Palau Chessmate: Laurence Abuton

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

Monday, September 2, 2013

(566) 'AYING' SURGES TO 2ND SPOT (TBN-April 11-17, 2008)

INVITED player Andres 'Aying' Mestizo II played 6 games in one day and took solo 2nd place in the resumption of Palau Royal Resort Rapid Chess tournament held at PRR Dormitory 1 on Sunday, April 06.

He started with a sweep of 2nd seed Jaime Guevarra where in the first game, Guevarra overlooked a mate in one that would have finished him off in just over 5 minutes of play.

He played badly again in their 2nd round match maybe due to inactivity or lack of practice.

Next in line was Robert Tubice, who drew first blood when Aying failed to sustain his overwhelming advantage into a win.

He trounced "Tube Ice" in their 2nd round match while Paul Garcia is watching their game. They played practice game while waiting for another available player.

Zaldy Ranopa's first tournament game of the year was spoiled by Aying when he lost in their first game.

He had his chances in the 2nd game with a mate in one but he captured with a pawn that leaves them with both a queen and a king and agreed to draw the game.

With 4.5 points scored in just one day, Aying had 6.5 points and only a mere half point behind top seed Roberto Hernandez.

His last remaining opponents are Paquito 'Pax' Suringa, Jr., Eli Madrinan, Laurence Abuton and Darwin Nisperos, who is going home on May 04, 2008 and will not renew his contract.

Garcia, on the other hand, has resigned and will be leaving on April 30, 2008.

Players who are hesitant to play against Garcia are advised that if they have not played him within 3 weeks, it will be declared as wins for Garcia, the most feared player in PRR.

He has shown the biggest improvement due to his everyday practice with Ivan II Chess Computer, the talking and taunting chess machine that has a rating of 2000 (United States Chess Federation).

Source: Chessmate by Roberto Hernandez
   Tia Belau Newspaper
   Pages 13 & 15
   Volume 18
   April 11-17, 2008

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

(529) HERNANDEZ, LARA, GUEVARRA TOP PRR CHESS TILT (TBN-Nov. 09-15, 2007)

TOP seed Roberto Hernandez, newcomer Dennis Lara and pastry chef Jaime Guevarra finished 1st, 2nd and 3rd respectively in the conclusion of Palau Royal Resort rating chess tournament held on Halloween night, Oct. 31, 2007 at Dorm 1.

Four crucial games were played on the final day. After Nino Flores lost to Guevarra, Hernandez had a sigh of relief and virtually clinched the title after Flores lost another one to Lara.

Paul Garcia ended his surge for the top 3 finish when he lost to Lara in a 30-minute or rapid chess time control to speed up the game.

All other games were declared draws or defaults as players didn't show up in the final night.

The mostly affected player was Abe Francisco, who lost 13 games via default and finished at 14th spot.

Roberto 'Tube Ice' Tubice edged Laurence Abuton at 8th spot by just 2 points.

Arnel Pama still made it at 7th slot and will receive a medal from Mr. Allan Tuppil, the Food & Beverage Manager of PRR, who donated $100.00 cash prize, a trophy and 5 medals for the 4th to 8th finishers.

Pama and Mr. Tuppil have a short vacation and will be back on the 10th of this month.

Awarding of cash prize and medals will be held after they have come back.

Flores and Guevarra finished with identical 28 points but Guevarra prevailed in the Sonnenborn-Berger tiebreak 359.5 to 297.

Hernandez will receive $50.00 cash prize and he will donate $20.00 to King Royal Chess Club of PRR.

Lara and Guevarra will donate $10.00 and $5.00 of their $30.00 and $20.00 cash prize respectively.

The new ratings of the players who participated in the tourney was released and Guevarra emerged as the highest rated player ahead of Lara as he scored a victory once over Hernandez and twice over Ivan II chess computer. Lara and Flores drew their 2 games with Ivan II to lose 40 rating points.

FINAL STANDINGS OF PLAYERS WITH THEIR WIN-LOSS-DRAW RECORD AND NEW APPROXIMATE RATING 1. Roberto Hernandez (29-4-3) 30.5 pts. (2076) 2. Dennis Lara (27-5-4) 29 pts. (1838) 3. Jaime Guevarra (25-5-6) 28 pts. (1951) 4. Nino Flores (26-6-4) 28 pts. (1865) 5. Paul Garcia (24-8-4) 26 pts. (1823) 6. Zaldy Ranopa (23-8-5) 25.5 pts. (1845) 7. Arnel Pama (21-12-3) 22.5 pts. (1773) 8. Robert Tubice (19-13-4) 21 pts. (1771)
9. Laurence Abuton (17-15-4) 19 pts. (1770) 10. Tony Penas (13-15-8) 17 pts. (1762) 11. Erick Ventinilla (12-17-7) 15.5 pts. (1754) 12. Paquito Suringa, Jr. (13-20-3) 14.5 pts. (1670) 13. Excalibur Chess Computer (5-14-17) 13.5 pts. 14. Abe Francisco (10-21-5) 12.5 pts. (1670) 15. Ivan II (3-15-18) 12 pts. 16. Manny Dulay (9-23-4) 11 pts. (1647) 17. Randy Sioson (10-25-1) 10.5 pts. (1611) 18. Arnold Rivera (2-29-5) 4.5 points (1608) 19. Zueni Mirabueno (0-32-4) 2 pts.

