Zest for more tournaments

We are really overwhelmed by requests from a lot of individuals, especially kids, for another chess competition after the successful staging of the 1st Malibay Chess Club Mini-Chess Tournament.

Our own members, friends, supporters and other chess enthusiasts clamor for more - and they want it as soon as possible. As one 7-year old kid (with sparkling interest and hunger for games in his eyes) said, he wanted our club to hold a tournament every week. Haha, how I love to see his innocent eyes. Every week? Only if we have the needed resources, then why not.

You see, all that our club possesses is one chess clock, one chess set, and two tables. Just imagine how we were able to successfully stage our first chess tournament! Almost everything was borrowed - for free.

Only if we have the resources. Only if we have the resources. Only if we have the resources.

How I wish for a time to come when I could already respond to that 7-year old kid who asked me for a tournament every week, "Ok, boy, always come here on Saturdays. Play. Have fun. Learn. Grow. Be the best that you can be. Be the youngest grandmaster of the world!"

Good seed

Good seed bears good fruit. It’s really heartwarming to note that the hardships and the cause-oriented goals we have been laboring for spark good acts from others.

Just recently, two kind souls donated a chess set each to the Malibay Chess Club. One more pledged to donate another set very soon.

Another individual, upon knowing what transpired during the 1st Malibay Chess Chess Club Mini-Chess Tournament, committed to share a considerable amount of cash prize for the next tournament.

It’s like magic, or let me say, there was some kind of a divine intervention.

Figure this out: we were just supposed to hold our mini-chess tournament in one corner of the Malibay gym. But perhaps the gym officials saw the perseverance from our club members during the tournament preparation, we were allowed to hold the event at the center stage! And to emphasize the magical aura, we were even provided with lights!

Who would believe that we were able to stage the event without spending even a single centavo?

The venue and lights, chess sets and chess clocks, tables and chairs, trophies – they were all for free!

The message is clear: we should plant good seeds if we wish to harvest good fruits.

Optimism is up in the air. The future looks bright. Let’s spread the virus of good deeds.

Play and win

What is your purpose in playing a game of chess? To win, right? But to win what? To win a game? To win money? To win titles and fame? How about winning an acquaintance, or better, a friend? All of the above? It's up to you, brother.

The photo was taken during the birtdhay celebration of Angel (extreme left, in yellow shirt), who serves as treasurer of the Malibay Chess Club.

Just say it: "I resign"

The longest game, in terms of the number of moves made, in the just concluded national finals for the Dresden Olympiad took place between untitled Jony Habla and Edmundo Gatus. These two players executed a decisive marathon duel which lasted for 103 moves! Habla outlasted Gatus in a, well, not so ‘dignified’ endgame. All I can say is that a real gentleman knows when to say “I resign.” See the game and decide for yourself.

Habla,Jony - Gatus,Edmundo [D02]NATIONAL FINALS - men (4.9), 03.07.2008

1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bf4 c5 4.c3 Qb6 5.Qb3 Nc6 6.e3 c4 7.Qc2 Bf5 8.Qc1 e6 9.Nbd2 h6 10.h3 Qd8 11.Be2 Bd6 12.0-0 Bxf4 13.exf4 Nh5 14.Nb1 g5 15.fxg5 hxg5 16.Nxg5 f6 17.Bxh5+ Rxh5 18.Nf3 Qc7 19.Kh1 0-0-0 20.Ng1 e5 21.dxe5 fxe5 22.Qe3 d4 23.Qf3 Qh7 24.Na3 dxc3 25.Nxc4 Rd3 26.Ne3 cxb2 27.Rae1 Rc3 28.Kh2 Nd4 29.Qd5 b1Q 30.Rxb1 Bxb1 31.Rxb1 Qxb1 32.Qg8+ Kd7 33.Qf7+ Kd6 34.Qf8+ Kd7 35.Qf7+ Kc6 36.Qxh5 Qe4 37.Qe8+ Kc5 38.Qe7+ Kc6 39.Qe8+ Kc5 40.Qe7+ Kb5 41.Qd7+ Qc6 42.Qe7 Qc7 43.Qe8+ Kc5 44.Qf8+ Kc6 45.Qe8+ Qd7 46.Qb8 b6 47.a4 e4 48.Qa8+ Qb7 49.Qe8+ Qd7 50.Qxe4+ Kc5 51.Qe5+ Kc6 52.Qe4+ Kc5 53.Qe5+ Kc6 54.g3 a6 55.Qe4+ Kc5 56.h4 b5 57.axb5 axb5 58.Nh3 Qe6 59.Qf4 Rxe3 60.fxe3 Qa2+ 61.Nf2 Nc6 62.Kh3 Qe6+ 63.g4 b4 64.Nd3+ Kb5 65.h5 Qd5 66.Qf5 Qxf5 67.gxf5 b3 68.h6 Nd8 69.h7 Nf7 70.Kg3 Nh8 71.Kf3 Kc4 72.Ke2 Kd5 73.Kf3 Kc4 74.Ke4 Kc3 75.Nc5 Nf7 76.Nxb3 Ng5+ 77.Kf4 Nxh7 78.Nc5 Kc4 79.Nd7 Kd5 80.e4+ Kd6 81.Nb6 Nf8 82.Nc4+ Ke7 83.e5 Nd7 84.Ne3 Nc5 85.Nd5+ Kd7 86.Nb4 Ke7 87.Ke3 Kf7 88.Kf4 Ke7 89.Kg5 Kf7 90.Nd5 Ne4+ 91.Kf4 Nc5 92.Ke3 Kg7 93.Kd4 Nb3+ 94.Kc3 Nc5 95.Kc4 Ne4 96.Kd4 Ng3 97.Ne3 Kf7 98.e6+ Kg7 99.Ke5 Nh5 100.Nd5 Ng3 101.f6+ Kg6 102.e7 Kf7 103.Nc7 1-0

