(525) "Tube Ice" Escapes With A Win Over Top Seed (TBN-Oct. 19-25, 2007)

IT WAS another hectic week in the resumption of Palau Royal Resort rating chess tournament as 27 games were played during the week with Robert 'Tube Ice' Tubice scoring 3 wins and losing 3 games.

His biggest victory was over top seed Roberto Hernandez where he is down with a whole rook in the middle game.

Hernandez is playing simultaneous against other 2 players, Jaime Guevarra and Arnel Pama.

Against Tubice, Hernandez made a blunder pawn advance that allowed Tubice to attack the back rank. 

Another mistake 3 moves later cost him the game in 38 moves of Sicilian Defence. 

He lost by time forfeit to Guevarra, who used only 30 minutes of his time, in 57 moves of Sicilian Defence.

When they resume and analyze the game, Hernandez also lost in all variations. 

He is lucky to draw with Pama when he forked his opponent's king and rook in 55 moves of King's Gambit Accepted.

Two days later, Hernandez played another 3 players at a time winning all of them -- over Arnold Rivera in 26 moves of Irregular Opening; subduing Abraham 'Abe' Francisco and outlasting Paquito 'Pax' Suringa, Jr. in 66 moves of Sicilian Defence.

RESULTS OF OTHER GAMES:
     Guevarra is now in solo 2nd spot after scoring 5 straight victories over Ivan II Chess Computer in 49 moves of Benko Gambit; over Tony Penas in 60 moves of Danish Gambit; against Manny Dulay in just 17 moves of Bishop Opening.
     He nipped Tubice in 58 moves of another Bishop Opening and dealt Paul Garcia his 6th loss in 52 moves of King's Pawn Opening.

     Pama clobbered Erick Ventinilla in 27 moves of Reti Opening; Zaldy Ranopa won 2 more games over Nino Flores in 35 moves of Bishop Opening and over Laurence Abuton in 57 moves  King's Pawn Opening to stay as the only player with least loss (3).

     Flores whipped Dulay and Abuton in 49 moves of Ruy Lopez and 22 moves of Bishop Opening respectively; Tubice outwitted Abuton and Suringa in 41 moves of KPO and in 45 moves of Bishop Opening respectively; Suringa swept Rivera in their 2nd round encounter in 35 moves of Irregular Opening and touted Penas in 24 moves and took the measure of Pama in both KPO.

Hernandez is in solo 1st place after beating Penas in 37 moves of King's Gambit Accepted and in the last game of the week, Lara overcame a piece deficit to beat Penas and stays in contention for the title.

The tournament will end on Oct. 31,  2007 and the top 5 players will win the cash, trophy and medals even if they haven't finished playing their remaining games.

STANDINGS OF PLAYERS AND THEIR WIN-LOSS-DRAW RECORD AND THEIR REMAINING GAMES:
     1. Roberto Hernandez (20-4-1: 11 games) 2. Jaime Guevarra (15-4-3 :  14 games) 3. Nino Flores (15-4-0:  17 games) 4. Zaldy Ranopa (14-3-2:  17 games) 5. Arnel Pama (14-10-2:  10 games) 6. Laurence Abuton (13-9-2:  12 games) 7. Robert Tubice (12-9-2:  13 games)   8. Dennis Lara (12-4-0:  20 games) 9. Paul Garcia (11-6-0:  19 games) 10. Paquito Suringa, Jr. (11-17-0:  8 games) 11. Abe Francisco (9-6-2: 19 games) 12. Tony Penas (8-11-0: 17 games) 13. Erick Ventinilla (7-13-1:  15 games)
14. Excalibur (5-9-3:  19 games) 15. Manny Dulay (5-20-0:  11 games) 16. Ivan II (3-11-2:  20 games) 17. Randy Sioson (3-15-0:  18 games)  18. Arnold Rivera  (1-5-0:30 games)19. Zuenie Mirabueno (0-18-0:18 games)

Source: Chessmate by Roberto Hernandez
           Tia Belau Newspaper
           Page 13
           Volume 17
          October 19-25, 2007  

   


  

(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)

(519) TWO DAYS OF UPSET; FLORES WINS 8 STRAIGHT (TBN-Sept. 21-27, 2007)

        TWO DAYS OF UPSETS,
     FLORES WINS 8 STRAIGHT 

SEPTEMBER 8 AND 9 were the days of upsets in the resumption of Palau Royal Resort rating chess tournament held at PRR Dormitory 1 with Manny Dulay upsetting tough newcomer Dennis Lara in 58 moves of King's Pawn Opening where Lara suffered his only 4th loss.

Hours later, Robert 'Tube Ice' Tubice dealt Zaldy Ranopa his 2nd loss of the tourney with a 47-move conquest of Bishop Opening.

A day later, Ranopa bowed to Laurence Abuton in 30 moves of Ruy Lopez and elevated Abuton to 4th place with a 9-6-1 win-loss-draw slate.

And hours later, Randy Sioson took the measure of Arnel Pama in just 25 moves of another KPO where Pama's mental toughness is not present as he was routed by Lara in a shorter 18 moves of Queen's Gambit Declined.

