An Open Letter to the NCFP

Dear NCFP officials:

Our beloved Philippines will be hosting two major international chess tournaments namely, the 2008 PGMA Cup and the 4th Pichay Cup International chess championship – with you, NCFP, as the lead.

The world, through the power of the Internet, will be watching us, thanks to these events.

Current technological trends in world-class chess tournaments show that for the chess enthusiasts worldwide to enjoy those events, some technological SOPs must be provided.

Here are the wish lists:
1. Live transmissions of games online (top boards) and in the venue as well (through projection screens)
2. Fast and complete postings of results online
3. Fast and complete postings of games online in PGN format

Holding of these events will surely reflect a picture of our beloved country for the whole world to see.

Will you please make it a pleasant and enjoyable experience this time?

Thank you very much.

Truly yours,
Members of the Malibay Chess Club

Under-16 Chess Olympiad RP bronze: A review

I post this one just in case you missed this article that appeared in the Philippine Star on August 31, 2008. It was written by Florencio Campomanes, former president of the International Chess Federation, FIDE. Read on . . .

Under-16 Chess Olympiad RP bronze: A review
By FLORENCIO CAMPOMANES
Sunday, August 31, 2008


The third place trophy won by the four-man RP team in Mersin, Turkey last week was no pushover. We finished behind India and Russia, these behemoths of world youth chess.

We were in contention until the penultimate round. We missed a 3 1/2 – 1/2 result in a vital draw on second board against England. Thus, a four-zero shutout in the final round would no longer suffice to equal the two leaders, let alone overtake them.



To appreciate the tough task that GM Wesley So, untitled players Haridas Pascua, Alcon Datu and Jam Garcia, had to achieve, mention must be made of factors that affected their labors.
First, they were all 14 years of age. Jam was the Benjamin, leaving his 13th only a few weeks before Mersin. Other teams were mostly 15 or 16-year teenagers. In today’s electronic chess mode, one or two years of difference in age can mean a lot.

Second, both India and Russia had five players each. When one suffered a loss in a previous round, the coach, trainer or manager could replace him. No such luxury for the Pinoys. Even the lowly South African teams had five each, plus coaches.


Third, Garcia and Datu arrived from Manila fresh and eager with coach GM Bong Villamayor for the Mersin Olympiad. But Wesley and Haridas only had a one-day respite with a four-hour bus ride from Gaziantep included. No rest for the fatigued!


Figure 23 tight encounters in two four-hour tournaments in 22 days. That’s no picnic! Note the two fairly short and simple draws Wesley played in Mersin. Haridas suffered two successive losses in the crucial eighth and ninth rounds of the Olympiad.


Fourth, the second-fourth boards are strangers to the real world of international youth chess. For the first time, every game is a hard fought struggle.


Fifth, all Indians were FIDE titled. At tourney’s end, only the Pinoys had one titled player among the top four placers. Titles may mean little or much. In the end, only the results will tell. In the present case, it tells convincingly.


Fortunate though is that camaraderie among the four and their coach was A-one. Internal communication was good. At the dinner table, a player when fetching his glass of filtered water always took a second one for a team mate.


Also, despite a well-stocked lounge store, the teenagers were most frugal, probably, because of limited funds. Wesley and Haridas each received only $200 as their allowance for two tournaments totaling 25 days of travel and play.


This minor point however didn’t bother their play. They played their hearts out to gain some honors for the country in international sports, considering the poor RP medal harvests of late- Five Bronze medals and a fair-sized trophy for the team, and a gold medal for Wesley and his Board One performance, only two draws and unbeaten. All told, not bad!


To get these, they defeated the top-seeded Russia, England and Turkey in their individual confrontations. They lost solely to winner India with the lowest margin of difference.
Bravo Wes, Haridas, Alcon, Jam & Bong. Paging Chair Butch Ramirez!

2nd Edang Rapid Chess Tour (more photos)

Make your own captions . . .

Fear and blunder

Based on my own experience, fear of my opponent seemed to put a grayish screen blocking my clear view of what's happening on the chess board.

Whenever I'm afraid of my opponent, or whenever I'm playing against somebody whom I feel I don't have any chance of winning, there seems to be a numbing spell in my head and a blinding fog in my eyes hindering me to think and see clearly.

I don't know why. But that kind of feeling never occurs in me whenever I play against somebody who is just as good as I am, or better, weaker than I am.

