(491) CHESS ENVIRONMENT (TBN-June 08-14, 2007)

ASIA'S first Grandmaster Eugene Torre of the Philippines learned chess at age 5 from his father.

He grew up in a family that plays chess. His brother became a National Master but didn't achieve farther than Eugene, who is the only player in the world to represent his country at board 1 in 17 consecutive Chess Olympiad.

In Palau, chess is not popular as other sports and kids' tournament in 2003 lured many potential and aspiring woodpushers to enjoy the game of kings.

One of them is Dmitri Villanueva, who joined in an open event that included him to play against senior players.

His father Norbert also participated and was bracketed in Class B division after a 5-round classification.

Dmitri's game against compatriot Tutii Joe Chilton drew some attention to some serious chess critics as he sacrificed a whole knight without any material consideration except to maintain his initiative in mounting a bewildering attack.

Had he seen the counter attack of Chilton that cost him a whole rook, he might have won his first victory against a strong senior player.

When he played against 58-year-old Ben Ramos, the then 8-year Dmitri got the biggest age differential between 2 chess players in Palau's chess history.

Last Sunday, June 03 at Jean's Boutique and Store, Ken Pastrana, the youngest son of venue host Gene, practiced chess games with Emmie Buyacao as no current tournament is going on.

When Ken won a bishop, he even said "Thank you" to Emmie and continue to improve his game and fast becoming the best junior player in Palau.

He, like Eugene Torre, is in a chess playing environment where the chess materials of Knights and Rooks Chess Club are being taken care of by his father.

He is always around when a tournament is being held in the place where he lives and has a chance to see quality games being played around him all the time.

In the inaugural Ambassador Marino Cup Rapid Chess tournament held last year, he became the only undefeated player in the tilt where he dominated the junior division.

Although this year's 2nd Ambassador Marino Cup will not include juniors, he still can experience to see international players playing quality games in front of his very eyes.

Two National Masters from Philippines have confirmed to participate in the 2nd Palau Invitational Chess Championship (PICC) which will now be known as the Ambassador Marino Cup as the ever-busy ambassador had pledged the $1,000.00 prize pot and 2 round trip tickets (Palau-Manila-Palau) as additional prize.


Solution to last week's puzzle: 1. Rxf5+! gxf5 2. Qf5+ Kh6 3. Qg5 mate. If 1. ...Kg4 2. Rg5 mate.

Source:
Chessmate by Roberto Hernandez
Tia Belau Newspaper
Page 13
Volume 17
June 08-14, 2007

(485) NEDIC WHIPS PASTRANA, CLINCHES 2ND TITLE (TBN-May 11-17, 2007)

PALAU'S first National Master Manny Nedic lived up to his billing as one of Palau's top players by forcing a 3-way tie for the title of the first tournament of the year after trouncing venue host Gene Pastrana in 31 moves of Slav Defence.

The game was played on Saturday, May 05, 2007 at Jean's Boutique and Store where Nedic needs to win his last game to forge a 3-way tie with top seed Tony Villa and 4th seed Roberto Hernandez.

Other unfinished games that were declared draws: Cyril Montel, Jr. vs. Pastrana; Craig Dittrich vs. Emmie Buyacao; Jose Omega vs. Buyacao was declared also a draw even though the two were present.

Those draws affected the results of both Omega and Montel, Jr. as they finished with 4.5 points and 4 points respectively and allowed 7th seed Joel Azana to take 4th spot with 5 points.

The cash prizes were given to the top 4 finishers of the event. The trio co-champions split the $90.00 ($40.00 - champion; $30.00 -1st runner-up and $20.00 to the 2nd runner-up).

All of them donated $10.00 each for the fund of Knights and Rooks Chess Club, Palau. Azana's $10.00 4th place prize will also be donated to the club if he will not claim his prize.

