(1169) Jeff is 2016 PBCC Champ; Dart Tourney among PRR Employees (TBN-March 07, 2016)

AFTER CHESS AND TABLE TENNIS, IT’S DART NOW AT PRR

                  Half of the 34 Participants of PRR Dart Tourney—Standing (L-R) Chris Ubay, Felix Oling, Jr., Paquito Suringa, Jr., Marc Joseph Sandoval, Jay Orio, John Lloyd, ?, Ramil, Steven and Eli.com. Squatting (L-R) Jess David, Rico, Brian Kline Labrador, Ryan Camero, Marlou, Herbie and Chris de Lima. 

                                                 (Photo by Marc Joseph Sandoval)

            JEFF IS 2016 PBCC Champ;

      Dart Tourney among PRR Employees

 

FINALLY, Jeff Balbalosa claimed his first National Chess Championship title but in the Blitz format after topping the 2016 Palau Blitz Chess Championship at Surangel Campaign Headquarters at the premises of Mason’s Hardware on Feb. 28, the same date of TFCP Election of officers for 2016-2017.

                Prior to the penultimate and final round, top seed Cyril Tomas Montel, Jr. is leading with 4.5 in 5 games while 2^nd seed Tito Cabunagan and 3^rd seed Roberto Hernandez have 3 points each going into the last 2 rounds of this 7-round Swiss system event that started on Valentine’s Day (Feb. 14) at Bethlehem Park. The 3^rd, 4^th, 5^th, 6^th and 7^th rounds were played at the Headquarters.

                Cyril is on his way to his 6^th consecutive national chess championships, if he would win even one of his 2 remaining games. But it’s not meant to be. He overlooked an illegal move by his last round opponent, Tito, and captured a bishop instead of pointing an illegal move by Tito, who immediately moved his king and carried on to win in the endgame.

                Cyril also lost his 6^th round game to eventual champion Jeff while Roberto won his 6^th round game against Dennis Gonzales and defeating again the champion of the event, Jeff, like what he did in the Lightning Chess Championship (Part 2), by defeating eventual champ Tito.

                After 7 rounds, 4 players are tied at the top with 5 points each—Jeff, Roberto, Tito and Manuel ‘Jun’ Mahor, Jr. The tiebreak were used (including winner over the other (or direct encounter) and more number of wins) and Jeff prevailed over the 3, with Tito at 2^nd and Mahor, Jr. at 3^rd.

                Roberto is 4^th and Cyril settled for 5^th. He is still analyzing his game against Tito while the 3 medals are being awarded to the top 3 finishers.

                Arnolfo Inres finished in solo 6^th with 4 points. Tied at 7^th-9^th are Rustum Cabuso, Gonzales and Glen Navarroza with 3.5 points each while at solo 10^th is Joan Gemota with 3. Josef Karlo Moyet and Joel Gemota are tied at 11^th-12^th with the cellar going to Eric Ksau Surangel Whipps and Eugene Labarda to complete the 14-player participants.

                The next Palau Chess Federation tourney is the 2016 Palau Rapid Chess Championship that will commence on March 20 and will conclude on April 17. This 9-round and 5-week tournament has a time control of 20 minutes for each player to finish the game with 10 seconds increment. A player must play 2 games in a week and in the last (9^th round), only one game to be followed by awarding of medals to the top 3 finishers.

                In the 2016 Election of new officers of The Filipino Community in Palau (TFCP) on Feb. 28, incumbent Aga David was re-elected. Roberto, who is running as one of the Vice President of KKK Party, was 3^rd with only 12 votes separating him from the No. 2 winner Nancy Lobres, a fellow awardees in the 2009 Outstanding OFW in Palau. Roberto’s lead to his 4^th placer party mate Nonoy Arganda is only one vote! Palau No. 2 woman chess player Baby Edna “Bheng” Mission made it to the 15 Board of Directors members. Totally, KKK Party has 15 elected officers in their 22-candidate ticket.

                Likewise on Feb. 28, the first ever Dart Tournament among Palau Royal Resort employees has started with Roberto losing to Dhen Flores, a bartender. Five rated chess players of Palau are participating in this event being held at the Dormitory 1 of PRR. They are Roberto, Paquito ‘Pax’ Suringa, Jr., the dart champion of INC, Felix Oling, Jr., Elizalde Madrinan and Jess David.

