(1537) MAGNUS CARLSEN WINS TATA STEEL CHESS TOURNAMENT 2018

   MAGNUS CARLSEN WINS TATA STEEL
           CHESS TOURNAMENT 2018

If GM Wesley So won the strongest tournament in the world, the 2017 Tata Steel Chess Tournament, this year, the current world chess champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway won this prestigious tourney after an exciting last round.

At the start of the matches, five Grand Masters still stood a chance of winning, with Anish Giri and Carlsen leading the pack.

Because both of their games ended in a draw, they had to play a tiebreak, consisting of 2 blitz game (5 minutes for each player with 3 extra seconds per move), which was won by Carlsen.

This is Carlsen's 6th trophy from Wijk-aan Zee.

3rd place went to Vladimir Kramnik, thanks to the better additional criteria since he tied with Shakhriyar Mamedyarov who had the same score of 8.5 points out of 13 games.

THE RESULTS:
1. Giri, Anish (9 pts. --2752 Rating) 2. Carlsen, Magnus (9 pts. --2834) 3. Kramnik, Vladimir (8.5--2787) 4. Mamedyarov (8.5--2804) 5. Anand, Viswanathan (8.0--2767) 6. So, Wesley (8.0--2792) 7. Karjakin, Sergey (7.5--2753) 8. Svidler, Peter (6.0--2768) 9. Wei, Yi (5.5--2743) 10. Jones, Gawain C B (5.0--2640) 11. Caruana, Fabiano (5.0--2811) 12. Matlakov, Maxim (5.0--2718) 13. Adhiban, B (3.5--2655) 14. Hou, Yifan (2.5--2680)

Vidit Gujrathi (India) has won the Tata Steel Challengers, thus earning a promotion to the Tata Steel 2019. Vidit justified the starting position scoring 9 points out of 13 games, and finishing the event as sole first with a whole point ahead of the runner-ups.

Last year, Gawain Jones won the Tata Steel Challengers and finished a decent 10th place despite being the lowest rated.

Stefan Kuipers the Top Nine Round event, earning a spot to the Tata Steel Challengers next year.

This year, the Tata Steel Chess, often called as "Wimbledon of Chess", celebrated its 80th anniversary and took place in a coastal village of Wijk-aan Zee, north Holland, with locations of the playing venues: Beeld en Geluid, in Hilversum and the Academy building of the University of Groningen. 

Tata Steel Chess 2018 gathered thousands of chess lovers, top world Grandmasters, visitors, 1800 participants of the various tournaments of Tata Steel events with the unique opportunity for the amateurs and the youngest to play chess in the same venue as their chess idols. 

The Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2019 will take place from 11-27 January 2019.

Photo credits: Tata Steel Chess. For info about the Tata Steel Chess Tournament, go to www.tatasteelchess.com.

(1487) 2018 FIDE World Chess Candidates Tournament on March 10 (TBN-March 05, 2018)

GETTING USA VISA (10 YEARS) WITHIN A WEEK

                  On Feb. 15, 2018, I have an interview at the US Embassy in applying for USA visa. Roger T. Bluestone, right, the Local Guard Force Commander, escorted me to the interviewer, Jennifer Nehez, the mom of my chess/piano student. Roger, his wife and Mr. Ben Asuncion, at left, had dinner at PRR on Sat. Feb. 10, 2018. She requested “To Love Again”, “As Time Goes By” and “Love Story”. After this photo session, they proceed at Breeze Bar of PRR and enjoyed 2 hours of live music. Roger’s wife, to our surprise, can sing Spanish songs—“Amor, Amor, Amor”, Historia de un Amor, Besame Mucho, etc. Many PRR guests filled the place, thinking that there is live entertainment! Eventually, I’ve got a USA visa for 10 years on Feb. 16, 2018 and used it right away (Feb. 22-26, 2018) to attend the Pacific Area Fellowship of Pentecostal Missionary Church of Christ (4^th Watch) in Saipan.                       (Photo by Roberto Hernandez)

2018 FIDE World Chess Candidates

      Tournament on March 10

FIDE announces that the deadline for player’s participation in the Candidates Tournament is 26 January 2018. The event will be held in Berlin, Germany from 8 March (arrivals/opening ceremony) to 29 March 2018 (departures) and the qualifiers are:

