He maintained the pressure and eventually I
capitulated.

( semi-finals: metrolirot vs. ricky. Wordfunph is keenly watching
the game. )

We choose colors and Ricky played white in our 3rd and deciding
game. Once again I used the KID and emerged a pawn
up in the opening. Ricky was able to regroup his pieces in the
middle game and soon I was put into the defensive. This time
around I did not crack from the pressure and defended tenaciously.
My passed e pawn soon gave him problems enabling me to launch a
mating attack which proved to be successful. I was now into the
finals.

To be continued...

MY MANILA CHESS JOURNEY PART III- THE ROUND ROBIN AT THE COFFEE BEAN AND TEA LEAF, SM MEGAMALL

2012-01-24T17:04:00.000-08:00

This is a continuation of my Manila Chess journey. To read part II just click http://metrolirot.blogspot.com/2012/01/my-manila-chess-journey-part-ii-sm.html

After the conclusion of my match with pulsar, Atty. nanobrain suggested that we transfer venue in order to play unlimited chess. Pulsar bade us goodbye as he went back to work while the five of us composed of Atty. nanobrain, Atty. Roy Hirang, the Sheriff, Epistle and myself went downstairs. After a short search we settled down at The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, 3rd floor SM Megamall. We occupied two tables and ordered brewed coffee and cookies compliments of atty. nanobrain. Afterwards the round robin begun. Having beaten pulsar the BW champ, I thought i could easily handle the rest of the group but as the games progressed, the opposite happened.

( From left: Atty. Roy Hirang, Atty. Nanobrain, Sheriff and me at the Coffee Bean Coffee Shop, 3rd floor SM Megamall )

1st game -metrolirot vs. the sheriff
result: 0-1

I played white against the sheriff. He employed the Sicilian Defense against my e4 opening and i countered with the grand prix attack. I got some advantage in the opening but over pressed. I used my queen to penetrate his position but later on my queen was trapped in the queenside resulting to my resignation.

( Atty. nanobrain vs. metrolirot)

2nd game - atty. nanobrain vs. metrolirot
result: 1-0

I was able to used my Sicilian Defense against nano's e4. The game
went 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4. Bc4!? Nc6 5.O-O Nf6 6.Re1. I was
able to fianchetto my black bishop and adopted a sicilian dragon
formation. Aty. nano slowly built-up his forces and soon i was on the
defensive. I was forced to sacrificed my rook for white's bishop and
pawn to eased the pressure. At this point, I thought i had already
equalized. Although quality down, I had two bishops and a couple of
central pawns. However, nano pressed on with his attack and a timely
knight sac at f7 ended our game in his favor.

( Atty. nanobrain, myself, epistle, and sheriff )

I paused for a while and consumed my coffee and cookies. The round robin is turning out to be a disaster for me. Next in line was epistle. I played a fine attacking game against epistle's Alekhine defense and scored my only win in the round robin. Atty. Roy Hirang was my last opponent. He employed the exchange variation vs. my King's Indian Defense. Soon pieces were exchanged and we went into an opposite bishop endgame. I pressed on for whatever small advantage that i may have but the game soon ended in a draw.

( Atty. Roy Hirang, myself, sheriff and epistle )

To summarized the friendlies at the SM Megamall, I was in high heaven after beating pulsar in our match but was brought back to earth after the result of the round robin with the rest of the group. Below is my only win in the round robin.

[Event "BW/GETS Round Robin"]
[Site "Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, 3rd floor SM Megamall"]
[Date "2012.1.20"]
[Round "3rd"]
[White "metrolirot"]
[Black "epistle"]
[Result "1-0"]

Alekhine's Defense

1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. Nc3 c6 4. Bc4 e6 5. d4 d6 6. Nf3 Nxc3
7. bxc3 dxe5 8.Nxe5 Be7 9. Qh5 O-O 10. Bd3 h6?

Better is 10...g6 11.Qh6 Nd7 with only a slight advantage for white.

11. Bxh6! gxh6 12. Qxh6 f5 13. g4!

With the eventual opening of the g file, there is no way for Black
to survived White's unslaught.

13...Bf6 14. gxf5 Bg7 15. Rg1 Qf6 16. Rg6 Qe7 17. Ke2 Rf6
18. Rag1 Rxg6 19. Rxg6 Kf8 20. Qh7 exf5 21. Bc4

Final position.

1-0

Replay the game below..

MY MANILA CHESS JOURNEY PART II - MY MATCH WITH PULSAR, THE BW CHAMP

2012-01-23T17:08:00.000-08:00

This is a continuation of my Manila Chess journey. To read part I just click
http://metrolirot.blogspot.com/2012/01/my-manila-chess-journey-part-i-sm.html

( pulsar vs. metrolirot match- Jan.20,2012 Kamayan-Saisaki restaurant
4th floor SM Megamall )

After being jolted by a brilliant move in game 1, I proceeded with caution in my 2nd game with Pulsar. I essayed my pet King's Indian Defense against pulsar's d4 opening.

2nd game
White: Pulsar
Black: Metrolirot

King's indian Defense Panno variation

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. Nf3 O-O 5. g3 d6 6. Bg2 Nc6
7. O-O a6 8. d5 Na5 9. Qd3?!

Better is 9.Nd2

9...c5

Pulsar blundered with 10.b3? and after 10...Bf5! White's queen has
no good retreat square because of the discovered pin along the a1-
h8 diagonal. Then came 11.e4 Nxe4! after which Black emerged with a
pawn and quality up. I then was able to consolidate my advantage
and won game 2 to tie the match.

In the 3rd and deciding game, I played white and Pulsar essayed the
solid French Defense in response to my e4 opening. I surprised him
by using a seldom used line in the Advance variation. The game became
messy as black opted to catle queenside.

3rd game
White: Metrolirot
Black: Pulsar
French Defense Advance variation

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.Bd3 Qb6 6.O-O cxd4 7.Re1 Bd7
8.a3 f6 9.b5 fxe5

10.Nxe5?

Houdini suggests 10.b5! and If the black knight retreats, then white's
knight will take on e5 with a firm control of that square. If 10...e4
11.bxc6 bxc6 12.Ne5 exd3 13.Qh5+ with slight advantage for white.

10...Nf6?

Black returns the favor. 10...Nxe5! 11.Rxe5 Bd6! with advantage for
black as he is now the one in firm control of the vital e5 square.

11.Bf4!

Prophylaxis. This is the theory of over protecting the e5 square as
championed by Aaron Nimzowitch. The game has now revolved on who
can control the vital e5 square.

11... O-O-O 12.Nd2 Nxe5 13.Bxe5 Bd6 14.Nf3 Ng4 15.Bxd4 Oc7 16.Bxa7 e5?

Black could have grabbed the advantage with 16...Bxh2+ 17. Kf1 Rhf8.
However, the position is still problematic for white due to black's
central pawns at e5 and d5. The immediate threat is 17...e4 forking
white's bishop and knight plus the threat to take on h2 is still
there. How is white to proceed?

17.c4!

And Black's proud center pawns are suddenly contained.

17... d4

(If 17...e4 18. cxd5! and the open c file will posed a big problem
for black)

18.c5 Be7 19.b5!

White's pawnstorm in the queenside is unstoppable. If 19...Bxc5
20.Bxc5 Qxc5 21.Rc1 and black losses his queen.

19...Rhf8 20.c6! bxc6 21.b6!

Black is now lost as he has no way of preventing the white
bishop's check on a6.

21...Qb7 22.Qa4 c5 23.Qa5 Rxf3 21.gxf3

Black resigns 1-0

With this win, I won the friendly match 2-1. The games were full
of struggle and excitement. Pulsar"s ... Rd2 in game 1 was
a brilliant stroke. I got lucky in game 2 with pulsar's early
blunder. Game 3 was really a struggle with the advantage changing
from time to time. It was an honor to play pulsar in a frienly match
and it would not be possible if not for the accomodation and warm
welcome provided by the gracious host Atty. nanobrain. Special
mention also goes to epistle, the sheriff, and Atty. Roy Hirang.

You can replay the 3rd game here.

To be continued....

MY MANILA CHESS JOURNEY PART I - THE SM MEGAMALL FRIENDLIES WITH BW/GETS

2012-01-23T14:55:00.000-08:00

( From left: Epistle, Atty. Nanobrain, Pulsar, Metrolirot, Sheriff and Atty. Roy Hirang at Kamayan- Saisaki restaurant, SM Megamall. Except for Atty. Hirang, the rest are identifed through their handle at chessgames.com)

I was in Manila from January 20, 2012 to January 23, 2012 primarily to accompany my 2 daughters Caissa Jane (12 years old ) and Florence Faith (10 years old) who both competed in the grandfinals of the Philippine Association of Junior IT Achievers (PAJITA) computer competition. I took the opportunity to touch base with my chess friends at chessgames.com particularly the members of the Barangay Wesley (BW)and Grandmaster Eugene Torre Supporters (GETS)of which I am also a member. It was then agreed that I would be sponsoring the prizes for the 2012 Metrolirot Cup which would be held in my honor. The venue would be the residence of Allan Dinglasan in Biñan City, Manila. However some of our members particulalrly Atty. Nanobrain could not come on the 22 so he suggested that we meet instead at the SM Megamall for some friendlies together with other members of the group on Friday the 20th at 3 p.m.

On January 20, 2012 I arrived in Manila at around 10:30 a.m and at around 2:30 p.m I arrived at the SM Megamall to met Atty Nano and friends. The venue of our friendlies was the Kamayan-Saisaki Restaurant located at the 4th floor of SM Megamall where a sumptous merienda buffet was displayed for the picking courtesy of Atty. Nanobrain. I was met by Pulsar and after exchanging pleasantries, we ate our merienda. Already at the venue then was Atty. Nanobrain, Epistle, and Sheriff. After a while, Atty. Roy Hirang of the Don Galo Chessclub fame arrived. After settling down, I played a 3 game match of 10 min/game with 2 time BW champ pulsar.

( pulsar vs. metrolirot match. Keenly watching the proceedings are Atty. nanobrain with the sheriff standing to have a better view of the game)

In the 1st game, I played white in a Scotch Gambit and got some advantage in the opening. In the diagram below, I thought I was already winning as I had a double attack against Black's bishop and c5 pawn.

Pulsar defended his Bishop with Rab8 and I proceeded to gooble his c5 pawn. With a pawn up and 2 connected central pawns, the game is on the bag, so I thought. However, I got a shock of my life when Pulsar moved his rook to d2 which I never expected as the square was defended by my bishop at e3.

Then I realized that I was lost. I could not take the rook with Bxd2 as Black would reply with e3! unleashing his Bishop and there is no way for me to defend the mate at g2.

To be continued......

BATUCAN IS 2012 TORIL CHESS KING

2012-01-18T22:32:00.000-08:00

( 2012 Toril Absolute Champion John Ray Batucan receiving his prizes from MTCA Pres. Atty. Jong Guevarra Jr. Also in phto are MTCA officers Dante dela Cruz, Chris Yap, Henry Fajardo and Engr. Jun Atmosfera. )

FM elect John Ray Batucan scored 8 wins with only a single loss in 9 rounds of intense battle to emerged as the 2012 Toril Absolute Chess Champion. Batucan defeated top-seed Jimmy Dano in the 9th and final round after the latter refused Batucan's draw offer. Batucan was awarded the champion's prize of P 7,000.00 + trophy + chessbook.

( 2nd placer Austin Jacob Literatus )

Another junior stand-out FM elect Austin Jacob Literatus grabbed second place after agreeing to a draw with Cerilo " Bata " Enobio in the last round. Other 6.5 pointers includes Eric Fernandez who beat Atty. Jong Guevarra Jr., and Cerilo Enobio but Literatus was declared 2nd placer via superior tiebreak. Fernandez and Enobio placed third and fourth, respectively but the three of them equally divided the prize of the 2nd to 4th place totalling P 8,000.00.

( 3rd placer Eric Fernandez )

Batucan seeded only 7th, toppled Rey Monte and Dhona Yngayo in the first two rounds before bowing to fourth-seed Nofre Reyes in the third round. Batucan, a former Asean Age-Group 12 and under champion, then bounced back with five straight wins at the expense of Eric Yngayo, Sr., 2nd seed Vincent Umayan, 8th seed and older brother Neptali Batucan, 10th-seed Anthony Mosqueda, 3rd seed Eric Fernandez and Dano.

( 9th round top board battle - CM Jimmy Dano vs. FM elect John Ray Batucan )

Mosqueda, Dano and Lito Laput shared the fifth to seventh places with similar six points while 5.5 scorers Neptali, Umayan and Atty. Jong Guevarra Jr. rounded up the top 10.

( 9th round Board 2 - FM elect Austin Jacob Literatus vs. Cerilo " Bata " Enobio )

The tournament was organized by the Metro Toril Chess Association in cooperation with the Chess Excellence Ltd. Co. and sponsored by third district Representative. C Isidro Ungab supported by Atty. Jong Guevarra Jr. of the Guevarra Law Office. Cecilio Acas was the tournament Arbiter.

( 9th round Board 3 - Atty. Jong Guevarra Jr. vs. Eric Fernandez )

( Celebration time !!! )

TORIL ABSOLUTE (PREMIER) CHAMPIONSHIPS SET TO KICK-OFF ON JANUARY 7, 2012

2012-01-03T18:42:00.000-08:00

( Cong. Isidro Ungab playing chess with Atty. Jong Guevarra Jr. during
the Toril Class B tourney held last Dec. 17 and 18, 2011 )

The Toril Absolute (Premier) Chess Championships is set on January 7,
8, and 14, 2012. The tournament will be a 9 round swiss system event.
Venue will be the Toril Chess Club. Playing time is 40 mins/game.
Registration fee is peg at P 100.00/player.

( Cong. Ungab together with the officers of the Metro Toril Chess Club )

The tourney is open to all Toril District and affiliated players only.
Those players who were members of the victorious Metro Toril team in
the 1st Philippine Internet match against BW-Manila are also allowed
to play. Top players seeing action would include CM Jimmy Dano,
Vincent Umayan, Nofre Reyes, Engr. Werner Priete, Nofre Reyes, Lito
Laput, Henry Fajardo, Atty. Jong Guevarra, Engr. Nap Recososa, Chris
Yap, Engr. Jun Atmosfera and Zaldy Tabanao. Toril's rising stars such
as Austin Jacob Literatus, John Ray Batucan, Neptali Batucan, Anthony
Mosqueda and Adrian Llanos are also among those seing action.

( Participants of the Toril Class B tourney pondering their moves.. )

The tournament is sponsored by Cong. Isidro Ruy Ungab of the 3rd
District of Davao City and supported by Atty. Jong Guevarra Jr.
The event is organizedby the Metro Toril Chess Association (MTCA)in
coordination with the Chess Excellence Ltd. Co. Chief Arbiter is
Alfred Moulic with Cecilio Acas as assistant arbiter. Registration
is now on going at the Guevarra Law Office, de Guzman St., Toril,
Davao City with tel. no. 291-4087. Regisration deadline will be at
12 noon of January 7, 2012. Players are encouraged to bring their
own chessboards and chess clocks to lessen the burden of the
organizers.

( The players of the Metro Toril Chess Club- Davao Team who won the 1st Philippine Internet Chess Match vs. Barangay Wesley (BW)- Manila team )

Prizes are as follows:

Champion - P 7,000.00 + chess book
1st runner-up 4,000.00
2nd runner-up 2,500.00
3rd runner-up 1,500.00

A PERSONAL MILESTONE- BREACHING 2200 AT CHESSCUBE.COM

2011-11-13T18:21:00.000-08:00

I'm back!!

It has been more than five months since I last posted a feature in this blog. Not only that l got busy with my work load but i was also burned-out with the series of chess activities that i participated or organized thus the need to rest and hibernate. Depite my hibernation, I did not stop playing at chesscube.com with the sole aim of reaching 2200 rating. I played mostly 5 minutes blitz game with occasional 3 minutes/game. Last August 8, 2011 I hit paydirt as I reached the 2200 mark for the first time. I reached my peak rating of 2240 until successive losses once again brought my ratings down.

Allow me to show to you the game that I considered the most critical in my personal quest. According to chess experts, one way of improving your play is by analyzing your games. For you chess enthusiasts out there, let's try to examine one of the most agressive lines in the Caro-Kann- The Bayonet Attack.

[Event "ChessCube Game"]
[Site "www.chesscube.com"]
[Date "2011.08.09"]
[Round "-"]
[White "bw-metrolirot@chesscube.com"]
[Black "tweethart10@chesscube.com"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2176"]
[BlackElo "2144"]
[TimeControl " 5 mins/game"]

CARO-KANN DEFENSE ADVANCE VARIATION - BAYONET ATTACK

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5

The Caro-Kann advance variation has made a comeback and has now supplanted the classical variation as the most popular line in the Caro-Kann Defense.

The Advance Variation has been revitalized by aggressive lines such as the Bayonet Attack (4.Nc3 e6 5.g4), a popular line in the 1980s and later favoured by Latvian Grandmaster Alexei Shirov, or the more positional line 4.Nf3 e6 5.Be2 c5 6.Be3, popularized by English Grandmaster Nigel Short thus the line has been referred to as the Short system. This line was often seen in the 1990s but is now considered the main line in the Caro Kann.

4. Nc3 e6 5. g4!? Bg6 6. Nge2

This is the tabia of the Caro-Kann Advance- Bayonet attack. The move 6. Nge2 is very important so as to meet 6... h5 with 7. Nf4!

6...Nd7

This is one of the sidelines of this variation although it can transpose to the main line. The main move is 6... c5. IM Byron Jacobs, in his book " The Caro-Kann Advance ", explains why.

" 6... c5 is the most thematic move according to NImzowitschian tenets; ...c6-c5 strikes at the base of the pawn chain while White is unable to suport it by c2-c3. But there are dangers for Black too as he has still only developed one piece. If white succeeds in removng the e6-pawn by f4-f5 and f5xe6 or...e6xf5 then the d5 pawn will be vulnerable ".

7. h4 h6 8. Be3 Ne7 9. Qd2

More precise is 9.h5 totally eliminating the ...h5 counter-play for Black.
Play may continue with 9...Bh7 10.f4 c5 11.Qd2 Nc6 with slight adavantage for White as in the game Kotronios, Vasilios 2570 vs. Nikolaidis, Joannis 2505 Corfu, 1995 1-0 31 moves.

9...c5?!

Thematic but not the best move. Black could have fight for the iniative by playing 9...h5! as White's 10. Nf4 is not that strong anymore as Black's bishop in g6 is now well protected by his knight at e7.

10. f4 Nc6

10...h5 could now be effectively answered by 11.f5! with complicated play..

11. Bg2 cxd4 12. Nxd4 Nxd4 13. Bxd4 Bc5 14. O-O-O Bxd4
15. Qxd4 Qb6 16. Rhe1 Qxd4 17. Rxd4 Rc8 18. f5!

Black has managed to exchange major pieces and if allowed to consolidate into the endgame, would have enjoyed an advantage due to the open c file and his good bishop at g6.

18... Bh7 19. Nxd5!?

White could not resist the temptation to sacrifice but considering that this is a 5 minutes blitz game, the resulting complication clearly favors him. Houdini suggest instead 19.Nb5 Ke7 20.Rf4 with slight advantage for white.

19...exd5 20. e6 fxe6 21. Rxe6+ Kf8 22. Bxd5 Nf6?

22...Bg8! 23.Bxb7 Rc7 23. Red6 Ke7 and it would be white who would
be fighting for equality.

23. Bxb7 Re8 24. Ra6 Bg8 25. Bc6 Rc8 26. Bb7 Re8 27. Rxa7

With 3 connected pass pawns in the queenside, white is on the road of victory.

27... Bf7 28. Bc6 Rc8 29. Bb7 Re8 30. b4 Kg8 31. Bc6 Rf8
32. b5 Kh7 33. g5 hxg5 34. hxg5 Nh5 35. g6+ Bxg6 36. fxg6+ Kxg6
37. b6 Rb8 38. b7 Nf6 39. Rda4 Kf7 40. Ra8 Ke7 41. Rxb8 Rxb8
42. Ra8 Nd7 43. Bxd7 Rxb7 44. Bg4 Kf6 45. Be2 g5 46. a4 1-0

ARCE, PACLAR TOPS 2011 DAVAO EXECUTIVES INVITATIONAL

2011-11-09T14:20:00.000-08:00

( The participants )

After 5 rounds of heated action, the 2011 Davao Executives Invitational chess tourney which was held on November 7, 2011 at the Guevarra Law Office, De Guzman St., Toril, Davao City came to an end with Rhynan Arce and Glen Paclar emerging as joint winners with scores of 4 points each. Arce of Aqua Eternal and a former varsity player of UST racked-up 4 straight wins including a 1st round win over Glen Paclar. However, a last round loss against Engr. Napoleon Recososa caused him the solo championship..

( The ceremonial moves done by Atty. Jong Guevarra Jr. of Guevarra Law Office and Atty. Leo Carrillo, Regional Director of the Parole and Probation Office-Region XI)

Glen Paclar of GP Construction and a former University of Mindanao (UM) varsity player meanwhile, racked-up 4 straight wins after his 1st round loss to tie Arce with 4 points. Arce, however was declared the champion via superior tie breaks. He and Paclar however, equally divided the P 5,000.00 total prize for the 1st and 2nd placer. Engr. Napoleon Recososa bagged 3rd place with 3. 5 points.

( Players in deep concentration )

Prizes for the tournament are as folllows: Champion -cash price of P 3,000.00 + chess book, P 2,000.00 for the 2nd placer and P 1,000.00 for the 3rd placer. The tournament was organized by the Davao Executives and Professional Chess Association in coordination with the Chess Excellence Ltd. Co. The tourney was ably supported by Atty. Jong Guevarra Jr. of Guevarra Law Office, Glen Paclar of GP Construction and Christopher Yap of ONB-Toril.

( Last round match-up. Engr. Jun Atmosfera vs. Glen Paclar )

The 1 day tourney was a 5 round swiss system with 25 mins/player. Registration fee was pegged at P 500.00/player. Nofre Reyes and Alfred Moulic officiated the tourney.

( Atty. Jong Guevarra pondering his next move )

Lots of videoke and blitz games followed after the awarding of prizes. With the success of the tournament, the organizers are planning to hold a much bigger tournament tentatively set on December 17, 2011 which is also set as the Association's Christmas party with 2 categories in place, executives and professionals.

( The Champion- Rhynan Arce with Chris Yap and Atty. Jong Guevarra )

( 2nd placer- Glen Paclar )

( 3rd placer- Engr. Napoleon Recososa ).

( Kainan time!... )

( Winners of the Toril Class C tournament )

( Videoke time !! )

Final Ranking after 5 Rounds
Rk. Name FED Rtg Pts. TB1 TB2 TB3
1 ARCE Rhynan Aqu 0 4.0 1.0 14.0 8.5
2 PACLAR Glen GP 0 4.0 0.0 13.0 8.5
3 RECOSOSA Engr. Napoleon Gul 0 3.5 0.0 13.5 8.0
4 YAP Christopher One 0 3.0 1.0 14.0 8.5
5 GUEVARRA Atty. Dionisio Gue 0 3.0 0.0 11.5 7.0
6 ATMOSFERA Engr. Jun Bor 0 2.5 0.0 12.0 7.5
7 SIBAYAN Engr. Manuel NYK 0 2.0 1.0 13.0 7.5
8 CARRILLO Atty. Leo PPA 0 2.0 0.0 9.0 5.0
9 VARQUEZ Flaviano Jr. BDO 0 1.0 0.0 12.0 6.5

2011 DAVAO EXECUTIVES INVITATIONAL CHESS TOURNEY SET ON NOVEMBER 7, 2011

2011-10-31T23:32:00.000-07:00

The 2011 Davao Executives Invitational Chess Tourney is set on November 7, 2011 from 1:00 p.m to 6:30 p.m. Venue will be the Guevarra Law Office located at Guevarra Building, De Guzman St., Toril, Davao City. Prizes at stake are as follows: Champion- P 3,000.00 + trophy, 1st runner-up - P 2,000.00, 2nd runner-up - P 1,000.00. The tourney will be a 5 round swiss system at 25 mins/game time control. Registration fee is peg at P 500.00 per player with free snack and dinner.

Early registrants includes Bank Manager Christopher Yap of One Network Bank( ONB) Toril branch, Glen Paclar of GP Construction, Engr. Jun Atmosfera formerly of Borden, Atty. Leo Carrillo ( Regional Director of the Parole and Probation Office), Atty. Jong Guevarra Jr. of Guevarra Law Office, Engr. Manny Sibayan of Aboitiz Shipping and Engr. Napoleon Recososa. Deadline of registation will be on November 7, 2011 at 12 noon.

( Engr. Jun Atmosfera vs. Atty. Jong Guevarra in 1st round action during the 1st IM Marlo Micayabas Toril Chess Challenge 2009- The two are among the early registrants of the Executive tourney.)

The tournament is organized under the auspices of the Davao Executives and Professional Chess Association (DEPCA) in coordination with Chess Excelence Limited Co. The tourney is also supported by Guevarra Law Office, GP Construction and Chris Yap of ONB. Nofre Reyes will be the tournament arbiter.

MUN. OF STA.CRUZ-MAYOR LOPEZ, BRGY. 23-CAGAYAN DE ORO IN EARLY LEAD AFTER DAY 1 OF ACTION IN THE 1st DAVAO CHESS LEAGUE TEAM TOURNEY

2011-05-28T13:10:00.000-07:00

Top seed Mun. of Sta. Cruz-Mayor Lopez and 5th seed Brgy 23-Cagayan de Oro City are joint leaders with 2 points at the end of the 2nd round in the Davao Chess League Team Tourney held at the Toril Chess Plaza.

( Atty. Jong Guevarra checking the list of participants. Also in photo is assistant arbiter Lito Laput and tournament director Alfred Moulic )

Mun. of Sta. Cruz-Mayor Lopez Team composed of Jayson Salubre, Henry Lopez, Lyndon Sombilon and Mohammad Sacar beat the Davies Paint-Arch. Nagayo team lead by NM Ric Portugalera 2.5-1.5 in the 1st round and followed it up with a 3.5-.5 beating of the Guevarra Law Wizards bannered by NM Roel Filipinas. Brgy 23- Cagayan de Oro won over SEAL K-Blitzers 3-1 in the 1st round and again won in the 2nd round 2.5-1.5 against the Chess Excellence Movers lead by NM Cedric Magno.

Bunched at 1 point each are the teams of Davies Paint-Arch. Nagayo, Chess Excellence Movers, DAB Survivors, Metro Toril B, Guevarra Law Wizards and Brgy. Tigatto. SEAL K-Blitzers and Cong. Ungab-Metro Toril A brings the rear with no points yet.

The 1st day action was highlighted by the brilliant performance of Atty. Melzar Galicia of SEAL K-Blitzers. Galicia who was the 1990 Far East Bank Region XI champion brought back the hands of time and is leading the board 1 race with 2 points after registering wins against 2nd seed Jhonnel Balquin (2177) of Brgy.23-CDO and Zaldy Tabanao (1870) of Metro Toril B.

