(1046) MAJOR SPONSORS OF 2004 NON-MASTER CHESS TOURNAMENT (TBN-Dec. 26, 2002-Jan. 02, 2003)

                           MAJOR SPONSORS OF
          2004 NON-MASTER CHESS TOURNAMENT
                 (Jose Omega, Nilo de Jesus, Lin de Guzman
                               and Joji Casinas)

 

                DURING the last few weeks of the 2003 Senior and Junior Chess Tournament, Roberto Hernandez was approached by Lin de Guzman, a Comptroller at Neco Corporation. He is planning to host/sponsor the Knights and Rooks Chess Club’s next tournament –the 2004 Non-Master Chess Tilt to be held from Jan. 11-April 11, 2004. Lin will join, for his first serious chess participation in Palau.

                He invited some players (Roberto, Menandro Manuel, Jimmy Valenzuela, Nilo de Jesus and Bong Alipoon to his place, the Paul Brothers Tri-M General Merchandise and Food Retail in Malakal Hamlet. They were treated with light food and drinks while talking about the sponsorship of the next tournament. The restaurant cannot accommodate 24 players inside so the entrance area and terrace will be used and if it rains or gets darker, it will be held inside. Lin also said that his partner Joji Casinas will sponsor 5 trophies in the Senior Division and 4 trophies for the junior (18 years and below).

                The format of the next tournament was also discussed as well as the registration fee, in which Menandro suggested to make it $15.00 instead of $10.00. The extra $5.00 will be for the cash prizes of $40.00 for 2^nd, $30.00 for 3^rd, $20.00 for 4^th and $15.00 for 5^th placers.

                The seeding will be 1. Ivan II Chess Computer (1993-Previous 2000) 2. Roberto Hernandez (1879)-1740 3. Menandro Manuel (1794)-1740 4. Cyril Montel, Jr. (1782) – 1740 5. Jimmy Valenzuela (1742)—1680 6. Jose Omega (1708)—1665 7. Bong Alipoon (1701)—1640 8. Mike Miguel, Jr. (1695)—1655 9. Eugene Koh (1690) 10. Danny Dandoy (1662)—1600 11. Nilo de Jesus (1623)—1560 12. Jon Lagumen (1620) 13. Mariano Agustin, Jr. (1617)—1625 14. Mario Ramos (1584)—1595 15. Jess Toldoya (1579)—1510 16. Amante Caballero (1563)—1515 17. Manuel Mahor, Jr. (1515) 18. Ben Ramos (1515) 19. Norbert Villanueva (1515) 20. Tutii Joe Chilton (1510) 21. Genaro Manlaya (1510) 22. Rolando Funa (1510) 23. Francis Cuenco (1510) and 24. Lin de Guzman (1500).

                It will be a single round-robin in the Senior Division and double round-robin in the junior division which is compose of top seed and defending champion Charles Aquino, former junior champion Jayrome Soriano, Karen Gennibeth Hernandez, Michael Velarde, Christopher Domingo, Ricky Camacho, newcomer Georby Domingo and Ivan II Chess Computer which will be set in A (Average) strength while in the Senior Division, it will be set at H (Hard). It can also be Best-of-3 in the Junior Division according to the preferred format of the junior players.

                The Chief Arbiter will be Roberto. In case that he is playing while a complaint is to be settled, his clock will be stopped to settle the dispute and will resume his game after resolving the issue. In case that he is not around, both players have to write the position of the pieces and the time remaining. The game will be resumed on the next Sunday after the issue was settled. 

                Jose Omega, who finished 9^th in the Senior Division of 2003’s last event of the year, offered to sponsor the $100.00 cash prize of the champion of 2004 Non-Master Chess tilt. He will be participating in that event but requested some adjustments in time control in lieu of his complex time schedule. There might be some games of him that needs to be finished in one hour and others in 30 minutes.

