Pinoy roundup

BY: BOBBY ANG

(As published in Chess Piece, BusinessWorld, 14 March 2011)

1st HDBank Cup 2011
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
January 2-9, 2011

Final Top Standings
1-2. GM Yu Yangyi CHN 2607, GM Wen Yang CHN 2509, 7.0/9
3-7. GM John Paul Gomez PHI 2527, GM Le Quang Liem VIE 2664, GM Nguyen Ngoc Truongson VIE 2628, GM Zhou Weiqi CHN 2573, Xiu Deshun CHN 2508, 6.5/9
8-11. IM Oliver Barbosa PHI 2461, Lu Shanglei CHN 2416, GM Roland Salvador PHI 2533, IM Lou Yiping CHN 2429, 6.0/9

Total of 65 participants
Time control: 90 minutes for the whole game with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting from move one.

GM John Paul Gomez got off to the great start with five straight victories, including one against top seed Le Quang Liem, but then lost steam and finished with three draws and a last-round loss to Nguyen Ngoc Truongson. The sputtering finish slid him down to third place. First and second place was a tie between two Chinese GMs: Yu Yangyi and Wen Yang.

Gomez, John Paul (2527) -- Le Quang, Liem (2664) [E14]
1st HDBank Cup Ho Chi Minh City VIE (5.1), 06.01.2011
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The Philippines’ newest international grandmaster, Roland Salvador, had been living in Italy for many years but came home last December to savor his new title. He was immediately bundled off by Prospero Pichay (president of the National Chess Federation of the Philippines) to Vietnam where his mettle was tested.

Tenth place for Roland might have been a bit of a disappointment but he was fighting in every round and came up with a few nice games, of which this is my favorite.

Salvador, Roland (2533) -- Tu Hoang Thong (2452) [D29]
1st HDBank Cup Ho Chi Minh City VIE (9.6), 09.01.2011
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The 3rd Metropolitan FIDE Invitational which was run by Metropolitan Chess concluded two weeks ago. It was organized by Ankit Gupta and directed by Michael Belcher and Randy Hough.

FM Philip Xiao Wang and FM Joel Banawa (in photo) both achieved their first IM norms with 6.5 out of 9.0. It is coincidental to note that these two tied for first at the closed Southern California State Championship last year, before again tying for 2nd at this norm tournament and both achieving their IM norms. IM Jacek Stopa took clear first with 7.0 out of 9.0.

3rd Metro Chess FIDE Invitational
Los Angeles, USA
February 23-27, 2011

Final Standings
1. IM Jacek Stopa POL 2451, 7.0/9
2-3. FM Philip Xiao Wang USA 2317, FM Joel Banawa PHI 2340, 6.5/9
4-5. FM Alexandre Kretchetov RUS 2340, CM Giovanni Carreto Nieto MEX 5220, 5.0/9
6-7. IM Zhaniek Amanov KAZ 2401, FM Michael Casella USA 2249, 4.0/9
8. Kayden Troff USA 2247, 3.0/9
9. IM Timothy Taylor USA 2314, 2.5/9
10. Kostya Kavutskiy USA 2170, 1.5/9
Joel "Cholo" Banawa’s best win was against one of the IM Timothy Taylor, a well-known and very active chess player in Southern California, as well as being a book author.

Taylor, Timothy (2314) -- Banawa, Joel (2347) [A68]
3rd Metro Chess FIDE Invitational Los Angeles (6), 26.02.2011
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