Six weeks vacation every year is enough for CM Joselito Marcos to regularly organize blitz chess tournaments at his house in Cabanatuan City, Philippines and also became as a sort of reunion with his chess buddies, students, friends (old and new) and sharing of his chess exploits especially the latest in 2016 World Chess Olympiad in Baku, Azerbaijan.
gave the New in Chess magazine that we got from the booth of the Olympiad.
A few hours before going back to Manila after the 2-week World Chess Olympiad in Baku, Azerbaijan, we were able to play a friendly game of chess (Sept. 14, 2016) using the giant chess board and pieces within The Tower and other surrounding souvenir stores. He took a photo of the final position and later he sent me the score of our game. This shows how he really remember game/s played even by other players (elite or average rated). This is 2nd only to Bobby Fischer, who remembers a blitz game (move by move) against a master that happened 5 years ago, to the amazement of that player.
WORTH MORE THAN A THOUSAND ORDINARY FRIENDS
(Not Just an Ordinary Friend)
WHEN
I first met Joselito Marcos in the 2009 Oceania Zonal Chess Championship in
Australia, he seems to be like an ordinary boastful guy. That is the same
impression of Raymond Lapitan, the father of chess prodigy Daniel. But as days
go by, Lito is living to what he is boasting.
He
is also a very generous guy. He treat me and Fernando Aguilar, the lone rep of
Solomon Islands, to a snack and drinks at McDonald’s during the later rounds.
He slept once in our room and I discovered he snores as loud as Fernando. That
night, I was with 2 loud-snoring guys that I spent 2 hours in the rest room
updating my 2009 diary to avoid/cope with the noise.
When
it’s my turn to sleep in his rented room at YHA Hostels, I noticed that what I
know in chess is not even 20% of what he knows about the game, its rules and
his vast chess experiences as early as 1972. We only have a few hours to sleep
but he’s still uploading/downloading chess materials to his laptop for future
references. He’s also a light traveler that’s why he gave me the 2 bottles of
wine (red and white) given to him by Raymond, who’s also a generous guy that he
gave me a bottle of wine and A$15.00 to be spent for my taxi in going to Gold
Coast airport. We realized that it’s just a 5-minute walk from YHA. We just
spent that money for snacks while walking around the perimeter of the hostel
and airport.
The
only field that I may be ahead of him is music. After an hour of walk around
YHA and airport, we return to YHA where there is a piano at the lobby. I tried
it and noticed the sustain pedal is fixed at sustain and more than a dozen keys
are defective. When I played it, a group of Brazilian-Australian had a good
time singing live karaoke of Hotel California and a guy sung the Brazilian song
“The Girl from Ipanema in Brazilian! It’s my first time to hear it in its
original version.
Had
I stayed longer in Australia, I could have tuned and fixed that piano for free
in returning the favor to IA Gary Bekker, the Oceania Zone 3.2 President, who
bought my tickets so that Palau can be represented for the first time in OZCC.
At
4am on June 28, 2009, me and Lito parted ways. He took a train on his way to
the airport in going back to Papua New Guinea while I walk through the back
door of YHA for my 7am trip back to Manila and to Palau on July 04, 2009 with
my wife, who spent 17 days there with our daughter Karen.
In
getting Russian visa in Manila with Tito Cabunagan, Lito is 2 days ahead of us
in getting it. People there at the Embassy thought that he is from Indonesia
because it’s closer to Papua New Guinea.
We
have 11 hours stopover at Dubai airport waiting for Russian chartered plane
that will bring us to Khanty-Mansiysk. At about 3am, Tito and I are just laying
on the carpet trying to get some sleep with empty stomach. I managed to save a
piece of chocolate and crackers from Gulf Air plane from Bahrain and slowly eat
those to cope with hunger.
Then
more chess players come from different Asian countries. Dubai is the meeting
place to fetch players from Middle East, Asia and Africa. For European players,
there are some points like Moscow, Netherlands and Germany.
While
busy with our laptops, Lito passes by and recognize Tito because of photos that
I’m featuring in Chess Mate chess articles at Tia Belau Newspapers. He shouted,
“Tito?” and when Tito nodded, Lito asked, “Where’s Robert?” He didn’t recognize
me because I’ve got new haircut.
That’s
the start of renewing my friendship with Lito, who downloaded to my laptop the
Mega Database 2009 where over 4 million games are recorded. We usually sleep at
2am because of telling stories, jokes and chess related conversations.