                The other major sponsor is the current venue host and trophies sponsor Nilo de Jesus, who will sponsor the $50.00 cash prize of the top 3 finishers of the junior division. He will also donate 2 long tables to be used in the next tournament.

Source: Chess Mate by Roberto Hernandez
             Tia Belau Newspaper
             Page 9
             Volume 12
             Issue 52
             December 26, 2003 -- January 02, 2004

(916) JR WINS 2 GAMES (TBN-Jan. 23-30, 2004)

VENUE HOST AND SPONSORS
     Jojie Casinas, right, Manager of Paul Brothers Tri-M Gen. Merchandise and Food Retail, the venue host of the 2004 Non-Master Chess Tournament, co-host Lin de Guzman, left, and Nilo de Jesus, the donor of cash prize for the top 3 finishers in the kids' division.                                                    (Photo by Roberto Hernandez)


             JR WINS 2 GAMES
MARIANO Agustin, Jr. or "JR" as he is commonly known, skipped the 2003 Senior and Junior Open due to schedule conflict but he's now back at the 2004 Non-Master Chess Tourney being held last Sunday, Jan. 18 at Paul Brothers Tri-M General Merchandise and Food Retail.

In his very first game after a 5-month absence, JR defeated 2nd seed Roberto Hernandez in 45 moves of Bird's Opening and beat 8th seed Mike Miguel, Jr. of another Bird's Opening.

Hernandez gobbled up 2 pawns on the 22nd move but missed the rook capture of JR on the 32nd move and allowed JR's pieces on the offensive position.

JR is now tied for the lead with Menandro Manuel, who also scored two wins over Jose Omega in 22 moves of a Sicilian Defence (Najdorf Variation) and Jimmy Valenzuela. 

Cyril Montel, Jr. is also undefeated after scoring a 39-move French Defence game over Nilo de Jesus, the sponsor of 2 long tables and cash prize for the top 3 finishers in the kid's division.

He bounced back from defeat and scored his first win over co-host Lin de Guzman, who dealt Valenzuela his 3rd defeat in a day.

OTHER RESULTS OF 2ND ROUND:
      Jess Toldoya d. Valenzuela and Danny Dandoy lost to top seed Ivan II Chess Computer.

     In the kid's division, defending champion Charles Aquino bested Chris Domingo (2-0) in a best-of-three series and 16-year-old Michael Velarde defeated 9-year-old Georby Domingo (2-0). Other participants didn't make it in the second round.

THIRD ROUND PAIRINGS (First-mentioned name to play white):
Agustin, Jr. vs. Omega; Toldoya vs. Bong Alipoon; Omega vs. Toldoya; Alipoon vs. Mario Ramos; Hernandez vs. Miguel, Jr.; Ramos vs. De Jesus; Montel, Jr. vs. Ivan II and Dandoy vs. de Guzman.

                                        
  

Source: Chess Mate by Roberto Hernandez

 Tia Belau Newspaper Pages 19-20 Volume 11 January 23-30, 2004

(313) 2 CHAMPS WIN GAMES

CHAMPS IN GOOD START
2003 Junior champion Charles Aquino, right, receiving his storyboard-type trophy from Senior champion Roberto Hernandez. The two won their opening day games on Sunday, Jan. 11 to start their title defense on a position note. (Photo by Roberto Hernandez)

BECAUSE of job requirements of almost half of the contestants, a low turnout of participants marked the opening day of 2004 Non-master Chess tournament held last Sunday, January 11 at Paul Brothers Tri-M General Merchandise and Food Retail in Malakal.

The sponsors are its manager Joji Casinas, Jose Omega ($100.00 to the champion) and Nilo de Jesus who donated two long tables and cash prize for the top 3 finishers in the kid's division.

Defending champion Roberto Hernandez, with a rating of 1879, defeated Ivan II Chess Computer (1993 rating) in 35 moves of Ruy Lopez (Zaitsev Defence).

