Participants
of the Paquito Suringa Cup Invitational Rapid Chess Tourament shake
hands before the start of their match in Oct. 24, 2009 at Dorm 1 of the
Palau Royal Resort. From left, they are Miguel Gancayco; Gracie Alenain,
the top seed in the women's division; her husband Rey; Randy Sioson;
Roberto Hernandez; Joel Gabris; Jaime Guevarra; Ronel Gutierrez and the
innovator of the event, Paquito 'Pax' Suringa, Jr.
(Contributed photo by: Roberto Hernandez)
PINOY CHESSERS THRIVE IN PALAU
PINOY CHESSERS THRIVE IN PALAU
MANILA--Teen Grandmaster Wesley B. So is currently the Philippines' pride in international chess competitions.
The
16-year old prodigy from Bacoor, Cavite demonstrated his chessboard
prowess in the ongoing World Chess Cup (WCC) in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia
by ousting higher-ranked and senior GMs Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine and
Gata Kamsky of the U.S. to become the first ever Filipino to reach the
fourth round of the toughest chess tournament before bowing out against
Russian Vladimir Malakhov.
So drew with Malakhov twice but lost to the 22nd-seeded GM in the following three rapid chess matches.
So is just one of many Filipinos who keep the Philippines a force to reckon with in a game dominated by Russia.
Interestingly,
Filipino chessers are so good that they also represented other
countries in international tournaments sanctioned by the world's top
chess body, the FIDE.
For
example, six Filipinos working in the Republic of Palau are recognized
by FIDE as players of that tiny Pacific island country.
They
are Menandro Manuel, Cyril Montel, Jose Omega, Gene Pastrana, Roberto
Hernandez and Manny Nedic. But more than being among the top chess
players in Palau, they started the ball rolling for chess in Palau.
Hernandez
and Sergio Alemania, an official of the Filipino community, organized
the first chess tournament in the island in 2002.
Hernandez
helped establish the first local chess club and federation in the same
year. From then on, he took the lead in organizing yearly tournaments,
which he describes as the most flexible FIDE rated competition in the
world.
The
games are held in different volunteered venues and matches are played
when the players are available to encourage more participants.
Palau participants to the game are very limited to this day, though other foreign workers in the island are becoming regulars.
Also,
a local have yet to join an international competition, though the
country had been represented for the first time by a Filipino, Hernandez
himself, in the Oceania Zonal Chess Championship in Australia in June.
That tournament was the qualifier for the WCC.
Under FIDE rules, a foreigner can represent a country in its tournaments.
"In
chess, if you've been a resident of a country for at least 2 years, you
can represent that country." Hernandez explains, adding that Papua New
Guinea and the Solomon Islands were also represented by Filipinos in the
Australian tournament.
Also, a player need not be good to join the contest. The real challenge is shouldering the cost of participating.
"Every time we have invitation to participate in other
country, we ask the Palauans who are financially capable to join even
though they don't have yet the capability to win it. You don't need to
be in the top 5 to make it. It depends on your financial capability
because you'll be shouldering your own airfare," according to Hernandez.
"I
was able to represent Palau in Australia because Mr. Gary Bekker
shouldered my airfare from Manila-Sydney and Sydney-Gold Coast through
travel subsidy," he says referring to the president of the FIDE Oceania
Zone.
Hernandez is dedicated in promoting chess in Palau not only to Palauans and Filipinos but also to other foreigners there.
In
fact, he keeps all the records of the games since 2002. That includes
his annotations of all his matches that he recorded himself while
playing.
He
also reports the results of matches, including the defense or opening
used, in a column of a local weekly Tia Belau News and email the
clippings to colleagues in other countries.
His
efforts were supported by other Filipinos, who donate cash for the
prizes of champion. Lately, the Palau Royal Resort hosted a Paquito
Suringa Cup, a tournament named after the sponsoring employee of the
hotel.
Australian
GM David Smerdon topped the Australian Zonal to make it to the WCC. It
was a long shot for Palau to rule the contest.
"I
think it's still a long way before Palau can send a player in the World
Chess Cup. Maybe in the Chess Olympiad, which we nearly made it in
Turin, Italy (2006) and Dresden, Germany (2008)", Hernandez says.
If ever that happens, both Palau and Philippines will get the honor, he says.
Reporter: Windsor John Genova
Source: The International Filipino
Volume 1
No. 2
December 16-31, 2009
PINOY CHESSERS THRIVE IN PALAU
(Tia Belau Version -- Vol. 19 Issue 07 Feb. 15-21, 2010)
IN THE Vol. 1 No. 2 December 16-31, 2009 issue of The International Filipino, Palau chess players were featured in the Superstar column written by Windsor John Genova, a former reporter/writer of Tia Belau News. It is written as follows: (above)
The second article "Chess and Music -- Pioneering the game in a tiny nation" by Roberto Hernandez will be published next week.
In the resumption of Edgar Cayanan Cup Rapid Chess tournament at Palau Royal Resort Dormitory 1, Mohammad Manik Hossain continued his domination of lowly-rated PRR players as he swept Ronel Gutierrez and extracted a win over Eli Madrinan.
The Madrinan-Jojo Escapatoria, Jr. match for the consolation round (Class B) of 2009 Palau National Chess Championship was postponed again.
The awarding ceremony of 2009 NCC will be held at PRR Dormitory 1 on Saturday, February 20. Winning and non-winning players are requested to attend for group picture session.
Source: Chess Mate by Roberto Hernandez
Tia Belau Newspaper
Volume 19
Issue 07
Feb. 15-21, 2010
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