Hernandez' roommate at PRR Dorm 1 in the last 5 years, Rey Alenain, left, finally left Palau for good on Dec. 27, 2013. He is the most responsible co-employee Hernandez ever knew. He gave him a t-shirt from Istanbul, Turkey which he proudly wears many times. He's the 1st runner-up to Miguel Gancayco in a PRR Rapid Chess Tourney. GOOD LUCK TO A FRIEND, A HUSBAND AND AN INSPIRATION TO MANY. HE WILL BE SURELY MISSED BY MANY. (Photo by Roberto Hernandez)
CHESSMATE MARKS 11TH YEAR;
PCF WEBSITE IS 2 YEARS OLD
EXACTLY 11 years ago (Dec. 29, 2002), the first issue of
Chess mate By Robert Hernandez was published here at Tia Belau with the first
stanza written as follows:
“THREE years ago, I was
approached by Tutii Joe Chilton, the most active Palauan chess player today, to
form a chess club. Without hesitation, I agreed to donate my free time, chess
books, use of my chess clock, and experience to develop chess in Palau. The
idea didn’t materialize but in the middle of this year, TFCP (The Filipino
Community in Palau) Vice President Sergio Alemania asked me if there were
enough chess players in Palau to hold the first-ever chess tournament in Palau.
He assigned me to be the chairman of the tilt that drew 20 contestants
including four women.”
For complete story, please refer
to Palau Chess Federation website http://palau-chess.blogspot.com Post No. 17 (First Issue of Chessmate by
Roberto Hernandez Dec. 29, 2002) and Post No. 683 (CHESSMATE FIRST ISSUE (Tia
Belau Dec. 29, 2002-Jan. 04, 2003).
It was the start of slow
development of chess in Palau. At least 3 major tournaments were held every
year with undetermined number of blitz chess competitions were also held after
the regular games were over. National Championships were held every year since
2006 and produced the first 2 National Masters of Palau –Manuel Nedic and
Menandro ‘Boy’ Manuel.
Hernandez and Australian Gary
Bekker organized the inaugural 2006 Palau Invitational Chess Championship held
at Palau Royal Resort and Palasia Hotel. The 6 top players of Palau were able
to get their initial international ranking or rating. The 2nd PICC
was held in 2007 and the 3rd and most successful and well-organized 2011
PICC was held again at PRR with only one invited player –Mr. Joselito Marcos of
Papua New Guinea, the co-champion of the event with Manuel.
It is also Mr. Marcos who
started the PCF website on Dec. 26, 2011. It was one of the best things that he
did for the popularization of chess in Palau as it has 76,475 page views already
with Post No. 229 (Marcos and Hernandez Family After 3rd PIICC)
gathering 444 page views followed by Post No.42 (PALAU CHESS FEDERATION Players/Names/Pictures)
with 410.
Post No. 183 (BULGAR (Expose)
NEWSPAPER Features 1st PICC) got 345 while No. 151 (2009 Oceania
Zonal Chess Championship Photos) have 324. Post No. 199 (How Did Palau Become
FIDE Member) got 229 while No. 52 (PCF HAS 208 MEMBERS NOW) had 234.
231 page views was recorded in
Post No. 256 (DID KASPAROV CHEAT J. POLGAR IN ’94?) while CITIZENSHIP IN PALAU
(By Dmitri Kyle Villanueva) got 197 while #287 (Opening Ceremony ISTANBUL
OLYMPIAD) got 199 page views.
The Music and Me column entitled
“Palau Royal Resort Traditional Christmas Choir” got 189 and the other 20 posts
that got at least 100 page views will be published next issue.
PAGE VIEWS BY COUNTRIES
(All-Time): USA -53,390; Philippines -4,506; Russia-3,021; Palau -1,160;
Australia-1,129; UK-726; Papua New Guinea-566; Germany-563; France-502;
Latvia-270.
THANK YOU SO MUCH MR. JOSELITO
MARCOS!!! YOUR ALL-OUT SUPPORT FOR PALAU CHESS IS BEARING FRUIT NOW. WE
APPRECIATE YOUR FINANCIAL, TECHNICAL AND MORAL SUPPORT TO US.
