Pestaño: Philippines is a gay-friendly country

By Frank 'Boy' Pestaño

Chessmoso

Thursday, February 27, 2014

DESPITE being ostracized a decade or two ago, the gay community is now embraced by many.

In the Philippines, majority of them are very well-known in industries such as entertainment, fashion and beauty care. Many are considered icons. Many are openly contemplating marriage.

A recent Gallup survey showed that about 10 percent of the population are gays.

he Catholic Church officially frowns upon any form of homosexuality. However, last year, the magazine The Advocate, which defends gay rights, had declared Pope Francis its Man of the Year for everything he has done for the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans-sexual) community.

The Pope was quoted as saying “If someone who is gay and is sincerely seeking God who am I to judge?”

Time magazine, too, made Francis Person of the Year, hailing him for his ‘rejection of Church dogma’.

I read an original and interesting evolution theory that needs more research. The process of evolution resulted in 3 sexes-man, woman and “union” of the two.

Do you know that William Shakespeare was a chess fanatic and Leonardo da Vinci was a composer of chess problems? And word has it that both were gay.

In 1998, a magazine called “Chess Pride” was published exclusively for the homosexual community.

It only cane up with three issues.

In the first issue, it featured an openly-gay chess master, Anthony E. Santasiere, who was a US Open champion in 1945 and math teacher.

The second issue featured Paul Morphy, who, for some reason, had a certain “gayness” about him. He had a habit of collecting women’s shoes. Fischer believed Paul to be the best chess player ever.

The third issue featured another professed gay master, Weaver Adams, who won the US Open Championship in 1948. He is also an author and opening theoretician.
On October 16, 2010, the city of Malaga, Spain, held the 1st Gay Chess Open Championship. The first prize amounted to 1,500 EUR. Some 81 chess players took part in that tournament and it was won by IM Ibarra Jerez Jose Carlos via tiebreak who is now GM.

The second place was taken by GM Rivas Pastor Manuel and the third by IM Munoz Pantoja. The lineup was pretty imposing.

The other GMs who participated were Abreu Delgado, Oratovsky Michael, Plaskett H. James, and Komlienovic Davorin.

In the last 10 years, the percentage of people who feel that homosexuality is acceptable to society has gone up from 38 percent in 1992 to 51 in 2002.

Now, the number is much higher. Same -sex marriage is now legal in some states of the US and in 20 other countries like Belgium, Canada, Netherlands (1st), Norway, South Africa, Sweden and Spain.

However, a total 84 countries worldwide, mostly from Africa ,Asia and to some extent South America have criminal laws against sexual activity by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people

Another famous gay athlete is Jason Collins of the NBA.

Cepca New member Mario Mangubat of LTO is the February champion Second and third is accountant Carlo Maraat and Engr. Jimmy Te.

(boypestano@gmail.com,www.chessmoso.blogspot.com)

Pestaño: Fide showdown: Ex-champ vs. alien abductee

By Frank 'Boy' Pestaño

Chessmoso

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Garry Kasparov became the youngest world champion in 1985 at the age of 22 and went on to hold the No. 1 ranking for 20 years before his retirement from professional chess in 2005. Now he wants to be in charge.

He plans to unseat multi-millionaire incumbent Kirsan Ilyumzhinov in the elections this August during the Olympiad in Tromso, Norway. Although Garry has been campaigning for over a year now, visiting a large number of federations, he has a lot of catching up to do. He donated $10,000 last year to Yolanda survivors.

Kirsan has been the President of World Chess Federation (Fide) since 1995. Fide has about 175 members and the unusual thing is that micro-organizations like the Virgin
Islands and Palau has the same vote as Russia, China or the United States.

This is the main reason he has beaten serious rivals before like Bessel Kok and another former champion Anatoly Karpov, a legacy that he got from Florencio Campomanes who personally handpicked him.

Ilyumzhinov has drawn world-wide attention for claiming personal contact with aliens, alleging that they took him on a mystical tour of the galaxy in their spaceship in 1997.

Kirsan said he saw a “semi-transparent half tube” spaceship on his balcony. He then entered it and met “human-like creatures in yellow spacesuits”. “They put a spacesuit on me, told me many things and showed me around.” The aliens took him to “some kind of star.”

“I’m not ill. I’m psychologically normal,” he says. “I didn’t hide it even though I knew that people would laugh at me and say I was crazy.”

A lot of people, including me, believe his story to be true. I was exposed to these kind of stories as I was a member of the Philippine Astronomical Society in the 70s and 80s.

Kasparov has chosen his running mates well, although Ignatius Leong, the current secretary–general of Fide , is unethical if true.