1.       Sergey Karjakin (Russia, World Championship 2016 Finalist)

2.       Levon Aronian (Armenia, World Cup 2017 Winner)

3.       Ding Liren (China, World Cup 2017 Finalist)

4.       Shakhiyar Mamedyarov (Azerbaijan, Grand-Prix 2017 Winner)

5.       Alexander Grischuk (Russia, Grand-Prix 2017 Runner-Up)

6.       Fabiano Caruana (USA, Rating Lists 2017)

7.       Wesley So (USA, Rating Lists 2017)

8.       Vladimir Kramnik (Russia, Organizer’s Nominee)

First reserve from the FIDE Grand-Prix standings is Teimour Radjabov (Azerbaijan). The winner of the Candidates Tournament will challenge Magnus Carlsen for the FIDE World Championship title in the last quarter of 2018.

I am being cordially invited to the Official Opening Gala of this event—the semi-final of the World Chess Championship cycle on March 09 at 19:00 in Kuhlhaus Berlin, Luckenwalder Str. 3.

I am welcome to attend the Tournament, which will start on March 10 and last until March 28 at the same venue. A three-week long chess fever, which will determine the challenger to the reigning world chess champion Magnus Carlsen, will start with a gala at Kuhlhaus Berlin, former ice factory—a place most suitable for the coolest minds in the world.

The top 8 Grandmasters mentioned above will compete for the privilege to fight at the World Chess Championship Match later this year.

The organizers are expecting government and business leaders, diplomats and cultural trendsetters to witness these intriguing games with them. They are asking me to join the evening to meet chess stars, appreciate iconic for Berlin paintings by Thierry Noir and tune into Persian sounds mixed with electronic music by Madanii, a Berlin-based trio surrounding Iranian-German singer Dena Zarrin. Cocktails designed by World Chess’s very own mixologist Kenan Assab will help you up your game. The invitation is for 2 persons and is non-transferrable. Please kindly RSVP to rsvp@worldchess.com     Best regards, World Chess Team https://worldchess.com/berlin/ 

 Solution to last week’s puzzle No. 3801: 1. Qxg8+!! Kxg8 2. Rh8+!! Kxh8 3. Bf7#

This week’s puzzle No. 4373: Black to move and mates in 3 (Solution next issue)

Sources: Chess Mate by Roberto Hernandez

               Tia Belau Newspaper

               Pages 9-10

               Volume 27

               Issue 18

               March 05, 2018

              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 -- March 05, 2018

            The History of Chess in Palau

            By Roberto Hernandez

            June 09, 2002 -- March 05, 2018

(1475) FABIANO CARUANA TAKES LONDON CHESS CLASSIC (TBN-Jan. 29, 2018)

FABIANO CARUANA IN LONDON AND AZERBAIJAN

               Malcolm Fein, left, presents Fabiano Caruana with the London Classic trophy while in the other photo Caruana, currently No. 2 in the world with 1811 rating is with Palau’s Team Captain and player Roberto Hernandez at the 2016 World Chess Olympiad in Baku, Azerbaijan. World Champion Magnus Carlsen is No. 1 with 1834. The other 8 are Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (1804), Levon Aronian (1787), Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (1793), Wesley So (1792), Vladimir Kramnik (1787), Hikaru Nakamura (1781), Ding Liren (1769) and Peter Svidler (1768).

                                                   (Photo in Azerbaijan by Roberto Hernandez)


          FABIANO CARUANA TAKES
   
           LONDON CHESS CLASSIC

The ninth and final round of the 9th London Chess Classic, played on Monday 11 December 2017 at the Olympia Conference Centre, concluded with two of the players lifting trophies. Fabiano Caruana needed a tie-breaker against Ian Nepomniachtchi to win the first prize in the tournament itself, while Magnus Carlsen clinched the first prize in the overall Grand Chess Tour. A pulsating final day’s play saw three decisive games as the grueling event took its toll in errors but the fans were also treated to a display of top-notch technique.