Ten teams all over Region XI and as far sa Cagayan de Oro City are seeing action in the inaguaral DCL Team Tourney with 4 teams bannered by National Masters. The champion will received P 15,000.00 + U.S King's trophy. 1st Runner-up is worth P 10,000.00 + U.S Queen's trophy while the 2nd runner-up will received P 5,000.00 + Knight's trophy. Individual board best performance is worth P 500.00 each. The Davao Chess League Team tourney is organized by Chess Excellence Limited Co. in partnership with Guevarra Law Office. Hostilities resume today, May 29, 2011 with 3 rounds to be held at GJ Building, Juan dela Cruz St., Toril, Davao City. Awarding of prizes will immediately follow.

For further details of the tourney just click http://chess-results.com/tnr50595.aspx?art=3&rd=3&lan=1&wi=1000

GM WESLEY SO AND THE RP CONTINGENT HALF WAY THROUGH THE ASIAN CONTINENTAL

2011-05-06T17:51:00.000-07:00

( GM Wesley So pondering his move vs. GM Ismagambetov in 1st round action at the Asian Individual Open Chess Championship 2011. Photo from the official tourney website )

A 5 man RP contingent headed by GM Wesley So is currently waging battle over the 64 squares board in Iran which is the host of the Asian Individual Open Chess Championship 2011. Other members of the team includes GM's Mark Paragua, John Paul Gomez, Darwin Laylo and IM Oliver Barbosa. The event also serves as a qualifier for the 2011 World Cup to be held later this year.

After 5 rounds of play, GM Darwin Laylo leads the RP contingent with 3 points after a draw in the 5th round against former world champ GM Kasimdzhanov while the rest of the members of the RP team have 2.5 points each. IM Barbosa had a good start holding his ground against 3 super GMs in the first 3 rounds but got ambushed by GM Zhao Jun in a wild Kings Indan game in the 5th round. The RP contingent needs a determine push in the last 4 rounds to figure prominently in the standing.

As the vanguard of the RP team, GM So had his hands full fending off the challenge of other Asian chess players notably that of China and India. With a rating of 2667 GM So is seeded 3rd in the event next only to Former World Cup champ GM Rustan Kasimdzhanov of Uzbekistan ( 2685) and Indian GM Krishnan Sasikiran. GM So's game is still full of excitement but being a marked man, it seems that his lower rated opponents are just content to eke-out a draw with him thus sometimes he over extend himself just to win which proves costly as what happened in his round 4 loss.

Below is a sample of GM Wesley So's energetic play which ended in a
draw as his opponent was not willing to enter into complications but
was rather content to simplify by exchanging pieces. It's like Manny
Pacquiao raring to go toe to toe but his opponent keeps on back-
pedalling and not willing to mix-up.

[Site "Iran"]
[Date "2011.5.6"]
[Round "5"]
[White "GM Wesely So"]
[Black "IM Santosh Gujrathi Vidit"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteELO "2667"]
[BlackELO "2495"]

CARO -KANN DEFENSE

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 5. Ng3 Bg6

6. h4 h6 7. Nf3 Nd7 8.h5 Bh7 9. Bd3 Bxd3 10. Qxd3 Ngf6

11. Bd2 e6 12. O-O-O Be7 13. Ne4 Nxe4 14.Qxe4 Nf6 15. Qd3

O-O 16. g4 Nxg4

17. Qe2

GM Mark Paragua essayed the move 17. Rhg1 in winning a beautiful
attacking game against IM Sarkar in the 2010 Marshall Chess Club
Championships. You can view the annotated game of GM Paragua at
http://metrolirot.blogspot.com/2010/11/gm-paraguas-annotated-game.html However, it seems that with correct play Black
can hold on to his position.

17. Kh8 18. Rhg1 Nf6 19. Ne5 Qd5 20. Qe3

In the game Saric, I (2456) vs. Dizdarevic, E (2521) 19th Pula
Open 2005 White blundered with 20.f3? and after 20...Qxa2! Black
obtained a big advantage and eventually won the game. The text
move maintains pressure on Black's kingside with the threat of
21. Rxg7 and 22. Qxh6 hanging in the air. Black is now left to
choose whether to enter into complications and play for a win
with 20... Qxa2 or just play solidly and be content with a draw.

20... Qe4

Black choose the latter. After 20...Qxa2 21 c4! The complications
that will follow give chances to both sides. The text leads to a
forced exchange of pieces.

21. Qg3 Nxh5 22. Qh2 Qh4!

White cannot refused to exchange Queens otherwise Black would
consolidate his material advantage.

23. Qxh4 Bxh4 24. Rh1 g5 25. Nf3 Ng7 26. Nxh4 gxh4

27. Bxh6 Rg8 28. Bg5 Nf5 29. Bxh4 Nxh4 30. Rxh4+ Kg7

1/2-1/2

Final position

Replay the game below

IM MARLO MICAYABAS AND THE 2008 BRADLEY OPEN- PART III

2011-05-05T16:55:00.000-07:00

This is the 3rd part of IM Marlo Micayabas's personal account of his comeback tourney, the 2008 Bradley Open where he tied for 1st. To view Part II just click
http://metrolirot.blogspot.com/2009/05/im-marlo-micayabas-and-2008-bradley.html

By IM Marlo Micayabas

We woke up even much earlier today to check out from our room, bring our luggages to the car in the garage, come back to eat breakfast and wait for the games to start. With not enough time, we settled for an American breakfast of croissant and coffee for me, and muffin and water for my son Adrian. He made me aware that my clearing of my throat during the games can be heard across the playing hall. I made a mental note of it and tried to avoid distracting other players. In my next game, I'm playing against chess expert Andrew Ng who drew with GM Kudrin in the previous round.

Sunday, August 10, 2008, 9:00AM

13th Bradley Open, Round 4, Board 2
White: Andrew Ng (2175)
Black: IM Marlo Micayabas (2339)

Sicilian Rossolimo

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 d6 4.Bxc6 bxc6 5.0-0 e5 6.h3 Be7

Here, I was toying with the idea of a blitzkrieg attack 7... g5
followed by 8... h5 and 9... g4. I decided it was too risky as
he has a central break 8.c3 and 9.d4 at his disposal.

7.Re1 Nf6 8.c3 0-0 9.d4 cxd4 10.cxd4 exd4

Also possible was 10... Nd7 followed by a Black Queen move and
...Rd8.

11.Nxd4 Qb6 12.Nc3 h6 13.Be3 c5 14.Nb3 Be6 15.f4

This starts White's plan of undermining the support of Black's c5
pawn with 16.e5. Unfortunately, the Black c5 pawn is poisoned and
Black gets more than enough compensation for it.

15... Rfe8 16.e5 dxe5 17.fxe5 Rad8 18.Qf3 Nd5!

Against the passive 18... Nd7, White has 19.Nd5!

19.Na4 Qb5 20.Naxc5 Nxe3 21.Nxe6 fxe6 22.Qxe3 Rd3!

Seizing the d-file and laying a trap in 23.Qxa7?? Rxb3! winning
White's queen. Also 23.Qe2? is strongly met by Bb4!.

23.Qe4 Red8 24.Rac1 R3d5 25.Kh1 Qd7 26.Rf1 a5 27.Qg6 Rf8

28.Rxf8 Bxf8 29.Qe4 a4

White's knight is lost since 30.Na1 is met by 30... Rd1.

30.Rf1 axb3 31.Qf4 Bc5 32.axb3 Rd1 1-0

White resigned since his position is hopeless.

In this round, GM Ivanov drew with GM Kudrin, while GM Rohde won
his 4th game bringing the following interesting lineup: GM Ivanov
3-1/2, IM Micayabas 3-1/2, GM Kudrin 3, and GM Rohde 3. I will be
playing the black pieces against GM Ivanov in the final round for
the championship.

Replay the game below.

MARI JOSEPH TORQUEZA, JANELLE MAE FRAYNA IS KING AND QUEEN OF THE 2011 NATIONAL JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS

2011-05-03T17:28:00.000-07:00

The National Junior Chess Championships which was held on April 29 to May 3, 2011 at the NCCC Mall located at Maa, Davao City ended with the crowning of a new king and queen of Philippine junior chess.

In the Juniors- boys category, Mari Joseph Turqueza emerged the champion with 8 points out of 9 rounds. Turqueza who was seeded 3rd went undefeated and scored 5 consecutive wins beginning in the 2nd round, beating top seed Sheider Nebato along the way. He received P 15,000.00 + medal and will be the Philippines representative to the World Juniors to be played later this year in India.

Winners Juniors - Boys category

( Turqueza is sitting at front row with medal and holding his certificate )

Final ranking after 9 rounds

1 Turqueza Mari Joseph PHI 2181 8.0 0.0 53.5 39.50 7 6 4.65 1.35 15 20.3
2 Mejia Giovanni PHI 1992 7.5 0.0 48.0 34.00 5 3.5 1.91 1.59 25 39.8
3 Salcedo Richilieu PHI 2222 7.0 0.0 50.0 31.00 6 4 4.28 -0.28 15 -4.2
4 Fiel Yves Christian PHI 1723 7.0 0.0 43.5 25.50 3 2
5 Mirano Kevin PHI 2042 6.5 0.0 50.5 27.75 5 2.5 1.99 0.51 25 12.8
6 Nebato Sheider PHI 2233 6.5 0.0 50.0 27.25 4 2 2.66 -0.66 25 -16.5
7 Docena Jerad U14 PHI 1941 6.5 0.0 48.5 27.25 1 0 0.20 -0.20 25 -5.0
8 Andoy Jerwell PHI 1992 6.5 0.0 46.5 26.50 3 1
9 Llantada Kyz PHI 0 6.5 0.0 46.0 29.50 2 2

The Juniors- girls category crown, on the other hand went to Janelle Mae Frayna who scored 7.5 points in 9 rounds. Frayna who was only seeded 8th also went undefeated and beat top seed and under 20 champ Jedarra Docena along the way. She received P 10,000.00 + medal and will be the Philippines representative to the World Juniors to be played later this year in India.

Winners Juniors - Girls category

( Frayna sitting at front row with medal and holding her certificate )

Final ranking after 9 rounds

1 Frayna Janelle Mae W PHI 1830 7.5 0.0 48.0 29.25 4 3.5 1.45 2.05 25 51.3
2 Acedo Rowelyn W PHI 1795 7.0 1.0 48.5 26.75 5 4
3 Suede Mikee Charlene W PHI 1902 7.0 0.0 49.5 32.25 3 2.5 1.56 0.94 15 14.1
4 Pineda Judith U8 W PHI 1737 6.0 0.0 51.5 27.50 3 2
5 Enriquez Jean Karen W PHI 1920 6.0 0.0 47.5 24.75 1 0 0.53 -0.53 0 0.0
6 Suede Akiko Charmaine W PHI 1891 6.0 0.0 45.0 20.50 1 0 0.58 -0.58 15 -8.7

( Metro Toril meets BW in person. Players of the Metro Toril Chess Club who played in the recent 1st Philippine internet chess team match Nofre Reyes (docryan), Chris Yap (chriswhiz), and Atty. Jong Guevarra (metrolirot) met BW board 1 FM Paulo Bersamina, the 2010 natl junior champ).

( Celebrating after the end of the gruelling tourney together with the Mejia family. Also in photo is Davao sports writer and SCOOP Davao president Lito delos Reyes. The Mejia siblings Gio and WFM Cherry Ann Mejia submitted good resuls during the twin tourney accompanied in Davao by their ever supportive father.)

THE 2011 NATIONAL AGE GROUP TOURNEY - "SEARCHING FOR THE NEW BREED OF CHESS HEROES"

2011-05-02T15:46:00.000-07:00

For the second consecutive year, the National Age Group chess Championship was hosted by Davao City. The Championship was held last April 25-28, 2011 at the Gaisano Mall of Davao. This time it was named " THE 2011 INDAY SARA DUTERTE NAT'L AGE GROUP CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP " in honor of Davao City's Mayor who was the main sponsor of the event. Davao City's hosting was a welcome development for Mindanaoan's particularly those players residing within the Davao region who has the potential but has no means to play outside the region.

True to form, new talents emerged at the end of the competition as the pre- tournament seedings did not hold true. After 4 days of intense battle in the 64 squares board, the winners are:

Boys 8 Under

Final Ranking after 5 Rounds

1 Canino Ronald Phi 0 0 0 4.5 0.0 1566 Misamis Oriental
2 Robillos Vladimir James Phi 0 0 0 4.0 0.0 1440
3 Sarchez Chrisus Joshua phi 0 0 0 4.0 0.0 1440 Davao City
4 De Luna Adrian phi 0 0 0 3.5 0.0 1349
5 Olarte Adrian Luis phi 0 0 0 3.0 0.0 1272

Boys 10 Under

Final Ranking after 5 Rounds

1 Gonzales Julius PHI 0 0 0 5.0 0.0 2000 Manila
2 Pepito Jeremy phi 0 0 0 4.0 1.0 1542Mis Oriental
3 Delada Edrian phi 0 0 0 4.0 0.0 1542
4 Pandoyo Chris Aldritz phi 0 0 0 3.5 1.0 1349
5 Yulo Adrian Otniel Phi 0 0 0 3.5 0.0 1295

Boys 12 under

Final Ranking after 7 Rounds

1 Samantilla Daryl Unix Phi 1637 0 1637 6.0 0.0 1637 Manila
2 Ibaoc Tristan Frech Phi 1708 0 1708 6.0 0.0 1694 Cebu City
3 Marcellana Mark James Phi 0 0 0 6.0 0.0 1564
4 De Leon Haince Patrick PHI 1586 0 1586 5.5 0.0 1691Manila
5 Hijastro Ardyn Phi 0 0 0 5.5 0.0 1545Gen. Santos City

Boys 14 Under

Final Ranking after 7 Rounds

1 Docena Jerad U14 PHI 1941 1941 0 7.0 0.0 2425 Manila
2 Mejia Giovanni PHI 1992 1992 0 5.5 0.0 1484 Manila
3 Literatus Austin Jacob PHI 1997 1997 0 5.0 0.0 1708 Davao City
4 FM Bersamina Paulo U14 PHI 2098 2098 0 5.0 0.0 1647Cavite
5 Caranyagan Carlo PHI 1923 0 1923 5.0 0.0 1706Cebu City

Boys 16 Under

Final Ranking after 7 Rounds

1 Lagula Dominique U8 PHI 1973 1973 0 6.0 0.0 1805 FEU/Manila
2 Surposa Jeazzir Kline PHI 1733 0 1733 5.0 0.0 1675 Gen. Santos City
3 Medina Vince Angelo U16 PHI 1963 1963 0 5.0 0.0 1642 Manila
4 Coronel Aldous Roy phi 1710 0 1710 5.0 0.0 1725 Cebu City
5 Amar Denzel John phi 0 0 0 5.0 0.0 1627 Davao City

Boys 20 Under

Final Ranking after 7 Rounds

1 Turqueza Mari Joseph Phi 2181 2181 0 6.0 1.0 2172 Manila
2 Salcedo Richilieu PHI 2222 2222 0 6.0 0.0 1811 Misamis Oriental
3 Mirano Kevin PHI 2042 2042 0 5.0 0.0 1764 Aklan
4 Salgados Lennon Hart PHI 2114 2114 0 5.0 0.0 1627 Cag. de Oro
5 Batucan Neptali Iii PHI 1768 0 1768 5.0 0.0 1921Davao City

Girls 8 Under

Final Ranking after 5 Rounds

1 Yngayo Irish PHI 0 0 0 5.0 0.0 2000 Davao City
2 Sandiego Jerlyn Mae phi 0 0 0 4.0 0.0 1440 Cavite
3 Quitong Mary Sol Phi 0 0 0 3.0 0.0 1272
4 Olila Erlyn Mae phi 0 0 0 3.0 0.0 1272
5 De Guzman Kheam Ara phi 0 0 0 3.0 0.0 1272

Girls 10 Under

Final Ranking after 5 Rounds

1 Docena Jesca PHI 0 0 0 4.5 0.0 1566 Manila
2 Magno Vanesa phi 0 0 0 4.0 0.0 1440 Mis. Oriental
3 Yngayo Lorraine phi 0 0 0 4.0 0.0 1393 Davao City
4 Derotas Vic Glysen phi 0 0 0 4.0 0.0 1440
5 Baclayo Honey Grace phi 0 0 0 3.0 0.0 1272

Girls 12 Under

Final Ranking after 5 Rounds

1 San Diego Marie Antoinette U8 PHI 1744 0 1744 4.5 0.0 1722 Cavite
2 Revita Samantha Glo U8 PHI 1943 0 1943 4.0 0.0 1549 Pangasinan
3 Nadera Laila Camel phi 0 0 0 3.5 0.0 1458
4 Opema Juelie an phi 0 0 0 3.5 0.0 1458
5 Coloma Kathlyn phi 0 0 0 3.5 0.0 1498

Girls 14 Under

Final Ranking after 7 Rounds

1 Mirano Mira U14 PHI 1793 0 1793 6.0 0.0 1603 Boracay, Aklan
2 Moulic Ella Grace phi 0 0 0 5.5 0.5 1609 DAVAO CITY
3 Alcarz Crisselne phi 0 0 0 5.5 0.5 1579 Ilocos Norte
4 Yngayo Dhona PHI 1648 0 1648 5.0 1.0 1443 Davao City
5 Morala Keith phi 0 0 0 5.0 0.0 1452 Cebu City

Girls 16 Under

Final Ranking after 7 Rounds

1 Enriquez Jean Karen phi 1768 0 1768 6.0 0.0 1786 Manila
2 WFM Mejia Cherry Ann U8 PHI 1912 1912 0 5.5 0.0 1738
3 Frayna Janelle Mae PHI 1830 1830 0 5.0 0.0 1593
4 Apao Exiquila phi 0 0 0 5.0 0.0 1460 Davao City
5 Acedo Rowelyn PHI 1795 0 1795 4.5 0.0 1537 Davao City

Girls 20 Under

Final Ranking after 5 Rounds

1 Docena Jedara PHI 2035 2035 0 4.5 0.5 2083 Manila
2 Palero Mary Israel PHI 1908 1908 0 4.5 0.5 2108 DAVAO CITY
3 Balbona Jessa Marie PHI 1757 0 1757 3.5 0.0 1562 Cebu City
4 Suede Mikee Charlene PHI 1902 1902 0 3.0 0.0 1719
5 Nahudan Eibtizam PHI 1902 1902 0 3.0 0.0 1656

"LOST IN TRANSLATION"- A FATHER'S JOY AND AGONY IN THE 2011 NAT'L AGE GROUP TOURNEY

2011-04-26T18:58:00.000-07:00

( My daughter Florence Faith playing the white pieces vs. the
daughter of the owner of Blue Jazz Beach Resort located at IGACOS
in a recent tourney held in the said resort)

My two daughters are currently playing at the 2011 National Age Group Tourney hosted by Davao City for the 2nd consecutive time. My eldest, Caissa Jane is playing in the 12 and under category while the other, Florence Faith is playing in the 10 and under. I was not really exepecting the two to make a splash in the tourney as they are not really into serious chess. Last year, they had occasional chess lessons from my good friend Nofre Reyes but it was far and between. If I'm in the mood, I occasionally taught them some basic chess lessons but I have basically lost the patience to personally guide them so they are basically on their own. During the holy week, I had the occasion to sit with them for some chess sessions using the Chessmaster lecture of IM Josh Waidkins as reference. My two kids have contrasting styles. My eldest is more positional while the younger is more of an "atakador". Their play is still crude and may be categorized as a little above the beginners level.

My younger kid Florence Faith started with a win in the 1st round while my eldest, Caissa Jane lost. The following day, Florence was paired against the top player of Davao City to whom she had never beaten in the past. Below is their game that gave me joy and agony.

[Event "2011 Nat'l Age Group"]
[Site "Davao City"]
[Date "2011.4.26"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Florence Faith Guevarra"]
[Black "Lorraine Yngayo"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteELO "?"]
[BlackELO "?"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Nc3 Bc5 5. O-O d6 6. h3 O-O

7. d3 h6 8. Be3 Bb6 9. d4 exd4 10. Nxd4 Nxd4 11. Bxd4 Ba5

12. Be3? Bxc3 13. bxc3 Nxe4

By a simple combination Florence is already a pawn down. But the
position has a suttle trap that Black must avoid.

14. Bd3!

Tempting black to gore another pawn.

Nxc3 15. Qd2! Nd5 16. Bxh6!

I was never expecting this piece sacrifice from my daughter. This
piece sacrifice brought pride and joy to my heart.

16...gxh6?

Black underestimated the attack that would follow. Better is 16...Qf6
bolstering the defense of his kingside.

17. Qxh6 Nf6 18. Rfe1!

With the threat of 19. Re3 and 20. Rg3 mate. White's position is
already busted.

18...Re8 19. Rxe8+ Nxe8

White to play and mate in four.

20.Qh7+?

Unfortunately for me and for my kid, I forgot to teach her this
simple mating pattern. What is ironic is that I taught my 2 kids
mating patterns that are more complicated than the current position
using the book " How to Beat Your Dad in Chess " by GM Murray
Chandler as reference. The correct sequence is 20. Bh7! Kh8
21. Bg6+ Kg8 22. Qh7+ Kf8 23. Qf7 mate.

20...Kf8 21. Qh6+ Ke7 22. Re1+ Kd7 23. Bf5+ Kc6 24. Be4+ Kd7

Florence is still winning as her opponent's king is stuck in the
middle while her other pieces are immobilized.

25. Bf5+?

25. Qf8! wins the game as the various mating threats can only be
parried with black losing materials.

25... Kc6 26.Qf4? Bxf5! 27. Qf3+?

White should have taken the bishop but in that case advantage would
have shifted to black as white is left with 1 less piece to continue
the attack.

27...d5 28. Qc3+ Kd7 29. Qe5 Be6! 30. c4 Qf6

Black has weathered the storm and is now 2 pieces up. White
resigned a few moves later. My kid was almost in tears narrating
to me the missed opportunity to score an upset. Anyway that is
life like chess, you win some you lose some.
0-1

Replay the game below

SELECTED GAMES FROM THE 1ST PHILIPPINE INTERNET MATCH PART I - "EPISTLE VS. METROLIROT "

2011-04-16T19:23:00.001-07:00

(Metrolirot standing to have a better view of the screen in his
game against Epistle. On his left is Nofre Reyes pondering his
move against Doji ) Note: Due to the excitement and pressure, I
was somewhat nervous at the start of the game thus I was standing
from time to time.

This game was played during the 1st Philippine Internet Chess Team
match between Metro Toril Chess Club-Davao vs. BW-Manila held last
April 16, 2011 at chesscube.com. Before the start of the match I
had no idea who my opponent would be. The only thing I know is that
our team would be playing black in the 1st round.

( Epistle making his move vs. deadly in a friendly blitz game )

[Event "ChessCube Game"]
[Site "www.chesscube.com"]
[Date "2011.04.15"]
[Round "-"]
[White "epistle@chesscube.com"]
[Black "bw-metrolirot@chesscube.com"]
[ChessCube rating: 2012]
[ChessCube rating: 2043]
[Result "0-1"]
[Time "19:35:08"]
[TimeControl "1500+10"]

KING'S INDIAN DEFENSE CLASSICAL

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. d4 g6 3. c4 d6 4. Nc3 Bg7 5. e4 O-O 6. Be2 e5

7. d5 a5 8. O-O Na6 9. a3

More common is 9. Bg5 transposing to the Petrosian system.
Another try for white is 9. Ne1. The game Mahmud,S 2260 vs.
GM Torre, E, 2535 Hongkong zonals went 9. Ne1 Nc5 10. f3 Nh5
11. Nd3 b6 12. Be3 f5 13. exf5 gxf5 14. Qd2 Bd7 15. Rad1 Kh8
16.f4 Nxd3 17. Bxd3 Nxf4 18. Bxf4 exf4 19. Ne2 Qf6 with slight
advantage for black.

Nc5 10. Nd2 a4!

Locking the queen side making it more difficult for white to
commence his thematic queen side expansion.

11. f3 Nh5 12. b4 axb3 13. Nxb3 Nxb3 14. Qxb3 b6

At this point, the excitement and anxity generated by the match
has already settled down. I am now quite happy with my position
having solved my opening problems. My confidence was slowly
building up going towards the middle game.

15. Ra2 f5 16. f4?

This is a positional blunder which caused white's eventual downfall.
In the Kings Indian Black's main problem is his bad bishop at g7.
White's last move opens the dark square diagonal enabling black's
problem bishop to join the fray.

Nxf4 17. Bxf4 exf4 18. Rxf4 Bd4+ 19. Kh1 Qg5 20. Rf1 Qe3

21. Rc2 Bd7

Threatening 22... Ba4. I have now all the fun while my opponent
was probably squirming in his seat.

22. Qb4? Bc5 23. Nd1 Qxe4 24. Qd2 Rxa3 25. Bf3 Qd3

26. Qxd3 Rxd3 27. Re2 Re8 28. Rxe8+ Bxe8 29. g3 b5

30. cxb5 Bxb5 31. Be2

The most critical position of the game.

31...Rxd1?

31...Bc4! I simply miss this tactical shot which would probably
caused white's immediate resignation as there is no defense to
Bxd5. If 32. Bf3 Rxf3! 33. Rxf3 Bxd5!

32. Bxb5! Rd4

I could not exchange rooks otherwise I would enter into an opposite
bishop ending which would have given white ample drawing changes
due to my backward pawn at c7.

33. Kg2 Rd2+ 34. Kh3 Kg7 35. Bc6 Re2 36. Rd1 g5 37. Rf1 Kf6

38. g4 f4 39. Bd7 Re5 40. Bc6

Better is 40. Bc4 as the white bishop has no future at c6.

Re3+ 41. Kg2 Ke5 42. Rf3 Re2+ 43. Kh1 Be3 44. Rh3?

The last blunder. 44.Rf1 is the only move to prolong the game
but black would still have a winning advantage.

44...Ke4! 45. Bd7? Re1+ 46. Kg2 Rg1# 0-1

Final position.

Replay the game below

1ST PHILIPPINE INTERNET CHESS TEAM MATCH - METRO TORIL CHESS CLUB-DAVAO VS. BARANGAY WESLEY (BW)-MANILA " UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL "

2011-04-16T17:38:00.000-07:00

( The Metro Toril Chess Club- Davao Team )

The date - April 16, 2011. I woke-up at around 5 a.m which i don't usually do except if i have a hearing in court. However, this day is not an ordinary day as it is the date of our much awaited goodwill internet match with BW-Manila, the 1st ever internet match in the history of Philippine chess. I was excited and anxious thinking of the impending chess battle. I went to my office at 9 a.m which was our team's pre-designated assembly area proudly wearing my team's uniform. At around 9:30 a.m we proceeded to 3G-D Net Cafe located at J. dela Cruz St., Toril, Davao City. The internet cafe had 12 computer units which we booked from 9 a.m up to 1 p.m for the match. I instructed our team members to log-in at chesscube.com and add-friend the handles provided by BW. Afterwards, i instructed them to proceed to Algeria room where the players would meet and to wait for the challenge of the BW players who would play white in the 1st round . The BW team have not yet log-in. My excitement and anxity have yet to subside as 2 of our players have yet to arrived while another discovered that he has yet to reach level 3 at chesscube thus cannot enter the Algeria room. We instructed him to play the additional games required and to resign early in the games to save on time.