Just look at what happened during the 1st round of the ongoing 1st Dragon Capital Vietnam Chess Open (which runs from August 26 to September 2, 2008) where four Filipino woodpushers led by GM Wesley So are taking part.

So,Wesley (2577) - Le,Kieu Thien Kim (2286)

[C42]1st Dragon Capital Vietnam chess open Vung Tau (1.4), 27.08.2008

Position after 37.Qd6

Out of the blue, Black made a terrible blunder 37. . .Rb6? Was it because of fear? Was it because Black was against somebody named GM Wesley So?

Perhaps, Black was intending for a draw by perpetual check [38.Qxb6 Qc1+ 39.Kh2 Qf4+]

But White's Queen on b6 already supports the f2 pawn.

Wesley punished Black's blunder with the natural 38.Qxb6

Was it just a plain blunder? Or was it caused by fear?

By the way, please click here to see how our Filipino fighters are faring in that tournament after 3 rounds:

2nd Edang Rapid Chess Tournament Photos

CHAMPION: Paulo Bersamina (receiving trophy and cash prize from Brgy. 153 SK Chairman Bryan, being assisted by Rev. Larry Teodoro, the organizer of the 2nd Edang Rapid Chess Tournament)



1st RUNNER-UP: Ace Mary (actually, Ace was the best performer among Malibay participants)



2nd RUNNER-UP: Alex Imperial (the champion in the 1st Malibay Mini-Chess Tournament held recently)




TOP#1 EDANG Player: John Paul Pena (8th overall)



TOP#2 EDANG Player: Mr. A. Padilla (10th overall)

Paulo Bersamina rules 2nd Edang Rapid Chess Tournament

Young chess sensation Paulo Bersamina stamped his class by routing all his opponents in the 2nd Edang Rapid Chess Tournament held last August 25 in Pasay City.

Bersamina posted 7.0 points in seven rounds, already assuring himself of the title as early as 6th round where he erected 1.5-point margin from his closest pursuer.

The 10-year old wonder boy from Cartimar authoritatively sealed his class by downing his competitor in the final round and won the tournament with a 2.0-point gap.

Ace Mary finished with 5.0 points to land in second place. Alex Imperial also posted 5.0 points but ended as third placer due to a lower bucholz point.

John Paul Pena and A. Padilla, who were 8th and 10th placers respectively overall with 4.0 points, received the “Top Edang Players” award.

Brgy. Kgwd. and Rev. Larry Teodoro of Brgy. 154, Zone 16 organized the event with the help of Pasay City Councilor RJ Cabrera (who provided the venue and cash prize) and the Malibay Chess Club.



Paulo Bersamina (holding the trophy) gamely accommodates the request of his fans from Edang and Malibay for a photo-op after the tournament.

(MORE PHOTOS TO COME)

GM Laylo is high in DATMO 2008

GM Darwin Laylo is definitely not lying low in the ongoing DATMO 2008 in Malaysia. After 10 rounds of play, he has scored 7.5 points and is pitted against last year's champion GM Li Chao of China (8.5 points) in Board 1 in Round 11.

Here is how our warriors are faring:

