By Frank "Boy" Pestaño
Chessmoso
ACTRESS Julia Roberts of Pretty Woman and Erin Brokovich fame is reputedly a chess fanatic and has insisted upon chess sets being available on her trailer in all her films. She is said to be blessed with a calculating machine for a brain and can see a dozen moves forward. They say that if she takes timeout to play in tournaments she will give the favorites a run of their money.
Before becoming a movie star, Humphrey Bogart hustled strangers at five-minute chess for 50 cents a game in chess parlors in New York Times Square. In 1943 the FBI prevented him from playing postal chess, thinking the chess notation were secret codes. He was a tournament director of USCF and once drew a game against Samuel Reshevsky in a simultaneous exhibition. His Elo rating was 2100. He made 75 films and chess appears in several of his movies. He and his chessplaying wife Lauren Bacall appeared on the cover of Chess Review in 1945 playing with Charles Boyer. Among his famous movies are Casablanca and The African Queen.
Yoko Ono and her husband, the slain Beatles star John Lennon, were inveterate chess players and played against each other for relaxation. When the Edward Murrow High School team needed funds so it can participate in the state and national championship, Yoko donated a sum of $2,500 to the team. Yoko felt it funny or ironical that a school wouldn’t have money for something as educational as chess. The team was national championfrom 1992-1994.
Singer Barbra Streisand plays chess and is famous among chess players as a classmate of Bobby Fischer in grade school. However, Bobby is not kind to her. In a recent interview over radio in the Philippines when asked if Barbra was her classmate Bobby answered, “I’ve been asked about this. I remembered some mousy looking girl, maybe that was her, I don’t know.”
According to a co-movie actor, George C. Scott was addicted to chess. “Perhaps he was using it as inspiration for his character as a gangster.
We starred together for a few months and never exchanged more than a ‘Good morning,’ if that. He was very much in character, impeccable with his lines, but he only talked to his makeup man, his chess opponent. George would wander over to him after every camera setup to complete the chess move he must have decided on during our take.”
Senior Master Robert Snyder is the teacher of actors Will Smith and Nicolas Cage. Will, star of Men in Black and Independence Day started taking lessons in chess in 1998 while filming Enemy of the State. He regularly studies chess books and shows a lot of talent. Cage, star of The Rock and Face Off, says that he feels chess is good for kids and has included his son as a student of Snyder. Cage and Will are planning to enter chess tournaments in the US soon.
CEPCA INVITATIONAL. Last Saturday our club had a special tournament for members of equal playing strength to make the games more interesting and to give a chance to players of lesser caliber a shot at winning tournaments.
The tournament was for class A and B members only and was held at Handuraw Learning and Leisure Café in Mabolo. Subsequently, there will also be a tournament exclusively for class C and D members also.
The participants, divided into two groups of six, were Norway Lara, Bong San Pascual, Dante Arguelles, Maggi Dionson, Joe Atillo, Jun Catayas, Jun Olis, Fabio Abucejo, Junard Labadan, Marty Baria, Felix Balbona and yours truly.
The format was round robin play for each section, with the top two players advancing to the next round. The top four players then played a round robin among themselves. The surprise winner was Joe Atillo, followed by Dante Arguelles, Jun Olis and Maggi Dionson.
Congrats Joe!
SEPTEMBER TOURNAMENT. The next tournament for Cepca members is on Sept. 19 at the Cebu Youth Chess Center at 1 p.m.
As usual, the participants will be divided into four sections: Armadillo, Buffalo, Cobra and Dinosaur, with different time controls to compensate for different levels of skill.
Saturday, September 18, 2004
Saturday, September 11, 2004
Cepca through the years
By Frank "Boy" Pestaño
Chessmoso
I HAVE been writing about Cepca tournaments and members ever since the start of this column and it’s about time the chess playing readers learn more about this club. Cepca is the abbreviation of Cebu Executives and Professionals Chess Association Inc. and is duly registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission as a non-stock, non-profit corporation. Its primary purpose is to serve the chess needs of its members and to promote the game in Cebu.
The club is affiliated with the National Chess Federation of the Philippines and has been in existence since 1990. It had its first meeting in the conference room of MCWD about middle of June that year and the founders were this writer, Art Ynclino, Sonny Sollano, Gerry Tomakin, Alex Tolentino, Nicnic Climaco and Danny Pestaño.
That year, the Interzonal of Fide was held in Manila and our initial plan was to invite some of the players to come to Cebu to perform simultaneous exhibitions. Since we were not fully organized yet, we approached the Cebu Lakandula Lions to help us since its president then was my brother, Danny.
Our initial plan was to invite Victor Korchnoi of Switzerland, Nigel Short and Eugene Torre.
However, we found out that our budget was not enough to accommodate these gentlemen, so those who came over instead were Eugene Torre, Jaime Sunye-Neto of Brazil, Walter Arencibia of Cuba and Carlos Juarez of Guatemala. It was quite a sensation in Cebu then and after that our membership exploded.
Among the new members were Loy Miñoza, Babes Andales, Damaso Uy, Rudy Aguinaldo, Bob Inocian, Tony Cornejo, Dongdong Almario and Serge Borres. We then held our first tournament and new members who joined were Bill Laviste, Edmund Suralta, Lito Pielago and Danish national Malte Lemvigfog.
Through the first two years, we reached a membership of over 60 and joined the Sinulog festival in all the categories: float, free interpretation and higante.
New members worth mentioning here were Rene Tolo, who is now in the US, and Jun Olis. We also sponsored the premiere showing of Terminator 2, Judgment Day, in partnership with the Philippine Society of Mechanical Engineers, Cebu Chapter.