Fourth seed Cyril Montel, Jr. (1782) outlasted 7th seed Bong Alipoon (1701) in the endgame. Eighth seed Mike Miguel, Jr. (1695) dealt newcomer and co-host Lin de Guzman (1500) his first tournament game loss.

9th seed Danny Dandoy (1662) beat 14th seed Mario Ramos (1584) in less than an hour. Jess Toldoya (1579) and 6th seed Jose Omega made it but didn't play so they have to play 2 games on Sunday.

Third seed Menandro Manuel (1794) and 5th seed Jimmy Valenzuela (1742) will return to Palau on Saturday, Jan. 17, and they will have to play 2 games also to catch up.

In the 18 years and below category, defending champion Charles Aquino lost his first game of best of three series to Chris Domingo but bounced back to win the last 2 to begin his campain of defending his title.

Karen Hernandez, 18, and the lone female contestant, defeated newcomer Michael Velarde, 16. The youngest contestant, 9-year-old Georby Domingo, the younger brother of Chris, lost to Aquino (3-0).

SENIORS' SECOND ROUND PAIRINGS: (fIRST NAME TO PLAY WHITE) Ramos vs. Mariano Agustin, Jr. (1617); Manuel vs. Valenzuela; de Guzman vs. de Jesus (1623); Toldoya vs. Omega; Alipoon vs. Miguel, Jr. Valenzuela vs. Toldoya; Ivan II vs. Dandoy; Omega vs. Manuel; de Jesus vs. Montel, Jr. and Agustin Jr. vs. Hernandez. Latecomers will have to play 2 games on Sunday.

This week's featured classic game is between World Champion Gary Kasparov and Deep Thought in an exhibiton match in 1989.

The World Champion was invited to New York to face off the world's leading mainframe computer program in a two-game series at the Marshall Chess Club.

The first game was a typical Grandmaster crush, as Deep Thought was tied down in defending the King pawn.

In the 2nd game, Kasparov opens the game up tactically and show how a hesitant computer can be hung out to dry.

THE MOVES: 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e4 Nc6 4.Nf3 Bg4 5. d5 Ne5 6. Nc3 c6 7. Bf4 ng6 8. Be3 cxd5 9. exd5 Ne5 Deep Thought loses time moving the same piece twice in the opening. Kasparove jumps at the chance to exploit his advantage in development.
10. Qd4 Nxf3+ 11.gxf3 Bxf3 12. Bxc4 Qd6 Black could not play 12. ... Bxh1 13. Bb5+, but 12. ... a6 would have been a better defense.
13. Nb5 Qf6 14. Qc5 Qb6 15. Qa3 e6 16. Nc7+ Qxc7 17. Bb5+ Qc6 18. Bxc6 bxc6 19. Bc5 Bxc5 20. Qxf3 Bb4+ 21. Ke2 cxd5. At this point, a human would have probably resigned but Deep Thought never mind playing out a lost game.
22. Qg4 Be7 23. Rhc1 Kf8 24. Rc7 Bd6 25. Rb7 Nf6 26. Qa4 a5 27. Rc1 h6 28. Rc6 Ne8 29. b4 Bxh2 30. bxa5 Kg8 31. Qb4 Bd6 32. Rxd6 Nxd6 33. Rb8+ Rxb8 34. Qxb8+ Kh7 35. Qxd6 Rc8 36. a4 Rc4 37. Qd7 Black resigns.



Source: Chessmate by Roberto Hernandez
Tia Belau Newspaper
Page 9-10
Volume 13
January 16-23, 2004

(312) NEW CHESS TILT STARTS SUNDAY

CHESS PUPPIES

Karen Hernandez, the 2002 All-Filipino Chess tournament's junior best scorer and the lone female contestant in the 2004 Non-master chess tourney opening this Sunday, cuddles 5 puppies with dad, tournament chairman and champion of the 2003 Senior and Junior Open.

Checkmate!

