CHESS has been trying to become an Olympic sport and must submit to all the rules of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), including their anti-doping program.
The program was first introduced during the Asian Games in Qatar although the competition’s organizer, Yousuf Ahmad Ali, was quoted as saying, “I would not know which drug could possibly help a chess player to improve his game.”
During the last Olympiad in Dresden last year, Ukraine was chosen after a raffle to undergo drug testing and it was done in the last round. Let us take a look at exactly what happened.
A victory over the 10th seed USA in the final round would give them gold, a draw would secure silver and even a 1-3 loss to the US would get them a bronze medal.
However, the final result was ½-3½ and subsequently Ukraine did not win any medal at all, losing the bronze to the US on tiebreak points.
After losing the crucial game to Gata Kamsky, Vassily Ivanchuk was terribly upset. A witness was quoted saying, “I witnessed Ivanchuk kick a large concrete pillar, then bang his fists on the food service counter a couple of times in the cloak room area of the venue, all the time being followed by a couple of officials.”
They were saying that he should undergo drug testing. Actually, to be precise, he didn’t fail it—he refused to take it, which in the totally rational world of international drug testing, counts as a positive.
Fide president Kirsan Ilyumshinov himself has indicated that Ivanchuk could face a two-year ban.
After a thorough investigation, though, it was announced prior to the start of the prestigious Corus 2009 tournament that it was a misunderstanding and there would be no penalty. Besides….how the hell do you dope in chess?
Athletes are banned from taking thousands of chemical substances that experts believe will give them an unfair advantage.
There are five main categories of drugs that are banned: anabolic steroids—these help athletes to build muscle; peptide hormones—substances that occur naturally in the body but produce similar effects to the anabolic steroids; painkillers such as morphine; stimulants—drugs like amphetamines and cocaine can raise the heart rate and improve performance;
diuretics—chemicals that help the body to lose fluids and be useful in helping boxers to meet their fighting weight.
In the laboratory, mind-enhancing drugs are the next gold mine in the medical field. “We’re on the verge of profound changes in our ability to manipulate the brain,” says Paul Root Wolpe, a bioethicist. “The next two decades will be the golden age of neuroscience,” declares Jonathan Moreno, another bioethicist. “We’re on the threshold of the kind of rapid growth of information in neuroscience that was true of genetics 15 years ago.”
Truly effective neuropharmaceuticals that improve moods and sharpen mental focus are already widely available. While there is some controversy about the effectiveness of Prozac, Paxil, and Zoloft, millions of Americans have taken them, with mostly positive results.
Other effective drugs that enhance memory concentration and focus are Huperzine A, Gingko Biloba, Dimethylaminoethanol, which is used to treat attention deficit disorder, Choline, Pyroglutamic acid, which stimulates cognitive function, and Ribonucleic acid, RNA.
The implications of drug-enhanced minds are vast; these drugs would create a transformation every bit as significant as the one wrought by computers and the Internet. Why should we not take them?
Does it mean that chess players should not take them in order to play in the Olympics? Baloney!
Friday, February 13, 2009
So's magnificent victory
THE 71st Corus tournament took place from Jan. 16 to Feb. 1 at Wijk Aan Zee, a North sea resort in the Netherlands. Wesley So convincingly won Group C, showing a lot of maturity and excellent technique to run away from the 14-man field with a score of seven wins, five draws and a single loss and a performance rating of 2686. His live rating is now 2647, which places him at No.111 in the world.
This is one of the most memorable wins by a Filipino, reminiscent of the victories of Eugene Torre in the 70s. Only the most talented players are invited to Corus.
Next year, he will be playing in the B Group. Wesley is considered one of the finest young talents today and is a probable world champion along with such young talents as Magnus Carlsen of Norway, Sergey Karjakin of Ukraine, the winner in the A Group and Fabiano Caruana, also the winner in the B Group, an Italian- American.
He won over Tiger Hillarp Persson (Sweden, 2586) and all of the players from Holland, namely Ali Bitalzadeh (2400), Friso Nijboer (2560), Roeland Pruijssers (2444) and Manuel Bosboom ( 2418).
His other wins were against Eduardo Iturrizaga of Venezuela (2528) and Manuel Leon Hoyos of Mexico (2542).
He had his draws mostly at the start of the tournament when he was tentative. He drew with Abhijeet Gupta of India (2569), the current World Junior Champion; Harika Donavalli, also of India and the current Girls World Champion; and Anish Giri, the youngest of the group at 14 years and also a player to watch in the future.
Anish placed a strong second, a point behind Wesley, to snare his third and final GM norm. He is now officially the world’s youngest GM replacing the highly-talented girl from China, Hou Yifan.
Other draws were against Oleg Romanishin of Ukraine (2533) and another rising star David Howell of England (2622). His only loss was to Frank Holzke of Germany (2524) which was a fluke as he had a slight advantage when he committed a simple error with a pawn capture by his knight. After that, he engineered four straight wins.
Torre, who knows what he is talking about, often compares Wesley to the great Bobby Fischer and said, “The talent and skills are already there and he has proven that. This year could be a test of character and nerves for him because everybody knows him already.”
Next for Wesley is a probable 10-game match versus Torre which is slated to start Feb. 10.
Two games each will be played in Quezon City, Davao, Iloilo and Cebu and if the match is not decided, another two games will be played in Quezon City. A knockout game will be played in case there is a tie at 5-5.
