By Frank “Boy” Pestaño
Chessmoso
This has been an extraordinary month with a lot of tournaments in the local, national and international scene, highlighted by the return of the great Gary Kasparov to the game. All along, I always had the belief that Gary will, from time to time, play again although this was an exhibition match.
The event was held in Zurich the other day, in celebration of the 150th anniversary of Credit Suisse and featured his long time rival Anatoly Karpov, Victor Korchnoi and the No.1 women’s player Judit Polgar.
Kasparov and Karpov tied for first in the match.
In the local scene, the Cebu leg of the Shell National Youth Active Chess Championship was held at the SM Entertainment Plaza early this week. The winners were Eric Abanco in the Juniors Division and 11-year-old Jerich Cajeras in the Kiddies.
On the national scene, the biggest tournament of the year, the 3rd Prospero Pichay Sr. Memorial Open with a total prize money of P300,000, was held last Aug. 12-14 at Cantillan, Surigao del Sur.
The surprise winner was NM Ernesto Fernandez of Pagadian, as our GMs opted not to play in this Fide sanctioned tournament for “fear” their Elo ratings will go down. What a shame!
Here are the final standings: 1st, Ernesto Fernandez (P100T); 2nd, IM Ronald Dableo (P60T); and 3rd–8th (P10T each), IMs Manny Senador, Darwin Laylo, Barlo Nadera and Richard Bitoon, NM John Paul Gomez and Cebuano Anthony Makiniano.
Voltaire Sevillano shared 9th to 12th and won P5,000, while Carlos Moreno and Eden Diano won P3,000 each for finishing in the top 20.
International activities for this month were a handful. The China vs. Russia Summit was held in Ergun, Mongolia last Aug. 10-20, China won 51.5-48.5. Russia won the Men’s title, while China won the Women’s crown.
The annual Chess Classic Mainz also took place in Germany last Aug.15-20. Viswanathan Anand was the rapid match winner, while Levon Aronian won in the Fischer Chess 960. Rustam Kasimdzhanov won the Ordix Open, while Shakhriyar Mamedyarov was second on tiebreak but won the combined Chess 960 and Ordix Open. Natalia Zhukova won the Ladies Division in the Ordix Open, while Lajos Portisch was the best performer in the seniors division.
The 81st French Championship, Abu Dhabi International chess festival, The Montreal Empresa International A and B, Rubenstein Memorial, Staunton Memorial and the British Open were also played this month.
POKER. I will feature news about this current rage in Cebu as I know a lot of friends who are into to this game, either online or against real people. The most popular version is Texas Holdem and you can watch it being played several times a week on cable.
According to Nicnic Climaco, who introduced me to Pokerstars.com and partypoker.com, two of the more popular websites (there are more than 10 now), which you can download from the Internet. You can bet with either play money or real dollars for as low as $0.02 or you can play in hundreds or even thousands.
Games are played 24 hours a day and there are as many as 50,000 people playing at the same time.
I understand that Texas Holdem is now being played in several spots in Cebu, among them Baseline, Country Club, Kalye 80s along Sepulveda St., Tisoy’s Sportsbar along Fortuna St. in Mandaue, Sandtrap in Banilad, Rajah Park Hotel in Fuente, and Badgers, two blocks north of Country Mall.
Steve Henning sent me an e-mail describing Badgers as ‘the place” to play poker in Cebu. It also has pool tables, several TVs, ample space and excellent food. I will be visiting and observing these places soon, together with Nicnic .
CEPCA.The Club’s monthly tournament will be held at Bibo’s chess club this Sunday at 1 p.m. Format will be five rounds thematic as follows: 1st round: e3, 2nd: e4-e5 King‘s pawn, 3rd: c3 Sarragosa,4th: d4-d5 Queen’s pawn and 5th: d3 Miesses.
Friday, August 25, 2006
Friday, August 18, 2006
Chess-playing Nobel Prize winners
By Frank “Boy” Pestaño
Chessmoso
The Nobel Prize is generally recognized as the highest commendation an individual can receive. It is awarded to people or organizations that have made outstanding contributions to society. Compared to others, the Nobel Prize nomination and selection is a long and rigorous process, and the winners are highly respected.
It is said that all great men play chess. It is not a surprise then that there are a good number of Nobel winners who play chess.
I have already written before about Menachim Begin and Anwar Sadat who both won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1978. Almost everybody knows that Albert Einstein, 1921 Physics winner, was an avid chess player. Another peace awardee was Yasser Arafat in 1994.