( The Barangay Wesley (BW)- Manila Team )

At past 10 a.m I received a call from sugardom, " Sir, icha-challenge na po ni Paulo Bersamina si Austinjacob. Paki-accept ng challenge then umpisa na po ng match". Thereafter the challenge of Paulo Bersamina appeared in the computer screen of AJ Literatus. AJ accepted the challenge officially starting the match. I was still in a predicament whether to play as i was the only one who has direct contact with sugardom and some players have yet to be paired. Fortunately, Allan Dinglasan arrived direct from the Davao International Airport where he had a flight from Ilo-ilo. He volunteered to take care of the matching of the other players as he had direct contact with sugardom and wordfunph. Our 2 players had also arrived thereby completing our team. It turned-out that one of our players Chris Yap who is the Manager of One Network Bank-Toril branch experienced dizziness in the moring after wake-up and had to drop by in a hospital where his blood sample was taken for some examination. I joked him that the blood sample would proved that he was not taking performance enhancing drugs for the match. At last I could now settle and concentrate on my game with epistle. .

( Metro Toril Chess Club- Davao team at 3G-G Net Cafe)

( The BW- Manila team at Robinsons internet cafe, Imus, Cavite )

The honor of scoring the first point of the match went to Doji who beat Nofre Reyes (docryan). It was followed by BW's wordfuph (fischer22) who prevailed over Jimmy Dano(caissa-dan). Afterwards it was the turn of the lower boards of Toril to deliver the much needed points. FM elect Austin Jacob Literatus had an upset win in board 1 over FM Paulo Bersamina while I also won my game against epistle. The 1st round ended with a score of 8-4 in favor of Toril.

(Metrolirot standing to have a better view of the screen in his game against Epistle. On his left is Nofre Reyes pondering his move against Doji )

( BW members in deep thought while the match was on-going)

Round 1 FINAL OFFICIAL Results:
Board Pairings
Round 1 on 2011/04/16 at 1030 hr
Bo. Barangay Wesley Vs Metro Toril-Davao >>> 4:8

1. paubersa : austin jacob : 0-1
2. aguilito : santos26 : 1-0
3. wordfuph (fischer22) : caissa-dan : 1-0
4. Doji : docryan : 1-0
5. Tresmaster : finalfantasy : 0-1
6. rusticbull : moulicule : 0-1
7. kidsgambit : napsparov : 0-1
8. pinoymaster77 Vs chesswonder : 0-1
9. bw-sugardom (deadly) : chesscopas : 1-0
10. epistle : bw-metrolirot : 0-1
11. daricastro : chriswhiz : 0-1
12. sugardom (angelofdeath) : onepeace : 0-1

( Metrolirot with Allan Danglisan who was a big help for the match )

Round 2 FINAL OFFICIAL Results:
Board Pairings
Round 2 on 2011/04/16 at 1145 hr
Bo. Metro Toril-Davao Vs Barangay Wesley Vs >>> 8 : 4

1. austin jacob : paubersa : 0-1
2. santos26 : aguilito : 1/2
3. caissa-dan : wordfuph(fischer22): 1-0
4. docryan : Doji : 1/2
5. finalfantasy : Tresmaster : 1-0
6. moulicule : rusticbull : 1/2
7. napsparov : kidsgambit : 1-0
8. chesswonder : pinoymaster77 : 1-0
9. chesscopas : bw-sugardom (deadly) : 1/2
10. bw-metrolirot : epistle : 1/2
11. chriswhiz : daricastro : 1/2
12. onepeace : sugardom (angelofdeath) : 1-0

The 2nd round was the same story as the lower boards of Toril once again delivered. FM Bersamina extracted revenge in his board 1 battle against AJ Literatus. The rest of the game ended in a draw. Engr. Jun Atmosfera played in the 2nd round for Toril using the bw-metrolirot handle. He had a winning attack against his opponent but his opponent got disconnected. It was agreed that the game be resumed under a lower time control but due to time constraint considering that it was already past 1 p.m the game was temporarily scored a draw pending its resumption. The second round ended with a score of 8-4 in favor of Toril. Over-all, Toril won the match 16-8.

( Toril board 1 player FM elect Austin Jacob LIteratus )

Our team then proceeded to take our lunch in my house. Everybody was in a jovial mood considering the result. We proceeded to my rest house at Eden, Toril for a small celebration and for some blitz games. I went back to my house past 9 p.m tired but very happy at the turn of events. Thus ended my day. Hats- off to BW for making the affair possible and a truly memorable one.

( Kainan time !! )

FM AUSTIN JACOB LITERATUS BANNERS METRO TORIL-DAVAO VS. FM PAULO BERSAMINA LED (BW)-MANILA IN 1ST PHILIPPINE INTERNET MATCH SET ON APRIL 16,2011

2011-04-14T15:33:00.000-07:00

The Future of Philippine Chess. Members of the RP contingent to the 2009 ASEAN+ Age-Group Chess Championships in Vietnam. Front row: Sheider Nebato, Paolo Kristobal, John Alcon Datu. Back row: Tristan Ibaoc, Vince Medina, Austin Jacob Literatus, Paulo Bersamina., Cherry Ann Mejia, Ma. Ysabelle Joyce Semillano, and Bernadette Galas.
(Photo first posted at Malibay ChessClub Blog)

It would be a battle of chess prodigies as back to back ASEAN Age Group champion FM Austin Jacob Literatus banners the Metro Toril Chess Club- Davao as it battles the FM Paulo Bersamina led Barangay Wesley (BW)in the 1st Philippine Internet Match set on April 16, 2011 at 10 a.m. Games can be seen live at chesscube.com.

Literatus is the 2009 ASEAN Age Group champion- 12 and under category and the 2010 champion- 14 and under. FM Paulo Bersamina on the other hand is the 2010 Nat'l Junior champ and the 2010 ASEAN age-group champ- 12 and under category. Bersamina is also fresh from a successful campaign in Russia and played board 1 in one of the teams that participated in the recent Inter-Province team tourney.

( Caissa's Father with 2010 Nat'l Age- Group boys 14 and under champ
Austin Jacob Literatus and Toril players Erwin Tubog, Adrian Llanos,
Anthony Mosqueda, and Neptali Batucan III )

FM Austin Jacob Literatus is also the youngest Male Athlete of the Year awardee in the history of the annual So Kim Cheng Sports Awards given to the best performing athletes of Davao City. He won the award in the year 2009 when he was still 12 years old. Literatus bagged one individual gold medal, three team silvers and one individual bronze in the 2009 Asean Age-Group Chess Championships in Hue City, Vietnam making him the overwhelming choice for the prestigious award in that year.

Let us watch a sample of Literatus game which was played in the 2009 Vietnam age-group competition.

[Event "OPEN 12"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2009.06.08"]
[Round "3.8"]
[White "Ta, Minh Hoang"]
[Black "Literatus, Austin Jacob"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E81"]
[PlyCount "60"]
[EventDate "2009.06.07"]

Annotated by Caissa's Father

KING'S INDIAN SAMISCH VARIATION

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f3 O-O 6. Be3 c5!

According to 2001 British Champion GM Joe Gallagher in his book " Starting Out: The King's Indian ", the move 6... c5 has dented the Samisch's popularity somewhat in recent times. The pawn sacrifice is hardly ever accepted by White anymore. because of this 6.Be3 is no longer automatically considered as the best move. Nowadays white plays 6.Bg5 and 6.Nge2 almost as often. An example of this line was played in Kramnik vs. Shirov, Bundesliga 1992 which goes 7 dxc5 dxc5 8 Qxd8 Rxd8 9 Bxc5 Nc6 10 Ba3 a5 11 Rd1 Be6 12 Nd5 Nb4 13 Nxe7+ Kh8 14 Rxd8 Rxd8 15 Nd5 Nc2+ 16 Kd2 Nxa3 17bxa3b5! 18 Nh3 Draw agreed.

7. Nge2 Nc6 8. d5 Ne5 9. Ng3 e6 10. Qd2 exd5 11. cxd5

The game has now transformed into the Modern Benoni Defense.

11... h5!

Chasing the knight and disrupting the coordination of White's pieces. This move is also useful to free the h7 square for the Black knight to enable him to launch the freeing move f5.

12. h4 a6 13. Be2?

A positional blunder that clearly showed White's unfamiliarity with the line. 13. a4 is automatic as White should prevent 13... b5 and Black's succeeding queenside expansion in the Modern Benoni Defense.

13.. b5!

Of course!!

14. Bg5 Qb6 15. Be3 b4 16. Nd1 a5 17. Nf2 Ba6 18. Rc1 a4

19. O-O Bxe2 20. Nxe2 Qb5 21. Rfd1 Rfb8 22. Bf4 Nfd7

23. b3 axb3 24. axb3 Ra3!

This move and the succeeding moves showcase Austin Jacob's matured play and fine technique in utilizing his positional advantage. Watch how he strangled his Vietnamese opponent into submission.

25. Rb1 Rba8 26. Nc1 Qb6 27. Nfd3 Nxd3

28. Qxd3 c4+! 29. Qe3 Qxe3+ 30. Bxe3 c3!

A beautiful finish. White was simply outplayed in all phases of the game.

White resigns. 0-1

Replay the game below.

NM JOE PASCUAL'S MEMORABLE GAME WITH BOBBY FISCHER

2011-04-08T14:48:00.000-07:00

NM Joe Pascual

Jose L. Pascual is a National Master and three times Philippine champion (1952-53, 1955-57, 1959-64 ). He was privileged to play against the great Bobby Fisher in an exhibition game in Davao City when Bobby came to visit the Philippines in 1968. Below is NM Joe Pascual's personal note on the said memorable game as published in the 1975 Davao Chess Journal which was lend to me by Engr. Jun Atmosfera.

My memorable game with Bobby Fischer
by NM Jose L. Pascual

When the great Bobby Fischer came to visit the Philippines in 1968, he was then a Grandmaster, he came to Davao City for a three- day stay as a guest of the chessplaying Dacudao family headed by Dr. Elias Dacudao. Fisher was accompanied by our country's foremost promoter of the chess game, Dr. Florencio Campomanes, Smatsky to his chess friends.

We were privileged to play with the great Fischer an exhibion game as a former national champion and the only national master in Davao. The site of our game was the gymnasium of the University of Mindanao which was literally filled to the rafters with local chess afficionados and enthusiasts.

We remember that we were quite busy that memorable day as we had to set up the stage for our game, set up a giant board for our spectators and issue press releases for the event. When the time for our game came, we shook hands with Bobby as Smatsky or Campomanes informed me that FIscher would play the White pieces and that our game would only be a two-hour game. That is, one hour for each player and we have to finish the game in two hours. Of course, we could do nothing but accept the conditions as we really did not expect to win the game but were already contented for the privilege given us to play with the great Fischer.

Following is the record of that game which became memorable when Bobby included it in his book entitled " My 60 Most Memorable Games .........................

[Event "Exhibition Game"]
[Site "UM Gymnasium, Davao City"]
[Date "1968.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "GM Bobby Fisher"]
[Black "NM Joe Pascual"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteELO "?"]
[BlackELO "?"]

SICILIAN DEFENSE

With personal notes fron NM Joe Pascual

(Additional inputs from Caissa's Father. The moves were originally written in the descriptive notation which I translated to the algebraic notation for convenience)

1. e4

We really expected this first move of Fischer. We could not respond with our favorite 1...e5 to avoid a Ruy Lopez game which we heard is favorable to White. And so, although we were not well versed with the Sicilian Defense as it was the popular response to 1.e4 at that time, we decided to essay it against Fischer move as a psychological reply than a desire to equalize or win.

c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bc4 e6

7. Be3 Be7 8.Qe2 a6 9. O-O-O Qc7

(CF: This is the starting position of the Sozin Velimirovic Attack,
one of Fischer's favorite line gainst the Sicilian Defense.)

10. Bb3 Bd7?!

(CF: Better is 10... Na5 or 10...0-0 as the d7 square is
reserved for Black's knight at f6 after the eventual g5
pawn push from White. After 10...0-0 (by transposition),
the game Fischer vs. B. Larsen, rd. 9, Palma de Mallorca
interzonal 1970 continued 11. g4 Nd7 12. h4 Nc5 13. g5 b5
14. f3 Bd7! with slight advantage for Black. Larsen went
on to win in 52 moves.)

11. g4 Nxd4 12. Bxd4

With the pawn onslaught launched by White with 11.g4, we knew
that we had to give up Castling in either side as Castling in
the Q-side would only cram our position after White's g pawn
advance to the 5th rank and at the same time prevent us from
launching a counter-attack on the Queen side. So, perhaps, more
for psychology than anything else, we launched a counter-attack.

12...e5!?

Here, retreating the Bishop would lose a pawn and so Fischer decided
to counter with his text move. It took Fischer quite some time to
make this move. Relatively, of course.

13. g5

( CF: Actually, retreating the Bishop to e3 is a much better move.
Then if 13...Bxg4 14.Nd5! )

13...exd4 14. gxf6 dxc3 15. fxe7 cxb2+ 16. Kb1?!

(CF: A slight inaccuracy. The imediate capture of the b pawn is
better because if Black had initiated the exchange of pieces,
White would have to capture the b pawn sooner or later thereby
losing a tempo.)

16...Kxe7?

This spelled my doom. Much better was not to recapture immediately.
This move exposed my King which the great Fischer exploited
magnificently with a devastating attack. Without recapturing the
pawn immediately but instead try to simplify with 16...Be6 perhaps,
Fischer might have offered a draw as we were a pawn up with the
game leading to the end-game.

17. Qh5 g6 18. Qh4+ f6 19. e5!

( CF: A pawn sacrifice to open- up Black's uncastled position. The
rest of the game is a model example of how to conduct an attack
against an uncastled King.)

19...dxe5 20. f4! e4 21. Qh6 Rae8 22. Rd4 Kd8 23. Rhd1 Kc8

24. Rxd7 Qxd7 25. Rxd7 Kxd7 26. Qg7+ Kd6 27.Qxb7 e3 28.Qb6+ 1-0

Final position

Enough's enough! We cried after bewailing our 16th move.

After that move, the rest was easy for Fischer as they say. We
did not really take our loss so deeply as we not only expected
to lose but were quite satisfied to have given a good fight with
our Sicilian Defense. We were quite taking it easy during the whole
game while Fisher stood rooted to his seat. We stood up about four
times during the whole game to glance at the giant demonstration
board and scrutinize the spectators, grandstander that we are. We
consumed 15 minutes to Fischer's 45.

A memorable game and day indeed!

Replay the game below.

GM EUGENE TORRE JOINT 2ND AT THE END OF THE TELIN INTERNATIONAL CHESS TOURNAMENT 2011

2011-04-07T16:12:00.000-07:00

GM Eugene Torre )

GM Eugene Torre is back. The Philippines Chess living legend halved the point with GM Dao Thien Hai of Vietnam in the 9th and final round to emerged joint 2nd at the end of the 1st Telin Chess International Tournament 2011 held in Indonesia from April 1-7, 2011. Torre, Asia's first grandmaster finished the tournament with 7 points punctuated by wins against eventual champion GM Cerdas Barus of Indonesia and GM Zhang Zhong of Singapore.

In other 9th round result, GM Cerdas Barus won against IM Sadikin Irwanto to emerged solo champion with 7.5 points. GM Merab Gagunashvili beat IM Chirta Chandra Purnama while IM Liu Dede upset GM Dibyendu Barua of India to join the 7 pointers group. Torre emerged in 4th place after the application of tie-breaks.

GM Torre is the lone Philipine representative in this tourney. His participation was particularly requested by the Indonesian Chess Federation because of his stature and fame as a chess player in that country. GM Torre is also a close friend of GM Utut Adianto who became a Senator of Indonesia and is one of the ranking official of the Indonesian Chess Federation.

TOP TEN FINISHERS TELIN INTERNATIONAL CHESS TOURNAMENT 2011

1.GM BARUS CERDAS INA 2443 7.5 52.0 48.0 44.0
2 GM GAGUNASHVILI MERAB GEO 2599 7.0 53.5 49.5 44.0
3 GM DAO THIEN HAI VIE 2507 7.0 53.0 49.5 44.5
4 GM TORRE EUGENIO PHI 2495 7.0 51.5 48.5 45.0
5 IM LIU DEDE INA 2418 7.0 51.5 47.5 42.5
6 GM ZHANG ZHONG SIN 2592 6.5 52.5 49.0 44.5
7 IM IRWANTO SADIKIN INA 2417 6.5 52.0 48.5 44.5
8 FM WAHONO AWAM INA 2372 6.5 50.5 46.5 42.0
9 IM HALAY TAUFIK INA 2346 6.5 49.5 46.0 41.0
10 GM MEGARANTO SUSANTO INA 2533 6.5 49.0 45.5 41.5

Fur further details of the tourney, just click

http://chess-results.com/tnr47102.aspx?art=2&rd=6&lan=1&fed=PHI&m=-1&wi=1000

METRO TORIL CHESS CLUB- DAVAO VS. BARANGAY WESLEY (BW)- MANILA HISTORIC INTERNET CHESS MATCH SET ON APRIL 16,2011

2011-04-06T01:00:00.000-07:00

The Barangay Wesley ( BW ) team

The stage is set for the 1st ever internet chess match between Metro Toril Chess Club-Davao and Barangay Wesley (BW)-Manila scheduled on April 16,2011 at 10 a.m. The historic event which will be the first in its kind in Philippine chess history will feature two of the country's most active chess clubs doing battle not on a traditional chess board but rather on an internet site " Chesscube.com" miles apart.

The BW Manila team, sponsored by ODP Office Needs will play at one of Robinson's internet cafe located at Imus, Cavite while the Metro Toril Chess Club-Davao, sponsored by Guevarra Law Office and D.N Guevarra Architectural Designs will play at one of the internet cafe in Toril, Davao City.

The games can be seen live at chesscube.com with live blogging at FaceBook group " Pinoy Chess Addicts, Unlimited " and also at Chessgames.com GM Wesley So page.

THE TEAMS

BW- MANILA ODP OFFICE NEEDS

The Barangay Wesley (BW) is a Pinoy internet based chess club composed of GM Wesley So admirers with more than 200 members all over the world. The club's main base is chessgames.com GM Wesley So page. Their members include NM Glen Bordonada, FM Paulo Bersamina and U.S based chess olympian "Iskubadayb". Most of the members are only known by their user name. The club's president is "Wordfunph" while the acknowledged supremo is "Sugardom". Some of their recent activities where the holding of the GM Wesley So vs. GM John Paul Gomez active chess match and the chess match against the Don Galo chess club. It is also instrumental in the establishment of the GM Wesley SO website ably administed by "Koyodenzo".

THE TEAM MEMBERS

(From left: Djobskijamiro,Spartan1998, Nanobrain, Wordfunph, spawn2 & others )

1. Pulsar - 2100
2. Spartan1998 ( FM Paulo bersamina ) - 2100
3. Nanobrain -2000
4. Doji - 2000
5. Kidsgambit - 1950
6. CokeAgent - 1950
7. Kardopov - 1800
8. Sugardom -1800
9. Rusticbull -1800
10. Fierychess -1850
11. Epistle - 1850
12. Joeyj - 1780
13. Dyobskijamero - 2000
14. Fischer22
15. Tresmaster

Arbiter/Observer- Wordfunph

( GM Wesley So and BW team captain and sponsor Norlito Sepulvida a.k.a "Sugardom")

METRO TORIL CHESS CLUB-DAVAO
(Sponsored by Guevara Law Office and D.N Guevarra Architectural Designs)

Metro Toril Chess Club is among the most active and oldest surviving chess club of Davao City. Among its past members were 1982 Asian junior champ IM Marlo Micayabas and two time National Games Champ WNM Kendi Gonzales. It has participated in a number of National Inter-cities team tourney, tying for 5th/6th place in Iligan City a couple of years ago although in that case it was not an all Toril line-up.

( FM elect John Ray Batucan and FM Austin Jacob Literatus. the 1-2 punch of the Toril Chess Club ).

The chessclub's roster at present is composed of up and coming youngsters lead by 2008 ASEAN age group 12 and under champ FM elect John Ray Batucan and 2010 ASEAN age group 14 and under champ FM elect Austin Jacob Literatus and a springkling of executive players.

THE TEAM MEMBERS

FM elect John Ray Batucan - 1914
FM elct Austin Jacob Literatus - 1810
Eric Fernandez - 2085
Nofre Reyes - 2013
Alfred Moulic - 1955
Engr. Werner Priete - 1900+
Atty. Jong Guevarra Jr. - 1835
Christopher Yap - 1824
Engr. Napoleon Recososa -1800+
Neptali Batucan - 1768
Engr. Jun Atmosfera
Anthony Mosqueda
Adrian Llanos

Reserve:

Glen Paclar
Ali Jover

Arbiter/Observer - Allan Dinglasan

(Anthony Mosqueda vs. Atty. Jong Guevarra Jr. - team captain and sponsor of Metro Toril Chess Club.)

GM TORRE IN SOLO LEAD AFTER THE 6TH ROUND OF THE TELIN INTERNATIONAL CHESS TOURNAMENT 2011

2011-04-05T02:18:00.001-07:00

GM Eugene Torre )

Philippine Chess living legend GM Eugene Torre is the solo leader of the ongoing 1st Telin Chess International Tournament 2011 held in Indonesia with 5.5 ponits after the 6th round. Torre, Asia's first grandmaster won against GM Cerdas Barus of Indonesia in the 6th round and will next face IM Sadikin Irwanto in the 7th round. Hot on his heels with 5 points are GM's Cerdas Barus, Dao Thien Hai of Vietnam, Merab Gagunashvili of Georgia, Zhang Zhong of Singapore, IM Sadikin Irwanto of Indonesia and untitled player Johan Gunawan of Indonesia.

In other 6th round result, GM Zhang Zhong won against GM Susano Megaranto of Indonesia, GM Gagunashvili prevailed over GM Ardiansyah of Indonesia, GM Dao Thien Hai beat FM Awam Wahono while untitled Johan Gunawan upset GM Dibyendu Barua of India.

GM Torre is the lone Philipine representative in this tourney. His participation was particularly requested by the Indonesian Chess Federation because of his stature and fame as a chess player. GM Torre is also a close friend of GM Utut Adianto who is one of the ranking official of the Indonesian Chess Federation.

Fur further details of the tourney, just click

http://chess-results.com/tnr47102.aspx?art=2&rd=6&lan=1&fed=PHI&m=-1&wi=1000

GM INO SADORRA AND THE FRENCH DEFENSE- PART I

2011-03-29T03:09:00.000-07:00

( Photo from the UT Dallas website )

Newly minted GM Julio Catalino Sadorra is a French Defense devotee
although he also uses the Sicilian Defense from time to time. In the
recently concluded UT Dallas Grandmaster Invitational, he used the
French Defense thrice ( 1 win,1 loss, 1 draw). Let us watch his
impressive handling of the French Defense in a win against Bulgarian
GM Dejan Bojkov.

[Event "UT Dallas Grandmaster Invitational Underwritten by Turner Construction"]
[Site "Richardson"]
[Date "2011.03.17"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Bojkov, Dejan"]
[Black "Sadorra, Julio"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteELO "2523"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[BlackELO "2475"]
[BlackTitle "IM"]
[Source "MonRoi"]

FRENCH DEFENSE- Tarrash Variation

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 Be7

This the Morozevich variation of the French Tarrash made popular
by GM Alexander Morozevich. This line was recommended by GM
Nikita Vitiugov in his 2010 book " The French Defense - A Complete
Black Repertoire ". Quoting GM Vitiugov:

" It is considered that after 3. Nd2, Black has two basic
possibilities at his disposal, 3... c5 and 3... Nf6. Lately,
however, a variation, which used to be regarded as a sideline,
3... Be7 became very popular. The point is that White cannot
create any real threats in the next few moves (This should not
be surprising, since the game is just beginning..) and Black
develops his Bishop to a reliable although not necessary permanent,
position. He is simply willing to see his opponent's next move ".

4.e5 c5 5.Qg4 g6

In the 9th round of the same tournament, Ino's team mate IM Salvijus
Bercys played the main move 5...Kf8 against GM Bojkov. The game
continued with 6.Ndf3 Nc6 7.Bd3 f6 8.c3 cxd4 9.cxd4 Qc7 10.Ne2 fxe5
11.Nxe5 Nxe5 12.Qf4 Bf6 13.O-O! Ke8 14.Qg3 Nh6 15.Bf4 Nhf7
16.Rac1 Qd6 17.dxe5 Bxe5 18.Rfe1 g5 19.Bxe5 Qxe5 20.f4! Qxb2
21.fxg5 Qb6 22.Kh1 Bd7 23.g6 1-0

6.dxc5 Nh6!?

This is a novelty. More common is 6... Nd7. In the game Adams 2716
vs. Short 2697 Sarajevo Bosnia 1999, Black played the surprising
6...f5 but after 7.Qg3 Nd7 8.Bb5 Qa5 9. Bxd7 Bxd7 10.c3 Qxc5
11.Ne2 Bd8 12.Nb3 Qe7 13.h4! and White went on to win in 39 moves.

7.Qf4 g5 8.Qa4 Bd7 9.Bb5 Nc6 10.Ndf3 a6 11.Bxc6 Bxc6
12.Qb4 a5 13.Qd2 d4 14.h4 Nf5 15.hxg5 Bxc5 16.Ne2?!

White could have maintain his advantage with 16.Qd3 Qb6 17. Qb3!

16...Qb6! 17.Nf4 Bb4 18.c3 dxc3 19.bxc3 Rd8 20.Qb2 Bxf3

GM Sadorra has played vigorously and managed to hold his head
aboved water in a complicated position. Who will be the first
to blink?

21.O-O?

White blinks first. 21.gxf3 is the only move to maintain the
balance. Then if 21...Qd4 22.Bd2 Qxe5 23.Ne2. Now the advantage
has shifted to Black who played the rest of the game flawlessly
never allowing White any counter-play.

21...Rg8! 22.gxf3 Rxg5 23.Ng2 Rg6 24.cxb4 Nh4 25.Bf4?

The final blunder. White could have provide stiffer resistance by
25.Kh1 Nxg2 26.Rg1

Nxg2 26.Bh2 Ne1 27.Kh1 Qc6!

0-1

Replay the game below.

HARRISON MAAMO IS CHESS KING OF THE 2011 ARAW NG DAVAO OPEN

2011-03-27T17:24:00.000-07:00

[Harrison Maamo ( in black shirt with blue collars )pondering his move against Davao Youngstar's Erwin Tubog Jr. during the Davao Veterans vs. Youngstars -II match]

Harrison Maamo dominated the opposition to emerged as the 2011 Araw ng Davao Open champion. The Panabo City native had a perfect tourney with 7 points at the end of the 7 rounds swiss system tourney. Along the way, he scored wins against notable players the likes of FM John Ray Batucan, Irwin Aton, Rodrigo Catayas, Jerwell Andoy plus a big win against Henry Lopez in the 7th round. He received the champion's prize of P 5,000.00 + trophy courtesy of the City Governmnent of Davao.

Runner-up honors went to Jayson Salubre who scored 6.5 points punctuated by a last round win against Jay Bulicatin. Third placer via tie break surprisingly went to junior stand-out Aglipay 8 Oberio with 6 points who won against Carlo Doctolero in the last round. Vincent Umayan was another 6 pointer with a last round win against Jake Milagrosa. FM Austin Jacob Literatus joined the 6 pointers with a crucial win against Jerwell Andoy in the last round.

