AUSTRALIA'S CHESS FUTURE
Daniel
Lapitan, left, won the under 12 years Australian Junior Chess
Championship this year and will now represent Australia in the World
Youth Chess Championship in Brazil on November 14-24, 2011. At right is
Alex Stahnke, another strong candidate to be one of Australia's best
junior players. (Photo by Raymond-Nancy Lapitan)
LETTERS
of invitation to join in the 3rd Palau Invitational Chess Championship
has been sent by organizer Roberto Hernandez to 7 invited participants
-- FIDE Master Christopher Castellano; USA and Philippines Master
Almario Marlon Bernardino, Jr.; FIDE Arbiter Dr. Alfredo Paez and his
wife; International Arbiter (IA) Erwin Carag; Papua New Guinea's
Joselito Marcos, his wife and daughter; Jamie Kenmure of Australia and
another one (male or female) from Australia.
Dr.
Alfredo Paez was the first one to confirm his participation by email
that says: "Dear Mr. Hernandez, Greetings! It is my pleasure to join in
the Palau Invitational Chess Championship. I'm now preparing for the
event. Pls. include me in the list of participants. Thank you for the
invitation. Kind regards, Dr. Paez".
invited
and local players were asked to give their comments and suggestions
about the 3rd PICC and erstwhile top player of Palau Menandro 'Boy'
Manuel suggested the following:
(1).
The entry fee must be a requirement before any player can play his
first game. This is an international event and prizes will be very
important for the players to aim for. Maybe some amount in the club can
be added to the prize. The tournament venue is quite important here. The
site should be convenient and should have amenities standard for an
event like this.
(2).
The tournament will be a single round-robin event with 2 games to be
played every playing day. The foreign participants will have no problem
with this schedule but Palau-based players will definitely have. Almost
all players here work from 7am-5pm and can be available only during
weekends and maybe 6pm onward on weekdays. Maybe you adjust the locals
playing time accordingly. Also locals should play full time during Sat.
and Sunday as these are their day offs. If necessary, 2-3 games can be
played in these days.
(3).
I suggest Angie be included among the participants since she has
confirmed her participation in the Istanbul Olympiad. If we will send a
women's team and if she will be there 100%, we should give her all the
exposures she needs to improve her game. She can take the place of
Mohammad Manik Hossain and he will just be a reserve in case other
participants back out.
Joselito
Marcos also gives comments regarding these: "Please be advised that
Palau players should make "sacrifice" if needed by asking their
employers for day offs during the competition. The foreign participants
are making lots of sacrifices themselves--do you think it was only a
holiday for them (us)? If so, you are completely mistaken. Why not ask
the assistance from the OCC for prizes? OCC should extend its hands to
PCF even if there are no other Oceania participants except for me and
Jamie Kenmure.
The
invitational is an international tournament and should not be treated
like the way games are scheduled in the Palau National Championships. It
should remain as a closed tournament and as such the Palau local
participants should be finalized at the soonest. No apologies for being
blunt here."
Hernandez
wrote an email to the president of Oceania Zonal Chess Confederation
(OCC) Brian Jones. He responded with the following: "Dear Roberto and
Gary Bekker, OCC is happy to provide support to contribute towards
Oceania travel expenses provided that: (1). The host federation is not
in arrears with FIDE and OCC. (2). The event is FIDE rated. (3). The The
player is a member of an Oceania Federation. (4). Receipts from the
Oceania travel expenses incurred are provided. For the Palau tournament,
we would be happy to consider making a contribution to the travel
expenses of any player from Australia, Guam or PNG. But I am not sure
about Marlon Bernardino? Also, what is the $2,000? Maybe you need a
proper budget? What is the target to be raised for Istanbul? Good luck!
Brian Jones, President, FIDE Zone 3.6 (Oceania).
Source: Chess Mate by Roberto Hernandez
Tia Belau Newspaper
Pages 9-10
Volume 20
Issue 47
November 14, 2011
THE
date of the 3rd Palau Invitational Chess Championship was changed to
accomodate Papua New Guinea's top player Joselito Marcos.
Although his wife doesn't want to travel abroad this year, the door is still open for him to participate if given the chance.