Demolishing a GM in 19 moves!

Although not able to make it to the RP team for the Dresden Olympiad, IM Julio Catalino Sadorra (2470) made one the most impressive performances in the recent national finals.

Well, he simply made the shortest decisive game in that event, demolishing GM Bong Villamayor (2469) in just 19 moves!

The irony is that GM Villamayor, along with four others (GMs Wesley So, Darwin Laylo, Jayson Gonzales and IM John Paul Gomez) made it to the RP team after accumulating 11.5 points out of 17 rounds.

IM Sadorra was only able to pile 8.5 points, enough for him to have a ticket to the 1st World Mind Games.

Sadorra,Julio Catalino (2470) - Villamayor,Buenaventura (2469) [A42]NATIONAL FINALS - men (15.1), 12.07.2008

1.Nf3 g6 2.c4 c5 3.e4 Bg7 4.d4 Nc6 5.d5 Nd4 6.Nc3 d6 7.Nxd4 cxd4 8.Nb5 Qb6 9.c5 dxc5 10.Bf4 Qa5+ 11.b4 Qxb4+ 12.Bd2 Qb2 13.Rb1 Qxa2 14.Nc7+ Kf8 15.Nxa8 Nf6 16.Ra1 Qb2 17.Bd3 c4 18.Bxc4 Nxe4 19.Rb1 1-0

Eagerness to learn

It’s fascinating to see a group of people huddling with each other to learn a new thing. And that’s just one of the beauties of chess. Young and old, men and women, boy and girls – they all come together to discuss something about chess. Subjects could vary from pure gossips to analyzing the games of their favorite chess players.

The members of the Malibay Chess Club (MCC) are simply among those who love to talk about almost anything related to chess. And the good thing is that – together – they really love to analyze the games of their favorite players. Once they got hold of a chess notation of a certain game of the players they admire, they will dissect it like a frog being experimented by a curious kid.

It is for this reason why, starting from now, this blog will publish select games of notable players – for MCC players (and others) to learn from and enjoy.

As a buena mano, select games of GM Wesly So in the recent national finals for the Dresden Olympiad will be featured here. The following games (in PGN text files) are copied from the website of the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP).

Gomez,John Paul (2464) - So,Wesley (2577) [B30]
NATIONAL FINALS - men (16.6), 12.07.2008

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 e6 4.Bxc6 bxc6 5.b3 Ne7 6.Ba3 Ng6 7.0-0 Be7 8.d4 cxd4 9.Bxe7 Qxe7 10.Qxd4 0-0 11.c4 c5 12.Qd3 Bb7 13.Re1 f5 14.e5 Nf4 15.Qe3 g5 16.Nbd2 Kh8 17.Red1 Nxg2 18.Kxg2 g4 19.Qf4 gxf3+ 20.Kf1 Rg8 21.Nxf3 Rg4 22.Qe3 Rag8 23.Nd2 f4 24.Qc3 Qg7 25.Ke2 f3+ 26.Nxf3 Re4+ 27.Kd2 Rf8 0-1