FINAL STANDINGS OF 2007 PALAU NATIONAL CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP and their win-loss-draw record:
1. Tony Villa (7-2-0)
2. Roberto Hernandez (7-2-0)
3. Manny Nedic (6-1-2)
4. Joel Azana (4-3-2)
5. Jose Omega (4-4-1)
6. Craig Dittrich (4-4-1)
7. Cyril Montel, Jr. (2-3-4)
8. Gene Pastrana (3-5-1)
9. Emmie Buyacao (1-6-2)
10. Anselmo Idol (0-8-1)

A 4-player blitz chess tourne was held after the awarding of cash prizes to the winners.

It was not a lopsided win for Villa this time as he was beaten by all participants once in the double round-robin event.

This is the first time that another player aside from Villa emerged as blitz champion in more than 5 months.

The crucial point of the tilt was when Nedic didn't mate Pastrana in time with his overwhelming advantage of queen, minor piece and king against Pastrana's lone king.

The game resulted in a draw when Nedic's time expired. And when Hernandez swept Pastrana, he clinched the title after a long drought.

Nedic and Pastrana didn't play their 2nd round match as it is no bearing.

The top players of Palau agreed to hold a chess clinic for free to all interested young and old chess players all over Palau.

It will be held every Sunday at Jean's Boutique and Store from 1pm-5pm while the next tournament is being finalized.

The clinic will definitely improve the beginners' game as well as the intermediate ones.

Another clinic for arbiters will be conducted during the 2007 Palau Invitational Chess Championship (The Ambassador Marino Cup) by Philippines National Master Erwin Carag, who is a certified International Arbiter (IA) of World Chess Federation (FIDE).

He will be invited to participate in the event together with USA and Philippines National Master Almario Marlon Bernardino, Jr.

Source: Chessmate by Roberto Hernandez
Tia Belau Newspaper
Page 13
Volume 17
May 11-17, 2007

(482) DITTRICH NIPS 2ND SEED OMEGA (TBN-April 27-May 03, 2007)

IN THE penultimate round of 2007 Palau National Chess Championship, Koror State Legal Counsel Craig Dittrich upset Jose Omega in undetermined number of moves of their special time format game.

To accomodate Omega's few hours availability, a special time format was agreed at 30 minutes fo Dittrich and 15 minutes for Omega to finish the game.

They are not required to annotate their game anymore and in the endgame when Omega had the exchange advantage, he underestimated a complex drawn endgame and lost the initiative and resigned.

Dittrich picked up another victory by default over Anselmo Idol, who didn't show up and lost 3 more of his games and drew with Joel Azana via default draw when the latter didn't show up also.

In the first game of the day, Sunday, April 22 at Jean's Boutique and Store, 4th seed Roberto Hernandez clobbered newcomer Emmie Buyacao in 31 moves of Pirc Defence to set up a climactic final round clash with Tony Villa for the title.

Villa made short work of Buyacao in just 14 moves of French Defence when Buyacao blundered away his queen but got his first win by default over Idol.

With a default win over Idol, National Master Manny Nedic now totes a 5-1-2 win-loss-draw slate and will forge a 3-way tie for the championship if Hernandez will beat Villa and he will prevail over venue host Gene Pastrana.

The 6th seed Pastrana was the other recipient of default win from Idol, whose last 4 games will also be awarded to Villa, Hernandez, Cyril Montel, Jr. and Omega if he will not show up on Sunday, April 29.

After a few weeks rest, another tournament will start. This time, it will be sponsored by The Filipino Community In Palau (TFCP) with a roundtrip airfare from Palau to Manila as the champion's purse.

Its Vice President Jess Toldoya has already worked out the format which will be a Swiss system and every game must be completed before the start of next round.

The highlight tournament of this year will be the 2007 Palau Invitational Chess Championship which will be known as the 2nd Ambassador Marino Cup.

The Philippine Ambassador Ramoncito Marino pledged the cash prize for the event during the awarding ceremony of the successful 2006 PICC.

Australian Gary Bekker will co-sponsor the prizes and he will invite more foreign players.