The winner will take home P600,000, while the loser will earn P400,000. Another P100,000 goes to the winner of each provincial leg while the loser will get P50,000. Sponsor is Rep. Matias Defensor.
The odds are about even in this dream encounter since the two GMs had split their three previous games.
However, I have just been informed by a highly-reliable source that “ nagka hassle pa ang match” although as per previous press releases, the match was sealed as early as September last year.
In case the match will be postponed, the next schedule for Wesley is the Aeroflot Open in Moscow on Feb. 16 to 27. The Open is running on its eighth year. Total prize fund for the A1 Group (rating of 2550 and up) is 70,000 Euros with the champion getting 21,000 Euros.
The winner of the A1 Group will be invited to this year’s super tournament in Dortmund, Germany, which will be held from July 2 to 12. Dortmund is one of the major tournaments in the chess calendar and an invitation is much sought after.
This is one of the most memorable wins by a Filipino, reminiscent of the victories of Eugene Torre in the 70s. Only the most talented players are invited to Corus.
Next year, he will be playing in the B Group. Wesley is considered one of the finest young talents today and is a probable world champion along with such young talents as Magnus Carlsen of Norway, Sergey Karjakin of Ukraine, the winner in the A Group and Fabiano Caruana, also the winner in the B Group, an Italian- American.
He won over Tiger Hillarp Persson (Sweden, 2586) and all of the players from Holland, namely Ali Bitalzadeh (2400), Friso Nijboer (2560), Roeland Pruijssers (2444) and Manuel Bosboom ( 2418).
His other wins were against Eduardo Iturrizaga of Venezuela (2528) and Manuel Leon Hoyos of Mexico (2542).
He had his draws mostly at the start of the tournament when he was tentative. He drew with Abhijeet Gupta of India (2569), the current World Junior Champion; Harika Donavalli, also of India and the current Girls World Champion; and Anish Giri, the youngest of the group at 14 years and also a player to watch in the future.
Anish placed a strong second, a point behind Wesley, to snare his third and final GM norm. He is now officially the world’s youngest GM replacing the highly-talented girl from China, Hou Yifan.
Other draws were against Oleg Romanishin of Ukraine (2533) and another rising star David Howell of England (2622). His only loss was to Frank Holzke of Germany (2524) which was a fluke as he had a slight advantage when he committed a simple error with a pawn capture by his knight. After that, he engineered four straight wins.
Torre, who knows what he is talking about, often compares Wesley to the great Bobby Fischer and said, “The talent and skills are already there and he has proven that. This year could be a test of character and nerves for him because everybody knows him already.”
Next for Wesley is a probable 10-game match versus Torre which is slated to start Feb. 10.
Two games each will be played in Quezon City, Davao, Iloilo and Cebu and if the match is not decided, another two games will be played in Quezon City. A knockout game will be played in case there is a tie at 5-5.
The winner will take home P600,000, while the loser will earn P400,000. Another P100,000 goes to the winner of each provincial leg while the loser will get P50,000. Sponsor is Rep. Matias Defensor.
The odds are about even in this dream encounter since the two GMs had split their three previous games.
However, I have just been informed by a highly-reliable source that “ nagka hassle pa ang match” although as per previous press releases, the match was sealed as early as September last year.
In case the match will be postponed, the next schedule for Wesley is the Aeroflot Open in Moscow on Feb. 16 to 27. The Open is running on its eighth year. Total prize fund for the A1 Group (rating of 2550 and up) is 70,000 Euros with the champion getting 21,000 Euros.
The winner of the A1 Group will be invited to this year’s super tournament in Dortmund, Germany, which will be held from July 2 to 12. Dortmund is one of the major tournaments in the chess calendar and an invitation is much sought after.
Bitoon starts search for final GM norm
Frank “Boy” PestañoChessmoso
THREE exciting events will start next week. Two are major tournaments and the third is significant to us because four Pinoys are competing, Wonder Boy Wesley So and Cebuano Richard Bitoon, who is seeking his third and final GM norm.
The other two are young talents Haridas Pascua and Jan Emmanuel Garcia. They will be playing in the 2009 Aeroflot Open in Moscow, which starts Feb. 16.
"The Manny Pacquiao Blog". Click here for stories and updates on the Filipino boxing champ.
This is the strongest tournament that Wesley will be contesting thus far and he will be tested to the limit. He will be playing in the A1 Group, whose members have ratings of at least 2550. There are a lot of players who are rated higher than Wesley (live rating -2647) and it will be a major achievement if he finishes in the top five and even more so if he wins the tournament.
The winner in this group will be invited to play in Dortmund, Germany (July 2 to 16) this year against the likes of Veselin Topalov, World Champion Viswanathan Anand, Vladimir Kramnik and the rest of the 2700s gang.
In the A2 Group, which is for players rated between 2400-2550, Richard will be seeking his third and final norm and if he succeeds, he will be the first Cebuano GM to have that distinction.
Pascua and Garcia will be playing in the B Group for players rated 2199-2399, which will be a good experience for these talented youngsters.
The winner in Group A1 will take home 21,000 Euros, while the winner in A2 will earn 9,000 Euros. The B3 winner will take home 3,500 Euros.
I am a little bit disappointed though as I was expecting our Kimkim Yap to be a part of this group.
TOPALOV-KAMSKY. Also on Feb. 16, the match featuring Veselin Topalov vs. Gata Kamsky, officially dubbed “World
Chess Challenge Sofia 2009” will be played in Bulgaria. It has a prize fund of $250,000 which will be divided equally between the two.