(Photo by Roberto Hernandez

THE FIRST chess tournament of 2004 will fire off this Sunday, January 11, at Paul Brothers Tri-M General Merchandise and Food Retail in Malakal.

More than 20 senior players and about 10 junior players have already registered.

The single round-robin tourney is being sponsored by Jose Omega ($100.00 to the senior champion) and Nilo de Jesus, who is donating cash prizes to the top 3 finishers in the junior division.

De Jesus is also providing one long table for the tilt. Joji Casinas, the venue host, is donating the trophies to the top 5 finishers in both categories.

The game will start at 1 pm with the pairings based on the players' rating. The number one seed (Ivan II Chess Computer) will be playing against the player in the middle of the rating.

Newcomers will start with the rating of 1500.

The time control for adults is 90 minutes for each player to finish the game. 30 minutes each in the kids division if they will write their moves or best-of-3 series.

Registration fee is $10 for kids and $15 for adults. The extra $5.00 is for cash prizes of 2nd to 4th runners-up.

The Sonneborn Berger system of tiebreak will be used to break ties among the top placers.

The Median system will be used if another tie happens. The Solkoff system is the last tiebreaker to be used where the player who played the most black pieces more wins.

Chess notation is a wonderful invention -- a time machine that allows us to enjoy games of all eras, even those played hundreds of years ago.

Here we see one of the first great masters, Gioachino Greco, in action.

While Greco is credited with developing some gambits, his main contribution to chess was to publish witty collections of games that illustrates his theories.

Greco considered the following as one of his best games. It is against an unknown player in the year 1619(!) in Rome.

1. e4 b6 2. d4 Bb7 3. Bd3 Greco often preferred developing his bishop to d3 rather than c4 or b5. As the game progresses, you will see that this piece is perfectly placed. 3. ... f5 Black offers a pawn to break up the enemy center.

4. exf5 White accepts the pawn, and the fireworks begin! ... Bxg2 5. Qh5+ g6. It is interesting that hundreds of years after this game was played, all of the moves so far are still considered "by the book".

If you are not aware of the date, you might believe that this game is from the Hypermodern movement of the 20th century...

6. fxg6 Nf6 Black gets greedy and losses immediately. The typical continuation is 6. ... Bg7 7. gxd7+ Kf8 8. hxg8=Q+ Kxg8 9. Qg6 (or Qg4) Bxh1 and Black has a reasonable game.

7. gxh7 Nxh5 Gleefully seizing the enemy queen, but not seeing the danger. 8. Bg6 mate.

Even after four centuries, some games can still elicit a smile.

Source: Chessmate by Roberto Hernandez

Tia Belau Newspaper

Pages 9 & 12

Volume 13

January 09-16, 2004

(52) CHESSMATE 26 2004 BLITZ CHESS KING

AFTER THE conclusion of the 2004 Non-master Chess tournament, six players participated in this year's "Consul General Julius Torres Blitz Chess Festival."

They are current champion Jess Toldoya, former champions Menandro Manuel and Roberto Hernandez, Cyril Montel, Jr., Jimmy Valenzuela and co-host Lin de Guzman.

They agreed on 10-minute time control for each player to finish the game. Touch move rule does not apply but once you press the clock, that will be your final move.

Always say "check" when attacking the king. A player could not win by time forfeit if he does not have enough materials to force a checkmate and their game will be a draw.

Before every game, players will "toss" to determine who will handle the black or white pieces. It will be a single round-robin format and the $5.00 registration fee will go to the winner in which half of it will be for drinks of all participants.

There will be no tiebreaker and in case of tie, the winner-over-the-other rule will be implemented.

The first round featured Montel, Jr. against Hernandez in which the latter mated the former with his queen.

 In the 2nd round, Toldoya PLAYED against Hernandez. In the middle game, Hernandez lost his queen and attacked Toldoya's king and said the word "check".

