Under-16 Chess Olympiad RP bronze: A review

I post this one just in case you missed this article that appeared in the Philippine Star on August 31, 2008. It was written by Florencio Campomanes, former president of the International Chess Federation, FIDE. Read on . . .

Under-16 Chess Olympiad RP bronze: A review
By FLORENCIO CAMPOMANES
Sunday, August 31, 2008


The third place trophy won by the four-man RP team in Mersin, Turkey last week was no pushover. We finished behind India and Russia, these behemoths of world youth chess.

We were in contention until the penultimate round. We missed a 3 1/2 – 1/2 result in a vital draw on second board against England. Thus, a four-zero shutout in the final round would no longer suffice to equal the two leaders, let alone overtake them.



To appreciate the tough task that GM Wesley So, untitled players Haridas Pascua, Alcon Datu and Jam Garcia, had to achieve, mention must be made of factors that affected their labors.
First, they were all 14 years of age. Jam was the Benjamin, leaving his 13th only a few weeks before Mersin. Other teams were mostly 15 or 16-year teenagers. In today’s electronic chess mode, one or two years of difference in age can mean a lot.

Second, both India and Russia had five players each. When one suffered a loss in a previous round, the coach, trainer or manager could replace him. No such luxury for the Pinoys. Even the lowly South African teams had five each, plus coaches.


Third, Garcia and Datu arrived from Manila fresh and eager with coach GM Bong Villamayor for the Mersin Olympiad. But Wesley and Haridas only had a one-day respite with a four-hour bus ride from Gaziantep included. No rest for the fatigued!


Figure 23 tight encounters in two four-hour tournaments in 22 days. That’s no picnic! Note the two fairly short and simple draws Wesley played in Mersin. Haridas suffered two successive losses in the crucial eighth and ninth rounds of the Olympiad.


Fourth, the second-fourth boards are strangers to the real world of international youth chess. For the first time, every game is a hard fought struggle.


Fifth, all Indians were FIDE titled. At tourney’s end, only the Pinoys had one titled player among the top four placers. Titles may mean little or much. In the end, only the results will tell. In the present case, it tells convincingly.


Fortunate though is that camaraderie among the four and their coach was A-one. Internal communication was good. At the dinner table, a player when fetching his glass of filtered water always took a second one for a team mate.


Also, despite a well-stocked lounge store, the teenagers were most frugal, probably, because of limited funds. Wesley and Haridas each received only $200 as their allowance for two tournaments totaling 25 days of travel and play.


This minor point however didn’t bother their play. They played their hearts out to gain some honors for the country in international sports, considering the poor RP medal harvests of late- Five Bronze medals and a fair-sized trophy for the team, and a gold medal for Wesley and his Board One performance, only two draws and unbeaten. All told, not bad!


To get these, they defeated the top-seeded Russia, England and Turkey in their individual confrontations. They lost solely to winner India with the lowest margin of difference.
Bravo Wes, Haridas, Alcon, Jam & Bong. Paging Chair Butch Ramirez!