The Challenger’s Match will consist of eight games and possible tie-breaks. The winner qualifies for the World Championship Match 2009 against Anand of India later this year.
Kamsky and Topalov have played eight games against each other. The first and the last two ended in draws, while Topalov won the rest.
Topalov is the clear favorite. He’s the current world no. 1 with a rating of 2796 (2809 in the live ratings), while Kamsky is 17th at 2725 (2723 in the live ratings).
Linares 2009. The XXVI Linares 2009 tournament will take place in Spain on Feb. 18 to March 8 and is considered the “Wimbledon of chess.” The champion will take home 100,000 Euros and the second and third placers will earn 75,000 and 50,000 Euros, respectively.
World Champion Anand defends his title after winning the event last year. Other players are Wang Yue, Teimour Radjabov, Vassily Ivanchuk, Magnus Carlsen, Alexander Grischuk, Leinier Dominguez Perez and Levon Aronian. Format is double round robin.
Speaking of Aronian, his girlfriend Arianne Caoili, who has a WIM title and is a celebrity in Dancing with the Stars, was seen in the Corus tournament last month. She is a Filipina-Aussie mestiza famous for her beauty. She played for the Philippines in several Olympiads but is now a resident of Australia.
Pasil. The tournament was played last Feb. 8 at Brgy. Pasil Sports Complex.
The winners are NM Enriquez Rogelio (champion, 6.0 points), IM Kim Steven Yap (second place, 5.5), FM Anthony Makinano (third place, 5.5), Rosendo Yamyamin (fourth place, 5.5), Dennis Navalez (fifth place, 5.0), Venancio Loyola (sixth place, 5.0), Eden Diano (seventh place, 4.5), Joselito Loquez (eighth place, 4.5). The best junior player was Marq Balbona and the best female was Phoebelyn Bitoon.
Many thanks to the committee members of Brgy. Pasil, the organizer Richie Evardo and also to the arbiter, Vicmeil Pepito for making the tournament a success.
THREE exciting events will start next week. Two are major tournaments and the third is significant to us because four Pinoys are competing, Wonder Boy Wesley So and Cebuano Richard Bitoon, who is seeking his third and final GM norm.
The other two are young talents Haridas Pascua and Jan Emmanuel Garcia. They will be playing in the 2009 Aeroflot Open in Moscow, which starts Feb. 16.
"The Manny Pacquiao Blog". Click here for stories and updates on the Filipino boxing champ.
This is the strongest tournament that Wesley will be contesting thus far and he will be tested to the limit. He will be playing in the A1 Group, whose members have ratings of at least 2550. There are a lot of players who are rated higher than Wesley (live rating -2647) and it will be a major achievement if he finishes in the top five and even more so if he wins the tournament.
The winner in this group will be invited to play in Dortmund, Germany (July 2 to 16) this year against the likes of Veselin Topalov, World Champion Viswanathan Anand, Vladimir Kramnik and the rest of the 2700s gang.
In the A2 Group, which is for players rated between 2400-2550, Richard will be seeking his third and final norm and if he succeeds, he will be the first Cebuano GM to have that distinction.
Pascua and Garcia will be playing in the B Group for players rated 2199-2399, which will be a good experience for these talented youngsters.
The winner in Group A1 will take home 21,000 Euros, while the winner in A2 will earn 9,000 Euros. The B3 winner will take home 3,500 Euros.
I am a little bit disappointed though as I was expecting our Kimkim Yap to be a part of this group.
TOPALOV-KAMSKY. Also on Feb. 16, the match featuring Veselin Topalov vs. Gata Kamsky, officially dubbed “World
Chess Challenge Sofia 2009” will be played in Bulgaria. It has a prize fund of $250,000 which will be divided equally between the two.
The Challenger’s Match will consist of eight games and possible tie-breaks. The winner qualifies for the World Championship Match 2009 against Anand of India later this year.
Kamsky and Topalov have played eight games against each other. The first and the last two ended in draws, while Topalov won the rest.
Topalov is the clear favorite. He’s the current world no. 1 with a rating of 2796 (2809 in the live ratings), while Kamsky is 17th at 2725 (2723 in the live ratings).
Linares 2009. The XXVI Linares 2009 tournament will take place in Spain on Feb. 18 to March 8 and is considered the “Wimbledon of chess.” The champion will take home 100,000 Euros and the second and third placers will earn 75,000 and 50,000 Euros, respectively.
World Champion Anand defends his title after winning the event last year. Other players are Wang Yue, Teimour Radjabov, Vassily Ivanchuk, Magnus Carlsen, Alexander Grischuk, Leinier Dominguez Perez and Levon Aronian. Format is double round robin.
Speaking of Aronian, his girlfriend Arianne Caoili, who has a WIM title and is a celebrity in Dancing with the Stars, was seen in the Corus tournament last month. She is a Filipina-Aussie mestiza famous for her beauty. She played for the Philippines in several Olympiads but is now a resident of Australia.
Pasil. The tournament was played last Feb. 8 at Brgy. Pasil Sports Complex.
The winners are NM Enriquez Rogelio (champion, 6.0 points), IM Kim Steven Yap (second place, 5.5), FM Anthony Makinano (third place, 5.5), Rosendo Yamyamin (fourth place, 5.5), Dennis Navalez (fifth place, 5.0), Venancio Loyola (sixth place, 5.0), Eden Diano (seventh place, 4.5), Joselito Loquez (eighth place, 4.5). The best junior player was Marq Balbona and the best female was Phoebelyn Bitoon.
