PHILSTAR: LEVISTE FESTIVAL

Pilarta, Samantilla top Ateneo chess
(The Philippine Star) Updated March 27, 2009 12:00 AM

MANILA, Philippines - Wilbert Pilarta and Darly Samantilla pulled off tough victories in the final round then nipped Loren Laceste and Jose Carlo Castro in the tiebreak to capture the high school and grade school crowns, respectively, in the third Dr. Jose Leviste Sr. Inter-School Chess Festival at the Ateneo Grade School Cafeteria last week.

Pilarta, playing out of Marist School, won with the black pieces over Jesse Abucejo, essaying the victory after 46 moves of the Queen’s Gambit-Declined to finish the nine-round Swiss system active chess tournament with six points.

The event is sponsored by Adidas Phils. and Pidiong Cruz in cooperation with the Ateneo University Athletics Office and backed by Enerasia Renewables Corp., Fonemed Asia Pacific, Italpinas Design and Development and Grand Placement.

Laceste, from Letran, also prevailed with the black, beating Gabriel Layugan in 48 moves of another Queen’s Gambit-Declined to tie Pilarta with six points but the latter took the title worth P5,000 with a superior tiebreak score.

Laceste settled for runner-up honors worth P3,000 while Paolo Cristobal of San Sebastian College and Ali Guya of Adamson placed third and fourth, respectively. with 5.5 points in the tournament put up by the Ateneo grade school, high school and collegiate chess teams under IM Idelfonso Datu.

Samantilla, of Adamson, beat Edric Manahan in 47 moves of a London game to finish with six points, then edged Castro in the tiebreak to clinch the grade school plum and the top P5,000 purse.

BERSAMINA vs NM BAGAMASBAD

INTENSITY 106 E-DAY
MULTI-SIMUL PLAY
MERALCO, Pasig City















1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 exd5
This is the EXCHANGE VARIATION of the CARO-KANN DEFENCE.

3 ... cxd5 4 Bd3 Nc6 5 c3
THE IDEAS BEHIND THE CHESS OPENINGS, "Here White's source of strength is his control of e5 which should be occupied with a knight at an early stage. If Bf4 followed by pouring his pieces into the King-side is then possible, White will secure a strong attack."

5 ... Nf6 6 Bf4 Bg4 7 Qb3













This position has been played many times before, most notably in Maroczy vs Capablanca in USA 1926, Huebner vs Smyslov in Hastings 1968, Fischer vs Petrosian in USSR vs Rest of the World 1970, Kasparov vs Morgulev in Soviet Union 1977, and Torre vs Adorjan in Shenzhen 1982.

The latest public display of application of this variation is in Yifan vs Mkrtchian in the Women's World Championship. Yifan is the youngest GM in the world, becoming a full-pledged GM in 2008; first norm in the Aeroflot Open (2008), second norm in the Isbank Ataturk Women Masters (2008), and third norm in the World Junior Championship (2008)

7 ... Qb6
NM Bagamasbad, who played for UST, continued differently. World Champions Capablanca, Petrosian and Smyslov played 7 ... Na5 and 7 ... Qc8.

8 QxQ axQ 9 Nbd2
According to ROMAN'S LAB on PAWN STRUCTURES, White has a clear advantage after 9 Na3.

9 ... e6 10 Ngf3 Bh5 11 O-O
THE TEN MOST COMMON CHESS MISTAKES, "Nothing is more important than safeguarding your King by castling early, within the first dozen moves, if possible."

Castling reminds me of one of Luke's parables, "That one is like a man building a house, who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock; when a flood arose, the river bursts against that house but could not shake it, because it had been well built."

11 ... Bg6 12 BxB hxB 13 Rfc1 b5 14 a3 Na5 15 b4 Nc4 16 NxN dxN 17 Rc2 Nd5 18 Bg3 Be7 19 Nd2 Kd7 20 Nf1 Ra4 21 Ne3 NxN 22 fxN
Pau stopped recording. After several moves, this position was arrived at.

