NM Bersamina beats IM Dimakiling

NM Paulo Bersamina, the country's youngest reigning national master (and who celebrates his 13th birthday today), displayed a full-grown, solid play against IM Oliver Dimakiling in Round 1 of the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) training in preparation for their participation in Aeroflot 2011.

In this match, the now 13-year old Bersamina exhibited a rock-solid nerve to repel the superhuman persistence of IM Dimakiling.

IM Dimakiling vs NM Paulo Bersamina
NCFP Training for Aeroflot 2011
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Versus the English

BY: BOBBY ANG

(As published in Chess Piece, BusinessWorld, 31 January 2011)

It is a common misconception that Anthony John Miles was the first Englishman to be awarded the title of international grandmaster (GM) -- the honor belongs to Jacques Mieses, who was among the original 27 players granted the GM title in 1950 by the International Chess Federation (FIDE). It is true, though, that Mieses was originally a German and became a naturalized British citizen after the second world war.

So is Miles the first natural-born English GM? I am afraid not. Keith Richardson has that distinction -- he got the International Correspondence GM title in 1975.
OK, does that make Miles the first natural-born English over-the-board chess GM? Yes it does.

The early 1970s was the start of the English chess boom and grandmasters started to sprout up from everywhere. After Miles came Raymond Keene, Michael Stean (never heard of him? Here’s a bit of trivia -- when Campomanes became FIDE president in 1982 Stean announced that he cannot stomach this and retired from chess), John Nunn, Jonathan Mester, Jonathan Speelman and a flood of others. The 1974 Nice Olympiad was the last one where the English team did not have any GMs. In fact, in 1976 Haifa olympiad they were already strong enough to take the bronze medals.

We pick up GM Eugene’s story from here:

Round 7 opponents were the Englishmen. I wanted to take a rest, but Campomanes had this thing against the English team -- in those early years the Englishmen had the tendency to sneer at Asian chessplayers and one of their journalists even likened our players to "penguins and polar bears."

Campomanes in another Olympiad had a heated confrontation with Harry Golombek, the Dean of English chessplayers, when he commented about the Philippine team that "these brown monkeys can play chess."

To be fair, when Campomanes became the FIDE president in 1982, one of the first things he did was to propose that Golombek be declared an Honorary International Grandmaster.

Anyway, in the 1968 Lugano Olympiad the Philippines and England were in the same preliminary group and we managed to slip past them into Group "A," causing their relegation to the "B" group. There was this marathon Raymond Keene vs. Edgar de Castro draw of 101 moves that made this qualification possible.

Keene, Raymond (2435) -- De Castro, Edgar (2320) [A07]
Lugano ol (Men) qual-A Lugano (7), 24.10.1968
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We knew they were itching for revenge.

Hartston,William R (2480) -- Torre, Eugenio (2450) [B07]
Nice ol (Men) fin-A (7), 20.06.1974
Pirc Defense
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Glenn had a promising attack against Markland’s Sicilian, but solid defense by the resourceful Englishman caused him to commit a time pressure mistake, losing a pawn. This extra pawn carried over to the knight and pawns end game and cost Glenn the full point. Final score: 2-2. Not bad.

With 10.5/13 I started entertaining thoughts of getting the 2nd and last GM norm. The requirement during those days was to get a certain performance over 25 games, which usually meant 3 tournaments, but the Nice Olympiad was a long-winded affair and despite the unrated games in the preliminaries which were not counted, a quick calculation showed that, including the games I played in the 1974 Costa del Sol tournament in Spain (where I got my first GM norm) there only remained six more games to reach the magic 25, and I only needed 2.5 points more to fulfill the performance requirement.

Reader comments/suggestions are solicited. E-mail address is bangcpa@gmail.com

Makati Youth Scholastic Chess Tournament

BY: ATTY. VIC ACEVEDA (Makati Chess Club President)

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12-year old NM Bersamina leads NCFP chess

BY: MARLON BERNARDINO

Individual rankings (after Round 2, Standard format)
(wins=3 points,draw=1 point,loss=zero)

6 points---NM Paulo Bersamina
4 points---IM Rolando Nolte
3 points---IM Oliver Dimakiling, Guess Computer Program
2 points---GM Darwin Laylo
1 point---IM Richard Bitoon, IM Yves Ranola, WNM Christy Lamiel Bernales

Filipino whiz kid NM Paulo Bersamina (in photo) defeated lone female entry WNM Christy Lamiel Bernales yesterday to extend his unbeaten run in the on-going standard competition of the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) training tournament at the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) headquarters in Diliman, Quezon City.