GM TOURNAMENT. However the most important accomplishment of our club was the holding of the First Cebu Grandmasters Tournament in 1992 in association with Boojie Lim of the Cebu Chess Federation, then Fide President Florencio Campomanes and the Cebu Inter-Family Youth Association headed by Henry Uy-Hehiong and Kelly Uy. The foreign grandmasters who came over to Cebu were Ian Rogers of Australia, Dibyendo Barua of India, Ye Rongguang of China and Niaz Murshed of Bangladesh. They were joined by Philippine players Rogelio Antonio, Fernie Donguines, Banjo Barcenilla, Barlo Nadera and Rico Mascariñas.
Active members of the club worth mentioning through these years are British national Graham Maitland-Smith, Italian national Stelvio Guglielmi, Mer Fernandez, Bong San Pascual, Jun Catayas, Ely Berciles, Arwin Barrios, Rene Casia, El Labunog, Fred Sandalo, Norwegian Roar Sorensen, Pabs Argamosa, Andy Aquino and Vic Nator.
Past presidents of the club are this writer, Alex Tolentino, Gerry Tomakin, Ben Dimaano, Danny Pestaño, Ogie Reyes, Nicnic Climaco, Manny Manzanares, Norway Lara, Vic Legaspina, Bobot Villaluna and current president Jun Olis.
As of now Cepca has over 100 members although some are abroad, some are inactive, and a few have passed away like Migs Enriquez, Butch Loyola and the person nearest to our hearts, Sonny Sollano. If I were to name five top members of the club, Sonny would certainly be among them.
HUMOR. Here are some moments that you should sense danger while playing chess: 1) There has been a change in pawn structure. Your opponent has eight and you don’t have any; 2) your opponent begins to throw pawns at your eyes; 3) you have a won position but your opponent has a gun; 4) before the game begins you notice your opponent’s initials are “GM”; 5) your draw offer sends all the people watching your game into uncontrollable laughter.
Chessmoso
I HAVE been writing about Cepca tournaments and members ever since the start of this column and it’s about time the chess playing readers learn more about this club. Cepca is the abbreviation of Cebu Executives and Professionals Chess Association Inc. and is duly registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission as a non-stock, non-profit corporation. Its primary purpose is to serve the chess needs of its members and to promote the game in Cebu.
The club is affiliated with the National Chess Federation of the Philippines and has been in existence since 1990. It had its first meeting in the conference room of MCWD about middle of June that year and the founders were this writer, Art Ynclino, Sonny Sollano, Gerry Tomakin, Alex Tolentino, Nicnic Climaco and Danny Pestaño.
That year, the Interzonal of Fide was held in Manila and our initial plan was to invite some of the players to come to Cebu to perform simultaneous exhibitions. Since we were not fully organized yet, we approached the Cebu Lakandula Lions to help us since its president then was my brother, Danny.
Our initial plan was to invite Victor Korchnoi of Switzerland, Nigel Short and Eugene Torre.
However, we found out that our budget was not enough to accommodate these gentlemen, so those who came over instead were Eugene Torre, Jaime Sunye-Neto of Brazil, Walter Arencibia of Cuba and Carlos Juarez of Guatemala. It was quite a sensation in Cebu then and after that our membership exploded.
Among the new members were Loy Miñoza, Babes Andales, Damaso Uy, Rudy Aguinaldo, Bob Inocian, Tony Cornejo, Dongdong Almario and Serge Borres. We then held our first tournament and new members who joined were Bill Laviste, Edmund Suralta, Lito Pielago and Danish national Malte Lemvigfog.
Through the first two years, we reached a membership of over 60 and joined the Sinulog festival in all the categories: float, free interpretation and higante.
New members worth mentioning here were Rene Tolo, who is now in the US, and Jun Olis. We also sponsored the premiere showing of Terminator 2, Judgment Day, in partnership with the Philippine Society of Mechanical Engineers, Cebu Chapter.
GM TOURNAMENT. However the most important accomplishment of our club was the holding of the First Cebu Grandmasters Tournament in 1992 in association with Boojie Lim of the Cebu Chess Federation, then Fide President Florencio Campomanes and the Cebu Inter-Family Youth Association headed by Henry Uy-Hehiong and Kelly Uy. The foreign grandmasters who came over to Cebu were Ian Rogers of Australia, Dibyendo Barua of India, Ye Rongguang of China and Niaz Murshed of Bangladesh. They were joined by Philippine players Rogelio Antonio, Fernie Donguines, Banjo Barcenilla, Barlo Nadera and Rico Mascariñas.
Active members of the club worth mentioning through these years are British national Graham Maitland-Smith, Italian national Stelvio Guglielmi, Mer Fernandez, Bong San Pascual, Jun Catayas, Ely Berciles, Arwin Barrios, Rene Casia, El Labunog, Fred Sandalo, Norwegian Roar Sorensen, Pabs Argamosa, Andy Aquino and Vic Nator.
Past presidents of the club are this writer, Alex Tolentino, Gerry Tomakin, Ben Dimaano, Danny Pestaño, Ogie Reyes, Nicnic Climaco, Manny Manzanares, Norway Lara, Vic Legaspina, Bobot Villaluna and current president Jun Olis.
As of now Cepca has over 100 members although some are abroad, some are inactive, and a few have passed away like Migs Enriquez, Butch Loyola and the person nearest to our hearts, Sonny Sollano. If I were to name five top members of the club, Sonny would certainly be among them.
HUMOR. Here are some moments that you should sense danger while playing chess: 1) There has been a change in pawn structure. Your opponent has eight and you don’t have any; 2) your opponent begins to throw pawns at your eyes; 3) you have a won position but your opponent has a gun; 4) before the game begins you notice your opponent’s initials are “GM”; 5) your draw offer sends all the people watching your game into uncontrollable laughter.
Saturday, September 4, 2004
Bobby Fischer updates
By Frank "Boy" Pestaño
Chessmoso
TO RECALL, when Bobby agreed to play Boris Spassky for the second time in 1992 in Yugoslavia, he was warned by the State Department that he faced a possible fine of $250,000 or 10 years in prison or both. Yugoslavia was then under sanctions by the United Nations for its war in Bosnia. Bobby of course played the match against Spassky and now he is in deep trouble as the US is now after him and has cancelled his passport.
