A LOT of good things happened before and after the 2006 Palau Invitational Chess Championship that even highlights of the event are not enough to describe its success and minor setbacks.
It was held on August 31 to September 04 with foreign players arriving a day or two earlier.
Australian Gary Bekker and Roberto Hernandez, organizers of the event, met for the first time on the evening of August 29.
Hernandez was so excited to meet Gary that he forgot to turn off his car's headlight and drained the car battery's load.
A game has to be played ahead of schedule to give players with schedule problem a chance to catch up.
Bekker and Menandro Manuel, Palau's top player, played a special game on the eve of the tournament.
Bekker was on the brink of defeat when Manuel blundered a piece and lost in the endgame in a very exciting game watch by other participants till 2:00 am!
Bekker drew his game in just 6 moves against top seed USA and Philippines National Master Almario Marlon Bernardino, who defeated Jose Omega in another special game held at Jean's Boutique and Store.
Manuel lost his 2nd straight to New Zealand eventual champion Hilton Bennett.
Hernandez and Manny Nedic drew their game in 21 moves with a slight positional advantage to Hernandez.
Gene Pastrana and Cyril Montel, Jr. also halved the point in 55 moves of Ruy Lopez.
Another New Zealand bet, Paul Spilller, dealt Omega his 2nd straight loss in 44 moves.
Pastrana squeezed out a draw from Bennett. Hernandez lost to Spiller in 45 moves of Caro-Kahn Defence.
Montel, Jr. drew with Nedic and Bernardino also split the point with Manuel.
Bennett continued his winning ways by drubbing Nedic in 53 moves. Omega bounced back from 2 straight losses to win over Hernandez while Bekker shared the lead after trouncing Pastrana in 39 moves of another Ruy Lopez.
Montel, Jr. surprised Spiller with a 1. ...Nh6 reply to 1. f4 and was able to draw in just 17 moves.
Compatriots Bennett and Spiller drew their game while Bekker clobbered Nedic is 44 moves of Sicilian Defence (Najdorf Variation) to gain solo lead.
Bernardino gave Hernandez a clinic in their Dutch Defence game while Manuel started to show his supremacy over Pastrana.
Montel, Jr. drew with Omega and Hernandez clustered a crucial first win over Montel, Jr.
Bennett was in the lead pack again after defeating Omega. Nedic and Manuel drew in just 12 moves so is Pastrana-Bernardino match in 11 moves.
Bekker suffered his first loss of the tournament from Spiller in 25 moves of another Dutch Defence.
After the players played all five games each, the 4 foreign FIDE rated players were in the top 4 of the standings.
SECOND HALF OF THE PICC WILL BE PUBLISHED NEXT WEEK.
Source: Chessmate by Roberto Hernandez
Tia Belau Newspaper
September 22-29, 2006
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