(1315) CYRIL, TITO BOUNCE BACK; HERNANDEZ LOSES (TBN-Dec. 19, 2016)

:          AUCKLAND, NZ—HERE THEY COME

                        Angelica Parrado-Sisior, 2^nd from left, and 3^rd seed Tito Cabunagan, 2^nd from right, played their game of the 2016 PNCC ahead of schedule so that they can prepare for their participation in the 2017 Oceania Zonal Chess Championship in Auckland, New Zealand from Jan. 14-20. Tito easily beats Angie while top seed Cyril Tomas Montel, Jr., right, rips Jojo Escapatoria, Jr. with Angie’s daughter Angelil and Baby Edna Mission watching in the background.     (Photo by Roberto Hernandez)

           CYRIL, TITO BOUNCE BACK;

                  HERNANDEZ LOSES

 

THE 5^TH round of 2016 Palau National Chess Championship’s Top 10 Division had another twist when top seed Cyril Tomas Montel, Jr. slays the giant-killer Gonzalo ‘Jojo’ Escapatoria, Jr. in 32 moves of Unusual Lines of Queen’s Pawn Opening. Facing the consequences of being humiliated by a pawn mate, Jojo resigned to snap a 2-game victory over me, the 2^nd seed and 3^rd seed Tito Cabunagan, who clobbered his co-rep to the 2017 Oceania Zonal Chess Championship in Auckland, New Zealand on Jan. 14-20 Angie Parrado-Sisior in 36 moves of another Unusual Lines of Queen’s Pawn Opening.

                My bid for at least a tie for 2^nd place finish was derailed when I was upset by Manuel ‘Jun’ Mahor, Jr. in the longest game of the day, Sunday, Dec. 11 at Bethlehem Park. We moved again to the Finance Building because there is a garage sale going on there. Our game lasted till 6:30pm with no lights at the hallway of the building. Baby Edna Mission used the flashlight of my cell phone until the endgame where it took 82 moves for us to finish in our English Opening vs. King’s Indian: Lines without …Nc6.

                Earlier on Friday, Dec. 09, 4^th seed Jeff Balbalosa and 5^th seed Rustum Cabuso played their 5^th round match at Jeff’s place and the results is a fighting draw by perpetual check in 41 moves of French Defense (Exchange Variation).

        In my 77^th issue of Chess Mate in June 11-18, 2004, the title is “Kolty vs. Humprey Bogart”, in which George ‘Kolty’ Koltanowski played the strongest Hollywood chess player/actor Humprey Bogart without sight of the board or blindfold… http://palau-chess.blogspot.com/2012/12/kolty-vs-humprey-bogart-tbn-june-11-18.html  My 377^th issue on March 15-21, 2010 is also about blindfold… http://palau-chess.blogspot.com/2016/03/1181-blindfold-chess-vs-8-opponents-tbn.html

                I thought Kolty’s record of playing 34 games blindfolded in 1937 in Edinburg will never be broken. But this report is interesting:

                When Miguel Najdorf played 45 chess games simultaneously blindfold in São Paulo, Brazil, in 1947 the exhibition took over 23 hours, including an interval for Najdorf to change his perspiration-soaked shirt and rest his eyes. Later the Hungarian Janos Flesch played 52 games without sight of the board, but his claim unraveled because many opponents resigned after a few moves, and it seemed that Najdorf's performance would never be approached.

                But 2 months ago, a little-known 41-year-old 2300-rated German master, Marc Lang, toppled the record with 46 games in 21 hours. In previous years Lang set a German record, then broke George Koltanowski's historic European mark of 34 games played at Edinburgh in 1937. Lang spent several months preparing for the world attempt, taking time off from his computer business and seeing little of his family.

                During the 21 hours at Sontheim in south Germany, Lang sat in the same room as his opponents with a barrier which stopped him seeing his opponents' boards. He typed his moves on to a computer screen which showed only the latest move played, and at the end scored 75 per cent. Most of his opponents were rated under 1700, weak club standard, but they could all see the board.

                All blindfold specialists use techniques to aid memory. Lang divided the games into groups of five, taking the black pieces on every fifth board. He gave each group a theme such as 1 Nc3 or 1 e4 and opened with the theme move in the first and last games of each group.

                Past blindfold experts were mostly also great players in normal chess like Alexander Alekhine, Harry Pillsbury and Najdorf, so the question is how a journeyman master could surpass them. Lang may have been helped by typing his moves rather than announcing them verbally, he had 19 draws, while some opponents played feebly as in the two games below. Allowing for this, Najdorf and Alekhine gave more impressive performances – but in world records it is the total number of games that counts. The fact that Najdorf's landmark could be broken at Lang's first attempt suggests that the potential human level is higher still, perhaps now sparking interest from other contenders as occurred in the 1920s and 1930s.

