UAAP chess war

BY: BOBBY ANG

(As published in Chess Piece, BusinessWorld, 16 April 2010)

UAAP Chess (Seniors)
2009-2010 Season

CHAMPION. FAR EASTERN UNIVERSITY (FEU), 42.0/56. Bd01 Lyndon b. Sombilon 9.5/12, Bd02 James V. Bulicatin 2.5/6, Bd03 Sheider T. Nebato 11/14, Bd04 Luffe V. Magdalaga 8.5/10, Bd05 Antonio L. Chavez Jr 4.5/7, Bd06 Kevin T. Mirano 6/7. GM Jayson Gonzalez, coach.

2nd PLACE. UNIVERSITY OF THE EAST (UE), 35.5/56. Bd01 Nelson Mariano III 10/13, Bd02 Jayson S. Visca 8/13, Bd03 Aaron Krishna F. Rivas 5.5/11, Bd04 Amram Ezra F. Rivas 8/13, Bd05 Piokit S. Ibanez 3.5/5, Bd06 Marvin Gabriel M. Colasito 0.5/1. Henrysky Mariano, coach.

3rd PLACE. UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS (UST), 34.5/56. Bd01 Joey Alberto V. Florendo 7/13, Bd02 Gerald A. Ferriol 9.5/14, Bd03 Jude Emil P. Fronda 6/14, Bd04 Patrick Erle V. Florendo 12/14, Bd05 Lemuel Lorenzo John Bermas 0/1. NM Winston Silva, coach.

4th PLACE. DE LA SALLE UNIVERSITY (DLSU), 29.0/56. Bd01 Paolo Lorenzo Y. Bautista 4/13, Bd02 Mari Joseph L. Turqueza 9.5/14, Bd03 Emmanuel C. Emperado 9/14, Bd04 Revin Briam G. Vasallo 6.5/14, Bd05 Emmanuel Eumir F. Songcuya 0/1, Bd06 Franz Jerome H. Chua 0/1. Randy Segarra, coach. Rainier Labay, asst. coach. George Barcelon, team manager.

5th PLACE. UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES (UP), 25.0/56. Bd01 Leo F. Daylo Jr 11.5/14, Bd02 Franz M. Barretto 6/11, Bd03 Ywhen Richard R. Lababo 2.5/11, Bd04 Simone A. del Rosario 4/10, Bd05 Robby Dedrick E. Fopalan 0.5/5, Bd06 Lev Amiel H. Abug 0.5/5. NM Leonardo Carlos, coach. WIM Catherine Perena, asst. coach.

6th PLACE. ADAMSON UNIVERSITY (ADU), 24.5/56. Bd01 Romie Lord A. Guerra 7/14, Bd02 Tristan T. Soriano 6.5/14, Bd03 Ferdinand R. Reyes Jr 6/13, Bd04 Daiel P. Casil Jr 5/13, Bd05 Jerome Angelo B. Baybay 0/2. Christopher Rodriguez, coach.

7th PLACE. NATIONAL UNIVERSITY (NU), 23.5/56. Bd01 Reggie Mel P. Santiago 3.5/13, Bd02 Christian G. Cagadas 5.5/13, Bd03 Gerry Paul Nudalo 3.5/13, Bd04 Norvin L. Gravillo 9/14, Bd05 Vincent Aldrin A. Yap 2/2, Bd06 Benz Mckenly S. Anastacio 0/1. Jose A. Aquino Jr, coach. Samson Go, manager.

8th PLACE. ATENEO DE MANILA UNIVERSITY (AdMU), 10.0/56. Bd01 Francis A. Bayocboc 0/6, Bd02 Gabriel M. Gatbonton 0/10, Bd03 Ronald Ricklie A. tong 2/12, Bd04 Emmanuel Neil JM Plan 4.5/14, Bd05 Nathan Matthew P. Sarigumba 3.5/14. IM Idelfonso Datu, coach.

INDIVIDUAL AWARDS:
Most Valuable Player (MVP). Sheider T. Nebato (FEU)
Rookie of the Year: Mari Joseph L. Turqueza (DLSU)
Gold Medalists:
Bd01 Leo F. Daylo Jr UP 11.5/14
Bd02 Gerald A. Ferriol UST 9.5/14
Bd03 Sheider T. Nebato FEU 11/14
Bd04 Patrick Erle V. Florendo UST 12/14
Bd05 Antonio L. Chavez Jr FEU 4.5/7
Bd06 Kevin T. Mirano FEU 6/7

I had always thought that the rules for competition in the NCAA were a bit weird: a double round-robin tournament followed match play: 1 vs 4 and 2 vs 3, with the two victors facing off against each other for the trophy. Here in the UAAP saner minds have prevailed and whoever was leading after a double round-robin tournament was declared the champion.

GM Jayson Gonzales has proven that his coaching style is very effective: hard training coupled with exposure to tournament play honed his charges to fighting pitch and they ran away with the tournament for their fourth straight UAAP championship. They drew 3 matches (twice against UP and once against UE) and beat everybody else -- there was no doubt they deserved to win.

UST was in good form and looked like a contender, but they completely collapsed in the last two rounds and fell in heavy defeats (both 0.5-3.5) to De La Salle and FEU and tumbled down to 3rd.
One day over lunch I told my brother, who happens to be the Dean of the John Gokongwei School of Management, that Ateneo had better shape up its chess program -- after all chess is a game for intelligent people and with the record of the Jesuit school for cellar-dwelling finishes the past few years people might start saying that Ateneo students had inferior brain power.

Well, apparently he paid no heed to my words of wisdom, for once again Ateneo finished at the bottom with less than half the points of the next placer. Their top two boards scored 0 out of 16, clearly they are floundering.

Ask this year’s MVP Sheider Nebato what his favorite piece is and no doubt the answer will be the king’s bishop. The 2009 Philippine under-18 champion played the Pirc against 1.e4 and the King’s Indian against 1.d4 and amassed an undefeated 8 win 6 draw record. Nothing flashy -- he was just too strong for board 3. Remember that last 2008 season he was Rookie of the Year and also won the gold on board 3 with 11/13 (9 wins 4 draws). Not a single loss yet in two seasons of play.

Emperado, Emmanuel C -- Nebato, Sheider T [B06]
2009-10 UAAP Chess [SENIORS] Tan Yan Kee Bldg., UST (9), 07.02.2010
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With White Sheider plays 1.d4 and against the King’s Indian likes the Saemisch Variation. He also handles this very well.

Nebato, Sheider T -- Reyes, Ferdinand Jr R [E80]
2009-10 UAAP Chess [SENIORS] Tan Yan Kee Bldg., UST (1), 10.01.2010
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The board 1 gold medalist from UP, Leo Daylo Jr., has represented the Philippines in the ASEAN Youth Championships and all that competition has developed a smooth positional style. I noticed some time ago that he likes to play on both sides of the board. The following game is a representative sample.

Daylo, Leo Jr F -- Sombilon, Lyndon B [C00]
2009-10 UAAP Chess [SENIORS] Tan Yan Kee Bldg., UST (10), 13.02.2010
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