Saturday, October 13, 2007

GM DARWIN LAYLO

[Bobby Ang]

6th Asian Individual Championship
Cebu City, Philippines
18-30 September 2007

Final Top Standings

1-2 GM Zhang Pengxiang CHN 2649, GM Wang Hao CHN 2626, 8.0/11
3-8 GM Abhijit Kunte IND 2519, GM Zhao Jun CHN 2558, GM Susanto Megaranto INA 2554, IM Wen Yang CHN 2475, IM Darwin Laylo PHI 2486, GM Zhou Jianchao CHN 2572, 7.5/11
9-13 IM GN Gopal IND 2480, IM Enamul Hossain BAN 2485, GM Rogelio Antonio Jr PHI 2532, GM Mohamad Al Modiahki QAT 2563, G Rohit IND 2470, 7.0/11
14-19 IM Anton Filippov UZB 2481, Li Chao CHN 2529, GM Ni Hua CHN 2681, GM Yu Shaoteng CHN 2524, GM Li Shilong CHN 2550, GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly IND 2586, GM Nguyen Anh Dung VIE 2537, 6.5/11
Total of 72 participants

The first 10 in the above list (including Pinoy Darwin Laylo on 7th) qualify for the next FIDE World Cup which starts in November 22, 2007 in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia.

What a difference a day makes.

Darwin Laylo is 27 years of age. He was born to a poor family from San Roque, Marikina. His father was a tricycle driver and hardly played chess, but one day his uncle brought a chess set and taught him the moves. Before long Darwin was beating the uncle, the uncle’s friends and in fact everybody in sight. His prowess in this game of kings was to become the hope of his family for a better life.

Darwin became a college star for the multi-NCAA champion San Sebastian College Stags. In 1999 he won the National Junior (Under-20) Championship with a terrific score of 10.5/11, and represented the Philippines in the Asian Juniors which took place in Vung Tau, Vietnam. Despite the fact that he was unrated and a total unknown, Laylo started beating everybody else in sight, including the top seed Chinese zonal champion Liang Chong. He however lost a bit of steam towards the middle of the tournament and 4 straight victories towards the end could only get him second place, half a point behind the champion, soon-to-be Indian superstar Krishnan Sasikiran.

After the tournament Darwin continued his chess growth, and won the Philippine national championship in 2004 and 2006. Since both times were in were Olympiad years, he represented the Philippines in the 2004 Calvia Olympiad and also in 2006 Turin.

Also in 2006 he picked up two GM norms, the first from the 2006 Malaysian Open, and the second at the 2006 Bad Wiesse tournament in Germany. One more norm would give him the full International Grandmaster title.

But now came the big blow.

Charges of game-fixing came up out of the blue early this year, and, together with several other International Masters, he was banned for six months by the Federation. This meant that they could not take part in tournaments, both local and international, plus the monthly allowances that he received as a member of the Philippine chess pool from the Philippine Sports Commission were stopped.

A lot has been said about whether these charges and its penalties were justified or not, or in fact where all the evidence were just fabrications of some jealous rivals. The fact is rather than sit around at home moping Darwin buckled down to some serious work and waited for his reinstatement.

His chance came in the recently-concluded Asian Individual Chess Championship, where the top players in Asia took part to get a chance at the US$6,000 first prize as well as the 10 qualifying slots for the Khanty-Mansiysk World cup to take place in November 22 this year.

Darwin poured all his mental energy into the event. Over 11 rounds he faced 8 grandmasters, defeating Sandipan Chanda (India 2563), Dao Thien Hai (Vietnam 2537) and Le Quang Liem (Vietnam 2542), drawing with Zhou Jianchao (China 2572), Zhao Jun (China 2558) and tournament winner Zhang Pengxiang (China 2649) and losing twice, to Susanto Megaranto (Indonesia 2554) from a very favorable position, and to Indian whiz kid Parimarjan Negi (2529) from a winning game.

So now the wheel has turned full circle, and prospects are once again very bright. Darwin Laylo has graduated to a full-fledged International Grandmaster, the 7th in the Philippines after Eugenio Torre (1974), the late Rosendo Balinas Jr. (1976), Rogelio Antonio Jr. (1993), Bong Villamayor (2004), Nelson Mariano II (2004) and Mark Paragua (2006).