                Solution to last week’s puzzle No. 1 by CM Joselito Marcos: 1. Nd6 Kxd6 2. c8R  Ke6 3. Rc6#

                                                                                                                           If 1. …Kxb6 2. c8Q Ka5 3. Qa6#

                                                                Published in StrateGems U. S. A., July 1999

                This week’s puzzle No. 2: White to move and mates in 3 (Solution next issue)


Sources: Chess Mate by Roberto Hernandez
                   Tia Belau Newspaper
                   Pages 9-10
                   Volume 25
                   Issue 101
                   December 19, 2016

                   Chess and Music (Perfect Combination)
                   The Beginning of Chess in Palau
                   By Roberto Hernandez
                   Soon to be published as a book

                  Music and Me by Roberto Hernandez
                  Tia Belau Newspaper
                  March 15, 2012 -- April 18, 2013
                  http://palau-chess.blogspot.com
                  April 25, 2013 -- December 19, 2016

                 Memoirs of a Chess Amateur
                 My Memorable Games and Compositions
                 By CM Joselito Marcos

                 The History of Chess in Palau
                  By Roberto Hernandez
                  June 09, 2002 -- December 19, 2016      

(1181) BLINDFOLD CHESS VS. 8 OPPONENTS (TBN-March 15-21, 2010)

Source: Chess Mate by Roberto Hernandez
             Tia Belau Newspaper
             Pages 9-10
             Volume 19
             March 15-21, 2010

(177) BLINDFOLD CHESS (Island Times)

George (Kolty) Koltanowski, the greatest showman and promoter that chess ever knew, died at the age of 96 in 2000.

A diamond cutter by trade, he left Belgium before the second world war and created a daily chess column that ran without interruption for 52 years in the San Francisco Chronicle.

Though his tournament results were modest, he wrote more than a dozen chess books and made headlines in 1937 by taking on 34 opponents at once without sight of the board to set a blindfold record of 24 wins and 10 draws.

He even took on chessmaster development team at the age of 94 in 5 simultaneous games, easily beating all of them.

He was a tireless exhibitor and raconteur who entertained fans with his specialty, the knight's tour. Spectators posted random words and phone numbin the 64 squares of a giant chessboard.

Kolty memorized the hodgepodge in seconds and while blindfolded, called out the path required for a knight to touch every square on the board as he recalled these scraps of information in order.

"I don't know how he does it", said his wife. "He can't even remember to bring a loaf of bread from the supermarket."

"Pawns are like buttons," Kolty often said, "Lose too many and the pants will fall down by themselves."

In his newspaper office he played without sight of the board against movie star and chess expert Humprey Bogart, who lost by a mere pawn.

HERE'S THEIR FRENCH DEFENCE GAME:

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 exd5 4. Bd3 Nf6 5. Ne2 Bg4 It's too soon to know if the bishop belongs here. Better is 5. ... Bd6 to prepare castling. 6. 0-0 Bd6 7. f3 Be6 8. Bf4 0-0 9. Nd2 Nc6 More flexible is 9. ...Re8 before deciding where to post the knight. 10. c3 Ne7 11. Bsd6 Qxd6 12. f4 c5?! Overly aggressive. More prudent is 12. ...Bf5 13. Nf3 Rae8 13. Nf3 less accurate than 13. dxc5 Qxc5 14. Nd4. 13. ... Nf5 stronger is 13. ... b6 in order to recapture on c5 with a pawn and keep control of d4. Even 13. ...c4 14. Be2 Bf5 minimizes white's initiative. 14. Qd2 Ne4 15. Qc1 Rac8?! A waste of time. Again 15. ...b6 is indicated. 15. dxc5 Qxc5+ 17.Ned4 Nxd4 18. Nxd4 Rc7 19. f5 Bd7 20. Bxe4 dxe4 21. Qf4 Re8 22. Rae1 Re5 gives up a pawn without a fight and leads to a hopeless ending. The last chance to avoid material loss is 22. ... Bb5! 23. Rf2 Bd3 24. Rxe4 Rxe4 25. Qxe4 Bc6 25. Qe3 black has managed to stave off immediate mating threats but cannot overcome the lethal disadvantage of being a pawn down. Since Kolty is blindfolded, however, there is always a chance he will overlook something. Indeed, he is starting to drift. Sharper is 25. Qf4 Re7 26. f6 Re2 27. Qb8 Re8 28. Qg3. 25. ...Re7 26. Qg3 Re8 27. f6 g6 28. Qh4 the queen is already on a strong outpost and should stay there. Simply 28. Re1 is indicated to challenge the e-file. 28. ... h5 Bogart in turn misses his main chance 28. ... Re2 29. Rf2 Re1+ 30. Rf1 Re2 draws. 29. Re1 Rxe1+ 30. Qxe1 Qd6 31. Nxc6 Qxc6 32. Qe7 Qc8 33. h3 Qc6 34. b4 Qxc3 35. Qe8+ Kh7 36. Qxf7 Kh6 37. Qe7 Qc1+ comes close to drawing--but not quite. 38. Kf2 Qf4 39. Ke2 Qc4+ 40. Kf3 Kg5 making it easy.