Palau
team captain to the 2010 World Chess Olympiad Jamie Kenmure is
available from Dec. 14, 2011 to January 13, 2012. He will invite another
Australian (male or female) to join also the group of rated invited
players.
Then
come some good news from Philippines and USA Master Almario Marlon
Bernardino, Jr., the 2nd placer in the inaugural 2006 PICC.
He
said that Philippine Congressman Prospero 'Butch' Pichay, the President
of National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFD), is sending 2
FIDE rated players to participate in the said event.
They are FIDE Master Paulo Bersamina, only 12 years old but with a rating of 2098 and Jared Docena.
With
Bernardino (2166) and another FIDE Master Christopher Castellano (2253)
also coming, the total rated invited players is now 7 and a 2 double
round-robin tournament can be accommodated to give chances to unrated
Palau chess players gain international rankings like Mohammad Manik
Hossain, Dennis Gonzales, Gonzalo Escapatoria, Tito Cabunagan, Elizalde
Madrinan, Ferdie Altea, Jeffrey Negrillo, Ferdinand Gutierrez, Jeff
Balbalosa, Angie Parrado, Amante Caballero, Andres Mestizo II, Tutii Joe
Chilton and newcomer Jose Celiz.
The
top chess players in Palau are Cyril Tomas Montel, Jr. (1941), Menandro
'Boy' Manuel (1910), Roberto Hernandez (1846), Manuel Mahor, Jr.
(1646), Bernard Garcia (1629) and probably the return of Paquito 'Pax'
Suringa, Jr. (1602) will make the tourney more interesting.
The
FIDE rule that the tournament must have at least a third of the field
must be FIDE rated players, will not be violated this time.
In
the 2010-2011 Palau National Chess Championship, 9 players without
ratings didn't get ratings because only 4 rated players participated in
the 15-player championship.
The
proposed date of the 3rd PICC is December 15-22, 2011 to give time for
the invited players from the Philippines to still celebrate Christmas in
there if they don't want to experience Christmas in Palau.
The
young players (Bersamina and Docena) to be sent by Mr. Pichay, might be
the fulfillment of his promise to Hernandez during the last day of the
Olympiad in Russia that Palau will not be short of players in the next
World Chess Olympiad in Istanbul, Turkey on Aug. 22-Sept. 12, 2012.
Mr. Pichay also mentioned that he might visit Palau late in 2010 or early 2011 via his private plane (Cessna).
Philippine men team captain wants to come also to Palau if there is still space for him in the 5-seater plane.
Hernandez
will email Mr. Pichay so that he can probably sponsor the cash prizes
of the event. And to have his prodigies stay at Palau Royal Resort so
that players can use the conference room for free and PRR players will
have easier time to play against every participant.
His prodigies might also be included to the Palau Chess Team to Istanbul if they are willing to change federation.
In
the resumption of 2011 Rapid Chess tourney being held at Palau Royal
Resort Dormitory 1, the 6-game winning streak of Ferdie Altea was
snapped by the surging Elizalde Madrinan.
Joel Gabris scored a rare win over Rey Alenain, who is leaving Palau for good on April 13.
Mohammad Manik Hossain had set up a date and time for his match against newcomer Jose Celiz on Sunday at 11am.
Manik arrived at 11:30 and he left already for work when Tito Cabunagan and Celiz arrived at 1:30pm.
Manik
is complaining that he should have won that first game over Celiz as he
agreed on time and date but didn't make it on time and he spent some
money for gas to be there.
Source: Chessmate by Roberto Hernandez
Tia Belau Newspaper
Pages 16 & 19
Volume 20
Issue 16
April 18, 2011
THE CAST OF 2006 PICC AT PRR
Back row (left to right), Gene Pastrana, Gary Bekker, Hilton Bennett, Paul Spiller. Middle row (l-r) Roberto Hernandez, Almario Marlon Bernardino, Jr., Jose Omega, Cyril Tomas Montel, Jr. Front row (l-r) Manny Nedic, Francis 'Sno' Temaungil and Flavin 'Matlab' Andres.