Many thanks to the committee members of Brgy. Pasil, the organizer Richie Evardo and also to the arbiter, Vicmeil Pepito for making the tournament a success.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Sinulog and the best players of 2008
THE Sinulog Open Team Tournament, organized by the Cebu Executives and Professionals Chess Association (Cepca) and sponsored by the City Government, will start this Jan. 9 at 1 p.m. tentatively set at E-mall and will be a 7-round Swiss. There will be two games on Friday, three games on Saturday and two games on Sunday. All games will start at 1 p.m.
There will be a captain’s meeting at 12:30 p.m. We will invite Cebu City Councilor Jack Jakosalem, Cepca honorary members and National Master Bombi Aznar and chess patron Boojie Lim. Acting Mayor Michael Rama, also an honorary member of Cepca, will also be invited.
Prizes totaling P63,000 are at stake with P25,000 and a designer trophy for the champion. Other prizes are P15,000 for the first runner-up, P10,000 for the second runner-up. The fourth placer will get P5,000, while the fifth and sixth placers will get P3,000 and P1,000, respectively. Board 1 to 4 winners will also get P1,000 each.
Each team will be composed of four players and an additional reserve player, which is optional. Time control is one hour per player, play to finish.
To make the tournament competitive, Fide arbiters, led by National Master Roger Abella and Marvin Ruelan have made a list of players who must not play together and must play on Board 1.
The players are Erwin Ababat, Francisco Abugho, Leonardo Alidani, Odillon Badilles, Jhonel Balquin, Arnold Cadiz, Eden Diano, Rogelio Enriquez, Anthony Makinano, Mario Mangubat, Carlos Moreno III, Richard Natividad, Glen Pardillo, Ramsey Pedroza, Allan Salientes, Voltaire Sevillano, Elmer Sumangat, Bonn Tibod, Christopher Tobalado, Ceferino Vizco and Kim Steven Yap.
Some players may have been missed by our committee, hence, qualification to play shall be a determining prerogative of the organizers.
Registration fee per team is set at P1,000 and every team is urged to pay the fee by Jan. 7, and submit their line-up to my niece Malou Pestaño at the Colonade Chess Club.
The organizers are also urging the team to play in proper uniforms and to come in proper attire.
It has been observed that in team competitions, some games are “arranged” and this will strictly not be allowed by the organizers. The penalty will be set by a committee composed of Renato Casia as chairman and Marvin Ruelan, Roger Abella, Jun Olis and Joe Atillo as members.
TOPALOV IS NO. 1. Bulgarian GM Veselin Topalov is in first place with a rating of 2796 as of January 2009. He is five points higher in the previous list and he gained these five points at the Chess Olympiad in Dresden. His winning the Nanjing Super-GM has not been counted since that event ended on Dec. 22. If included, his rating will be at 2810.
At second place in the Fide list is World Champion Viswanathan Anand, who gained eight points from his match in Bonn with Vladimir Kramnik. The latter lost eight points from the Anand match, and five more points at the Chess Olympiad.
Here are the Top 10. 1.) Veselin Topalov 2.Viswanathan Anand (39, India, 2791) 2.) Vassily Ivanchuk (39, Ukraine, 2779) 4.) Magnus Carlsen (18, Norway, 2776) 5.Alexander Morozevich (31, Russia, 2771) 6.) Teimour Radjabov (21, Azerbaijan, 2761) 7. Dmitry Jakovenko (25, Russia, 2760) 8.) Vladimir Kramnik (33, Russia, 2759) 9.Peter Leko (29, Hungary, 2751) 10.) Sergei Movsesian (30, Slovakia. 2751).
Our Wesley So, 15, is now rated at 2627 and is No. 9 on the top Juniors list (20 and below). His rating though has increased to 2637 for his performance in the Asian team Championship. I expect Wesley to barge into the top 100 when he plays at the prestigious Corus 2009 in Holland.
There will be a captain’s meeting at 12:30 p.m. We will invite Cebu City Councilor Jack Jakosalem, Cepca honorary members and National Master Bombi Aznar and chess patron Boojie Lim. Acting Mayor Michael Rama, also an honorary member of Cepca, will also be invited.
Prizes totaling P63,000 are at stake with P25,000 and a designer trophy for the champion. Other prizes are P15,000 for the first runner-up, P10,000 for the second runner-up. The fourth placer will get P5,000, while the fifth and sixth placers will get P3,000 and P1,000, respectively. Board 1 to 4 winners will also get P1,000 each.
Each team will be composed of four players and an additional reserve player, which is optional. Time control is one hour per player, play to finish.
To make the tournament competitive, Fide arbiters, led by National Master Roger Abella and Marvin Ruelan have made a list of players who must not play together and must play on Board 1.
The players are Erwin Ababat, Francisco Abugho, Leonardo Alidani, Odillon Badilles, Jhonel Balquin, Arnold Cadiz, Eden Diano, Rogelio Enriquez, Anthony Makinano, Mario Mangubat, Carlos Moreno III, Richard Natividad, Glen Pardillo, Ramsey Pedroza, Allan Salientes, Voltaire Sevillano, Elmer Sumangat, Bonn Tibod, Christopher Tobalado, Ceferino Vizco and Kim Steven Yap.
Some players may have been missed by our committee, hence, qualification to play shall be a determining prerogative of the organizers.
Registration fee per team is set at P1,000 and every team is urged to pay the fee by Jan. 7, and submit their line-up to my niece Malou Pestaño at the Colonade Chess Club.
