Thursday, April 30, 2009

CHESSBASE: ARONIAN WINS FIDE GRAND PRIX

29.04.2009 – With Aronian and Leko both leading by a full point cynics were predicting a quick GM draw. But it turned into a merciless battle with Levon Aronian dominating and eventually crushing Peter Leko after an exchange sacrifice. The Armenian took sole first by a full point and with a 2833 performance. Bacrot, Gelfand and Akopian also won their games.

The fourth FIDE Grand Prix Series Tournament is being held in Nalchik, Kabardino-Balkaria, Russia, during 14th -29th April 2009 at the Intour Hotel "Sindica". The games start at 3 p.m. local time = 15:00h CEST. After five rounds there is a free day (on Monday, April 20) and another after round nine (on Saturday, April 25).

Final standings

Friday, April 17, 2009

CHESS PIECE: BATTLE OF GMs

Vol. XXII, No. 181
Friday, April 17, 2009 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES

World Sports

Battle of GMs (2)

Phoenix Petroleum & Dapitan City Battle of GMs
Dapitan City
March 24-31, 2009

Final Standings

1. GM Wesley So 2627, 9.0/11

2. GM Rogelio Antonio, Jr. 2519, 7.0/11

3. GM Eugenio Torre 2560, 6.5/11

4-5. GM Mark Paragua 2537, GM John Paul Gomez 2539, 6.0/11

6-8. GM Darwin Laylo 2504, IM Richard Bitoon 2473, IM Julio Catalino Sadorra 2445, 5.5/11

9. IM Rolando Nolte 2488, 4.5/11

10. GM Jayson Gonzales 2468, 4.0/11

11. GM Bong Villamayor 2471, 3.5/11

12. IM Ronald Dableo 2432, 3.0/11

Average Rating: 2505

Category 11, GM norm: 7/11

In my opinion the best game from the Battle of GMs is GM John Paul Gomez vs GM Eugene Torre in the penultimate round.

John Paul Gomez and International Masters Oliver Barbosa and Julio Catalino Sadorra started their chess careers well before reaching their 10th birthday and, between the three of them, monopolized the local kiddies’ and juniors’ chess titles. My personal opinion then was that Barbosa was the most promising as his creativity in thinking up new ways to attack his opponent’s king fortifications was very impressive. Sadorra, on the other hand, impressed with his hardworking habits — he was the one who actually studied the openings and came to games armed to the teeth.

My take on John Paul was that he was a boring player — everything is about positional motifs and strategy and he just maintains a solid position and waits for his opponent to blunder. This style might work out in the kiddies/juniors level, but once he enters the international arena solidity will not be enough — he will find that the opponents are just as solid but with good theoretical preparation, tactically alert, good stamina from playing against strong players all year round, and he will fail.

Well, I have been proven completely wrong. Once John Paul started playing in international tournaments he elevated his level and sharpened his style. He kept meeting challenges head-on and learning from mistakes, building up his arsenal, and getting better. And now he is an International Grandmaster. I am very proud of him and happy for his father, Mr. Jun Gomez, a retiree from the National Power Corp. who has become a permanent fixture in local tournaments, accompanying his son to all the rounds and helping out any way he can.

The reason for this long-winded discourse is to give the reader an indication of just how much John Paul Gomez’s play has grown. The fantastic combination he envisioned in the following game deserved more than it got — GM Eugene Torre met the attack with brilliant defense and closed the game with a rook sacrifice combination of his own. You really should play this over.

Gomez, John Paul (2539) — Torre, Eugenio (2560) [E11]

Phoenix Petroleum Battle of GMs Dapitan City Resort Hotel (10.6), 30.03.2009

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Bb4+

This opening is known as the Bogo-Indian Defense ("Bogo" as in "Bogoljubow"). In recent years it was the main weapon as Black of the great Swedish GM Ulf Andersson — he was virtually unbeatable with this line. White keeps a slight advantage because he has more space, but Black is solid.

4.Nbd2 0-0 5.a3 Bxd2+ 6.Bxd2 Ne4 7.Be3 b6 8.g3 Bb7 9.Bg2 Nd6!?

Eugene takes the game out of the books. As far as I can see this move has never been played yet, as 9...d5 or 9...f5 are the automatic moves here.

10.Rc1 Be4 11.d5 Nf5 12.Bf4 d6 13.0-0 e5 14.Bd2 Ne7

Black has wasted so much time with his bishop and knight maneuvers that White is definitely looking for ways to take advantage of that tempo. One attempt now would be 15.Ng5 Bxg2 16.Qc2, but after 16...Ng6 17.Kxg2 there doesn’t seem to be much there.

15.Re1 a5 16.Bc3 a4 17.Qd2

You will see in a while what this move is for.

17...h6

Position after 17...h6

Now the fun starts.

18.Nxe5!!

A stunning concept.

18...Bxg2 19.Ng4 Bh3!