(Photo by Roberto Hernandez)
ERWIN, MARLON, CHRISTOPHER
WITHDRAW
AFTER BRIAN Jones politely declined the invitation to join the 3rd Palau Invitational Chess Championship, National Master and International Arbiter Erwin Carag, Almario Marlon Bernardino, Jr. and FIDE Master Christopher Castellano followed suit.
Mr. Jone's reason is that he is planning to visit Guam in Feb. 2012. It's too close for comfort as Joselito Marcos said.
Tournament organizer Roberto Hernandez emailed Brian and accecpted his reason for not coming but Hernandez asked him that maybe before returning to Australia in Feb. 2012, he may find time to visit Palau and participate in the 4th PICC.
Erwin's reason for not coming is the financial support that he cannot get. He wishes for the success of the Palau tournament and hopes that in the future, he can participate in one of Palau's chess tourney.
Marlon has some personal matters to attend to as his primary reason. He added that Mr. Alfredo Paez is coming anyway. He concluded by saying "Dr. Paez is a very good person. Please take care of him."
Christopher has just got a job at call center and has just started to work last week.
With only 2 invited players confirmed to participate in the 3rd PICC, Hernandez decided to make the field a 10-player round-robin event.
The final (9th) round will be played on Dec. 19 at 9:00 am and the Awarding Ceremondy will be held at 5:00 pm. This will give Dr. Paez some savings on hotel costs.
The drawn number of players is still the same with Brian, Erwin, Marlon and Christopher's names being omitted and thus as follows:
1. Dennis Gonzales 2. Joselito Marcos 3. Jeff Balbalosa 4. Roberto Hernandez 5. George Anzawa 6. Cyril Tomas Montel, Jr. 7. Menandro Mauel 8. Alfredo Paez 9. Bernardo Garcia 10. Tito Cabunagan.
It takes 3 hours for Hernandez to finish the pairings according to the available time that the local players have provided him as follows: George Anzawa --on weekdays, he's available from 3:30 pm.
Dec. 15 (Thu) is a holiday and he's available all day. On weekdays and weekends, he's available from 3:30 pm.; Dennis Gonzales --on weekdays, he's available only from 6 pm to 10 pm. He can't play on Dec. 17 (Sat.) but on Sunday, he can play daytime.
Jeff Balbalosa --on Sat. (Dec. 17) he can play up to 3 games from 8 am to 4 pm and on Sunday from 8 am - 5 pm. There's a need for him to play on weekdays so he'll play at nighttime.
Tito Cabunagan --weekdays from 6 pm onwards and on Sat. (Dec. 17) he's available from 7 am -6 pm.
Cyril and Roberto's schedules are flexible and Cyril just need to know the days where he has to play in the morning so that he can adjust his schedule to those days.
He and Bernard will attend the Opening Ceremony but Bernard is not sure if he can play on that day (Dec. 14, Wed.).
Bernard's available time is the most complicated-- Dec. 14, he's available from 4-7 pm; Dec. 15, from 1-9 pm; Dec. 16, from 6-9 pm; Dec. 17, from 9:30 am - 4pm; Dec. 18, from 2-9 pm and Dec. 19 from 6-9 pm.
In Hernandez' meticulous juggling of the players' time schedule, Bernard and Tito will have to play 3 games from 9pm onwards. Dennis, Jeff and Menandro have to play 2 games each from 9pm onwards while George, Roberto and Dr. Paez have to play one game each from 9 pm onwards.
Bernard immediately responded that he can't play at 9 pm. He asked Roberto to reschedule his 9 pm games to earlier time as he is taking a 3-day leave so that he can play earlier.
After rescheduling the 15 of 91 squares of the pairings crosstable, 3/4 of Bernard's schedule were adjusted and 2 of his leave will be used while the 3rd one is at his discretion.
Jeff Balbalosa has formatted an easier to use Excel format of the 3rd PICC. That is for Hernandez' use in the future and in this coming invitational tournament.
That is a big help for Hernandez and another help and support from Joselito Marcos when he comes about the pgn recording of the moves of players.
Source: Chessmate by Roberto Hernandez
Tia Belau Newspaper
Pages 12-13
Volume 20 Issue 49
November 28, 2011
