Palau Chessmate: April 2017

Tuesday, April 18, 2017

(1369) 2017 Palau Blitz Chess Championship on April 30 & May 7 (TBN-April 17, 2017)

THE PALAU CHESS TEAM IN THE 1^st ROUND OF 2016 WCO IN BAKU, AZERBAIJAN

L-R: Dennis Gonzales (Board 5/Reserve), Roberto Hernandez (Team Capt./Bd. 4), Jeff Balbalosa (Bd. 3), Allan Alcid(Bd. 2), CM Joselito Marcos (Head of Delegation and Team Captain when I’m playing) and Paquito Suringa, Jr. (Bd. 1) with PCF President Eric Ksau Whipps (Delegate) taking this photo. (Photo by Eric Ksau Surangel Whipps)

2017 PALAU BLITZ CHESS

CHAMPIONSHIP ON APRIL 30

AND MAY 07

During the 2^nd Board Members meeting of Palau Chess Federation on April 10, 2017, it was decided to hold the 2^nd tourney of the year on April 30 and May 07—the 2017 Palau Blitz Chess Championship. This two-week Blitz Chess Championship will be held for 2 Sundays only (Nov. 30 and May 7) at Ernguul Park (formerly Bethlehem Park).

Registration fee is peg at $10.00 for those players who have paid their 1-year membership fee--$20.00. Every participant must be fully paid with their 1-year membership fee to be able to participate. The “No Pay, No Play” policy of PCF will be implemented.

                The time format is 5 minutes for each player to finish the game with 3 seconds increment. It will be a round-robin format if the participants are only 10 and Swiss System if it is 14 or more.

                Three medals will be awarded to the Top 3 finishers wherein the next PCF Board Meeting will be held after the awarding ceremony.

                This is the 2^nd tourney to be held by PCF after the very successful Lightning/Bullet Chess Tilt in February 26 where 16 players (old and new) participated.

                Those players are all invited in this longer time control event: Gonzalo Escapatoria, Jr., Angelica Magno, Rustum Cabuso, Cyril Tomas Montel, Jr., Angelo Salvadora, Francois, Thomas, Angie Parrado, Tito Cabunagan, Jeff Balbalosa, Manuel Mahor, Jr., Destiny Sisior, Angelil Sisior, Baby Edna Mission, Glen Navarroza, Gladys Anne Paloma, Joan Gemota, etc.

                Dennis Gonzales and Paquito Suringa, Jr. will not be available because of varying reasons. New member player like Wilson Barrameda, inactive Neph Macasaet and other interested players are also invited. Elizalde Madrinan of Palau Royal Resort will be having a 21-day vacation this month and will not be available for this event.

                This year’s USA Chess Championship has been the toughest ever in history. Caruana and Nakamura still have mathematical chances of topping the event should ‘fate’ conspired with both winning their last round game and the 3 co-leaders So, Akobian and Onischuk all loses. This is highly probable but likely possible (whatever that means).

                Crazy or what? Wesley consented to a draw by repetition with Narodisky in just 14 moves in just a little over 10 minutes of play! This leaves the fate of the title in the hands of Akobian and Onischuk. Akobian may pull it off if Nakamura blunders in a position that suited him best.

                Wesley will surely receive a lot of criticism after this. He was willing to end up 3^rd. He chose to preserve his unbeaten streak, never mind if he will be called chicken. His decision will put pressure on Akobian and Onischuk to play all out for a win if they wish to win the title outright. So remains No. 2 in the live rating as he lost 6.6 points. Kramnik is now No. 3 with just 4.4 behind.

                IT’S A PLAYOFF BETWEEN SO AND ONISCHUK AS AKOBIAN LOST TO NAKAMURA!

Wesley, white, had just won the first rapid game playoff vs. Onischuk in 31 moves of English Opening. He needed only a draw to win the USA Championship—and he did!

                Wesley So is the new USA Champion! After a tough draw in the 2^nd rapid playoff in 62 moves of Reti/Catalan Opening, wherein So is down by 2 pawns in the endgame. After an inaccurate 54^th move by Onischuk, So played like a machine demonstrating the draw that made his victory sweeter.

                CM Joselito Marcos is hoping that So will not become over-cautious because of his rating. If he does, his game will stagnate and his results will suffer. Should he top the forthcoming Gashimov Memorial in Shamkir, Azerbaijan starting April 20, it will truly raise his chess stocks.