Source: Chessmate by Roberto Hernandez
Tia Belau Newspaper
Page 13
Volume 17
April 27-May 03, 2007

(481) TITLE CHASE ON (TBN-April 20-26, 2007)

THE 2007 Palau National Chess Championship will go down the wire with 3 players in tight position for the title.

Top seed Tony Villa remains the favorite as he had only one loss and his closest pursuer, Manny Nedic, had also a loss but he had 2 draws which might affect his tiebreaking total if things end up with a triple tie at the top.

Roberto Hernandez needs a victory over Villa to force a tie at the top while a draw will ensure Villa in clinching the title.

In a special game held on Saturday, April 14, Hernandez kept his chance for the championship intact with a victory over 8th seed and venue host Gene Pastrana in 54 moves of French Defence.

Pastrana mishandled the opening and lost a pawn on the 10th move and another one on the 21st move.

Hernandez also won the exchange on the 26th move and although Pastrana won the exchange back on the 35th move, his position became hopeless after the exchange of queens on the 43rd move.

Villa seized the lead in the standings after a masterful conquest of 3rd seed Cyril Montel, Jr. in the only game of the day, Sunday, April 15, 2007 at Jean's Boutique and Store.

Their Pirc Defence encounter lasted 42 moves that showed the lethality in Villa's game after game.

His penultimate clash with Hernandez will have to be played on either Saturday or Monday as Hernandez' day off now is Monday.

The last 2 weeks of the tournament will go on as scheduled and absent players will lose by default.

Anselmo Idol, who paid his registration fee already but had not played a single game, will lose half of his games on Sunday and the other half on the final day by default if he will not show up.

The same thing will happen to Emmie Buyacao. His last 6 remaining games need to be played within 2 weeks.

The prize money of $100.00 is from registration fee of players ($20.00). The other half will become fund for Knights and Rooks Chess Club, Palau.

The awarding of prize money will be held on the last day of the tourney.


Source: Chessmate by Roberto Hernandez
Tia Belau Newspaper
Page 13
Volume 17
April 20-26, 2007

(480) VILLA DEALT NEDIC HIS FIRST LOSS (TBN-April 13-19, 2007)

VILLA DEALT NEDIC HIS FIRST LOSS

Top seed Tony Villa bounced back from last week's setback by nipping National Master Manny Nedic in just 22 moves of Slav Defence.

The game lasted only a few minutes as they moved like it's a blitz chess tourney.

Nedic suffered his first loss of the tournament but still maintain the lead in the standings which he now shared with Villa after the 6th round of 2007 Palau National Chess Championship held on Palm Sunday, April Fool's Day at Jean's Boutique and Store.

In the first game of the day, 3rd seed Cyril Montel, Jr. offered a knight sacrifice on the 23rd move that proved to be unsound as he ran out of offensive options against a solid defense of 4th seed Roberto Hernandez, who countered with a bishoo sacrifice of his own on the 34th move to win Montel's queen after the exchanges of minor and major pieces.

The game ended when Hernandez threatened to win more materials after 44 moves of Caro-Kahn Defence.

Hernandez immediately left the tournament site after the game to attend the Recognition Night of Pentecostal Missionary Church of Christ (4th Watch) where he received a trophy for the Most Cooperative Member.

Ninth seed Emmie Buyacao arrived at the tournament site early in the afternoon to play as many games as he can.

No available player was present except venue host Gene Pastrana. They've played already in the earlier round so Buyacao left and didn't come back again.

He had played only 2 games so far and lost both to Pastrana and to Koror Statel Legal Counsel Craig Dittrich.



Source: Chessmate by Roberto Hernandez
Tia Belau Newspaper
Page 13
Volume 17
Paril 13-19, 2007

(479) ESCAPE WITH A WIN (TBN-April 06-12, 2007)

ESCAPE WITH A WIN

WHEN a player drew a losing position, he is said to escape with a draw. But when a player won losing position, it is not really escape with a win but that's the closer thing to it.

It happened on Easter Sunday afternoon in a match between 4th seed Roberto Hernandez and 8th seed Joel Azana of Daewoo Corporation held at Jean's Boutique and Store in the resumption of 2007 Palau National Chess Championship.

