PHOTO: Zone 3.3 opening ceremony

Tagaytay City Mayor Abraham "Bambol" Tolentino and top seed Li Ruofan of Singapore perform the ceremonial moves at the start of the 2011 Asian Zone 3.3 Chess Championships at the Tagaytay Interntional Convention Center last Tuesday. Also in photo (from left) are tournamenrt director Toti Abundo, Vietnam Chess Federation head Dang That Tang, NCFP president/chairman Prospero "Butch" Pichay, NCFP director Judge Gonzalo Mapili and Asia's first IM Rodolfo Tan Cardoso.

(NOTE: Photo and caption courtesy of NM Marlon Bernardino)

ROUND 1: ZONE 3.3 OPEN CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP

It was a bloody Round 1 at the start of the Zone 3.3 Open Chess Championship that runs from May 24 to 30 at the Tagaytay Convention Center in Tagaytay City.

The dramatic first day of event saw the promising games of Filipino youth versus the Filipino legends, with FM Haridas Pascua beating GM Eugene Torre and FM Jan Emmanuel Garcia, fresh from winning a gold medal in the Asian Youth Chess Championship 2011, splitting the point with the current No.2 strongest player of the country, GM Joey Antonio.

The power of the Filipino youth was simply felt in the initial salvo, with untitled Alcon John Datu halving the point against GM Cerdas Barus, and the newly crowned national juniors champ NM Mari Joseph Turqueza essaying a draw with Black versus IM Roland Nolte.

If the promising performance of the young Filipino participants holds until the finish - we pray - we could see a new Filipino IM at the end of this tournament.

How we hope and pray, too, to see young Filipinos gaining IM norms at the culmination of this event.

Notable performers in ROUND 1:

FM Haridas Pascua (win vs GM Torre)
FM Jan Emmanuel Garcia (draw vs GM Antonio)
Alcon John Datu (draw vs GM Cerdas)
NM Joseph Mari Turqueza (draw vs IM Nolte)

Pairings/Results

Round 1 on 2011/05/24 at 1600

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
1	1	GM	Zhang Zhong	2592	0	1 - 0	0	FM	Kasmiran	2346	24
2	25	FM	Garcia Jan Emmanuel	2344	0	½ - ½	0	GM	Antonio Rogelio Jr	2589	2
3	3	GM	Cao Sang	2547	0	1 - 0	0	FM	Novita Anjas	2344	26
4	27		Olay Edgar Reggie	2343	0	0 - 1	0	GM	Paragua Mark	2542	4
5	5	GM	Gomez John Paul	2538	0	1 - 0	0	IM	Tirto	2337	28
6	29		Gunbayar Myagmarsuren	2334	0	½ - ½	0	GM	Megaranto Susanto	2529	6
7	7	GM	Laylo Darwin	2516	0	1 - 0	0	FM	Habla Jony	2333	30
8	31		Legaspi Rhobel	2329	0	½ - ½	0	GM	Dao Thien Hai	2512	8
9	9	IM	Barbosa Oliver	2506	0	1 - 0	0		Nasanjargal Urtnasan	2325	32
10	33	FM	Pascua Haridas	2323	0	1 - 0	0	GM	Torre Eugenio	2495	10
11	11	GM	Nguyen Anh Dung	2481	0	½ - ½	0	FM	Khairul Anam	2319	34
12	35	FM	Segarra Randy	2311	0	½ - ½	0	IM	Bitoon Richard	2480	12
13	13	IM	Nguyen Huynh Minh Huy	2464	0	½ - ½	0		Kaisar Jenius Hakiki	2258	36
14	37	IM	Bao Khoa	2256	0	½ - ½	0	FM	Nguyen Duc Hoa	2458	14
15	15	IM	Nguyen Van Huy	2454	0	1 - 0	0		Surya Wahyudi	2234	38
16	39		Datu Alcon John	2218	0	½ - ½	0	GM	Barus Cerdas	2443	16
17	17	IM	Nolte Rolando	2429	0	½ - ½	0		Turqueza Mari Joseph	2181	40
18	41		Paez Alfredo	2146	0	0 - 1	0	IM	Goh Wei Ming Kevin	2424	18
19	19	GM	Liu Dede	2418	0	0 - 1	0		Tong Thai Hung	2103	42
20	43	FM	Bersamina Paulo	2098	0	0 - 1	0	IM	Dimakiling Oliver	2408	20
21	21	IM	Purnama Tirta Chandra	2404	0	1 - 0	0		Polao Ben	2074	44
22	46		Alidani Leonardo	1985	0	½ - ½	0	FM	Hamdani Rudin	2368	22
23	23	IM	Halay Taufik	2346	0	0 - 1	0	FM	Tin Jingyao	1859	47
24	48		Emperado Emmanuel	0	0	½ - ½	0		Ricana Leodegario	2068	45

PHOTOS: Asian Youth Chess Championship 2011.

