Chess-loving serial killer

By Frank “Boy” Pestaño
Chessmoso

THIS one is for the books, a candidate for “Believe it or not”. In an article in the Internet at Foxnews, a Russian has confessed to murdering 63 people with a goal of filling all the 64 squares on the chessboard.

In his trial which started last month, Alexander Pichushkin said that he should be charged of all 63 murders as not to do so would be unfair to all his victims.

Prosecutors have charged him with 49 murders committed between 2001-2006 in Bittsa Park, a wild area on the edge of Moscow.

In testimony at the City Court, he recalled the details of his killings especially his first, committed in 1992. “This first murder, it’s like first love, it’s unforgettable.”

The article also noted that “He was aware that a woman whom he intended to kill left a note at home saying she was going for a stroll with him — but killed her anyway.” The note led to his arrest in June 2006.”I burnt myself, so there’s no need for the cops to take credit for catching me,” he says. “I’m a professional.”

Most of his victims were men whom he met on the park and invited for a drink to mourn “the loss of his beloved dog.” In 2001 he killed six in one month. Most of his victims were killed by being strangled or getting hit on the head and thrown into a sewage pit.

According to Foxnews “From 2005, he began to kill with ‘particular cruelty,’ hitting his intoxicated victims multiple times in the head with a hammer, then sticking an unfinished bottle of vodka into their broken skull.”

He has been quoted as saying “For me, a life without murder is like a life without food for you”

Psychiatrists who have examined him say that he is sane. Whaaaat?

Here is a cute relevant joke: What do you call a breakfast food murderer? A cereal killer—hehehe.

World Juniors. The World 20-Under Championship for juniors and girls is being held in Yerevan, Armenia from Oct. 2 to 17. The Philippine Junior representative is 14-year-old IM Wesley So, the youngest player of the tournament, rated 13th with an Elo of 2531 among 80 players.

Girl representative is 15-year-old Aices Salvador rated 49th among 58 players with an Elo of 1992 .

The text of the town among chessplayers was the rocket start of Wesley with four wins and two draws in the first six rounds to grab the lead with five points.

However, in the seventh round he lost to GM Adly Ahmed from the Sinai Peninsula and slid to third in a tie with eight others.

Aices is surprisingly at 15th to 26th place with 4 points after 7 rounds.

Both events are slated for 13 rounds and the winners, juniors and girls, will automatically become Grandmaster and Woman Grandmaster respectively .

Twin Scrabble. There will be twin scrabble tournaments at the Trade Hall of SM City tomorrow and Sunday.

Saturday’s event is facilitated by Nascap, while Sunday‘s tournament is sponsored by the Cebu Scrabble Association and the University of Visayas.

Registration for the twin competition is P300 with 50 percent discount for students, the first round starts at 10:45 and the eighth round at about 7:30 p.m.

Prizes for Saturday are : Champion (P8,000), second placer (P4,000), third placer (P3,000),fourth placer (P2,000) and fifth (P1,000); for Sunday, the first, second and third will get P5,000,P3,000 and P2000, respectively.

Players must bring their own clock. The sponsor is Richwell Trading Corporation and the tournament director is Roger Abella, a master in chess and scrabble.

Cepca news. We will have a general membership meeting on Oct. 21 to elect the new officers of the club for the years 2008-09 at Deep Blue Café starting 1 p.m. Our monthly tournament will follow after the elections. Attendance is compulsory.