A few years ago during a training session I noted to Darwin that his Black openings were not impressive, and suggested a switch to more open positions with the Scandinavian. I then handed him my “secret weapon”, a CD containing secret analyses prepared over several years on the Scandinavian including a complete repertoire against White’s possible replies. This also included every known/existing game on the Scandinavian in chess history with all games catalogued per variation. Darwin took this up quite seriously and is now probably the country’s greatest expert on the Scandinavian.

It has become traditional that I end a write-up on Darwin with his latest exploits in the Scandinavian. The following game could not be more crucial – Laylo had to score 1.5 out of his last two games to enter the magic 10. Here is the win he needed so much.

Le Quang,Liem (2542) - Laylo,Darwin (2486) [B01]
Asian Individual Ch Cebu City (10.5), 28.09.2007

1.e4

Le Quang is a 1.d4 player, and so suddenly switching to 1.e4 can only mean one thing - he has something prepared for Darwin's Scandinavian Defence. Darwin confessed that he took 30 minutes thinking whether to stick to his guns or to play the Sicilian. After a lot of soul-searching the decision is made to fight "in his own backyard".

1...d5 2.exd5 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nxd5 4.d4 Bf5 5.Nh4!?

So this was Le Quang's idea!

5...Bd7 6.c4 Nf6

It might seem that White is driving back the enemy forces at will, but consider this: his only developed piece is the knight at h4, his king has not yet castled. This is the type of position Scandinavian players like.

7.Nc3 e6 8.Be3 c5 9.Nf3

[9.dxc5 Na6 10.Qd4 Qa5 simply wins back the pawn]

9...cxd4 10.Nxd4 Be7 11.Be2 Nc6 12.Ndb5 0–0 13.0–0 a6 14.Nd6 Qc7 15.c5 Rfd8 16.Nc4 Rab8 17.Nb6

Darwin told me that for a while he thought Le Quang would play 17.Qd6!? Bxd6 18.cxd6 Qc8 19.Nb6 winning back the queen, but it does not appear to lead to any advantage. For example Black can play 19...Nd4! 20.Nxc8 (20.Bxd4 Qc6 saves the queen) 20...Nxe2+ 21.Nxe2 Rbxc8 the advanced d6-pawn is in danger of falling.

17...Ne5 18.Qd4


Caption: position after 18.Qd4

18...Bb5!

Obviously White was surprised with this tactical shot.

19.Nxb5 axb5 20.Qf4 Bxc5 21.Rac1

[21.Bxb5 Bxe3 22.Qxe3?? Neg4]

21...Bxe3! 22.Qxe3 Nc6 23.Rfd1

The pawn is still taboo 23.Bxb5? Ng4.

23...Rxd1+ 24.Bxd1 Rd8 25.Bf3 b4

Now Black is a clear pawn up.

26.h3 h6 27.Qc5 Qf4 28.Qe3 Qd6 29.Nc4 Qc7 30.Bxc6 Qxc6 31.Ne5 Qa4 32.Qb3 Qb5 33.Qe3 Qd5 34.Rc4 b5?!

This was actually quite unnecessary, as the simple 34...Qa5 followed by ...Nd5 keeps the pawns. However, at this point Le Quang had 30 seconds left in this crucial game and was trembling with nervousness. Darwin on the other hand had 90 seconds and thought that the text would surprise his opponent, as it in fact did.

35.Rc5?

[35.Rxb4]

35...Qxa2 36.b3 Nd5 37.Qg3 Qa7 38.Rc6 Qd4 39.Kh2 Nf4 40.Nxf7?

A completely unsound attempt to complicate the position, but if he does not do anything drastic Black would have a simple win in the ending.

40...Kxf7 41.Rc7+ Kg8 42.Rb7 Qe5 0–1

After this win Darwin agreed a short draw with GM Zhang Pengxiang to get his GM title.

I am very proud of Darwin Laylo. May I say that this happy ending could not have happened to a nicer guy.

