Asia’s best

BY: BOBBY ANG

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

Based on the latest ratings (as of July 1, 2010) released by the World Chess Federation (FIDE), the Philippines’ chess elite is now composed of:

Philippines’ Top 10. 1. GM Wesley So 2674; 2. GM Rogelio Antonio Jr 2575; 3. GM John Paul Gomez 2527; 4. GM Darwin Laylo 2522; 5. IM Rogelio Barcenilla 2518; 6. IM Roland Salvador 2498; 7. GM Eugenio Torre 2489; 8. GM Joseph Sanchez 2479; 9. GM Mark Paragua 2476; and 10. IM Julio Catalino Sadorra 2473

All eyes are on Wesley So, but one should not forget that GM Joey’s 2575 is also the highest rating that he has ever attained. Even in 1999, during his world championship campaign, 2555 was the highest he ever got.

If you compare the list above with the Philippine team to the 2010 Khanty-Mansiysk Olympiad (Wesley So, Rogelio Antonio, John Paul Gomez, Darwin Laylo, Eugenio Torre), you will notice that, save for Barcenilla (who is in the States) and Roland Salvador (in Europe), the composition of the team was derived from the top 5 players in the list.

Why is Barcenilla not yet listed as a GM? As far as I know one of his GM norms was scored in a local tournament with foreign GMs present. Problem is, the Philippine Chess Federation (PCF) which was the governing body of chess then in the country did not bother to send in the tournament crosstables to FIDE, so they are now having difficulty proving that he ever achieved that norm at all. I believe (or, more accurately, I hope) this is just a glitch and he will get the title soon.

Roland Salvador is really getting close to the GM title. He already has two GM norms (out of the three required) and his rating of 2498 is only two shy of the required 2500. Will he be our next GM? IM Ronald Dableo already has all the required GM norms, yet his rating of 2448 is well below the required 2500. Roland Salvador, on the other hand, has already missed the norm by half a point in at least three tournaments, so it appears that the wise money will be on Salvador to be a GM earlier.

Now let us look at the chess elite for Asia:

Asia’s Top 10

1. GM Viswanathan Anand IND 2800

2. GM Wang Hao CHN 2724

3. GM Wang Yue CHN 2716

4. GM Rustam Kasimdzhanov UZB 2699

5. GM Le Quang Liem VIE 2681

6. GM Krishnan Sasikiran IND 2679

7. GM Bu Xiangzhi CHN 2676

8. GM Wesley So PHI 2674

9. GM Zhou Jianchao CHN 2668

10. GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly IND 2655

The first Asian player to hit 2700 (in addition to that, the first and only to reach 2800) is the current world champion Viswanathan Anand. Kasimdzhanov, Sasikiran and Bu have also at one time or another exceeded 2700. The competition for the next Asian to breach the 2700-plateau is therefore between Wesley, Le Quang Liem, Zhou Jianchao and Ganguly.

Many years ago I thought that Vietnam’s Dao Thien Hai would develop to be a powerhouse in Asian chess because of his great tactical vision. I remember one incident during the 2000 Istanbul Olympiad -- Korchnoi and Ye Jiangchuan had just agreed to a draw and they came into the coffee shop, got a chessboard, and started analyzing. Immediately, of course, a crowd developed around the board to kibitz. Korchnoi is amazing in such situations -- every time someone puts in a suggestion he immediately flashes out 3 or 4 mozes to show what he will do against it. Suddenly with the moves flying all over the board a hand reached in, motioning for "stop" and hit the board with a devastating tactical shot. This stopped Korchnoi who, after a few seconds’ reflection, leaned back on his chair to look at the person who made the suggestion. Dao Thien Hai.

I think Dao Thien Hai got lazy, though, and in his place stepped in two of his countrymen, Le Quang Liem and Nguyen Ngoc Truongson. Vietnam placed 9th in the 2008 Dresden Olympiad because of the sterling play of the two, and remember that they also dominated the star-studded Aeroflot 2010 Open before Nguyen faded in the final rounds to allow Le Quang Liem to gain the crown.

You guys are going to hate me for saying this, but I think the wise money will be on Le Quang Liem to hit 2700 faster than anybody else in the Asian horizon. Le Quang knows his openings and can engage anybody in theoretical debates. The following game from the Vietnamese Championship will illustrate this point.

Le Quang Liem (2689) -- Nguyen Duc Hoa (2324) [D15]
ch-VIE Ho Chi Minh City VIE (8), 30.03.2010
REQUIRES JAVA TO VIEW THE GAME