In their Modern Defence game, Azana won a minor piece for a pawn on the 15th move and looking ahead for a win with simplification of major and minor pieces.

But a weak knight move on the 19th move, instead of a more forceful queen exchange challenge, enabled Hernandez to counter with a strong attack with a strong knight on f6 and a rook that occupies the f file.

With his extra piece out of action, Azana was tied in defending his exposed king.

When Hernandez finally won back the piece on the 27th move, Azana again seized the initiative with a surprising capture.

Hernandez didn't allow the exchanges of queens and took 2 pawns instead and maintaining his attack.

A battle of tactics and strategies ensued and when Azana committed a blunder on the 37th move, the game ended on the next move with a mate.

In the first game of the day, newcomer Emmie Buyacao lost for the 3rd time in 3 games to Azana in 27 moves of Irregular Opening.

Buyacao left again after the game and didn't come back to play another one.

The tournament is only single round-robin and after it is finished, another tournament will follow and it will be sponsored by The Filipino Community In Palau (TFCP) with a round-trip ticket to Manila as the prize to the champion.

Hernandez has to play his remaining 4 games on Mondays as his day off now is Monday.

His remaining 4 opponents are venue host Gene Pastrana, top seed Tony Villa, Buyacao and Anselmo Idol, who paid his registration fee of $20.00 but haven't played a single game yet.

If after 4 weeks, he hasn't played all of his games ,he will lose it all by defaults.

Another 6-player blitz chess tilt was held after the regular games and blitz chess expert Tony Villa asserted himself again with another victory even with 2 losses and 2 draws allowed.

National Master Manny Nedic was the only one that can catch up with Villa, but his 1 draw prevented him to catch-up.

Joeven delos Santos joined the blitz chess contest after a long absence due to job schedule.

Another controversy about blitz chess rules happened between 2 of Hernandez' games.

The one against Montel, Jr. where the game was an overwhelming advantage for Cyril but on the last move, a stalemate position occured which is a draw.

But Hernandez moved his king to a square where it can be taken by Cyril's bishop.

Hernandez already press his clock when he noticed that the game had already ended in stalemate as his king has no square to go and it's not under check.

Even if Hernandez pressed his clock for illegal move violation, the game has already ended in a draw before his last move.

The other controversy occured in his game against Pastrana.

Hernandez played and moved his opponent's pawn and captured his own piece to the surprise and laughter of the audience!

ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN REALLY IN BLITZ CHESS CONTEST!

The violation does not include a king move so it just need to be replayed from the last position before the violation.

Next time, maybe a minute penalty might be imposed if a player has at least 3 minutes left in his clock.

If less than that, 15 seconds might be enough.



Source: Chessmate by Roberto Hernandez
Tia Belau Newspaper
Page 13
Volume 17
April 06-12, 2007

(472) NEDIC, VILLA STILL UNBEATEN (TBN-March 02-08, 2007)

TOP seed Tony Villa drubbed Koror State Legal Counsel Craig Dittrich in 60 moves of Queen's Gambit Declined to keep pace with National Master Manny Nedic who trounced 4th seed Roberto Hernandez in 32 moves of Sicilian Defence in the 4th round of chess tournament held Sunday, February 25 at Jean's Boutique and Store.

Absent Joel Azana kept the lead with 2.5 points from 2 wins, a loss and a draw with Nedic 2 weeks ago.

Villa had 2 points while Nedic got his 2 points from a win and 2 draws in his first 2 games.

Dittrich is currently in 4th spot as he split his 4 games (2 wins and 2 losses).

Hernandez is 1-1, 2nd seed Cyril Montel, Jr. had half point. Emmie Buyacao is 0-1 and venue host Gene Pastrana is still winless in 2 games at 0-2.

A blitz chess competition was held after the completion of regular games. The players were Villa, Nedic, Hernandez, Pastrana and Dittrich.