Toldoya, instead of moving the king, captured Hernandez' bishop and pressed his clock. He lost the game due to technicality.

He suffered another loss by technicality to Valenzuela when he captured a knight on white square (d7) with his dark-colored bishop.

He drew his last game against Cyril Montel, Jr. where he had a king against Cyril's king and a rook and when time clock of Montel, Jr. expired, the game was a draw because Toldoya doesn't have enough material to win by time forfeit.

The last round was a cliffhanger. Manuel and Hernandez were both undefeated with identical 4-0 win-loss record. After the toss, Hernandez had the white pieces and Manuel played his 5th consecutive game with the black pieces.

The game started like the first few moves of their game in the 2003 Senior and Junior Open in November 02, 2003. Hernandez explored a different variation from the 5th move and onwards.

With both players attacking each other's king, there were a few seconds remaining on both players' clock and Manuel lost the game by time forfeit in an even position.

Last year's blitz king was Torres with an 8-2 win-loss record, the same as Eddie Grefiel. Other participants were Noel Filomeno (1-9), Bong Alipoon (6-4), Jimmy Valenzuela (4-6), Montel, Jr. (4-6), Manuel (6-4), Edgardo Enarsao (4-6), Hernandez (5-5), Chito Vargas (5-5) and Freddie Dumlao (5-5).

The awarding ceremony for the winners of 2004 Non-master Chess tournament was held on Sunday, April 18 at Paul Brothers Tri-M General Merchandise and Food Retail in Malakal.

Trophies, cash prizes and certificates were awarded to the winners in the senior and kid's division. After the ceremony, all participants were given a treat of pancit (fried noodles), sandwich, pastry and fruit punch courtesy of hosts Jojie Casinas and Lin de Guzman.

Another blitz chess contest was held without chess clock. Last Sunday's contestants participated except Montel, Jr. and Valenzuela (3-1) emerged as winner when he defeated Hernandez (2-2) in the last game.

Source: Chessmate by Roberto Hernandez

Tia Belau Newspaper

April 23-30, 2004

(42) CHESSMATE 16 DANDOY SCORES 2 UPSETS

INDOOR CHESS

The games of the 2nd round of the 204 Non-Masters Chess Tournament were played partially indoors due to heavy rain. At left is Nilo de Jesus, sponsor of cash prize in the kid's top 3 finishers, playing the white pieces against Cyril Montel, Jr. who won four straight games. (Photo by Roberto Hernandez)

NINTH SEED Danny Dandoy, a teacher at Palau High School, dealt 3rd seed Menandro Manuel his first loss of the tournament in the 5th round of the 2003 Non-Masters Chess tournament held on Sunday, February 08, at Paul Brothers Tri-M General Merchandise and Food Retail in Malakal.

He scored another upset later in the afternoon by beating 5th seed Jimmy Valenzuela. Dandoy now totes a 4-1-0 win-loss-draw record and is tied for 2nd place with idle and undefeated Cyril Montel, Jr. (4-0-0).

The surprise of the day was Mario Ramos' much improved play. He defeated co-host Lin de Guzman after being down by a rook, then beat 2nd seed Roberto Hernandez in 43 moves of Sicilian Defence (Najdorf Variation).

Ramos also almost won over 8th seed Mike Miguel, Jr. when he failed to convert his material and positional advantage and lost instead. Ramos (2-2-0) tried to play as many games as he could because he is now assign indefinitely in Melekeok and could not play every week.

He got a chance to play after voting in the TFCP election of new officers where 2 players (Hernandez and Jess Toldoya) ran for auditor and board of director post respectively.

Hernandez made it with 654 votes in the unofficial count but Toldoya didn't make to the top 15.

Tenth seed Nilo de Jesus (1-4-0) used his favorite defence when handling black, the Benko Gambit, against Ivan II Chess Computer. He made a poor defensive play on the 16th move and did not recover after Ivan II (2-2-1) unleashed a series of simplification moves and won 2in 8 moves in less than an hour of play.