                Solution to last week’s puzzle No. 3861: 1. Qc8+!! Rxc8 2. Rxc8+ Nb8 3. Rxb8#

                This week’s puzzle No. 3862: White to move and mates in 3 (Solution next issue)

Sources: Chess Mate by Roberto Hernandez

   Tia Belau Newspaper

   Pages 9 & 11

   Volume 26

   Issue 30

   April 17, 2017

Chess and Music (Perfect Combination)

The Beginning of Chess in Palau

By Roberto Hernandez

Soon to be published as a book

Music and Me by Roberto Hernandez

Tia Belau Newspaper

March 15, 2012--April 18, 2013

http://palau-chess.blogspot.com

April 25, 2013--April 17, 2017

The History of Chess in Palau

By Roberto Hernandez

June 09, 2002 -- April 17, 2017

(1368) CRAZY 9th ROUND OF USA CHAMPIONSHIP (TBN-April 10, 2017)

: TOURISTS OF PNG TEAM IN 2012 WCO IN ISTANBUL, TURKEY

Except for Stuart Fancy, 2^nd from left, all other members of PNG team in 2012 WCO in Istanbul, Turkey are non-residents of PNG—from left: Rupert Jones, Shaun Press, GM Team Captain from Bulgaria, Craig Skehan and Helmut Marko. Due to health reason, CM Joselito Marcos didn’t make it 2 weeks prior to Olympiad. He is the other one that resides/works in PNG for 21 years (1996-2017).

(Photo by Shaun Press)

CRAZY 9th ROUND OF

U. S. A. CHAMPIONSHIP!

AS USUAL, the 12 qualifiers of the 2017 USA Chess Championship will have a single round-robin championship with the top 3 seeds Wesley So, Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura. The other qualifiers and their FIDE Ratings are Jeffrey Xiong (2674), Alexander Onischuck (2667), Varushan Akobian (2645), Ray Robson (2668), Gata Kamsky (2659), Daniel Naroditsky (2646), Samuel Shankland (2666), Yaroslav Zherebukh (2605) and Alexander Shabalov (2556).

Xiong, the reigning US and world junior champion, and Zherebukh (qualified by rating), are first time participants. Shabalov qualified by winning the 2016 US Open (his 4^th), that’s why he is called the King of US Open. In 1963, Bobby Fischer won the USA Championship with a perfect 11-0 slate by beating Edmar Mednis, Larry Evans, Robert Byrne, Arthur Bisguier, Samuel Reshevsky, Robert Steinmeyer, William Addison, Raymond Weinstein, Donald Byrne, Pal Benko and Anthony Saidy. In 1965, he lost to Reshevsky and R. Byrne, drew with Addison and won the other 8 games.

In the 7^th round, Kamsky came out of the cellar by clobbering Naroditsky (the youngest ever chess author at 11 years old) in 45 moves of a Ruy Lopez (Zaitsev Variation); Shabalov with the Black pieces, crushed Xiong in 26 moves of a Caro-Kann defense by transposition; Nakamura could only draw with Baku teammate Shankland in 51 moves of Slav Defense; Robson got a draw with So after playing his last 10 moves on increment. Zherebukh won vs. Caruana! He now shares the lead with So at 4.5 points apiece. WHO IS ZHEREBUKH?

Yaroslav Volodymyrovych Zherebukh (rating 2605) is a Ukrainian-American chess Grandmaster. In 2006, Zherebukh was a member of the Ukrainian national youth team, which won the U-16 Chess Olympiad in Turkey. In the 2011 World Cup, held in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, he caused a sensation by eliminating 2 super-grandmasters, Pavel Eljanov and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov in the 1^st and 3^rd rounds. In May 2015, Zherebukh switched his affiliation from Ukraine to the United States. He is the tourney’s wildcard; others qualified by rating.

Zherebukh is another example of a player who changed federation, which is not new and not necessarily have to reside in that country like the tourists Shaun Press, Rupert Jones, Craig Skehan and Helmut Marko, who are all non-residents of Papua New Guinea.

This 2017 USA Chess Championship is very competitive. In 2015, Wesley So is +2 while last year, he, Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana, the defending champion, are both +4. As they said prior to the start of the tourney, So needed +6 this year to be the 2017 champ. But he’s just +2 currently.

What a crazy round this 9th of the US Championship! Flash result: Top seed Wesley So (black), who drew with Nakamura in the 8^th round, defeated Jeffrey Xiong in 32 moves of a Catalan to reach 6 points in 9 games. All other games are still in progress…

Third seed Nakamura is 2 pawns down vs. Onischuk; Second seed Caruana is in a tight bind but with equal materials vs. Akobian, both are short in time though, where Akobian just played moves to reach time control at move 40, wherein he lost 2 pawns in the process and now losing vs. Caruana. Nakamura still hopes to survive after queen trade vs. Onischuk.

Wow! Onischuk beat Hikaru, now just half-point behind Wesley, to play Xiong & Kamsky in last 2 rounds. Wesley will be playing Kamsky and Naroditsky in the next 2 rounds.