5th Dato' Arthur Tan Malaysian Open Chess Championship 2008

Round 11
Bo. Name PtsPts Name

1 GM Laylo Darwin 7½ 8½ GM Li Chao b
2 GM Zhang Zhong 7½ 7 Zhou Weiqi
3 GM Li Shilong 7 7½ GM Megaranto Susanto
4 FM Lim Yee-Weng 7 7 GM Dzhumaev Marat
5 GM Sermek Drazen 7 7 Xiu Deshun
6 IM Dableo Ronald 7 7 Zhang Ziyang
7 GM Iuldachev Saidali 6½ 7 IM Nadanian Ashot
8 Wang Li 6½ 6½ Yang Kaiqi
9 FM Goldenberg Igor 6½ 6½ WIM Sukandar Irine Kharisma
10 Yu Lie 6½ 6½ Yap Kim Steven
11 IM Dimakiling Oliver 6 6 Senador Emmanuel
12 FM Novita Anjas 6 6 Wan Yunguo
13 IM Garma Chito 6 6 IM Sadorra Julio Catalino
14 IM Bitoon Richard 6 6 WIM Zhang Xiaowen
15 WGM Li Ruofan 6 6 WGM Gu Xiaobing
16 GM Rahman Ziaur 5½ 6 F. Sayani M. Hendrik
17 WGM Karavade Eesha 5½ 5½ IM Irwanto Sadikin
18 Causo Deniel 5½ 5½ Castellano Christopher
19 FM Wahono Awam 5½ 5½ Baba Masahiro
20 FM Hasan Mehdi 5½ 5½ IM Mas Hafizulhelmi
21 WIM Priya P. 5½ 5½ IM Bancod Ronald
22 Xu Tong 5½ 5½ FM Minhazuddin Ahmed
23 Sagar Shah 5½ 5½ Shen Siyuan
24 Kojima Shinya 5½ 5½ Legaspi Rhobel
25 Jia Haoxiang 5½ 5½ Nanjo Ryosuke
26 FM Mok Tze-Meng 5 5½ WIM Nadig Kruttika
27 Phadke Sohan 5 5 Schon Eugene
28 FM Simanjuntak Sebastian 5 5 Eng Andre-Jerome
29 Nardi Chairil 5 5 Wallis Christopher
30 Foo Benjamin 5 5 Zakaria Fairin
31 Chua Aaron 5 5 Haessler Carl
32 Sano Tomu 5 5 Ong Way Justin
33 Ilic Ilija 4½ 4½ FM Yee Soon Wei
34 Panggabean Hasian 4½ 4½ Loo Swee Leong
35 Erowan Masrin 4½ 4½ Stojic Dusan
36 Capel Evan Timothy 4½ 4½ Liong Ing Kiat Anthony
37 Spiller Paul 4½ 4½ Abdullah Mohd Kamal
38 Tan Khai Boon 4½ 4½ Wong Hao
39 Udani Ian 4½ 4½ Ismail Ahmad
40 Yu Jeffery Hong Cheang 4½ 4½ Yeap Eng Chiam
41 Pereira Johnharry 4 4 Leong Mun Wan
42 Cantonjos Allan 4 4 Kadek Iin Dwijayanti
43 Andin Faizal 4 4 Sabri Mohd Saprin
44 S. Balendran 4 4 Amru Muhd Tariq
45 WIM Szuveges Narelle 3½ 3½ FM Jones Brian
46 Gibbons Robert 3½ 3½ Masters Christopher
47 Ferdiman Tersiman 3½ 3½ Draup Abang Zain Azreen
48 Lim Kian Hwa 3½ 3½ Tan Justin
49 Law Mark 3½ 3½ WFM Milligan Helen
50 Hutapea Juniel 3½ 3½ Low Jun Jian
51 Lee Hai Wen 3 3 Bennet Hilton
52 Draup Hj. Abang Azman 3 2½ Wahiduddin Khairunnisa
53 Chan Yin Yok Linus 2½ 3 Au Hubert David
54 Bakri Alia Anin Azwa 2½ 2 Balasupramaniam Mohan R
55 Ruslan Haslindah 2½ 1½ Zamahari Abang Draup

Philippines vs Russia

Team Philippines (So, Pascua, Datu, Garcia) almost swept the top seed Russian Team by posting a resounding 3-1 score in the 7th round of the World Youth U16 Chess Championship.
Beating the Russian Team is like winning the championship. Considering that the Russian Team is the tournament's top seed made the victory even sweeter.

See? The Philippines can excel in this sport. It's time that government policy makers adopt a paradigm shift in their approach to promote sports in this politically insane country.

Chess can make this nation proud.

As usual, Wesley displayed his tactical genius. See the wizardry below:



Black, IM Aleksandr Shimanov (2480), had just moved 25. . . Rf8. Did you know how Wesley respond? Wesley did the incredible 26.Nxf6!

Sensing the danger, the Russian opponent executed 26. . . Nd7.

But Wesley uncorked another magic with 27.Rxd6!

Until now, without the use of a laptop, I still cannot understand Wesley's last two moves. I have a homework now. I'll try to analyze the position at home.

Who says chess is an indoor sport?

Chess is commonly classified as an indoor sport. But here in the Philippines, it is played almost everywhere, even sa "kanto."

In this photo, the 10-year old Paulo Bersamina performs a simul exhibition along an open street in Edang, Pasay City.

Notably, the scorching heat of the sun does not diminish Paulo's passion for chess. Fun goes on, even under the umbrella.

DATMO 2008

Filipino campaigners in the Dato Arthur Tan Malaysia Open (DATMO) 2008 in Malaysia are doing well.