BATTLE OF GM'S

[replayer:16583]

E-DAY MASTER: NM BAGAMASBAD

E-DAy MASTER: NM VASQUEZ

E-DAY MASTER: NM CABELLON

INTENSITY 106 E-DAY CHESS

NM CABELLON vs DICEN

INTENSITY 106 E-DAY CHESS
MULTI-SIMUL PLAY
MERALCO, Pasig City















1 c4 f5 2 Nc3 Nf6
CHESS FUNDAMENTALS, "Bring out knights before bringing out bishops."

3 g3 e6 4 Bg2 Bb4
The set-up adopted by NM Gerry of Manila Sector is identified with the English Opening. On the other hand, Jay of Security used a sort of Dutch-Nimzo formation.

5 Qc2 O-O
THE CHESS PLAYER'S HANDBOOK, "It is mostly advisable to castle the King pretty early in the game, and to do so on the K's side, because he is less subject to an attack, and better able to repel one on that side than the other."

Castling reminds me of Proverbs 3:25, "You need not be afraid of sudden disaster or the destruction that comes upon the wicked, for the Lord is your security."

6 Nf3 Nc6 7 O-O BxN 8 QxB b6 9 d3 Bb7 10 b3 Qe8 11 Bb2 Qh5













12 Rad1 d6 13 d4 Ne7 14 Rfe1? Rae8 15 h3?
MIKHAIL TAL'S BEST GAMES OF CHESS, "One must always think twice before advancing the KRP like this, for the sudden thrust P-KKt4 (g4/g5) gains strength with additional target to hit."

15 ... Ne4 16 Qc1 g5 17 Nd2 g4 18 hxg4? Qxg4 19 f3 Qxg3 20 fxN fxe4 21 Nf1 Qf2+
MY SYSTEM, "The ideal which lies at the root of every operation in a file is the ultimate penetration by way of this file into the enemy's game, that is to say our 7th or 8th rank."

22 Kh1 Rf4 23 Nh2 Nf5!!! [0-1]
MASTERING THE CHESS OPENINGS, "From an outpost on a central file, a knight can exert considerable influence on several squares in the enemy position while maintaining defensive coverage."

LA TIMES: LINARES

by Jack Peters, IM

Alexander Grischuk of Russia and Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine tied for first place with scores of 8-6 in the chess world's most prestigious tournament, the annual double round-robin in Linares, Spain. The duo collected 175,000 Euros (about $220,000) of the tournament's lucrative prize fund of 314,000 Euros (about $400,000).

Third at 7 1/2 -6 1/2 was Magnus Carlsen of Norway, followed by world champion Viswanathan Anand of India at 7-7. Others: Levon Aronian of Armenia, Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan and Wang Yue of China, each 6 1/2 -7 1/2 ; and Leinier Dominguez Perez of Cuba, 6-8.

Nobody won more than three games, and only Aronian lost four; 67% of the games were drawn.

Ivanchuk has been a star for 20 years, but this is Grischuk's first triumph in an elite event. He belied his underdog status (ranked seventh of the eight competitors) with three wins in the first six rounds, then held the lead despite a 12th-round loss to Carlsen.

The two biggest favorites, Anand and Carlsen, each lost twice and struggled in several other games. Carlsen muffed his attempt at a comeback by drawing a winning position against Radjabov in the penultimate round. Anand seemed frustrated, drawing his last eight games.

All but Grischuk and Dominguez are competing in the 18th Amber tournament, which began Saturday in Nice, France. The unique tournament features blindfold and 25-minute games. To watch the moves, go to amberchess2009.com.