The organizers are also urging the team to play in proper uniforms and to come in proper attire.
It has been observed that in team competitions, some games are “arranged” and this will strictly not be allowed by the organizers. The penalty will be set by a committee composed of Renato Casia as chairman and Marvin Ruelan, Roger Abella, Jun Olis and Joe Atillo as members.
TOPALOV IS NO. 1. Bulgarian GM Veselin Topalov is in first place with a rating of 2796 as of January 2009. He is five points higher in the previous list and he gained these five points at the Chess Olympiad in Dresden. His winning the Nanjing Super-GM has not been counted since that event ended on Dec. 22. If included, his rating will be at 2810.
At second place in the Fide list is World Champion Viswanathan Anand, who gained eight points from his match in Bonn with Vladimir Kramnik. The latter lost eight points from the Anand match, and five more points at the Chess Olympiad.
Here are the Top 10. 1.) Veselin Topalov 2.Viswanathan Anand (39, India, 2791) 2.) Vassily Ivanchuk (39, Ukraine, 2779) 4.) Magnus Carlsen (18, Norway, 2776) 5.Alexander Morozevich (31, Russia, 2771) 6.) Teimour Radjabov (21, Azerbaijan, 2761) 7. Dmitry Jakovenko (25, Russia, 2760) 8.) Vladimir Kramnik (33, Russia, 2759) 9.Peter Leko (29, Hungary, 2751) 10.) Sergei Movsesian (30, Slovakia. 2751).
Our Wesley So, 15, is now rated at 2627 and is No. 9 on the top Juniors list (20 and below). His rating though has increased to 2637 for his performance in the Asian team Championship. I expect Wesley to barge into the top 100 when he plays at the prestigious Corus 2009 in Holland.
Kim Steven Yap now an International Master
CEBU’S newest chess sensation, Kimkim Yap, snared his 3rd and final IM norm at the recently concluded Singapore 2008 Open Tournament, which was won by IM Richard Bitoon to make it a double whammy for Cebuanos. Incidentally, Richard also got his 1st GM norm.
Participating were 9 GMs,8 IMs, 2 WIMs, 5 FMs, with 42 players from 8 countries in all. Other Pinoys who performed well were GM Mark Paragua and IM Catalino Sadorra who tied for second with 8 other players and IM Oliver Dimakiling who placed 17th.
Kimkim started strong by winning 2 games and drawing 3 in his first 5 games for an impressive 3.5 points. He won over GM Zhao Jun (2568) in the first round and drew with fellow pinoy IM Oliver Dimakiling (2448) in the 2nd game.
He easily trounced GM Bui Vinh (2507), and drew against another GM Dao Thien Hai (2510), both of Vietnam. He capped his great start with another draw against GM Nguyen Ngoc Troung Son (2567).
In the next two games, Kim had back-to-back losses against GM Filipov Anton(2543) of Uzbekistan and GM Megaranto Susanto (2536) of Indonesia. Games 8 and 9 were easy draws and Kim got his 3rd IM norm and increased his Elo rating from 2386 to 2405.
Kim acquired his first norm in the Asian Individual Chess Championship in Mandaue last year and his second norm in the 5th Dato Arthur Tan Malaysia Open last August.
Kim belongs to a family of chess players as his father is NM Lincoln Yap. He is the nephew of IM Rico Mascariñas, and his proud mother is Mona, daughter of the late NM Marcelo “Loloy” Ruelan. Another uncle is Fide arbiter Marvin Ruelan.
Richard Bitoon scored 4 wins and 5 draws in 9 rounds to emerge solo winner and snared his first GM norm. He prevailed over Chua Xing-Jian Graham and Jonathan Koh, both of Singapore, and Megaranto Susanto of Indonesia in the first 3 rounds.
In rounds 4, 5, and 6, he tied with Nguyen Ngoc Troung Son, Dao Thien Hai and R.R.Laxman of India. He then won over Filipov Anton and tied his last 2 games versus Catalino Sadorra and Nguyen Thanh Son.
Richard and Kimkim form the backbone of Team Cebu City, which is now competing in the Handuraw Chess Festival in Dapitan sponsored by the City Government
through the help of Councilor Jack Jakosalem. Other members of the team are Richard Natividad, Merben Roque and Voltaire Sevillano.
It is now an accepted fact that playing chess at an early age improves memory, problem solving, comprehension, mathematical skills, reading, and the overall IQ of the individual and should be promoted by the state.
Sinulog. Scheduled next month, Sinulog time, from Jan. 9-11, is an open team tournament sponsored by the City Government, thru the initiative of Councilor Jakosalem and the City Council.
Format is 7-round Swiss and time control is one hour per player, play to finish. Champion team will take home P25,000, 1st runner-up P15,OOO and 2nd runner-up P10,000 up to 5th place. A trophy will also go to the champion.
Early registrants are two teams by Chessmoso, another by Danny Pestaño, two teams by Jun Olis, Mandy Baria, and Maggi Dionson, Nicnic Climaco, Richard Abangan and Manny Manzanares, Fabio Abucejo, Felix Balbona, Kelly Uy, and University of Cebu, which might also field an all-women team aside from the men’s team.
We will also be inviting the varsity teams of other schools, some barangays and other companies and out-of-town teams.
Registration fee is only P1,000. For those interested, call Rene Casia at 416-3966 or Jun Olis at 340-1355 for guidelines.
Christmas party for Cepca members is this Sunday Dec. 21 at my residence in Mabolo. Call me at 2335817 or 2317656.
