Thursday, July 30, 2009

GM Darwin Laylo

No wonder why Zone 3.3 champion GM Darwin Laylo is now the hottest talk of the Philippine chess community.

Just consider his stats in the said event:
- 8.0 points in 9 games
- 7 wins and 2 draws
- 2795 performance rating
- +30.1 Elo points gained

But more than the statistics, it was his warrior-like attitude in the battlefield that endeared him to the Filipino chess fans.

He’s like an untamed bull that, set free from a cage, went rampaging nonstop.

Indeed, he deserved the admiration – earned through his exceptional thirst for blood over the board.

Going over his games in this event from Round 1 to Round 8 (except Round 5,) is a pure entertainment. (PGN of his Round 9 game not yet available as of this posting. But I’m sure, his last round game would be a thriller!)

Laylo’s tactical maneuvers Round after Round were simply entertaining. Replay all his games, and see for yourselves. Click HERE to watch the games. He’s simply a superhuman in this tournament, believe me. For me, it was his best performance in a tournament.

Even if already assured of a slot for the World Chess Championships with still a round to spare, he opted to continue pulling the trigger and overpowered No.2 seed GM Zhang Zhong in the last round.

Now that he conquered Zone 3.3 and earned a ticket to WCC, it’s now a question of consistency, or better, unrelenting improvement, for GM Laylo to reach further heights.

It could be a lonely place for GM Wesley So to be the only super-GM in the country today. Joining Wesley in that super-category is a possibility well within reach.

Good luck, GM Laylo!


Just in case you can't view the games in your browser, here are the PGN files of his games. Enjoy!

[Event "Men"]
[Site "HCMC, Vietnam"]
[Date "2009.07.23"]
[Round "1.10"]
[White "Laylo, Darwin"]
[Black "Tran, Ngoc Lan"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A36"]
[WhiteElo "2494"]
[BlackElo "2176"]
[PlyCount "85"]
[EventDate "2009.07.23"]

1. c4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. d3 d6 6. e3 h5 7. h4 Nf6 8. Nge2 O-O
9. O-O Bg4 10. Qd2 Qd7 11. Kh2 Ne5 12. f3 Be6 13. e4 Qc8 14. b3 Kh7 15. d4 cxd4
16. Nxd4 Bd7 17. Bb2 Nc6 18. Nde2 Qd8 19. Nd5 Nxd5 20. Bxg7 Kxg7 21. exd5 Ne5
22. a4 a5 23. Nd4 Qb6 24. Rae1 Rae8 25. Bh3 Bxh3 26. Kxh3 Nd7 27. f4 Nc5 28.
Qc3 Kh7 29. f5 Qc7 30. Rf4 Qc8 31. Kg2 e5 32. fxe6 f5 33. Qxa5 Nd3 34. Re3
Nxf4+ 35. gxf4 Rg8 36. Qb6 Qd8 37. Qxd8 Rxd8 38. Nb5 Rge8 39. c5 dxc5 40. d6
Kg7 41. Nc7 Rg8 42. e7 Rxd6 43. e8=N+

[Event "Men"]
[Site "HCMC, Vietnam"]
[Date "2009.07.23"]
[Round "2.7"]
[White "Vo, Thanh Ninh"]
[Black "Laylo, Darwin"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A12"]
[WhiteElo "2340"]
[BlackElo "2494"]
[PlyCount "96"]
[EventDate "2009.07.23"]