For his peace efforts in the Vietnam war, Henry Kissinger won the 1973 peace award, while Willi Brandt won the 1971 award for the relaxation of tensions in eastern and Western Europe .
Samuel Beckett (1969, literature) had a lifelong passion with chess. He played a lot of games with Marcel Duchamp. He gives a move-by-move chess game in “Murphy” and one of his plays is titled “Endgame.”
Elias Canetti (1981, literature) wrote a 1935 book titled “Auto da fe,” in which the main character was a guy named Fischer who wants to become champion of the world. Please note that Bobby Fischer was born in 1943. Strange coincidence.
George Bernard Shaw (1975, literature) once said that “Chess is a foolish expedient for making idle people believe they are doing something very clever when they are only wasting their time.”
Sinclair Lewis (1930, literature) had such a passion for chess that he hired secretaries to play chess with him during the last years of his life. He is the author of “Main Street” and “Elmer Gantry.”
Robert Robinson (1947, chemistry) was an ardent chess player who was president of the British Chess Federation from 1950-53. He did extensive research on organic chemistry.
William Yeats (1923, literature) wrote that that the subjective goal of chess is self preservation, or more specifically self maintenance, and that it is impossible to win without losing some of one`s own pieces along the way, in an allegory to life.
Gerard Debreu (1983, economics) published his famous monograph, Theory of value: An axiomatic analysis of Economic Equilibrium, which shows that there exists a price system for which the aggregate excess demand correspondence vanishes.
Other chess playing Nobel winners are John Cornforth (1975, chemistry) who did extensive research on organic chemistry; William Golding (literature, 1983), author of “the Lord of the Flies;” Gabriel Garcia Marquez (1982, literature), author of a lot of fiction and screenplays in Spanish; Boris Pasternak (literature, 1958), famous for his novel “Dr. Zhivago” and Wolfgang Pauli (physics, 1945), who did extensive research on Quantum Mechanics.
Frederick Soddy (1921, chemistry) did extensive research on radioactivity that proved that transmutation was occurring in radioactive elements. Isaac Singer (literature, 1978) wrote “Satan in Goray,” “Family Moskat” and “The Manor,” and a few dozens more.
John Steinbeck (literature, 1962) is better known for his novels “Of Mice and Men,” ”Grapes of Wrath,” which also won the Pulitzer Prize, and several novels that were made into movies, among them “Cannery Row” and “The Pearl.”
Henryk Sienkiewicz (literature, 1905) is one of the outstanding writers in the second half of the 19th century. Among his novels are “Quo Vadis,” set during the reign of Emperor Nero, which was made into a movie, and “Teutonic Knights.”
Cepca monthly. Mandy Baria, president of the Cebu Executives and Professionals Chess Association, informed me that the August tournament of the club will be on Sunday Aug. 27 at the Bibo Chess Club at 1 p.m. This will also be a thematic tournament.
Chessmoso
The Nobel Prize is generally recognized as the highest commendation an individual can receive. It is awarded to people or organizations that have made outstanding contributions to society. Compared to others, the Nobel Prize nomination and selection is a long and rigorous process, and the winners are highly respected.
It is said that all great men play chess. It is not a surprise then that there are a good number of Nobel winners who play chess.
I have already written before about Menachim Begin and Anwar Sadat who both won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1978. Almost everybody knows that Albert Einstein, 1921 Physics winner, was an avid chess player. Another peace awardee was Yasser Arafat in 1994.
For his peace efforts in the Vietnam war, Henry Kissinger won the 1973 peace award, while Willi Brandt won the 1971 award for the relaxation of tensions in eastern and Western Europe .
Samuel Beckett (1969, literature) had a lifelong passion with chess. He played a lot of games with Marcel Duchamp. He gives a move-by-move chess game in “Murphy” and one of his plays is titled “Endgame.”
Elias Canetti (1981, literature) wrote a 1935 book titled “Auto da fe,” in which the main character was a guy named Fischer who wants to become champion of the world. Please note that Bobby Fischer was born in 1943. Strange coincidence.
George Bernard Shaw (1975, literature) once said that “Chess is a foolish expedient for making idle people believe they are doing something very clever when they are only wasting their time.”
Sinclair Lewis (1930, literature) had such a passion for chess that he hired secretaries to play chess with him during the last years of his life. He is the author of “Main Street” and “Elmer Gantry.”
