(82) AUSTRALASIAN CHESS MAGAZINE FEATURES 2011 PIICC

PALAU INTERNATIONAL INVITATIONAL
In the bottom photo of the Australasian Chess Magazine, Tito Cabunagan, left, shakes hands with Joselito Marcos of PNG. The other photo was already published in this column on Dec. 26, 2011 issue of Tia Belau with caption "Winners and presentors of 3rd PIICC".


Australasian chess magazine
features 2011 PIIC

THE MARCH/April 2012 issue of Australasian Chess Magazine has featured the 2011 Palau Invitational Chess Championship held at Palau Royal Resort from Dec. 14-19, 2011. Two colored photos were featured. The one in the awarding ceremony (group) and the other one is the game between Tito Cabunagan and Joselito Marcos, where the flag of Palau (for Tito) and flag of Papua New Guinea were seen very clearly.

Three games with annotations were also featured – the Montel, Jr. vs. Manuel clash, the Montel vs. Marcos encounter and the Marcos vs. Manuel instructional game. In the 3^rd and last page, the final standings are shown in the cross-table.

The text of the report is as follows: The ten-player closed championship, Palau’s 3^rdinternational tournament, was held in the conference room of the five-star Palau Royal Resort from 14-19 December 2011. The event was jointly won by top seed Joselito Marcos of Papua New Guinea and third seed Menandro Manuel of Palau.

The single round robin event turned out to be a race between Marcos and Manuel as they both registered seven straight wins in as many rounds. Curiously after seven rounds, the top four finishers were already decided (except for their placing) as the other participants could no longer catch them up.

In his penultimate game, Manuel suffered his only loss to Montel that boosted Marcos’ chance to win the event all by himself with a possible draw against Manuel.

In a conduct that bewildered most observers, it was Marcos instead of Manuel who played all out for a win. The former maintained the advantage of the first move and had the draw for the taking any time in the ensuing knight and pawns endgame until the crucial blunder that cost him the game.

Manuel, buoyed up by the unexpected win, displayed magnanimity by volunteering to the organizer that he and Marcos be declared joint winners without him realizing that the latter still has a delayed game in hand against Hernandez himself.

Marcos eventually won his final game but only after overcoming some scary moments caused by the resulting pressure of a “must-win” game. Hernandez wound up fourth following losses in his last two games.

The event was the best organized invitational international chess championship ever in Palau. The participants appreciated the tremendous contribution and generosity of Joselito Marcos for the success of the tournament.

The final standings are shown in the accompanying cross-table.

THE OFFICERS AND MEMBERS OF PALAU CHESS FEDERATION WOULD LIKE TO THANK MR. BRIAN JONES, THE PRESIDENT OF OCEANIA CHESS CONFEDERATION, FOR GIVING SPACE IN HIS AUSTRALASIAN CHESS MAGAZINE THE REPORT OF ROBERTO HERNANDEZ AND JOSELITO MARCOS ABOUT THE 3^RD PALAU INVITATIONAL INTERNATIONAL CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP. WE THANK YOU ALSO FOR SENDING FREE COPIES OF THE MAGAZINE TO US. THANK YOU ONCE AGAIN. SULANG!!!

Source: Chessmate by Roberto Hernandez Tia Belau Newspaper Page 12 Volume 21 Issue 13 March 19, 2012