Almost all of his advices with
wisdom were followed. His predictions also come true like when he said that,
“There’s no doubt that Magnus Carlsen will be the World Champion. The only
question is when.” It did happen in Nov. 2013 when Carlsen outwitted 5-time
defending world chess champion Viswanathan Anand of India.
The chess boom in Palau occurred
after Hernandez represented Palau in the 2009 Oceania Zonal Chess Championship
with Mr. Bekker paying for his airfare from Manila-Sydney-Gold Coast.
Palau was able to send 2 players
(Hernandez and Tito Cabunagan), a coach (Jamie Kenmure of Australia) and a
Delegate (Jan Berglund) to 2010 World Chess Olympiad in Khanty-Mansiysk,
Russia.
In the 2012 World Chess Olympiad
in Istanbul, Turkey, Palau was represented by Hernandez, Manuel, his wife
Elizabeth, Bernardo Garcia, Kenmure and Mr. Berglund where Garcia become the
first titled played of Palau when he scored 3.5 points in his first 7 games for
an automatic Candidate Master title. Mr. Marcos got his CM title also
retroactively when he scored enough points in 2002 Bled, Slovenia World Chess
Olympiad.
With the popularity of chess
getting better, the Palau Chess Team for the 2014 World Chess Olympiad in
Tromso, Norway is very much intact with some men and women players waiting for
withdrawal from the line-up –Head of Delegation (Senator Mlib Tmetchul);
Delegate (Mr. Berglund); Men’s (Open) Team Captain (Jamie Kenmure); Bd. 1
(Cyril Tomas Montel, Jr.); Bd. 2 (Menandro Manuel); Bd. 3 (Garcia); Bd. 4
(Cabunagan); Bd. 5 (Reserve) (Hernandez); Team Captain (Women) (Eric Ksau
Whipps); Bd. 1 (Angelica Parrado); Bd. 2 (Gladys Anne Paloma); Bd. 3 (Baby Edna
Mission); Bd. 4 (Joy Flores Whipps); Bd. 5 (Elizabeth Manuel). Waiting for
withdrawals are Mohammad Manik Hossain, Jeffrey Balbalosa, Paquito Suringa,
Jr., Lilibeth Cabunagan, Dichem Tmetchul and Ksau Anthony Whipps.
On Feb. 10, 2013 Palau Chess
Federation elected Mr. Eric Ksau Whipps as the new President. His wife Joy, son
Ksau and Balbalosa represented Palau in the 2013 Guam International Chess
Tournament in Feb. 15-21, 2013.
On Feb. 24-March 28, 2013,
Hernandez bagged the 2013 Palau Rapid Chess Championship plum. Cabunagan,
Montel, Jr. and Suringa, Jr. placed 2nd, 3rd and 4th
respectively.
On May 12-June 16, 2013, Jose
Celiz captured his first title in Palau by winning the 2013 Palau Blitz Chess
Championship. Hernandez, Montel, Jr. and Cabunagan are the runner-ups.
In Aug. 04-Oct. 08, Celiz got
his 2nd title in a row by clinching the 2013 Palau National Chess
Championship and thus became the latest National Master of Palau. Manuel Mahor,
Jr. won the Reserves Division title while WNM Angelica Parrado was the winner
in the Women’s Division and Ksau Anthony Whipps outwitted Destiny Sisior in the
final day to win the Junior Division plum.
And finally, Eric and Ksau
represented Palau in the 2013 World Youth Chess Championship in Al Ain United
Arab Emirates from Dec. 17-29, 2013 with free visas, airfare and accommodation
to the trip.
Solution to last week’s puzzle:
(The same as last week. Sorry for the double printing)
This week’s puzzle: Black to
move and mates in 3 (Solution next issue)
Source: Chessmate by Roberto Hernandez
Tia Belau Newspaper
Pages 9 & 10
Volume 23
Issue 02
January 06, 2014
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