Reader comments/suggestions are urgently solicited. Email address is bangcpa@gmail.com

This article first appeared in Bobby Ang s column in Businessworld (Philippines) on 12 October 2007

Saturday, October 6, 2007

CHESS PIECE: ANAND WORLD CHAMPION AGAIN

[Bobby Ang]

World Chess Championship
Mexico City, Mexico
13-30 September 2007

Final Standings

1 GM Viswanathan Anand (India) 2792, 9.0/14
2 GM Vladimir Kramnik (Russia) 2769, 8.0/14
3 GM Boris Gelfand (Israel) 2733, 8.0/14
4 GM Peter Leko (Hungary) 2751, 7.0/14
5 GM Peter Svidler (Russia) 2735, 6.5/14
6 GM Alexander Morozevich (Russia) 2758, 6.0/14
7 GM Levon Aronian (Armenia) 2750, 6.0/14
8 GM Alexander Grischuk (Russia) 2726, 5.5/14

Average elo: 2751 <=> Category: 21

Time control: 40 moves in 2 hours, followed by 20 moves in one hour, followed by 15 minutes plus 30 seconds for all the remaining moves (40/2h, 20/1h, 15m+30sec/all).

As shown above, this tournament had an ELO average of 2751.75 for category-21 and is the strongest world championship ever. The last world title tournament in San Luis was "only" category 20 (ave 2738), and the original match tournament held in The Hague and Moscow, won by Mihail Botvinnik, in 1948 had a recalculated average of 2698.2 (category 18).

The three oldest players (Anand 37, Kramnik 32, Gelfand 39) finished in the first three places, while the two youngest players (Aronian 25 and Grischuk 24), both tipped to be dark horses, finished in the cellar.

Viswanathan Anand of India won the double-round World Chess Championship in Mexico and crowned himself World Champion. He did this in dominating fashion - the only one to finish undefeated, he took the lead in round 2 (tied with Kramnik), nosing ahead to become the solo front-runner in round 5 and holding it all the way to the last, 14th, round. This world title goes along very nicely with his status as the world's highest-ranked player based on the FIDE rating list.

Anand was "in the zone" for the entire duration of the tournament and the only times he appeared in danger of losing was with Black against Kramnik and Grischuk, in both cases he had to salvage draws in two difficult rook endings a pawn down.

Anand now has a lucrative match lined-up next year against former champion Vladimir Kramnik. This will be a 12-game match to played between May and September 2008 - precise date and venue to be confirmed by FIDE.

You know what? If this match takes place and Anand beats Kramnik, then the Indian would have already won the world title in all the possible formats - FIDE Knock-Out (New Delhi/Teheran 2000), Tournament (Mexico 2007), and Match. This, together with all the titles he has previously won, like the Rapid Chess Champion, Blitz Chess Champion, plus his habit of taking part and successes in almost all the elite tournaments for the past decade really marks him out as among the greatest players of our generation.

Anand picked the Moscow Variation as his main Black weapon against 1.d4. Considering that White could meet the line with the Anti-Moscow Gambit, which is a highly tactical line with refutations to specific variations coming up every now and then, one might second-guess Anand's decision. But for the spectators it was a welcome choice as it led to exciting games. Contrast this against Kramnik's decision to pin his hopes on retaining his title on the dull Petroff.

Anand scored 1 win and 2 draws out of his 3 Anti-Moscows. Here is his second-round victory over Aronian which enabled the Indian to go into the lead.

Aronian,Levon (2750) - Anand,Viswanathan (2792) [D43]
World Championship Mexico City (2), 14.09.2007

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 c6 5.Bg5 h6

This is the Moscow Variation. White can take on f6 and content himself with a small lead in development and space advantage. However, if he is someone like Aronian who likes "crooked" positions and plays to win with White he can continue as in the game.

6.Bh4

The Anti-Moscow Gambit. Contrary to the Botvinnik System (5...dxc4 6.e4 b5 7.e5 h6 8.Bh4 g5 9.Nxg5 hxg5 10.Bxg5), this offers a real gambit since Black can hold on to the pawn with 6.dxc4 7.e4 g5. Since the turn of the century the Anti-Moscow has graduated from being an obscure sideline into the main arena of combat.