OTHER RESULTS OF SENIORS 5TH ROUND:

Miguel Jr., (3-2-0) defeated Valenzuela (2-6-0); Valenzuela lost another game to Bong Alipoon (1-3-1) and finally, Jose Omega (2-1-0) won over de Guzman in which the only game that Omega could play with his available time. His adjourned game with Toldoya will be resumed this Sunday.

In the kid's division, former champion Jayrome Soriano (2-0-1) defeated Ricky 'Jun'Jun' Camacho (0-3-0) in just one game. Lone female contestant Karen Hernandez (3-0-1) swept 9-year-old Georby Domingo (2-0) to stay at second place.

Chris Domingo (1-3-1), the older brother of Georby, already in the mating position against Ivan II Chess Computer when some junior players distracted his composure and Ivan II escaped with a draw by stalemate. It means he has no legal move and is not under check, so stalemate occurs and it is a draw.

Defending champion Charles Aquino (6-0-1) used the same level as Domingo has set up against Ivan and won to keep on top of the standings.

Finally, 16-year-old Michael Velarde (2-2-0) defeated Chris Domingo and now in solo third spot.

There will be a meeting this Saturday, Feb. 14 at Paul Brothers to discuss the election of new officers of the Knights and Rooks Chess Club, the next tournament, club's financial report, expenses and other related matters.

All available players are requested to attend this meeting that will start at 2:00 pm.

Source:

Chessmate by Roberto Hernandez

Tia Belau Newspaper

Pages 17 & 19

February 13-20, 2004

(39) JR WINS 2 GAMES (TBN-Jan. 23-30, 2004)

VENUE HOST AND SPONSORS
     Jojie Casinas, right, Manager of Paul Brothers Tri-M Gen. Merchandise and Food Retail, the venue host of the 2004 Non-Master Chess Tournament, co-host Lin de Guzman, left, and Nilo de Jesus, the donor of cash prize for the top 3 finishers in the kids' division.                                                    (Photo by Roberto Hernandez)


             JR WINS 2 GAMES
MARIANO Agustin, Jr. or "JR" as he is commonly known, skipped the 2003 Senior and Junior Open due to schedule conflict but he's now back at the 2004 Non-Master Chess Tourney being held last Sunday, Jan. 18 at Paul Brothers Tri-M General Merchandise and Food Retail.

In his very first game after a 5-month absence, JR defeated 2nd seed Roberto Hernandez in 45 moves of Bird's Opening and beat 8th seed Mike Miguel, Jr. of another Bird's Opening.

Hernandez gobbled up 2 pawns on the 22nd move but missed the rook capture of JR on the 32nd move and allowed JR's pieces on the offensive position.

JR is now tied for the lead with Menandro Manuel, who also scored two wins over Jose Omega in 22 moves of a Sicilian Defence (Najdorf Variation) and Jimmy Valenzuela. 

Cyril Montel, Jr. is also undefeated after scoring a 30-move French Defence game over Nilo de Jesus, the sponsor of 2 long tables and cash prize for the top 3 finishers in the kid's division.

He bounced back from defeat and scored his first win over co-host Lin de Guzman, who dealt Valenzuela his 3rd defeat in a day.

OTHER RESULTS OF 2ND ROUND:
      Jess Toldoya d. Valenzuela and Danny Dandoy lost to top seed Ivan II Chess Computer.

     In the kid's division, defending champion Charles Aquino bested Chris Domingo (2-0) in a best-of-three series and 16-year-old Michael Velarde defeated 9-year-old Georby Domingo (2-0). Other participants didn't make it in the second round.

THIRD ROUND PAIRINGS (First-mentioned name to play white):
Agustin, Jr. vs. Omega; Toldoya vs. Bong Alipoon; Omega vs. Toldoya; Alipoon vs. Mario Ramos; Hernandez vs. Miguel, Jr.; Ramos vs. De Jesus; Montel, Jr. vs. Ivan II and Dandoy vs. de Guzman.