Villa gave a 5-minute odds against everybody who had 10 minutes to his 5. Still, he didn't lose by time forfeit and swept his opponents in the first round of the double round-robin event.

When the tourney was more than halfway, Palau's top player Menandro Manuel joined the tilt.

He lost his first game to Hernandez but won the next 7 games. When Hernandez dealt Villa his 2nd loss, the last 3 games of Manuel is crucial in tying Villa for the title and cash.

He needs to win 2 games against Pastrana and one game against Hernandez.

He defeated Pastrana twice and the title game was set.

Manuel missed the winning line in the endgame and Villa claimed his 3rd blitz title in a row.

FINAL STANDINGS OF PLAYERS AND THEIR WIN-LOSS-DRAW RECORD:
1. Villa (8-2-0) 2. Hernandez (7-3-0) 3. Manuel (7-3-0) 4. Nedic (2-5-3) 5. Pastrana (2-7-1) 6. Dittrich (1-7-2).



Source:
Chessmate by Roberto Hernandez
Tia Belau Newspaper
Page 11
Volume 17
March 02-08, 2007

(470) TOUGH NUT TO CRACK (TBN-Feb. 16-22, 2007)

SIXTH seed Joel Azana showed a lot of improvements to his play as he halved the point with Palau's first National Master Manny Nedic in the 3rd round of the 2007 Chess Championship that will determine Palau's representative to Oceania Zonal Chess Championship in Fiji on May 5-12, 2007.

The draw was agreed after 73 moves of Modern Defence in a game that lasted almost 3 hours and held on Sunday, February 11 at Jean's Boutique and Store.

Azana lost his first game to top seed Tony Villa in a drawn endgame when he maneuvered his king on the wrong side of the board.

He bounced back from defeat and score 2 wins in a row over Koror State Legal Counsel Craig Dittrich and venue host Gene Pastrana.

With a tough draw in his last game, he kept the lead in the standings.

Dittrich also showed a lot of improvements in a time control that fits his style of play.

He is one hour behind and had a few minutes left on his clock when he found all the right moves and forced Pastrana to resign.

Both players stopped annotating their game in the latter part of the game and the exact number of moves can be traced later.

It was Dittrich first win against a rated opponent. His starting rating of 1500 will increase by 30 points if he beats a player with 350 or more that his.

His victory over fellow newcomer Emmie Buyacao 2 weeks ago will earned him 15 points.

Palau's top player Menandro Manuel showed up in the tournament site and he informed the players that he is skipping this tournament to concentrate in a more physical sports like tennis.

He will participate only in blitz chess tourneys that didn't proceed as the Nedic-Azana match took long to cancel the blitz tilt.

Second seed Roberto Hernandez left at 5pm to play piano at Palau Royal Resort in their 5-day Valentine's Special and accepts performances anywhere with permission from his employer Yuriko Irikedamoto.

Dennis Gonzales is back in Palau and showed interest to participate in the ongoing tourney.

He must play at least 2 games to catch up.


Source:
Chessmate by Roberto Hernandez
Tia Belau Newspaper
Page 11
Volume 17
February 16-22, 2007

(469) DITTRICH SCORES; AZANA SOLO LEADER (TBN-Feb. 09-15, 2007)

KOROR State Legal Counsel Craig Dittrich survived a poor opening play and lost his queen for a knight.

He slowly recovered and despite his material disadvantage, his accurate play gained him momentum to score his first win in a regular time control that fits his style of play.

He defeated newcomer Emmie Buyacao in 37 moves of a Queen's Pawn Game when Buyacao's time expired.

Earlier in the afternoon, Dittrich lost to 4th seed Roberto Hernandez in 20 moves of Dutch Defence.

Hernandez won the exchange on the 9th move ( a rook and a pawn for a bishop).

He trapped another piece on the 16th move and Dittrich resign 4 moves later.

He almost did the same thing to Buyacao after losing his queen. Realizing that Buyacao is not a strong player, he resumed to play with fighting spirit and gained confidence with a victory in a match delayed for a few minutes by rain.