1. c4 Nf6 2. g3 c6 3. Nf3 d5 4. b3 g6 5. Bb2 Bg7 6. Qc2 O-O 7. Bg2 a5 8. O-O a4
9. d3 axb3 10. axb3 Rxa1 11. Bxa1 Na6 12. Bc3 b5 13. cxb5 cxb5 14. b4 Qd6 15.
Na3 Bd7 16. Qb3 Rc8 17. Rb1 Ne8 18. Bxg7 Nxg7 19. Nd4 Nc7 20. Rc1 Rb8 21. Qc3
Nge8 22. Nb3 Na6 23. Nc5 Nf6 24. Nc2 h5 25. Ra1 Bc8 26. Ra5 Nc7 27. Qa1 h4 28.
e3 hxg3 29. hxg3 Ne6 30. Qc3 Nd8 31. Ra3 Nc6 32. Kf1 Ne5 33. Nd4 Neg4 34. Ra5
Nxf2 35. Kxf2 Ng4+ 36. Kg1 Qxg3 37. Qd2 Qh2+ 38. Kf1 Rb6 39. Nf3 Rf6 40. Qe2
Kg7 41. Ra8 Ne5 42. Rxc8 Nxf3 43. Bxf3 Qg3 44. Qb2 Qxf3+ 45. Ke1 Qxe3+ 46. Kd1
e5 47. Qg2 Rf2 48. Ne6+ fxe6

[Event "Men"]
[Site "HCMC, Vietnam"]
[Date "2009.07.24"]
[Round "3.3"]
[White "Laylo, Darwin"]
[Black "Bitoon, Richard"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E12"]
[WhiteElo "2494"]
[BlackElo "2495"]
[PlyCount "63"]
[EventDate "2009.07.23"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. a3 Ba6 5. Qc2 Bb7 6. Nc3 c5 7. d5 exd5 8. cxd5
Nxd5 9. Nxd5 Bxd5 10. e4 Bb7 11. Bf4 Nc6 12. Rd1 Be7 13. Bc4 b5 14. Ba2 Qa5+
15. Bd2 Qc7 16. Qb3 Nd8 17. Qxb5 Bxe4 18. Qe2 d5 19. Bc3 c4 20. Bxg7 Rg8 21.
Be5 Qa5+ 22. Bc3 Qa6 23. Ne5 Bxg2 24. Rg1 Qe6 25. Rxd5 f6 26. Qh5+ Nf7 27. Bxc4
Bxd5 28. Rxg8+ Bf8 29. Bb5+ Kd8 30. Ba5+ Kc8 31. Rxf8+ Kb7 32. Rxf7+

[Event "Men"]
[Site "HCMC, Vietnam"]
[Date "2009.07.25"]
[Round "4.1"]
[White "Bao, Khoa"]
[Black "Laylo, Darwin"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D02"]
[WhiteElo "2161"]
[BlackElo "2494"]
[PlyCount "78"]
[EventDate "2009.07.23"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 d5 3. d4 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Bg2 e6 6. O-O Be7 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. b4
Be7 9. a3 O-O 10. Nbd2 Qc7 11. Bb2 a6 12. a4 Rd8 13. Qb1 e5 14. e4 dxe4 15.
Nxe4 g6 16. Qe1 Nxe4 17. Qxe4 Bf5 18. Qe3 Rd3 19. Qe2 Rad8 20. Rfd1 Qd6 21. Re1
e4 22. Nd4 Nxd4 23. cxd4 Qxb4 24. Bxe4 Rd2 25. Qe3 Qxb2 26. Bxf5 Bf6 27. Rab1
Bxd4 28. Qe7 Bxf2+ 29. Kf1 Qa2 30. Re2 Rxe2 31. Qxe2 Qxe2+ 32. Kxe2 Bxg3 33.
Bd3 Bxh2 34. Rxb7 Rd4 35. a5 Ra4 36. Kf1 Rxa5 37. Bc4 Rf5+ 38. Kg2 Bf4 39. Bxa6
Rc5

[Event "Men"]
[Site "HCMC, Vietnam"]
[Date "2009.07.26"]
[Round "5.1"]
[White "Laylo, Darwin"]
[Black "So, Wesley"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D79"]
[WhiteElo "2494"]
[BlackElo "2646"]
[PlyCount "26"]
[EventDate "2009.07.23"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. g3 c6 4. Bg2 d5 5. cxd5 cxd5 6. Nf3 Bg7 7. O-O O-O 8. Ne5
e6 9. Nc3 Nfd7 10. Nxd7 Bxd7 11. e3 Bc6 12. a4 a5 13. b3 Re8

