January 2005 Fide ratings, Misamis and Manila execs

By Frank “Boy" Pestaño
Chessmoso

VISHY Anand is just 18 points behind Garry Kasparov, while Veselin Topalov dislodged Vladimir Kramnik at third place in the latest Fide ratings. Anand had a good performance in the last chess Olympiad in Calvia, Spain, while Kasparov played poorly in the European Club Cup, although he recovered by winning the Russian Super-final. One good performance by Anand (i.e. the Wijk aan zee tournament at the end of this month) and he may just replace Kasparov at the No.1 position.

Kramnik lost six points in his World Championship match against Peter Leko, who went up to fifth replacing Mozorevich. Also, Etienne Bacrot became the first Frenchman to enter the world’s top 10 players.

Zsuzsa Polgar replaced his inactive sister Judit at the top of the Women’s ratings due to her excellent performance in the Calvia Olympiad. Volokitin is tops among Juniors, ahead by 18 points over Radjabov. In the Girls section, India’s star Koneru Humpy leads, replacing Alexandra Kosteniuk.

Top Men: 1. Garry Kasparov-Russia, 2804 2. Anand Viswanathan-India, 2786 3. Veselin Topalov-Bulgaria, 2757 4.Vladimir Kramnik-Russia, 2754 5. Peter Leko-Hungary, 2749 6. Alexander Morozevich-Russia, 2741 7. Michael Adams-England, 2741 8. Peter Svidler-Russia, 2735 9. Etienne Bacrot-France, 2715 10. Alexei Shirov-Spain, 2713.

Top Women 1. Zsuzsa Polgar-USA, 2577 2. Jun Xie-China, 2573 3. Humpy Koneru-India, 2512 4. Maia Chiburdanidze-Georgia, 2509 5. Xue Zhao-China, 2502 6. Chen Zhu-China, 2494 7. Antoaneta Stefanova-Bulgaria, 2491 8. Alexandra Kosteniuk- Russia, 2490 9. Yuhua Xu-China, 2487 10. Pia Cramling-Sweden, 2481

Top Juniors 1. Andrei Volokotin-Ukraine, 2685 2. Teimour Radjabov-Azerbaijan, 2667 3. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov-Azerbaijan, 2657 4. David Navara-Czechoslovakia, 2644 5. Pentala Harikrishna-India, 2632 6. Arkadij Naiditsch-Germany, 2623 7. Artyom Timofeev-Russia, 2619 8. Hikaru Nakamura-USA, 2613 9. Ferenc Berkes-Hungary, 2610 10. Xiangzhi Bu-China, 2607.

Top Girls 1. Humpy Koneru-India, 2512 2. Xue Zhao-China, 2502 3. Nana Dzagnidze-Georgia, 2477 4. Tatiana Kosintseva-Russia, 2475 5. Nadezhda Kosintseva-Russia, 2460 6. Kateryna Lahno-Ukraine, 2454 7. Marie Sebag-France, 2421 8. Ekaterina Korbut-Russia, 2417 9. Elizabeth Paehtz-Germany, 2407 10. Dronavalli Harika-India, 2396.

Top Filipinos 1. Mark Paraqua, 2586 2. Rogelio Antonio Jr., 2539 3. Eugenio Torre, 2530 4. Rogelio Barcenilla, 2507 5. Nelson Mariano, 2468 6.

Buenaventura Villamayor, 2463 7. Jayson Gonzales, 2459 8. Idelfonso Datu, 2457 9. Yves Rañola, 2455 10. Enrique Paciencia, 2449
MISAMIS EXECUTIVES LINE-UP. As part of the Sinulog celebration, we are pleased to have executive chess players from Manila and Misamis as our guests, who will play against members of the Cebu Executives and Professionals Chess Association (Cepca) in a triangular match.
Additionally, we are also receiving feelers from the Bohol execs that they might also join the contest.

Here is the tentative line-up of the Misamis Executives and Professionals Chess Association: 1. Gov. Loreto Leo Ocampos-team manager 2. Quirino Sagario 3. Reynaldo Feliciano 4. Leonidez Fernandez 5. Rey Urbiztondo 6. Fabian Lagura 7. Stephen Ty 8. Engr. Vic Ardiente 9. Francis Joseph Kaamiño 10. Melcon la Piña 11. Engr. Edwin Balbutin 12. Engr. Rocky Rocamora 13.

Atillano Tabamo 14. Nelson Padilla 15. Fr. Eugene Rudinas 16. Eduardo Sanchez 17. Judge Felipe Zapatos 18. Lorson Lapasaran 19. Rommel Moreno.

MANILA EXECUTIVES LINE-UP. The crack team from Manila will be headed by Jenny Mayor and composed of the following players 1. Noel Garcia 2. Erven Perlas 3. Jun Rivera 4. Loren Tabilog 5.Antero Pobre 6.Tyrone Guya 7. Chris Castellano 8.James Infiesto 9. Ryan Ruiz 10. Steve Matutino 11. Glenn Pardillo 12. Rey Marras 13. Ramon Pangilinan 14. Leo Ricana 15. Tomawis Bongarsa 16. Nim Arabani 17. Maj. JohnnyTorralba

Schedule of activities on Jan. 14 is as follows: 9-9:30 a.m. – Registration, 9:30-11:30 a.m. – Cebu vs. Manila (first game), 11:30-12 p.m. – Lunch, 12:30-2:30 p.m. – Cebu vs. Manila (2nd game), 2:45-7 p.m. – Five rounds Swiss (all players).

On Jan. 15, the tournament will start at 9 a.m. and will feature the Misamis and Manila executives against two Cepca teams, playing in a double-round active competition. In the evening, we will host a dinner for our visitors.