Third seed Cyril Montel, Jr. and Palau's first National Master Manny Nedic drew their game in 32 moves of Center Counter with an innovation from Montel, Jr. in the 5th move that prevented Nedic to castle.

But in the end, with bishop of opposite color, a draw was imminent.

And in the last game of the day, Joel Azana took the early lead with a masterful handling of black pieces to beat venue host Gene Pastrana in 44 moves of Irregular Opening.

A 4-player blitz chess tourney was held after the regular games and blitz expert Tony Villa scored a perfect 6/6 over Pastrana, Montel, Jr. and Hernandez.

Palau's top player NM Menandro Manuel is taking a break from competitive chess and is now concentrating in tennis.

Number 2 Jose Omega has not confirmed to participate in the ongoing chess tourney. The long time control is in conflict with his schedule.


Source:
Chessmate by Roberto Hernandez
Tia Belau Newspaper
Page 11
Volume 17
February 09-15, 2007

(464) SCHEDULE CONFLICT )TBN-Jan. 26-Feb. 01, 2007)

THE FIRST round of the rated and unrated tournament didn't proceed as planned because of conflicting schedules of at least 8 players --Rey Lapuz, Emmie Buyacao, Anselmo Idol and Craig Dittrich in the unrated division.

Lapuz and Buyacao came in the morning while Dittrich was waiting early in the afternoon.

When he left, Idol came in the afternoon and no single game was played.

In the rated division, Tony Villa and Cyril Montel, Jr. came early in the afternoon but left after an hour and came back late in the afternoon.

Second seed Jose Omega showed up for a few minutes and didn't play a game as his schedule for this week is tight.

National Master (NM) Manny Nedic came in late also and practiced blitz chess with Villa while waiting for other players to come.

Fourth seed Roberto Hernandez came in at 2:00 pm and played blitz chess with Dittrich, who defeated venue host Gene Pastrana twice and scored his 3rd win over Hernandez.

Top seed Menandro 'Boy' Manuel didn't show up also as well as the other 3 rated players while 12-year-old Dmitri Villanueva, the youngest contestant, didn't make it likewise.

Dittrich cited that the $20.00 registration fee might have been one of the reasons for the low turnout of players.

If next week's schedule continues, there will be no separate divisions of players and the registration may be reduced to $10.00 or $15.00.

The prospect of sending at least 2 chess players to Fiji for the Oceania Zonal Chess Championship looks dim as players are not financially capable of producing $2,000.00 for airfare/accomodation just to represent Palau in the biennial event to be held from May 5-12, 2007.


Source: Chessmate by Roberto Hernandez
Tia Belau Newspaper
Page 11
Volume 17
January 26-February 01, 2007

(97) CHESSMATE MARKS 4TH YEAR; LAPUZ WINS BLITZ CHESS TILT

            CHESSMATE MARKS 4TH YEAR;
                LAPUZ WINS BLITZ TILT

THE END of 2006 marks the 4th year of this column.

Three major tournaments were held this year with the 2006 Palau Invitational Chess Championship being the highlight in the success in having Palau's top players to earn international ranking by playing FIDE rated players from New Zealand, Australia and Philippines.

This year also produced the first Palau National Master: Menandro 'Boy' Manuel and Manny Nedic, who earned their titles by topping the 2006 Palau National Chess Championship.

In the last tournament of the year, the 2006 Rapid Chess tourney, veteran-newcomer Tony Villa shared the title with Manuel, who won five titles since 2003.

He is the second multi-titled chess player in Palau. The first one was Eddie Grefiel with three, who left Palau for greener pasture.

The other chess champions with one title each are Consul General Julius Torres, Edgardo Enarsao, Roberto Hernandez, Jess Toldoya, Nedic, Villa and Jose Omega, who won 2 consecutive Class B Championship before winning his first one in the 2005 Open.

During the Christmas party of Knights and Rooks Chess Club held o Sundau, December 24 at Jean's Boutique and Store premises, newcomer Rey Lapuz topped the blitz chess festival for unrated players.