A total of 116 players participated in the tournament. The tourney was sponsored by Davao City Mayor Inday Sara Duterte and Vice Mayor Rody Duterte with the following prizes: champion 5000, 2nd 2500 3rd 1500, 4th 750, 5th 750.

For further details of the final standing, just click
http://chess-results.com/tnr46748.aspx?art=2&rd=5&lan=1&fed=PHI&m=-1&wi=1000

ARAW NG DAVAO OPEN - 6 PLAYERS REMAIN PERFECT AFTER THE 4TH ROUND

2011-03-26T14:54:00.000-07:00

Unrated Jake Milagrosa is playing excellent chess to remain unbeaten along with 5 others at the end of the 4th round of the ongoing Araw ng Davao Open chess tourney. Milagrosa recorded a major upset in the 3rd round by beating 2011 Kidapawan Open champ Reynaldo Gempero in the 3rd round and followed it through with a win against University of Mindanao player Denzel John Amar in the 4th round. Others with 4 points include Carlo Doctolero who won against FM Austin Jacob Literatus in the 4th round, Rodrigo Catayas who was an upset winner against CM Jimmy Dano, Jay Bulicatin who won against Vincent Umayan, Harrison Maamo who prevailed over Irwin Aton and Jerwell Andoy, winner against Aglipay 8 Oberio.

Top seed NM Macacana Macala is next with 3.5 points after being held to a draw in the 4th round by Nazario Ubanan of Cagayan de Oro City. Others with 3.5 points includes Nazario Ubanan, Lyndon Sombilon, Henry Lopez and Jayson Salubre.

The last 3 rounds of the tourney will be played today at the 5th floor of the Gaisano Grand Citi Mall, Illustre St., Davao City . A total of 116 players are entered in the tournament. The tourney is sponsored by Davao City Mayor Inday Sara Duterte and Vice Mayor Rody Duterte with the following prizes: champion 5000, 2nd 2500 3rd 1500, 4th 750, 5th 750.

For further details of the standing, just click
http://chess-results.com/tnr46748.aspx?art=2&rd=5&lan=1&fed=PHI&m=-1&wi=1000

DAVAO CHESS LEAGUE SET TO TAKE-OFF ON MAY 7, 2011 WITH EXHIBITION MATCH BETWEEN BUHANGIN CHESS CLUB AND METRO TORIL CHESS ASSOCIATION

2011-03-25T17:02:00.000-07:00

The Davao Chess League will be launched on May 7, 2011 at the Toril Chess Plaza with a ten boards exhibition match between perennial rival Buhangin Chess Club and Metro Toril Chess Association. The Buhangin team will be lead by newly crowned Blue Jazz Executive champ Vincent Umayan and the Aton brothers of Dela Salle fame while the MTCA side will be spearheaded by FM's AJ Literatus and JR Batucan. The team managers/owners meeting will follow after the match. Formal hostilities for the inaugural DCL tourney will begin on May 14, 2011.

So far, 8 teams have already confirmed participation of the initial tourney dubbed as the Commissioners Cup. They are:

1. Cong. Ungab Youngstars ( FM's Literatus and Batucan )
2. MTCA Dragons ( Henry Fajardo/ Zaldy Tabanao )
3. Guevarra Law Gambiteers ( Atty. Jong Guevarra/Nofre Reyes)
4. Ateneo Blue Knights Alumni ( Chris Yap/Engr. Recososa)
5. Chess Excellence Kidz
6. Buhangin Chess Club
7. Davao Doctors Team ( c/o Engr. Reyes )
8. Caissa's Father Bloggers

Invitations are also to be sent to Risins Philippines of Engr. Allan Diez and NM Alex Lupian, Osmeña Park Chess Club/Multi-Car of Maning Eva, Panabo Chess Club c/o Henry Lopez/NM Magno, Digos City Chess CLub c/o Lito Laput, University of Mindanao, Holy Cross College of Davao, and Jose Maria College (JMC).

THe Davao Chess League is composed of the following directors: Glen Paclar, Chris Yap, City Pros. Allan Cabitin of Chess Excellence, and James Infiesto as ex-officio member being the NCFP Regional Director. Acting League Commissioner will be Atty. Jong Guevarra Jr.. The technical committee will be composed of Alfred Moulic, Nofre Reyes and Engr. Werner Priete. League advisers includes Atty. Melzar Galicia, Engr. Jun Atmosfera, Engr. Allan Diez and Architect Gene Nagayo.

For the initial tourney dubbed as the Commissioner's Cup, the prizes are as follows:

P 15,000.00 + trophy- Champion
10,000.00 - 2nd placer
6,000.00 - 3rd placer

Prizes shall also be given to top individual board performance.

The prize money could still go up depending on the numbers of participating teams. The team shall be composed of 4 regular players and 1 alternate. Titled players (NM/FM) are allowed to play provided that the average NCFP rating of the team would not reach beyond 2050. For purposes of rating computation, players who are unrated or whose rating is below 1800 shall be given a provisional rating of 1800. The tournament format would either be a round-robin or swiss system depending on the number of participating teams. Every team is required to bring 1 chess clock and 2 chess boards during the tourney proper. Registraton fee is P 3,000.00 per team. Those teams that are interested to play may inquire at Guevarra Law Office tel.no. 291-4087.

All players are also required to follows the dress code. Players who wears shorts and slippers will not be allowed to play.

GENS UNA SUMUS!

UMAYAN TOPS 1ST BLUEJAZZ EMPLOYEE/EXECUTIVE RAPID CHESS TOURNEY

2011-03-23T21:34:00.000-07:00

( Players and tourney officials posed with the owner of BlueJazz Resort after the awarding of prizes)

VINCENT Umayan was declared the Champion via tiebreak over Alfred Moulic in the 1st Bluejaz Employee/Executive Rapid Chess Tournament held at the Bluejaz Resort, Island Garden City of Samal over the weekend.

(Champion via tie-break - Vincent Umayan receiving his prize from the owner of Blue Jazz Resort)

Umayan, representing PAC Packaging and Moulic, representing MIPCPD each scored four points at the end of the five-round Swiss System format chessfest. Umayan, however, beat Moulic, 14.5-14.0, in the tiebreaks.

(Second placer - Alfred Moulic )

Reynaldo Gempero of Lapanday tallied 3.5 points to place third while three-pointers Irwin Aton of Bahay Financial Services and Atty. Melzar Galica of LG Law Firm placed fourth and fifth, respectively.

( Third Placer- Reynaldo Gempero )

National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) regional director James Infiesto representing Bonjee Entertainment Services placed sixth while fellow 2.5 scorer Atty. Jong Guevarra Jr. of Guevarra Law Office finished seventh. Christopher Yap, Manager of One- Network Bank Toril branch , Servando Nudas of Holcim Philippines and Miel John Barcemo of MIB Rent a Car, rounded up the top 10 finishers in the one-day tournament.

According to NCFP director James Infiesto, the second leg of the Grand Prix tourney will be held on the month of May after the staging of the National age- group and National juniors competition.

(Caissa's father vs. Chris Yap of One Network Bank)

( Irwin Aton vs. Reynaldo Gempero)

( Architect Gene Nagayo vs. Caissa's father)

( James Infiesto vs eventual champ Vincent Umayan)

( Atty. Melzar Galicia vs. Chris Yap)

( James Infiesto vs. Caissa's father )

IM INO SADORRA EARNS FINAL GM NORM AT THE UT DALLAS GRANDMASTER INVITATIONAL

2011-03-15T15:30:00.001-07:00

(GM Alex Shabalov vs. IM Ino Sadorra. Photo from the tourney website)

The UT Dallas Grandmaster Invitational, underwritten by Turner Construction took place on March 12-19, 2011 hosted by the University of Texas at Dallas with games held at the Hyatt Regency North Dallas hotel.Six Grandmasters (GMs) competed against six of UT Dallas' chess team members, two of whom are already ranked GM's.

UT Dallas Team

1. GM Alejandro Ramirez (2594) Arts and Technology Graduate Student
2. IM Marko Zivanic (2497) Computer Science Doctoral Student
3. GM Cristian Chirila (2513) International Political Economy Freshman
4. IM Julio Sadorra (2475) Applied Math Sophomore
5. IM Puchen Wang (2464) Business Administration Junior
6. IM Salvijus Bercys (2469) Accounting Senior

Avg. rating 2502

Grandmaster Team

1. GM Magesh Panchanathan (2542) India
2. GM Dejan Bojkov (2523) Bulgaria
3. GM Julio Becerra (2549) USA
4. GM Ray Robson (2522) USA
5. GM Valentin Iotov (2574) Bulgaria
6. GM Alex Shabalov (2590) USA

Avg. rating 2550

The tournament used the Scheveningen system which allows each player on one team to play each player on the opposing team. Playing against Grandmasters gave IM Julio Catalino Sadorra ( Ino to friends) and the rest of his IM teammates the much needed chance to achieve GM norms although at the end of the tourney only Ino Sadorra was able to achieve this feat thereby completing his GM norm requirement. He just needs to up his ELO rating to 2500 to be officially awarded the GM title.

The tournament was won by GM Valentin Iotov with 8 pts in 12 rounds. Sadorra lead his UT Dallas Team with 7.5 pts with a TPR of 2645 good enough for 2nd place. However, his team lost to the all GM team 29.5-42.5. Overall, Sadorra scored 4 wins 6 draws and 1 loss. He won against GMs Robson, Panchanathan, Bojkov and Shabalov and suffered his only loss at the hands of GM Robson in their return match when he walked into a prepared line of the French Winawer.

(GM Robson in action vs. IM Zivanic)

Let us watch his first win in the tourney which he scored against the US chess prodigy GM Ray Robson.

[Event "UT Dallas Grandmaster Invitational Underwritten by Turner Construction"]
[Site "Richardson"]
[Date "2011.03.13"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Sadorra, Julio"]
[Black "Robson, Ray"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteELO "2475"]
[WhiteTitle "IM"]
[BlackELO "2522"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
[Source "MonRoi"]

KING'S INDIAN DEFENSE
PETROSIAN SYSTEM

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.d4 O-O 6.Be2 e5 7.d5

The immediate closing of the centre with 7. d5 is known as the
Petrosian system, after the Armenian World Champion who did much
to develop and popularise the move, especially in conjunction with
8 Bg5, pinning the black knight. (Raymond Keene, Byron Jacobs The
Complete Kings Indian)

The line involves a complex maneuvering game which is a wise choice
against GM Robson who is known as an attacking player.

a5 8.Bg5 h6 9.Bh4 Na6 10.Nd2 c6 11.O-O Bd7 12.Kh1 Qe8

13.Nb3 cxd5?

Black's last move was the cause of his problem for the rest of the
game. Better is 13...g5 14.Bg3 a4 15. Nd2 a3! 16. bxa3 Nc5 =

14.Bxf6 !

The reason why 13...g5 was in order. By this intermediate move
White is able to occupy the critical d5 square.

Bxf6 15.Nxd5 Bd8 16.Nxa5! Nc5

16...Bxa5 losses the Queen because of 17.Nf6 +

17.b4 Rxa5?

True to form, White undertakes a quality sacrifice in a hope to
obtain counter-play. However, White's material advantage and
more active pieces highlighted by his dominating knight at d5
offers black no hope at all. The rest is a matter of technique as
the master would often say.

18.bxa5 Nxe4 19.Bf3 Ba4 20.Qc1 Ng5 21.Bd1 Bc6 22.h4 Ne4

23.Bf3 Bxd5 24.cxd5 Nc5 25.Qxh6 Qe7 26.g3 Bxa5 27.Kg2 e4

28.Bg4 Bc3 29.Rac1 Bg7 30.Qg5 Qxg5 31.hxg5 Re8 32.Rfd1 Kf8

33.Rb1 Ke7 34.Rdc1 Rb8 35.a4 Kd8 36.a5 Kc7 37.Rb4 Re8

38.Rb6 Be5 39.Rb4 Bg7 40.Rh1 Bc3 41.Rb5 Rf8 42.Rh7 Kd8

43.Rh1 Bd2 44.Rhb1 Kc7 45.a6!

IM Sadorra proves that he is equal to the task. This brilliant move
finally shatter black's defense.

45...Rb8

If 45... bxa6 46. Rb6! with a clear win for White.

46.axb7 Rxb7 47.Rxb7 Nxb7 48.Bd7! Nc5 49.Be8 Nd3

50.Bxf7 Ne5 51.Be6 e3 52.f4 e2 53.Kf2 e1Q 54.Rxe1 Nd3

55.Ke2 Bxe1 56.Kxd3 Kd8 57.Bf7 Bxg3 58.Ke4 Be1 59.Bxg6 Bd2

60.Kf3 Ke7 61.Kg4 Kf8 62.f5 Kg7 63.Bh5 Bc3 64.f6 Kf8

65.Kf5 Ba5 66.Ke6 1-0

Final position.

Replay the game below.

IM MARLO MICAYABAS AND THE 2008 BRADLEY OPEN- PART II

2011-03-02T02:20:00.000-08:00

This is the 2nd part of IM Marlo Micayabas's personal account of his comeback tourney, the 2008 Bradley Open where he tied for 1st. To view Part I just click
http://metrolirot.blogspot.com/2009/05/im-marlo-micayabas-and-2008-bradley.html

By IM Marlo Micayabas

After a draw in my previous game, I dropped to playing on board 3 against chess expert Zakhar Maymin. I overdid my tardiness in this game, so I started with 10 minutes already used up on my clock. I'm starting to convince myself that showing up late for a game is not always such a great idea.

Saturday, August 9, 2008, 6:10PM

[Event "Bradley Open 2008"]
[Site "Bradley, USA"]
[Date "2008.8.9"]
[Round "3"]
[White "IM Micayabas, Marlo"]
[Black "Maymin, Zakhar"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteELO "2339"]
[BlackELO "2170"]

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5

Again, avoiding mainstream theory in 3.Nc3 or 3.Nd2 and hoping to find my way along positional grounds.

3... c5 4.c3 Qb6 5.Nf3 Bd7 6.Be2 cxd4 7.cxd4 Nc6

Reverting to lines starting with 4... Nc6. Also possible was 7... Bb5 exchanging off Black's "bad" Bishop. Play might continue 8.0-0 Be2 9.Qe2 Nc6 10.Be3 Nge7 11.Nc3 Nf5 with equal chances as in Hofman - Psakhis, Benasque 1994.

8.0-0 Nge7 9.Nc3 Nf5 10.Na4 Qc7

This is a passive move. The recommended move here is 10... Qa5 meeting 11.Bd2 with 11... Bb4.

11.b3 Nb4 12.a3! Bxa4 13.bxa4 Nc6

Black had succeeded in getting rid of his "bad" Bishop and saddled White with doubled a-pawns. However, he has fallen too far behind in development enabling White to seize the open c-file.

14.g4! Nfe7 15.Bd2 Ng6 16.Rb1! Be7 17.Rb3! 0-0 18.Qb1 Rab8 19.Bd3 Rfe8 20.Rfc1 Qd7 21.Rbc3 Rbc8 22.Qc2

White has completed lining up his heavy artillery on the c-file. Invasion comes next.

22... Rc7 23.a5! Bd8

If 23... a6, then 24.Bxa6!

24.a6 Nge7 25.Bxh7 Kf8 26.Bd3

Black resigned as he is a pawn down in a difficult position.

In this round, GM Alexander Ivanov netted his 3rd straigh win, while GM Sergei Kudrin was held to a draw by a talented young expert Andrew Ng. GM Michael Rohde bounced back from his loss to Kudrin with a win to rack up 2 points.

AN EXCITING GAME BETWEEN GM EUGENE TORRE VS. NM REGGIE OLAY

2011-02-27T00:55:00.000-08:00

( Atty. Jong Guevarra Jr and IM Candidate Reggie Olay doing the ceremonial moves ushering the start of the classic chess match between the Davao Young Stars vs. the Davao Experienced Stars held recently in Davao City. Looking on are some of Davao's finest chessplayers and stakeholders)

Considering that today is the birthday of my good friend NM and IM Candidate Edgar Reggie Olay, allow me to pay tribute to him by featuring his epic battle against the Philippines living legend GM Eugene Torre. The game was played during the 2001 Philippine National Championships held in Quezon City. The game started as a quiet Sicilian Defense sideline but became tactical and complicated during the ensuing middle game. The result was a shocker and unexpected.

Enjoy the game! .

[Event "ch-PHI"]
[Site "Quezon City PHI"]
[Date "2001.04.09"]
[EventDate "2001.04.02"]
[Round "8"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[White "Eugenio Torre"]
[Black "Edgar Reggie Olay"]
[ECO "B50"]
[WhiteElo "2546"]
[BlackElo "?"]
[PlyCount "136"]

SICILIAN DEFENSE

Annotations by Caissa's Father

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. c3 Nf6 4. Be2 g6 5. O-O Bg7 6. Bb5+

GM Torre's pet line in the Sicilian. In his book " Beating the
Anti-Sicilians " GM Joe Gallagher has this to say:

" This original move is a specialty of the Filipino grandmaster Torre.
Basically White wants to play d4, but if he continues in normal fashion
with 6 Re1 this will be almost impossible to carry out. The check on
b5 helps him to implement this advance as each of Black's replies
lessens the pressure on d4.

I believe that I became the first victim of this line in the game
Torre- Gallagher, St. John 1988. I was so taken aback by this check
that I conducted the rest of the game in a very miserable manner.
Firstly, I chose 6...Nc6, the weakest of the three plausible ways
to escape the check. Play then continued 7. d4 cxd4 8. cxd4 0-0
9. Nc3 Bg4 10.Be3 Nd7 11. Be2 e5 12. d5 Bxf3 13. dxc6! Bxe2
14. Nxe2 Nf6 15. cxb7 Rb8 16. Nc3 with a clear advantage to White
( 1-0 after 32 moves ).

Now lets go back to the game.

6... Nbd7 7. Re1 O-O 8. d4 a6 9. Bf1 Qc7 10. h3 e6

This is a new move. In the game Toomanian, H vs. Ghaem Maghami,
Iranian Championships, 1998, Black continued with 10... cxd4
11.cxd4 b5 12. e5 Nd5 13. a4 bxa4 14. exd6 exd6 15. Ra3 N7b6
16. Nc3 Bd7 (0-1, 35 moves ). Fritz also prefers the move
10...cxd4

11. Bf4 e5 12. dxe5 dxe5 13. Bg5 h6 14. Bxf6 Nxf6
15. a4 Be6 16. a5 Rfd8 17. Qc2 Ne8 18. c4 Nd6 19. Nfd2 f5
20. Nc3 Rf8 21. Nd5 Qf7 22. Bd3 Rac8 23. Nb6 Rc6 24. Ra3 Kh8
25. Re2 f4?!

Releasing the tension too early. The position is akin to the King's
Indian classical line but here black's pawn storm is not that
effective as the light squares can be controlled by White's bishop
and queen. He should have just consolidated his position by 25...Rc7
and just wait for a favorable time to move his f pawn.

26. Re1 g5 27. Be2 Rg8 28. Qd1 Bf6 29. Nd5 Bd8
30. Bh5 Qg7 31. Qe2 Ne8 32. Rea1 Nd6 33. Rb3 Bf7 34. Rd3 Qf8
35. b4 Qe8 36. Bxf7 Nxf7 37. Qh5?!

Slowly by slowly and through adept maneuvering, GM Torre has
achieved a small but lasting advantage. However, his last move
was a waste of tempo. Best is the immediate 37. bxc5 Rxc5 38. Rb1
with decisive advantage as White' queenside attack crashes
through while Black's kingside attack has not yet taken off.

37...Rcg6?

Black could have swung the tide in his favor by 37... g4!
38.hxg4 Rg5 39. Qh1 cxb4 40.Nxb4 Rcg6! with counter-play.

38. bxc5 Qc6 39. Nb3 R8g7 40. Kf1 Kh7 41. Qg4 Kh8
42. Nb4 Qe8 43. Ke2 Qf8 44. Rd5 f3+ 45. gxf3 Rf6 46. Nd3 Be7
47. Rd7 Nd8 48. Rd1 Qe8 49. Nxe5 Rf4 50. Qg3 Ne6 51. Rxb7 Qa4

52. Ra1?

Moving the wrong rook. 52.Rb8+! Kh7 53. Ra1 and Black's queen
is trapped. After being given a new lease in life, Olay now
started to fight back.

52...Qe8 53. Nd3 Bf6!? 54. Rxg7 Bxg7 55. Rb1 Qa4
56. Nd2 Qc2 57. Rc1?

58. Rb8+ Kh7 59.Rb7 is the only way for White to hold on to the
advantage but the win is already problematic.

57... Qa2 58. c6 Nd4+ 59. Ke1?

59. Ke3 is the only move to stay in the game.

59... Qa3!

A reversal of fortune. Now it is black who is winning!

60. Nb3 Qxb3 61. Nxf4 Qb2?

61... gxf4! would have been an easy win.

62. Ng6+ Kh7 63. Kf1 Qxc1+ 64. Kg2 Ne2 65. Qh2 Kxg6
66. c7

66...Be5?

Olay was probably expecting White to resign after this move as
the bishop cannot be taken due to the obvious Qg1+ mate. Correct
was 66... Qxc4 Qd6+ 67. Kh7 68. Qd7 Nf4 69. Kh2 Qf1! 70.Qf5+ Ng6
71. c8Q Be5! and Black wins.

67. c8=Q!

Unexpectedly, this move saves the game for White. As the saying
goes, " The game ain't over until its over".

67... Bxh2 68. Qe6+ Kh7 1/2-1/2

Draw agreed as Black cannot avoid perpetual check.

Final position.

Replay the exciting game below

GM DARWIN LAYLO'S BEST GAME AT THE 2011 AEROFLOT OPEN B

2011-02-26T15:39:00.000-08:00

( Photo from pinoychess.informe.com)

Here is GM Laylo's crucial last round win against GM Gavrilov that
enabled him to tie for 1st at the 2011 Aeroflot Open B

[Event "Aeroflot Open 2011 B"]
[Site "Moscow, Russia"]
[Date "2011.2.16"]
[Round "9"]
[White "GM Laylo, Darwin"]
[Black "GM Gavrilov, Alexei"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteELO "2516"]
[BlackELO "2484"]

KING'S INDIAN DEFENSE

Annotations by Caissa's Father

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. g3 O-O 5. Bg2 d6 6. Nf3 Nc6

7. O-O Bf5

The move 7... Bf5 is known as the Lesser Simagin variation of the
King's Indian Defense Fianchetto System. Black-s strategic plan is
similar to that of Panno's variation, but he hopes to profit from
his omission of ...a6 and the insertion of the developing move...
Bf5. GM Raymond Keene, in his Book " The Complete King's Indian "
has the following comments about Black-s set-up:

" A provocative sortie which is not often played, although it is
something of a speciality of the Dutch GM Jeroen Piket. Black
positively invites White to gain space and time by attacking the
bishop but hopes that in the process White will over-reach himself.

8. d5 Na5 9. Nd2 c6 10. e4 Bg4 11. Qa4 cxd5 12. cxd5 Bd7

13. Qb4 Qc7

In the game Jasnikowski, 2460 vs. Malisauskas, 2570- Katowise Fibak
Open 1993, Black opted to exchange queens by 13... Ob6 14.Qb6 axb4
15. a4 Rfc8 and went on to win the ending in 59 moves. Fritz instead
suggest 13... Ng4 so that Black's knight and dark bishop can add
pressure to the queenside supported by a later ... Rc8.

14. e5 Ne8 15. e6!?

This daring move played a crucial part in the outcome of this game.
The drawback is that the e6 pawn would be over extended and can be
subject to attack by black's other pieces. More prudent is 15.f4
Bf5 then 16. Nf3 whereby White completes his development while
maintaining his Kingside pressure.

fxe6 16. Bh3 Nf6 17. dxe6 Bc6 18. Nde4 Nxe4 19. Nxe4 Qb6 20. Qe1

White cannot afford to exchange queens as he has yet to complete
his development and while Black's 2 bishops are ideally placed.
White's last move it seems was a blunder as White's rook at f1
has nowhere to go after 20... Bb5. Black must have been smiling
at this position but White is cooking something...

20...Bb5 21. Be3 Qd8 22. Ng5 Bxf1 23. Qxf1 Nc6 24. Bg4 Ne5

25. Qh3 h6 26. Nf7

From nowhere, White has suddenly whip-up a kingside attack.

26...Nxf7?

26... Qa5 is th only way to maintain the initative and parry White's
threat. Then if 27. Bxh6 Nxg4 28. Qxg4 Qf5! However, this move is
difficult to find over the board.

27. exf7+ Kh7?

Best for Black is to return the exchange by 27... Rxh7 28. Be6 Qf8
and the game will probably end in a draw. It seems that Black is
still playing for a win without realizing the precarious position of
his king.

28. Be6 Qa5 29. Rc1?!

White falters. Best is 29. f4! with a further f5 on sight in order
to further weaken Black's kingside.

29... d5?

The only move to regain the intiative is 29... Qe5! followed by
Rad8 and the eventual push d5. The queen is centralized and can
help defend Black's Kingside.

30. Rd1 Rad8?

The final blunder. 30... Qxa2! 31. Rd4 Qb1+ 32. Kg2 h5
33. Rh4 Bh6 34. Rxh5 Qe4+ 35. Kg1 Qb1 +36. Kg2 Qe4 + with
perpetual check. How would now White proceed with his attack?

31. Rd4!

Probably Black overlooked this move. The rook cannot be taken by the
bishop because of Qxh6 mate.

Rd6 32. Rh4 g5 33. Qf5+ Kh8 34. Rxh6+! Bxh6 35. Bd4+

Black resigns. 1-0

Nice attacking game by GM Laylo.

IM RICHARD BITOON'S BEST GAME AT THE 2011 AEROFLOT B

2011-02-16T14:58:00.001-08:00

( photo from pinoychess.informe.com )

IM Richard Bitoon scored 5.5 points in 9 rounds in the 2011 Aeroflot
B held in Moscow, Russia just recently. Although his score was not
enough for a GM norm, his 8th round win against GM Mikhail Ulibin
of Russia was something to cheer about. The Russian GM was the
second seed of his group with a 2547 rating. Below is their game.

[Event "Aeroflot Open 2011 B"]
[Site "Moscow, Russia"]
[Date "2011.2.15"]
[Round "8"]
[White "IM Bitoon, Richard"]
[Black "GM Ulibin, Mikhail"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteELO "2461"]
[BlackELO "2547"]

SICILIAN DEFENSE
ENGLISH ATTACK
( Annotations by Caissa's Father )

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Be3

This is the starting position of the English Attack. IM Steffen
Pedersen, in his book " Easy Guide to the Sicilian Scheveningen ",
has this to say:

The English Attack is a modern way of combating the Najdorf and
Scheveningen. The English Attack is characterized by White's set-
up with f3, Qd2 and 0-0-0 followed by advancing the g-pawn. This
plan can be extremely dangerous and Black must be careful not to
neglect his development.

6... Be7 7.g4 h6

IM Pedersen:

Black's most popular plan is to slow down White's kingside
advance with ...h6, followed by...Bb7 and ...d5. White must
then open up the kingside as quickly as possible.

In practice this has been Black's most popular option, but
as remarked above kingside castling is hardly feasible since
White can quickly break through with h4 and g5, and as the
queenside is quite airy, the king must therefore stay in the
centre.

8.Rg1 a6 9. Qd2 b5 10. Bd3 g5?!