Last July 13, he was arrested at the Narita Airport in Japan while he was on his way to the Philippines and now faces a possible deportation to the USA and jail sentence.
MIYOKO WATAI. His supporters in Japan include John Bosnitch, a former US junior chess champion, long-time friend Miyoko Watai, who is a four-time Women Japanese champion, lawyer Masako Suzuki and Ichiji Ishii, a former minister of foreign affairs and founder of a chess club.
Their strategy is for Fischer to renounce his US citizenship, acquire German citizenship and/or marry Watai, who claims she and Fischer have been living together for several years now. Fischer supporters have submitted a certified copy of his birth certificate to the German Embassy in Tokyo, which indicates he was born to a German father, Hans Gerhardt Fischer. If Germany establishes his citizenship, then he would be deported to that country where there is no extradition treaty with the US regarding German nationals.
ANTI-AMERICAN. Fischer is also seeking the protection of the United Nations High Commissioner for politically persecuted and stateless persons. After all, I believe that Bobby is being arrested now because of his anti-American ranting, his delight at what happened to the US on 9/11, which includes saying, “I want the US wiped out,” and calling George W. Bush “borderline retarded.”
Bosnitch has also informed the Japanese Government that Fischer and Watai have completed and signed the Japanese legal documents for marriage. ”If the officials were to deport Bobby, they would be depriving a Japanese woman of her man whom she has lived with for four years.”
However, the US State Department in a statement said that Fischer would not escape prosecution even if he renounces his citizenship and marries a Japanese.
“Renunciation does not allow a person to escape possible prosecution for crimes that they may have committed in the United States.” His best bet seems to be to acquire the German citizenship of his father. Already there is a large movement among chess players in Germany to free Bobby.
Last Aug. 24, the Japanese Justice Minister in a surprise move, issued an order to deport him that same day. However, Fischer’s lawyers filed a lightning appeal that will probably delay his deportation for a month on the grounds that his deportation would be a flagrant violation of his right and protection under Japanese law.
BABY GIRL. Although Watai seemed to be serious on their marriage, Bobby has a girlfriend named Justine, a 22-year-old Chinese-Filipina living in Manila with whom he has a baby girl born in 2000.
This has been kept secret by his close friends and this was probably the reason why Bobby was on his way to Manila as he “regularly sends money to Justine and their child and visits them every two months.” Bobby’s friends hope that this child will fill the void in his life that chess once occupied. Also, Justine doesn’t care so much about chess and has no intention of writing a tell-all memoir.
Bobby is a tormented soul. The death of his sister, Joan, with whom he was very close to, and his mother, whom he had reconciled with in the late 1990s, and not being able to attend their funeral were great blows to him.
He is not entirely repudiating the land of his birth. According to a long-time friend, Bobby will go home if he knew he would not be prosecuted. If ever he will be convicted, this will be the first time that a person will go to jail………for playing chess!!
Chessmoso
TO RECALL, when Bobby agreed to play Boris Spassky for the second time in 1992 in Yugoslavia, he was warned by the State Department that he faced a possible fine of $250,000 or 10 years in prison or both. Yugoslavia was then under sanctions by the United Nations for its war in Bosnia. Bobby of course played the match against Spassky and now he is in deep trouble as the US is now after him and has cancelled his passport.
Last July 13, he was arrested at the Narita Airport in Japan while he was on his way to the Philippines and now faces a possible deportation to the USA and jail sentence.
MIYOKO WATAI. His supporters in Japan include John Bosnitch, a former US junior chess champion, long-time friend Miyoko Watai, who is a four-time Women Japanese champion, lawyer Masako Suzuki and Ichiji Ishii, a former minister of foreign affairs and founder of a chess club.
Their strategy is for Fischer to renounce his US citizenship, acquire German citizenship and/or marry Watai, who claims she and Fischer have been living together for several years now. Fischer supporters have submitted a certified copy of his birth certificate to the German Embassy in Tokyo, which indicates he was born to a German father, Hans Gerhardt Fischer. If Germany establishes his citizenship, then he would be deported to that country where there is no extradition treaty with the US regarding German nationals.
ANTI-AMERICAN. Fischer is also seeking the protection of the United Nations High Commissioner for politically persecuted and stateless persons. After all, I believe that Bobby is being arrested now because of his anti-American ranting, his delight at what happened to the US on 9/11, which includes saying, “I want the US wiped out,” and calling George W. Bush “borderline retarded.”
Bosnitch has also informed the Japanese Government that Fischer and Watai have completed and signed the Japanese legal documents for marriage. ”If the officials were to deport Bobby, they would be depriving a Japanese woman of her man whom she has lived with for four years.”
However, the US State Department in a statement said that Fischer would not escape prosecution even if he renounces his citizenship and marries a Japanese.
“Renunciation does not allow a person to escape possible prosecution for crimes that they may have committed in the United States.” His best bet seems to be to acquire the German citizenship of his father. Already there is a large movement among chess players in Germany to free Bobby.
Last Aug. 24, the Japanese Justice Minister in a surprise move, issued an order to deport him that same day. However, Fischer’s lawyers filed a lightning appeal that will probably delay his deportation for a month on the grounds that his deportation would be a flagrant violation of his right and protection under Japanese law.
BABY GIRL. Although Watai seemed to be serious on their marriage, Bobby has a girlfriend named Justine, a 22-year-old Chinese-Filipina living in Manila with whom he has a baby girl born in 2000.
This has been kept secret by his close friends and this was probably the reason why Bobby was on his way to Manila as he “regularly sends money to Justine and their child and visits them every two months.” Bobby’s friends hope that this child will fill the void in his life that chess once occupied. Also, Justine doesn’t care so much about chess and has no intention of writing a tell-all memoir.
