Tuesday, August 19, 2008

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

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