This move unduly weakens Black's kingside. Instead, Fritz 10
suggest 10... Bb7 11. h4 b4 12. Nce2 Qa5 13. Nb3 Qc7 14. 0-0-0
Nbd7 15. Qxb4 Ne5 with counter-play.

11. O-O-O Nfd7 12. Kb1 Ne5 13. h4 Bb7 14. hxg5 hxg5 15. Rh1 Rg8

16. f3 Nbd7 17. Rh7

The game GM Renet, O (2515) vs. GM Ribli, Z (2605) Clermont
Ferrand 1989 continued 17. Of2 Rc8 18. Rd2 Nc5 19.a3 Nexd3
20. cxd3 Bf6 21.Rdd1 Qa5 1/2-1/2

17... Qa5?!

[17...Nf6 18. Rh3 b4 19. Nce2 d5 20. Bxg5 dxe4 21. Bxf6 Bxf6
22.fxe4 Qb6 23. Nf3 Rxg4 24. Nxe5 Bxe5 Aaberg, A (2383) vs.
Eriksson, J (2414), Sweden Championships, 1/2- 1/2 in 42 moves]

This move started Black's downfall. Instead, Black could have
organized his counter-play with 17...b4 18. Nce2 d5! as suggested
by Fritz

18. a3!

Preventing b4. An interesting alternative is 18. Nxe6! and then
if 18... fxe6? 19. Rxe7! Kxe7 20. Nd5 ch.! and Black's queen
falls.

18... Bf6?!

Another dubious move. The bishop is needed in e7 to protect Black's
d6 pawn. Black's best move it seems, is 18... Oc7 followed by Nb6.

19. Be2 Qd8??

Black's only way of prolonging resistance is by castling queenside
although in that line White would still maintain a big advantage.
With this blunder, IM Bitoon quickly finished the game in style..

20. Nxe6! fxe6 21. Qxd6 Be7 22. Qxe6 Rf8 23. Bb6!

Final position.

Black resigns. 1-0

Replay the game below.

U.M VARSITY ALUMNI NIPS ATENEO DE DAVAO VARSITY ALUMNI 5-4 IN REUNION CHESS MATCH

2011-02-06T16:02:00.000-08:00

[Engr. Napoleon Recososa (with eye glass) pondering his move against Atty. Jong Guevarra Jr. Also in photo is Chris Yap vs. Alfred Moulic and James Infiesto vs. Nofre Reyes].

True to form, the reunion chess match of the University of Mindanao (U.M) Maroons Varsity Alumni and their counterpart the Ateneo de Davao Blue Knights Varsity Alumni held on February 5, 2011 at Atty. Jong Guevarra's rest house at Eden, Bayabas, Toril, Davao City was an exciting and down the wire battle. U.M won by the slightest of margin 5-4. Both teams were prepared for war of the 64 squares board and the winner of the match was not decided until the last game was finished.

The first round was a stand still with both teams scoring 1.5 points each. James Infiesto scored for Ateneo by winning against Atty. Jong Guevarra Jr. while Alfred Moulic delivered for U.M by downing Engr. Napoleon Recososa. The game between Chris Yap and Nofre Reyes ended in a draw.

Ateneo crushed through in the second round 2-1 with James Infiesto and Chris Yap delivering the crucial wins. With their back against the wall, the U.M Maroons mounted a comeback in the 3rd round. Nofre Reyes held James Infiesto to a draw while Alfred Moulic and Atty. Jong Guevarra Jr. delivered the crucial points winning the 3rd round 2.5-.5, thereby enabling their team to win the match 5-4.

James Infiesto was the individual top performer with 2.5 points in 3 games. While Nofre Reyes and Alfred Moulic scored 2 points each for U.M. Atty. Jong Guevarra Jr. scored only 1 point but his win against Engr. Napoleon Recososa via time porfeit in the last remaining game enabled U.M to win the match.

The intial staging was a huge success thus both teams agreed to hold a much bigger and more exciting second edition.

ATTY MELZAR GALICIA WINS 2011 IBP DAVAO CHESS TOURNEY

2011-02-06T15:28:00.000-08:00

( From left: IBP representative, Arbiter NM Sammy Yu,3rd placer Prosecutor Marte Velasco, champion Atty Melzar Galicia, 2nd placer Atty. Jong Guevarra Jr. and 4th placer Atty. Tumanda of the DCWD).

Atty Melzar Galicia won the chess event in the ongoing 2011 Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) Davao Palaro held recently at the IBP Lounge, Ecoland, Davao City. Atty Galicia and 2nd placer Atty. Jong Guevarra Jr. both scored 3 points in 4 rounds but Galicia was declared the champion as he defeated Guevarra in their individual encounter. Third place went to Prosecutor Marte Velasco while 4th place went to Atty. Tumanda of DCWD. 5th placer was Atty. Alejandeo Cobol.

The winners received eureka chess sets courtesy of IBP Davao chapter.

UNIVERSITY OF MINDANAO MAROONS VS. ATENEO DE DAVAO BLUE EAGLES REUNION CHESS MATCH SET ON FEBRUARY 5, 2011

2011-01-20T15:57:00.000-08:00

( NCR- South represented by Adamson University featuring Chris Palma on board 1 vs. Eastern Mindanao represented by University of Mindanao with Jong Guevarra Jr. playing on board 1 in 3rd round action in the 1992 National PRISAA games chess tourney. Nofre Reyes is on 4th board)

Afer almost 20 years, the core members of the 1992 U.M Maroons varsity team will battle it out against their counterpart the Ateneo De Davao Blue Eagles varsity selection in a reunion chess match set on February 5, 2011. The goodwill match will be a single round schevenigen system whereby each player play all the players of the oposing team once.

The Players for Ateneo:

( Nap in Singapore )

1. NAPOLEON C. RECOSOSA- An engineer by profession. Ateneo BS Civil Engineering batch of 2001. On vacation from his work in Singapore. Placed among the top ten in the Far East Bank Region XI chess tourney in the 1990's.

[Chris Yap (in polo shirt ) vs. Adrian Llanos ]

2. CHRIS YAP - An accountant by profession. Is now the manager of One Network Bank Toril Branch. Plays on-line chess at chess.com.

(James in action vs. Bembem Quiñonez in the recently held Blue Jazz tourney)

3. JAMES INFIESTO- One of the sought after host/entertainer of Davao City. Is the chess coordinator of NCFP for Region XI and the deputy head of the Davao Sports Office.

The players for UM:

[Anthony Mosqueda vs. Atty. Jong Guevarra (with hat).

1. ATTY. JONG GUEVARRA JR. - A practising lawyer by profession. Two time U.M champion.

( Erwin Tubog vs. Nofre Reyes )

2. NOFRE REYES- A former member of the Davao City team to the National inter-cities.

( Alfred Moulic officiating the DCAA competition)

3. ALFRED MOULIC- A noted chess arbiter/organizer/tutor of Davao City.

DAVAO VETERANS NIPS DAVAO YOUNGSTARS IN YOUTH VS. EXPERIENCE II

2011-01-09T21:31:00.000-08:00

Belated Happy New Year to All!!

The year ended with a bang for Davao chess as the players held a 3 in 1 event hosted by Atty Jong Guevarra at his rest house at Eden, Bayabas, Toril, Davao City on December 26, 2010. The event was a Christmas Party for the Metro Toril Chess club, a reunion of University of Mindanao (U.M) varsity players and a revenge match between the Davao Veterans and the Davao Youngtars.

(Engr. Atmosfera and Atty. Jong Guevarra analyzing the game of NM Macala vs. JR Batucan ).

The highlight of the event was the match whereby the Davao Veterans scored a thrilling 4.5-3.5 match victory against the Davao Youngstars to avenge the previous loss suffered in the 1st Atty. Jong Guevarra Cup- Youth vs. Experience match. This time around the veterans team was composed of Osmeña Park Chess Club regulars NM Aki Macala, CM Nazario Ubanan and CM Harrison Maamo. They were reinforced by Panabo City's pride and Youth vs. Experience I participant NM Cedric Magno. The Youngstars were composed of Toril's pride Austin Jacob Literatus, John Ray Batucan and Erwin Tubog Jr. with Jerwell Andoy completing the four man team.

( NM Magno vs. Jerwell Andoy)

in the 1st round the Youngstars played with the disadvantageous black pieces but surprisingly scored a 3-1 victory with wins by Literatus, Andoy and Tubog against Ubanan, Magno and Maamo respectively. Macala scored the lone win against Batucan. The Youngstars celebration was short lived however, as the Veterans proved their resiliency by scoring a 3.5- 0.5 victory in the 2nd round with only John Ray Batucan able to hold a draw against NM Aki Macala. The Youngstars, it seems played for just a draw, and played passively and eventually got into time trouble. The winning team won P 10,500.00

The event was also graced by NM Jonathan Tan who despite his busy business schedule came to greet the players and sponsored an instant ubusan to the delight of the players.

( Kainan time )

Past and present U.M varsity players who attended the event were Jimmy Dano, Lito Laput, Nofre Reyes, Alfred Moulic, Harrison Maamo, Glen Paclar, Atty. Jong Guevarra, Adrian Llanos, Arnold Placiencia and Reynaldo Gempero. Also present was Rey Amable who was a member of the 1986-87 U.M Engineering chess team where the core of the succeeding UM varsity players were taken.

The event would not be possible without the support and the cooperation of the players. Special mention goes to Glen Paclar, NM Jonathan Tan, Atty. Jong Guevarra and Engr. Jun Atmosfera.

GM MARK PARAGUA'S BEST GAME AT THE MARSHALL CHESS CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS

2010-11-13T22:59:00.001-08:00

(GM Mark Paragua. Photo from USCF website)

GMs Sergey Kudrin and Mark Paragua shared top honors with 7.5/9
at the Marshall Chess Club Championship held over two weekends,
October 29-31 and November 6-7, 2010. Another Pinoy, IM Renato
Naranja shared 9th to 12th place.

Along the way, Paragua defeated GM Aleksandr Lenderman (2537)
who placed 3rd and IM Justin Sarkar who tied for 4th to 8th
place. Below is GM Mark Paragua's best game of the tournament.

[Event "Marshall Open"]
[Site "Koszalin"]
[Date "2010.11.??"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Gm Paragua, Mark"]
[Black "IM Sarkar"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B19"]
[WhiteElo "2505"]
[BlackElo "2413"]

CARO-KANN DEFENSE

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 5. Ng3 Bg6
6. h4 h6 7. Nf3 Nd7 8. h5 Bh7 9. Bd3 Bxd3 10. Qxd3 e6
11. Bd2 Ngf6 12. O-O-O Be7

This is the tabia position of the Lobron line in the
Classical variation of the Caro-Kann Defense. German GM
Eric Lobron was mainly responsible for the development and
popularization of the kingside castling approach in the
Classical Caro-Kann thus the line now bears his name.

Eric Schiller, in his book " Complete Defense to King
Pawn Openings ", has this to say:

By placing the bishop at e7 Black will declare his intentions
of castling on the Kingside. White has already castled on the
queenside.When the kings sit at opposite sides of the board,
the general strategy is all-out attack. White'a attack is
usually based on kinghts in the center coordinating with an
advance of the g- pawn to g4 and eventually to g5. Black
operates on the c-file and a-file, , thrusting pawns forward
to open up lines.

13.Ne4 Nxe4 14.Qxe4 Nf6 15.Qd3 O-O?!

I think 15... Qd5 is a better alternative. The recent game of
GM Sadvakasov vs. GM Antonio, Asian Games, Guangzhou, China
11/21/2010 continued 16.c4 Qe4 17.Qb3 b5 18.Rhe1 Qh7 19.Ne5
Rc8 20.Nc6 Rc6 21.Qb5 Kd7 22.Bc3 a6 23.Qb7+ Rc7 24.Qa6 Rb8
25.Re3 Ne4?!(25...Kd8! with advantage ) 26.Qa4 Kc8 27.Qa6 Kd7
28.Qa4 Kc8 29.Qa6 1/2-1/2

16.g4!

GM Paragua is an excellent attacking player and it shows
in this game. At the expense of one pawn, White obtains a
dangerous attack against Black's castled King.

16...Nxg4 17.Rhg1 Nxf2!

According to the 2008 Mega Chess Base, this move is a novelty
and a good one if properly followed-up. Previously, Black tried
to support his knight with 17... f5. The silicon engine provides
the continuation 17. Qe2 Qc8 18. Ne5 Nxe5 19.dxe5 f4 20.Rg6
as favorable for White.

18.Qe2 Nxd1 19.Bxh6 Bf6!?

Best is 18...Qd5! 19.Bxg7 Rfd8

20.Bxg7 Bxg7 21.h6 Qf6 22.hxg7 Qh6+ 23.Kb1 Rfd8

24.Qxd1 Rd5 25.Ne5 Qe3?

Best is 25... Rad8 with the threat of Rxd4. However, White
can still maintain the initiative after 26.Qf1 threatening
27.Qxf7+

26.Ng4 Qf4 27.Qd2!

27...Rxd4

The White queen cannot be taken because of the obvious
27.Nf6+ checkmate.

28.Nh6+!

Kh7 29.Qxf4 Rxf4 30.g8=Q+ Rxg8 31.Nxg8 e5

The resulting end game is a clear win for White because Black's
king is trapped along the h- file and could not support the march
of his pawns. The rest is a matter of technique, as they say.

32.Kc1 Rf2 33.Ne7 e4 34.Rg3 f5 35.Ng8 Rf1+ 36.Kd2 e3+
37.Ke2 Rf2+ 38.Kd3 Rd2+ 39.Kxe3 Rxc2 40.Kf4 Rxb2
41.Kxf5 Rf2+ 42.Ke6 1-0

Final position.

Black resigns as the mate cannot be prevented. Nice attacking
game from GM Mark Paragua.

Replay the game below..

DAVAO YOUNGSTARS UPSETS DAVAO EXPERIENCED STARS, WINS 1ST ATTY. JONG GUEVARRA CUP

2010-10-17T16:20:00.000-07:00

( THe winning team receiving their prize from Atty. Jong Guevarra Jr. Also in photo is team sponsor Glen Paclar and Team Manager Engr. Jun Atmosfera Jr.)

The Davao Youngstars team cemented its claim as the new chess stars of the Davao region by defeating the Davao Experienced Stars 19-17 in the 1st Atty. Jong Guevarra Cup- Davao Rising Stars vs. Davao Experienced Stars chess duel. The huge upset netted the team composed of FM Austin Jacob Literatus, FM elect John Ray Batucan, Jerwell Andoy, James Bulicatin, Mohammad Sacar and Erwin Tubog Jr. the winner's prize of P 12,000.00 plus a big trophy.

( The winners whopping it up with other players and supporters)

It was a double celebration for the Youngstars team as Jerwell Andoy bagged the best individual performance worth P 1,000.00 plus a chess life magazine. Andoy tied with IM Candidate Reggie Olay with 5 pts. each at the end of the match when the latter got ambushed in the 5th round by Jay Bulicatin in another huge upset. In the ensuing sudden death Armageddon, Olay won the toss coin and choose the white pieces with 10 mins. playing time while Andoy handled the black pieces with 7 minutes but only needing a draw to win the individual prize. In the ensuing play and perhaps due to fatigue, Olay uncharacteristically put his queen in prise which Andoy readily gobbled forcing Olay to resign a few moves later.

( The sudden death Armageddon game for the best individual performance between IM Candidate Reggie Olay and Jerwell Andoy)

The match was a big success with Engr. Allan Diez conceding that perhaps the 1st Mindanaoan Grand Master will emerged from among the members of the winning team. It was also a good tune-up for the Youngstars who will pit their skills with other equally talented youngstars all over the Philippines during the grand finals of the Shell National Active Youth Tourney scheduled to be held in Manila this weekend.

( CM Vincent Umayan vs. FM Austin Jacob Literatus ).

The winning team was sponsored by Glen Paclar with Engr. Jun Atmosfera as team manager.

( The Davao Experienced team with Atty. Jong Guevarra. Not in photo is team member James Infiesto ).

The Davao Experienced Stars team was composed of IM Candidate Reggie Olay, NM Alexander Lupian, NM Cedric Magno, CM Vincent Umayan, CM James Infiesto and Engr. Allan Diez who was also the team sponsor.

( The winning team with their trophy.)

The highly successful chess match was sponsored by Atty. Jong Guevarra Jr. and supported by Glen Paclar, Engr. Allan Diez and James Infiesto, Region 11 coordinator of National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP).

( Ubusan ginagmay edition. Its payback time for me and partner Nofre Reyes and Ali Jover against the Youngstars team B ).

The match was organized by the Chess Excellence Ltd. Co and supported by the Metro Toril Chess Association (MTCA).

( Ubusan big time edition. Davao's top guns of blitz in action ).

Final Standing:

DAVAO YOUNGSTARS

Jerwell Andoy - 5 points
FM elect John Ray Batucan - 3.5 "
FM Austin Jacob Literatus - 3.5 "
Jay Bulicatin - 3.0 "
Mohammad Sacar - 2.0 "
Erwin Tubog Jr. - 2.0 "
_____________________
TOTAL 19.0 points

DAVAO EXPERIENCED STARS

IM Candidate Reggie Olay - 5.0 points
NM Alexander Lupian - 4.5 "
NM Cedric Magno - 3.0 "
CM James Infiesto - 2.0 "
CM Vincent Umayan - 2.0 "
Engr. Allan Diez - 0.5 "
_______________________
TOTAL 17.0 points

DAVAO YOUNGSTARS HOLD SLIM LEAD AFTER 3 ROUNDS OF THE 1ST ATTY JONG GUEVARRA CUP

2010-10-16T02:36:00.000-07:00

The Davao Youngstars team showed their true worth by posting a 1 point lead 10.5-9.5 midway through the 1st Atty. Jong Guevarra Cup- Davao Youngstars vs. Davao Experience Stars Chess duel held at the Toril Chess Plaza last Saturday, Oct. 16, 2010. Out-rated but never outfought, the Youngstars outfoxed their veteran opponents with crucial wins delivered by Toril's 1-2 punch FM elect John Ray Batucan and FM Austin Jacob Literatus.

( Atty. Jong Guevarra Jr and IM Candidate Reggie Olay doing the ceremonial moves ushering the start of the classic chess match. Looking on are some of Davao's finest chessplayers and stakeholders)

Batucan swept his first 3 opponents with wins against Engr. Allan Diez, NM Cedric Magno and CM Vincent Umayan. Literatus, on the other hand, halved the point with NM Alex Lupian in the 1st round, and won against CM James Infiesto and Engr. Allan Diez. Jerwell Andoy also pitched in, win wins against CM James infiesto (advance game ), NM Cedric Magno and CM Vincent Umayan. He suffered his only loss against IM Candidate Reggie Olay.

(Toril's 1-2 punch FM elect John Ray Batucan and FM Austin Jacob Literatus, pondering their moves against NM Cedric Magno and CM James Infiesto, respectively, in 2nd round action).

Meanwhile, IM Candidate Reggie Olay showed why he is the runaway favorite to win the individual top performer award by breezing through his first 3 opponents, winning handily against Mohammad Sacar, Erwin Tubog Jr. and Jerwell Andoy, respectively, to lead the Experience stars. He was ably supported by NM Alexander Lupian who delivered wins against Mohammad Sacar and Erwin Tubog while drawing his game against FM AJ Literatus.

Showing who's the boss. Erwin Tubog Jr. vs. IM Candidate Reggie Olay. NM Alexander Lupian ( standing w/ hat), keenly watching the game.

However, the veterans showed their true worth by winning the 3rd round 4-2 paving the way for an exciting finish today. The last 3 rounds will be played today at the resthouse of Gen Paclar at Eden, Bayabas, Toril, Davao City. The winning team will receive cash prize amounting to P 12,000.00 and a big trophy while the top scorer will receive a cash prize of P 1,000.00 + chess life magazine. The keenly awaited chess match is sponsored by Atty.Jong Guevarra Jr. and supported by Glen Paclar and Engr. Allan Diez. Special mention also to Engr. Jun Atmosfera Jr., Team Manager of the Youngstars, James Infiesto, Region XI Coordinator of National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP), Alfred Moulic-Arbiter, Engr. Nofre Reyes, Henry Fajardo and the rest of the players and chess supporters for making this event possible. The match is organized by the Chess Excellence Ltd. Co and supported by the Metro Toril Chess Association (MTCA).

( Team Experience sponsor Engr. Allan Diez vs. Jay Bulicatin. The game ended in a draw. Watching the game is Engr. Jun Atmosfera Jr., Team Manager of the Davao Youngstars )

1ST ATTY. JONG GUEVARRA CUP - " DAVAO RISING STARS VS. DAVAO EXPERIENCE STARS CHESS CHALLENGE" SET ON OCT. 16-17, 2010

2010-10-13T02:56:00.000-07:00

( Atty. Jong Guevarra Jr. awarding the champion's trophy to Erwin Tubog, winner of the 2008 1st IM Marlo Micayabas Chess Tourney. Tubog will be one of the players for the Youngstars team )

The first ever chess match featuring Davao's up and coming youngstars vs. Davao's veteran and finest woodpushers is finally set on October 16 and 17, 2010. The venue will be the Toril Chess Plaza on the first day and Glen Paclar's resthouse at Eden, Bayabas, Toril, Davao City on the second day. The winning team will receive cash prize amounting to P 12,000.00 and a big trophy while the top scorer will receive a cash prize of P 1,000.00 + chess life magazine. The keenly awaited chess match is sponsored by Atty.Jong Guevarra Jr. and supported by Glen Paclar and Engr. Allan Diez.

Now lets introduce first the members of the Davao Youngstars team.

1. FIDE Master Austin Jacob Literatus -13 years old ( 2010 ASEAN 14 and under champ)

2. FIDE Master elect John Ray Batucan - 14 years old( 2008 ASEAN 12 and under champ)

( FM elect John Ray Batucan and FM Austin Jacob Literatus. the 1-2 punch of the Youngstars).

I have already featured the chess exploits of these two youngstars in my past posts in this blog so there is no need to elaborate.

( Mohamad Sacar playing board 1 for Holy Cross of Davao College )

3. MOHAMAD S. SACAR
Course: BSCA-4
Age: 21
NCFP Rating: 1996
Latest Accomplishment:

CHED NATIONAL GAMES 2010 BOARD 1: GOld Medal
1st JVR Interschool tournament 2010 Board 1 :Individual and TEam Champion
Kadayawan Chess Open 2010 : 1st Runner Up
DACS 2010 Board 1: Individual and Team Champion

4. JAY V. BULICATIN
AGE:20
RATING:1942
SCHOOL:JOSE MARIA COLLEGE

ACHIEVEMENTS

Shell National Active Chess Championship (2003-2004), kiddies category, champion
Shell National Active Chess Championship (2004-2005), kiddies category, champion
DAVRAA (2005-2006) held in Mati City, champion
Shell National Active Chess Championship (2005-2006), junior category, champion
PRISAA MEET(2007-2008) college division, held in Broken Shire College, champion
Regional Prisaa Meet (2007-2008) held in University of Mindanao, champion
National Prisaa Meet(2007-2008) held in Zamboanga, 3rd place
Chess Tournament junior category (2008-2009), held in GS Mall, champion
Chess Tournament junior category (2008-2009), held in HCDC, champion
Chess Tournament junior category (2008-2009), held in Damosa St. Dvo., champion
Chess Tournament Class B category (2008-2009) held in GS Mall, 2nd place
Samal chess tournament (2008-2009), junior category, champion
CHED meet (2009-2010), held in HCDC champion
Regional CHED meet (2009-2010), held in University of Mindanao, champion

5. JERWEL ANDOY
2009 Kadayawan Open Champion
2010 Shell National Youth Active Tourney- junior champion ( Cagayan de Oro leg)
Board 1- Jose Maria College varsity team

6.Erwin Tubog

( Erwin Tubog vs. Nofre Reyes during the Toril Youngstars vs. veterans match )
Achievemnets:

2008 IM Marlo Micayabas Chess Tourney- champion
2010 Shell National Youth Active Tourney- tied for 1st ( Davao City leg)
Holy Cross of Davao College - varsity player

Team sponsor is Glen Paclar while the team Manager is Engr.Jun Atmosfera Jr. Team coach is Henry Fajardo while th eteam analyst is Engr.Nofre Reyes.

The Davao Experience Stars on the other hand,is composed of IM candidate Reggie Olay, NM Alexander Lupian, NM Cedric Magno, CM Vincent Umayan, CM James Infiesto and Engr. Alan Diez. Team sponsor is Engr. Allan Diez while the team manager is Maning Eva of Multicar.

I will feature the chess exploits of the Experience Stars in my next post..

NM REGGIE OLAY BAGS 2ND IM NORM IN 6TH PICHAY CUP INTERNATIONAL

2010-08-27T02:52:00.000-07:00

Originally posted at Philippine Chess Portal Website.

Congratulations to NM Edgar Reggie Olay for nailing his 2nd IM Norm in the just concluded 6th Prospero Pichay Cup International Chess Tournament at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Adriatico St. Manila. It was in the 2008 Subic International Open where Olay got his first IM norm, the day he fully returned to active competition after several years of hiatus. Olay is a Palarong Pambansa gold medalist in 1993 and topped the 1996 Shell Youth Active Chess Championship juniors' category in 1996. In 1997, Olay won a big tournament in Subic over a tough field of competitors. The victory was worth P30,000 and an NM title for Olay.

The soft-spoken Olay, a registered nurse, also played for Davao City in the National Inter-Cities and Municipalities Chess Championships from 1994 to 1998.

Then came the accident in February 2001 that almost cost him his life. Olay and several other players were returning to Kidapawan City from Amas after a chess tournament when the pick-up truck they were riding in turned turtle along the road. Fortunately for Olay and his companions, no one was killed in the freak incident.

Olay, however, suffered a cut in his head that needed seven stitches to close.

The accident didn't stop Olay from playing chess, but it affected his performance and this, coupled by the fact that he landed a job at the Kidapawan Doctors Hospital, forced him to stay away from the game for quite a while.

In 2006, Olay played again and won the Davao Open Chess. A year later, he won the Chadric Open, showing he still got the talent to dominate the big names in local chess arena.

Final standing - 6th Pichay Cup International

Name OLAY Edgar Reggie
Starting rank 29
Rating 2289
Rating national 0
Rating international 2289
Ratingperformance 2455
FIDE rtg +/- 30,5
Points 5,5
Rank 8
Federation PHI
Ident-Number 0

Rd. SNo Name Rtg FED Pts. Res.
1 6 GM GOMEZ John Paul 2527 PHI 6,0 w 0
2 8 GM HAZNEDAROGLU Kivanc 2501 TUR 5,5 s ½
3 41 LEGASPI Edmundo 2118 PHI 0,5 w 1
4 26 FM SEGARRA Randy 2308 PHI 4,5 s 1
5 16 IM RANOLA Yves 2397 PHI 5,5 w ½
6 25 WGM POURKASHIYAN Atousa 2308 IRI 5,0 s 0
7 22 IM TIRTO 2360 INA 3,5 w 1
8 12 IM NOLTE Rolando 2425 PHI 5,5 s ½
9 11 GM GONZALES Jayson 2435 PHI 4,5 w 1

TORIL YOUNGSTARS OUTSMARTS TORIL VETERANS IN GRUDGE MATCH

2010-08-24T17:27:00.000-07:00

( The winning team with team manager Engr. Jun Atmosfera )

The Toril Youngstars team proved its mettle as it outsmarted the Toril Veterans team in the two days grudge match held on August 1 and 15, 2010. Venue of the match was the Toril Chess Club located at the Toril District Plaza. Erwin Tubog topscored for the Youngstars team with 5 pts in 6 matches.