GM Alexander Grischuk (Russia)-GM Wang Yue (China), Linares 2009: 1 d4 d5 2 c4 c6 3 Nf3 Nf6 4 Nc3 dxc4 5 a4 Bf5The Slav Defense. 6 Ne5 The main line begins 6 e3 e6 7 Bxc4 Bb4. Nbd7 7 Nxc4 Nb6 Not bad, but less popular than 7 . . . Qc7 and 7 . . . e6. 8 Ne5 a5 9 e3 g6 Perhaps fearing 9 . . . e6 10 g4!? Bg6 11 h4. 10 Bd3 Be6 11 0-0 Bg7 12 f4 Nfd7 13 Nf3 White has a small plus which 13 . . . 0-0 14 e4 would not disturb. Instead, Black seeks counterplay. c5!? 14 Ng5! cxd4 Not 14 . . . Bc4? because 15 Bxc4 Nxc4 16 Qb3 Nd6 17 Nce4! 0-0 18 Nxc5 gains a pawn. 15 Nxe6 fxe6 16 Ne4 0-0 Both 16 . . . dxe3 and 16 . . . Nd5 favor White after 17 Ng5. 17 Qg4 Rf5 18 Qh3 Setting up 19 Ng5. Nc5 19 Nxc5 Rxc5 20 Qxe6+ Kh8 21 e4 White has the better pawn structure and two useful Bishops. Grischuk correctly aims for an endgame. Rac8 22 e5 R8c6 23 Qf7 Nd5 24 Bd2 Qf8 25 Qxf8+ Bxf8 26 Rac1 e6 27 Kf2 b6 28 Kf3 Kg7 29 g3 Rxc1 30 Rxc1 Rxc1 31 Bxc1 Extraneous factors are gone. Black's position probably cannot be held. Kf7 32 Bc4 Ne3 33 b3! The opposite Bishops would save Black after 33 Bxe3? dxe3. Bc5 34 Ke2 h5 35 Bb2 g5 Nor does 35 . . . h4 36 Kf3 hxg3 37 hxg3 help, as the d-pawn will fall. 36 fxg5?! Giving Black hope. The ruthless 36 Kd3 gxf4 37 gxf4 Ng4 38 Bxd4 clinches the win against 38 . . . Nf2+ 39 Bxf2 Bxf2 40 f5 or 38 . . . Bxd4 39 Kxd4 Nxh2 40 Be2! Ng4 41 Ke4 Ke7 42 Kf3 Nh6 43 Bd3 Kf7 44 Kg3. Ng4 37 Bd3 Nxe5? Not so clear is 37 . . . Nxh2! 38 g6+ Kg7 39 Bc1 Ng4 40 Bf4 Ne3, thinking of 41 . . . Nf5. 38 Be4 Ng4 Tougher is 38 . . . Kg7 39 Bc1 Nf7, but White wins anyway with 40 h4 e5 41 Bf3 Kg6 42 g4! hxg4 43 Be4+! Kg7 44 h5. 39 h3 Ne3 40 Bc1 e5 After 40 . . . Nf5 41 Bf4, the d-pawn is doomed. 41 Bxe3! Now the opposite Bishops endgame is easy. dxe3 42 h4 Kg7 43 Kf3 Kf7 44 Bd3 Bd4 45 Be2 Kg7 46 Ke4 Kg6 47 Bd1Zugzwang.Bc3 Or 47 . . . Bc5 48 Kxe5 Bb4 49 Be2 Be1 50 Kf4 Bf2 51 g4!, obtaining connected passers. 48 Kxe3 Kf5 To restrain g3-g4. If 48 . . . Be1, White achieves this advance by 49 Bc2+ Kf7 50 Kf3 Kg7 51 Kg2 Kf7 52 Kh3. 49 Bxh5 Be1 50 Kf3 e4+ 51 Kg2 Bc3 Useless is 51 . . . e3 52 Be2 Ke4 53 Kh3. 52 Be2 Be1 53 Kh3 Bf2 54 Bb5! Be1 55 Bd7+ Ke5 56 Kg4 Preparing h4-h5-h6 and g5-g6-g7. e3 57 Bb5 Kd5, and Black Resigns.