Participating were 9 GMs,8 IMs, 2 WIMs, 5 FMs, with 42 players from 8 countries in all. Other Pinoys who performed well were GM Mark Paragua and IM Catalino Sadorra who tied for second with 8 other players and IM Oliver Dimakiling who placed 17th.
Kimkim started strong by winning 2 games and drawing 3 in his first 5 games for an impressive 3.5 points. He won over GM Zhao Jun (2568) in the first round and drew with fellow pinoy IM Oliver Dimakiling (2448) in the 2nd game.
He easily trounced GM Bui Vinh (2507), and drew against another GM Dao Thien Hai (2510), both of Vietnam. He capped his great start with another draw against GM Nguyen Ngoc Troung Son (2567).
In the next two games, Kim had back-to-back losses against GM Filipov Anton(2543) of Uzbekistan and GM Megaranto Susanto (2536) of Indonesia. Games 8 and 9 were easy draws and Kim got his 3rd IM norm and increased his Elo rating from 2386 to 2405.
Kim acquired his first norm in the Asian Individual Chess Championship in Mandaue last year and his second norm in the 5th Dato Arthur Tan Malaysia Open last August.
Kim belongs to a family of chess players as his father is NM Lincoln Yap. He is the nephew of IM Rico Mascariñas, and his proud mother is Mona, daughter of the late NM Marcelo “Loloy” Ruelan. Another uncle is Fide arbiter Marvin Ruelan.
Richard Bitoon scored 4 wins and 5 draws in 9 rounds to emerge solo winner and snared his first GM norm. He prevailed over Chua Xing-Jian Graham and Jonathan Koh, both of Singapore, and Megaranto Susanto of Indonesia in the first 3 rounds.
In rounds 4, 5, and 6, he tied with Nguyen Ngoc Troung Son, Dao Thien Hai and R.R.Laxman of India. He then won over Filipov Anton and tied his last 2 games versus Catalino Sadorra and Nguyen Thanh Son.
Richard and Kimkim form the backbone of Team Cebu City, which is now competing in the Handuraw Chess Festival in Dapitan sponsored by the City Government
through the help of Councilor Jack Jakosalem. Other members of the team are Richard Natividad, Merben Roque and Voltaire Sevillano.
It is now an accepted fact that playing chess at an early age improves memory, problem solving, comprehension, mathematical skills, reading, and the overall IQ of the individual and should be promoted by the state.
Sinulog. Scheduled next month, Sinulog time, from Jan. 9-11, is an open team tournament sponsored by the City Government, thru the initiative of Councilor Jakosalem and the City Council.
Format is 7-round Swiss and time control is one hour per player, play to finish. Champion team will take home P25,000, 1st runner-up P15,OOO and 2nd runner-up P10,000 up to 5th place. A trophy will also go to the champion.
Early registrants are two teams by Chessmoso, another by Danny Pestaño, two teams by Jun Olis, Mandy Baria, and Maggi Dionson, Nicnic Climaco, Richard Abangan and Manny Manzanares, Fabio Abucejo, Felix Balbona, Kelly Uy, and University of Cebu, which might also field an all-women team aside from the men’s team.
We will also be inviting the varsity teams of other schools, some barangays and other companies and out-of-town teams.
Registration fee is only P1,000. For those interested, call Rene Casia at 416-3966 or Jun Olis at 340-1355 for guidelines.
Christmas party for Cepca members is this Sunday Dec. 21 at my residence in Mabolo. Call me at 2335817 or 2317656.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Sinulog team chess tournament
Frank “Boy” Pestaño
Chessmos
OUR Club has been in existence for the past 18 years or so and although we manage to have an event during Sinulog time, next year’s happening will be a big one, thanks to the help of Councilor Jack Jakosalem, the City Council and the Cebu City Sports Commission.
We are happy to announce that there will be an open team tournament during next year’s Sinulog. It will be a seven-round Swiss format with time control at one hour per player, play to finish.
Playing dates are two rounds on Jan. 9, three rounds on the 10th and the final two rounds on the 11th. Venue will be announced later.
Team composition will be four regular players and, if you wish, an alternate, although it is not necessary. A team can only have one titled player (GM, IM, FM, NM).
Scoring will be based on the Match Point system with a win worth two points (3.5-1.5,3-1 or 2.5-1.5); a draw, one point (2-2); and a loss, zero.
The following Olympiad and Fide rules will be strictly followed: 1.) Ringing of cell phone will also mean an automatic disqualification. 2.) Prior agreement to fix the match will be nullified and the penalty will be determined by a committee composed of current Cepca president Renato Casia as the chairman, with Joe Atillo and Jun Olis as members.
Other guidelines in effect are: teams formed by any Cepca member must include the member as a regular player, not as an alternate. Schools who are interested to join can invite a titled player as guest and all the rest must be students of that school. Out-of-town teams and companies are also welcome.
Tournament arbiters are Marvin Ruelan (Fide arbiter) and Bob Tojong.
Prizes are: P25,000, trophy and gold medals for the champion; P15,000 and silver medals for the runner-up; P10,000 and bronze medals for the third placer. The fourth placer will get P5,000, while the fifth and sixth placers will get P3,000 and P1,000, respectively. Board 1 to Board 4 winners will receive P1,000, each.
The registration per team is P1,000 and we also urge the teams to come in proper uniforms.