Robert Robinson (1947, chemistry) was an ardent chess player who was president of the British Chess Federation from 1950-53. He did extensive research on organic chemistry.
William Yeats (1923, literature) wrote that that the subjective goal of chess is self preservation, or more specifically self maintenance, and that it is impossible to win without losing some of one`s own pieces along the way, in an allegory to life.
Gerard Debreu (1983, economics) published his famous monograph, Theory of value: An axiomatic analysis of Economic Equilibrium, which shows that there exists a price system for which the aggregate excess demand correspondence vanishes.
Other chess playing Nobel winners are John Cornforth (1975, chemistry) who did extensive research on organic chemistry; William Golding (literature, 1983), author of “the Lord of the Flies;” Gabriel Garcia Marquez (1982, literature), author of a lot of fiction and screenplays in Spanish; Boris Pasternak (literature, 1958), famous for his novel “Dr. Zhivago” and Wolfgang Pauli (physics, 1945), who did extensive research on Quantum Mechanics.
Frederick Soddy (1921, chemistry) did extensive research on radioactivity that proved that transmutation was occurring in radioactive elements. Isaac Singer (literature, 1978) wrote “Satan in Goray,” “Family Moskat” and “The Manor,” and a few dozens more.
John Steinbeck (literature, 1962) is better known for his novels “Of Mice and Men,” ”Grapes of Wrath,” which also won the Pulitzer Prize, and several novels that were made into movies, among them “Cannery Row” and “The Pearl.”
Henryk Sienkiewicz (literature, 1905) is one of the outstanding writers in the second half of the 19th century. Among his novels are “Quo Vadis,” set during the reign of Emperor Nero, which was made into a movie, and “Teutonic Knights.”
Cepca monthly. Mandy Baria, president of the Cebu Executives and Professionals Chess Association, informed me that the August tournament of the club will be on Sunday Aug. 27 at the Bibo Chess Club at 1 p.m. This will also be a thematic tournament.
Friday, August 11, 2006
A letter on the Chess in School program
By Frank “Boy” Pestaño
Chessmoso
In an announcement last month, President Arroyo approved, in principle, the implementation of Chess in Schools as proposed by National Chess Federation President Prospero Pichay. I had an e-mail feedback from the US, which I am quoting here:
Dear Mr. Pestano:
I happened across your article about school chess in the Philippines. How wonderful that chess may become a standard subject in the school curriculum! Given your support of chess for young people, I thought you might be interested to learn about the unique program we created some years ago to help schools introduce chess to their students—the Think Like A King School Chess Software System. Think Like A King has been named the Official Scholastic Software of the United States Chess Federation, and our unique system is used by more than 1,300 schools across the United States and in a number of other countries.
When we began working with our own children’s club in the Chicago area in the mid ’90s, we looked for tools already on the market that could help run the club. While we found a number of software products that taught chess by allowing the user to play against the computer, we did not find anything suitable for a school setting – so we created some simple tools ourselves – focusing on using chess to help kids learn how to think. One tool (Chess Club Manager) helped manage the club (by keeping a club roster with student demographics; tracking student game performance and creating a club ladder; printing award certificates, etc.) We also developed a basic interactive tutorial, First Lessons in Chess, to teach kids the fundamentals of the game and reinforce the once-a-week lessons that we provided when the club met.
The tools were so successful in our own club – and we realized how difficult it could be to find a chess expert to come into the schools to teach kids – that we made the decision to market our program to other schools. We also sought help from a chess teacher who had tremendous success in the New York City Public Schools, working with at-risk students in a high poverty area. That individual, David MacEnulty, became the author of our six Chess Workouts interactive tutorials (along with GM Miron Sher in some of the more advanced volumes) – and his work inspired a recent made-for-TV movie called the Knights of the South Bronx.
Below is some additional information about Think Like A King. I hope you will visit our Web site at www.schoolchess.com – and will contact us if you believe our software system would be useful in the expansion of school chess in the Philippines. We look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Leslie B. Lipschhultz
eslie@schoolchess.com/www.schoolchess.com
I hope that President Arroyo, Representative Pichay and the top officials of the Dep. Of Education will read this article and take action so the Chess in Schools program can start by next the school year.
