ASIA'S first Grandmaster Eugene Torre of the Philippines learned chess at age 5 from his father.
He grew up in a family that plays chess. His brother became a National Master but didn't achieve farther than Eugene, who is the only player in the world to represent his country at board 1 in 17 consecutive Chess Olympiad.
In Palau, chess is not popular as other sports and kids' tournament in 2003 lured many potential and aspiring woodpushers to enjoy the game of kings.
One of them is Dmitri Villanueva, who joined in an open event that included him to play against senior players.
His father Norbert also participated and was bracketed in Class B division after a 5-round classification.
Dmitri's game against compatriot Tutii Joe Chilton drew some attention to some serious chess critics as he sacrificed a whole knight without any material consideration except to maintain his initiative in mounting a bewildering attack.
Had he seen the counter attack of Chilton that cost him a whole rook, he might have won his first victory against a strong senior player.
When he played against 58-year-old Ben Ramos, the then 8-year Dmitri got the biggest age differential between 2 chess players in Palau's chess history.
Last Sunday, June 03 at Jean's Boutique and Store, Ken Pastrana, the youngest son of venue host Gene, practiced chess games with Emmie Buyacao as no current tournament is going on.
When Ken won a bishop, he even said "Thank you" to Emmie and continue to improve his game and fast becoming the best junior player in Palau.
He, like Eugene Torre, is in a chess playing environment where the chess materials of Knights and Rooks Chess Club are being taken care of by his father.
He is always around when a tournament is being held in the place where he lives and has a chance to see quality games being played around him all the time.
In the inaugural Ambassador Marino Cup Rapid Chess tournament held last year, he became the only undefeated player in the tilt where he dominated the junior division.
Although this year's 2nd Ambassador Marino Cup will not include juniors, he still can experience to see international players playing quality games in front of his very eyes.
Two National Masters from Philippines have confirmed to participate in the 2nd Palau Invitational Chess Championship (PICC) which will now be known as the Ambassador Marino Cup as the ever-busy ambassador had pledged the $1,000.00 prize pot and 2 round trip tickets (Palau-Manila-Palau) as additional prize.
Solution to last week's puzzle: 1. Rxf5+! gxf5 2. Qf5+ Kh6 3. Qg5 mate. If 1. ...Kg4 2. Rg5 mate.
Chessmate by Roberto Hernandez
Tia Belau Newspaper
Page 13
Volume 17
June 08-14, 2007
No comments:
Post a Comment