                As things stood overnight, Ian Nepomniachtchi was half a point clear of Fabiano Caruana in the running for the first prize in the tournament. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, a further half point back, also had an interest in the trophy but would have to win with Black against the leader to finish level with him and hope that Caruana would do no better than draw for a three-way tie. The Grand Prix leader board was more complicated with Carlsen leading and Vachier-Lagrave and various permutations of their results and those of others determining the destination of the year’s big-money prizes. 

               The first issue to be resolved (or at least partially resolved) came with a quick-ish draw between Nepo and MVL. It lasted just 17 moves and resulted in a repetition but still had an element of interest when Nepo played 9.Ndb5 followed by a pawn sacrifice. It was probably all planned in advance by White as it occurred in a pet line of MVL’s. The basis of the plan was to open up the d-file against the black queen, and also exploit a pin on a knight, and it was hard to see how Black was expected to continue without running the risk of having a much worse position. 

               No better exploitation of his positional advantages was available to White than the repetition, which had probably been his game plan (“I’m not really happy with what I did today... and I think no-one really liked it, me neither” said Nepo with a rueful smile at the post-game interview). So the game was over in just 35 minutes. That cut MVL out of the running for first prize in the tournament and meant that Nepo would have to wait to see how Caruana fared with White against Adams. 

               In fact, Nepo had to wait another 5+ hours to see whether he would have to play a tie-breaker as Caruana-Adams went the distance. It was, as soccer commentators like to say, “a game of two halves”. An imbalanced middle game seemed to favor Adams around move 30-33, with Caruana admitting later that he had been prepared to repeat position in lieu of anything better to do. But some inaccuracies from the Englishman (Adams himself thought 33...Ra5 could have been a key mistake) saw his position disintegrate markedly and by the time control it had resolved itself into a queen and rook endgame with Caruana having an extra pawn. Mickey may have been able to do better in the endgame but in practice the defense was tough and Fabi relentless. Beating Mickey Adams is never easy and this was a fine way for the US player to conclude his tournament. England’s number one said of his own performance, “I gave away too many early Christmas presents.” 

The other major issue was the outcome of the Grand Chess Tour and here much depended on the outcome of Aronian versus Carlsen. They say that a common military mistake made by generals is to fight a war based on their experiences of a previous campaign. There was an element of this about Aronian’s play against Carlsen. After a cagy start, in which neither of them was willing to commit to mainstream theory, the Armenian super-GM gained a small positional edge but pushed his luck a little too far, perhaps too conscious of Carlsen’s dismal showing in round eight effort and too trusting in Carlsen’s comment after that game about having ‘zero interest’ in their current encounter. Unluckily for Aronian, the Monday Carlsen, cold or no cold, was a very different proposition from that of the day before. He may still have been suffering from the head cold but, as opening morphed into middle game, it became clear that he was back at full functionality on the chessboard. Aronian gave up a piece for pawns and an attack but he was thwarted at every turn by some relentlessly accurate, active defense from the world champion. 

               Round nine coincided with Vishy Anand’s 48th birthday but it proved an unlucky one at the chessboard. Perhaps a birthday becomes something of a burden to an active professional chess player in their 40s as it provides an unwelcome excuse for writers, pundits and wiseacres in general to hint that maybe it’s time for the old boy to retire. Losing a game on the same day can make the chorus of unsolicited retirement advice all the louder. So I’ll try to buck the trend by expressing the hope that Vishy carries on playing indefinitely and wishing that we see him at the Classic again next year. However, though not Vishy’s finest hour, the game itself is worth seeing as it showcased Wesley So at his best. Good to see him back on song. 

                Nakamura completed a sweep of nine draws in the tournament with his game against Sergey Karjakin and commentator Maurice Ashley suggested he should expect some Twitter banter from Anish Giri who has been known to tease rivals who emulate his own pacific tendencies. Hikaru took this with a smile and expressed positive thoughts about his play in London. He thought his game with Sergey was the only one where he was in some trouble during the course of the tournament though it didn’t prove terminal. Sergey had welcomed Hikaru’s 15...g5 after which he had gained an edge but he had not ultimately seen a good way to exploit it. “I was worse but I don’t think I was ever losing,” commented Hikaru. 