Bobby is a tormented soul. The death of his sister, Joan, with whom he was very close to, and his mother, whom he had reconciled with in the late 1990s, and not being able to attend their funeral were great blows to him.
He is not entirely repudiating the land of his birth. According to a long-time friend, Bobby will go home if he knew he would not be prosecuted. If ever he will be convicted, this will be the first time that a person will go to jail………for playing chess!!
Saturday, August 28, 2004
36th Chess Olympiad
By Frank "Boy" Pestaño
OLYMPIC fever is now at its peak with the Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece now at its tail end. It’s also time to look at the next international sporting event, which is the Chess Olympiad On Oct. 14-31 in Calvia, Majorca, Spain. The Majorcan borough of Calvia is located in the Balearic Islands west of the mainland and is famous for its casinos and beaches.
A total of 140 male and 100 female chess teams are expected to participate in this biennial event, the biggest so far in the history of the Olympiad, and the Philippines just might not be part of it.
The National Chess federation of the Philippines (NCFP) is hopelessly divided now and at this late stage cannot form a team. The ideal team should include all our grandmasters namely Eugene Torre, Rogelio Antonio, Bong Villamayor and Nelson Mariano II. Also to be included are IM Mark Paragua and World Championship qualifier IM Ronald Dableo or better still USA-based IM Rogelio “Banjo” Barcenilla.
A look at the Fide website also shows that Philippine players are not in the ratings list. I’ve contacted Casto Abundo, ratings administrator of Fide, and Eugene Torre on this matter but I didn’t receive any reply. A possible reason is we might have not paid our dues to Fide. If ever we cannot or will not participate, it will be a shame and a disaster for the Philippines in the international chess community since we have been participating in all Chess Olympiads since 1956. However, there is still time and I hope that everything turns out all right.
Our best showing was in Thessalonica, Greece in 1988 when we placed seventh among 107 countries. Since then our record has been dismal with 21st place in Novi Sad in 1990, 31st in Manila in 1992, 21st in Moscow in 1994, 26th in Elista, Kalmykia in 1998, 25th in Istanbul in 2000, and 39th in Bled, Slovenia in 2002.
Russia has won all male team events since 1952 in Helsinski with the exception of Buenos Aires in 1978, which was won by Hungary. Based on the July Elo ranking list, here are the top six countries for this coming Olympiad (Elo average is based on top four players): 1. Russia-2764 (Kasparov 2817, Kramnik 2770, Morozevich 2743, Svidler 2727) 2. Hungary-2682 (Leko 2741, Polgar 2728, Almasi 2644, Gyimesi 2618) 3. Ukraine-2678 (Ponomariov 2722, Ivanchuk 2715, Moiseenko 2640, Volokitin 2638) 4. England-2670 (Adams 2738, Short 2684, McShane 2643, Sadler 2617) 5. France-2657 (Bacrot 2712, Lautier 2666, Fressinet 2637, Thachiev 2615) 6. USA-2635 (Onischuk 2655, Seirawan 2631, Goldin 2624, Kaidanov 2621)
China is expected to dominate the Women’s event followed by Russia, Georgia, Bulgaria and the USA.
TOP CEBUANOS. Here are the top local players based mainly on the Rose Pharmacy chess tournaments: 1. NM Cyril Ortega 2230 2. NM Elwin Retanal 2225 3. Anthony Makinano 2225 4. NM Arnold Cadiz 2220 5. NM Leonardo Alidani 2200 6. NM Rogelio Enriquez 2200 7. Miguel Banibane 2194 8. Ramsy Pedroza 2131 9. Glicerio Pardillo 2125 10. Carlos Moreno III 2116. This list was furnished by Lingky Yap, arbiter and director of all major tournaments here in Cebu.
COLEGIO DEL STO. NIÑO ALUMNI. Tomorrow and Sunday are red letter days for all alumni of the school as it will be celebrating its centennial anniversary.
It will be a double celebration as it will also mark the Golden Anniversary of Class 1954. Several activities have been lined up including games, dinner and fellowship party tomorrow at the Pilgrim Center located inside the school. Holy Mass and registration starts at 8 a.m.
On Sunday, a baccalaureate mass starts at 5 p.m. at the Cebu Grand Convention Center on Arch. Reyes Ave. Dinner and activities to acknowledge all alumni of the school especially Class 1954 follows. Special awards will also be given to the outstanding alumni of the school. For more information, contact Danny Pestaño at 344-0289, Tony Valero at 255-0994 or Maning Villarosa at 261-7184.
OLYMPIC fever is now at its peak with the Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece now at its tail end. It’s also time to look at the next international sporting event, which is the Chess Olympiad On Oct. 14-31 in Calvia, Majorca, Spain. The Majorcan borough of Calvia is located in the Balearic Islands west of the mainland and is famous for its casinos and beaches.
A total of 140 male and 100 female chess teams are expected to participate in this biennial event, the biggest so far in the history of the Olympiad, and the Philippines just might not be part of it.
The National Chess federation of the Philippines (NCFP) is hopelessly divided now and at this late stage cannot form a team. The ideal team should include all our grandmasters namely Eugene Torre, Rogelio Antonio, Bong Villamayor and Nelson Mariano II. Also to be included are IM Mark Paragua and World Championship qualifier IM Ronald Dableo or better still USA-based IM Rogelio “Banjo” Barcenilla.
A look at the Fide website also shows that Philippine players are not in the ratings list. I’ve contacted Casto Abundo, ratings administrator of Fide, and Eugene Torre on this matter but I didn’t receive any reply. A possible reason is we might have not paid our dues to Fide. If ever we cannot or will not participate, it will be a shame and a disaster for the Philippines in the international chess community since we have been participating in all Chess Olympiads since 1956. However, there is still time and I hope that everything turns out all right.