Opascor-Philexport. The well-oiled chess machinery of the Oriental Port and Allied Services Corporation (Opascor) rolled over the newly formed chess team of Philexport in their recently concluded dual meet last Aug. 5 at the Gaisano Bowlingplex in Banilad, by an aggregate team score of 21.5 to 14.5 .
Opascor president Tom Riveral announced during the awarding ceremonies that he will sponsor similar tournaments every three months in order to maintain the sharpness of the players and chess aficionados.
Executive director Fred Escalona promised that the Philexport Chess Team will give a better account of themselves in future tournaments. A prize pot of P42,000 was also put up by Opascor for the just-concluded dual meet.
Chessmoso
In an announcement last month, President Arroyo approved, in principle, the implementation of Chess in Schools as proposed by National Chess Federation President Prospero Pichay. I had an e-mail feedback from the US, which I am quoting here:
Dear Mr. Pestano:
I happened across your article about school chess in the Philippines. How wonderful that chess may become a standard subject in the school curriculum! Given your support of chess for young people, I thought you might be interested to learn about the unique program we created some years ago to help schools introduce chess to their students—the Think Like A King School Chess Software System. Think Like A King has been named the Official Scholastic Software of the United States Chess Federation, and our unique system is used by more than 1,300 schools across the United States and in a number of other countries.
When we began working with our own children’s club in the Chicago area in the mid ’90s, we looked for tools already on the market that could help run the club. While we found a number of software products that taught chess by allowing the user to play against the computer, we did not find anything suitable for a school setting – so we created some simple tools ourselves – focusing on using chess to help kids learn how to think. One tool (Chess Club Manager) helped manage the club (by keeping a club roster with student demographics; tracking student game performance and creating a club ladder; printing award certificates, etc.) We also developed a basic interactive tutorial, First Lessons in Chess, to teach kids the fundamentals of the game and reinforce the once-a-week lessons that we provided when the club met.
The tools were so successful in our own club – and we realized how difficult it could be to find a chess expert to come into the schools to teach kids – that we made the decision to market our program to other schools. We also sought help from a chess teacher who had tremendous success in the New York City Public Schools, working with at-risk students in a high poverty area. That individual, David MacEnulty, became the author of our six Chess Workouts interactive tutorials (along with GM Miron Sher in some of the more advanced volumes) – and his work inspired a recent made-for-TV movie called the Knights of the South Bronx.
Below is some additional information about Think Like A King. I hope you will visit our Web site at www.schoolchess.com – and will contact us if you believe our software system would be useful in the expansion of school chess in the Philippines. We look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Leslie B. Lipschhultz
eslie@schoolchess.com/www.schoolchess.com
I hope that President Arroyo, Representative Pichay and the top officials of the Dep. Of Education will read this article and take action so the Chess in Schools program can start by next the school year.
Opascor-Philexport. The well-oiled chess machinery of the Oriental Port and Allied Services Corporation (Opascor) rolled over the newly formed chess team of Philexport in their recently concluded dual meet last Aug. 5 at the Gaisano Bowlingplex in Banilad, by an aggregate team score of 21.5 to 14.5 .
Opascor president Tom Riveral announced during the awarding ceremonies that he will sponsor similar tournaments every three months in order to maintain the sharpness of the players and chess aficionados.
Executive director Fred Escalona promised that the Philexport Chess Team will give a better account of themselves in future tournaments. A prize pot of P42,000 was also put up by Opascor for the just-concluded dual meet.
Friday, August 4, 2006
The exquisite torture in playing chess
By Frank “Boy” Pestaño
Chessmoso
Xylothism is a disease and psychological disorder derived from the Greek words “xylon” for wood and “othism” for pushing. A xylothist is a derogatory description of a chess player gone wrong.
Too much of anything is never good for anybody. Addiction to alcohol, drugs and gambling are serious social problems that destroyed the lives of a great number of people, as is the addiction to chess. Addiction varies in different stages with some, suffering more than others.
Bobby Fischer was so enamored by the game at the age of six that he never ‘grew up’. He never developed the social skills necessary to cope with society in general and lived in a world of his own.
SANITARIUM. Former World Champion Wilhem Steinitz ended up in a sanitarium, while Paul Morphy, who is considered as one of the greatest players of all time, stopped playing at an early age as the game was ‘eating’ his mental and emotional faculties. American Champion Harry Nelson Pillsbury was a broken man who tried to throw himself from the fourth story window of a Philadelphia hospital where he was being treated.
I have observed, at first hand, families destroyed by the game and great fortune lost because of it.