Points after 6 rounds:

GM Laylo 5.0

IM Dableo 4.5
IM Bitoon 4.5
Kim Yap 4.5

IM Dimakiling 4.0
NM Senador 4.0
IM Bancod 4.0
Rhobel Legaspi 4.0

IM Garma 3.5
IM Sadorra 3.5
Christopher Castellano 3.5

Allan Cantonjos 3.0

But let me focus the spotlight on WIM Zhang Xiaowen who brutally crashed her opponent in Round 6. Watch how she weaved her spell on the board:



Here, Black (Anthony Liong Ing Kiat) had just moved 30. . . Be5?



The beautiful lady Zhang punished it with 31.Qxg6!



Black has not better choice but to take the White's Queen, 31. . . hxg6.



And now the strangler 32.Rh1+



32. . . Kg7 was forced, and then resigned.

Mate in two is unstoppable 33.Bh6+ (33. . . Kh7 or Kh8) then 34.Bf8#

Mother's care

Nothing compares to a mother's love. Paulo Bersamina's mother, Mrs. Rosalie S. Bersamina, is all-support to his priceless son, shown here protecting her gem from the scorching heat of the sun.

What a difference it makes when parents support their kids in the endeavor they love to do!

Endgame arsenal

A lot of chess books recommend to study the endgames first before the openings. Why don't we ask GM Wesley So about this?

Wesley's performance in his 4th round encounter with FM Mustafa Yilmaz (2362) in the ongoing World Youth U16 Olypiad in Turkey may be sufficient enough to know his answer.

The position below shows Wesley's deep endgame arsenal:

Black (Mustafa) has just moved 61. . . Ka8. Did you know how Wesley sealed his victory?

In fact, Wesley's 62nd move is just the finale of his endgame prowess. In this particular game, some said his tactical and positional knowledge in endgame started as early as move 49.

Replay the full game:

[Event "World Under 16 Chess Olympiad"]
[Site "Mersin, Turkey"]
[Date "2008.08.19"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Wesley So (PHI - GM 2577)"] [Black "Mustafa Yilmaz (Turkey A - FM 2362"]
[Result "1-0"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 a6 6. h3 e6 7. g4 d5 8. exd5 Nxd5 9. Bd2 Bb4 10. Nxd5 Bxd2+ 11. Qxd2 Qxd5 12. Rg1 O-O 13. Bg2 Qe5+ 14. Qe3 Qa5+ 15. c3 Nd7 16. Nb3 Qc7 17. O-O-O a5 18. Nd4 Ra6 19. Bf1 Rb6 20. Nb5 Qc5 21. Qxc5 Nxc5 22. Be2 Bd7 23. Nd6 Bc6 24. Nc4 Ra6 25. Ne5 Ra7 26. Rd6 Be8 27. f3 Ra8 28. Rgd1 f6 29. Nd3 Nxd3+ 30. Bxd3 Bc6 31. Be4 Bxe4 32. fxe4 Rae8 33. Rb6 Re7 34. Rb5 Ra8 35. a4 Rc7 36. Rd6 Kf7 37. Kc2 Re7 38. c4 g5 39. Rdb6 Ra7 40. e5 fxe5 41. Rxe5 h6 42. Rbb5 Kf6 43. Rxa5 b6 44. Rxa7 Rxa7 45. Rb5 Rxa4 46. Kd3 Ra1 47. Rxb6 Rh1 48. c5 Rxh3+ 49. Kc4 Ke5 50. b4 Rh4 51. Kb5 Rxg4 52. Rb8 h5 53. c6 Kd6 54. Rd8+ Kc7 55. Rd7+ Kc8 56. Rh7 h4 57. Kc5 Rf4 58. b5 Rf8 59. Ra7 Kb8 60. Kb6 Rc8 61. Rb7+ Ka8 62. c7 1-0

Paulo Bersamina's Simul Exhibition Photos

Rev. Larry Teodoro, the event organizer, introduces Paulo to simul participants.




Paulo gamely offers a handshake with one of the participants.



All eyes on Paulo!



Participants get deep into the game as Paulo calmly spells chess wizardry.

More photos to come!!!

Paulo Bersamina's Simul Exhibition

The 10-year old Filipino chess sensation Paulo Bersamina (1862) – a real pride not only of Pasay City but of the whole country – graced the (supposed to be) 2nd Edang Rapid Chess Tournament in Pasay City last August 17, 2008 by performing a simul exhibition.

Listen to the comments of the fans, who range from having a zero knowledge in chess to aged chess veterans:

Fan # 1. “Bakit nag-iisa lang ‘yung bata eh andami ng kalaban?”