Our best showing was in Thessalonica, Greece in 1988 when we placed seventh among 107 countries. Since then our record has been dismal with 21st place in Novi Sad in 1990, 31st in Manila in 1992, 21st in Moscow in 1994, 26th in Elista, Kalmykia in 1998, 25th in Istanbul in 2000, and 39th in Bled, Slovenia in 2002.
Russia has won all male team events since 1952 in Helsinski with the exception of Buenos Aires in 1978, which was won by Hungary. Based on the July Elo ranking list, here are the top six countries for this coming Olympiad (Elo average is based on top four players): 1. Russia-2764 (Kasparov 2817, Kramnik 2770, Morozevich 2743, Svidler 2727) 2. Hungary-2682 (Leko 2741, Polgar 2728, Almasi 2644, Gyimesi 2618) 3. Ukraine-2678 (Ponomariov 2722, Ivanchuk 2715, Moiseenko 2640, Volokitin 2638) 4. England-2670 (Adams 2738, Short 2684, McShane 2643, Sadler 2617) 5. France-2657 (Bacrot 2712, Lautier 2666, Fressinet 2637, Thachiev 2615) 6. USA-2635 (Onischuk 2655, Seirawan 2631, Goldin 2624, Kaidanov 2621)
China is expected to dominate the Women’s event followed by Russia, Georgia, Bulgaria and the USA.
TOP CEBUANOS. Here are the top local players based mainly on the Rose Pharmacy chess tournaments: 1. NM Cyril Ortega 2230 2. NM Elwin Retanal 2225 3. Anthony Makinano 2225 4. NM Arnold Cadiz 2220 5. NM Leonardo Alidani 2200 6. NM Rogelio Enriquez 2200 7. Miguel Banibane 2194 8. Ramsy Pedroza 2131 9. Glicerio Pardillo 2125 10. Carlos Moreno III 2116. This list was furnished by Lingky Yap, arbiter and director of all major tournaments here in Cebu.
COLEGIO DEL STO. NIÑO ALUMNI. Tomorrow and Sunday are red letter days for all alumni of the school as it will be celebrating its centennial anniversary.
It will be a double celebration as it will also mark the Golden Anniversary of Class 1954. Several activities have been lined up including games, dinner and fellowship party tomorrow at the Pilgrim Center located inside the school. Holy Mass and registration starts at 8 a.m.
On Sunday, a baccalaureate mass starts at 5 p.m. at the Cebu Grand Convention Center on Arch. Reyes Ave. Dinner and activities to acknowledge all alumni of the school especially Class 1954 follows. Special awards will also be given to the outstanding alumni of the school. For more information, contact Danny Pestaño at 344-0289, Tony Valero at 255-0994 or Maning Villarosa at 261-7184.
Saturday, August 21, 2004
Changing a light bulb, Pinoy style
By Frank "Boy" Pestaño
Chessmoso
IN my previous columns, I had been writing on the “serious” side of chess and it’s about time we look at its lighter side. Chess is such a rich game that it can be a parody in the life of a nation. It has its own sense of humor that can better be appreciated by chess players. Here are collected humor stories that I’m sure you readers will appreciate.
THE CHESS PLAYER. A guy comes home from the chess club and his wife starts nagging him. “The Chess Club again, that’s all you think about.
Chess! Chess! Chess! And more bloody chess! When was the last time you took me out?” “A, four Knights ago.” “A fortnight ago, and when was the last time you spoke to me?” “Two Knights ago.” “Two nights ago, and when was the last time you spent more than an hour with me – and don’t say three nights ago.” “I appear to be in Time Trouble.” “You are in trouble this time alright. And what were you up to last night? You kissed me and then went out.” “J’adoube.” “Speak English you swine. Tomorrow I’m locking the door and you wont be going out anywhere.” “Ill be in Zugzwang.” “Is John coming around tomorrow?” “I’ll have to check.” “I can’t stand it when he comes!” “But he’s my mate.” “What do you want for your supper?” “Fried Liver.” “Then you can fix the toilet, its blocked.” “I Khan do that.”
CHESS DOG. A man went to visit a friend and was amazed to find him playing chess with his dog. He watched the game for a while and said, “I can hardly believe my eyes!” he exclaimed. “That’s the smartest dog I’ve ever seen.”
“Nah, he’s not so smart,” the friend replied. “I’ve beaten him three games out of five.”
CHANGING A LIGHT BULB. Chess has its own rigid set of rules that has to be followed. You just can’t change anything unless you have the approval of everybody. Remember the first Fischer-Spassky match? Which brings us to the classic question: How many people at a chess tournament in the Philippines does it take to change a light bulb?
You need one to complain about the lighting. A second will say the light is okay. A third suggests that the tournament director be called and number four fetches him. The director (5) arrives and confers with the arbiter (6). An aged player (7) reminisces about the lighting in Cebu in 1970. A player (8) says that if they increase the lighting levels it will reflect into his eyes. Player (9) says they should have fluorescent lighting. Player 10 says it’s just a question of replacing a dead light bulb, and player 11 complains to the arbiter about the disturbance.
A politician (12) suggest taking a vote on whether to change the bulb but a journalist (13) protests. A businessman (14) forms a group called the Movement to Change the Light bulb or MCL as a pressure group to argue for better lighting. A priest (15) is elected chairman of MCL and he then forms a committee composed of a woman (16), farmer (17) and a student (18) to advice MCL on whether to change the light bulb. A leftist participant (19) has a row with the officers of MCL, resigns and then pickets the tournament premises. Finally the only sane Filipino left, an exasperated Juan de la Cruz (20) takes the matter into his own hands, sneaks inside to change the light bulb but is caught and is expelled screaming from the tournament hall.
GIO DEL SANTO NINO ALUMNI. We are calling the attention of all alumni of the Colegio del Santo Nino to attend the Centennial Celebration of the elementary school and Grand Alumni Homecoming in honor of Golden Jubilarian Class 1954 on Aug. 28-29.