Strange! Caruana has blundered big time vs. Akobian, who kept share of lead with Wesley! In time trouble in the second time control, Fabiano unable to convert his pawn advantage in the ensuing queen and knight ending. Varushan was only hoping for a draw but got a gift instead.

Conspiracy theorists believe Nakamura would rather see Akobian be the champion than So by taking a dive in his last round game vs. Akobian.

Unless that happen, it will just be purely speculation. Nakamura would like to save wounded pride as he now drops to No. 8 in live rating behind former world champion Viswanathan Anand, and Sergey Karjakin, the challenger to Magnus Carlsen for world chess title in New York last year. Caruana is down to No. 5 after another former world champion Vladimir Kramnik and France’s Vachiere-Lagrave. Varushan plays Robson and Nakamura in last 2 rounds.

Solution to last week’s puzzle No. 3861: 1. Qxh7+!! Kxh7 2. hxg6++ Kxg6 3. Rh6#

This week’s puzzle No. 3862: White to move and mates in 3 (Solution next issue)

Sources: Chess Mate by Roberto Hernandez

Tia Belau Newspaper

Pages 9-10

Volume 26

Issue 28

April 10, 2017

Chess and Music (Perfect Combination)

The Beginning of Chess in Palau

By Roberto Hernandez

Soon to be published as a book

Music and Me by Roberto Hernandez

Tia Belau Newspaper

March 15, 2012 -- April 18, 2013

http://palau-chess.blogspot.com

April 25, 2013--April 10, 2017

The History of Chess in Palau

By Roberto Hernandez

June 09, 2002 -- April 10, 2017

(1367) MUSIC AND ME (March 02, 2017) U.S.A. MILITARY MEN THAT CAN PLAY MUSIC

2 American military men are looking at my songbooks to choose songs that they would like to sing. Jake, 2nd from left, sang with me 4 songs while Tyler plays classical    music "Moonlight Sonata".
            (Photo by Roberto Hernandez)

        U. S. A. MILITARY MEN
THAT CAN PLAY MUSIC

   Earlier this March 2017, as I am having a break playing piano at Waves Restaurant of Palau Royal Resort, an American guy asks me if he can play the piano. I let him play and he's good with music not familiar to me.
   After one song, the other guy played. He is watching me play 3 nights ago. He plays classical music! Although he forgot some notes of the "Moonlight Sonata", he's really good. Later they asked to play my favorite song. As usual, I will say, I don't have favorite songs. My guests' favorite songs are my favorite songs. I play music to satisfy my guests and not myself. They like that quote.
Jake is talented in composing music while Tyler is the classical pianist. I played "Moon River" and Jake sang with me. We sing 3 more -"We Are The Champions" by Queen, "Edelweiss" from the movie Sound of Music and "Hero" by Enrique Iglesias. I noticed the variations of the music they like. Then Tyler asked if it's allowed to give tip and he gave me $20.00 then he left to sleep because they are leaving tomorrow with the US ship. Jake and me played some more esp. his own compositions till 9:15pm. He gave me also $20.00 tip. I gave them my card with Jake very much impress with my pioneering of chess in Palau and with my travel to Australia, Russia, Turkey, Norway and Azerbaijan because of chess.

Sources: Chess Mate by Roberto Hernandez
Tia Belau Newspaper
December 29, 2002 -- April 09, 2017

Chess and Music (Perfect Combination)
The Beginning of Chess in Palau
By Roberto Hernandez
Soon to be published as a book

Music and Me by Roberto Hernandez
March 15, 2012 --April 18, 2013
http://palau-chess.blogspot.com
April 25, 2013 -- April 09, 2017

The History of Chess in Palau
By Roberto Hernandez
June 09, 2002--April 09, 2017

Sunday, April 9, 2017

(1366) TOP LISTS RECORDS OF WESLEY SO (July 2008 -- February 2014)

WHILE WAITING TO LEAVE RUSSIA (2010 WORLD CHESS OLYMPIAD
Wesley So, right, is playing a friendly game with a Taiwanese/Chinese boy while waiting for the Russian chartered plane that will bring him and other participants of the 2010 World Chess Olympiad in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia to Dubai on their way to Manila. Roberto Hernandez, in the background, ask his BFF CM Joselito Marcos to take this photo for souvenir. He met Wesley again in Philippines during the celebration of his 18th birthday at Shakey's Pizza Parlor in Tomas Morato in Quezon City in Oct. 2011.
                                     (Photo by Roberto Hernandez -- Taken by CM Joselito Marcos)

        TOP LISTS RECORDS OF
WESLEY SO
      (July 2008-February 2014)