Bersamina, 12, youngest-ever national junior champion prevails with the disadvantegeous black pieces after 51 moves of King's Indian defense to raised his total to a perfect 6 points to stay in course based on the unique scoring system that gives three points for a win, one point for a draw and zero for a loss in this eight-player, double-round competition hosted and backed up by NCFP President/ Chairman Prospero "Butch" Pichay Jr.

"Nagkamali ng exchange ng pieces si Christy sa middle game. Maganda yung posisyon n'ya pa naman," said the soft-spoken Bersamina, one of several players set to campaign in the coming Aeroflot Open in Moscow, Russia next month.

Earlier, the Pasay City pride Bersamina upset IM Oliver Dimakiling on Monday.
At solo second spot is IM Rolando Nolte, who beat IM Richard Bitoon using the advantgeous white pieces after 37 moves of Nimzo Indian defense to up tally to 4 points. He drew Bernales in the opening round.

Dimakiling, meantime bounced back in contention by demolishing the guess "computer program". Dimakiling and guess "computer program" tallied 3 points each.

GM Darwin Laylo, on the other hand settled a truce with IM Yves Ranola after 80 moves of King's Indian defense for his total 2 points. Bernales, Bitoon and Ranola notch 1 point each.

Over the weekend, GM John Paul Gomez won the first edition after tallying a total 25 points. Supervising arbiter is Fide arbiter Ilann Perez and former olympian NM Cesar Caturla.

Mr. Almario Llamas-Bernadino, 77

Our condolences to the family of Mr. Almario Llamas-Bernardino, the father of sportswriter/radio commentator, PH and US chess master Marlon Bernardino.

Mr. Almario rested in peace last Tuesday at the age of 77. Mr. He is survived by his wife Nelia Quiroz Bernardino and children Almario Marlon, Michael, Marinel and Anthony.

His remains lies in state at the Bernardino residence, 29 Batay Street, Cubao, Quezon City, Philippines. Interment will be announced later. Call or text +63 919 849 3648 (smart) and +63 916 446 8123 (globe) for more details.

Honoring a legend

BY: JOSE ALEXIS MARQUEZ (a.k.a. spawn2)

(In photo from left: Anthony Navarro, Ed Andaya, GM Eugene Torre, Jose Alexis Marquez, and Allan Dinglasan. Simply click on photo for enlarged view.)

GM Eugenio O. Torre, Philippine chess' "Living Legend," has been representing the country in the international chess arena for the past 40 years. He has matched wits with the best of them. Names like Kasparov, Karpov, Tal, Anand, Petrosian, Topalov and Spassky were some of the legends he fought over the 64-square battle ground.

Just this September 2010, GM Torre played his 20th Olympiad in Khanty Mansisysk, Russia tying the record of GM Lajos Portisch of Hungary with the most number of Olympiad appearance.

A group of chess enthusiasts under the GETS (Grandmaster Eugene Torre Supporters) umbrella hosted a simple dinner at Italliani's Eastwood Libis to hand to GM Torre a plaque of recognition to acknowledge his outstanding achievements as a Chess Olympian.

The group was joined by Mr. and Mrs. Ed Andaya, the sports editor of People's Tonight and an avid chess supporter.

During the dinner, GM Torre said that he will try to be part of the Philippine Team to the 2012 Olympiad not only to set a new record but more important to help the team improve its standing.

Last November in the Asian Games, GM Torre dished out another memorable performance to help Team Philippines bagged the silver medal.

He said that he will continue to play as long as he is still enjoying the game and can continue to contribute to Philippine Chess.

As they say, the Legend continues . . .

Four wins

BY: BOBBY ANG

(As published in Chess Piece, BusinessWorld, 23 January 2011)

GM Eugene Torre (in photo) may be 60 years of age already, but obviously he still has a lot of fans. When I stopped the coverage of the 1974 Nice Olympiad two weeks ago there were a lot of outraged notes in my e-mail box demanding that I finish the story.