Scheduled activities for Aug. 28 are Mass at 8 a.m. and registration at 9 a.m. There will be a short program in the afternoon, followed by dinner and a fellowship party in the evening. Venue is at the Pilgrim Center.
Activities for Aug. 29 are Eucharistic Celebration at 5 p.m. followed by a program to honor all alumni, dinner and dance. Venue is at the Grand Convention Center of Cebu.
Chessmoso
IN my previous columns, I had been writing on the “serious” side of chess and it’s about time we look at its lighter side. Chess is such a rich game that it can be a parody in the life of a nation. It has its own sense of humor that can better be appreciated by chess players. Here are collected humor stories that I’m sure you readers will appreciate.
THE CHESS PLAYER. A guy comes home from the chess club and his wife starts nagging him. “The Chess Club again, that’s all you think about.
Chess! Chess! Chess! And more bloody chess! When was the last time you took me out?” “A, four Knights ago.” “A fortnight ago, and when was the last time you spoke to me?” “Two Knights ago.” “Two nights ago, and when was the last time you spent more than an hour with me – and don’t say three nights ago.” “I appear to be in Time Trouble.” “You are in trouble this time alright. And what were you up to last night? You kissed me and then went out.” “J’adoube.” “Speak English you swine. Tomorrow I’m locking the door and you wont be going out anywhere.” “Ill be in Zugzwang.” “Is John coming around tomorrow?” “I’ll have to check.” “I can’t stand it when he comes!” “But he’s my mate.” “What do you want for your supper?” “Fried Liver.” “Then you can fix the toilet, its blocked.” “I Khan do that.”
CHESS DOG. A man went to visit a friend and was amazed to find him playing chess with his dog. He watched the game for a while and said, “I can hardly believe my eyes!” he exclaimed. “That’s the smartest dog I’ve ever seen.”
“Nah, he’s not so smart,” the friend replied. “I’ve beaten him three games out of five.”
CHANGING A LIGHT BULB. Chess has its own rigid set of rules that has to be followed. You just can’t change anything unless you have the approval of everybody. Remember the first Fischer-Spassky match? Which brings us to the classic question: How many people at a chess tournament in the Philippines does it take to change a light bulb?
You need one to complain about the lighting. A second will say the light is okay. A third suggests that the tournament director be called and number four fetches him. The director (5) arrives and confers with the arbiter (6). An aged player (7) reminisces about the lighting in Cebu in 1970. A player (8) says that if they increase the lighting levels it will reflect into his eyes. Player (9) says they should have fluorescent lighting. Player 10 says it’s just a question of replacing a dead light bulb, and player 11 complains to the arbiter about the disturbance.
A politician (12) suggest taking a vote on whether to change the bulb but a journalist (13) protests. A businessman (14) forms a group called the Movement to Change the Light bulb or MCL as a pressure group to argue for better lighting. A priest (15) is elected chairman of MCL and he then forms a committee composed of a woman (16), farmer (17) and a student (18) to advice MCL on whether to change the light bulb. A leftist participant (19) has a row with the officers of MCL, resigns and then pickets the tournament premises. Finally the only sane Filipino left, an exasperated Juan de la Cruz (20) takes the matter into his own hands, sneaks inside to change the light bulb but is caught and is expelled screaming from the tournament hall.
GIO DEL SANTO NINO ALUMNI. We are calling the attention of all alumni of the Colegio del Santo Nino to attend the Centennial Celebration of the elementary school and Grand Alumni Homecoming in honor of Golden Jubilarian Class 1954 on Aug. 28-29.
Scheduled activities for Aug. 28 are Mass at 8 a.m. and registration at 9 a.m. There will be a short program in the afternoon, followed by dinner and a fellowship party in the evening. Venue is at the Pilgrim Center.
Activities for Aug. 29 are Eucharistic Celebration at 5 p.m. followed by a program to honor all alumni, dinner and dance. Venue is at the Grand Convention Center of Cebu.
Saturday, August 14, 2004
Spassky to Bush
By Frank "Boy" Pestaño
THERE are a lot of activities this month on the local level. Right off the butt was the Cepca vs. Lapu-Lapu Chess Club match on Aug. 1 at the Cebu Youth Chess Center. The warriors from Mactan won, 19-15. Winning both of their games for Lapu-Lapu were Joel Pacuribot, Aldwin Daculan, Rene Romero, Toto Sapa, Judy Tamala and Kristoffer Querubin. Double pointers for Cepca were Peterson Sia, Tony Cornejo and Carlos Moreno. This is the second time that both clubs met, the last time was in 2001, which was won by Cepca, then held at Foods and Fruits Restaurant.
Scheduled for Aug. 14-16 is the Rose Pharmacy Class C Tournament at the Cebu Youth Chess Center along Jakosalem st. This is open only to non-rated, non-varsity and novice players. Format is nine rounds Swiss and time control is 20 minutes with 10-second increment.
Coming up is newcomer-sponsor Elizabeth Mall, which will hold a tournament on Aug. 21. It is an open tournament, seven rounds Swiss and time control is 15 minutes. Prizes are P3,000, P2,000, and P1, 500. There is no entrance fee but participants are required to purchase P200 of dry goods or P150 food and drinks.
There are also some activities on the school level. Holding chess intramurals on Aug. 11-14 is Southwestern University. It is a team tournament among the different colleges such as medicine, law, engineering, nursing, and is divided into men and women.
Also on tap is the Cebu Doctor’s College Intramurals Chess Team Tournament on Aug. 23-25.
Next on schedule is the Cepca August Tournament slated on the 22nd at the Cebu Youth Chess Center. This tournament is for members only and format is five-round Swiss with time control depending on the member’s level of skill. We also have a new member, Armando Baria an executive and engineer of Aboitizland. Welcome to the Club, Mandy!