               (CONCLUSION NEXT ISSUE)

Solution to last week’s puzzle No. 4285: 

                      1. …Rxe3+! 2. fxe3 Qg3+!! 3. hxg3 Bxg3#

This week’s puzzle No. 4407:

                       Black to move and mates in 3 (Solution next issue)

Sources: Chess Mate by Roberto Hernandez

               Tia Belau Newspaper

               Pages 9-10

               Volume 27

               Issue 8

               January 29, 2018

               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 -- January 29, 2018

               The History of Chess in Palau

               By Roberto Hernandez

               June 09, 2002 -- January 29, 2018

(1436) DENNIS LEADS TOP 12 DIVISION (TBN-Oct. 23, 2017)

:  DENNIS—UNDEFEATED SINCE FOLLOWING MY ADVICE

                Dennis Gonzales, middle, took my advice of taking a break in between games and since then, he is undefeated in his last 5 games scoring victories over Manuel ‘Jun’ Mahor, Jr., Baby Edna Mission, Paquito Suringa, Jr., Tito Cabunagan and a draw with Gonzalo Escapatoria, Jr. lately. He stayed humble when I praise his recent games, which is a sign of maturity. I hope we’d made it to 2018 Batumi, Georgia World Chess Olympiad.          (Photo by Roberto Hernandez)

                DENNIS LEADS

             TOP 12 DIVISION

The longest game so far of 2017 Palau National Chess Championship was between Dennis Gonzales vs. Gonzalo Escapatoria, Jr. held at Palau Royal Resort Dormitory 1 on Thu. Oct. 19 that ended in a draw after more than 4 hours of quality chess. They started their 3^rd round game at 6:15pm. Dennis is not available on Sunday, Oct. 22 so he took advantage of this special game to take place in other day so that he could spend the Sunday afternoon with his family. I took a shower and had dinner and leave them at 6:55 because I have to work from 7-11pm.

                When I check on them at 9pm, the position is equal with each having a king, a queen, 2 rooks and 5 pawns. They tried very hard but no breakthrough and finished the game in an 79-move marathon draw till past 10pm. CONGRATS TO BOTH FOR UPLIFTING THE QUALITY OF CHESS IN PALAU!

                Other results of 2^nd round games of the Top 12 Division: 3^rd seed Jeff Balbalosa made short work of Leif Toribiong for his first victory after our drawn game in the 1^st round; Escapatoria sacrificed a rook to force Bobot Tan’s resignation and Dennis outwitted Tito Cabunagan, who is going for vacation on Oct. 20 till Nov. His opponent, top seed Cyril Tomas Montel, Jr., is not available also as he has a game of basketball at the same time of their match. Dennis is supposed to play Angelo Salvadora in the 2^nd round. Cyril requested Bobot to play their 3^rd rd. game at PRR on Friday, too but Bobot is available only on Sundays. Cyril has a championship game of basketball this Sunday.

                The 3 matches are as follows: Jeff vs. Rustum; Paquito Suringa, Jr. vs. Leif; me vs. Angelo. In the Junior Division, it’s Destiny Sisior vs. Aome Angeles; Angelil Sisior vs. Gian Paloma; Kyarii Sisior vs. Michael Gulla; him vs. Rommel Gulla and Reece Reklai will have a BYE.

                Only 5 games are still not being played in the Women’s Division—Angelica Parrado vs. Baby Edna Mission (Oct. 15); Jennifer Angeles vs. Angelica Magno (Oct. 22); Mission vs. Joan Gemota (Oct. 29); Jennifer vs. Mission (Nov. 5) and Angelica vs. Parrado (Nov. 5)

                The Reserves Division has added Joel Gemota to make it a 3-player division with Wilson Barrameda and Neph Macasaet giving Gemota his 2 consecutive losses.

                In the last issue of Chess Mate, the last word by Wesley So is AMDG. It was explained to me by the most knowledgeable person I ever knew—CM Joselito Marcos as:

                “Ad maiorem Dei gloriam or ad majorem Dei gloriam,[note 1] also rendered as the abbreviation AMDG, is the Latin motto of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), a religious order of the Catholic Church. It means "For the greater glory of God."