That is a bit too long for this newspaper column, since the Nice Olympiad is the longest Olympiad in history -- 23 rounds! Let us content ourselves with a look at the highlights for GM Torre, which are four crucial wins in the finals.
Here is the first one, in GM Eugene’s own words:

Once in a while in a chess player’s career, though, there are high notes when the whole chessboard becomes suddenly so totally within his mental grasp. The most intricate variations and the deepest strategies become so utterly clear and simple. Something snaps, and the lonely hours of study and analyses suddenly pay off.

For me this happened in the third round of the Finals of the Olympiad, against the powerhouse team of Hungary, against its top board Lajos Portisch.

Portisch has represented Hungary 20 times in the Chess Olympiads, 13 of them on top board. He often acted as the solid foundation from which his team would draw strength from in its drive to the top. In the 1978 Olympiad (Buenos Aires) he scored eight wins, four draws and two losses to lead Hungary to the gold medal, the first time and only time since the ’50s when the Soviet Union had to settle for second place.

The 1974 Nice tournament bulletins remarked that shortly before this Olympiad Portisch had lost a very hard-fought Candidates’ match to Petrosian and was noticeably off-form for his matches here, but I don’t get it -- how can you say Lajos was not at his best when in fact he scored 62% on top board, with six wins, eight draws and two losses (to myself and William Hartston). He defeated GMs Quinteros, Gligoric, Lothar Schmid and Ivan Radulov -- nothing to sneeze at!

Torre, Eugenio (2450) -- Portisch, Lajos (2645) [B08]
Nice ol (Men) fin-A (3), 16.06.1974
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Of course, I did not beat Hungary all by myself -- my teammates were all up to the task. In an upset almost as huge as my win over Portisch, Glenn (in photo) scored his second straight win against strong opposition by breaking through with a mating combination to force Sax’ resignation. Final Score: Philippines 3, Hungary 1. An excellent score!

From this round till I got the GM norm against the American Bob Byrne I did not replace my lucky white T-Shirt anymore.

Gyula Sax was by no means a weakie -- he was the fastest-rising star in the Hungarian horizon. Four years after Nice he was an important cog in the Hungarian wrecking crew of Portisch, Ribli, Sax, Csom, Adorjan and Vadasz which grabbed Olympiad gold from the Soviet Union. He also qualified several times for the Candidates’ matches, but today he had to eat humble pie. Today was for the Filipinos.

Sax, Gyula (2505) -- Bordonada, Glenn [B14]
Nice ol (Men) fin-A Nice (3), 16.06.1974
Caro-Kann Defence, Panov Attack
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NCFP training for 2011 Aeroflot Open

(Please click on photo for enlarged view. Photo sourced from NCFP website.)

It's good to know that the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) held a training tournament for the select members of the Philippine chess pool in preparation for the 2011 Aeroflot Open which will be held in Moscow, Russia on February 7-18.

Remember that the Philippine Men's Team composed of GMs So, Antonio, Gomez, Laylo, and Torre benefited from such a training to have a historic second place finish in the latest edition of Asian Games. And please don't forget that IM Barbosa played an important role in that preparation.

What I like in this 7-man contingent is that it included a lady and a kid (though I haven't seen the name of Bernales in the list of participants for Group C.) I'm hoping to see more ladies and kids to be sent to this level of competition.

Here are the Aeroflot-bound Pinoy campaigners:

GM John Paul Gomez (Group B)
GM Darwin Laylo (Group B)
IM Oliver Barbosa (Group B)
IM Richard Bitoon (Group B)
IM Oliver Dimakiling (Group B)
WNM Christy Lamiel Bernales
NM Paulo Bersamina (Group C)

Here are some of their games during the training:
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Spoelman vs So - 2011 TATA Steel (B) Round 8

Wesley met the lowest-rated player in this 14-man field and nailed his fourth consecutive win (three wins with Black!). Chessgames.com has this brief 'biography' about GM Wouter Spoelman: "Grandmaster." (Photo sourced from FB account of 2011 Tata Steel)