                                        
  

(38) 2 CHAMPS WIN GAMES (TBN-Jan. 16-23, 2004)

CHAMPS IN GOOD START
2003 Junior champion Charles Aquino, right, receiving his storyboard-type trophy from Senior champion Roberto Hernandez. The two won their opening day games on Sunday, Jan. 11 to start their title defense on a position note. (Photo by Roberto Hernandez)

BECAUSE of job requirements of almost half of the contestants, a low turnout of participants marked the opening day of 2004 Non-master Chess tournament held last Sunday, January 11 at Paul Brothers Tri-M General Merchandise and Food Retail in Malakal.

The sponsors are its manager Joji Casinas, Jose Omega ($100.00 to the champion) and Nilo de Jesus, who donated two long tables and cash prize for the top 3 finishers in the kid's division.

Defending champion Roberto Hernandez, with a rating of 1879, defeated Ivan II Chess Computer (1993 rating) in 35 moves of Ruy Lopez (Zaitsev Defence).

Fourth seed Cyril Montel, Jr. (1782) outlasted 7th seed Bong Alipoon (1701) in the endgame. Eighth seed Mike Miguel, Jr. (1695) dealt newcomer and co-host Lin de Guzman (1500) his first tournament game loss.

9th seed Danny Dandoy (1662) beat 14th seed Mario Ramos (1584) in less than an hour. Jess Toldoya (1579) and 6th seed Jose Omega made it but didn't play so they have to play 2 games on Sunday.

Third seed Menandro Manuel (1794) and 5th seed Jimmy Valenzuela (1742) will return to Palau on Saturday, Jan. 17, and they will have to play 2 games also to catch up.

In the 18 years and below category, defending champion Charles Aquino lost his first game of best of three series to Chris Domingo but bounced back to win the last 2 to begin his campaign of defending his title.

Karen Hernandez, 18, and the lone female contestant, defeated newcomer Michael Velarde, 16. The youngest contestant, 9-year-old Georby Domingo, the younger brother of Chris, lost to Aquino (3-0).

SENIORS' SECOND ROUND PAIRINGS: (FIRST NAME TO PLAY WHITE) Ramos vs. Mariano Agustin, Jr. (1617); Manuel vs. Valenzuela; de Guzman vs. de Jesus (1623); Toldoya vs. Omega; Alipoon vs. Miguel, Jr. Valenzuela vs. Toldoya; Ivan II vs. Dandoy; Omega vs. Manuel; de Jesus vs. Montel, Jr. and Agustin Jr. vs. Hernandez. Latecomers will have to play 2 games on Sunday.

This week's featured classic game is between World Champion Gary Kasparov and Deep Thought in an exhibition match in 1989.

The World Champion was invited to New York to face off the world's leading mainframe computer program in a two-game series at the Marshall Chess Club.

The first game was a typical Grandmaster crush, as Deep Thought was tied down in defending the King pawn.

In the 2nd game, Kasparov opens the game up tactically and show how a hesitant computer can be hung out to dry.

THE MOVES: 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e4 Nc6 4.Nf3 Bg4 5. d5 Ne5 6. Nc3 c6 7. Bf4 ng6 8. Be3 cxd5 9. exd5 Ne5 Deep Thought loses time moving the same piece twice in the opening. Kasparov jumps at the chance to exploit his advantage in development.
10. Qd4 Nxf3+ 11.gxf3 Bxf3 12. Bxc4 Qd6 Black could not play 12. ... Bxh1 13. Bb5+, but 12. ... a6 would have been a better defense.
13. Nb5 Qf6 14. Qc5 Qb6 15. Qa3 e6 16. Nc7+ Qxc7 17. Bb5+ Qc6 18. Bxc6 bxc6 19. Bc5 Bxc5 20. Qxf3 Bb4+ 21. Ke2 cxd5. At this point, a human would have probably resigned but Deep Thought never mind playing out a lost game.
22. Qg4 Be7 23. Rhc1 Kf8 24. Rc7 Bd6 25. Rb7 Nf6 26. Qa4 a5 27. Rc1 h6 28. Rc6 Ne8 29. b4 Bxh2 30. bxa5 Kg8 31. Qb4 Bd6 32. Rxd6 Nxd6 33. Rb8+ Rxb8 34. Qxb8+ Kh7 35. Qxd6 Rc8 36. a4 Rc4 37. Qd7 Black resigns.