                The tourney was divided into Class A (or advanced) and Class B (or beginner) Category. Top seeds in the Class A are Brian ‘Kline’ Labrador, who is also a very good basketball player and Bobby Maltizo, of Main Kitchen. Included in their category are Felix, Marc Joseph Sandoval, Pax, Chris de Lima, Rico, Ryan Camero, Lee Lozano, Jay Orio, Gerry Medrano, Troy Manatad, Nel Lorenzo, Eli, Chris Ubay and Renz Lim, another bartender and basketball player.

                The Category B players are Alvin Yap, Jess David, Marvin Junio, Mark Pinlac, Rodolph Pinlac, Herbie, Kleventh John Equares, Joey Catsombo, Alfie Temporado, Dennis Ramos, John Lloyd, Marlou, Jonathan Sta. Ana, Al, Ramil and Steven, the lone Palauan participant.

                In the 1^st round of Category A, Felix, Pax, Ryan, Jay, Troy, Kline, Chris Ulap and Bobby won. In the next round, Ryan prevailed over Jay while Kline defeated Bobby to set up a final match-RYAN VS. KLINE!

                In Class B, Alvin, Marvin, Herbie, Joey, Alfie, Marlou, Al and Ramil won. In the next round, Marvin defeated Alvin, Dhen subdued Alfie and Marlou whipped Ramil to set up a final match—MARVIN VS. MAR.

                The Doubles (Drawing of Class A player paired with Class B player) has started with the following tandem: John Lloyd/Chris Ubay vs. Dennis/Rico; Herbie/Ryan vs. Ramil/Renz; Marvin/Pax vs. Jess/Troy; Arvin/Lee vs. Mark P./Mark John; Kleventh/Kline vs. Jonathan/Jay; Roberto/Gerry vs. Dhen/Eli.com; Joey/Nel vs. Al/Chris de Lima and Rodolph/Felix vs. Steven/Bob.

                The results: Dennis/Rico, Herbie/Ryan, Marvin/Pax, Marks, Kleventh/Kline, Dhen/Eli, Joey/Nel and Rodolph/Felix won with the Dhen/Eli vs. Roberto/Gerry match being the most exciting one as the former quickly get ahead but struggle in the bull’s eye. After Roberto got a single bull, followed by another single by Gerry, they are ahead now. But Dhen scored a winning cherry bull to advance.

                At lunch time on Election Day, Roberto was asked by a lot of dart players if they can join the tourney but it’s exclusive only for PRR employees as approved by the management for security reasons. With the success of this event, there might be an open one but the venue would be different.

                Solution to last week’s puzzle No. 3827: 1. Rh1+ Rh2 2. Rh7+! Nxh7 3. g7 mate. Congratulations to Bruce Soriano for solving this puzzle a week before it was published.

                This week’s puzzle No. 3828: White to move and mates in 3 (Solution next issue)

Sources: Chess Mate by Roberto Hernandez

              Tia Belau Newspaper

              Pages 9-10

             Volume 25

             Issue 19

             March 07, 2016

             Chess and Music (Perfect Combination)

             The Beginning of Chess in Palau

             By Roberto Hernandez

             To be published as a book in the future

             Music and Me by Roberto Hernandez

             Tia Belau Newspaper

             March 15, 2012 -- April 2013

             http://palau-chess.blogspot.com

             April 2013--March 07, 2016

             The History of Chess in Palau

             By Roberto Hernandez

             June 09, 2002 -- March 07, 2016  

 

               

(915) DAVID, RIVERA, R. CAYANAN AND DIESTA LEAD CLASS B (TBN-March 14-20, 2008)

JESS David still has the best record in Class B of the Palau Royal Resort Rapid Chess Tournament after scoring two more victories but Cafeteria Chief Cook Arnold Rivera and another cook Romy Cayanan are not far behind in the standings.

With the surging Francis Diesta almost finishing all of his games with disappointing results, he still has a chance to land in the top 3 depending on the performance of the frontrunners.

Diesta had a 10-7-1 win-loss-draw slate after sweeping Morris Apresto and splitting games with Armand Lelis and top seed Randy Sioson, David, Mark Apresto and Rivera. He was swept in return by Cayanan and has drawn with invited player Chat Miraflor, who played only 2 games and the only player who had not won a game yet as Delfin 'Scanamus' Mallare scored at least a point in 14 games.

Diesta drew with Edgar Cayanan in their first game and defeated him in the second round.


David nipped Edgar Cayanan when the latter captured a piece with his queen instead of a knight to be a full piece ahead while his nephew Romy lost to Rivera and won over Morris.

With Mark Apresto going home for good last Friday, his remaining 4 games were all declared draws against Romy and Rivera and finished with 13 points. 