“Wesley reached the semifinal vs. Ding Liren but he lost in the tiebreak. Aronian beat MVL in the Armageddon (5 vs. 4 white to win), and beat Ding in the tiebreak after 4 drawn games. He won both rapid games to top the World Cup. Both Aronian and Ding qualifies to the Candidates in Berlin 2018.

Very nice gift to Aronian who finally will marry longtime fiance Arianne Caoili on Saturday.

In the Isle of Man Open, random pairings were in applied in the first round. Kramnik got Caruana-two of  3 contesting 2 Candidates slots by average rating (the 3rd is So). Fabiano did himself and Wesley a favor by beating Kramnik!

After a win in the 2nd round, Kramnik suffered an upset loss vs. 65-year-old US GM James Tarjan to drop down behind So. Then he was held to a draw by IM Lawrence Trent in round 5. Poor Kramnik has lost 25.1 pts. so far and now down to 2777.9 from 2803 in the September 2017 rating list and 9th place behind Anand.  So moved to 6th behind Carlsen, Aronian, Caruana, MVL and Mamedyarov.

Likely qualifiers to Candidates after Karjakin, Aronian and Ding Liren are Caruana and Wesley (by rating), Mamedyarov and MVL (from FIDE Grand Prix) and a wildcard (maybe a German). Grischuk is out from GP because he already played required 3 events yet behind from Shak and MVL. Ding's qualification via the World Cup is welcome to MVL. The German organizer may also choose Kramnik as wildcard being Mr. Dortmund himself having won it 10 times! (If I am not mistaken).

How I wish Anand and Kramnik qualify to the Candidates but their only chance, and it’s either one of them but not both, is as a wildcard.

Solution to last week’s puzzle No. 3843: 1. Rh5+! gxh5 2. Qf5+ Kh4 3. Qxh5#

This week’s puzzle No. 3844: White to move and mates in 3 (Solution next issue)

Sources: Chess Mate by Roberto Hernandez

               Tia Belau Newspaper

               Pages 9-10

               Volume 26

               Issue 84

               October 23, 2017

               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 --October 23, 2017

              The History of Chess in Palau

              By Roberto Hernandez

              June 09, 2002 -- October 23, 2017

(1376) 2017 PBCC FIRES OFF APRIL 30 & MAY 07 (TBN-May 01, 2017)

  2017 PALAU BLITZ CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP
         FIRES OFF APRIL 30 & MAY 7 

The 2nd tournament in Palau fires off on April 30 with the Palau Blitz Chess Championship with the following contestants according to their rating:
                1. Cyril Tomas Almitante-Montel (1806), 2. Tito Cabunagan (1799), 3. me (Roberto Hernandez (1776), 4. Rustum Cabuso (1670)

5. Angelo Salvadora (1643)

 6. Jeff Balbalosa (1625)

 7. Gonzalo Escapatoria (1603)

 8. Angie Sisior (1590)

 9. Manuel Mahor, Jr. (1551)

 10. Destiny Sisior (1511)

 11. Neph Macasaet (1510)

 12. Bheng Codinera Mendoza (1490)

 13. Gladys Anne Francisco Paloma (1474)

 14. Joan Gemota (1433)

 15. Glen Glen M Navarroza (1392) 

16. Angelil Sisior (1359)

 17. Kyarii Sisior (1115) 

18. Angelica Morales Magno (1051).

                I have learned to use the Swiss Perfect by myself and if this list push through, the first round will be Cyril vs. Destiny, Tito vs. Neph, Roberto vs. Bheng, Rustum vs. Gladys, Angelo vs. Joan, Jeff vs. Glen, Jojo vs. Angelil, Angie vs. Kyarii and Jun vs. Angel (with the first mentioned name having the white pieces.)

                The 'NO PAY, NO PLAY POLICY WILL BE IMPLEMENTED SO PLEASE PAY YOUR REGISTRATION FEE AND 1-YEAR MEMBERSHIP FEE IF YOU'RE NOT PAID YET. Some players that can still make it are Rafael Paloma (1695), Nilo de Jesus (1615), James dela Cruz (1497), and Roxanne Parco Corro (1146). Dennis R Gonzales and Paquito Suringa Jr. will not make it due to varying reasons. 