(Photos courtesy of NM Marlon Bernardino)

Honor roll

I'd just like to commend our youth who did well in the Asian Youth Chess Championship 2011. Let me cite those who made it in the Top 5 of each age category.

Since I am not sure of the respective medals won by our players , I think I'd be safe simply by citing their final rankings. (Ah, ok, I visited NCFP's website and the medal awardees were already named, courtesy of Journal sports editor Ed Andaya. I'm not sure though if Sir Ed is part of the NCFP.)

I believe that more than the medals and monetary incentives, our deserving youth players need a morale boost to at least make them smile. And for the parents who have provided all the sacrifices for them, the public's recognition of the successes of their kids could be priceless.

(Standard, Individual)

OPEN U-16

1

FM

Garcia Jan Emmanuel

4

Lagula Dominique

OPEN U-8

2

Gutierrez Dennis III

PHI

GIRLS U-18

2

Fronda Jan Jodilyn

5

WFM

Camacho Chardine Cheradee

GIRLS U-16

3

WFM

Mejia Cherry Ann

4

Frayna Janelle Mae

GIRLS U-12

2

Revita Samantha Glo

3

San Diego Marie Antoinette

Pinoys in Asian Youth Chess Championship 2011

It's been a hiatus from blogging for almost two weeks, so let's get going again from where we stopped. Let's go back to Subic, the battle site of the recently concluded Asian Youth Chess Championship 2011.

As we all know, sports is all about competition and comparison. In sports, we don't just measure ourselves. We always measure ourselves in comparison with our counterparts.

And so, by any comparison, our Filipino youth generally had a difficult time slugging it out against their Asian counterparts. We produced only One Gold Medal, courtesy of FM Jan Emmanuel Garcia (Open U-16), which was expected of him since he was the top seed in his age group category.

It was the young guns from India who dominated the field, almost sweeping all the Gold Medals at stake! India won 10 of the 12 Gold Medals awarded (Standard, Individual). With the 44-player Indian contingent and dominating medal haul, it's as if India hosted the event. Or shall we say Indians are already very much at home in the Philippines, with the Filipino and Indian cultures long intertwined?

Of the 20 participating chess federations (countries), only three won the Gold: India, Iran, and the Philippines. If I were the publicist of the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP), I would highlight this angle: Philippines is one of only three countries that won Gold in the Asian Youth Chess Championship 2011.

Is that comforting enough?

Or is it better to assess ourselves again - in comparison with the direction and development of our counterparts - so that we could win more Gold in the future?

Let us review the PERFORMANCE/FINAL RANKING of each Filipino participant in the tournament:

OPEN U-18

7

Aquino Prince Mark

8

Datu Alcon John

12

FM

Pascua Haridas

15

Florendo Joey Albert

16

Ramos Alfonso Baldomero R

OPEN U-16

1

FM

Garcia Jan Emmanuel

4

Lagula Dominique

17

Dulay Dave Patrick

18

Evangelista Paul Robert

22

Casiano Paul Benjamin

OPEN U-14

9

Docena Jerad

15

Mejia Giovanni

22

Ramos Joshua

25

Sol Cruz Raul Jr.

OPEN U-12

10

Daryl Unix Samantila

14

De Leon Haince Patrick

15

Lemi Daniel John

OPEN U-10

10

Gonzales Julius

11

Rilloraza Istraelito

20

Dennis Gutierrez JR

21

Paler Emanuel Van R.

OPEN U-8

2

Gutierrez Dennis III

PHI

6

Dela Cruz Khulene Lord

PHI

15

Uy Jamler Luis

PHI

18

Canino Ronald

GIRLS U-18

2

Fronda Jan Jodilyn

5

WFM

Camacho Chardine Cheradee

8

Suede Mikee Charlene

17

Laz Christine Joyce

19

Nahudan Eibtizam

GIRLS U-16

3

WFM

Mejia Cherry Ann

4

Frayna Janelle Mae

15

Jean Karen Enriquez

20

Pernites Ma Clark Encar

GIRLS U-14

7

Canape Ynna Sophia

11

Mirano Mira

16

Membrere Merlene

18

Fuerte Mary Joyce

GIRLS U-12

2

Revita Samantha Glo

3

San Diego Marie Antoinette

20

Paez Charlotte

GIRLS U-10

11

Docena Jesca

13

Palaming Regyne

15

Guirhem Fiona Geeweneth

GIRLS U-8

10

San Diego Jerlyn Mae

12

Olila Erlyn Mae

16

De Guzman Rheam Arah

20

Yngayo Irish