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So vs Navara - 2011 TATA Steel (B) Round 7

Numero Uno vs Numero Uno. The Philippines' No.1 vs Czech Republic's No.1. The Filipino was better. (Photo sourced from the FB account of 2011 Tata Steel)

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Fressinet vs So - 2011 TATA Steel (B) Round 6

Wesley's second win in row (again with Black!), this time against GM Laurent Fressinet (2707), the No.3 strongest player of France, today's third strongest chess nation. This French GM enjoys the enviable blessing of being married to the alluring WGM Almira Skripchenko. Fressinet topped the 2010 French championship ahead of France's No.1 player GM Bacrot. (Photo sourced from FB account of 2011 Tata Steel)

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Ganguly vs So - 2011 Tata Steel (B) Round 5

Wesley's first win in the tournament against GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly (2651) who holds the record for winning six consecutive Indian National Chess Championships! Ganguly played a crucial role working as second of world champion GM Viswanathan Anand for the World Chess Championship against GM Vladimir Kramnik. (Photo sourced from FB account of 2011 Tata Steel)

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Chess cake

You read it right. It's chess cake, not cheese cake.

How a father can be so 'chessy' in saying 'I love you' to his loved ones on special occasions! That's what NM Reggie Olay did to her daughter on her birthday.

See, chess is so moving it can be part of our family lives. But wait, this could be an understatement to others who would say 'Chess is my life.'

Anyway, I admire NM Olay for treating her daughter to such sweet and wonderful gift. Chess cake, ahhh, what a sweet way to celebrate life.

Rachelle Pascua

Do you still remember Rachelle Pascua, the one who has so far been the only Pinay to win a medal for the Philippines in the Chess Olympiad?

(NOTE: I already made a previous post about her. You could read it HERE.)

Yours truly is highly privileged to tell you that she dropped me a message which I would like to share with you.

Mabuhay ang mga Pinay!!!

Her message:

Hi Rusticbull! This is Rachelle Pascua. First of all, thank you for writing a blog about myself. I am really humbled & I really appreciate it. NM Erwin Carag & Anonymous both gave you the right information. I became a member of the Philippine team in 1992 (Manila) & 1996 (Yerevan, Armenia). In 1996, that's where we got the bronze medal.

I am currently no longer playing in chess tournaments, but would definitely love to be able to play again. I would like to send my well wishes to our Philippine Chess Team & all the chess players that I know. For you Rusticbull, I wish you good luck & I hope you would continue to inspire more chess players & more people.

-Rachelle Pascua 01/18/2011

A list from IA/NM Erwin Carag showed that Ms. Rachelle is among the few (read: cream of the crop) of the titled players produced by the University of the Philippines Diliman.

Let's look at the list:

NM Florencio Campomanes
NM Glenn Bordonada
IM Ronald Bancod
FM Christopher Castellano
NM Erwin Carag
NM Leonardo Carlos
WNM Catherine Pereña
WNM Rachelle Pascua
WNM Genevieve Bolico
WNM Christine Grace Espallardo
Candidate FIDE Master March Christian Nazario

Thanks, Ms. Rachelle, for the visit. I hope that you share more of your favorite kuwentos about your heroic and colorful chess stint for Philippine chess.

Paciano Award

BY: JOSE ALEXIS MARQUEZ (a.k.a spawn2)

The main idea behind this award is the unique Filipino "big brother" tradition - that is, the "kuya" reaching out, pulling up, pushing up and sacrificing for his "bunso" to realize the latter's dreams.

The term "Paciano" centers on nationalism and heroism, just like what Paciano Rizal did to his younger brother Jose Rizal, our national hero.

A simple ceremony was held on the occassion of the GM Wesley So vs GM John Paul Gomez Rapid Match that took place last September 5, 2010 at Robinsons Manila.

The award was initiated by Barangay Wesley, a group of chess enthusiasts who believe in the potentials of the Filipino youth.

Let us meet the Paciano Awardees:

NM Glenn Bordonada. A chess techie who helps GM Wesley So in his opening preparations with the aid of the latest chess engines.

Regee Tee. A selfless chess figure in the Philippines known for his altruistic support to GM Wesley So and other budding young Filipino hopefuls.