Lapu-Lapu Festival. A selection of Cepca’s and Lapu-Lapu City’s best woodpushers will be slugging it out for the top prize in the 2008 Lapu-Lapu City X-Mas Chess Invitational this Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Gun-ob National High School.
This five-round Swiss system tournament is open to all Cepcans and Lapu-Lapu players only. Cepca’s Dante Arguelles, Jojo Muralla, Mandy Baria, Maggi Dionson, Joe Atillo, Gideon Lauta, Felix Poloyapoy, Jun Quidlat and Atty. Boy Tumulak have already pledged to join the tournament. Other interested members may contact former Cepca president and tournament director Jun Olis at 340-1355 or 0910-347-6907.
Prizes in kind up to the 10th place are provided, while trophies for the first three places are donated by the Lapu-Lapu City Sports Commission.
Talisay City Chess. The monthly tournament for December will take place at the South Central Square, Lawaan tomorrow and Sunday. Format is seven rounds Swiss and time control is 30 minutes per player, play to finish.
Attractive prizes are at stake and registration is free for kiddies. Junior players will pay P50, while regular players will pay P80. There is a 50 percent discount for club members.
The tournament starts at 10 a.m. for kiddies and at 1 p.m. for the regular players and juniors. The November champion was Michael Pinar and the kiddies winner was Diego Claro.
You can register by texting former Cepca president and tournament director Manny Manzanares at 0915-720-5457 and pay on site.
The Christmas party for Cepca members and their families will be on Dec. 21 at my residence in Mabolo. We will also have a blitz tournament.
Chessmos
OUR Club has been in existence for the past 18 years or so and although we manage to have an event during Sinulog time, next year’s happening will be a big one, thanks to the help of Councilor Jack Jakosalem, the City Council and the Cebu City Sports Commission.
We are happy to announce that there will be an open team tournament during next year’s Sinulog. It will be a seven-round Swiss format with time control at one hour per player, play to finish.
Playing dates are two rounds on Jan. 9, three rounds on the 10th and the final two rounds on the 11th. Venue will be announced later.
Team composition will be four regular players and, if you wish, an alternate, although it is not necessary. A team can only have one titled player (GM, IM, FM, NM).
Scoring will be based on the Match Point system with a win worth two points (3.5-1.5,3-1 or 2.5-1.5); a draw, one point (2-2); and a loss, zero.
The following Olympiad and Fide rules will be strictly followed: 1.) Ringing of cell phone will also mean an automatic disqualification. 2.) Prior agreement to fix the match will be nullified and the penalty will be determined by a committee composed of current Cepca president Renato Casia as the chairman, with Joe Atillo and Jun Olis as members.
Other guidelines in effect are: teams formed by any Cepca member must include the member as a regular player, not as an alternate. Schools who are interested to join can invite a titled player as guest and all the rest must be students of that school. Out-of-town teams and companies are also welcome.
Tournament arbiters are Marvin Ruelan (Fide arbiter) and Bob Tojong.
Prizes are: P25,000, trophy and gold medals for the champion; P15,000 and silver medals for the runner-up; P10,000 and bronze medals for the third placer. The fourth placer will get P5,000, while the fifth and sixth placers will get P3,000 and P1,000, respectively. Board 1 to Board 4 winners will receive P1,000, each.
The registration per team is P1,000 and we also urge the teams to come in proper uniforms.
Lapu-Lapu Festival. A selection of Cepca’s and Lapu-Lapu City’s best woodpushers will be slugging it out for the top prize in the 2008 Lapu-Lapu City X-Mas Chess Invitational this Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Gun-ob National High School.
This five-round Swiss system tournament is open to all Cepcans and Lapu-Lapu players only. Cepca’s Dante Arguelles, Jojo Muralla, Mandy Baria, Maggi Dionson, Joe Atillo, Gideon Lauta, Felix Poloyapoy, Jun Quidlat and Atty. Boy Tumulak have already pledged to join the tournament. Other interested members may contact former Cepca president and tournament director Jun Olis at 340-1355 or 0910-347-6907.
Prizes in kind up to the 10th place are provided, while trophies for the first three places are donated by the Lapu-Lapu City Sports Commission.
Talisay City Chess. The monthly tournament for December will take place at the South Central Square, Lawaan tomorrow and Sunday. Format is seven rounds Swiss and time control is 30 minutes per player, play to finish.
Attractive prizes are at stake and registration is free for kiddies. Junior players will pay P50, while regular players will pay P80. There is a 50 percent discount for club members.
The tournament starts at 10 a.m. for kiddies and at 1 p.m. for the regular players and juniors. The November champion was Michael Pinar and the kiddies winner was Diego Claro.
You can register by texting former Cepca president and tournament director Manny Manzanares at 0915-720-5457 and pay on site.
The Christmas party for Cepca members and their families will be on Dec. 21 at my residence in Mabolo. We will also have a blitz tournament.
Friday, December 5, 2008
Little known episode about Bobby Fischer
Frank 'Boy' Pestaño
Chessmoso
THE 38th Chess Olympiad in Dresden, Germany is over. Although I would like to write more about this event as it is one of the best Olympiads ever (next to Manila 1992!) all my articles for November have been about this event and it is about time to dwell on another matter.
During the wake of the late Job Tabada, father of Jobannie who is one of the strongest chess-playing member of Cepca now based in Dubai, there was a discussion among the club members about the late Bobby Fischer and what happened to his estimated fortune of P140 million, not including the gold holdings which he left in an Icelandic bank. Also not included is the royalty from the forthcoming movie, Bobby Fischer Goes to War set for release in 2010.
