(608) JANUARY 2004 LIST OF TOP 50 CHESS PLAYERS OF PHILIPPINES

NINE years and nine months ago, the Philippines had only 4 Grandmasters and their top player is IM Mark Paragua (2529) followed by GM Rogelio 'Joey' Antonio, Jr. (2523) and the vintage Asia's first GM Eugene Torre (2521).

At 4th is IM Rogelio Barcenilla (2502) and another GM at 5th --Buenaventura 'Bong' Villamayor (2469).

At no. 18 is IM Jayson Gonzales (2403), who became the Team Captain of Philippine Team to 2012 World Chess Olympiad in Istanbul, Turkey.

GM Jayson Gonzales and NM/NA Roberto Hernandez of Palau with the Philippine Women Team before the start of their games at 2012 World Chess Olympiad in Istanbul, Turkey.   (Photo by Roberto Hernandez)

No. 29 Darwin Laylo (2328)is not even a FIDE Master then as well as no. 31 Oliver Barbosa, who did very well in 2012 Olympiad beating GM Gawain Jones of England in 103 moves.  

A pictorial with GM Oliver Barbosa at the bleachers of Wow Convention Center, the venue of 2012 World Chess Olympiad in Istanbul, Turkey.                                          (Photo by Roberto Hernandez)

GM Oliver Barbosa, left, at the bleachers with Palau teammates and couple Menandro Manuel and wife Elizabeth the day after Barbosa defeated England's Board 2 player GM Gawain Jones.
                                                              (Photo by Roberto Hernandez)

Wesley So vs. Michael Adams (draw), Oliver Barbosa vs. Gawain Jones (1-0), Eugene Torre vs. Nigel Short (1-0).                                                               (Photo by Roberto Hernandez)



At no. 37 is Woman International Master Arianne Caoili. She said, "I'm tired of begging for sponsorship just to play abroad. It's time to change colors."

Now she is representing Australia, where I met her there in the 2009 Oceania Zonal Chess Championship. She was the champion then and 2nd seed.

I met her again in 2010 World Chess Olympiad in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia and in the 2012 World Chess Olympiad in Istanbul, Turkey.

Board 1 Arianne Caoili at 2012 World Chess Olympiad in Istanbul, Turkey.
                                                           (Photo by Shaun Press)   

Australian Men's Team -- GM David Smerdon, Moulthun Ly, Stephen Solomon and Max Illingworth.
                                                                             (Photo by Shaun Press)

At no. 53 is WM Christine Rose Mariano, who applied to Roberto Hernandez as Team Captain of Palau Team to 2010 World Chess Olympiad in Russia. 

The position was given to Australia's Jamie Kenmure as an appreciation for him being the Rating Officer of Palau.
He is also the Team Captain of Palau in Istanbul.

Roberto Hernandez, left, and next to him Mr. Gary Bekker, met in 2006 at Palau Invitational Chess Championship. They meet again in 2009 Oceania Zonal Chess Championship and in the 2012 Olympiad.
                                                                                   (Photo by Roberto Hernandez)


The most surprising is this list is no. 36 Julio Catalino Sadorra, just became a GM a few months ago and now Phil. no. 2 at 2585.

Wesley So is just 9 years old at this time but he's now the no. 1 chess player of the Philippines with 2710 rating, the best rating that a Filipino player have gotten this high and world's no. 34.

The top 11 players of the Philippines are all GMs with Torre now at no. 10 and Roland Salvador at 11th.

No. 3 is Mark Paragua, 4. Oliver Barbosa 5. Joseph Sanchez 6. Rogelio Antonio, Jr. 7. John Paul Gomez 8. Darwin Laylo 9. Rogelio Barcenilla  
   


Source: History Of Chess In Palau
            By Roberto Hernandez
            September 2013
            To Be Published As A Book In The Future 

(276) SACRIFICE ROOK

This is one of the clippings that Roberto Hernandez has compiled since learning chess from 1972-2012.