Here are some quotations from the book by Andy Soltis, “Chess to enjoy.”
The American Chess Bulletin described the game’s vicious nature aptly: “Chess is erroneously described as a gentle pastime.
It combines the Spanish Inquisition with a puritan witch-baiting, preserving the most exquisite tortures of each. Pulling out an enemy’s toenail with red-hot pincers is childlike in comparison with winning a pawn from him on the 10th move and forcing him, for want of that pawn, to resign on the 87th.”
This malady was accurately diagnosed by H.G. Wells and, though perhaps comical, it is true: “The passion for playing chess is one of the most unaccountable in the world. It slaps the theory of natural selection in the face. It is the most absorbing of occupations, the least satisfying of desires, an aimless excrescence on life. It annihilates a man. You have, let us say, a promising politician, a rising artist, that you wish to destroy. Daggers or bombs are archaic, clumsy and unreliable — but teach him, inoculate him with chess!”
Listen to a 17th century minister recounts the evils of the game “,It is a great time waster. How many precious hours have I profusely spent in this game! O, chess, I will be avenged for the loss of my time! It hath not done with me when I have done with it. It has followed me into my study, into my pulpit. When I have been praying or preaching I have (in my thoughts) been playing chess!”
With the advent of the Internet, chess addiction has increased by leaps and bounds. There are dozens of websites where you can play 24 hours a day against opponents all over the world.
I must confess that I am, to a certain degree, addicted to internet chess having played more than 15,000 games in about four years. Lately, though, my time has been devoted to online poker—Hold ‘em, Omaha and the Seven-Card Stud. By the way, Hold ‘em poker is a rage in the Philippines and is now played in several spots in Cebu.
TANJAY WINNERS. As part of the fiesta celebration of Tanjay, Negros Oriental, an open chess tournament was sponsored by US-based National Master Zaldy Ybañez, a nuclear engineer and former varsity player of Cebu Institute Technology and the only player who defeated GM Tigran Petrosian in a simultaneous exhibition in Cebu, back in the late 70s.
It was also organized by Engr. Bobby Tabaloc of the King and Pawns Chess Club of Tanjay City in coordination with Tanjay Mayor Balthazar Salma.
The winners are (champion) Eden Diano, (second) Pipo Moreno, (third) Hamed Nouri, (fourth) Richard Natividad, (fifth) Voltaire Sevillano and (sixth) Anthony Makiniano.
The Cebuanos, who went to Tanjay, were sponsored by former Cebu Executives and Proffessionals Association president Jun Olis, who is from Tanjay.
Chessmoso
Xylothism is a disease and psychological disorder derived from the Greek words “xylon” for wood and “othism” for pushing. A xylothist is a derogatory description of a chess player gone wrong.
Too much of anything is never good for anybody. Addiction to alcohol, drugs and gambling are serious social problems that destroyed the lives of a great number of people, as is the addiction to chess. Addiction varies in different stages with some, suffering more than others.
Bobby Fischer was so enamored by the game at the age of six that he never ‘grew up’. He never developed the social skills necessary to cope with society in general and lived in a world of his own.
SANITARIUM. Former World Champion Wilhem Steinitz ended up in a sanitarium, while Paul Morphy, who is considered as one of the greatest players of all time, stopped playing at an early age as the game was ‘eating’ his mental and emotional faculties. American Champion Harry Nelson Pillsbury was a broken man who tried to throw himself from the fourth story window of a Philadelphia hospital where he was being treated.
I have observed, at first hand, families destroyed by the game and great fortune lost because of it.
Here are some quotations from the book by Andy Soltis, “Chess to enjoy.”
The American Chess Bulletin described the game’s vicious nature aptly: “Chess is erroneously described as a gentle pastime.
It combines the Spanish Inquisition with a puritan witch-baiting, preserving the most exquisite tortures of each. Pulling out an enemy’s toenail with red-hot pincers is childlike in comparison with winning a pawn from him on the 10th move and forcing him, for want of that pawn, to resign on the 87th.”
This malady was accurately diagnosed by H.G. Wells and, though perhaps comical, it is true: “The passion for playing chess is one of the most unaccountable in the world. It slaps the theory of natural selection in the face. It is the most absorbing of occupations, the least satisfying of desires, an aimless excrescence on life. It annihilates a man. You have, let us say, a promising politician, a rising artist, that you wish to destroy. Daggers or bombs are archaic, clumsy and unreliable — but teach him, inoculate him with chess!”