PHILSTAR: BARCENILLA

Barcenilla wants to earn GM title here
By Joey Villar Updated March 15, 2009 12:00 AM
MANILA, Philippines – Grandmaster-candidate Rogelio Barcenilla Jr. is back in the country after years of exile in the United States.
Barcenilla, now 36, quietly flew to the country alongside GM Joey Antonio to pursue his dream of becoming a GM on local soil where opportunities are now aplenty.
“I’m here to finally get my GM title,” said Barcenilla, twice denied by the FIDE, the world chess governing body, of the title due to technicality.
“I will not give up because it has been my dream for so long now,” added the two-time Asian Junior champion, former World Junior third placer and many-time Olympiad team member.
Barcenilla gained his first two norms following strong efforts in a closed GM event in Jakarta, Indonesia and the 1996 Yerevan Olympiad and would have clinched the title if FIDE did not nullify his effort in the GM tournament in Subic Bay in 1997.
Barcenilla left the country terribly disappointed, pursuing his dream instead in the US.
He picked up some wins including the 2001 Marshall Chess Club GM tournament in New York which he thought would finally earn him the GM title. Alas, he was again denied by a special FIDE committee by a mere vote.
National Chess Federation of the Philippines president Prospero “Butch” Pichay Jr. said he’ll help Barcenilla achieve his dream.
“I’m happy he (Barcenilla) decided to return. We have several international tournaments in the country, he could get his final GM norm here,” said Pichay during Friday’s launching of the Phoenix Petroleum and Dapitan City Battle of the Grandmasters slated late this month in Dapitan, Zaomboanga del Norte.
Barcenilla, however, will not be able to join the Battle of the GMs but vowed to join the Asian Individual Championship and the Subic Bay International Open this May.
“I have a scheduled flight back to the US on March 28 but I will be back in May to join the two tournaments,” said Barcenilla.
Barcenilla would have been the fourth GM after Eugene Torre, the late Rosendo Balinas and Antonio if not for the technicality.
Six other Filipino players have become GMs -- Bong Villamayor, Nelson Mariano II, Mark Paragua, Darwin Laylo, Wesley So and Jayson Gonzales. Barcenilla said he won’t mind becoming only the 10th.
“What’s important is the GM title. It’s all that matters,” said Barcenilla.

View previous articles from this author.

GUARDIAN: CARLSEN

Chess by Leonard Barden

Since Magnus Carlsen became, for a day only, the youngest ever world No1 on the live ratings, the Norwegian 18-year-old's career has, judged by the Olympian standards of Bobby Fischer and Garry Kasparov, gone into something of a stall. Carlsen holds his own in elite tournaments, but the odd moment of teenage carelessness costs him points.

He could have won this week's "chess Wimbledon" at Linares but for falling into a simple drawing trap in the penultimate round. Yet he still finished only half a point behind the winners, and it seems his advance to overtake the world's current top pair, Vishy Anand and Veselin Topalov, is just a question of time. Leading Linares scores were Alex Grischuk and Vasily Ivanchuk 8/14. Carlsen 7.5, Anand 7.

Since Garry Kasparov retired from chess and became a so far unsuccessful Russian politician, the former world champion has frequently kibitzed at major events and has become known as a severe critic of his one-time peers. So the fact that Kasparov described this week's game as "brilliant" – and that against a Sicilian with 11...Re8 which was a favourite line for the all-time No1 – suggests that Carlsen's time will come after another year or two of maturing.

Carlsen's new step on a well-trodden path was 15 fxe5!? which looks harmless but has long-term designs of combining the advance of his queen's side pawn majority (achieved by 20 Nd5) with a latent Rxf6 sacrifice. Black should have exchanged pieces by 19...Bg4 since as played White's b6/d6 pawn duo set up promotion tactics. At the end the elegant 33 Ba6! and 34 Bxb7! concludes a strategic masterpiece of which any world champion would be proud.