He hesitated to join in two previous tournaments as he is to be playing against Palau's best.

With lower rated players in the field, he showed his wares against fellow newcomers Emmie Buyacao and Andy Estargo.

He lost only one game, to Val Vidar, the first runner-up in the unrated division of Ambassador Marino Cup Rapid Chess tournament.

He clobbered Koror State Legal Counsel Craig Dittrich in their first game of this double round-robin event. That sets up the climactic championship match in their last game.

If Dittrich will win, they will share the cash and title. If Lapuz will win, he will win his first ever chess title.

It is meant to be as he outwitted Dittrich, who is also in time trouble as usual but had a great start with two straight victories.

FINAL STANDINGS OF THE PLAYERS & THEIR WIN-LOSS-DRAW SLATE:
1. Rey Lapuz (7-1-0) 2. Craig Dittrich (5-3-0) 3. Val Vidar (4-4-0) 4. Emmie Buyacao (2-6-0) 5. Andy Estargo (2-6-0)

Anselmo Idol paid his registration fee of $5.00 but his job responsibilities didn't allow him to play even a single game. His fee will be returned.

The rated division's blitz chess tourney didn't push through as there were not enough players. Edwin Eti and Tony Villa went to Philippines with Villa coming back on January 04.

Palau's best junior player Dmitri Villanueva also didn't make it in the unrated division's blitz tourney. His mother called Roberto Hernandez and informed him that Dmitri is willing to participate in the next tournament where the top players of Palau will be participating.

Source: Chessmate by Roberto Hernandez
Tia Belau Newspaper December 29, 2006 - January 04, 2007

(25) 2007 PALAU NATIONAL CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP

2007 PALAU NATIONAL CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP

January 28 – May 05, 2007

Venue: Jean’s Boutique and Store

Single Round Robin

FINAL STANDINGS

              Players                                                                     Win   Loss   Draw     Total

1. ROBERTO HERNANDEZ                                         7       2         0            7
2. MANUEL NEDIC                                                       6       1         2            7
3. ANTONIO VILLA                                                      7       2         0            7
4. JOEL AZANA                                                             4       3         2            5
5. CRAIG DITTRICH                                                     4       4         1            4.5
6. JOSE OMEGA                                                            4       4         1            4.5
7. CYRIL MONTEL, JR.                                                2       3         4            4
8. GENE PASTRANA                                                    3       5         1            3.5
9. EMMIE BUYACAO                                                   1       6         2            2
10. ANSELMO IDOL                                                       0       8         1              .5

Source:  The  History  Of  Chess  In  Palau  
            by   Roberto Hernandez     
            Part  15     
           January 28, 2007

*Tournament Organizer -- Roberto Hernandez
*Tournament Chief Arbiter -- Roberto Hernandez
*Tournament Deputy Arbiters -- Eugenio Pastrana
Jess Toldoya




LET THE GAME BEGIN!

THE following is the format for the first chess tournament of 2007 -- the Palau National Chess Championship which is the qualifying chess tourney for a slot to represent Palau in Oceania Zonal Chess Championship in Fiji on May 5-12, 2007:

1. The tournament will be a double round-robin in both division. In case that there are more than 15 players in the unrated division, it will become a single round-robin event.

2. The time control for both divisions is 90 minutes for each player to finish the game with 20 seconds increment per move. It means that every time a player moves and presses his clock, an additional 20 seconds will be added to his clock.

3. Writing chess notations is mandatory either in Algebraic, English or descriptive notation. Players will be given score sheets to be signed by both players after their game and submit the score sheets to Arbiter Jess Toldoya or Roberto Hernandez. Protests may also be referred to the arbiters.


4. The tournament venue is Jean's Boutique and Store premises. Playing day is Sunday at 1:00 - 6:00 pm. Some games may last longer depending on the schedule of players.

5. Touch move rules will be applied. Once a piece is touched, it must be moved so the players are advised to analyze the moves with their mind and not with their hands.