It will be almost enough to land in the top 3 if Morris and Randy will play poorly in their last games and that will decide the final outcome.

The Class B active players were promoted to Class A due to hesitance of more than half of them to play in their Division.

When Laurence Abuton agreed to cancel the Class B, Elizalde Madrinan, Paquito Suringa, Jr., Darwin Nisperos and Abuton were added to Class A.

With the withdrawal of Nino Flores, Nisperos took his spot and Eli took the spot of Craig Dittrich, the other invited player. The Class C now will become Class B. 

In Class A action, top seed Roberto Hernandez dealt Dennis Lara his first loss to avenge his first defeat and clobbered 2nd seed Jaime Guevarra in 2 games of Sicilian and Pirc Defence.

A day later, Hernandez dealt also the first loss of Madrinan in another Sicilian encounter.

Suringa, Jr. drubbed Robert Tubice in both games with the same result as in the Lara vs. Arnel Pama (his first 2 games).

Guevarra tested the strength of Eli's game and the latter's inexperience with time management cost him to lose both games by time forfeit with an overwhelming advantage.


Source: Chess Mate by Roberto Hernandez
               Tia Belau Newspaper
               Pages 9-10
               Volume 17
               March 14-20, 2008
 

(562) MORRIS SWEEPS JESS, FORGES 4-PLAYER CONTENTION (TBN-Mar. 21-27, 2008)

FOUR players in the Class B division of Palau Royal Resort Rapid Chess tournament are in a tight battle for supremacy in the resumption of play where Morris Apresto made the contest interesting after dealing erswhile leader Jess David his 3rd and 4th losses. 

Apresto showed signs of brilliant attacking prowess in defeating David in their first game when he refused an exchange advantage and sustained his mating attack. He did the same in their 2nd game and in a shorter time.

Chief cook Arnold Rivera now holds the least loss record and can clinch the title if he will defeat Morris, David and the other contender Romy Cayanan, who is not far behind in the standings.

Rivera ousted top seed Randy 'Buhawi' Sioson of contention after sweeping him the 2 games. 

They played 2 games earlier but it is declared unofficial as only two of them were around when they played it and Rivera lost both games.

Cayanan's hectic schedule didn't allow him to play a single game. 

In the Class A division, 4th seed Paul Garcia kept his chances intact for the title with a two-game sweep of Eli Madrinan, who haven't won a game since moving to Class A.

During practices with Class A players, he showed his toughness especially in defense that is why he is called "Petrosian" by friends. A name derived from the former Soviet world chess champion in 1960 Tigran Petrosian, the master of defense.

Top seed Roberto Hernandez lend Eli a book, "Tigran Petrosian, His Life And Games".

Arnel Pama, the elected Chairman of King Royal Chess Club of PRR played rapidly against Paquito 'Pax' Suringa, Jr. and lost a piece in the middle game.

He sustained his attack with accuracy but missed the chance to regain the piece and lost after Pax simplified the game. 

Pama, who is a Reti Opening advocate, bounced back from defeat and took the measure of Suringa in their 2nd game. He uses "Pamareti" alias at chess.com.

Suringa squeezed another victory over Laurence Abuton in their 2nd round match to gain a respectable 5-4-0 win-loss-draw card. He lost to Abuton in their first game.

Other Class A players Hernandez, Jaime Guevarra, Dennis Lara, Darwin Nisperos, Zaldy Ranopa and Andres 'Aying' Mestizo II didn't see action last week.

Source: Chessmate by Roberto Hernandez
               Tia Belau Newspaper
               Pages 13 & 15
               Volume 18 
               March 21-27, 2008 


    

       

(561) JESS DAVID IS A CONTENDER IN CLASS C (TBN-March 07-13, 2008)

NEOPHYTE chess player Jess David is currently having the best record in the ongoing Palau Royal Resort Rapid Chess Tournament with a 4-1-0 win-loss-draw record after nipping another newcomer Armand Lelis last week. 

Mark Apresto is still leading their division despite a setback from the surging Francis Diesta, who scored another victory from erstwhile leader Edgar Cayanan.

David used to watch Class A players practicing and learned his lessons from their styles, strengths and weaknesses.

Class C top seed Randy 'Buhawi' Sioson swept Cayanan in their 3-game series. He won the 1st game.With  the 2nd game headed for a draw, they decided to disregard the draw and play for win.

With the loss, Cayanan scored only half point in 5 games after winning his first four. 

The same thing happened to Jaime Guevarra in last year's rating chess tourney of PRR where he scored 3 straight and didn't score a whole point in his last 4 games.