INTERNATIONAL. On the international level, Vishy Anand of India just won Dortmund 2004, traditionally Europe’s strongest tournament, over current World champion Vladimir Kramnik of Russia in the finals. Third place went to Russian Peter Svidler, who defeated Peter Leko of Hungary. Fifth was Arkady Naiditsch of Germany, sixth Sergie Rublevsky also of Russia, seventh was defending champion Victor Bologan of Moldavia and last, Sergey Karjakin of Ukraine.
One of the strongest-ever tournaments of all time among women, Ural Super tournament, just concluded with Moldavian-French WGM Almira Skripchenko as solo winner with a score of six points. It was a round robin event among 10 players, which included the current world champion GM Antoinette Stefanova of Bulgaria, five-time world champion GM Maia Chiburdinadze of Georgia and Russian champion IM Alisa Galliamova.
$2.6 BILLION CHESS CITY. Chess is really going into big time now with the announcement by Fide President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov to build a $2.6 billion Chess City in Dubai. It will feature 32 buildings designed to mirror the image of a traditional black and white game board and will total an outstanding 64,000 square meters.
“It is Dubai’s destiny to become the center of such a magnificent game.
Dubai will play host to over 60 million amateur and professional chess followers from around the globe annually. They will have a permanent venue where they can congregate and play 24-hour championships throughout the year, while some other 500 million lovers of the game will have the chance to follow the excitement via interactive electronic screens,” he said in a joint statement with the chief executive of Dubai Projects, Sulaiman al- Fahim.
Wow! Do you believe this can be done?
SPASSKY TO BUSH. Boris Spassky has appealed to President George Bush to free Bobby Fischer, now under detention in Japan, in the interest of mercy and in consideration of Bobby’s chess accomplishments. He added that if his request is denied, Bush can put him in prison in the same cell as Fischer and to furnish them a chess set.
THERE are a lot of activities this month on the local level. Right off the butt was the Cepca vs. Lapu-Lapu Chess Club match on Aug. 1 at the Cebu Youth Chess Center. The warriors from Mactan won, 19-15. Winning both of their games for Lapu-Lapu were Joel Pacuribot, Aldwin Daculan, Rene Romero, Toto Sapa, Judy Tamala and Kristoffer Querubin. Double pointers for Cepca were Peterson Sia, Tony Cornejo and Carlos Moreno. This is the second time that both clubs met, the last time was in 2001, which was won by Cepca, then held at Foods and Fruits Restaurant.
Scheduled for Aug. 14-16 is the Rose Pharmacy Class C Tournament at the Cebu Youth Chess Center along Jakosalem st. This is open only to non-rated, non-varsity and novice players. Format is nine rounds Swiss and time control is 20 minutes with 10-second increment.
Coming up is newcomer-sponsor Elizabeth Mall, which will hold a tournament on Aug. 21. It is an open tournament, seven rounds Swiss and time control is 15 minutes. Prizes are P3,000, P2,000, and P1, 500. There is no entrance fee but participants are required to purchase P200 of dry goods or P150 food and drinks.
There are also some activities on the school level. Holding chess intramurals on Aug. 11-14 is Southwestern University. It is a team tournament among the different colleges such as medicine, law, engineering, nursing, and is divided into men and women.
Also on tap is the Cebu Doctor’s College Intramurals Chess Team Tournament on Aug. 23-25.
Next on schedule is the Cepca August Tournament slated on the 22nd at the Cebu Youth Chess Center. This tournament is for members only and format is five-round Swiss with time control depending on the member’s level of skill. We also have a new member, Armando Baria an executive and engineer of Aboitizland. Welcome to the Club, Mandy!
INTERNATIONAL. On the international level, Vishy Anand of India just won Dortmund 2004, traditionally Europe’s strongest tournament, over current World champion Vladimir Kramnik of Russia in the finals. Third place went to Russian Peter Svidler, who defeated Peter Leko of Hungary. Fifth was Arkady Naiditsch of Germany, sixth Sergie Rublevsky also of Russia, seventh was defending champion Victor Bologan of Moldavia and last, Sergey Karjakin of Ukraine.
One of the strongest-ever tournaments of all time among women, Ural Super tournament, just concluded with Moldavian-French WGM Almira Skripchenko as solo winner with a score of six points. It was a round robin event among 10 players, which included the current world champion GM Antoinette Stefanova of Bulgaria, five-time world champion GM Maia Chiburdinadze of Georgia and Russian champion IM Alisa Galliamova.
$2.6 BILLION CHESS CITY. Chess is really going into big time now with the announcement by Fide President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov to build a $2.6 billion Chess City in Dubai. It will feature 32 buildings designed to mirror the image of a traditional black and white game board and will total an outstanding 64,000 square meters.
“It is Dubai’s destiny to become the center of such a magnificent game.
Dubai will play host to over 60 million amateur and professional chess followers from around the globe annually. They will have a permanent venue where they can congregate and play 24-hour championships throughout the year, while some other 500 million lovers of the game will have the chance to follow the excitement via interactive electronic screens,” he said in a joint statement with the chief executive of Dubai Projects, Sulaiman al- Fahim.
Wow! Do you believe this can be done?
SPASSKY TO BUSH. Boris Spassky has appealed to President George Bush to free Bobby Fischer, now under detention in Japan, in the interest of mercy and in consideration of Bobby’s chess accomplishments. He added that if his request is denied, Bush can put him in prison in the same cell as Fischer and to furnish them a chess set.
Saturday, August 7, 2004
Are women inferior to men?
By Frank "Boy" Pestaño
Chessmoso
IN philosophy, literature, arts, music and sciences men are clearly the dominant specie. It is even more so in chess.
A review of chess players of the past and the present shows a considerable difference between men and women in playing skills. With the exception of the phenomenal Judit Polgar of Hungary, there’s no woman today in Fide’s list of top 100 players.
There has been a lot of discussion on why this is so. Chess demands good memory, logical thinking, concentration and a strong desire to win. Do women lack these qualities? Of course not. So why?