6. Registration fee is $20.00. Half of it will be for the cash prize and the other half for support to the expenses of Palau's representative to Fiji or for Palau's yearly payment of membership to World Chess Federation (FIDE).

7. No tiebreak will be used to break the tie. Instead, the players will play one sudden-death game or just split the cash.

8. Registration is still going on. Please contact Roberto Hernandez at 488-3694 or Gene Pastrana at 488-4640 for more informations and details. The unrated division is also open for kids and women chess players.

Source: Chessmate by Roberto Hernandez
Tia Belau Newspaper Page 11 January 17-23, 2007



SCHEDULE CONFLICT

THE FIRST round of 2007 Palau National Chess Championship didn't proceed as planned because of conflicting schedules of at least 8 players --Rey Lapuz, Emmie Buyacao, Anselmo Idol and Craig Dittrich in the unrated division.

Lapuz and Buyacao came in the morning while Dittrich is waiting in the afternoon. When he left, Idol came late in the afternoon and not even a single match was played.


In the rated division, Tony Villa and 3rd seed Cyril Montel, Jr. came early in the afternoon but left after an hour and came back late in the afternoon.

Second seed Jose Omega showed up for a few minutes and didn't play a game as his schedule for the week is tight. National Master (NM) Manny Nedic came in late also and practiced blitz chess with Villa while waiting for other players to come.

Fourth seed Roberto Hernandez came in at 2 pm and played blitz chess with Dittrich, who defeated venue host Gene Pastrana twice and scored his third win over Hernandez.

Top seed NM Menandro 'Boy' Manuel didn't show up also as well as the other 3 rated player while 12-year old Dmitri Villanueva, the youngest contestant, didn't make it also.

Dittrich cited that the $20.00 registration fee might have been one of the reasons for the low turnout of players. If next week's schedule conflict continues, there will be no separate divisions of players and the registration fee may be reduced to $10 or $15.

The prospect of sending at least 2 chess players to Fiji for the Oceania Zonal Championship looks dim as players are not financially capable of producing $2,000.00 for airfare/accomodation just to represent Palau in the biennial event to be held from May 5-12, 2007.


Source: Chessmate by Roberto Hernandez
Tia Belau Newspaper January 26- February 01, 2007



VILLA OUTWITS AZANA

THE FIRST chess tournament of 2007--the Palau National Chess Championship finally started last Sunday, January 28 with only one division due to low turnout of players in the unrated division.

Rey Lapuz, the Christmas blitz chess festival champion, showed up early in the morning and played blitz chess with Tony Villa. He was offered a job in Dubai and will be leaving in March. He will not participate in the current tournament that will last till April.

The organizers decided to have only one division with the same time format of 90 minutes for each player to finish the game with 30 seconds increment per move. It will be a single round robin event.

The first game was played between Villa and the come-backing Joel Azana, who didn't finish the last remaining games of 2006 Rapid Chess tournament.

With the position equal till the rook and pawns ending, Azana missed a drawing line move that will have his king opposing his opponent's king. The last tricky move that he played was countered by Villa to avoid stalemate.

The game lasted 66 moves of a Modern Defence with Azana having only three minutes left in his clock.

The second game featured Azana against Koror State Legal Counsel Craig Dittrich. The waiting game was equal till the 23rd move when Dittrich blundered away his bishop and through simplification, Azana scored his first win when Dittrich resigned to stop the agony of continuing to play a hopeless game.

All players are required to annotate their game in whatever notations they choose. Dittrich wrote his moves in English or descriptive notations while everybody else are doing it in Algebraic, which is being used internationally.

Anselmo Idol practiced writing chess notations while playing a practice game with Roberto Hernandez. It slows down Idol's game but he still plays good till the end of the unfinished practice match.

The tournament is still open for those who like to catch up and have to play at least two games and come at 1:00 pm.


Source: Chessmate by Roberto Hernandez
            Tia Belau Newspaper 

            Page 11

            February 02-08, 2007