Danny Dandoy, the 1st runner-up of the 2004 Non-Master chess tournament will join the Rapid Chess tournament organized by Knights and Rooks Chess Club to start on November 18 at Jean's Boutique and Store.

Guevarra and Garcia will likely join the tilt also and a newcomer named Michael Mercado of Aqua Water will test the top players of Palau in the year-ending tournament.

Source: Chessmate by Roberto Hernandez
Tia Belau Newspaper
Page 13
Volume 17
November 09-15, 2007

Sunday, August 4, 2013

(528) GARCIA STILL IN CONTENTION (TBN-Nov. 02-08, 2007)

PLAYING 2 players at a time becomes a trend in the last week of Palau Royal Resort rating chess tournament with Paul Garcia playing the 2 chess computers simultaneously and beating Excalibur in 54 moves of Dutch Defence and Ivan II in 19 moves of Queen's Pawn Opening.

He lost to Robert 'Tube Ice' Tubice when he missed a rook check that would have given him a whole piece advantage in the endgame.

Instead, he played passively and lost to his catalyst in a Bishop Opening game but still in contention for the top 8 slot.

Another 3 medals were added to the prize donated by Mr. Allan Tuppil, the Food & Beverage Manager of PRR.

OTHER RESULTS OF THE PENULTIMATE ROUND OF THE TOURNEY:

   Top seed Roberto Hernandez played 2 players at a time and beat them both.
   He clobbered Zaldy Ranopa in 42 moves of Modern Defence and survived a strong resistance from Laurence Abuton in 31 moves of Sicilian Defence.

   Another simultaneous game was played by Arnel Pama versus Dennis Lara and Jaime Guevarra but lost both games one the eve of his departure for emergency leave.

   Ranopa scored the quickest victory over Ivan II when he sacrificed a rook and a bishop without any material consideration except to maintain his initiative in mounting a bewildering attack.

   He unified his forces into perfect harmony so that when his heavy artillery ignited the first salvo, the belligerent forces were in frenzy dodging the spitfire. Pandemonium broke loose as continuous shelling ravage Ivan's territory and was mated on the 19th move.

   With the tournament to be concluded on Oct. 31, 2007, many players will not be able to finished their remaining games and organizers will decide if they will forfeit those games to the players who refuse to play when asked to like Arnold Rivera, Abe Francisco and Randy "Buhawi" Sioson.

   Awarding of cash prizes, trophy and medals will be held after Mr. Tuppil's short vacation. He and Pama will be back on Nov. 10, 2007.

   Two weeks after the awarding, a rapid chess tournament will be held again with players having the pleasure of not annotating their moves anymore.

   On November 18, 2007, the Knights and Rooks Chess Club (Palau) will have their own rapid chess tournament which will conclude on Dec. 16, 2007.

   If there are still games to be played, it will be held on Dec. 23 to coincide with KRCC Christmas Party and Blitz Chess Festival.

   Jaime Guevarra showed interest in participating as his time schedule can have him play a game on Saturday and another game on Sunday, most probably morning.

   STANDINGS OF PLAYERS AND THEIR WIN-LOSS-DRAW RECORD:
   1. Roberto Hernandez (25-4-1) 2. Jaime Guevarra (18-5-3) 3. Nino Flores (19-4-0) 4. Zaldy Ranopa (17-6-2) 5. Arnel Pama (17-12-2) 6. Dennis Lara (16-5-0) 7. Robert Tubice (16-10-2) 8. Paul Garcia (14-7-0) 9. Laurence Abuton (14-10-2) 10. Paquito Suringa, Jr. (12-17-0) 11. Abe Francisco (10-6-0) 12. Tony Penas (9-11-0) 13. Erick Ventinilla (8-15-1) 14. Randy Sioson (6-16-0) 15. Manny Dulay (6-20-0) 16. Excalibur (4-13-5) 17. Ivan II (2-14-4) 18. Arnold Rivera (2-5-0) 19. Zuenie Mirabueno (0-32-4).

Source: Chessmate by Roberto Hernandez
   Tia Belau Newspaper
   Page 13
   Volume 17
   November 02-08, 2007

Monday, July 29, 2013

(524) PAX WINS 3 OF LAST 4 GAMES (TBN-Oct. 12-18, 2007)

IT WAS the most hectic week of the Palau Royal Resort rating chess tournament that 27 games were played with Paquito 'Pax' Suringa, Jr. on a winning surge and even almost upsetting the 2 frontrunners.