Listen to a 17th century minister recounts the evils of the game “,It is a great time waster. How many precious hours have I profusely spent in this game! O, chess, I will be avenged for the loss of my time! It hath not done with me when I have done with it. It has followed me into my study, into my pulpit. When I have been praying or preaching I have (in my thoughts) been playing chess!”
With the advent of the Internet, chess addiction has increased by leaps and bounds. There are dozens of websites where you can play 24 hours a day against opponents all over the world.
I must confess that I am, to a certain degree, addicted to internet chess having played more than 15,000 games in about four years. Lately, though, my time has been devoted to online poker—Hold ‘em, Omaha and the Seven-Card Stud. By the way, Hold ‘em poker is a rage in the Philippines and is now played in several spots in Cebu.
TANJAY WINNERS. As part of the fiesta celebration of Tanjay, Negros Oriental, an open chess tournament was sponsored by US-based National Master Zaldy Ybañez, a nuclear engineer and former varsity player of Cebu Institute Technology and the only player who defeated GM Tigran Petrosian in a simultaneous exhibition in Cebu, back in the late 70s.
It was also organized by Engr. Bobby Tabaloc of the King and Pawns Chess Club of Tanjay City in coordination with Tanjay Mayor Balthazar Salma.
The winners are (champion) Eden Diano, (second) Pipo Moreno, (third) Hamed Nouri, (fourth) Richard Natividad, (fifth) Voltaire Sevillano and (sixth) Anthony Makiniano.
The Cebuanos, who went to Tanjay, were sponsored by former Cebu Executives and Proffessionals Association president Jun Olis, who is from Tanjay.
The exquisite torture in playing chess
By Frank “Boy” Pestaño
Chessmoso
Xylothism is a disease and psychological disorder derived from the Greek words “xylon” for wood and “othism” for pushing. A xylothist is a derogatory description of a chess player gone wrong.
Too much of anything is never good for anybody. Addiction to alcohol, drugs and gambling are serious social problems that destroyed the lives of a great number of people, as is the addiction to chess. Addiction varies in different stages with some, suffering more than others.
Bobby Fischer was so enamored by the game at the age of six that he never ‘grew up’. He never developed the social skills necessary to cope with society in general and lived in a world of his own.
SANITARIUM. Former World Champion Wilhem Steinitz ended up in a sanitarium, while Paul Morphy, who is considered as one of the greatest players of all time, stopped playing at an early age as the game was ‘eating’ his mental and emotional faculties. American Champion Harry Nelson Pillsbury was a broken man who tried to throw himself from the fourth story window of a Philadelphia hospital where he was being treated.
I have observed, at first hand, families destroyed by the game and great fortune lost because of it.
Here are some quotations from the book by Andy Soltis, “Chess to enjoy.”
The American Chess Bulletin described the game’s vicious nature aptly: “Chess is erroneously described as a gentle pastime.
It combines the Spanish Inquisition with a puritan witch-baiting, preserving the most exquisite tortures of each. Pulling out an enemy’s toenail with red-hot pincers is childlike in comparison with winning a pawn from him on the 10th move and forcing him, for want of that pawn, to resign on the 87th.”
This malady was accurately diagnosed by H.G. Wells and, though perhaps comical, it is true: “The passion for playing chess is one of the most unaccountable in the world. It slaps the theory of natural selection in the face. It is the most absorbing of occupations, the least satisfying of desires, an aimless excrescence on life. It annihilates a man. You have, let us say, a promising politician, a rising artist, that you wish to destroy. Daggers or bombs are archaic, clumsy and unreliable — but teach him, inoculate him with chess!”
Listen to a 17th century minister recounts the evils of the game “,It is a great time waster. How many precious hours have I profusely spent in this game! O, chess, I will be avenged for the loss of my time! It hath not done with me when I have done with it. It has followed me into my study, into my pulpit. When I have been praying or preaching I have (in my thoughts) been playing chess!”
With the advent of the Internet, chess addiction has increased by leaps and bounds. There are dozens of websites where you can play 24 hours a day against opponents all over the world.
I must confess that I am, to a certain degree, addicted to internet chess having played more than 15,000 games in about four years. Lately, though, my time has been devoted to online poker—Hold ‘em, Omaha and the Seven-Card Stud. By the way, Hold ‘em poker is a rage in the Philippines and is now played in several spots in Cebu.
