AFTER 6 straight losses in the ongoing rapid chess tournament, Jaime Guevarra finally won a game against venue host Gene Pastrana last Saturday Dec. 22 at Jean's Boutique and Store.
Paul Garcia followed suit with a come-from-behind victory over Koror State Legal Counsel Craig Dittrich in the 2nd round match. Dittrich won their 1st game.
Guevarra had a balance day on his day off as he lost to top seed Menandro Manuel and drew a game with Dittrich, in which he accepted the draw offer from the smart-playing Dittrich as he has only a minute left on his clock but ahead in material advantage.
Manuel almost had a perfect day by beating Garcia and 4th seed Roberto Hernandez in which he opened with an unorthodox 1. a3 1st move and followed with g3 2nd move.
In the endgame of minor pieces and pawns, Hernandez sacrificed a knight for 3 pawns that excite the crowd as he took the initiative.
Manuel proved why he is number one and found the right continuations and prevailed in more than 40 moves. Manuel also won over Dittrich in their 2nd round match.
Second seed Jose Omega spoiled Manuel's perfect day by clobbering him in a complex middle game struggle.
Hernandez bounced back from heartbreaking loss and swept Pastrana in short games. It took only 13 minutes for them to finish their first game and 10 minutes in their 2nd game.
On that night, Andres 'Aying' Mestizo II was scheduled to play Guevarra at Palau Royal Resort Dormitory 1. He lost his first game to Guevarra, won his 2nd encounter with Garcia, lost again to Guevarra and completed the sweep of Garcia to score 2 points in 5 games.
And in the last game of the day, Palau's first National Master Manny Nedic subdued Pastrana to stay in contention for the title.
Only 5 game were played on Sunday, Dec. 23 with Dennis Lara losing all of his 3 games to Nedic (2) and to Manuel.
Pastrana avenged his 1st round lost to Dittrich.
And Hernandez continued his mastery of Dittrich's play with crippling moves in their Dutch Defence encounter.
Dittrich would like to play all his remaining games as he will be busy next year.
If things go smooth, he can play Guevarra on Dec. 27. Against Mestizo (2 games) on Dec. 26 after the Mestizo-Hernandez match at Dormitory 1 from 6:30-7:30 pm.
Source: Chessmate by Roberto Hernandez
Tia Belau Newspaper
Page 13
Volume 18
Issue 01
December 28, 2007 - January 03, 2008
**This photo is part of Tia Belau Issue 01 Volume 18 Dec. 28, 2007-January 03, 2008. Ambassador Marino is the no. 1 supporter of chess in Palau. Allan Tuppil, the Food & Beverage Manager of Palau Royal Resort sponsored the PRR Rating Chess tournament --$100.00 cash, a trophy and 4 medals.
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