( The veterans team from left: Shaun Bacalanmo, Henry Fajardo, Zaldy
Tabanao, Atty. Jong Guevarra, Chris Yap and Nofre Reyes ).

The Youngstars scored heavily in the first 4 rounds and it was only in the last 2 rounds where the Veterans made a stand eventually winning the last round by a score of 4-2. The veterans team appears to be rusty and could not cope-up with the Youngstars in the active match where players are only given 30 mins. each to finish the game.

(Anthony Mosqueda vs. Atty. Jong Guevarra. The game ended in a draw.)

The grudge match eventually ended in favor of the Youngstars team by a
score of 22 - 14. The winning team received a cash price of P 3,000.00.
The match was sponsored by Atty. Jong Guevarra Jr. of the Guevarra Law
Office and and was ably supported by One Network Bank (ONB) of Toril .

( Erwin Tubog vs. Nofre Reyes )

FINAL RESULT

TORIL YOUNGSTARS TEAM

1. FM elect JOHN RAY BATUCAN (1915) - 3.5 POINT
2. NEPTALI BATUCAN JR. - 3.5 "
3. ADRIAN LLANOS - 3.0
4. FM AUSTIN JACOB LITERATUS - 4.0
5. ANTHONY MOSQUEDA - 3.0
6. ERWIN TUBOG - 5.0
__________
22.0 POINTS - TOTAL SCORE

( FM elect John Ray Batucan and FM Austin Jacob LIteratus. the 1-2 punch of the Youngstars.

( Chris Yap vs. Adrian Llanos )

TORIL VETERANS TEAM

1. NOFRE REYES (2013) - 3.0 POINTS
2. ATTY. JONG GUEVARRA (1900) - 1.5 "
3. SHAUN BACALANMO - 3.0
4. CHRIS YAP - 1.0
5. HENRY FAJARDO (1959) - 3.0
6. ZALDY TABANAO - 2.5
________
14.0 POINTS - TOTAL SCORE

( The winning team receiving the cash price of P 3,000.00 from Atty.
Jong Guevarra and Chris Yap of One Network Bank (ONB) of Toril ).

TORIL BLITZ CHAMPIONSHIP- ANTHONY MOSQUEDA IS CHAMP VIA TIE-BREAK

2010-08-22T22:36:00.000-07:00

( Anthony Mosqueda pondering his move against Atty. Jong Guevarra
during the Toril All-Stars vs. Toril Young Stars match held recently.)

Anthony Mosqueda, FM Austin Jacob Literatus, and FM elect John Ray
Batucan each scored 4.0 pts in the Toril Blitz Championship but Mosqueda
was declared the champion via superior tie-break. The three divided the
total cash prize amounting to P 1,500.00 courtesy of Guevarra law Office.
The 5 round Swiss system tournament was held last August 1, 2010 at the
Toril Chess Plaza and was a side event of the Toril All Stars vs. Toril
Young Stars chess match.

Final standing:

1. Mosqueda Anthony - 4.0 pts.
2. Literatus Austin Jacob 4.0
3. Batucan John Ray 4.0
4. Batucan Neptali 3.0
5. Tubog Erwin 3.0
6. Jover Ali 2.5
7. Bacalanmo Shawn 2.5
8. Reyes Nofre 2.5
9. Guevara Jong 2.0
10. Llanos Adrian 2.0
11. Yngayo Dhona 2.0
12. Fajardo Henry 1.5
13. Buna Christy 1.0

FALLING IN LOVE WITH THE MODERN BENONI- PART I

2010-08-10T15:39:00.000-07:00

Good day folks! Today's feature is all about the Modern Benoni plus an annotated game from my good friend Engr. Jun Atmosfera.

Endre Vegh aptly said in the foreword of his Book " Starting Out - Modern Benoni " that:

" The Modern Benoni is a dynamic opening and offers black good chances of winning the game, probably more so than most other defenses against 1. d4, but at the cost of substantial risks, with a very low quantity of draws. But if you do not feel chicken, but want to play entertaining and dynamic chess, then the modern Benoni may be for you ".

It is also called the Son of Sorrow. The Modern Benoni grew in popularity when it was extensively used as a weapon by GM Mikhail Tal in his battle for the World Championship against the great champion GM Botvinnik. Among its adherent is another attacking genius and former world champ GM Garry Kasparov who used this defense in winning a beautiful game against GM Korchnoi in the 1982 Chess Olympiad.

Now let us turn-over to Engr. Jun Atmosfera.

" I started playing the Modern Benoni Defense sometime in 1973 ( that was a long time ago) when I came across and replayed the games of Mikhail Tal in his World Championship match with Botvinnik in 1960.It was also employed by Bobby Fischer in his first ever win against Boris Spassky in the third game of their world title match in Reykjavik, Iceland on July 17, 1972. Prior to their world title match, the two met five times and Fischer lost three times with the black pieces (one King’s Gambit and two Gruenfeld defense) and drew two times with white, both Ruy Lopez games.

I was fascinated by the defense against white's d4 or c4 opening as it is a fighting defense and tactical fireworks are abundant due to the imbalanced formation of both sides. Of course I now know that this defense has been somewhat refuted at the super-grandmaster level but still good and exciting for club players ".

( Engr. Jun Atmosfera vs. Atty. Jong Guevarra in 1st round action during the 1st IM Marlo Micayabas Toril Chess Challenge 2009 )

Here is an example of my game with this defense:

[Event "Toril Invitational Chess CLassic"]
[Site "Toril Chess Club, Davao City, Philipines"]
[Date "2007.2.17"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Henry Fajardo"]
[Black "Engr. Jun Atmosfera"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteELO "1960"]
[BlackELO "1900"]

Time control: 25 mins./game

( With brief annotation from Engr. Atmosfera and side comments
from Caissa's Father. )

Modern Benoni Defense

1. Nf3 Nf6 2.d4 c5 3. d5 d6 4. c4 e6 5. Nc3 exd5 6. cxd5 g6

7. h3 Bg7 8. e4 0-0 9. Bd3

This is the main line of the Modern variation.

Endre Vegh: The young chess players who started playing only recently can
identify the Modern Benoni line h2-h3, Bd3 because of its popularity.
However, it was not always so popular. It is the positional players approach
to the Modern Benoni these days. My evaluation of this variation is Black is
under slight pressure, but would be able to keep the balance.

9... a6 ?!

Endre Vegh: 9.. b5! The best way to meet White's loss of time with h2-h3.
Black exploits the fact that the White king is still in the centre.
Otherwise, Black will have problems facing 0-0, Bf4, Re1, and e4-e5.

10. a4 Re8 11. 0-0 Nbd7 12. Bf4 Qc7 13. Qe2!?

Caissa's Father: White's Queen is somewhat misplaced in e2 due to the
presence of Black's menacing rook on the opposite file. In the game
Bacrot-Nazar, Evry 2004, White essayed the move 13. Re1 Nh5 14. Bh2
Rb8 15. Be2 Nhf6 16. Nd2 Bf8 17. Kh1 Nb6 18. f4 Nfd7 19. Bf1 Bg7
20. Nf6 f6 21. Qd2 Qd8 1-0 32 moves.

13... Nh5 14. Bh2 Rb8 15. Rfe1 f5 16. Ng5! c4!?

Engr. Atmosfera: Sacrificing a pawn to gain a tempo.

17) Bxc4

Engr. Atmosfera: If 17.Ne6 cxd3 18.Nxc7 dxe2 19.Nxe8 winning the
exchange. However, Black can reply instead of cxd3,17... Rxe6
18.dxe6 cxd3 19.e7 dxe2 20.e8=Q+ Nf8 and has two minor pieces
for his rook.

17... Ne5 18. Ba2 f4 19. Ne6 Qe7 20. Nxf4 Nxf4 21. Bxf4 Rf8 22. Qe3

Bd7 23. Ne2 b5 24. a5 Nc4! 25. Bxc4 bxc4 26. Qg3 Rxf4! 27. Qxf4 Rxb2

28.e5 Qxe5!

Better than 28...Bxe5 when white has 29.Nd4

29. Qxe5 Bxe5 30. Rac1? (f4!)

30... Bb5 31. Nc3 Bd4 32. Ne4 Be5 33. g3 Ra2 34. Kh1 Rxa5 35.f4 Bb2

36. Nxd6 Bxc1 37. Rxc1 Bd7 38. Nxc4 Rxd5 39. Kg2?

39.Nb6 exchanging the knight for the Bishop is drawish. If 39.Kh2 Rc5
40.Rd1 Bxh3, Black is one pawn up.

39 ... Rc5 40. Rc2 Ba4 41) Rc3 Bb5

0 - 1
White resigns because he will lose his knight.

Time consumed: White-23 mins. Black-19 mins.

Engr. Atmosfera: Well, the game I've presented is not perfect model
of the Benoni and the game against Henry Fajardo could have resulted
in a draw, but it shows how resilient and full of tactical chances the
Benoni offers, especially for shorter time controls.

Replay the game below.

GM RAMIREZ IS US OPEN KING, IM INO SADORRA TIES FOR 2ND

2010-08-10T04:42:00.000-07:00

( GM Ramirez receiving the US Open champion's trophy. Photo from monroi.com )

The 111th Annual U.S. Open ended at the Hyatt Regency in Irvine, California with GM Alejandro Ramirez bagging the championship with an unbeaten score of of 7 wins and 2 draws in 9 rounds, with an added cash bonus for the solo win. The Philippines was well represented in the tourney with IM Julio Catalino Sadorra playing on top board in the last round against GM Ramirez and holding the latter to a draw although a pawn down in a rook ending. IM Sadorra ended the tourney with a score of 7.5 points good for a tie for 2nd place along with GM's Akobian, Shabalov and FM Naroditsky.

( IM Ino Sadorra . Photo from monroi.com )

A total of 474 players from all over the country took part in this annual event held in memory of the late Jerry Hanken, the indefatigable chess promoter, columnist and player. The Philippine contingent consist of IM Julio Catalino Sadorra, GM Mark Paragua, IM Enrico Sevillano, FM's Joaquin and Joel Banawa, among others who pit wits against a tough field consisting of 8 GM's, 10 IM's and a host of titled players and veteran campaigers. GM Mark Paragua and IM Enrico Sevillano tied for 6th to 23rd place with 7 points together with another US based Filipino FM Joaquin Banawa. FM John Daniel Bryant (stepson of IM Enrico Sevillano) and another Pinoy ace FM Joel Banawa led the 6.5 pointers and tied for 24th to 41th place.

(GM Mark Paragua. Photo from USCF website)

Final standing:

Ttl Name Rate Pts Rnd1 Rnd2 Rnd3 Rnd4 Rnd5 Rnd6 Rnd7 Rnd8 Rnd9
1 GM Ramirez, Alejandro 2645 8.0 W216 W200 W 58 W 23 W137 W 7 D 2 W 3 D4
2 GM Akobian, Varuzhan 2698 7.5 W243 W114 W 50 W 18 W 8 D 6 D 1 W 14 D5
3 GM Shabalov, Alexander 2632 7.5 W245 W270 W 88 W 77 D 11 W 42 W 15 L 1 W24
4 IM Sadorra,Julio Cat. 2471 7.5 W176 W149 W 32 L 12 W 57 W 46 W 47 W 50 D1
5 FM Naroditsky, Daniel 2453 7.5 W179 W 65 D 56 W 29 W 33 D 10 W 58 W 9 D2
6 GM Gareyev, Timur 2689 7.0 W441 W115 D 36 W 22 W 98 D 2 D 25 W 77 D11
7 GM Khachiyan, Melikse 2590 7.0 W129 W112 W 39 D144 W140 L 1 W 37 W 28 D12
8 IM Matikozyan, Andran 2545 7.0 W422 W117 W 35 W 45 L 2 W 36 D 31 W 30 D16
9 IM Sevillano,Enrico 2536 7.0 W271 W261 D 46 W 38 D 12 W 28 W 17 L 5 W50
10 GM Paragua, Mark C 2529 7.0 W213 W197 W 19 D 14 W 79 D 5 W137 D 12 D20
11 GM Gurevich, Dmitry 2481 7.0 W250 W218 W259 W196 D 3 D 25 W 22 D 16 D6
12 IM Bercys, Salvijus 2467 7.0 W421 W262 W 37 W 4 D 9 D 16 W 48 D 10 D7
13 IM Mulyar, Michael 2457 7.0 W375 W162 W 59 W 61 D 20 D 17 L 50 W 53 W47
14 IM Cornejo, Max 2456 7.0 W219 W150 W 85 D 10 D 30 W 32 W145 L 2 W52
15 GM Kaufman, Lawrence 2452 7.0 W180 W109 W 91 D140 W 34 W 20 L 3 D 60 W48
16 IM Ginsburg, Mark 2431 7.0 W274 W159 W145 D 24 W 96 D 12 W 59 D 11 D8
17 FM Beelby, Matthew 2358 7.0 W376 D111 W157 W 87 W144 D 13 L 9 W 55 W60
18 FM Banawa, Jouaquin 2346 7.0 W308 W127 W 68 L 2 W 63 D 82 W 66 D 52 -X-
19 Gupta, Ankit 2290 7.0 W187 W155 L 10 D105 W113 W 94 W200 D 42 W71
20 FM Dean, Jim H 2287 7.0 W222 W204 W 60 W258 D 13 L 15 W119 W 25 D10
21 Carreto, Giovanni 2257 7.0 W284 D265 W217 L 96 W121 D149 W103 W145 W70
22 NM Williams Paulsen, 2257 7.0 W311 W183 W 73 L 6 W158 W 68 L 11 W 59 W42
23 West, Vanessa A 2075 7.0 W382 W316 W139 L 1 L 48 W169 W136 W 82 W45

1ST JVR INTER-SCHOOL CHESS TOURNEY -DCDNHS TOPS HIGH SCHOOL, HCDC BAGS COLLEGE CROWN

2010-08-10T03:21:00.001-07:00

Powerhouse Doña Carmen Denia National High School (DCDNHS) bagged the high school boys title in the 1st JVR Inter-School Chess Team Championships held at Emcor conference room, J.P. Laurel Avenue over the weekend. DCDNHS's one-two punch consisting of 2008 ASEAN 12 and under champ John Ray Batucan and 2010 ASEAN 14 and under champ Austin Jacob Literatus delivered the points for their school as expected.

Batucan scored a perfect 10 points while Literatus tallied 9.5 points as DCDNHS garnered the highest score of 19.5 points at the end of the 11 rounds tourney.University of Mindanao's Alvin Acas and Denzel Amar, who lost to the Batucan Literatus pair in the final round, took the runner-up honors with 16 points while the Cabantian National High School placed third with 14 points.

Meanwhile, The Holy Cross of Davao College (HCDC) captured the men's crown by scoring 16 points in the five-round collegiate division. HCDC bested UM and JMC which finished with identical 14 points. University of Mindanao (UM) clinched the women's title by scoring 16 points over HCDC's 13.5 points. HCDC's Mohammad Sacar and Erwin Tubog Jr., along with JMC's Jay Bulicatin, earned 4.5 points apiece while UM's May Micayabas, JMC's Mary Rose Sevilla and UM's Noelyn Enriquez made perfect five points each.

In high school girls, Jose Maria College (JMC) and DCDNHS each tallied 15 points after nine rounds to place first and second, respectively. Davao Central College of Toril got 14 points for third while CNHS had 12 and good for fourth place.

Doña Pilar Learning Center (DPLC)-Sasa and Don Juan dela Cruz Central Elementary School (DJDCCES)-Toril, meanwhile, shared top honors in the elementary division.

DPLC ruled the boys team event with 17.5 points followed by DJDCCES (15) and JMC (14.5) after 11 rounds, while DPLC (11.5) topped the girls side with 15.5 points while DPLC (11.5) was second and Barner Learning Center (10) in third after nine rounds.

The awarding of prizes is on August 14, 2010 on the same venue. The tournament was organized in celebration of Emcor's 52nd anniversary and held in cooperation with HCDC. Chief Arbiter of the successful tourney is veteran NM Prospero " Bebot " Cruz.

BEATEN BY A LAZY VARIATION

2010-07-13T17:06:00.000-07:00

Just got hold of a copy of GM Tiger Hilarp Persson's Chess Book
" Tiger's Modern ". The book is well written and mainly focus on
the 4...a6- Modern system. There is also a discussion on variations
where Black does not play 4...a6, one of which is the so called Lazy
variation. After a quick look of Chapter 9 of the Book, I was amused
to find-out that the so called Lazy variation was the one employed
against me by IM Oliver Barbosa during his 2009 Toril simul exhibition.

For more detailed result of the said simul plus pictures just click
http://metrolirot.blogspot.com/2009/11/im-oliver-barbosa-scores-15-wins-2.html

( IM OLiver Barbosa making his move against Caissa's Father during
the 2009 Toril Simul ).

I am hereby posting the game with some annotations.

[Event "2009 Toril Chess Simul"]
[Site "Toril District Plaza, Toril, Davao City, Philippines "]
[Date "2009.11.14"]
[Round "1"]
[White "IM Oliver Barbosa"]
[Black "Atty. Jong Guevarra Jr."]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteELO "2452"]
[BlackELO "1835"]

1. e4 g6!?

I discarded my favorite Sicilian Dragon in favor of the more solid
Modern Defense. I was somewhat intimidated by IM Barbosa's stature
and accomplishments ( 2009 New York International Open champion )
and was afraid to lose early. At hindsight, the strategy was wrong.
According to NM Alex Lupian who watched the simul, the players
should strive for a complicated position so that the Master would
spend time finding the correct move, considering the number of his
opponents.

2. d4 Bg7 3. c3 d6 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Bd3 O-O

This is the so called Lazy variation against the Modern.

GM Persson: The c3- lines are the least ambitious of White's choices
against the Modern, but that does not mean they are all bad. By
pampering the d-pawn early on White is free to finish development
behind the centre and does not worry too much about what Black is
doing.

6. Bg5 h6 7. Bh4 Re8 8. O-O e5 9. Nbd2 Nc6

GM Persson: The Knight at c6 is not a very good square of the knight.
Instead, it is better at Nbd7 supporting the push e5. The Re8 should
also be avoided due to the push d5, when the rook is badly placed on
e8 and - at some point - will have to go back to f8, eventually losing
two tempi.

10. dxe5

In his book, GM Persson prefers the move 10. d5. He further stated
that it is generally to Black's advantage if White exchanges on e5.

10...dxe5 11. Nc4 a6 12. Ne3 b5

GM Larsson: The only condition for the a6-b5 system to work is that
White has played Nc3 or else b5 will strike thin air and c5 will be
easily met by c3.

In other words, the 4...a6-b5 system is not advisable against the
Lazy variation as it merely weakens Black's queenside. The b5 pawn
would be vulnerable to White's attack as what happened in this game.

13. Qc2 Bb7 14. b4! Nb8 15. a4! c6 16. c4 Nbd7 17. Rfd1 Rc8

18. axb5 axb5 19. c5 Ra8 20. Nf1 Qc7 21. N1d2 Nf8 22. Nb3 Ne6

Black has emerged from the opening with a solid but passive position.
White continues to maneuver his pieces to improve his position while
Black tries to find ways to hold the position.

23. Bf1 Rxa1 24. Rxa1 Ra8 25. Rxa8+ Bxa8 26. Ne1 Bb7

27. f3 Nh5?

This move started Black's downfall. I should have played 27...g5 first
before playing Nh5. This omission proves fatal as the game wears on.

28. Qa2 Bc8 29. Qa8 Kh7 30. Na5 Bd7 31. Be7!

If Black had only played 27.. g5 then the White bishop could not have
reached e7. Now it had joined the action to further suffocate Black's
position.

31... Nd4 32. Bd6 Qc8 33. Qxc8 Bxc8

After the exchange of Queens I thought that I can still hold the
position. My position was still passive but White would be hard
pressed to penetrate my position. The rest of the participants
were also struggling with their games thus maybe IM Barbosa would
be kind enough to allow me a draw, or so I think.

34. Nd3 f6 35. Kf2 g5 36. Nc1 Nf4 37. g3 Nfe6 38. Bh3 Kg8

39. Ncb3 Nxb3 40. Nxb3 Kf7 41. Na5 Bd7 42. Bg4

Black is now in a virtual zugzwang. Only his g7 bishop can be
moved without losing the game. In the other boards, Adrian Llanos
who is a varsity player of the University of Mindanao just scored
a draw while in another board IM Barbosa was a pawn down in an
opposite bishop ending. At this point there were only three players
including me whose gave was not yet finished. My chance to hold a
draw has became more dimmer.

Bh8 43. h4 Bg7 44. Bh5+ Kg8 45. hxg5 hxg5 46. Bg4 Kf7

47. Nb7 Bc8 48. Nd8+ Nxd8 49. Bxc8

At this point I stopped recording the moves. I resigned a few moves
later as White's King was able to penetrate my position via the Kg2-
h3-g4-f5 route. At any rate Black's chance to hold the position is
quite remote considering that there were only two players including
me that were left battling it out with IM Barbosa thus his entire
concentration could now be focused in our game. Incidentally, IM
Oliver Barbosa scored 15 wins and yielded only 2 draws in the said
Simul.

1-0

Replay the game below.

WINNING WITH THE PENANG ATTACK

2010-06-23T18:49:00.000-07:00

I have been using the Sicilian Sozin Velimirovic Attack when faced with the Sicilian Defense from the time I became a member of the University of Mindanao varsity chess team in the late 1980's. However, I came across the July 8, 2005 Chess Piece Column of Bobby Ang which was published in the Business World where Bobby wrote about the Penang Attack and featured three brilliant games of our very own NM Glenn Bordonada to whom this opening line was attributed. This made me reassessed the way I was handling White's Attack in the Sozin Velimirovic line. Nonetheless, I had no opportunity to test the line in tournament play as I shut-out myself from local tourneys during that time to concentrate on my work.

In 2007, I was able to borrow from my neighbor Austin Jacob Literatus, who incidentally was recently crowned 2010 ASEAN 14 and under champ, a book " THE SICILIAN SOZIN ", by GM Mikhail Golubev. The book was sent to him by his uncle IM Marlo Micayabas who was the 1983 Asian Junior champ and who is now based in the U.S. This further galvanized my resolve to play the Penang Attack in tournament play if given the opportunity. The following year I was able to used the line and won against Atty. Bernie Cataluna in the Eastern Mindanao IBP chess competition where I placed runner-up. However, I was not able to record our game as it was a 15 mins/game tourney.

Several months after, I was again given the opportunity to used the line in the 2008 Cong. Ungab Cup team tourney. Players were allotted 1 hour each play to finish thus I had the time to record the game. By the way, my opponent in this game was among the top players of Davao City in the late 80's and early 90's but has already retired from competition. This was his first tournament after more than 10 years of absence thus he was a little bit rusty.

The other featured game is a miniature win at chesscube.com. Hope that you enjoy the two featured games. The annotations are just for fun and without the aid of chess program thus may not be the strongest continuation.

[Site "Guevarra Bldg., De Guzman St., Toril, Davao City, Philippines"]
[Date "2008.10.2"]
[Round "5th"]
[Event " 2008 Cong. Ungab Cup Team Tourney"]
[White "Atty. Jong Guevarra Jr."]
[Black "Glen Paclar"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteELO "1835"]
[BlackELO "?"]

SICILIAN SOZIN VELIMIROVIC ATTACK

Annotations by Caissa's Father

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6
6. Bc4 e6 7. Be3 Be7 8.Qe2 a6 9. O-O-O Qc7

This is the tabia position of the Sozin Velimirovic Attack. There are two
ways upon which White proceeds with his attack:

a.) 10. g4 followed by g5 and h4 where white tries to smash Black's
king side position. This was the line I was using before I shifted to
the Penang Attack.
b.) 10. Rg1 followed by g4 and Qh5 where White creates mating threats
with the help of his queen, rook and bishop. This is the so called
Penang Attack.

10. Rhg1 Na5!

According to GM Golubev, not good for Black is 10... 0-0 as 11. g4
is attractive for White as he is a tempo up in the main line not having
played Bb3. Another interesting try is 10... Nxe4 which Lito Laput played
against me in the 2009 Bob Bula Cup. I emerged with a slight advantage in
the opening but almost lost the game due to a premature piece sacrifice.

11. Bd3 b5 12. g4 Bb7 !?

(In the game Shvidenko-Kurass, Kiev 1970 black essayed the move 12.. b4!
13 Nb1 Bb7 14. Nd2 d5 15. f3 dxe4 16. fxe4 Nd7 with equality )

13. g5 Nd7 14. Kb1 Ne5?!

Black should have commenced counter-play at this stage by 14... b5 15. Na4 d5!

15. f4 Nxd3 16. cxd3! Nc6 17. Rc1 Qd7 18. f5 b4

Too late..

19. Nd1 Nxd4 20. Bxd4 e5 21. Bb6 Bd8 22. Bf2 Qb5 23. Ne3 Rc8 24. Nc4

White has emerged in the opening with a clear advantage. Black's pieces
lacks coordination with no immediate counter-play in sight.

24... Bc7 25. f6 g6 26. Rc2 h5 27. gxh6 Rxh6 28. Be3 Rh5 29. Qg4 Qd7?

Black blunders in a difficult position.

30. Qxh5!

Black resigns..

1-0

Replay the game below..

Last month, I played a 3 minute game at chesscube.com and used NM Glenn
Bordonada's attacking strategy in coming up with this beautiful miniature.
By the way, my username at chesscube is bw-metrolirot.

[Event "ChessCube Game"]
[White bw-metrolirot@chesscube.com]
[ Chesscube rating "2030 "]
[Black slider_k999@chesscube.com]
[Chesscube rating "2026 "]
[Date "2010.05.24"]
[Result "1-0"]

Brief annotations by Caissa's Father
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bc4 Nc6
7. Be3 e6 8. Qe2 Be7 9. g4

The game started with the g4 line of the Velimirovic attack but eventually
transposed to the Penang Attack

O-O 10. g5 Nxd4 11. Bxd4 Nd7 12. h4 b5 13. Bb3 Bb7 14. O-O-O Rc8
15. Kb1 Qc7 16. Rhg1 Nc5? 17. Bf6!

This Bishop incursion is thematic in the Penang Attack and should have been prevented by Black. Black is just routinely playing the standard counterplay
unaware of the mating sequence that follows..

b4 18. Qh5! bxc3?

18... Rd8 is the only move to prevent mate

19. Qh6!

Final position.

Black resigns as mate cannot be prevented..

1-0

GM Golubev's conclusion: By responding correctly to 10.Rhg1,
Black solves his problems. Nevertheless, when played against
an unprepared oponent, this idea can have an impressive effect.

Replay the game below.

FISHER'S REMAINS TO BE EXHUMED

2010-06-20T16:41:00.000-07:00

Below is a feature from Chessbase in the continuing legal battle for Bobby Fischer's estate. What arose my excitement and attention was the fact that among the protagonists was Fisher's alleged child Jinky Young whose mother Marilyn Young is from Davao City, Philippines. According to one news report, the Young's are now residing in a two storey house in Davao City which they acquired from the money send to them by Bobby Fischer. Since I'm also residing here in Davao City, maybe we are just neighbors with the Young's ?