TANJAY WINNERS. As part of the fiesta celebration of Tanjay, Negros Oriental, an open chess tournament was sponsored by US-based National Master Zaldy Ybañez, a nuclear engineer and former varsity player of Cebu Institute Technology and the only player who defeated GM Tigran Petrosian in a simultaneous exhibition in Cebu, back in the late 70s.
It was also organized by Engr. Bobby Tabaloc of the King and Pawns Chess Club of Tanjay City in coordination with Tanjay Mayor Balthazar Salma.
The winners are (champion) Eden Diano, (second) Pipo Moreno, (third) Hamed Nouri, (fourth) Richard Natividad, (fifth) Voltaire Sevillano and (sixth) Anthony Makiniano.
The Cebuanos, who went to Tanjay, were sponsored by former Cebu Executives and Proffessionals Association president Jun Olis, who is from Tanjay.
Chessmoso
Xylothism is a disease and psychological disorder derived from the Greek words “xylon” for wood and “othism” for pushing. A xylothist is a derogatory description of a chess player gone wrong.
Too much of anything is never good for anybody. Addiction to alcohol, drugs and gambling are serious social problems that destroyed the lives of a great number of people, as is the addiction to chess. Addiction varies in different stages with some, suffering more than others.
Bobby Fischer was so enamored by the game at the age of six that he never ‘grew up’. He never developed the social skills necessary to cope with society in general and lived in a world of his own.
SANITARIUM. Former World Champion Wilhem Steinitz ended up in a sanitarium, while Paul Morphy, who is considered as one of the greatest players of all time, stopped playing at an early age as the game was ‘eating’ his mental and emotional faculties. American Champion Harry Nelson Pillsbury was a broken man who tried to throw himself from the fourth story window of a Philadelphia hospital where he was being treated.
I have observed, at first hand, families destroyed by the game and great fortune lost because of it.
Here are some quotations from the book by Andy Soltis, “Chess to enjoy.”
The American Chess Bulletin described the game’s vicious nature aptly: “Chess is erroneously described as a gentle pastime.
It combines the Spanish Inquisition with a puritan witch-baiting, preserving the most exquisite tortures of each. Pulling out an enemy’s toenail with red-hot pincers is childlike in comparison with winning a pawn from him on the 10th move and forcing him, for want of that pawn, to resign on the 87th.”
This malady was accurately diagnosed by H.G. Wells and, though perhaps comical, it is true: “The passion for playing chess is one of the most unaccountable in the world. It slaps the theory of natural selection in the face. It is the most absorbing of occupations, the least satisfying of desires, an aimless excrescence on life. It annihilates a man. You have, let us say, a promising politician, a rising artist, that you wish to destroy. Daggers or bombs are archaic, clumsy and unreliable — but teach him, inoculate him with chess!”
Listen to a 17th century minister recounts the evils of the game “,It is a great time waster. How many precious hours have I profusely spent in this game! O, chess, I will be avenged for the loss of my time! It hath not done with me when I have done with it. It has followed me into my study, into my pulpit. When I have been praying or preaching I have (in my thoughts) been playing chess!”
With the advent of the Internet, chess addiction has increased by leaps and bounds. There are dozens of websites where you can play 24 hours a day against opponents all over the world.
I must confess that I am, to a certain degree, addicted to internet chess having played more than 15,000 games in about four years. Lately, though, my time has been devoted to online poker—Hold ‘em, Omaha and the Seven-Card Stud. By the way, Hold ‘em poker is a rage in the Philippines and is now played in several spots in Cebu.
TANJAY WINNERS. As part of the fiesta celebration of Tanjay, Negros Oriental, an open chess tournament was sponsored by US-based National Master Zaldy Ybañez, a nuclear engineer and former varsity player of Cebu Institute Technology and the only player who defeated GM Tigran Petrosian in a simultaneous exhibition in Cebu, back in the late 70s.
It was also organized by Engr. Bobby Tabaloc of the King and Pawns Chess Club of Tanjay City in coordination with Tanjay Mayor Balthazar Salma.
The winners are (champion) Eden Diano, (second) Pipo Moreno, (third) Hamed Nouri, (fourth) Richard Natividad, (fifth) Voltaire Sevillano and (sixth) Anthony Makiniano.
The Cebuanos, who went to Tanjay, were sponsored by former Cebu Executives and Proffessionals Association president Jun Olis, who is from Tanjay.
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