Fan # 2. “Kakalabanin n’ya (Paulo) ba talaga lahat kayo (Edang players)? [Fan’s eyeballs popping out]

Fan # 3. “Filipino ba ‘yan?” [Looking at Paulo head-to-toe]

Fan # 4. “Ang kapal naman ng salamin n’ya. Baka microscope yan, eh di malaki ang tingin sa chessboard.”

Fan # 5. “Anak yata ‘yan ni Spassky.”

Fan # 6. “Ang galing!”

Well, who is Paulo Bersamina? To know about his background and achievements, please visit here.

For you to measure his strength of play, just look at his tactical abilities at a very young age. Below was his performance during the 3rd Pichay Chess Challenge last December 2007.

In this game, Paulo (1862) was only nine years old while his opponent, Esmael Abas (2027) was already 22 years old. Who wouldn’t be amazed by a Queen sacrifice?

Bersamina,Paulo - Abas,Esmael [A85]
3rd Pichay Chess Challenge Duty Free Phils, 04.12.2007

Here, Black had just played 21. . . Rxc7. Any idea how White responded? Paulo executed the deadly 22.Qxc7! A courageous Queen sac that led to a clean victory.

The complete PGN file of this game:

1.c4 f5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 e6 4.d4 Bb4 5.Qc2 0–0 6.e3 d6 7.Bd3 Qe8 8.0–0 Qh5 9.Nb5 Ba5 10.b4 a6 11.bxa5 axb5 12.cxb5 c6 13.Ba3 Ne8 14.a6 Rf6 15.Rab1 Rg6 16.Kh1 Qg4 17.Rg1 Rh6 18.bxc6 bxa6 19.c7 Nd7 20.Qc6 Ra7 21.Rb8 Rxc7 22.Qxc7 Nxc7 23.Rxc8+ Ne8 24.Rxe8+ Kf7 25.Rc8 e5 26.Rc7 e4 27.Rxd7+ Ke8 28.Rxd6 exf3 29.Rxh6 fxg2+ 30.Rxg2 Qd1+ 31.Bf1 gxh6 32.Kg1 Kf7 33.Bd6 a5 34.a3 a4 35.Bf4 Qa1 36.Bxh6 Qxa3 37.Bc4+ Ke8 38.Rg8+ Kd7 39.Bb5+ Kc7 40.Bf4+ Kb7 41.Rb8+ Ka7 42.Kg2 Qa2 43.Bc6 Qc4 44.Rb7+ Ka8 45.Rc7+ Kb8 46.Re7+ 1–0

World Youth U16 Chess Olympiad

World Youth U16 Chess Olympiad
Mersin, Turkey
August 16-24, 2008
10 Rounds

Performance of RP Team after 3 Rounds

Individual performance
Board 1. GM Wesley So (3.0 points) [1, 1, 1]
Board 2. Haridas Pascua (2.0) [1, .5, .5]
Board 3. Alcon John Datu (2.0) [1, .5, .5]
Board 4. John Emmanuel Garcia (2.0) [1, 1, 0]

Team performance
Rnd 1 vs Turkiye-Girls A 4-0
Rnd 2 vs Slovakia 3-1
Rnd 3 vs Georgia 2-2

Total of 9 points out of possible 12.

Tournament's 0fficial website here

Featured game of the tournament:

FM Levan Bregadze (2399) vs GM Wesley So (2577)

Round 3

Here, White resigned after Black's 75th move Nf7. White still had 38 minutes left while Black had 44 minutes.

At first glance, the position looked equal. The materials were fairly even. I asked myself "Why did White resign?"

Ahh, the pawns and bishops. All of the White's pawns are sitting on dark squares while its bishop also sits on a dark square. Meaning, White's bishop is trapped by its own pawns.

Meanwhile, Black's pawns sit on light squares while its bishop frolics on dark squares.

In short, positional advantage.

Lesson: Don't let your pawns trap your own bishop.

An anonymous reader immediately commented on this post. The reader said:

zugzwang na to,pag Ng5 then Nh3, kain yung pawn sa f2, if the
King tries to defend, the W Knight will be captured. if the W Knight moves to
f1, Ng5 lang si wes, pag Kg1, Nh3+, taking the pawn on f2. Nagkamali yung
kalaban, dapat Nd2-f1 lang ang sayaw ng Knights, tatagal pa sana sya.