1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 a6 6 Be2 e6 7 O-O Be7 8 a4 Nc6 9 Be3 O-O 10 f4 Qc7 11 Kh1 Re8 12 Bf3 Bf8 13 Qd2 Rb8 14 Qf2 e5 15 fxe5!? dxe5 16 Nb3 Nb4 17 Ba7 Ra8 18 Bb6 Qe7 19 Rad1 Be6 20 Nd5 Bxd5 21 exd5 e4 22 d6 Qe6 23 Nc5 Qf5 24 Be2 Qxf2 25 Rxf2 Nbd5 26 a5 Nxb6 27 axb6 Rab8 28 Rxf6! gxf6 29 Nd7 f5 30 c4 a5 31 c5 Bg7 32 Nxb8 Rxb8 33 Ba6! Bf6 34 Bxb7! Rxb7 35 c6 Rxb6 36 Rc1! Bxb2 37 d7 1-0

NM ALISANGCO vs SOL CRUZ

AGUILAR CUP
MERALCO SIMUL EXHIBITION

Pasig City

1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 d5 4 e3 c6 5 Nf3 Nbd7
MANUAL OF CHESS, "Get the knights into action before both before bishops are developed."

This position has frequently appeared in World Championship Matches; Steinitz vs Chigorin in 1889, Steinitz vs Lasker in 1894, Alekhine vs Bogoljubov in 1934, Euwe vs Alekhine in 1937, Botvinnik vs Euwe in 1948, Bronstein vs Botvinnik in 1951, Karpov vs Kasparov in 1984, Karpov vs Anand in 1998, Kramnik vs Topalov in 2006 and Kramnik vs Anand in 2008. Thus, we can safely conclude that these moves are the best of the best!

In opening theory, this set-up is known as the QUEEN'S GAMBIT DECLINED SEMI-SLAV DEFENCE, which was originated by Alapin a century ago.

THE COMPLETE CHESS PLAYER (on Semi-Slav), "Black renounces the idea of developing his Queen Bishop by Bf5; he intends to fianchetto the bishop later later on."

6 Qc2
MODERN CHESS OPENINGS, "6 Qc2 sidesteps the long variations arising after 6 Bd3, but Black's chances are no worse with accurate response."

This move first appeared in Stoltz vs Berstein in Groningen 1946 and was hence called the STOLTZ VARIATION (ECO D46). In the Man vs Machine in 2003, former World Champion Kasparov used the Stoltz and lost to Deep Junior! Among the Pinoy GMs Bong Villamayor and Darwin Laylo have played with the Stoltz in international tournaments.

6 ... Be7
LOGICAL CHESS, "Moving the bishop only one square may not seem much of a move, but it complies with the first law of rapid development: Get your pieces off the back rank."

This was actually my debut with the Slav and it is encouraging to find out, through the course of my research after this game, that my over-the-board move was also the line played by Deep Junior and Super-GMs Carlsen, Ivanchuk and Vallejo. However, World Champion Anand and former World Champion Topalov preferred the move Bd6.

7 Bd3 dxc4
THE IDEAS BEHIND THE CHESS OPENINGS, "Should Black try ... b5 without the follow-up ... c5, he would simply be saddled with a backward pawn on an open file, while ... dxc4 without ... b5 would merely concede his opponent the better center without adequate compensation.

8 Bxc4

8 ... Nd5?
CHESS FUNDAMENTALS, "Before development has been completed, no piece should be moved more than once, unless it is essential in order to obtain a material advantage or secure freedom of action."

RYBKA recommends 8 ... b5, 8 ... O-O, and 8 ... a6

9 O-O O-O
THE 10 MOST COMMON CHESS MISTAKES, "Nothing is more important than safeguarding your King by castling early, within the first dozen of moves, if possible."