GM Wesley So presenting the award to his manager and avid supporter Regee Tee

GM Wesley So (assisted by his father, William) presenting the award to NM Glenn

The Paciano Award plaque

GM Le vs GM So game (photo and annotation)

Only two live games were chosen to be annotated over the premiere chess site chessdom.com in Round 1 of Tata Steel 2011.

One game involved today's world No.1 and No.3 players, and that's between GM Magnus Carlsen vs GM Levon Aronian (Group A).

The other game involved GM Wesley So. That name, yeap, just that name, which is more than enough reason for international chess organizers to decide where to focus their spotlight on.

And they could not be wrong. Just watch this Le-So game (Group B) and be entertained:

(Photo sourced from the FB account of Tata Steel Chess 2011)

GM Le Quang Liem vs GM Wesley So
Tata Steel 2011 Netherlands
Round 1
(Annotation sourced from chessdom.com)
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The original Berlin

BY: BOBBY ANG

(As published in Chess Piece, BusinessWorld, 17 January 2011)

Most of us here in the Philippines during the ’60s and ’70s were brought up in a steady diet of Fred Reinfeld books.

One of my chess rivals for supremacy in Xavier School told me that the most influential book in his life is Attack and Counter-Attack in Chess by Reinfeld!

During that time there weren’t too many chess books available, but I am sure many of our BW readers might have seen the following Reinfeld books:

Attack and Counter-Attack in Chess

Chess Strategy and Tactics 50 Master Games

Winning Quickly at Chess

Colle’s Chess Masterpieces

Tarrasch’s Best Games of Chess

Reshevsky’s Best Games of Chess

Lasker’s Greatest Chess Games

The Unknown Alekhine

Hypermodern Chess: Nimzovich

Immortal Games of Capablanca

Keres’ Best Games of Chess

Great Brilliancy Prize Games of the Chess Masters

Reshevsky’s Best Games of Chess

Marshall’s Best Games of Chess

Yes, I know the last two are supposed to be autobiographies, but it is general knowledge that Reinfeld had ghost-written them.

Fred Reinfeld was without a doubt one of the most prolific chess writers in history, having written or co-written over 100 books. He also authoritatively wrote about a lot of other topics like checkers, coin collecting, stamp collecting, geology, history, medicine, physics, political science and jurisprudence.

Reinfeld died on May 29, 1964, at the age of 54 in New York from a ruptured cerebral aneurysm.

Why am I writing all of a sudden by him? Well, the original Berlin Defense after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.d4 Be7 6.Qe2 Nd6 7.Bxc6 bxc6 8.dxe5 Nb7 always struck me as a really bad choice for Black -- look at the doubled pawns and White’s dominating pawn! But Reinfeld in Chess Strategy and Tactics 50 Master Games showed me M. Porges vs. Em. Lasker, and explained Black’s idea to me.

Porges, Moritz - Lasker, Emanuel [C67]
Nuremberg (1), 20.07.1896

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A great advertisement for the Berlin Defense! Now I understood what Black was playing for.

In 2007, Vladimir Malakhov had a big problem during his World Championship Candidates’ Semifinal match vs Alexander Grischuk. His opening preparation for Black was treated very roughly by Grischuk and he suffered a bad loss. As an emergency measure, Malakhov dug up the Original Berlin Defense to hold off his opponent’s aggressive tendencies. This he achieved quite easily and this experiment was a success. Since then Malakhov has been using the Original Berlin as a regular part of his armory.

But lately this line has been in for some hard times. During the 63rd Russian championship Peter Svidler was in good form and making a run for an unprecedented 6th Russian crown. Here is how he played against Malakhov’s Berlin.

Svidler, Peter (2722) -- Malakhov, Vladimir (2712) [C67]
63rd ch-RUS Moscow RUS (6), 16.12.2010
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Chess is truly a dynamic game with no hard and fast rules. Maybe tomorrow someone will show us a new treatment by Black, and the Berlin will rule again.