Top lists records

So, Wesley (PHI) g
Period	Position	Title	Rating	Games
Top 100 Players February 2014	18	g	2738	17
Top 100 Players January 2014	28	g	2719	0
Top 100 Players December 2013	30	g	2719	0
Top 100 Juniors December 2013	2	g	2719	0
Top 100 Players November 2013	32	g	2719	6
Top 100 Juniors November 2013	2	g	2719	6
Top 100 Players October 2013	41	g	2706	4
Top 100 Juniors October 2013	2	g	2706	4
Top 100 Players September 2013	34	g	2710	0
Top 100 Juniors September 2013	2	g	2710	0
Top 100 Players August 2013	34	g	2710	9
Top 100 Juniors August 2013	2	g	2710	9
Top 100 Players July 2013	38	g	2708	18
Top 100 Juniors July 2013	2	g	2708	18
Top 100 Players June 2013	44	g	2705	0
Top 100 Juniors June 2013	2	g	2705	0
Top 100 Players May 2013	40	g	2705	8
Top 100 Juniors May 2013	2	g	2705	8
Top 100 Players April 2013	48	g	2701	0
Top 100 Juniors April 2013	2	g	2701	0
Top 100 Players March 2013	50	g	2701	19
Top 100 Juniors March 2013	2	g	2701	19
Top 100 Players February 2013	66	g	2684	4
Top 100 Juniors February 2013	3	g	2684	4
Top 100 Players January 2013	66	g	2682	0
Top 100 Juniors January 2013	3	g	2682	0
Top 100 Players December 2012	66	g	2682	3
Top 100 Juniors December 2012	4	g	2682	3
Top 100 Players November 2012	76	g	2678	10
Top 100 Juniors November 2012	5	g	2678	10
Top 100 Players October 2012	74	g	2677	11
Top 100 Juniors October 2012	4	g	2677	11
Top 100 Players September 2012	84	g	2667	9
Top 100 Juniors September 2012	4	g	2667	9
Top 100 Players August 2012	99	g	2652	16
Top 100 Juniors August 2012	5	g	2652	16
Top 20 Juniors July 2012	6	g	2650	19
Top 20 Juniors May 2012	4	g	2653	4
Top 100 Players March 2012	99	g	2653	0
Top 20 Juniors March 2012	4	g	2653	0
Top 100 Players January 2012	98	g	2653	5
Top 20 Juniors January 2012	4	g	2653	5
Top 100 Players November 2011	89	g	2659	13
Top 20 Juniors November 2011	5	g	2659	13
Top 100 Players September 2011	90	g	2655	23
Top 20 Juniors September 2011	6	g	2655	23
Top 100 Players July 2011	89	g	2658	23
Top 20 Juniors July 2011	6	g	2658	23
Top 100 Players May 2011	75	g	2667	0
Top 20 Juniors May 2011	4	g	2667	0
Top 100 Players March 2011	76	g	2667	19
Top 20 Juniors March 2011	4	g	2667	19
Top 100 Players January 2011	64	g	2673	18
Top 20 Juniors January 2011	3	g	2673	18
Top 100 Players November 2010	73	g	2669	19
Top 20 Juniors November 2010	9	g	2669	19
Top 100 Players September 2010	71	g	2668	19
Top 20 Juniors September 2010	9	g	2668	19
Top 100 Players July 2010	60	g	2674	18
Top 20 Juniors July 2010	7	g	2674	18
Top 100 Players May 2010	67	g	2665	0
Top 20 Juniors May 2010	7	g	2665	0
Top 100 Players March 2010	64	g	2665	22
Top 20 Juniors March 2010	6	g	2665	22
Top 100 Players January 2010	77	g	2656	8
Top 20 Juniors January 2010	6	g	2656	8
Top 20 Juniors November 2009	7	g	2640	15
Top 100 Players September 2009	97	g	2644	9
Top 20 Juniors September 2009	8	g	2644	9
Top 100 Players July 2009	92	g	2646	22
Top 20 Juniors July 2009	7	g	2646	22
Top 100 Players April 2009	89	g	2641	29
Top 20 Juniors April 2009	7	g	2641	29
Top 20 Juniors January 2009	9	g	2627	19
Top 20 Juniors October 2008	11	g	2610	69
Top 20 Juniors July 2008	18	g	2577	34

Sources: Chess Mate by Roberto Hernandez
Tia Belau Newspaper
December 29, 2002 -- April 09, 2017

Chess and Music (Perfect Combination)
The Beginning of Chess in Palau
By Roberto Hernandez
Soon to be published as a book

Music and Me by Roberto Hernandez
Tia Belau Newspaper
March 15, 2012 -- April 18, 2013
http://palau-chess.blogspot.com
April 25, 2013 -- April 09, 2017

The History of Chess in Palau
By Roberto Hernandez
June 09, 2002--April 09, 2017

www.fide.com

Palau Chessmate