He upset Paul Garcia by employing the same tactic that Garcia used in trouncing current 2nd placer Nino Flores.

Pax have been patient all game long and outlasted Garcia in a marathon 70 moves of Giocco Piano. He followed it up with a 52 moves error-filled French Defence game with Arnold Rivera where the latter captured with the wrong piece that will give him the advantage of a queen.

He became overconfident with his game against Zaldy Ranopa with overwhelming material and positional advantage and lost instead to snap a rare two-game winning streak.

He clobbered Erick Ventinilla in 34 moves of King's Pawn Opening in the middle of his 10-day annual leave that gives him fresh mind and more concentration to the game.

OTHER RESULTS OF LAST WEEK'S GAMES:
   Flores upended Arnel Pama in 38 moves of Bishop Opening; Ranopa drubbed Ventinilla in 37 moves of Danish Gambit where he also won over Manny Dulay in 46 moves of another Bishop Opening; Ventinilla and Flores nipped Randy Sioson in 45 moves of Ruy Lopez and in 22 moves of Bishop Opening respectively; the ever-improving Dulay outwitted Suringa in 45 moves of yet another Bishop Opening, the most widely used defence in this tourney at 7 times this week; Laurence Abuton took the measure of Sioson in 37 moves of Petroff Defence.

   Top seed Roberto Hernandez played 3 games at a time and defeated them all with Dulay blundering in the middle game where he should have captured Hernandez' queen with his knight plus a check that would have given him an enormous advantage. He lost instead in 32 moves of Sicilian Defence (Alapin Variation).

   Abuton lost in just 20 moves of King' Gambit Accepted while Ventinilla left his bishop undefended and lost in 51 moves of another Sicilian Defence.

   Ranopa couldn't sustain his advantage and accepted the draw with Abraham 'Abe' Francisco in 49 moves of Bishop Opening; Dennis Lara scored a point over Paxin 61 moves of Nimzo-Indian Defence (Classical Variation); Flores overcame a blunder of his own and beat Pax in 28 moves of Bishop Opening; Pax bounced back from defeat and demolished Sioson in 30 moves of King's Pawn Opening; Pama overlooked a neat rook sacrifice of Abuton to draw by stalemate in 43 moves of Two Knights Defence;

   Pama touted Dulay in 38 moves of another King's Pawn Opening; Garcia made short work on Dulay to win in just 15 moves of Sicilian Defence and snapped Flores' 11-game winning streak with a victory in 36 moves of Bishop Opening; Abuton outlasted Dulay in 43 moves of Scotch Four Knights Defence but lost to Robert "Tube Ice" Tubice.

   Hernandez seized the lead again after conquering Ivan II "The Conqueror" Chess Computer in 39 moves of Benko Gambit and Pama toppled Ventinilla in the last game of the week in 26 moves of Reti Opening.

   The champion of this tourney will receive a trophy and $50.00 from Mr. Allan Tuppil, the Food and Beverage Manager of PRR.

   The 2nd and 3rd placer will get $30.00 and $20.00 respectively while the 4th and 5th placer will get a medal each.

STANDINGS OF PLAYERS AND THEIR WIN-LOSS-DRAW SLATE:
   1. Roberto Hernandez (17-2-0) 2. Nino Flores (15-3-0) 3. Laurence Abuton (13-8-2) 4. Zaldy Ranopa (12-3-2) 5. Arnel Pama (12-9-1) 6. Jaime Guevarra (10-4-3) 7. Dennis Lara (11-4-0) 8. Robert Tubice (10-8-2) 9. Abe Francisco (9-5-2) 10. Paul Garcia (9-5-0) 11. Paquito Suringa, Jr. (9-14-0) 12. Tony Penas (8-6-0) 13. Erick Ventinilla (6-13-1) 14. Excalibur (5-9-1) 15. Manny Dulay (5-18-0) 16. Ivan II (3-10-0) 17. Randy Sioson (3-15-0) 18. Arnold Rivera (1-3-0) 19. Zuenie Mirabueno (0-18-0).

Source: Chessmate by Roberto Hernandez
   Tia Belau Newspaper
   Page 13
   Volume 17
   October 12-18, 2007

Paquito Suringa, Jr., right, receiving his certificate of appreciation for participating in the 2012 Palau National Chess Championship from Secretary/Treasurer of Palau Chess Federation Roberto Hernandez. Paquito improved a lot since joining his first tournament in Palau--the PRR Rating Chess Tournament in July-Oct. 2007. He was Palau's no. 4 chess player in 2011 and currently no. 6 this year.
(Photo by Roberto Hernandez)

Palau Chessmate

Friday, May 27, 2016

(1221) CHESS MATE ISSUES No. 201-250 and their LINKS

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

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