Adele Anzawa, left, offers the last 2 slices of pizza that she and her 11-year old son George had prepared for the Awarding Ceremony of the 3rd PIICC. Mr. Shinichi Arakawa and Bernard Garcia, middle, had their share. (Photo by: Margarita Marcos)
2011 PIICC RECAP
An International Chess Championship Where The
'Rainbow Ends'
THE TEN-PLAYER closed championship, Palau’s third international tournament, was held at the conference room of five-star hotel Palau Royal Resort from 14 to 19 December, 2011. The event was jointly won by top seed Joselito Marcos of Papua New Guinea and third seed Menandro Manuel.
The single-round robin competition turned out to be a race between Marcos and Manuel as they both registered 7 straight wins in as many rounds. Curiously after 7 rounds, the top four finishers were already decided except for their placing as the other participants could no longer catch them up. In his penultimate game, Manuel suffered his only loss to Montel that has boosted Marcos' chance to win the event all by himself with a draw against Manuel.
In a conduct that bewildered most observers, it was Marcos instead of Manuel who played all out for a win. The former maintained the advantage of the first move and had the draw for the taking any time in the ensuing knight and pawn ending until the crucial blunder that cost him the game. Manuel, buoyed up by the unexpected win, displayed magnanimity by volunteering to the organizer that he and Marcos be declared joint winners without him realizing that the latter still has a delayed game in hand against Hernandez himself.
Marcos eventually won his final game but only after overcoming some scary moments caused by the resulting pressure of a 'must-win' game. Hernandez wound up fourth following losses in his last two games.
The event was the best organized invitational international chess championship ever in Palau. The participants appreciated the tremendous contribution and generosity of Joselito Marcos for the success of the tournament.
Top seed Joselito Marcos' play was both solid and confident as he had never been in any real danger (even against Manuel, his loss could also be attributed to 'over-confidence' in this sense). He took advantage and exploited the mistakes of his rivals. He displayed his endgame skills (games against Montel and Garcia), attacking skills (versus Suringa and Dennis Gonzales), and superior opening knowledge (versus Jeffrey Balbalosa and George Anzawa).
The only loss of Palau's number one player Cyril Montel, Jr. against Marcos coupled with the draw against Bernardo Garcia in the early rounds derailed his bid for the title. He, however, made up for it and proved that he remains Palau's top player by beating joint-winner Manuel.
While Manuel ended up joint-winner, three of his games were deemed as designs from his lucky star: (1) the game against Suringa where the latter has clear advantage but for strange reason (a phantom attack) gave away a piece yet still a tough game from there that lasted till 1:30 am; (2) Dennis Gonzales missed a mate in 3 or win of Manuel's queen to avert the mate, and thereafter Gonzales made a series of weak and bad moves; and (3) the best he could hope for against Marcos was a draw but the latter mixed up his analyses of two possible 'winning' continuations. The unexpected result earned him 10 additional rating points out of the 31 he gained in the January FIDE Rating List. Christmas came much too earlier to Manuel!
Roberto Hernandez performed nearly according to rating and was unfortunate to lose to Suringa. The piece sacrifice against Manuel was premature caused by impatience and led to his downfall. However, he is the only one who gave Marcos a run for his money by giving him tremendous pressure in their game following the latter's undeserved loss to Manuel. But then again, doubling up as player and organizer-director of the tournament, how much would one expect from an indefatigable person that he is?
Paquito Suringa was a last-minute substitute in favor of Dr. Alfredo Paez of the Philippines who failed to make it to Palau following the loss of his passport. On Marcos' recommendation, his inclusion made up the cast of Palau's top 5 rated players in the tournament. He did justice to his participation with a strong finishing kick with back-to-back wins against Hernandez and Garcia, eventually notching fifth place honor.
The most lackadaisical performance came from Tito Cabunagan who ended up 6th. His losses to the top four finishers including his upset loss to Garcia accentuated his poor form due to blitzing his moves in a serious competition. Too much play on the Internet probably. His extra-curricular activities also contributed to his poor results. His only win of note out of four was against Suringa. His minus-one performance resulted to a loss of 49 rating points.
Garcia showed some promise and desire to improve although his performance was inconsistent and unbalanced. His upset win over Cabunagan and surprise loss to Balbalosa was notable. The experience will surely redound to better results in the future.
Gonzales is likewise a promising and talented player. His draw against Hernandez in a game where he won a piece, his attacking game and near win against Manuel (despite the result), and his win against Suringa are testaments to what he is capable of. He has a steady yet unreliable (perhaps unsuitable in this level of competition) opening systems for both white and black.
Balbalosa is the surprise of the tournament following his two victories against higher rated rivals - Garcia and Gonzales. He displayed keen sense of attention and desire to learn by applying lessons he learned from his game with Marcos that resulted in a victory vs. Garcia.
Not much can be expected from the youngest participant, eleven-year old George Anzawa. While he turned out literally as the tournament's whipping boy, he showed progressive improvement in his play after every game.
(With reports from Roberto
Hernandez and Joselito Marcos).
Source: Chess Mate by Roberto Hernandez
Tia Belau Newspaper
Volume 21
Issue 05
January 30, 2012
Tia Belau Newspaper
Volume 21
Issue 05
January 30, 2012
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