The reason is fairly obvious. Women are not interested to play chess! The ratio between chess-playing men and women is about 30 to one.
I have been personally involved in chess not only in playing the game, but also organizing tournaments and clubs. The Cebu Executives Professionals Chess Association (Cepca) which was founded in 1990 has no woman member although we are more than 100.
Let’s examine the reason why women are not interested. I will be quoting from various personalities on the reasons behind this. Garry Kasparov says, “Chess demands immense strain and desire to always win. And for many centuries this type of mentality has been formed in men, who are the militant part of the world’s population and 20 to 30 years of women’s emancipation is not enough to change this mentality. We need another 30 to 40 years in order to fill the difference between men and women intellect.”
Harry Golombek says, “This maybe ungallant, but I think chess is really a game for the masculine imagination. There is a different quality of imagination involved. Men are more imaginative and women are better technically.”
Jan Donner adds, “Women can do everything but they cannot think logically. They have no intuition.”
Another reason why women are not interested is this line by Alex Yermolinsky: “The exodus of women from chess is a social phenomenon. As long as playing chess remains a borderline outlaw occupation with no social status, financial security, or career options, young women will run away.”
Angelina Belakovskaya is more to the point, “Why do young girls want to be movie stars or models? Because they see plenty of role models who are making a lot of money, are famous and have a good life. How many women chess players do we have as role models?”
The ultimate chauvinist in chess is Bobby Fischer who once withdrew from a tournament because a woman was playing (she was Lisa Lane, a US Women champion). Bobby says, “They are all weak, all women. They are stupid compared to men. They should not play chess, you know. They are like beginners. They lose every single game against a man. There isn’t a woman player in the world I can’t give knight-odd and still beat.” When Mikhael Tal heard this, he said this famous line, “Fischer is Fischer, but a horse is a horse.”
Here is another line from Garry Kasparov, who seems to be the most observant when it comes to Women’s chess: “Men are less affected by what are known in computer language as “interrupts”, this means, for example, that a women’s train of thought can be broken easily by extraneous events, such as a baby crying upstairs. This is not part of their environmental conditioning but organic, part of their genetic molecular structure. The effect, in computer terms, is to overload their memory banks with a series of little events to which they are programmed to respond, thereby limiting their powers of concentration.”
So there you are, the next time you play a woman, give her some respect because she is a rare breed.
CEPCA AUGUST TOURNAMENT. Our next tournament, for members only, is on Aug. 15, Sunday. I am urging all members to participate, now that we are forging ahead, to take timeout from their busy schedules. For tournament details call me at 231-76-56.
Congratulations to the Lapu-Lapu Chess Club for their 19-15 win over us last Aug. 1 at the Cebu Youth Chess Center. We demand a rematch!
Chessmoso
IN philosophy, literature, arts, music and sciences men are clearly the dominant specie. It is even more so in chess.
A review of chess players of the past and the present shows a considerable difference between men and women in playing skills. With the exception of the phenomenal Judit Polgar of Hungary, there’s no woman today in Fide’s list of top 100 players.
There has been a lot of discussion on why this is so. Chess demands good memory, logical thinking, concentration and a strong desire to win. Do women lack these qualities? Of course not. So why?
The reason is fairly obvious. Women are not interested to play chess! The ratio between chess-playing men and women is about 30 to one.
I have been personally involved in chess not only in playing the game, but also organizing tournaments and clubs. The Cebu Executives Professionals Chess Association (Cepca) which was founded in 1990 has no woman member although we are more than 100.
Let’s examine the reason why women are not interested. I will be quoting from various personalities on the reasons behind this. Garry Kasparov says, “Chess demands immense strain and desire to always win. And for many centuries this type of mentality has been formed in men, who are the militant part of the world’s population and 20 to 30 years of women’s emancipation is not enough to change this mentality. We need another 30 to 40 years in order to fill the difference between men and women intellect.”
Harry Golombek says, “This maybe ungallant, but I think chess is really a game for the masculine imagination. There is a different quality of imagination involved. Men are more imaginative and women are better technically.”
Jan Donner adds, “Women can do everything but they cannot think logically. They have no intuition.”
Another reason why women are not interested is this line by Alex Yermolinsky: “The exodus of women from chess is a social phenomenon. As long as playing chess remains a borderline outlaw occupation with no social status, financial security, or career options, young women will run away.”
Angelina Belakovskaya is more to the point, “Why do young girls want to be movie stars or models? Because they see plenty of role models who are making a lot of money, are famous and have a good life. How many women chess players do we have as role models?”
The ultimate chauvinist in chess is Bobby Fischer who once withdrew from a tournament because a woman was playing (she was Lisa Lane, a US Women champion). Bobby says, “They are all weak, all women. They are stupid compared to men. They should not play chess, you know. They are like beginners. They lose every single game against a man. There isn’t a woman player in the world I can’t give knight-odd and still beat.” When Mikhael Tal heard this, he said this famous line, “Fischer is Fischer, but a horse is a horse.”
Here is another line from Garry Kasparov, who seems to be the most observant when it comes to Women’s chess: “Men are less affected by what are known in computer language as “interrupts”, this means, for example, that a women’s train of thought can be broken easily by extraneous events, such as a baby crying upstairs. This is not part of their environmental conditioning but organic, part of their genetic molecular structure. The effect, in computer terms, is to overload their memory banks with a series of little events to which they are programmed to respond, thereby limiting their powers of concentration.”
So there you are, the next time you play a woman, give her some respect because she is a rare breed.
CEPCA AUGUST TOURNAMENT. Our next tournament, for members only, is on Aug. 15, Sunday. I am urging all members to participate, now that we are forging ahead, to take timeout from their busy schedules. For tournament details call me at 231-76-56.
Congratulations to the Lapu-Lapu Chess Club for their 19-15 win over us last Aug. 1 at the Cebu Youth Chess Center. We demand a rematch!
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