Bobby Fischer with Jinky Young and "live-in partner" Marilyn Young in 2004

Icelandic Court: Fischer’s remains can be exhumed
18.06.2010 – On April 1st of this year we reported – and it was not a tasteless April Fool's joke – that the remains of former World Champion Bobby Fischer could be exhumed to settle a paternity dispute. The District Court of Reykjavik did not allow it, but now the Iceland Supreme Court has overturned this ruling after receiving new evidence from the claimant Marilyn Young. The story is in the international news.

Fischer’s remains to be exhumed

In our April report we provided details of the court appeals. Samuel Estimo, the lawyer representing Fischer's alleged Filipino child Jinky Young, told us that Judge Sigrun Gudmundsdottir of the Icelandic probate court found no DNA samples of Fischer at the National Hospital in Iceland, where the ex-world champion died on January 17, 2008 of renal failure. Because of this development, Estimo and his collaborating Icelandic lawyer, Thordur Bogason, requested the court to issue an order for the exhumation of Bobby's remains for DNA samples to be tested with the blood samples extracted from Jinky when she went to Iceland in December last year.

In our article we also described an inexpensive and uncomplicated alternative to digging up the remains of Fischer to extract DNA samples for testing against those of Jinky Young. The company 23andMe, a privately held personal genomics and biotechnology company (co-founded by Anne Wojcicki, who is married to Google co-founder Sergey Brin) provides a service that genotypes DNA samples and can map the ancestry of a subject.

A single sample – in the form of saliva – taken from Jinky Young will provide a map of her DNA family tree, going back many generations. If the map shows ancestry in Hungary and the US, where Fischer's parents originated, then further tests are justified. If they are only in Asia or the Philippines then it would be clear that Fischer is not the father of Jinky – without having to extract DNA from an exhumed body. The cost of a 23andMe is $399 for ancestry. The DNA mapping can also be conducted by many hospital facilities.

Fischer's friends in Reykjavik

One of Fischer's Icelandic friends and member of the RJF Committee Einar S. Einarsson told us that "many of Bobby's friends doubt very much that he is the biological father of Jinky Young." He and others are against the exhumation and argues that "it is easy and possible nowadays to get a DNA from a postage stamp that has been licked, or even from a hair, which should be quite easy to get from his appartment, which has been sealed off since he died. To exhume his body for DNA samples, which could be retrieved by other means, is simply a brutal and a rude thing to do. It distrub the sanctity of the grave and is a very serious matter."

Einar sent us the above picture, which is probably the very last taken of Fischer. It was during a privat New Year's party, with Kantathi Suphanongkhon, who had represented Tailand at FIDE and Asian Zone meetings, GM Helgi Ólafsson arrange the party, and his uncle Thorgeirsson was the host.

Just click the link below for the complete story..
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=6435

THE PELAGIO GUEVARRA MEMORIAL

2010-06-02T18:30:00.001-07:00

Just came across the result of the 1st Pelagio Guevarra Memorial Chess tournament held way back in 2002 in the internet while surfing for data for my feature of NM Allan Macala. To those outside the loop, The Pelagio Guevarra Memorial was an open chess tournament held in Davao City in 2002 and 2003 which I sponsored and organized as a tribute to my grandfather Pelagio Guevarra as well as to give chance to up and coming players to test their chess skills against seasoned players in this part of Mindanao. It was also during this period that chess tournaments came in trickles in Davao region thus adding to its significance.

The First Pelagio Guevarra Memorial Active Open Chess tournament was held on June 22-23, 2002 at the Toril Gym, Davao City with 8 National Masters in attendance . Cotabato National Master (NM) Roger Sarif tallied 6.5 points to emerge champion. Sarif pocketed a cash prize of P4,000 along with a trophy in the seven-round Swiss System 30-minute active chess tournament organized by the Metro Toril Chess Association (MTCA) under its president lawyer Dionisio "Jong-Jong" Guevarra.

The runner-up prize of P2,500 went to Panabo City's NM Cedric Magno who earned 6.0 points while Cagayan de Oro City's Abu Reynaldo had 5.5 points for third place and P1,500 cash prize. Reynaldo edged Davao City's Allan Macala via a higher tiebreak of 30 to Macala's 28 in the event sanctioned by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines under regional director Ronnie Tabudlong. In fifth was James Infiesto of Davao City (5.0) whose 24.5 tiebreak points was enough to eclipse General Santos City's NM Ric-Ric Portugalera 5.0 (24.0).

Completing the top ten finishers were Davao's Reynaldo Quinonez (4.5, 32.5) in seventh, NM Miguel Te (4.5, 31) eighth, General Santos City's NM Ferdinand Leysa (4.5, 24.5) ninth and NM Kaharudin Tayuan of Davao City (4.0, 30.5) tenth. The chessfest drew 36 woodpushers of the region, including Davao City lady bets Jennifer Catilo and Rowela Acedo, both members of the Holy Cross of Davao College chess varsity team. Acedo tallied 2.5 while Acedo got 1.5 points.

The 2nd Pelagio Guevarra Memorial was held on July 11-12, 2003 at the Spazio of Gaisano Mall of Davao City. The 2nd edition was a round robin competition among 13 players who qualified for the grand finals. There were 3 qualifying tournaments, 1 open and 2 thematic (Sicilian Defense and French Defense ) upon which participants were given points corresponding to their ranking.

The 2nd edition was ruled by Reynaldo " Bembem " Quinonez who finished with a total of 11 pts ( 11 wins and a single loss to Engr. Nofre Reyes). Engr. Nofre Reyes took runner-up honors with 9 wins against 3 losses inflicted by Johnny Salud, Engr. Anselmo " Jun " Atmosfera Jr. and James Infiesto. Shell National Youth Active chess contender Brene parreno settled for the 3rd spot with 8 points on account of 7 wins and 2 draws. The champion received P 5,000.00, a trophy and an MTCA t-shirt, the 2nd placer P 2,500.00 plus MTCA t-shirt while the 3rd placer received P 1,500.00 plus MTCA t-shirt.

2nd Pelagio Guevarra Memorial
Final standing:

11 pts. - Reynaldo " Bembem " Quinonez
9.0 " - Engr. Nofre Reyes
8.0 " - Brene Parreno
7.0 " - NM Sammy Yu
6.5 " - John Ritter Belocura
6.0 " - James Infiesto, Johnny Salud
5.0 " - Vien Tipay, Henry Fajardo
4.5 " - Sherwin Orbeta
4.0 " - Atty. Jong Guevarra Jr.
3.0 " - Engr. Jun Atmosfera, Engr. Werner Priete

I stopped organizing the tournament for the next and succeeding years for many reasons. First and foremost is the financial aspect and secondly i momentarily lost interest in chess due to minimal number of players participating. However, the past couple of years showed a renaissance of chess activity in the Davao region and the emergence of new breed of chess players thus rekindling my interest to the sport. Hopefully , a 3rd edition of the Pelagio Guevarra Memorial will be organized this year.

THE 2010 NATIONAL AGE- GROUP CHESS TOURNEY - " UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL "

2010-06-02T06:36:00.000-07:00

From May 15 to 19, 2010 I was at the NCCC Mall located at Matina, Davao City watching the new crop of Pinoy chess players battle each other during the 2010 National Age-group Chess Tourney hosted by Davao City for the 1st time. My two daughters, Caissa Jane ( 12 and under) and Florence Faith ( 10 and under ) played their first natl age group competition together with my two nephews Darren John ( 10 years old), Jose Danilo ( 8 years old ) and their sister Alyssa Daniele (12 years old). By the look in their face I could see that my kids and their cousins were having fun joining the competition and met new friends along the way.

( My eldest daughter Caissa Jane, seeing action in the 12 and under category )

I was also there as an invited guest of NCFP Region XI coordinator James Infiesto in my current capacity as President of the Metro Toril Chess Association ( MTCA) and as one of the minor sponsors of the event. MTCA sponsored 3 Toril junior players namely Neptali Batucan, Adrian Llanos and Anthony Mosqueda with additional help from chess patron Glen Paclar. Our new group Chess Excellence Limited Co., also provided t-shirts and allowance of P 500 each to 4 selected Davao players namely Austin Jacob Literatus, John Ray Batucan, Rowelyn Joy Acedo and Ella Grace Moulic.

( Caissa's Father with boys 14 and under champ Austin Jacob Literatus and
Toril players Erwin Tubog, Adrian Llanos, Anthony Mosqueda, and Neptali
Batucan III )

Competition was keen and heated especially in the 14, 16 and under 20 ( boys
and girls competition) with majority of the RP's big guns in action. The
competition in the under 20 girls feature some of RP's national players who are not
only good in chess but good looking as well.

( RP national team members in action: Jedara Docena ( w/green jacket),
Christy Lamiel Bernales (w/ violet t-shirt), and Akiko Charmaine Suede
(w/ polka-dot shirt) who incidentally finished 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the
under 20 girls, respectively)

( Winners of the under 20 girls with newly elected councilor Atty. Melchor
Quitain ).

Five Davao City players qualified for the ASEAN age- group to be held in Subic,
Philippines this coming June 4 to 13, 2010 namely Austin Jacob Literatus ( champ-
14 and under boys), Irish Yngayo ( 2nd-8 and under girls), Ella Grace Moulic ( 3rd-
12 and under girls) Donna Yngayo (3rd- 14 and under girls) and Nikki Erica Yngayo
(1 6 and under ).

( Caissa's Father and Nofre Reyes of Chess Excellence Ltd. Co. together with
Alfred Moulic ( father of Ella Grace), Austin Jacob Literatus and Ella Grace
Moulic ).

( Caissa's Father with kids Florence Faith and Caissa Jane and their cousins
Alyssa Daniele and Darren John ),

( The winners in the 12 and under boys category. The champion Paolo
Bersamina ( center, w/ blue jogging pants) also topped the National Juniors
competition that followed and was awarded the national master title, the
youngest to be awarded such title).

( Posing with the champ: Alfred Moulic, Glen Paclar, Caissa's Father, Austin
Jacob Literatus, Engr. Enrico Vanta, Charles Maxey, Sammy Yu, and IM Candidate
Reggie Olay ).

The event was organized by the National Chess Federation Region (NCFP) in coordination with

the City Government of Davao, Growee Vitamins, JCI Durian City, Inc. and Jewm Eggs. Kudos to the

chess enthusiasts and organizations who workied together to stage this event. For the main core committee: FA James Infiesto, NA Engr. Allan Diez, Secretariat Chair Gogo Alba, Maning Eva of Multicar and Engr. Enrico Vanta of Chadric Builders. With added support from Robert "Bob" Bula, MTCA President Atty. Jong Guevarra and Tony Dacudao.

NM ALLAN " AKI " MACALA - " A DAVAO PLAYER MAKING GOOD AS LUNETA CHESS TERROR "

2010-05-12T17:27:00.000-07:00

( NM Allan Macala against GM Li Chao of China in the 2010 AIC )

NM Allan Macala honed his skills playing at Osmena Park chess club here in Davao City. He is a many time member of the Davao City chess team to the inter-cities until he was pirated by the multi-titled Tagaytay team.

For a time, he was one of those strong non-masters who don't want to be promoted to National Masters at it would preclude their participation in non-masters tournament which they are dominating and would downgrade their value to their team in the Inter-cities and Provincial team competitions of which they are the scoring machines dominating their lower board assignments. Last year NCFP President Cong. Prospero Petchay awarded the National Master title to Allan Macala by virtue of his tying for 1st in 2009 Asian Intercontinental Chess challenge held at Subic, Philippines. He is known here in Davao as " Aki" which is a common nickname for Muslims here in Davao City.

Among his chess accomplishments include tying Rainier Labay and Noel de la Cruz for 1st in the 2008 Philippine Open Chess Challenge.All three players finished with similar scores of 6.5 points at the end of the nine-round tournament which served as side event of the foreign-flavored Philippine Open. Labay, De la Cruz and Macala shared the total cash prizes of P75,000 for the top three finishers.

Allan Macala, also tied for 1st along with Raymond Salcedo, Alcon John Datu and Sheider Nebato in the 2009 Asian Continental Chess Challenge at the Subic Exhibition and Convention Center in Subic with identical score of seven points in 9 rounds. Macala subdued Nelson Villanueva, Datu humbled John Ranel Morazo and Nebato crushed Ritchie Evangelista to catch Salcedo in a four-way tie for first. Salcedo emerged champion via tiebreak to clinch the title in the five-day tournament held as a side event of the Asian Continental individual chess championship.

NM Allan Macala was the early sensation in the 2010 Asian Intercontinental Chess Championships held at Subic, Philippines scoring a couple of upset wins against titled foreign opponents. Let us take a look in some of his wins.

[Event "9th Asian Continental/Individual (Open)"]
[Site "Subic Bay Free Port"]
[Date "2010.04.21"]
[Round "1.35"]
[White "MACALA, Allan"]
[Black "HARIKA, Dronavalli"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A00"]
[WhiteElo "2283"]
[BlackElo "2473"]
[PlyCount "105"]
[EventDate "2010.04.21"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 O-O 5. O-O d6 6. c4 Nc6 7. Nc3 Bg4
8. h3 Bxf3 9. Bxf3 Nd7 10. e3 e5 11. dxe5 Ndxe5 12. Be2 Re8 13. Kg2 Nd7
14. Rb1 Nc5 15. Qc2 a5 16. Bd2 Nb4 17. Qd1 a4 18. Nb5 Nc6 19. Bc3 Ne5
20. Bd4 c6 21. Nc3 a3 22. b3 Ne6 23. Qc2 Nxd4 24. exd4 Nd7 25. Rbd1 Nf8
26. Bf3 Ne6 27. d5 Ng5 28.Rd3 Bxc3 29. Qxc3 c5 30. Re1 Qd7 31. h4 Rxe1
32. Qxe1 Re8 33. Qc1 Qh3+ 34. Kg1 Qf5 35. Qd1 Ne4 36. Kg2 Nf6 37. Rd2 Qe5
38. Qc1 Ra8 39. Re2 Qd4 40. h5 Nd7 41.Qg5 Ne5 42. Qe7 b5 43. h6 bxc4
44. bxc4 Rf8 45. Re4 Qb2 46. Qxd6 Nd3 47. Re3 Qd2 48. Be2 Ne1+ 49. Kg1 Qd4
50. Qe7 Nc2 51. Re5 Qa1+ 52. Kh2 Qc1 53. f4 1-0

Here is his win against GM Thong of Vietnam.

[Event "9th Asian Continental/Individual (Open)"]
[Site "Subic Bay Free Port"]
[Date "2010.04.24"]
[Round "4.18"]
[White "MACALA, Allan"]
[Black "TU, Hoang Thong"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A00"]
[WhiteElo "2283"]
[BlackElo "2483"]
[PlyCount "129"]
[EventDate "2010.04.21"]

1. d4 c5 2. e3 Nf6 3. Nf3 g6 4. c4 Bg7 5. Nc3 O-O 6. Be2 d5 7. O-O dxc4
8. Bxc4 Nbd7 9. b3 a6 10. a4 cxd4 11. Nxd4 e5 12. Nf3 e4 13. Nd4 Qa5
14. Qc2 Re8 15. Bd2 Qh5 16. Nce2 Ne5 17. f3 Nxc4 18. Qxc4 exf3 19. Rxf3 Bg4
20. Ng3 Qe5 21. Rf2 Rac8 22. Qd3 h5 23. Re1 h4 24. Nf1 h3 25. Ng3 hxg2
26. Bc3 Nd5 27. Bb2 Nb4 28.Qd2 Nc2 29. Rb1 Red8 30. Rf4 Nxe3 31. Re4 Nf1
32. Qxg2 Qc5 33. Kxf1 Bxd4 34. Rxg4 Bxb2 35. Qxb2 Qe3 36. Re4 Qf3+
37. Kg1 Rc3 38. Rbe1 f5 39. Re6 Kh7 40. b4 Rdd3 41. Qe2 Qf4 42. Nf1 Qxb4
43. Qg2 Qg4 44. Qxg4 fxg4 45. Re7+ Kh6 46. Rxb7 Rd4 47. Rb6 Rxa4 48. Ree6 a5
49. Rxg6+ Kh7 50. Rge6 Rc7 51. Kg2 Rf7 52. Ne3 Ra2+ 53. Kg3 a4 54. Nxg4 a3
55. Ra6 Ra1 56. Kh4 a2 57. Re2 Rg1 58. Rexa2 Rf4 59. Rh6+ Kg7 60. Ra7+ Kg8
61. h3 Rgf1 62. Rc6 Rf8 63. Rcc7 Rd8 64. Rh7 Rd6 65. Nh6+ 1-0

2010 National Age-Group Chess Championships May 15-19, 2010, NCCC Mall Davao, McArthur Highway, Davao City

2010-05-12T16:08:00.000-07:00

The National Age-group and National Juniors will be held in Mindanao for the first time particularly in Davao City this coming May 15-19, 2010 at NCCC Mall Davao and on May 20-24, 2010, Gaisano Grand Citimall, Illustre St., Davao City,respectively. The objective of this hosting is to provide the Davaoenos and Mindanaoans a chance to qualify in ASEAN and Asian Competitions with minimal expense. The organizers are urging young chess enthusiasts to participate and take advantage of this event. There will be separate divisions for Boys and Girls..

A lot of chess enthusiasts and organizations are working together to stage this event. For the main core committee: FA James Infiesto, NA Engr. Allan Diez, Secretariat Chair Gogo Alba, Maning Eva of Multicar and Engr. Enrico Vanta of Chadric Builders. We also have support from Robert "Bob" Bula, MTCA President Atty. Jong Guevarra and Tony Dacudao.

Other coordinating agencies:

*Hon. Prospero Pichay Jr., National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) President

*Sports Development Division-City Mayor's Office (SDD-CMO)

*JCI Durian City, Inc. under its president, JCI Mem. Frederick Puyod III

*DEPED with Dr. Helen Paguican, Schiool Division Superintendent and Dr. Susana Estigoy, Regional Director

*Office of Councilor Mabel Acosta

*Office of Councilor Nilo Abellera

*City Tourism Office under CTO Head Bong Aportadera

This event is organized by National Chess Federation Region (NCFP) in coordination with City Government of Davao, Growee Vitamins, JCI Durian City, Inc. and Jewm Eggs.

Official resort: Bluejaz Beach Resort and Waterpark

National Age-group Venue: NCCC Mall Davao

National Juniors Venue: Gaisano Grand Citimall

Secretariat Committe: Bonjee Entertainment Services, (0910) 2041199, (0932) 5771098, (082) 2976776.

Special Thanks to:*Councilor Mabel Acosta,*Congressman Isidro Ungab and *Atty. Mylene Garcia.

Registration: P 350.00 per participant with 1 bottle of 120 mL Growee Vitamins, 1 Tumbler, 1 Baller and Certificate of Participation

Age Group Categories:

20 Years old & Below (Boys & Girls) – born on or after January 1, 1990

16 Years old& Below (Boys & Girls) – born on or after January 1, 1994

14 Years old & Below (Boys & Girls) – born on or after January 1, 1996

12 Years old & Below (Boys & Girls) – born on or after January 1, 1998

10 Years old & Below (Boys & Girls) – born on or after January 1, 2000

8 Years old & Below (Boys & Girls) – born on or after January 1, 2002

CHAMPION P 5,000.00 plus Medal and Certificate 2^nd 2,500.00 plus Medal and Certificate 3^rd 1,500.00 plus Medal and Certificate 4^th 1,000.00 plus Certificate 5th 500.00 plus Certificate

Top three in each category will represent the Philippines in the 11^th ASEAN AGE-GROUP CHESS

CHAMPIONSHIP to be held in Subic Bay, Olongapo City on June 4-13, 2010.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2010 National Juniors Chess Championships

May 20-24, 2010, Gaisano Grand Citimall, Illustre St., Davao City

Registration: P 350.00 per participant with Certificate of Participation

Age Group Categories:

- 20 Years & Below (Boys) – born on or after January 1, 1990

- 20 Years & Below (Girls) – born on or after January 1, 1990

Prizes: (Boys Category)

Champion P 12, 000.00 + Medal and Certificate

2^nd 8, 000.00 + Medal and Certificate

3^rd 5, 000.00 + Medal and Certificate

4^th 4, 000.00 + Certificate

5^th3, 000.00 + Certificate

6^th2, 000.00 + Certificate

7^th 1, 500.00 + Certificate

8^th,9^th & 10^th 1, 000.00 each + Certificate

Prizes: (Girls Category)

Champion P 8, 000.00 + Medal and Certificate

2^nd 6, 000.00 + Medal and Certificate

3^rd 5, 000.00 + Medal and Certificate

4^th 3, 500.00 + Certificate

5^th2, 000.00 + Certificate

6^th1, 500.00 + Certificate

7^th, 8^th,9^th & 10^th 1, 000.00 each + Certificate

The Champion will advance in the ASIAN JUNIOR U20 CHAMPIONSHIP on June 4-13, 2010 in Chennai, India or at the Asian Youth Championship on July 1-10, 2010 in Beijing, China.

Note: There will be separate divisions for Boys and Girls.

Also, please emphasize that this is the first time that the National Age-group and National Juniors will be held in Mindanao, particularly in Davao City. Again the objective of this hosting is to provide the Davaoeños and Mindanaoans a chance to qualify in ASEAN and Asian Competitions with minimal expense. We are urging them to take advantage of this event.

A lot of chess enthusiasts and organizations are working together to stage this event. For the main core committee: FA James Infiesto, NA Engr. Allan Diez, Secretariat Chair Gogo Alba, Maning Eva of Multicar and Engr. Enrico Vanta of Chadric Builders. We also have support from Robert "Bob" Bula, MTCA President Atty. Jong Guevarra and Tony Dacudao.

Other coordinating agencies:

*Hon. Prospero Pichay Jr., National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) President

*Sports Development Division-City Mayor's Office (SDD-CMO)

*JCI Durian City, Inc. under its president, JCI Mem. Frederick Puyod III

*DEPED with Dr. Helen Paguican, Schiool Division Superintendent and Dr. Susana Estigoy, Regional Director

*Office of Councilor Mabel Acosta

*Office of Councilor Nilo Abellera

*City Tourism Office under CTO Head Bong Aportadera

This event is organized by National Chess Federation Region (NCFP) in coordination with City Government of Davao, Growee Vitamins, JCI Durian City, Inc. and Jewm Eggs.

Official resort: Bluejaz Beach Resort and Waterpark

National Age-group Venue: NCCC Mall Davao

National Juniors Venue: Gaisano Grand Citimall

Secretariat Committe: Bonjee Entertainment Services, (0910) 2041199, (0932) 5771098, (082) 2976776.

Special Thanks to:*Councilor Mabel Acosta,*Congressman Isidro Ungab and *Atty. Mylene Garcia.

GM ANAND WINS 12TH GAME, RETAINS WORLD CHESS TITLE

2010-05-11T17:50:00.001-07:00

GM Viswanathan Anand of India won the 12th and final game of the World Chess Championships against GM Veselin Topalov of the host country Bulgaria when GM Topalov uncharacteristically blundered on his 31st move in an otherwise equal position allowing GM Anand to activate his bishop and concoct mating threats against Topalov's king. GM Topalov opened with 1. d4 as white and the game soon evolved into a Queen's Gambit declined for the first time in the match. Prior to GM Topalov's blunder, chess experts were one in predicting that the match was headed to a play-off with lesser time control and conceded a slight advantage to GM Anand in case so as GM Anand is known as a fast player.

Below is the annotation of the 12th game by GM Susan Polgar as
originally posted at http://www.chessdailynews.com/

Veselin Topalov - Vishy Anand
World Championship game 12

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 O-O 7. e3 Ne4 This is not the most popular line for Black but as a surprised weapon for one game, it can be effective as Anand needs to hold this game.

8. Bxe7 Qxe7 9. Rc1 We have the Queen's Gambit declined for the first time in this match. It looks like Anand is choosing something safe for most chances to hold.

9...c6 10. Be2 Nxc3 11. Rxc3 dxc4 12. Bxc4 We are still in opening book. This is a relatively safe opening for Black.

12....Nd7 13. 0-0 b6 14. Bd3 c5 The idea for Black is simple. He wants to have a symmetrical pawn structure. White still has a small advantage due to space advantage.

15. Be4 Rb8 I know many players who play this line as Black. It is very difficult to win this type of position as White. White's temporary space and piece development advantage will evaporate soon. Here is a possible line: 17. dxc5 Nxe4 18. Qxe4 bxc5 19. Qc2 Bb7 20. Nd2 Rfd8 21. Nb3 c4 22. Rxc4 Ba6 23. Rc7 Rbc8 24. Rxe7 Rxc2 =. This is also equal: 17. dxc5 Nxe4 18. Qxe4 bxc5 19. b3 Bb7 20. Qf4 Rfd8 =

16. Qc2 Nf6 The reason why Anand cannot simply play cxd4 is because of the following: 16... cxd4 17. Nxd4 Bb7 18. Rc7 +/-

17. dxc5 Nxe4 18. Qxe4 bxc5 Now that Topalov is able to avoid the symmetrical pawn structure, his main target will be the c5 pawn.

19. Qc2 Bb7 White retreats his Queen behind the Rook to put more pressure on the c pawn. Now is not the time for Black to play passively. Anand indirectly defends the c5 pawn with Bb7. If 20. Rxc5 then Bxf3 21. gxf3 Rxb2 22. Qxb2 Qxc5 =+

It is very clear that Anand and his team have prepared this very practical and safe line. It is a wise choice not to take any chances to send this match to the rapid playoff.

20. Nd2 Topalov is following the idea I previously mention back in move 15. He is doing the best he can to keep the remaining pieces on the board, stabilize the Kingside, then continue to put more pressure on the c5 pawn. This is his only chance, as slim as it may be, to win.

20...Rfd8 If this game ends with a draw, I think Anand will have a small edge in the rapid playoff.

21. f3 The idea is to block the effectiveness of Black's b7 Bishop. Then he can re-focus on the c5 pawn. Anand will try not give Topalov time to do that. 21...Qg5 is possible right now.

21...Ba6 This is OK too. Anand spent a considerable amount of time for this move. He understands that is he fails to keep White busy, he will have a problem holding on to the c pawn and that can mean the game. White should put his f1 Rook on c1.

22. Rf2 This is an odd choice for Topalov. The problem is Anand can mount his pieces on the d file to go after the Knight as White may face back rank problem. I like 22. Rc1 a lot better.

22...Rd7 Following the plan of doubling up the Rooks on the d file. In my opinion, the position is equal.

23. g3 Topalov is creating a bubble for his King. Once he can neutralize Anand's threats, he can then turn his focus back on the c5 pawn which is going nowhere. Both players understand the huge importance of this game. Therefore, they are very patient so far.

Here is an interesting question from one of the bloggers following the LIVE commentary:

"During such kind of matches, how much sleep would you and other players usually are able to get? And how do you guys relax?"

The amount of sleeping hours differ from game to game. I know some players like to read to relax. Some like to watch TV. Many do like to take leisure walks. Some play tennis or swim. It is the seconds who have to work the hardest between games.

23...Rbd8 Following the plan.

24. Kg2

Here is another interesting question: "Do you agree that in case of a draw the champion is still a champion? Is it what Kasparov thinks? How do they fix the total number of matches?"