This
brilliancy of this 11-year-old Rameshbabu Praggnanahanhaa is going round the
chess world, has made many chess fans fully aware of the new Indian talent, and
has been compared to Bobby Fischer’s Game of the Century against Donald Byrne
in 1963. That game, played in New York 60 years ago this month, was of much
higher quality with deeply calculated knight and queen sacrifices, but Fischer
was 13 against 11 while Rameshbabu’s last dozen or so moves were almost all the
first choice of the computer and he saw and was ready for the better defenses
missed by his opponent. His victory is sure to become part of chess lore and be
quoted in future as a classic example of dynamic attack.
CM
Bernardo Garcia thought that CM Joselito Marcos is using computer analyses.
Marcos uses chess programs to check his analyses. He emphasized, “Most of the
time, computer analyses are stronger continuations but still some of the moves
I choose both in actual games and analyses, whether the game is won, drawn or
lost, is enough to win, draw, or offer stiffer resistance in a losing game.
On-the-board analysis is different from post-mortem be it immediately after the
game or done at home with the luxury of time.”
A
very impressive resume of him is featured in the last 2 pages of his book “Memoirs
of a Chess Amateur—My Memorable Games and Compositions):
___An undefeated national chess champion of Papua New
Guinea (2003), twice representative to Oceania Zonal Championship—Gold Coast,
Australia (2009) and Rotorua, New Zealand (2011), twice an Olympian—Bled,
Slovenia(2002) and Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia (2010)—the second playing on top
board, Joselito Marcos considered himself simply as a chess amateur.
___Early in his playing career, he experienced and
witnessed injustices that derailed his playing career but later relished the
sweetness of vindication that enhanced his reputation as a no mean tournament
player, an outstanding trainer, an inspiring coach, a fair and objective
arbiter and an organizer par excellence.
___He gained a local reputation as an opening
theoretician having written a monograph on the Polugaevsky Variation of the
Sicilian Defense and as endgame specialist—his favorite phase of the game. He
admits having difficulty with the middle game—being indecisive at times (which
the late International Master Ruben Rodriguez spotted quickly saying “you lack
courage!”). Nevertheless one could find lots of risk-taking and tactical
combinations in his games, some which he played with reckless abandon, hardly a
trait of one who is wanting in bravery.
___He has more than good working knowledge in chess
openings such as the Sicilian Defense (Najdorf, Richter-Rauzer, Opecensky,
Polugaevsky, Sozin Velimirovic Attack, Scheveningen, Sveshnikov, Dragon
Variation), Ruy Lopez (Chigorin, Breyer, Zaitzev, Marshall Attack, Riga
Variation, Open, Exchange Variations), Two Knights Defense and Max Lange
Attack, French Defense (Winawer, Poisoned Pawn, Advance, Tarrasch Variations),
Caro-Kann Defense, London System, Pirc and Modern Defense, English Opening,
Reti Opening, Queen’s Gambit Declined, Queen’s Pawn Opening (Torre,
Trompovsky), King’s Indian Defense, Gruenfeld Defense, Modern Benoni, Slav and
Semi-Slav Defense, that will put to a stern test any local masters. Name any
opening he has had probably played it at least once.
___This is the bitter-sweet account of his chess journey
starting from the time he learned the game through self-study at a late age of
14 to his participation to his first real international competition at age 44.
His accomplishments may be less than those of accomplished professionals but
they certainly were more than those of regular club players. He is more of an
unassuming chess connoisseur rather than an unskillful amateur.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Joselito Marcos, a FIDE Candidate Master, (a title which
the World Chess Federation awarded him retroactively in 2012 for his
performance in the Bled Olympiad in 2002 where he scored the most number of
wins for the PNG team, 5 ½ out of 9 points—a total output that was just short
of one-half point for an outright FIDE Master title), was the lone certified
arbiter of the defunct Philippine Chess Federation in Central Luzon region in
his home country prior to his sojourn to Papua New Guinea in 1996. He is the
founding president of Nueva Ecija Woodpushers Society and of Nueva Ecija Chess
Arbiters Association, both in his home country.
He
is also an accomplished problemist having composed numerous chess problems that
were published both in local newspaper chess columns and in international chess
magazines such as Chess Life and Stratagems. He is the acknowledged chess
problem consultant of the Hong Kong
Standard, South China Morning Post, Manila Times, Philippine Star, Today and
Chess Plaza Weekender.
Sources: Chess Mate by Roberto Hernandez
Tia Belau Newspaper
December 29, 2002--February 26, 2017
Chess and Music (Perfect Combination)
The Beginning of Chess in Palau
By Roberto Hernandez
Soon to be published as a book
Memoirs of a Chess Amateur
My Memorable Games and Compositions
By CM Joselito Marcos
Music and Me by Roberto Hernandez
Tia Belau Newspaper
March 15, 2012 -- April 18, 2013
http://palau-chess.blogspot.com
April 25, 2013 -- February 26, 2017
The History of Chess in Palau
By Roberto Hernandez
June 09, 2002--February 26, 2017
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