Diesta showed his top form as he dealt Mark his 3rd loss of the event. Other Class C players Morris Apresto, Romy Cayanan, Arnold Rivera and invited player Chat Miraflor didn't play a single game last week despite Miraflor's day off on Wednesday. 

With Mark Apresto leaving on March 12, he needs to play all his remaining games to avoid default losses.

He is still in contention for the title and it will depend on the performance of David, Diesta, the two Cayanans and his brother Morris.

Only one game was played in the Class B division. It is the first game of Darwin Nisperos against Paquito Pax' Suringa, Jr., who has yet to win a game after 3 tries. 

With his cautious play, Nisperos build a bewildering attack in the king side but blundered badly in the endgame that lead to his downfall with his 4-pawn advantage against a bishop.

Class B top seed Abrahan 'Abe' Francisco withdraw from the tournament and concentrate more against 14 opponents at Chess.com.

There is a plan to include players of Class B to Class A as most players in that class have the talents higher than that of Class B. 

Class A top seed Roberto Hernandez outwitted 5th seed Paul Garcia in less than 30 moves of Pirc Defence where Garcia lost a minor piece in the middle game. 

By the time that he recovered the piece, Hernandez already weaved a mating net to force his resignation facing a mate in two. 

Garcia bounced back from defeat and dealt Hernandez his 2nd loss with a masterful handling of a pair of bishop. 

Even during practice, Garcia showed much improvement as he also defeated blitz chess specialist Tony Villa three weeks ago. 

Source: Chessmate by Roberto Hernandez
               Tia Belau Newspaper
               Pages 13 & 15
               Volume 18
               March 07-13, 2008            


  

   

(557) EDGAR CAYANAN LEADS CLASS C OF PRR CHESS TILT (TBN-Feb. 22-28, 2008

THE RAPID chess version of Palau Royal Resort with bang and boos as all kinds of illegal moves and blunders were committed during the opening round.

A total of 27 players are participating in the event that will last only for a month and will be held at Dormitory 1 during the free time of all the players.

The players were divided into Class A, B and C with the top 8 finishers of PRR rating chess tourney held last year forming the Class A.

Class B were the lesser-placed players and Class C were all newcomers and first-timers.

Edgar Cayanan, the Assistant Restaurant Manager of Waves Restaurant of PRR, started with a perfect 4-0 win-loss slate and leads the Class C followed by near-perfect performance of Jess David at 3-1.

Class C top seed Randy 'Buhawi' Sioson had played 10 games already, winning 5 and losing 5. He was swept by David, split the double round-robin matches with Francis Diesta, Delfin 'Scanamus' Mallare and Mark Apresto and clobbered Edgar's nephew Romy Cayanan in a losing game when the younger Cayanan missed an unopposed pawn move that would have won him the game.

David's only loss was against Apresto, whose brother Morris scored the shortest game of the tourney with a 6-move conquest of Armand Lelis.

Morris thought that he's doing the same thing in their 2nd game. He stand to claim the 2nd victory but Lelis had another piece that captured the queen of Morris and he succumbed to pressure of being outnumbered.

In the first game of the tournament, Class A top seed Roberto Hernandez scored 2 victories against the invited player Andres 'Aying' Mestizo II in their Danish Gambit and Dutch Defence encounters.

In Mestizo's next 4 games, he lost and won a game each to Paul Garcia and Arnel Pama, the elected Chairman of King Royal Chess Club of PRR.

The other invited player, Koror State Legal Counsel Craig Dittrich withdrew from the tournament to prepare for the National Championship to be held in the middle of March 2008 where potential members of Palau Olympic Chess Team will be trained and formed by International Arbiter (IA) and organizer (IO) Jan Berglund.

Laurence Abuton of Engineering Department started with a 2-0 card and drew his 3rd game Elizalde 'Eli' Madrinan to share the lead in the Class B division after Eli swept Paquito 'Pax' Suringa, Jr. 

Abuton's other 2 wins were from Manny Dulay and Suringa. Class B's top seed Abraham Francisco, January employee of the month Erick Ventinilla, Tony Penas and Darwin Nisperos have not yet played their first games while Class C invited player Chat Miraflor will play on Wednesday, his day off.

Lelis have taken the spot of Arnold Rivera, who has yet to confirm his participation. Another newcomer, Arj Berenguer might join the crowded, exciting and funny Class C division.

   

Source: Chessmate by Roberto Hernandez
            Tia Belau Newspaper
            Pages 13 & 15
            Volume 18
            February 22-28, 2008