La Salles wins PRADA Juniors in historic fashion

(From left: RP and US chess master Almario Marlon Bernardino Jr. (LSGH assistant chess coach), Giovanni Mejia, Alfonso Ramos, Jan Nigel Galan, Miguel Lahoz, Alexander Mendonez, Luke Matthew de Leon and International Arbiter and National Master Erwin Carag (LSGH head chess coach)

(RUSTICBULL's NOTE: Congratulations, LSGH Juniors!)

BY: MARLON BERNARDINO

THE La Salle Green hills (LSGH) Juniors Chess Team made a historic feat when they blanked Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU), 4-0, to capture the 2010-2011 Private Schools Athletic Development Association (PRADA) Juniors Chess championship with an undefeated record.

The event was held at the International School of Makati (ISM) in Taguig City on Saturday.

Playing under the watchful eye of head coach IA/NM Erwin Carag and assistant coach RP and US chess master Almario Marlon Bernardino Jr., the Green Archers composed by Jan Nigel Galan, Giovanni Mejia, Alfonso Baldomero 'Trio' Ramos, Miguel Lahoz, Luke Matthew de Leon and Alexander Mendonez scored perfect 36 game points out of 36 to capture the crown in the juniors division.

The LSGH Greenies, the reigning National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Juniors Chess Champion also blasted Notre Dame University, 4-0, in the penultimate round in the event supervised by national arbiter Jess Bermejo and International Arbiter Elias Lao.

"It's another banner year for LSGH. Magandang salubong ng taong 2011 ang tagumpay na ito. Kung hindi ako nagkakamali ay ito ang kauna-unahang pagkakataon sa isang team event sa Pilipinas na perfect record ang isang koponan," said head coach IA/NM Erwin Carag, a member of the 1991 Private Schools Athletic Association (PRISAA) National Games over-all champion.

The LSGH surpassed the impressive performance of NCR team who bagged the gold medal in the 1991 San Fernando, Pampanga edition. That team was made up of GM Rogelio "Joey" Antonio Jr.(11/11), NM Erwin Carag (11/11), NM Rolando Nolte and Idelfonso Datu (10/11). The NCR chess team failed to sweep the said competition after Datu was forced with two draws in eleven outings.

The LSGH chess team would like to thank LSGH Sports Program Development Office (SPDO) head Bro. Bobby Casingal, Brother Rollie Dizon, Mr. Ed Oliver, program manager Vic and Vicky Lahoz, Davis and Minnie de leon and Alex Ramos for their undying support in the game of kings.

Individual performance:

Board 1: Jan Nigel Galan (8/8)
Board 2: Giovanni Mejia (8/8)
Board 3: Alfonso Ramos (7/7)
Board 4: Miguel Lahoz (2/2)
Board 5: Luke Matthew de Leon (7/7)
Board 6: Alexander Mendonez (4/4)

Tata Steel Chess 2011

For sure, the global Filipino chess community will converge once again in online space to watch and talk about the campaign of their chess hero GM Wesley So in Tata Steel Tournament 2011 (formerly Corus).

The Pinoys will get together somewhere in cyberspace (wherever that is!!) to feel the thrill and excitement in every move - yes, every move - of Wesley.

For Wesley fans - and that includes me - his first move already essays one thousand and one stories. Multiply that until the endgame and just imagine the volume of stories that could be produced!

But the real essence, let me say, is that every game of Wesley is a beautiful story written and lived by his legion of supporters.

No other Filipino chess player has ever captured the heart of the global Filipino chess community. Only GM Wesley So has done that. He's a real wonder. A magic. An enigma. A phenomenon.

Yeap, I want to term it as the "Wesley phenomenon." Whenever Wesley plays in international competition, the voice of the Filipino chess community becomes the loudest and the most felt in cyberspace.

International chess organizers could have already discovered the winning formula: get Wesley and expect record-high hits on their websites.

Wherever Wesley goes, the global Filipino chess community goes with him, too, for sure.

So, see you in De Moriaan in Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands.

(Complete information about the tournament can be sourced HERE.)

UAAP 73

(Photos courtesy of MICHAEL REYES)

The value of inter-university sports competition is simply invaluable.

Not only that this practice hones the skills and brings out the best from our youth, but most important, this provides development programs and assistance that government sports institutions fail to offer.

Academic institution-run sports competitions become most invaluable when a particular sports body is inefficient and has no comprehensive sports development for the youth.

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