6...dxc4 7.e4 g5 8.Bg3 b5

The tabiya (battle formation) of the Anti-Moscow. White has several choices, the most popular by far being 9.Be2. Also frequently seen is 9.e5 and 9.h4. Aronian plays something less common.

9.Ne5 h5!

The correct reaction, forcing white to either play 10.h4 or 10.f3, both of which have weaknesses.

10.h4 g4 11.Be2 Bb7 12.0–0 Nbd7 13.Qc2 Nxe5 14.Bxe5 Bg7 15.Rad1 0–0 16.Bg3!?

Joel Benjamin expressed a bit of puzzlement with this retreat, since, according to him, most players would prefer their bishop on e5 where it will soon exchange itself for its counterpart on g7. Yes, that sounds logical, but the test of experience shows that after the bishop exchange on g7 the weakness of white's h4 becomes more pronounced. Here are some examples: 16.f3 Nh7! 17.Bxg7 Kxg7 18.fxg4 Qxh4 19.gxh5 Ng5 20.Qd2 (20.Bf3? f5! 21.d5?! fxe4 22.dxe6 exf3 23.e7 Rf6 24.Rd8 Nh3+! winning. Halkias,S-Asrian,K/ Ohrid 2001 0–1 (38)) 20...Nh3+ 21.gxh3 Qg3+ 22.Kh1 Qxh3+ draw. Van Wely,L-Lautier,J/ Monte Carlo 2000.

16...Nd7 17.f3 c5!?

Anand's novelty. Previously 17...Qb6 followed by ...c7-c5 was considered best. Anand's idea is to keep his queen on the h4-d8 diagonal. In this game the plan is completely successful.

18.dxc5

The thematic reply to 17...c5 is 18.d5 but in this position Black has the strong 18...Be5! when White is at a loss for a good reply. 19.Bxe5?! (After 19.f4 Bd4+ the black dark-squared bishop is much more active than his direct rival.) 19...Nxe5 20.f4? Qxh4! with decisive attack. Nor can White play 18.Nxb5 cxd4 19.Nxd4 (19.Bxc4 Qb6 20.Bd3 gxf3 21.gxf3 e5) 19...Qb6 because now he is in trouble. For example 20.Bf2 g3! 21.Be3 Qd8! Black's queen is going to penetrate the kingside.

18...Qe7 19.Kh1 a6 20.a4 Bc6

White does not have a shred of an advantage. With Black threatening to go up a pawn to go along with his strong position Aronian realizes that desperate measures are necessary.

21.Nd5!? exd5 22.exd5


caption: position after 22.exd5

22...Be5!

Probably overlooked by White.

23.f4

Forced, but now both of White's bishops have limited scope.

23...Bg7 24.dxc6 Nxc5 25.Rd5

How does Black defend his h-pawn?

25...Ne4 26.Be1

[26.Rxh5?? Nxg3+]

26...Qe6 27.Rxh5?

[27.axb5 Qxd5 28.Bxc4 Qf5 29.Bd3 still gives some chances]

27...f5!

The winning move. White's rook is trapped and has to give itself up for the bishop.

28.Kh2 Rac8 29.Bb4 Rfe8 30.axb5 axb5 31.Re1 Qf7! 32.Rg5 Nxg5 33.fxg5 Rxc6 34.Bf1 Rxe1 35.Bxe1 Re6 36.Bc3 Qc7+ 37.g3 Re3 38.Qg2 Bxc3 39.bxc3 f4 40.Qa8+ Kg7 41.Qa6 fxg3+ 0–1

Black's next move is 42...Qf7, a crusher.

Reader comments/suggestions are urgently solicited. Email address is bangcpa@gmail.com

This article first appeared in Bobby Ang s column in Businessworld (Philippines) on 05 October 2007

Friday, October 5, 2007

BILIBID GAMES

The MERALCO Chess Club, in coordination with Monsignor Bobby Olaguer, broke-in to the New Bilibid Prison and spend the entire morning playing against the inmates of the maximum Security Compound. MERALCO's contingent is composed of Romy Aguilar, Manny Benitez, Darryl mata, Edson Gonzales, Rolly Sol Cruz, Jerry Jerusalem, RJ de Jesus, Bong masa, Diomie Rodriguez, Noli Ygana, Ren Santos.