The best try is 40. ... h4! Forcing white to find a move like 41. Qe4! in order to win, If 40. ... Qf1+ 41. Kg3 h4+ 42. Kh2 Qf4+ 43. Kg1 Qc1+ 44. Kf2 black will eventually run out of checks. 41. f7 black resigns.

Bogart once worked in a chess stall at Coney Island and was arguably the strongest player in the Holywood community.

Source: Blindfold Chess by Roberto Hernandez

Island Times Newspaper

Friday, April 27, 2007

(59) CHESSMATE 33 'KOLTY' VS. HUMPREY BOGART

GEORGE 'Kolty' Koltanowski, the greatest showman and promoter that chess has ever known, died at age 96 in 2000.

A diamond cutter by trade, he left Belgium before WWII and created a daily chess column that ran without interruption for 52 years in the San Francisco Chronicle.

Though his tournament results were modest, he wrote more than a dozen chess books and made headlines in 1937 by taking on 34 opponents without sight of the board to set a blindfold record with 24 wins and 10 draws.

He even took on the CHESSMASTER development team at the age of 94 in five simultaneous games, easily winning all of them.

He was a tireless exhibitor and raconteur who entertained fans with his specialty, the knight's tour.

Spectators posted random words and phone numbers in the 64 squares of a giant chessboard.

Kolty memorized the hodgepodge in seconds and, while blindfold, called out the path required for a knight to touch every square on the board as he recalled these scraps of information in order.

"I don't know how he does it", said his wife. "He can't even remember to bring home a loaf of bread from the supermarket."

"Pawns are like buttons," Kolty often said. "Lose to many and the pants fall down by themselves."

In his newspaper office, he played without sight of the board against movie star and chess expert Humprey Bogart (black) who lost by a mere pawn in 1952.

THE MOVES: 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 exd5 4. Bd3 Nf6 5. Ne2 Bg4 it's too soon to know if the bishop belongs here. Better is 5. ... Bd6 to prepare castling. 6. 0-0 Bd6 7. f3 Be6 8. Bf4 0-0 9. Nd2 Nc6 More flexible is 9. ... Re8 before deciding where to post the night.

10. c3 Ne7 11. Bxd6 Qxd6 12. f4 c5?! overly agressive. More prudent is 12. ... Bf5 13. Nf3 Rae8 13. Nf3 less accurate than 13. dxc5 Qxc5+ 14. Nd4 13. ... Nf5 stronger is 13. ... c4 14. Be2 Bf5 minimizes white's initiative. 14. Qd2 Ne4 15. Qe1 Rac8?! a waste of time. Again 15. ... b6 is indicated. 16. dxc5 Qxc5+ 17. Ned4 Nxd4 18. Nxd4 Rc7 19. f5 Bd7 20. Bxe4 dxe4 21. Qf4 Re8 22. Rae1 Re5 gives up a pawn without a fight and leads to a hopeless ending. The last chance to avoid material loss is 22. ... Bb5! 23. Rf2 Bd3

23. Rxe4 Rxe4 24. Qxe4 Bc6 25. Qe3 black has managed to stave off the immediate mating threats but cannot overgome the lethal disadvantage of being a pawn down.

Since Kolty is blindfolded, however, there is always a chance he will overlook something. Indeed, he is starting to drift. Sharper is 25. Qf4 Re7 26. f6 Re2 27. Qb8+ Re8 28. Qg3

25. ... Re7 26. Qg3 Re8 27. f6 g6 28. Qb4 the queen is already on a strong outpost and should stay there. Simply 28. Re1 is indicated to challenge the e-file. 28. h5 Bogart in turn misses his main chance 28. ... Re2 29. Rf2 Re1+ 30. Rf1 Re2 draws.

29. Re1 Rxe1+ 30. Qxe1 Qd6 31. Nxc6 Qxc6 32. Qe7 Qc8 33. h3 Qc6 34. b4 Qxc3 35. Qe8+ Kh7 36. Qxf7+ Kh6 37. Qe7 Qc1+ comes close to drawing but not quite. 38. Kf2 Qf4 39. Ke2 Qc4+ 40. Kf3 Kg5 making it easy. The best try is 40. ... h4! forcing white to find a move like 41. Qe4! in order to win. If 40. ... Qf1+ 41. Kg3 h4+ 42. Kh2 Qf4+ 43. Kg1 Qc1+ 44. Kf2 black will eventually run out of checks. 41. f7 Black resigns.

Bogart once worked in a chess stall at Coney Island and was arguably the strongest player in the Hollywood community.

Solution to last week's puzzle: 1. Rxd5!! Qxd5 2. Qxf7+!! Qxf7 3. Nd7 mate.

Source: Chessmate by Roberto Hernandez
Tia Belau Newspaper
June 11-18, 2004