[Event "Men"]
[Site "HCMC, Vietnam"]
[Date "2009.07.26"]
[Round "6.1"]
[White "Nguyen, Ngoc Truong Son"]
[Black "Laylo, Darwin"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D78"]
[WhiteElo "2592"]
[BlackElo "2494"]
[PlyCount "91"]
[EventDate "2009.07.23"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. c4 Bg7 4. g3 O-O 5. Bg2 c6 6. O-O d5 7. Nbd2 Ne4 8. cxd5
cxd5 9. Ne5 Nxd2 10. Bxd2 Nd7 11. Bc3 e6 12. Rc1 f6 13. Nd3 f5 14. Bb4 Re8 15.
e3 Nb8 16. Ne5 Bd7 17. Qb3 Nc6 18. Bd6 Nxe5 19. Bc7 Qe7 20. Bxe5 Bxe5 21. dxe5
Bc6 22. Rc2 g5 23. Rfc1 Kh8 24. Qc3 Rg8 25. Qd4 a6 26. Bf1 Rg7 27. b4 Qe8 28.
Qb6 f4 29. exf4 gxf4 30. Qd4 Qf7 31. Rc3 fxg3 32. hxg3 Qh5 33. Rxc6 bxc6 34.
Rxc6 Rg6 35. a4 Rf8 36. Qc5 Rfg8 37. Rc8 Qxe5 38. Rxg8+ Rxg8 39. Bxa6 Qe4 40.
Bf1 h5 41. Qe7 h4 42. Qf6+ Rg7 43. Bh3 Qe1+ 44. Kg2 Qe4+ 45. Kg1 Qe1+ 46. Kg2

[Event "Men"]
[Site "HCMC, Vietnam"]
[Date "2009.07.27"]
[Round "7.1"]
[White "Laylo, Darwin"]
[Black "Megaranto, Susanto"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E32"]
[WhiteElo "2494"]
[BlackElo "2534"]
[PlyCount "73"]
[EventDate "2009.07.23"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+ 4. Nbd2 b6 5. a3 Bxd2+ 6. Qxd2 Bb7 7. g3 O-O 8.
Bg2 d6 9. O-O a5 10. b3 Nbd7 11. Bb2 Qe7 12. Qc3 Rfe8 13. Rad1 Be4 14. Rfe1 c6
15. Nd2 Bxg2 16. Kxg2 Rec8 17. e4 d5 18. Qf3 Qd8 19. a4 Rab8 20. Ba3 dxe4 21.
Nxe4 Nxe4 22. Rxe4 Nf6 23. Rf4 b5 24. d5 cxd5 25. axb5 e5 26. Rf5 Qe8 27. Bd6
e4 28. Qf4 Rb6 29. Bc7 Rb7 30. b6 a4 31. Rxf6 gxf6 32. cxd5 e3 33. bxa4 e2 34.
Re1 Qd7 35. d6 Qc6+ 36. Kg1 Qd5 37. Qg4+