                GOOD LUCK TO ALL PLAYERS/PARTICIPANTS!! 5 games will be played this Sunday and 4 games next Sunday in this 9-round Swiss system event. After the awarding, the next Board Meeting, with free dinner for everybody, will be served. As usual, I will add fresh fruits for balanced food intake.

                **(ANOTHER SHARED REPORT OF CM JOSELITO MARCOS) -- Although world’s No. 2 chess player Wesley So lost to defending champion Mamedyarov in the Gashimov Memorial in the first round, he drew with Michael Adams, Wojtaszek and former world champion Veselin Topalov. He lost the No. 2 spot to another former world champion Vladimir Kramnik, BUT, he regained it when he defeated Kramnik in an equal endgame where he refused a pawn on b7 that would put his knight temporarily out of action and decided to put more pressure on Kramnik.

                It was followed by another win on Sergey Karjakin, the challenger to Magnus Carlsen last year in New York, that has solidifies his hold on No. 2 at 2816. According to a report, his victory over Karjakin is like “squeezing blood from stone”. Fabiano Caruana is now No. 3 at 2803 and Kramnik at 2801. Hikaru Nakamura is now at No. 9 because of the rise of Mamedyarov to No. 7. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave is 5^th, Levon Aronian-6^th, Anand-8^th and Karjakin-10^th.

                I opined that maybe Wesley still has a chance for the title if Mamedyarov would lose even one of his remaining 3 games. Joselito’s opinion is solid—except he lost to Topalov (black) in the last round, that’s not unlikely to happen. All games in round 7 are fighting draws.

             Elite grandmasters, if they are leading, they just take it easy to protect their rating so that they will be invited to the elite tourneys. Look at what happened to Anish Giri, he’s not in the top 10 anymore that why he’s just joining the open events. Lucky for him he just won the Reykjavik Open but he gained few rating points.

            In Chess Piece column of Bobby Ang at Business World, he wrote that USA is world champions because of winning the Baku Olympiad, then Wesley is US Champion so Wesley So is champion of world champions!

            The top two in the world by average rating, after Carlsen, automatically qualify at Candidates Tournament where the winner will challenge Magnus in 2018. The chance of Wesley becomes greater even if he doesn’t win this event as long as he has defeated Kramnik. Added bonus was his win over Karjakin, who is very stingy. He almost defeated Carlsen in November. I’m sure Magnus is focusing his sights on games of Wesley. Overall, Wesley is trailing Magnus. It’s good Wesley is trailing now, and bounced back at world championship.

            Alekhine never win vs. Capablanca before their WCC match but the latter lost. It is the same with Fischer against Spassky. Before, Wesley can’t defeat Nakamura. In their last 4 games, Wesley wins 2 and draws 2. April is almost over so the top 10 players in the May 1 FIDE rating list would likely be the same after this Gashimov Memorial at Shamkir, Azerbaijan.

                Solution to last week’s puzzle No. 4409: 1. …Rh1+!! 2. Bxh1 Qxf2+ 3. Bg2 Qg1#

                This week’s puzzle No. 4410: Black to move and mates in 3 (Solution next issue)

Sources: Chess Mate by Roberto Hernandez

               Tia Belau Newspaper

               Pages 9-10

               Volume 26

               Issue 28

               May 01, 2017

               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--May 01, 2017

               The History of Chess in Palau

               By Roberto Hernandez

               June 09, 2002- May 01, 2017  

  

 

(1374) First They Ignore You, Laugh at You, Fight You, Then You Win--by Mahatma Gandhi (TBN-April 24, 2017)

: JAMIE KENMURE—ARBITERS’ SEMINAR LECTURER?

