(861) CYRIL vs. ROBERTO FOR TITLE; JEFF or TITO FOR 3RD (TBN-Jan. 12, 2015)

MENANDRO VS. PAX -- DRAW

                  It might be another sweep by Palau Royal Resort chess players as Roberto Hernandez, 3^rd from right, and Felix Oling, 2^nd from left, lead the final round of 2014 PNCC. In the 2014 Palau Open, Hernandez topped the Group A while Paquito ‘Pax’ Suringa, Jr., right, clinched the Group B plum also undefeated. Others in the photo are Jason Delgado, left, Ronel Gutierrez, 3^rd from left and top seed Menandro Manuel, playing a drawn game against Pax at PRR Dormitory 1.

                                       (Photo by Roberto Hernandez)

      CYRIL VS. ROBERTO FOR TITLE;

             JEFF OR TITO FOR 3RD

  

Just like in the final round of 2014 Palau Open, 4^th seed Cyril Tomas Montel, Jr. (8-0-0 win-loss-draw record) and 3^rd seed Roberto Hernandez (7-1-0) will fight it out again for the 2014 Palau National Chess Championship plum. Cyril is undefeated in 8 previous rounds after 5^th seed CM Bernardo Garcia (3-5-1) forfeits his last 2 remaining games due to hectic schedule. Garcia and Montel are supposed to play their game on Jan. 11, 2015 while the Garcia vs. 6^th seed Jeff Balbalosa (5-2-1) match is set on Jan. 10 at 2pm.

                Now that Garcia forfeits too his game vs. Balbalosa, the fight for 3^rd place is a wire-to-wire struggle between Jeff and 2^nd seed Tito Cabunagan (6-3-0). If Jeff would lose or draw his last game vs. 7^th seed Dennis Gonzales (4-3-1), then Tito will take the 3^rd place. Although Jeff and Tito will have a tie in case of a Jeff-Dennis stand-off, the Direct Encounter tiebreak will favor Tito as he defeated Jeff in the 6^th round.

                Tito’s hunt for at least a 1^st runner-up finish was spoiled when he was outsmarted by Roberto in the 8^th round with a loss in 26 moves of English Opening (Four Knights Variation).  THE MOVES:

     White: Roberto Hernandez (1815)    Black: Tito Cabunagan (1825)   Round 8    Jan. 04, 2015

     1. Nf3 g6 2.e4 Bg7 3.d4 d5 4.e5 Bg4 5. Bb5+ c6 6. Be2 e6 7. Nc3 Ne7 8. Ng5 Bxe2 (at this stage, Tito wrote in English notation again by 8. …BxB. Roberto told him, “Before you make your move, please correct your notation, it’s English, not Algebraic) 9. Qxe2 Nf5 10. Qf3 h6 11. Nxf7 Kxf7 12.g4 Qh4 13.gxf5 exf5 14. Be3 Ke6 15. 0-0-0 Nd7 16. Rdg1 g5 17. Ne2 Qe4 18. Qh5 Nf8 19. Nf4+ gxf4 (after this accepted sacrifice, Tito moves fast again but his king is unsecured and the unavoidable mate can’t be thwarted even with a queen sacrifice.) 20. Rxg7 Qxh1+ 21. Kd2 fxe3+ 22. Kc3 (22. Ke2 makes the game 2 moves shorter). 22. …Qe1+ 23. Kb3 Qb4+ 24. Kxb4 c5+ 25. Ka3 cxd4 26.f4 (there’s no solution to Qf7#).   1-0

Eighth seed Paquito ‘Pax’ Suringa, Jr. (1-7-1) also will forfeit his last 3 games against Jeff, Dennis and 10^th seed Rafael Paloma (2-7-0) due to conflict in his schedules. 9^th seed Nilo de Jesus (2-7-0) started the event with a victory over CM Garcia but lost the next 7 games by default due to transport problem. His 2^nd win is over top seed Menandro Manuel (2-5-2) by default as Manuel left Palau in early Dec. 2014.

                In the Open Division, frontrunner dark horse Marcial Santander suffered his first loss at the hands of Eugene Labarda in the 7^th round. Felix Oling of Palau Royal Resort dealt Marcial his 2^nd loss in a row in the 8^th round to pave the way for his first chess title in Palau if he would win his final round game against Labarda on Jan. 11.

                WNM Angelica Parrado clinched the Women’s Division title since Round 7 while her daughter Destiny Sisior is on her way to be the top junior player of Palau followed by her sister Angelil.

     ***New development—Paquito can make it in the 9^th round vs. Rafael at 2:30pm on Jan. 11 because he worked at 6:00am. His games with Jeff and Dennis can be arranged next week.

                Solution to last issue’s puzzle:

The first person to solve the 12^th year special puzzle will be given $12.00! Text 778-5392***Nobody text for the right answer since Dec. 28, 2014 -- January 04, 2015.

THE CORRECT SOLUTION --- 1. Kg4! threatening 2. Qh5 mate. If 1. ...Rxf6 2. h8Q mate. Any other rook moves except to g8 leads to 2. Qh5 mate. And finally, if 1. ... Rg8+, then 2. hxg8N! mate.

This week’s puzzle: Black to move and mates in 3 (Solution next issue)


Source: Chessmate by Roberto Hernandez
             Tia Belau Newspaper
             Page 10
             Volume 24
             Issue 04
             January 12, 2015       

FRONT PAGE: TIA BELAU (Jan. 12, 2015)

                             RECORD 140,784 TOURISTS
                  People's Republic of China takes over top spot

     Reducing influx of Chinese tourists recommended

     Ministers of the Palau's tri-organization in December recommended actions that will provide "the most significant and immediate relief" to the influx of Chinese tourists in Palau, which includes a moratorium on new charter flights and investments involving constructions of accommodations.
     In a letter to President Remengesau dated Dec. 12, 2014, the Palau Visitors Authority (PVA), Palau Chamber of Commerce and Belau Tourism Association including the Bureau of Tourism, recommended that the government place an immediate moratorium on any new charter airlines and an immediate limit of flights originating out of the country which has more than 95 percent of capacity carrying one customer group.
     Earlier, Remengesau urged hotel businesses in Palau to reduce bookings large package tour groups, which stops other tourists from other countries from visiting Palau because of lack of rooms.
     In a letter addressed to Palau Visitor's Authority, Belau Boaters Association and Economic Advisory Group, Dec. 10, Remengesau asked the hospitality industry to re-think their business practices of relying on tourists on package tours, which can be "detrimental to our industry and our economy as a whole".
     Latest visitor arrivals statistics for the past month have shown that more tourists from Mainland China are visiting Palau, surpassing the numbers of visitors from key markets such as Japan and Taiwan. Despite the growth these tourists from China come as package tours and opposes the high-end tourism policy of Palau.
     The tri-org said this continuing trend of investments and tourists from one specific sourcing country such as China is considered a "serious threat" that Palau may face.
     We believe Palau faces very serious threats if the sudden influx of visitors and capital from one specific with business model that is vertically integrated to be left unchecked and therefore it was of great importance to our efforts to put forth concise actionable recommendations that will provide the most significant and immediate relief," the letter stated.
     The organizations also recommended a moratorium on new charters flights and limiting the number of charter flights from Hong Kong and Macau to two times a week.
     The group also suggested a ban on the approval of foreign investments involving construction of new hotels and stop the approval of Environmental permits of constructions of accommodations which has yet to start ground breaking.