But it was a week of win streak for Nino Flores as he scored 8 straight by winning over Paquito 'Pax' Suringa, Jr. in just 8 moves of Bishop Opening; over Tubice in 33 moves of Giocco Piano and over Excalibur chess computer in 25 moves of another Bishop Opening.

He dislodged top seed and idle Roberto Hernandez, who haven't played a game in more than a month.

A member of the Board of Directors of King Royal Chess Club insists that the 2nd round of the tourney must not continue unless all players have paid their registration fee of $5.00.

Arnold Rivera joined the tilt last week and paid his due. He will play on Saturday against weaker players to gain momentum.

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

Source: Chessmate by Roberto Hernandez
           Tia Belau Newspaper
           Page 13
           Volume 17
           September 21-27, 2007   

  

  










 

(503) KA ABE NIPS IVAN; LOSES TO LARA (TBN-Aug. 31-Sept. 06, 2007)

ABRAHAM 'Abe' Francisco failed to get the best record in the resumption of Palau Royal Resort Rating Chess tournament held this week at Dormitory 1 when he lost to newcomer Dennis Lara with a whole piece (bishop) advantage.

He sacrificed his queen hoping that Lara will capture with a back rank rook that will result in mate to Lara's king.

But Lara cleverly captured with the other rook and all things went wrong as he cannot avert Lara's own mating threats.

A day later, he won the replay game against 2nd seed Ivan II Chess Computer in 29 moves of Caro-Kahn Defence.

It put Ivan to the bottom of the standings with 6 setbacks against 0 win as it was beaten also by the elected chairman of King Royal Chess Club Arnel Pama in 30 moves of Sicilian Defence (Dragon Variation) where Pama sacrificed a rook for a pawn to weave a mating net.

In other completed games, Manny Dulay overestimated the strength of the other computer and lost in 36 moves of King's Pawn Opening.

Laurence Abuton checkmated Robert Tubice on the 40th move of Bishop Opening.

Paquito Suringa, Jr. dropped another close game to Tubice in 36 moves of Irregular Opening.

Randy Sioson proudly and boastfully scored his 2nd win by outwitting Dulay in 45 moves of another KPO.

First round leader Jaime Guevarra won 3 straight over Dulay in 56 moves of another Bishop Opening; in 32 moves of Two Knights Defence over Lara and by default over Sioson and grabbed 2nd spot from Lara and Nino Flores touted Erick Ventinilla to gain his 4th victory.

On Saturday night, the officers and members of KRCC held a meeting to address the reluctance of some players to play even on their day off.

It was agreed that a player will lose by default if he refuse to play without valid reason that is work-related.

Sioson was the first to lose when he refused to play without valid reason (work-related).

The strict scheduling was set to finish the first round of the tourney within 2 weeks.

Seven players are also asked to pay their registration fee of $5.00 as 2 paydays have already passed.

They are Zaldy Ranopa, Tony Penas, Dulay, Sioson, Suringa, Jr., Tubice and lone lady entrant Zuenie Mirabueno.

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

Source:
Chessmate by Roberto Hernandez
Tia Belau Newspaper
Page 13
Volume 17
August 31-September 06, 2007

(501) FLORES, RANOPA END HERNANDEZ' 9-GAME WIN STREAK (

TWO tough players from Maintenance Department of Palau Royal Resort dealt top seed Roberto Hernandez his 1st and 2nd loss of the rating chess tournament held at PRR Dormitory 1 on Wednesday, August 08.

Nino Flores outwitted Hernandez in less than 40 moves of Danish Gambit where the former declined the 2 pawns offered to counter Hernandez' pet defence.

With exposed king due to premature advance of his kingside pawns, Hernandez allowed the penetration of two rooks, knight and queen the forces him to give up his queen for a rook.

After losing his first game, he subdued a stingy defence from Manny Dulay and prevailed. He concentrated on his 3rd simultaneous game against Zaldy Ranopa, who obtained a passed b pawn.

A mistake sequence of moves cost Hernandez a drawn game to his 2nd loss in 45 moves of another Danish Gambit.

It made the standings more interesting with 13 players still has a chance to be the champion.

In other completed games within the week, Tony Penas, another Maintenance crew, nipped Erick Ventinilla of Giocco Piano Opening.

Abraham 'Abe' Francisco drew with Robert Tubice in 45 moves of King's Pawn Opening.

First round leader Jaime Guevarra clobbered Penas in 52 moves of Center Counter.

Abe trounced Excalibur Chess Computer in 47 moves of Caro-Kahn Defence.

Erstwhile leader Arnel Pama blundered on the 32nd move with a piece advantage and lost to Ranopa in 34 moves of Reti Opening.

Erick Ventinilla lost another heartbreaker to Laurence Abuton in 41 moves of Danish Gambit, where a dubious exchange sacrifice of Erick cost him his other rook and the game.

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

Source:
Chessmate by Roberto Hernandez
Tia Belau Newspaper
Page 13
Volume 17
August 17-23, 2007