2nd best

(RUSTICBULL'S NOTE: Sir Bobby made a very interesting point at the end of this column. Enjoy reading!)

BY: BOBBY ANG

(As published in Chess Piece, BusinessWorld, 02 December 2010)

I know that I promised to show you some outstanding games from the 2010 Tal Memorial, but this news is just too juicy to postpone. The Philippines got the silver medal in the Asian Games Chess Team Championship. We were second place in the preliminaries:

16th Asian Games Team Championship
Nov. 18-26, 2010

Preliminary Round
Legend: +win =draw -loss

Match Points (2pts for win, 1pt for draw)
1. China +7 =0 -0, 14 points
2. Philippines +6 =0 -1, 12 points
3. India +4 =1 -2, 9 points
4. Iran +3 =2 -2, 8 points
5. Qatar +4 =0 -3, 8 points
6. Vietnam +3 =2 -2, 8 points
7. Uzbekistan +3 =2 -2, 8 points
8. Kyrgyzstan +3 =1 -3, 7 points
9. Iraq +3 =1 -3, 7 points
10. Bangladesh +3 =0 -4, 6 points
11. Kazakhstan +2 =2 -3, 6 points
12. Mongolia +2 =2 -3, 6 points
Total of 17 countries

Time control: 90 minutes for whole game with 30 second increment added every move starting move 1

The Philippine team was only seeded 6th, but surprisingly beat everybody except China. Here is what happened:
rd01 defeated Iraq 3.0-1.0
rd02 lost to China 1.0-3.0
rd03 bounced back to beat Bangladesh 3.0-1.0
rd04 upset no. 3 seed Kazakhstan 2.5-1.5 (3 draws and John Paul Gomez beat GM Rinat Jumabayev)
rd05 another upset, this time against no. 2 seed India 2.5-1.5 (John Paul lost to Surya Shekhar Ganguly but Wesley So and Eugene Torre defeated GMs Harikrishna and Adhiban, respectively)
rd06 The third successive upset, the Philippines dealt the 5th seed Uzbekistan, led by former FIDE World Champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov, a heavy blow 3.5-0.5 (Joey Antonio, John Paul Gomez and Eugene Torre defeated their counterparts GM Anton Filippov, GM Alexei Barsov, and IM Dzhubarek Khamrakulov)
rd07 the Phiippines only needed a draw against Kyrgyzstan, but defeated them anyway 2.5-1.5

According to the rules of the event, there were to be semifinals, where team no. 1 is matched against team no. 4, while teams 2 and 3 faced off against each other. The two winners will then play off for the gold medals.

Semifinals:
China vs Iran, 2.5-1.5
Philippines vs India, 2.5-1.5
(Wesley So blundered and lost to Harikrishna, but GM Joey and Eugene defeated GMs Sasikiran and Gopal)

Finals:
China vs Philippines, 3.5-0.5
India vs Iran, 3.5-0.5

Final Standings:
Gold medal China
Silver medal Philippines
Bronze medal India

This is a great result for the Philippines, after a long drought and a succession of bad results. Our heroes are:
bd 01 GM Wesley So +3 =4 -1, 5.0/8
bd 02 GM Rogelio Antonio, Jr +3 =4 -0, 5.0/7
bd 03 GM John Paul Gomez +3 =3 -3, 4.5/9
bd 04 GM Darwin Laylo +1 =0 -3, 1.0/4
bd 05 GM Eugene Torre +4 =3 -1, 5.5/8

The usual rule when writing about a tournament is to feature one or two games by the winners, but I am too excited to care about this right now, and offer you this quick victory by Wesley So.

Murshed, Niaz (2429) -- So, Wesley (2669) [D00]
16th Asian Games Team Men Guangzhou CHN (3), 20.11.2010
REQUIRES JAVA




After 29.Qxb2 Rxc5 30.Rac1 Rxc3 31.Rxc3 b4 White loses a whole piece. GM Eugene Torre is 60 years old, and GM Joey Antonio is 48. The Philippines’ ageing frontline is not getting any younger. It is starting to look like our new generation is not yet ready to take over.