I do not think the old system which a champion sat and waited every 3-4 years for a challenger then retain the title if he / she can tie the match is fair. I also do not like 12 games. I think it is too short. I would prefer to see 14-16 games. I have many ideas about this and other important chess issues such as chess in education, women's chess, college chess, professional chess, and chess expansion, etc. I will present them directly to FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov in the near future. In fact, there will be a press release about it probably today.

24...Bd3 25. Qc1 Nothing has changed so far. White is still focusing on the c5 pawn.

Sorry but I do not have any explanation as to why it did not work on Internet Explorer before. Thanks for letting me know the problem. I hope it is OK for everyone now.

I personally find this game exciting. There is very little going on other than the c5 pawn. One will do everything possible to go after it which could mean a victory while the other one will do everything to either defend it or deflect it with counter threats elsewhere. The self imposed Sofia rule by Topalov gives the fans a chance to see more endgames rather than 20-25 move draw in equal positions.

Even though the position is equal, it is a little easier to play with Topalov's position. He knows exactly what he needs to do. There is a concrete target to aim for.

25...Ba6 Here is an interesting line: 26. Ne4 Rd1 27. Qc2 f5 28. Nd2 Re1 29. Rxc5 Rxe3 30. Rc7 Rd7 =

26. Ra3 = If 26. Rxc5 Rxd2 27. Rxd2 Rxd2+ 28. Qxd2 Qxc5 and Black wins.

26...Bb7 White obviously cannot play 27. Rxa7 because of the discovery with Bxf3+. However, Topalov can play 27. Nb3 now. The battle for the c pawn continues.

27. Nb3 Rc7 Perhaps 28. Rc2 next. 28. e4 is also interesting because 29. Rxa7 is a real threat since there is no longer any discovery check.

28. Na5 Topalov wants to trade for Black's Bishop. Anand should not allow this trade as it would be more difficult for Black without the Bishop.

28...Ba8 A curious move by Anand. Yes, he wants to keep his Bishop. Yes, he wants to keep his Bishop on the h1 - a8 diagonal. Even though it is not a blunder, this is still an unexpected move. Topalov can bring his Rook back to c3 now.

29. Nc4 e5 Anand cannot just sit back and allow Topalov to make a big play for his c5 pawn. He must continue to put pressure on the Kingside.

More questions from the fans:

- Do you think Anand would be a strong favorite in the rapid event if this game is drawn and a tie break happens?

I think Anand would be a slight favorite but not strong favorite. Anything can happen in rapid or blitz games.

- What do the player's seconds do exactly just before SUCH a big game, I mean the players (Anand, Topalov) are bigger than the seconds and have much more experience. Isn't just a expert computer analyst sufficient ?

Seconds will have very little sleep during a world championship, especially the last few games. They have to work on new idea based on the match score and earlier game results. Computers can help make this process faster and more accurate but computer analysis alone would be disastrous as computers cannot understand the scope of the match, the psychology / style / strengths / weaknesses of the opponent.

30. e4 Black must play f5 now or else White will play Ne3 with a good advantage.

30...f5 Topalov must be careful here. Anand wants to open up the Kingside, especially the h1 - a8 diagonal. Perhaps 31. Nd2 is needed.

31. exf5? This is very dangerous. Anand can play 31...e4 now with serious threats.

31...e4 32. fxe4? This is looking very bad for White now. We may not go to the playoff after all. 32...Qxe4 and Black has a strong attack. This is almost over. 32...Qxe4+ 33. Kh3 Rd4 34. Ne3 Qe8 35. g4 h5 -+

32...Qxe4 33. Kh3 It is all in Anand's hands now. He will win this match and retain his title if he continues correctly.

33...Rd4 So far so good.

34. Ne3 I don't think Topalov saw 34....Qe8 here which gives Black a win. I think he missed it.

If Anand wins this game, I will post my final comments about the match as well as bring you the information about the closing ceremony. Please be sure to check back to the final wrap up.

34...Qe8 This is the key move and Anand found it. If 35. g4 then h5 -+ It is just about over.

35. g4 h5 Anand is like a Tiger smelling blood. He feels it. He knows that the World Championship is in his hands now. This is a shocking ending! 31. exf5 and 32. fxe4 are 2 horrendously bad moves.

36. Kh4 The King cannot possibly survive this. 36...Qd8+ is the quickest way to close out this game.

36...g5+ This is not the most accurate continuation for Anand. 36...Qd8 would have been much more decisive.

37. fxg6 Black should still win this but it is more difficult than the previous suggestion. This is the winning path for Anand: 38. Qf1 Rxg4+ 39. Kh3 Re7 -+

37...Qxg6 38. Qf1 This is perhaps one of the biggest blunders in the final game of a world championship match. I am still stunned that Topalov did not sense any danger whatsoever by opening up the h1 - a8 diagonal.

38...Rxg4+ This is the final hurdle for Anand and he found it.

39. Kh3 Now 30...Re7 and it is basically hopeless for White.

39...Re7 Here are a few possible lines: 40. Qd1 Rd4 41. Nf5 Qxf5+ 42. Rxf5 Rxd1 43. Rxh5 Rg7 44. Rg3 Bd5 -+ or 40. Rf8+ Kh7 41. Rh8+ Kxh8 42. Qf8+ Qg8 43. Qh6+ Rh7 44. Qf6+ Rhg7 45. Qh6+ Qh7 46. Qxh7+ Kxh7 47. Nxg4 hxg4+ -+ Everything looks bad for Topalov.

40. Rf8+ The last hope for Topalov is for Anand to play 40... Kg7 41. Nf5+ Kh7 42. Rg3. However, after the game, I went through this line deeper and it was lost for Topalov anyway.

40...Kg7 Although 40...Kh7 is a cleaner and more precise, 40...Kg7 also wins after I looked at it again 41. Nf5+ Kh7 42. Rg3 Rxg3+ 43. hxg3 Qg4+ 44. Kh2 Re2+ 45. Kg1 Rg2+ 46. Qxg2 Bxg2 47. Rf7+ -+

41. Nf5+ Kh7 42. Rg3 Rxg3+ 43. hxg3 Qg4+ 44. Kh2 Re2+ 45. Kg1 Rg2+ 46. Qxg2 Bxg2 47. Kxg2 Another option is 47. Rf7+ but Anand can still win with this: 47... Kg6 is a must move 48. Rg7+ Kxf5 49. Rxg4 hxg4 50. Kxg2 Ke4 51. Kf2 Kd3 -+

47...Qe2+ 48. Kh3 This is now completely hopeless for Topalov. Rook and Knight cannot hold this position. Now a simple 48...c4 wins.

48...c4 The final game usually comes down to nerve as we can see today. In this game, Anand was more composed. Even though both sides made mistakes, Topalov was making more and bigger ones and this costs him the game.

49. a4 a5 50. Rf6 Anand's advantage is overwhelming.

50...Kg8 Topalov's chances to hold are very slim. Anand has plenty of time and I think the dangerous tactics are now behind him. Now it is simply a matter of technique.

51. Nh6+ Kg7 52. Rb6 Qe4 53. Kh2 Now Anand can simply get his Queen behind the b2 pawn then push c3. For example: 53...Qc2+ 54. Kh3 Qb1 -+

53...Kh7 Topalov has no practical chances to hold this position. He is fighting on because it is the final game of the world championship.

54. Rd6 Qe5 If 55. Rb6 then Qd4. I expect Topalov to resign soon as the b pawn will fall.

55. Nf7 Black has no problem with 55...Qxb2+

55..Qxb2+ 56. Kh3 Just about anything other than hanging the Queen is fine.

56...Qg7 Now Topalov will have problems with his Knight and Rook in addition to the c passed pawn. Time to resign.

Topalov resigns. Congratulations to Anand for successfully defending his title. It has been an interesting match.

" THE KING IS DEAD, LONG LIVE THE KING "

2010-05-03T15:23:00.000-07:00

Florencio Campomanes, FIDE President from 1982 to 1995, passed away 1:30 pm today, 3rd May in Baguio City, Philippines after a bout with cancer. He was 83. Below is a tribute to Florencio Campomanes.

Campomanes Legacy to World Chess

By Casto Abundo

Dedicated to Florencio Campomanes, who passed away May 3rd

(Ed’s note: Casto Abundo was FIDE General Secretary and Executive Director under Campomanes from 1987.)

Graduating cum laude from the University of the Philippines in 1948, Florencio Campomanes was among the first Fulbright Scholars from the Philippines and was taking his Masters Degree in Political Science from Brown University and Doctoral Studies in Georgetown University, both in America, when he heard of the World Chess Federation. It was auspicious that his thesis was on the nascent United Nations.

Campo was a habitué at the Manhattan and Marshall Chess Clubs. He was exposed to organized chess and on his return to Manila co-founded the Philippine Chess Federation and affiliated with FIDE in 1956.

It was also in New York that he first met a rising young Congressman named Ferdinand Marcos. They were elbowing each other at a Times Square Filipino restaurant to meet a young lady doctor from Manila. She became Campo’s first wife and years later when Marcos became President, Campo would wonder if he recalled the incident.

Campo was a Political Science lecturer at the University of the Philippines when he decided to lead a team to the 1956 Chess Olympiad in Moscow, USSR. The Philippines had no diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union at the height of the cold war and he was discouraged to go and advised not to forsake his State University position. He chose to go.

But Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs Raul Manglapus refused to initial the diplomatic passports for the Philippine team to travel to the USSR. Not one to take no for an answer, Campo sought the help of Vice President Carlos Garcia, concurrently Secretary of Foreign Affairs and an avid chess player. In Campo’s trademark style of brinksmanship, on the eve of their scheduled flight, they went to see President Ramon Magsaysay at the Palace. Already in his robe and prepared to go to bed, the President signaled his approval for their passports. The Philippine chess team joined its first Olympiad, and emerged Group C champion.

To view the complete story just click http://reports.chessdom.com/news-2010/florencio-campomanes-casto-abundo

GM SO HALVES THE POINT IN THE 6TH ROUND, STILL THE SOLO LEADER OF AIC 2010

2010-04-26T17:21:00.000-07:00

( GM Megaranto vs. GM So in 5th round action of the AIC 2010 )

GM Wesley So played the Sicilian Najdorf Poison pawn variation as black for the first time with relative ease and secured the draw after 32 moves against GM Gopal of India. GM So was obviously well prepared for the game as he blitzed his opening moves. The game followed the game of GM So vs. Wu Xibin played at the 2008 Dubai Open where GM So emerged as Champion. GM So played the white pieces at that time and emerged the winner after 54 moves.

GM Gopal was the first to deviate from that game by playing 26. Nd6 instead of the 26.Nc5 played by GM So. The truce was agreed after 32 moves with the position basically equal but with GM So way ahead in the clock. Next for GM So is GM Ni Hua whom Wesley already defeated during the last Olympiad.

[Event "AIC 2010"]
[Site "Subic"]
[Date "2010.04.26"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Geetha, Narayanan Gopal"]
[Black "So, Wesley"]
[Result "*"]
[ECO "B97"]

As analyzed by GM Glenn Bordonada with additional inputs by CAISSA'S FATHER

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 Qb6 8. Qd2 Qxb2

The poison pawn variation of the Sicilian Najdorf. One of the most critical and thoroughly analyzed line of the Sicilian Defense.

9. Rb1 Qa3 10. e5 dxe5 11. fxe5 Nfd7 12. Ne4 12... h6 13. Bh4 Qxa2 14. Rd1 Qd5 15. Qe3 Qxe5 16. Be2 Bc5 17. Bg3 Bxd4 18. Rxd4 Qa5+ 19. Rd2 O-O 20. Bd6 Nc6 21. O-O Nce5 22. Bxf8 Nxf8 23. Nd6 Bd7 24. Nxb7 Qb4 25. Nd6!?

GM Gopal is the first to deviate from the game of GM Wesley So himself (Elo 2540) vs. Wu Xibin (Elo 2351), 10th Dubai Open April 7, 2008 where GM So essayed the move 25. Nc5. The game continued with 25... Bb5 26. c3 Ng4 27. cxb4 Nxe3 28. Ra1 Rb8 29. Nxa6 Bxa6 30. Rxa6 Nd5 31. b5 Nd7 32. Ra7 N7b6 33. Rc2 g6 34. Bf3 Kg7 35. g3 h5 36. Bg2 Nc8 37. Rd7 Ncb6 38. Ra7 Nc8 39. Ra5 Nd6 40. Bf1 Rb7 41. Rb2 Nc8 42. Bg2 Ncb6 43. Ra6 Rc7 44. Bxd5 Nxd5 45. Kf2 Rb7 46. Rc6 Kf6 47. Ke2 Nc7 48. b6 Nd5 49. Kd3 Ke7 50. Kd4 Kd7 51. Kc5 Nc3 52. Rd2+ Ke8 53. Rc8+ Ke7 54. Kc6 1-0

25...Bc6

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White has a slight edge because of his material advantage. Nothing to worry about yet. Black's possible counterplay lies in his passed a-pawn. But first he must coordinate his minor pieces.

26. Rd4 Qa5 27. Nc4 Nxc4 28. Rxc4 with two possibilities:

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a) 28... Bb5 29. Rcf4 Bxe2 30. Qxe2 f6 31. Rg4 =.

b) 28... Bd5 29. Rc5 Qb6 30. Rc3 =.

28... Bb5 29. Rcf4 Bxe2 30. Qxe2 f6

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At this point GM So offered a draw which his opponent declined.

Possible continuation: 31. Rg4 Qb6+ 32. Qf2 Qxf2+ 33. Rxf2 Kf7 34. Ra4 Nd7 35. Ra5 Ra7 36. c4

Still equal but not dead equal. Black has a Knight and two pawns vs. White's Rook. Parang gladiators. Magkaiba ang armas. Kaya baka may manalo dito.

31. Rd1 Rc8

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Nothing much is happening. There are no longer any hidden mines. Almost any move, short of giving up material, is possible and the game is still equal. But let us wait and look at the clocks. This may drastically change the character of the game as we go to the first time control.

32. Rf2

This time around GM Gopal offered a draw which GM So readily accepted.

1/2 - 1/2

GM SO SUBDUES GM MEGARANTO, GRABS SOLO LEAD AFTER 5TH ROUND OF THE 9TH ASIAN CONTINENTAL

2010-04-25T14:45:00.000-07:00

GM Wesley So once again showed his versatility and maturity in front of his adoring chess fans by repulsing the Marshall Attack employed by the Indonesian champion GM Susanto Megaranto in 5th round action of the 9th Asian Contininetal held at Subic, Olongapo, Philippines. Unlike his two previous wins with white, this time around GM So started the game with 1.e4 which his opponent countered with 1..e5 and soon the game transposed into a Ruy Lopez Opening. In his 8th move, GM Megaranto choose the sharp Marshall Gambit and in his 17th move sacrificed a piece in order to launch an attack against GM So's castled king.

Many chess fans were glued at the internet watching the game live at the NCFP website and at the same time kibitzing and analyzing the game at chessgames.com GM Wesley So page where members of Barangay Wesley (BW) holds court including resident analyst NM Glenn Bordonada. I was among the chess fans watching the game live and its like watching a brutal boxing match between a slugger ( GM Megaranto ) and a boxer ( GM So) who defended his position with ease, sidestepping all the landmines put in place by his opponent along the way. The game was so complicated, NM Bordonada commented that a slight inaccuracy on the part of Wesley would spell doom to his position. As the game progressed, it seems that GM So had seen all the traps and moved his pieces with speed and accuracy spending just an hour in the entire game. When GM So played 38.d5 ( correctly predicted by BW president wordfunph that the d4 pawn of Wesley will make the difference) causing his opponent to resign due to impending mate, the BW site exploded with shouting of joy, laughter, and congratulations. Indeed, chess like love and music makes a man happy especially if you are a die-hard GM Wesley So fan.

Here is the 5th game as annotated by NM Glenn Bordonada.

[Event "AIC 2010"]
[Site "Subic"]
[Date "2010.04.25"]
[Round "5"]
[White "So, Wesley"]
[Black "Megaranto, Susanto"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C89"]

1. e4 e5

Megaranto does not often play the Ruy Lopez, so has he prepared a surprise for Wesley?

2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. c3 d5

Here it goes. The Marshall Attack is one of the most feared attacking lines in the Ruy Lopez. In one World Juniors game, Gopal sacrificed almost everything against Wesley and survived.

9. exd5 Nxd5 10. Nxe5 Nxe5 11. Rxe5 c6 12. d4 Bd6 13. Re1 Qh4 14. g3 Qh3 15. Qe2

There are less than 50 games in the database. More popular are:

a) 15. Be3. This is the main line. 15... Bg4 16. Qd3 Rae8 17. Nd2. Thousands of games have been played from this position. One example is 17... Qh5 18. a4 Re6 19. axb5 axb5 20. Qf1 Rfe8 21. Bxd5 Qxd5 22. h3 Bf5 23. Qg2 Qxg2+ 24. Kxg2 R6e7 25. b3 f6 26. Ra2 Be6 27. c4 Bb4 28. Rc1 Bf5 29. g4 Bd3 30. Nf1 Be4+ 31. Kg1 f5 32. Ng3 fxg4 33. Nxe4 Rxe4 34. hxg4 Rxg4+ ...1/2-1/2, Leko Peter 2751 - Kasimdzhanov Rustam 2670, Linares 2005;

b) 15. Re4. The second most popular line. Also over a thousand games. Here is a typical game: 15... g5 16. Qf1 Qxf1+ 17. Kxf1 Bf5 18. f3 h6 19. Nd2 Bxe4 20. fxe4 Nc7 21. Kg2 c5 22. e5 Be7 23. Ne4 cxd4 24. cxd4 a5 25. Be3 a4 26. Bd1 Nd5 27. Bf2 Rac8 28. Rb1 f6 29. exf6 Bxf6 30. Nd6 Rc6 31. Nxb5 Rb6 32. Bxa4 Rfb8 33. Na3 Rxb2 34. Rxb2 Rxb2 ...1/2-1/2, Anand Viswanathan 2788 - Svidler Peter 2740, San Luis 2005.

15... Bg4 16. Qf1 Qh5 17. Nd2 Nf4!?

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It is not the first time that this sacrifice has been played. There are two games in the database with this move.

18. gxf4 Bxf4 19. h4!

Best move.

19... Qxh4!

Megaranto improves on the remaining quoted game in the database: 19... Rae8 20. Ne4 Bb8 21. Qg2 Kh8 22. Bg5 f6 23. Nxf6 Rxe1+ 24. Rxe1 gxf6 25. Re4 fxg5 26. Rxg4 Bf4 27. hxg5 Re8 28. Kf1 Bd2 29. Re4 Rf8 30. Re2 and White subsequently won.

20. Qg2 Rae8!

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Best. If 20... Bh3? 21. Nf3 Qh5 22. Bxf4 Bxg2 23. Kxg2 Rae8. If 23... a5 24. Ne5 Qf5 25. Bg3 a4 26. Bd1 a3 27. b3 Rae8 28. Bg4 Qc2 29. Rec1 Qd2 30. Bf3 and White is much better. 24. Ne5 Qf5 25. Bg3 Qc8 26. Re3 g6 27. Rh1 c5 28. dxc5 Qxc5 29. Nxf7 with a big advantage for White.

21. Rxe8 Rxe8 22. Nf1 Bh3!

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Stronger than 22... Re1 23. Bxf4! Rxa1 24. Qxc6 Qd8 25. Kg2 and White is better.

23. Qxc6 Bh2+!

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24. Kh1!

Not 24. Kxh2? Bd7+ and Black wins the Queen. Nor 24. Nxh2? Re1+ 25. Nf1 Rxf1+ 26. Kh2 Bg4+ 27. Kg2 Qh3#.

24... Rc8! 25. Qb7?!

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Stronger is 25. Qf3! which is the only move that sustains the advantage. 25... Bxf1 26. Bg5! Qxg5 27. Bxf7+ Kh8 28. Kxh2 Be2! 29. Qxe2 Qf4+ 30. Kg2 Qxf7 31. Rd1 and White has survived the attack with his pawn advantage intact. But converting the extra passed d-pawn to a win is still difficult because of the open position of the King.

25... Bc7! 26. Kg1 Qg4+ 27. Ng3 Bxg3 28. fxg3 Qxg3+ 29. Kh1

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29... Bg4?

Fortune favors the brave. After this, White is on top again and winning. Megaranto missed 29... Qh4! which leads to a draw: 30. Qxf7+ Kh8 31. Qf4 Bg4+ 32. Kg1 Qe1+ 33. Kg2 Re8! 34. Qxg4 Re2+ 35. Qxe2 Qxe2+ 36. Kg3 h5! 37. Kf4! =. But still the King cannot escape the endless Queen checks.

30. Qxf7+ Kh8 31. Bd5 Qe1+ 32. Kh2 Re8

If 32... b4 33. c4 Qh4+ 34. Kg1 Qg3+ 35. Bg2 Bh3 36. Qf3 and White is winning.

33. Bg5 Qe2+ 34. Bg2 Bh5 35. Qf4 Qxb2 36. Re1 Qxa2 37. Rxe8+ Bxe8 38. d5 Resigns

GM TOPALOV DRAWS 1ST BLOOD IN GAME 1 OF THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES

2010-04-24T16:09:00.001-07:00

GM Veselin Topalov played with guns blazing in dealing the defending champion GM Vishy Anand a crushing defeat in the 1st game of their World Championship match. GM Topalov playing white started with 1. d4 and Anand countered with the Gruenfeld Defense. Topalov sacrificed a pawn early for greater piece mobility and pressure on black's kingside. He sacrificed a piece in the 24th move in order to smash through black's defenses. GM Anand resigned in the 30th move when confronted with either losing his queen or being checkmated.

Below is an analysis of the game by GM Susan Polgar as originally posted in her website Chess Daily News and Information. Just click http://www.chessdailynews.com/

[Event "World Championship"]
[Date "2010.04.24"]
[ "1st Game"]
[White "GM Veselin Topalov"]
[Black "GM Viswanathan Anand"]
[ECO "D87"]
[WhiteElo "2805"]
[BlackElo "2787"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 It is interesting that Anand is employing the Gruenfeld in the first game. A surprising choice in my opinion.

7. Bc4 c5 8. Ne2 Nc6 9. Be3 O-O 10. O-O Na5 11. Bd3 b6 12. Qd2 e5 13. Bh6 cxd4 14. Bxg7 Kxg7 15. cxd4 exd4 16. Rac1 = Topalov against Kamsky in the 1st game of their match in 2009 played 16. f4 and that game ended in a draw as well.

16...Qd6 Magnus Carlsen as Black against Karjakin in 2008 played 16...Bb7 and it was a draw. Therefore, it seems that Anand did not want to duplicate the Magnus move.

17. f4 f6 18. f5 Qe5

Topalov sacrificed a pawn early. However, he has plenty of compensation for it. His pieces are fully developed while Black's pieces are not coordinated yet. Anand has to be mentally ready to be patient and defend against Topalov's all out attack in most if not all games. This is why I think this match will be very exciting. It fire versus ice! In this position, both 19. Rf3 and 19. Nf4 are good options. Black has to be careful not to allow Topalov to exploit his weakness on the Kingside.

19. Nf4 Black can just ignore it and develop his Bishop to d7 or he can chase the Knight away with g5.

19...g5 Now Topalov has 2 main options, Knight to d5 or h5. Both are OK although I would predict Topalov to get his Knight to h5 as it will give him more flexibility. The Black Bishop can chase his Knight easier on d5.

20. Nh5+ Kg8 = Now Topalov can open up the Kingside even further with h4. There is no advantage for White. However, any slight inaccuracy by Black can shift the balance of the game immediately. This is why many players fear Topalov because he is simply relentless. He is not afraid to lose and he goes for the win in every game.

21. h4 h6 Anand's plan here is simple. Hold off White's attack, trade pieces to go to the endgame with a pawn up.

22. hxg5 hxg5 I have to assume that this is all home preparation for both players. It is very rare to see moves being played this fast in world championship competition. Now the main plan for White is to get his Rooks to the h file. He does not have much else.

23. Rf3 Anand is taking a lot of time for his 23rd move. He knows what Topalov wants to do. The question is how to defend it since 3 of his pieces (Rook on a8, Bishop on c8, and Knight on a5) are out of play at the moment. The 1st game is one of the most critical games in any world championship match. No matter how well any player prepared, there will always be jitter. No one wants to dug a big hole right from the start. It does not mean that you cannot come back after losing the first game. I did in my world championship match in 1996 and Fischer did the same in his match in 1972. We both came back and won convincingly.

GM Alex Onischuk recently shared with me his sentiment about this match: "I think the chances are equal (considering that they play in Sofia, Topalov is 5 years younger, Vishy has more match experience, etc.), the one who will be in better form, or maybe just will be luckier will win the match." I agree with both GMs Onischuk and Caruana. I also think the match will be very very close.

I would like to thank both GMs Caruana and Onischuk for their comments. I have many more interesting comments and assessments from 20+ others very strong players. I will publish them one at the time during the LIVE commentary of the 12 games.

23...Kf7 A very suspicious move. This allows 24.Nxf6.

24. Nxf6!!

Now it seems that Anand is in serious trouble. If 24...Kxf6 25. Rh3 Bd7 26. Rh6+ Kf7 27. Qxg5 Rg8 28. Rh7+ Rg7 29. Rc7 +-. If 24...Qxf6 25. Rh3 Kg8 26. Rc7 Bxf5 27. exf5 Rf7 28. Qc1 +-. This is a stunning development!

24...Kxf6 After around 25 minutes, Anand took the Knight with his King. I expect 25. Rh3 for White now. It is obvious that Topalov is not afraid to take chances. He sacrificed a pawn right out of the opening and now a Knight.

25. Rh3 nearly immediately.

GM Lev Alburt (3-time US champion and an excellent chess author) just sent me a note. "I think that the difference in age is not important (strong nerve system is much more valuable) and for sure Topalov is getting some advantage because of fact that match is played in Sofia." Thank you Lev for your insight.

25...Rg8 and Topalov immediately played 26. Rh6+ Kf7 Now White must follow through with 27. Rh7+

27. Rh7+ Topalov has a decisive advantage here. This game may be over very soon. If 27... Kf8 28. Qb4+ Ke8 29. Bb5+ and it's over. If 27... Ke8 28. Bb5+ Qxb5 29. Qxd4 the mate comes soon. If 27...Kf6 then 28. Rcc7 and it is also over. If 27...Rg7 then 28. Rxg7+ Kxg7 29. Qxg5+ Kf8 30. Qd8+ Qe8 31. Qxd4 and White has a decisive advantage. Anand is running out of options.

27...Ke8 Now 28. Bb5 will lead to a victory shortly.

28. Rcc7 This is not as strong as 28. Bb5 but it also wins easily.

28...Kd8 Now once again 29. Bb5 is the knockout punch. But Topalov needs to slow down and take his time now. Even though his position is winning, he is down a piece. Therefore, an inaccuracy by him may cost him the game. Time to clamp down and close out the brilliant game and not time to get excited and play fast.

29. Bb5! A decisive move! The problem for Black is his pieces cannot move. His Rook on a8, Bishop on c8 and Knight on a5 are all useless and out of play. I expect a resignation shortly. This is devastating for Anand. But he is very experienced and I am sure he will regroup quickly.

29...Qxe4 30. Rxc8+

Anand resigns!

Topalov leads 1-0.

Replay the game below: