Wesley So again

(RUSTICBULL's NOTE: My thanks to Sir Bobby for citing me in his column.)

BY: BOBBY ANG

(As published in Chess Piece, BusinessWorld, 11 June 2010)

3rd Phoenix Petroleum Battle of GMs
Philippine National Championship
Character Hotel, Tagaytay City
May 25-June 2, 2010

Final Standings
1. GM Wesley So 2665, 8.5/10
2. GM John Paul Gomez 2507, 7.5/10
3-4. GM Rogelio Antonio Jr 2572, IM Julio Catalino Sadorra 2450, 7.0/10
5. GM Darwin Laylo 2527, 6.0/10
6. IM Rolando Nolte 2420, 4.5/10
7-8. IM Ronald Dableo 2464, IM Richard Bitoon 2476, 4.0/10
9. FM Haridas Pascua 2358, 3.5/10
10. IM Oliver Dimakiling 2443, 2.0/10
11. FM Jan Emmanuel Garcia 2315, 1.0/10

GM Wesley So won it all again. He is rated so far ahead of the other local players that he has to pile up enormous winning scores so as not to lose FIDE rating points, but I am glad to see that it does not bother him at all. Wesley, who also dominated the first two stagings of the event in Manila and Dapitan City, put on another strong performance and took home the top prize of P200,000.

Since the inception of the Battle of GMs in 2008 nobody has managed to defeat Wesley yet. I echo the sentiments of Mr. Resty Par, the so-called rusticbull of the chess blogs that the Philippine chess community should salute Wesley, not because of his superb showing in the three stagings of the Battle of GMs but because of his commitment to give back to where he came from. Wesley participated not because of the fame, not because of the prize, not because of the feat, but because of his unselfish desire to share his talent for the improvement of Philippine chess.

For those of you who are not aware, several years ago the Philippine top players would put a condition to their participation in local tournaments that the games be not rated so that they do not lose any points. This is a completely selfish act and took away the chances of locals to get international ratings for themselves and also made it impossible to get title norms.

Speaking about title norms we congratulate IM Julio Catalino Sadorra for earning his second GM norm (he obtained the first during the President GMA Cup last 2008). Ino lost to the top two players but then scored 7/8 against the rest, most of the games in hair-raising style such as the following:

Dableo, Ronald (2464) -- Sadorra, Julio Catalino (2450) [A21]
National Championship Tagaytay City (9.1), 01.06.2010
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GM Jayson Gonzales had to withdraw after a few rounds after his elder brother, Ruben Gonzales, passed away at age 47 due to cardiac arrest. The results of the games he had already played were nullified.

Here’s something interesting -- the tournament was suspended after round 5 for two days to give way to the Commissioner Harry Angping Cup, a rapid tournament sponsored by the head of the Philippine Sports Commission, which was held in Pasig. GM Joey Antonio won this ahead of GM Wesley So, IM Rolando Nolte, and NM Alex Milagrosa, the three of whom tied for second place. Alex Milagrosa showed that he was still a force to reckon with in quickplay -- he started with an unimpressive 1.5/3 and then finished by winning his remaining six games, in the process upsetting IMs Barlo Nadera, Chito Garma, and Richard Bitoon.

In connection with the Angping Cup, a problem arose the next day, when GM Joey showed up late for his game with Wesley So in the Battle of GMs. He asked for postponement of the game on the grounds of tiredness after ruling the Angping Cup. This, of course, was denied since the other players were also at the Angping Cup and they all showed up on time in Tagaytay, and GM Joey given a default loss.

(Some parts not shown here)

Dimakiling, Oliver (2441) -- Antonio, Rogelio, Jr. (2572) [E42]
National Championship Tagaytay City (2.1), 26.05.2010
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GM John Paul Gomez was in the lead for most of the time but could not match Wesley’s 3/3 at the end. He was unspectacular but coolly efficient, taking advantage of whatever opportunities his opponents afforded him.

Pascua, Haridas (2358) -- Gomez, John Paul (2507) [D13]
National Championship Tagaytay City (4.1), 27.05.2010
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We will continue our coverage on Monday.