10 e4 N5f6 11 e5 Nd5 12 Ne4 f5 13 exf5 N7xf6 14 NxN+ BxN
LOGICAL CHESS, "In a cramped position, try to relieve the pressure by forcing exchanges of pieces."

15 Qe4 Kh8 16 Bd3 g6 17 h4 Bg7 18 Bg5 Qd7 19 Ne5 BxN

BEST LESSONS OF A CHESS COACH, "Sometimes, the best course of action in chess is to anticipate trouble before it happens."

20 PxB Qf7 21 Rad1 Qf5 22 Qd4 Qf7 23 Be4 Bd7 24 Rd3 Rac8 25 Bh6 c5 26 Qc4 Rfe8 27 Rf3 Qg8 28 Bg5 h5 29 Rg3 Rf8 30 Qd3 Be8 31 BxN PxB 32 Bf6+ Kh7 33 Rg5 Kh6 34 g4 PxP 35 RxP Qe6 36 Rg3

36 ... RxB

THE BLUE BOOK OF CHESS, "When, however, you are about to exchange officers, you must calculate not only their ordinary value, but their peculiar worth in the situation in question; for example, a Rook is generally more valuable than a Knight or a Bishop; but it will happen, that by exchanging a Rook for one of the latter you may greatly improve your game."

However, Rybka recommends Rg8.

37 PxB d4 38 Qd2+ Kh7 39 Qg5 Rc6 40 Rc1 b6 41 h5 QxP 42 PxP+ BxP

THE IMITATION OF CHRIST, "After the great storm, clear and pleasant weather shines through again."

I was surprised when NM Alisangco offered a draw! And though I have a connected passed pawn, I am not sure if my exposed King could survive his Q & R harassment on the open files. Thus, I quickly extended my hand across the board to accept the draw, my first against a titled player!

[1/2-1/2]

STOLTZ: KRAMNIK - IVANCHUK

[Site "Dortmund"][Date "1997.07.06"][Round "3"]
[White "Vladimir Kramnik"]
[Black "Vassily Ivanchuk"]
[ECO "D45"]
[WhiteElo "2770"]
[BlackElo "2725"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 d5 4. d4 e6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Qc2 b6
7. Bd3 Bb7 8. O-O Be7 9. b3 Rc8 10. Bb2 c5 11. cxd5 cxd4
12. dxe6 dxc3 13. exd7+ Nxd7 14. Bxc3 Bb4 15. Bc4 Bxf3
16. gxf3 Bxc3 17. Qxc3 Qg5+ 18. Kh1 b5 19. Qa5 1-0

STOLTZ: KASPAROV - VALLEJO

[Event "21st Linares SuperGM"]
[Site "Linares ESP"][Date "2004.02.26"][Round "7"]
[White "Garry Kasparov"]
[Black "Francisco Vallejo-Pons"]
[ECO "D45"]
[WhiteElo "2831"]
[BlackElo "2663"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Qc2 b6
7. Bd3 Bb7 8. O-O Be7 9. b3 Rc8 10. Bb2 Qc7 11. Rad1 h6 12. e4
dxe4 13. Nxe4 O-O 14. c5 Nxe4 15. Bxe4 a5 16. Rfe1 Rfd8
17. Bh7+ Kh8 18. Bd3 Kg8 19. Bh7+ Kh8 20. Bd3 Kg8 21. Ba3 Qb8
22. Qc1 bxc5 23. Bb1 Qa7 24. Qc2 Nf6 25. Ne5 Rd5 26. Ng4 Rf5
27. Nxf6+ gxf6 28. h4 Kh8 29. Qe2 Ba6 30. Qe3 Rh5 31. Bxc5
Bxc5 32. dxc5 Qxc5 33. Qf3 Kg7 34. Qg4+ Kh8 35. Rd7 Rg8
36. Qf3 Re5 37. Qxf6+ 1-0