(146) NCC RESUMES AT PRR

AUSTRALIA'S NEWEST AND 4TH GRANDMASTER
David Smerdon, right, won the 2009 Oceania Zonal Chess Championship in the land down under and became the 4th Grandmaster (GM) of Australia. He represented the Oceania in the recently concluded World Chess Cup that was won for the first time by Israel's Boris Gelfand. He is shown here with lone Palau representative Roberto Hernandez at the awarding ceremony. Palau and The Solomon Islands were represented in the Oceania Zonal for the first time. (Photo by Roberto Hernandez)




               NCC RESUMES AT PRR

AFTER ONE week of match postponements, the resumption of 2009-2010 Palau National Chess Championship finally took place on Thursday evening, Jan. 14 when Michael Mercado played his first match at Palau Royal Resort Dormitory 1 against Paquito 'Pax' Suringa, Jr.

Their twice-postponed game were watched by many chess enthusiasts, mostly participants of Paquito Suringa Cup held a few weeks ago.

Mercado prevailed in a marathon 73 moves of Sicilian Defence and now totes a 3-2-1 win-loss-draw slate. Pax suffered his 5th loss but he already won 2 games.

The Pax-Bernard Garcia (6-1-0) match on Jan. 09 was postponed as well as the Garcia-Montel, Jr. (8-0-0) crucial clash on Jan. 10 at 3 pm. Cyril showed up not knowing the notice of postponement by Garcia through email.

Tito Cabunagan (7-0-0 in Class B) also showed up together with Cyril. They practiced blitz chess with PRR resident musician and 3rd seed Roberto Hernandez (7-3-0).

Tito is a good dart player but he didn't beat PRR best dart player Jaime Guevarra. Their chess match on the same night of Pax-Mercado match was postponed when Tito didn't show up while the Pax-Craig Dittrich game was postponed twice likewise.

The participants of Edgar Cayanan Cup accepted Mohammad Manik Hossain as the second invited player of the Cup that will start on Jan. 20. He will replace Ivan II Chess Computer. Earlier, Masum Billah was accepted as the first invited player.

The NCC is sponsored by Bobby Pineda, Jun dela Cruz and Ogie Pineda ($60.00 cash prize), by Bhoey Gopez of Island Logistics, Lucio Bandibas of WCTC and Ed Martinez of Print Zone (5 trophies) & by PPR GM Sho Suzuki (2 gift certificates of brunch for 2 at PPR).

          Papau New Guinea's top player Joselito Marcos emailed Hernandez about Gene Pastrana's withdrawal. A lot has been learned from his email that says:
         "Dear Robert, You did the right thing here--both according to FIDE Laws of Chess and to "law on human relations". I just hope that Gene Pastrana will not bear any animosity toward you and the rest, but if he did, it is his problem and not yours and you should not lose any sleep because of him.
Just be ready for any consequences as far as the outcome of your chess championship this year is concerned.
          There is one thing that you have not pointed out though. Capturing a king is itself an illegal move!
          In blitz game, the one doing that loses the game outright according to FIDE blitz rules. In normal tournament games, the FIDE Laws applies as you quoted. The position immediately before the illegal move shall reinstated and game resumes "normally" from there; touch move rules applies as well.
         The offended party shall receive additional two minutes on his clock (NOT a deduction of time from the offending player, which was the rule before it was amended).
         About touch move with illegal move, example, a player's king was checked by his opponent's bishop, not noticing it, if the player whose king is in check, moved his queen, captured a piece with his queen, or gave a check with his queen--- any of which are illegal. The position shall be restored with his king in check, and since he has touched his queen, he shall be obliged to move it by either capturing the checking piece or interfering between the checking piece and his king. If this is not possible, the player whose king was in check is free to make any other legal move.
             In blitz, the player making an illegal move loses the game after a claim by the other party. If not claimed, the game continues on, the arbiter cannot even point that out.
         If the game between Montel and Pastrana was a blitz game, it is the latter who loses outright by capturing the former's king. Instead, the second player should claim the win without making a move.
         Now since the game is not a blitz game, the FIDE Laws of Chess for normal or classical chess applies.
           Concerning a withdrawal from a round robin event, if a player has played in less than 50% of total number of rounds (11), his name and results shall be deleted. If he played 50% or more, his name and completed results stay and his remaining games recorded as losses. (Gene played 8 games -- 2 wins, 4 losses and 2 draws)
         I hope that this piece of information is of help.
         I am currently on holiday in Cabanatuan City, Philippines and will be back to PNG on 24 January. I haven't updated my blogsite as a result. Regards, Lito



Source: Chessmate by Roberto Hernandez
             Tia Belau Newspaper Pages 13 and 15
             Volume 19 Issue 03
             January 18-24, 2010