3 World Championships in September

By Frank “Boy” Pestaño
Chessmoso

THIS month is a little bit out of the ordinary as three championships are being held namely Blitz World Championship, Seniors and the unification match between Fide Champion Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria and Classical Champion Vladimir Kramnik of Russia.

The World Blitz Campionship, a 16- player round robin, was a one day affair held in Rishon Le Zion, Israel last Sept. 7 just as the invasion of Lebanon by Israel came to a standstill. Alexander Grischuk and Peter Svidler tied for 1st with 10.5 pts each. In the tiebreak, Grischuk had to win as he had the white pieces which he dutifully did.

Judit Polgar, the only woman player, was up there with the leaders, while Anand, the favorite to win, stayed close. The final standings and the top 5 winners: 1. Alexander Grischuk, 10.5—$14,400; 2. Peter Svidler, 10.5—$10,800; 3.Teimour Redjabov, 10— $6,750; 4. Vishy Anand, 10—$6,750; 5. Judit Polgar, 9—$5625.

Victor Korchnoi, 75, who played in three finals against Anatoly Karpov in the 70s, won the 16th World Seniors Championship in a field of 136 participants. It was held in Arvier, Italy last Sept. 11-23 and was an 11 round Swiss. Also held was the Women’s senior tournament won by Ludmila Saunina.

One of the most prestigious tournaments in the chess calendar is the Spanish team tournament. It is held in 3 stages. Group 1 was held in Olie from Sept. 6-10 while group 2 was played in San Sebastian from Sept. 13- 17. The finals will be held in Lugo from Nov. 3-4, 2006.

The qualifiers from group 1 are Intel Tiendas UPI with members Ivanchuk, Radjabov, Vallejo Pons, Bruzon , Volokitin, Eljanov, Illescas Cordoba, and Reverte Albox Unicaja with members Dreev, Krasenkow, Rustemov, Movsesian and Sutovsky.

In group 2, the qualifiers are Linex Magic with players Aronian, Morozevich, Ponomariov, Shirov, Karjakin, Sargissian, Rublevsky and Ajoblanco Cuna De Dragones with its players Svidler, Adams, Mamedyarov, Jakovenko, Harikrishna and Timofeev.

Kramnik leads. I have been sleeping quite late the past several days following the live coverage of the Topalov vs. Kramnik championship match on the internet. You can follow the live coverage of the match on fide.com, chessbase.com, chessville.com, chesscenter.com and chessclub.com.

Game one lasted for 61/2 hours and was a fighting 75-move win by Kramnik. The game should have been a draw but Topalov pressed for a win, blundered and lost.

Game two was one of the most exciting matches I have seen in a long time and could probably be the turning point of the championship. Topalov missed a mate in two and lost again in 63 moves. Game three was also a fighting draw.

Makinano. GM Dao Thien Hai of Vietnam won over IM Ronald Dableo of the Philippines in the 11th and final round to win the 3rd IGB Dato` Arthur Tan Malaysian Open Chess Championship held in Mid Valley, Kuala Lumpur from Sept. 21-27.

Actually, four players were tied for the lead, but Dao won on tiebreak over IM Oliver Dimakiling who placed 2nd. Cebuano Anthony Makinano, a familiar figure in local tournaments, scored 7 points to attain Fide Master status.

Architects. Cepca member and treasurer-elect Jeffrey Solis is organizing a chess tournament among architects under District C-1 of the United Architects of the Philippines, which will be held on Oct. 14, Saturday, at the Gaisano Bowlingplex in Banilad.

Only men and women members of the district can join. Registration fee is P150 and games start at 1pm. Prizes and surprises await the top finishers. Those who are interested to join can call Jeffrey at cell no. 0920-508-4338.

Inter-barangay. NM Bombi Aznar is planning to hold an inter-barangay chess tournament among kiddies 14 yrs old and below. Barangay sports leaders can contact me at cell no. 0915-507-0286.