Source: Chess Mate by Roberto Hernandez
           Tia Belau Newspaper
           Page 9-10
           Volume 13
           January 16-23, 2004

(37) NEW CHESS TILT START SUNDAY

CHESS PUPPIES

Karen Hernandez, the 2002 All-Filipino Chess tournament's junior best scorer and the lone female contestant in the 2004 Non-master chess tourney opening this Sunday, cuddles 5 puppies with dad, tournament chairman and champion of the 2003 Senior and Junior Open.

Checkmate!

(Photo by Roberto Hernandez)

THE FIRST chess tournament of 2004 will fire off this Sunday, January 11, at Paul Brothers Tri-M General Merchandise and Food Retail in Malakal.

More than 20 senior players and about 10 junior players have already registered.

The single round-robin tourney is being sponsored by Jose Omega ($100.00 to the senior champion) and Nilo de Jesus, who is donating cash prizes to the top 3 finishers in the junior division.

De Jesus is also providing one long table for the tilt. Joji Casinas, the venue host, is donating the trophies to the top 5 finishers in both categories.

The game will start at 1 pm with the pairings based on the players' rating. The number one seed (Ivan II Chess Computer) will be playing against the player in the middle of the rating.

Newcomers will start with the rating of 1500.

The time control for adults is 90 minutes for each player to finish the game. 30 minutes each in the kids division if they will write their moves or best-of-3 series.

Registration fee is $10 for kids and $15 for adults. The extra $5.00 is for cash prizes of 2nd to 4th runners-up.

The Sonneborn Berger system of tiebreak will be used to break ties among the top placers.

The Median system will be used if another tie happens. The Solkoff system is the last tiebreaker to be used where the player who played the most black pieces more wins.

Chess notation is a wonderful invention -- a time machine that allows us to enjoy games of all eras, even those played hundreds of years ago.

Here we see one of the first great masters, Gioachino Greco, in action.

While Greco is credited with developing some gambits, his main contribution to chess was to publish witty collections of games that illustrates his theories.

Greco considered the following as one of his best games. It is against an unknown player in the year 1619(!) in Rome.

1. e4 b6 2. d4 Bb7 3. Bd3 Greco often preferred developing his bishop to d3 rather than c4 or b5. As the game progresses, you will see that this piece is perfectly placed. 3. ... f5 Black offers a pawn to break up the enemy center.

4. exf5 White accepts the pawn, and the fireworks begin! ... Bxg2 5. Qh5+ g6. It is interesting that hundreds of years after this game was played, all of the moves so far are still considered "by the book".

If you are not aware of the date, you might believe that this game is from the Hypermodern movement of the 20th century...

6. fxg6 Nf6 Black gets greedy and losses immediately. The typical continuation is 6. ... Bg7 7. gxd7+ Kf8 8. hxg8=Q+ Kxg8 9. Qg6 (or Qg4) Bxh1 and Black has a reasonable game.

7. gxh7 Nxh5 Gleefully seizing the enemy queen, but not seeing the danger. 8. Bg6 mate.

Even after four centuries, some games can still elicit a smile.

Source: Chess Mate by Roberto Hernandez

Tia Belau Newspaper

Pages 9 & 12

Volume 13

January 09-16, 2004