TOP 2 SEEDS IN THE FINALS
Paquito 'Pax' Suringa, Jr., right, shakes hands with top seed Roberto Hernandez before the start of their final game match at Palau Royal Resort Dormitory 1 in the conclusion of 3rd Pax Cup Rapid Chess tourney. Jordan Santos, left, and Don Vito Te (FO Supervisor) watched the game sparingly. (Photo by Roberto Hernandez)
HERNANDEZ IS 3RD
PAX CUP CHAMP
The 3rd Edition of Paquito Suringa Cup Rapid Chess tournament finally concluded last Sunday, April 22 at Palau Royal Resort Dormitory 1. It started in Oct. 23 last year.
The following is the final standings with the top 4 clashing in the semifinals: 1. Roberto Hernandez (12-1-0 win-loss-draw record)12 pts. 2. Jeffrey Negrillo (10-4-0) 10 pts. 3. Paquito Suringa, Jr. (9-4-1) 9.5 pts. 4. Ferdinand Gutierrez (9-6-0)9 pts. 5. Ronnie Capio (8-9-1) 8.5 pts. 6. Rey Alenain (7-9-0) 7 pts. 7. Rudel Roxas (6-8-0) 6 pts. 8. Joel Gabris (3-7-0) 3 pts. 9. Dan Roldan (2-13-0) 10. Miguel Gancayco (0-5-0) 0 pt.
Capio was the only player who finished all 18 games. When Rudel Roxas went to Philippines for good, Gutierrez made it to the semifinals.
At about 6:00 pm, Hernandez and Gutierrez started their semifinal match. Being the top seed, Hernandez played the white pieces. Gutierrez chooses the quiet French Defence, puts out his queen on the 3rd move only to be referred back to e7.
When Gutierrez castled on the queenside on the 12th move, Hernandez shifted the attack in the queenside and won a pawn on the 16th move and shattered Gutierrez position.
A neat knight sacrifice on the 25th move enabled Hernandez to win a whole rook. Facing an inevitable mate on the 27th move, Gutierrez resigned and Hernandez moved on to face the winner of Jeffrey Negrillo vs. Paquito ‘Pax’Suringa, Jr., the other semifinal match.
In the middle game, Pax is already ahead by a piece. A blunder after a blunder resulted in Pax gaining a 3- piece advantage. A few moves later, Negrillo resigned and Pax took his dinner before playing his final match against Hernandez.
Pax employed the same defence (French) that Gutierrez used. The top 2 seeds of the event castled both at the kingside on the 10th move. Ten moves later, Hernandez gobbled up a pawn after posting his rook on the open d file. He offered that rook for a knight but Pax refused seeing that the diagonal for Hernandez’ white bishop will be too strong to handle.
One move later, he accepted that sacrifice and he has to give up his queen and a rook to thwart the mate. On the 33rd move, he resigned to avoid the checkmate.
Hernandez received $20.00 cash prize while Pax gets $15.00. Negrillo and Gutierrez received $5.00 each as consolation prize. Photos were taken before and during the match with a small crowd of Palau Royal Resort’s employees staying at Dormitory 1.
Source: Chessmate by Roberto Hernandez
Tia Belau Newspaper
Volume 20 Issue
April 30, 2012
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