[Event "Men"]
[Site "HCMC, Vietnam"]
[Date "2009.07.28"]
[Round "8.1"]
[White "Duong, The Anh"]
[Black "Laylo, Darwin"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D00"]
[WhiteElo "2440"]
[BlackElo "2494"]
[PlyCount "142"]
[EventDate "2009.07.23"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 d5 3. Bxf6 exf6 4. g3 Bd6 5. Bg2 O-O 6. e3 c6 7. Ne2 Nd7 8.
Qd3 Qb6 9. b3 a5 10. O-O a4 11. Nd2 Qa6 12. c4 Bb4 13. Nc3 Nb6 14. Rac1 Be6 15.
Ncb1 Rfd8 16. Qc2 axb3 17. axb3 Qa2 18. Qd3 Qa6 19. Qc2 g6 20. c5 Nd7 21. Nc3
Bf5 22. e4 dxe4 23. Bxe4 Be6 24. Bd3 b5 25. Nde4 f5 26. Ng5 Nf8 27. Nf3 Bxc3
28. Qxc3 Qa5 29. b4 Qa3 30. Rfd1 Qxc3 31. Rxc3 Ra4 32. Rb1 Bd5 33. Bc2 Ra7 34.
Bb3 Bxf3 35. Rxf3 Rxd4 36. Re3 Kg7 37. Bd1 Ne6 38. Bf3 Ra6 39. Ree1 f4 40. Kg2
fxg3 41. hxg3 g5 42. Ra1 Rxa1 43. Rxa1 Rxb4 44. Bxc6 Nxc5 45. Ra5 Rb2 46. Rxb5
Rc2 47. Kg1 g4 48. Rb4 f5 49. Rd4 Kf6 50. Bg2 Nb3 51. Rd6+ Kg5 52. Rd7 h5 53.
Rg7+ Kf6 54. Rh7 Kg6 55. Rh8 Nd4 56. Rd8 Rd2 57. Rg8+ Kh7 58. Re8 Kg7 59. Re7+
Kg6 60. Re8 Ne2+ 61. Kf1 Nc3 62. f3 Kf7 63. Re5 Kf6 64. Re8 h4 65. fxg4 hxg3
66. gxf5 Rf2+ 67. Kg1 Ne2+ 68. Kh1 Nf4 69. Rh8 Rxg2 70. Rh4 Rf2 71. Rg4 Rf1#

3 Comments:

chessph said...

And here's GM Laylo's round nine win:

[Event "Men"]
[Site "HCMC, Vietnam"]
[Date "2009.07.29"]
[Round "9.1"]
[White "Laylo, Darwin"]
[Black "Zhang, Zhong"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D45"]
[WhiteElo "2494"]
[BlackElo "2613"]
[PlyCount "81"]
[EventDate "2009.07.23"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 c6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Qc2 Bd6 7. b3 O-O 8. Be2 dxc4 9. bxc4 e5 10. O-O Re8 11. Rd1 Qe7 12. a4 e4 13. Nd2 Nf8 14. c5 Bc7 15. f3 exf3 16. Nxf3 Ba5 17. Ne5 Ng6 18. Nc4 Bxc3 19. Qxc3 Bg4 20. Bxg4 Nxg4 21. Rf1 Nf6 22. Nd6 Ne4 23. Qb3 Nxd6 24. cxd6 Qd7 25. Ra2 Re6 26. Raf2 f6 27. Ba3 Kh8 28. Rf3 Nf8 29. Rb1 b6 30. Rc1 Ree8 31. Qc2 Rac8 32. Qd3 Ne6 33. Qf5 Nf8 34. Qh5 c5 35. dxc5 Qxa4 36. Bb2 Rxc5 37. Rxc5 bxc5 38. Qf7 Qd7 39. Rxf6 Qxf7 40. Rxf7 Rb8 41. d7 1-0

Anonymous said...

suggestion lang... tulad ko na walang chess board or chess engine... di ko maimagine yung mga moves kase hindi kita yung chess board...mas maganda kung wag mo na lang ipost yung moves at sa halip ay yung chess board para makita namin agad yung moves. or puede ring ipost mo yung moves at yung chess board

Anonymous said...

Darwin's strength lies on his tactical ability, the grandmaster have been known to adopt openings that complements his style and adhere's to it. But this make's Darwin vulnerable to home brewed preparations in this era of infotech. In his games last month in Victory Centrall Mall and the just concluded Zone 3.3 Championship, his opening play had become unpredictable and opening preparations have become inutile against his vast and improved opening repertoire. I hope Darwin continues to improve n his craft and reach the super GM status next year, that +30 would be a great start.