A document was recently released that appeared to show that Kasparov had offered Leong $500,000 to switch sides.

Kasparov promised Leong, who is influential with Asian federations and lives in Singapore, an office for him to run. He also said that if he was elected, the Kasparov Chess Foundation would pay $1 million over four years to the Asean Chess Academy, a teaching organization owned by Leong, who employ a lot of Pinoy masters.

Others in his line-up are Jan Callewaert (Europe), Sheikh Mohammed bin Ahmed Al Hamed (Asia), Afrika Msimang (Africa) and Rex Sinquefield (Americas).

Jan is the co-founder and President of the Kasparov Chess Foundation Europe . An avid chess player, he is passionate about bringing the numerous benefits of chess to as many people as possible, and is a supporter of the chess in schools program.

Sheikh Mohammed’s has investments in the industrial, real estate, and tourism sectors. He owns the five-star hotels Sheraton Jumeirah Beach Hotel Dubai, Sheraton Khalidiya Hotel Abu Dhabi, and Sheraton Hotel in Al Ain and a number of malls, including the Al Ain Mall.

Ms Afrika has served as a trustee member of Moves for Life, a chess organization that enjoys the patronage of South Africa’s President, Jacob Zuma and has a masters degree in public administration.

Rex formed Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA) in 1981 along with associate David Booth, which today oversees more than $300 billion in assets worldwide. He is the primary sponsor of big tournaments in the USA.

Cepca. Our February tournament will be this Sunday in Handuraw at 2 p.m. Registration is P200. The total prizes is P3,000 courtesy of Marvyne Guardiana with free snacks.

Club president Jerry Maratas will treat members after the tournament. Come, play and enjoy!

(boypestano@gmail.com,www.chessmoso.blogspot.com)

Pestaño: Jose Rizal: gifted player, lover

By Frank 'Boy' Pestaño

Chessmoso

Thursday, February 13, 2014

JOSE RIZAL was an ophthalmologist, poet, philosopher, novelist, sculptor among others and spoke 22 languages.

Rizal was also a chess player. He played chess with local and foreign players in all his travels including the Guardia Civil. He is considered the Philippines first chess master.

Incidentally The Philippines issued a stamp in 1962 showing Rizal playing chess.

There were at least nine women in his life: Segunda Katigbak, Leonor Valenzuela, Leonor Rivera, Consuelo Ortiga, O-Sei San, Gertrude Beckette, Nelly Boustead, Suzanne Jacoby and Josephine Bracken. These women might have been beguiled by his intelligence, charm and wit although Rizal was a very short man, only 4 feet 11 inches!

Segunda Katigbak was his first love but was engaged to be married to a town mate, Manuel Luz. This was followed by Leonor Valenzuela whom Rizal sent love notes written in invisible ink and can be read only exposing the note to a candle.

Leonor Rivera was his greatest love. Unfortunately, Leonor’s mother disapproved of their relationship. She hid from Leonor all letters sent by Rizal. Believing that Rizal had already forgotten her, Leonor sadly consented to marry the Englishman Henry Kipping, her mother’s choice.

While Rizal was in Madrid, the pretty Consuelo Ortiga fell in love with him and he wrote a poem for her. Rizal backed out since he was seriously in love with Leonor Rivera.

O-San Sei taught him Japanese painting.

In 1890, Rizal moved to Brussels and lived in the boarding house of the two Jacoby sisters. Suzanne cried when Rizal left Brussels .

Gertrude Beckett also fell in love with Rizal but Rizal hastily left London for Paris to avoid Gertrude.

Rizal challenged Juan Luna to a duel for insulting Nelly Bousted in Biarritz, France.

Fortunately Luna apologized. It would have been catastrophic if the duel (fencing) had pushed through.

Rizal was married to Josephine Bracken, who later give birth prematurely to a stillborn baby.

Marvyne Guardiana. Cebu is fortunate to have a new chess patron. Marvyne Guardiana is the latest to promote chess here and the just concluded VMA Power Open was the second major event that he supported in as many years.

VMA Power group of companies include VMW Studio at Labangon and Banilad, VMA Print Shoppe at Minglanilla, VMA Powerdent Clinic at Naga and Minglanilla, VMA Trading (primera products) managed by his wife Dr. Nanette Guardiana, who is also the dentist of the municipality of Minglanilla.

Marvyne is only 37 years old and a civil engineer. At the age of 27, he was project manager of their half- billion Cebu port project. Currently, he is the sales and plant manager of the biggest precast pre-stressed concrete piles/product in the Philippines- Techno Stress Systems Corp. with main office at Cagayan de Oro, and branches at Cebu, Davao, Butuan, Iloilo and Manila. They are the pioneer provider of pile driving services using static pile driver (no noise, vibration and pollution).