Paragua,Mark (2523) - So,Wesley (2577) [E15]
NATIONAL FINALS - men (3.8), 03.07.2008

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.c4 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.Qc2 c5 6.Bg2 Bb7 7.d5 exd5 8.cxd5 Nxd5 9.0-0 Be7 10.Rd1 Qc8 11.Qf5 Nf6 12.Nc3 0-0 13.Bg5 h6 14.Bxf6 Bxf6 15.e4 d6 16.Qxc8 Rxc8 17.Nb5 Bc6 18.Nxd6 Rc7 19.e5 Be7 20.b4 cxb4 21.Rac1 Rd7 22.Rd4 a5 23.Rdc4 Bxd6 24.exd6 Rxd6 25.Ne5 Bxg2 26.Rc8+ Kh7 27.Kxg2 f6 28.Nf7 Rd7 29.Rf8 a4 30.h4 g6 31.Nd8 Na6 32.Ne6 Rda7 33.Rxf6 Nc5 34.Nxc5 bxc5 35.Rxc5 Rb8 36.Rc1 0-1


So,Wesley (2577) - Bitoon,Richard (2439) [B82]
NATIONAL FINALS - men (11.7), 09.07.2008

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.f4 d6 7.Be3 Nf6 8.Qf3 Be7 9.0-0-0 a6 10.Rg1 0-0 11.g4 Nd7 12.g5 b5 13.f5 Nde5 14.Qf2 Re8 15.Bh3 Bf8 16.Nce2 Bd7 17.Nf4 Nxd4 18.Bxd4 Rac8 19.g6 hxg6 20.fxe6 fxe6 21.Kb1 g5 22.Rxg5 Nf3 23.Rg6 d5 24.Nh5 Kh7 25.Rg2 Nxd4 26.Qh4 Kg8 27.Nxg7 Kf7 28.Rf1+ 1-0

An anecdote

I am addicted to playing chess games online. I usually have an account at chess servers whose services have free options. Yahoogames, Chesshere, Chesspark, Chessmaniac, Gamescolony - these are my favorite servers.

One day, I played in one of the servers that I mentioned. I met an opponent who is something like 200 points stronger than I am. I usually start the game with pleasantries so, in the chat window, I said, "Hi."

No response.

OK. Perhaps my opponent was not interested with chatting while playing. So I made my first move, 1.e4.

He made his first response, 1. . . d5.

Again, I tried to start a conversation. "Where from?"

Silence.

So the game just went on. Move after move. Attack. Defence. But the moment came when I made a weak move which gave him a winning advantage. I was a piece down.

I said, "Nice sacrifice. I didn't see that. You're really good."

I was about to resign but opted to continue playing, hoping he'd make one fatal mistake, or luckily, win on time. In the first place, we're just playing a 5-minute blitz.

To my surprise, the server suddenly slowed down, which ate up much of his time. He was so much ahead in the value and placement of materials, but I was winning on time. I certainly knew the irritation and frustation of my opponent about the server's technical problem. Until the moment came when he finally lost the game - on time.

I said "Sorry. Server's glitch."

At last, before leaving the playing room, my opponent took his first and last turn in our conversation.

He said, "FUCK YOU!"

Special visitor

Mr. Francis Buenaventura, the man behind the philippinechesschronicles blog, visited the Malibay Chess Club. We treat it as a privilege.

Sadly, we were not even able to offer him anything to drink, not even a monoblock chair for him to comfortably sit on.

All we could afford was to entertain him to the cold concrete stair-like bench of the Malibay gym.

But of course, we certainly know that he understands. As far as we believe, what the Malibay Chess Club "offered" him was sweeter than the sweetest drinks and even more comfortable than the most comfortable chair to sit on.

We simply offered him our -- hands. May the handshakes lead to fruitful and lasting collaborations.

Free chess training

Two members of the Malibay Chess Club (MCC), Jonathan Bucatcat and Paulino Francisco, selflessly volunteered their services last Saturday to help in providing chess training to kids at the Community and Family Services International (CFSI).

"Thank you so very much again for sending two of your members to CFSI this past Saturday- their skill and speed were very impressive, and I think our members really enjoyed learning from them! I was also glad to have the opportunity to meet them in person," said Maureen Harkins in her email. Maureen is an American volunteer at CFSI.

(NOTE: Photo courtesy of Ms. Maureen.)