(980) MARCOS, MANUEL PACE 3RD PIICC (TBN-Dec. 19, 2011)

TOP SEEDS OF THE PIICC
      (Left to right)  Roberto Hernandez, PNG’s Joselito Marcos, Palau Paquito Suringa, Jr., Cyril Tomas Montel, Jr., Dennis Gonzales, Tito Cabunagan and Menandro Manuel are 7 of the top seeds of the 3^rd PIICC. Not in the picture are Bernard Garcia, George Anzawa and Jeff Balbalosa.
                                                                                     (Photo by Roberto Hernandez)


      MARCOS, MANUEL PACE 3RD PIICC

PAPUA New Guinea’s top chess player Joselito Marcos lived to the expectation of being the top seed in the 3^rd Palau Invitational International Chess Championship as he swept the opposition like a storm and scored 7 consecutive victories to lead the tourney against Palau top players.

Marcos made short work of 11-year-old George Anzawa in the first round and humbly instructed George how to play solidly. Next in line was Palau top player Cyril Tomas Montel, Jr. who can’t sustain a positional endgame of minor pieces and succumbed to pressure when Marcos found the right continuation to avoid a drawn position and extracted a full point.

Dennis Gonzales also felt the sting of Marcos’ moves. In a morning game, Palau Royal Resort’s Paquito Suringa, Jr. also bowed to Marcos. Bernard Garcia and Tito Cabunagan were next and after defeating Jeff Balbalosa, his 7 points overtook the gallant effort of Menandro Manuel, who also scored 6 straight to trail Marcos by a point.

At 3^rd spot is PRR Roberto Hernandez with 5 points out of 7 games. A hard-earned draw with Gonzales, a win over Anzawa and Balbalosa, a loss to Manuel, a win over Cabunagan and Garcia and another draw with Montel put him back at striking distance with the leaders.

Montel is next with 4.5 points in 7 games followed by the struggling Cabunagan with only 3 wins against 5 losses. Garcia has 2.5 points while Suringa and Gonzales are tied with identical 1.5 points each. Finally, Balbalosa scored his first win over Anzawa (official result was a draw - Webmaster).

The most exciting penultimate round on Sunday will fit Montel vs. Manuel again at 2:00 pm. The two protagonists were involved in many Palau tournaments' exciting final games that could have gone either way.  

The most anticipated match of the 2 unbeaten players is set also on Sunday at 7:00 pm. A win by Marcos will almost clinch him the championship, needing only a draw in his final round match with Hernandez on December 19 (Monday) at 1:00 pm. Suringa and Hernandez will play their match on the same day at 9:00 am. And the final game of Garcia and Suringa will be played at 1:00 pm.

The awarding ceremony will be held one hour later (at 6:00 pm) on December 19 to enable almost all players to attend as they are off already by 5:00 pm.   The awarding ceremony will have a program as follows:

At 6:00 pm, a thanksgiving prayer will be led by Hernandez followed by awarding remarks of PRR Rooms Division Director Shinichi Arakawa, who will be asked to do it in the absence of PRR GM Isao Takahashi who will be off island on that date.

The awarding of the 5^th place finisher will be given by Ms. Jamie Kirstie Marcos, Joselito’s last-born daughter. The 4^th place honor will get the award/prize from Mrs. Adele Anzawa while the 3^rd place will be given by Mrs. Margarita ‘Nanette’ Marcos. The 2^nd place finisher will be given by Mr. Takao Anzawa, the Counselor of Japan Embassy. Finally, the champion will receive his prize of $300.00 and a Palau storyboard from Mr. Arakawa.


Source: Chess Mate by Roberto Hernandez
              Tia Belau Newspaper
              Volume 20
              Issue 52
              December 19, 2011