Their children are Vynne Mharton Alexii, Vynne Mharie Ant and Vynne Mharian Avea.

Like almost all Cepca members (Marvyne is currently vice-president external) he was also a varsity chess player in college, playing Board 1 for Misamis University up to 1997.

NM Merben Roque won the Cepca-organized 2nd VMA Power Open sponsored Chess Tournament last Sunday at the Colonnade Mall with 8.5 points and earned P6,000.

Those who finished second to fifth were Rogelio Enriquez , Edsel Montoya, Richard Natividad and Bonn Tibod. Kyle Sevillano and Andrew Balbona were the top kiddie players . Jimmy Ty and Romulo Pialan were the best performing Cepca members, while Shaira Monsalud won the ladies category.

The total prizes was P25,000.

(boypestano@gmail.com,www.chessmoso.blogspot.com)

Pestaño: Carlsen beats Bill Gates in nine moves

By Frank 'Boy' Pestaño

Chessmoso

Thursday, February 6, 2014

NEWLY-CROWNED world chess champion Magnus Carlsen took just nine moves to checkmate Bill Gates in a blitz game played the other week.

In the popular television chat show hosted by Fredrik Skavlan in Stockholm, Carlsen challenged fellow guest Microsoft founder Gates to a chess game. Showing he was a good sport, Gates agreed to the challenge, even though he admitted there was a “predetermined outcome.”

The second-richest man in the world (net worth $78 B), 58, had two minutes to make his moves against 30 seconds for Carlsen.

In just over a minute, the billionaire was quickly beaten, as Carlsen took less than a second to make several moves. “Wow, that was fast,” Gates said.

However, a look at the sequence of moves showed that Gates was not easily beaten. The real reason Gates lost to Carlsen so quickly was because “he fell for a “trick” when Gates — on his ninth and last move — used his knight to capture a knight that Carlsen offered up as a freebie on a center square.”

In fact, according to an analysis later in chess.com, Gates was “winning” just one move before he resigned.

In other words, Gates lost because he took the bait. If Gates had not done so, “then Magnus would be in trouble,” said Grandmaster Antony Kovalyov.

According to some websites describing the match, Gates has a rating of 1200, which is wrong .I know for a fact that Bill is a good player and I estimate his rating to be between1600 and 1800. Carlsen’s rating is 2872.

Carlsen later said that he violated one of his own principles, and used a “cheap” trick. “He was a bit unlucky and eventually fell to my tactics, but he otherwise made good, healthy moves. I think with a little more time, he could certainly be a pretty good player.”

Carlsen has also played Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook and also a billionaire, and was impressed. “I think Gates is a better player, but Zuckerberg had a lot of talent for it.”

Tournaments. Our guest journalist KC Morala sent in this report.

“USC warriors Felix Shaun Balbona and I and University of Cebu’s Jhoronnie Bontes reigned over fellow Cebuano chess players in the PNG Qualifying Chess Tournament held in Abellana last Feb. 1-2.

Balbona sealed the victory against Romulo Pialan in the last round, carting away the title in the Open Category with 6.5 points.

His draw against Mark Cimafranca in the sixth round was the only speck on his record , which included a win against NM Merben Roque, who took second place with 6 points.

Carlos Moreno III settled for 3rd place.

In the 5-round Ladies Category, I scored three straight wins before losing to Queenie Cablao in the fourth round, Cablao finished second, while Marvie Abucay, also from UC, took solo third place.

The top 3 winners of both the Open and Ladies categories will qualify for the Philippine National Games.”

The 2nd VMA- Power Open - Valentines Edition will start tomorrow at Colonnade Mall.

The format is nine rounds Swiss with time control of 25 minutes plus 5- second increment. The champion will receive P6,000, while the second and third placers will get P4,000 and P3,000. The fourth and fifth placers will get P2,000 and P1,000 respectively, while the rest of the top 10 will get P500 each. Those who make the top 20 will get P400 and those who make the top 30 will get P300.

The top performer for the Cepcan, Junior, Kiddies and ladies divisions will get P500
each.

Registration Fee is P200 and players may sign up starting at 9:30 a.m. at the venue. For inquiries: text Marvin Ruelan 0926-735-2951

This tournament is sponsored by Engr. Marvyne “Suntzu” Guardiana of MVA- Power Group of Companies in coordination with Cepca. Marvyne is the current vice-president external of Cepca.

(boypestano@gmail.com,www.chessmoso.blogspot.com)