From 2000 to 2002, Fischer lived in Baguio City. He resided in the same compound as Eugenio Torre, a close friend.
Fischer played tennis at the Baguio Country Club, where he met a woman named Marilyn Young. Together, they had a daughter named Jinky, born in 2002 (or 2001) at the Saint Louis University, Baguio City, Sacred Heart Hospital.
The money is part of the prize ($3.8million) that he got for the rematch against Boris Spassky in Sveti Stefan and Belgrade in 1992 that was not allowed by the United Nations due to the civil war in Bosnia. This was the reason why he was wanted by the United States government. His passport was revoked and he was arrested in Japan.
With the help of some Icelandic chess friends, Fischer was able to obtain an Icelandic passport and was flown out of Japan in March 2005
The money was held for a long time in a Swiss bank account but the bank refused to deal with Fischer shortly after he moved to Iceland, and this money was transferred there (Iceland).
Although it has been mentioned that Bobby married Miyoko Watai, the President of the Japanese Chess Association, his daughter has precedence. Also, in an interview, Bobby was quoted in German television as saying that he has never been married.
“I have with me a copy of the passports, pictures and bank accounts of Fischer’s seven-year-old daughter,” Sammy Estimo, lawyer of Marilyn Young, said. “I believe we have substantial proof to back the claims of Marilyn Young and her daughter Jinky. They even stayed with him in Iceland for three weeks in September 2005.”
Also Bobby was in contact with them almost daily via cell phone and sent them monthly euro remittances.
The deadline for receiving claims to the estate of the deceased chess legend was May 17, 2008, or three months after Fischer died of renal failure on January 17, this year. The Probate Court had already received the claim folder of Jinky Young before this date.
I still don’t know by now if Jinky has already received her rightful share of the inheritance as this whole episode happened early this year. There has been no news and we probably won’t know unless the parties concerned would reveal it to the public. And then there is the IRS who is also trying to recover money from Fischer in back taxes.
In Wikipedia, it was mentioned that the dispute between Jinky Young and Watai was settled amicably in the Icelandic courts.
CORUS 2009. One of the most prestigious tournament in the chess calendar is Corus in Holland in January next year.
Wesley So has been invited to play in the C group where he is seeded No.1. If he makes good, he will be invited to big time tournaments all over the world especially in Europe and can be a multi-millionaire in a short time.
His closest adversaries will be David Howell of England and Abhijeet Gupta of India who played in Mandaue last year.
Chessmoso
THE 38th Chess Olympiad in Dresden, Germany is over. Although I would like to write more about this event as it is one of the best Olympiads ever (next to Manila 1992!) all my articles for November have been about this event and it is about time to dwell on another matter.
During the wake of the late Job Tabada, father of Jobannie who is one of the strongest chess-playing member of Cepca now based in Dubai, there was a discussion among the club members about the late Bobby Fischer and what happened to his estimated fortune of P140 million, not including the gold holdings which he left in an Icelandic bank. Also not included is the royalty from the forthcoming movie, Bobby Fischer Goes to War set for release in 2010.
From 2000 to 2002, Fischer lived in Baguio City. He resided in the same compound as Eugenio Torre, a close friend.
Fischer played tennis at the Baguio Country Club, where he met a woman named Marilyn Young. Together, they had a daughter named Jinky, born in 2002 (or 2001) at the Saint Louis University, Baguio City, Sacred Heart Hospital.
The money is part of the prize ($3.8million) that he got for the rematch against Boris Spassky in Sveti Stefan and Belgrade in 1992 that was not allowed by the United Nations due to the civil war in Bosnia. This was the reason why he was wanted by the United States government. His passport was revoked and he was arrested in Japan.
With the help of some Icelandic chess friends, Fischer was able to obtain an Icelandic passport and was flown out of Japan in March 2005
The money was held for a long time in a Swiss bank account but the bank refused to deal with Fischer shortly after he moved to Iceland, and this money was transferred there (Iceland).
Although it has been mentioned that Bobby married Miyoko Watai, the President of the Japanese Chess Association, his daughter has precedence. Also, in an interview, Bobby was quoted in German television as saying that he has never been married.
“I have with me a copy of the passports, pictures and bank accounts of Fischer’s seven-year-old daughter,” Sammy Estimo, lawyer of Marilyn Young, said. “I believe we have substantial proof to back the claims of Marilyn Young and her daughter Jinky. They even stayed with him in Iceland for three weeks in September 2005.”
Also Bobby was in contact with them almost daily via cell phone and sent them monthly euro remittances.
The deadline for receiving claims to the estate of the deceased chess legend was May 17, 2008, or three months after Fischer died of renal failure on January 17, this year. The Probate Court had already received the claim folder of Jinky Young before this date.
I still don’t know by now if Jinky has already received her rightful share of the inheritance as this whole episode happened early this year. There has been no news and we probably won’t know unless the parties concerned would reveal it to the public. And then there is the IRS who is also trying to recover money from Fischer in back taxes.
In Wikipedia, it was mentioned that the dispute between Jinky Young and Watai was settled amicably in the Icelandic courts.
CORUS 2009. One of the most prestigious tournament in the chess calendar is Corus in Holland in January next year.
Wesley So has been invited to play in the C group where he is seeded No.1. If he makes good, he will be invited to big time tournaments all over the world especially in Europe and can be a multi-millionaire in a short time.
His closest adversaries will be David Howell of England and Abhijeet Gupta of India who played in Mandaue last year.
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