Tore or Torre means rook in Filipino language.

MALLORCA, SPAIN -- Grandmaster Eugene Torre would sit out the first round of the World Chess Olympiad for the 2nd time since 1970, a decision reached to give national champion Darwin Laylo his baptism of fire in the world's most prestigious chess tournament.

Torre, assigned the top board for the 17th straight time, is giving way to give reserve player Laylo a chance to see action alongside GM Joey Antonio, International Masters Mark Paragua and Jayson Gonzales in the first round.

Follwoing a team meeting presided by captain Sammy Estimo, the following board order was decide: Torre, Antonio, Paragua, Gonzales, Emmanuel Senador and Laylo.

Senador is also sitting out the first round.

The Philippines' first round rival has yet to be ascertained, but based on the team seeding, it could either be Bahrain or Malta. The pairing, however, remains unofficial since 9 more teams are expected to come in late in the day.

A total of 120 teams, led by powerhouse Russia, are taking part in the open section.

The Philippines is also fielding a team in the women's section which has lured 85 teams so far.

Two-time national champion Sheerie Joy Lomibao, Women International Master Beverly Mendoza, rookies Loreshyl Cuison and Aices Salvador make up the board assignments in that order.

With 2 GMs, one GM-elect and one IM in the fold, the Philippines is seeded 41st.

Despite the absence of world no. 1 Garry Kasparov, Russia retains its top seeding with super GMs Alexander Morozevich (2758), Peter Svidler (2735) and Alexander Grischuk (2704) manning the first 3 boards.

Ukraine, with GMs Ruslan Ponomariov (2710) and Vassily Ivanchuk (2705), is ranked 2nd while GM Boris Gelfand (2693) leads the 3rd-ranked Israel.

GM Viswanathan Anand of India, ranked second behind Kasparov with an ELO of 2781, is making his first appearance in the Olympics after a long absence.

His presence elevated India to No. 5 in the team seeding, the highest among Asian countries. Other highly-ranked Indian players in the field are GMs Krishnan Sasikiran (2668) and GM Pentala Harikrishna (2612).

Despite its modest seeding, the Philippines is expected to figure prominently in the race for the Top 10 standings.

"We have a pretty solid lineup. We hope to do well here," said Torre.

Antonio said he is not discounting the possibility of a Top 10 finish.

"We will fight hard to bring honor to the country," said the 42-year-old Antonio, who along with Torre powered the Filipinos to their best finish --7th in the 1988 Thessaloniki Olympiad in Greece.

One thing going for the Filipinos is the presence of Paragua who is coming off his best season in his career with two international victories in Alusha, Ukraine that earned him his GM title.

The 20-year-old former child prodigy is on a roll.

After conquering the former Soviet republic of Ukraine, Paragua won a small international tournament in Torino, Italy, site of the 2006 World Chess Olympiad. He scored 5.5 points in 6 rounds.

Two days before the start of the Olympiad, Paragua also topped a blitz tournament against a cast of GMs and IMs here.

With Torre and Antonio expected to hold their own in the first 2 boards, the Filipinos are expected to strike hard in the lower boards.

Aside from Paragua, Gonzales, one of the key members of the team that dominated the Southeast Asian Games, will be a force to reckon with at board 4.

The team could also count on its reserve player in Senador and Laylo.

Senador has played in two Olympiads including the 1996 Yerevan Olympics in Yemen where his acquited himself well.

Laylo, on the other hand, was a former national junior champion who finished 2nd behind Sasikiran in the Asian Junior championships in 1999.

The delegation arrived Thursday afternoon following a 24-hour journey which included a six-hour stop in Zurich, Switzerland.

The team members were met by Paragua who came in a day earlier from Torino, Italy.

Salvador, left behind while the travel documents of her mother is being processed, is expected to rejoin the team in the next few days.


Source: Tempo Newspaper
"World Chess Olympiad -- SACRIFICE ROOK"
By Rey Bancod --Associate Editor
Saturday
October 16, 2004