                    Palau will host the FIDE Arbiters’ Seminar on May 17-19, 2017. Jamie Kenmure, right, Palau Rating Officer, will probably conduct the Seminar if Asian Chess Federation Deputy President Toti Abundo will not be available. This photo was taken during the 2012 World Chess Olympiad in Istanbul, Turkey with GM Wesley So, middle and the current USA champion, with Roberto Hernandez, CM Bernardo Garcia, 2^nd from left, and Menandro Manuel, left.     (Photo by Roberto Hernandez)

    "FIRST THEY IGNORE YOU,

    THEN THEY LAUGH AT YOU, 

       THEN THEY FIGHT YOU,

            THEN YOU WIN"

                    -By Mahatma Ghandi- 

 

These words from one of the greatest minds and wisdom in the world from India, Mahatma Ghandi, were applied to what is happening now to the chess career of the newly-crowned USA champion Wesley So.

                 Although Wesley has won international tournaments and has been a Top 10 GM for two years, he has not really been reckoned as a serious threat by other super-GMs ("first they ignore you") in 2015 and 2016. The Top 10 super-GMs (and the emcees and commentators) started to take note of Wesley when he won (with some "luck") the Sinquefield, London and over-all 2016 GCT titles.

Henceforth, they cannot ignore Wesley no more, but they mock ("they laugh at you") his risk-free style of play.

                Even with the presence of three Top 10 elite GMs, the 2017 USA Chess Championship remain in the national championship category, that is, it's not on the level of the closed super-tournaments like Bilbao and Shamkir.

 However, the coronation of Wesley as US Champion has completed (the first part was 2017 Wijk Aan-zee (Tata Steel Masters) his elevation as the man to watch and prepare for in the subsequent tournaments.

                To illustrate a point, Wesley arrived in Baku for the 2017 Gashimov Memorial. His arrival was heralded in Azerbaijan press!! Azeri media paint Wesley as the man to beat ("then they fight you") in this tournament.

                **(Shared report from CM Joselito Marcos)…Wesley So’s 67-game unbeaten streak ended in the opening round of Gashimov Memorial. Playing Black, defending champion Shakhriyar Mamedyarov rebuffed So’s rare Scotch Opening as the latter blundered right on the time control. (0-1 in 39 moves).

                The other participants which So will be meeting in Rd. 2 is Michael Adams; Rd. 3-Wojtaszek; Rd. 4-Veselin Topalov; Rd. 5-Vladimir Kramnik; Rd. 6-Sergey Karjakin; Rd. 7-Pavel Eljanov; Rd. 8-Radjabov and Rd. 9-Harikrishna.

                Palau’s first Woman National Master (WNM) Angelica Parrado-Sisior attended the wedding of Mark Pusong and Beverly Joy Isida as secondary sponsor at Breeze Bar of Palau Royal Resort. While I’m on my way to set the keyboard, she talked to me that it will be Palau Rating Officer Jamie Kenmure that will be the one to conduct the Arbiters’ Seminar slated on May 17-19, 2017. I will email Toti Abundo to confirm this so that when I draft my May 2017 monthly working schedule, I will adjust to these 3 days.

                Angie also asked me to come at Engull Park (former Bethlehem Park) on April 23 and bring chess boards and clocks so that the potential participants can practice for the April 30 and May 07 Palau Blitz Chess Championship. Palau’s 2^nd WNM Baby Edna Mission attended also the wedding as guest. Angie confirmed that Gonzalo ‘Jojo’ Escapatoria, Jr. will be joining the seminar as well as Mission and possibly Gladys Anne Palome and her husband Rafael.

 Other confirmed participants are Angie, Cyril Tomas Montel, Jr., Paquito Suringa, Jr., Dennis Gonzales, Angelo Salvadora and me, of course for a total of 10. A maximum of 20 participants will be accommodated. Players from Guam are interested to attend the seminar as well as CM Joselito Marcos of Papua New Guinea but the school schedule is quite busy on that date where he is the Academic Director of The National Polytechnic Institute of Papua New Guinea.

                Solution to last week’s puzzle No. 3862: 1. Qxg6+!! hxg6 2. Bxg6+ Ke7 3. Nf5#

                This week’s puzzle No. 4409: Black to move and mates in 3 (Solution next issue)

Sources: Chess Mate by Roberto Hernandez

                Tia Belau Newspaper

                Pages 9 & 10

                Volume 26

                Issue 26

                April 24, 2017 

              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--April 24, 2017

             The History of Chess in Palau
             By Roberto Hernandez
             June 09, 2002--April 24, 2017