Much better than 19...Be4 because then he will lose the bishop to 20.Bxg7 f5 21.Qxh6 fxg4 22.Bxf8 Qxf8 23.Qe6+ Qf7 24.Qxe4 Black’s exposed king is cause for concern and he would be hard put to hold the position.

20.Nf6+

Best. Capturing on h6 with 20.Nxh6+ is met by 20...Kh7 21.Qg5 f6 22.Qh4 gxh6 23.Qxh3 Qc8 24.Qh4 Qf5 Black is already better.

20...gxf6 21.Qxh6 Ng6 22.Qxh3 Nd7 23.f4 Re8 24.e4 Kf8 25.Re3 Ke7 26.Rce1 Rg8 27.e5?

Objectively best here is 27.Qf5, putting pressure on f6 so that the d7-knight cannot move. However, then Black could force a draw with 27...Nh4 28.Qh3 Ng6 29.Qf5 Nh4 etc... After his grand concept White of course wants the full point.

27...fxe5 28.fxe5 Ngxe5 29.Bxe5 dxe5 30.Rxe5+ Nxe5 31.Rxe5+ Kd6 32.Qh6+ f6

[32...Kxe5 33.Qf4#]

33.Re6+ Kd7 34.Qh3 f5!

The only move. If 34...Rh8 35.Qf5 Qg8 then 36.Rxf6+ Ke7 37.Rg6 Rf8 (Giving up his queen for the two rooks, otherwise he is mated, for example: 37...Qd8 38.Qe5+ Kf7 39.Qg7+ Ke8 40.Re6+ etc) 38.d6+! cxd6 39.Qe4+ Kd7 40.Qb7+ Ke8 41.Qc8+ Ke7 42.Qc7+ Ke8 43.Rxg8 Rhxg8 44.Qxd6 Black’s pawns will all fall.

35.Qxf5 Qg5 36.Qf7+ Kc8 37.Re7 Qc1+ 38.Kg2 Qxb2+ 39.Kh1 Qc1+ 40.Kg2 Qc2+ 41.Kg1 Qd1+ 42.Kg2 Kb7!

Now you see the point of Eugene’s queen checks — he wanted to put his queen on the d-file so White would not have d5-d6 available.

43.Rxc7+ Ka6 44.Qd7 Qc2+ 45.Kg1 Qb3 46.Qc6 Rxg3+! 0-1

Obviously Black had seen this resource several moves earlier — the white king is mated. 46...Rxg3+ 47.hxg3 Qxg3+ 48.Kf1 Rf8+ 49.Ke2 Rf2+ 50.Ke1 Qg1#.

Until Wesley So came into the scene, GM Eugene Torre had always won local tournaments in the country so long as its format was round-robin. In Swiss system tournaments he was not as successful, but in all-play-all Eugene was invincible.

One of the reasons behind this dominance was his stamina — he just got stronger as the tournament got longer. This is the same story as in his tennis. I heard one of Eugene’s frustrated opponents ventilate in the locker room once that the GM’s tennis style is a bit unorthodox and he did not have any flashy moves, but no matter how hard you hit the ball or how much "pektos" you apply, Eugene is going to return the ball to you until you err out of exhaustion.

That is why I was so worried during the 2008 PGMA Cup — Torre won the first five games but was visibly tired in the final three rounds and in fact could very well have lost all three. Was he finally losing his stamina?

Well, we got our answer in this Battle of GMs — Eugene lost to Wesley in the 3rd, recovered by beating Ronald Dableo in the 4th, and got temporarily bogged down with draws. However, he came back with a 2.5/3 finish and ended up in solo 3rd place.

I hope he can continue to contend in these powerful local tournaments — there is still so much our younger players could learn from him.

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

Monday, April 13, 2009

LA TIMES: IM ENRICO SEVILLANO

State champion IM Enrico Sevillano won the Kern County Open with a 5-0 score two weeks ago in Bakersfield. James Castro, Indra Lahiri, Gary Latta and Matt Robertson tied for second place at 3 1/2 -1 1/2 . Raul Bugnosen (best B) and Alexander Pearson (best C) led their classes. Stan Liao edged Matthew Poh and Joseph Constantine on tiebreak in the accompanying 23-player scholastic tournament.

LET'S PLAY CHESS: ERA of COMPUTER

by NM Edgar DE CASTRO
The Phillipine Star

Era of Computer -Aided Chess

Chess computers these days have massive database programs that can compile millions of games reaching back more than five centuries. It can also show percentages of games won after vicious alternative moves. Chess thus becomes a vast, branching cave to be explored game by game.

2009 European Championship
W: Vavrak
B: Popov
Nimzo-Indian Defense

1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Bb4 4 Qc2
Botvinnik's well known idea. W tries to force the exchange of B's dark-squared B without having the drawback of a doubled pawn.

4 ... d5 5 cxd5
The main continuation 5 a3 Bxc3+ 6 Qxc3 Ne4 7 Qc2 Nc6 8 e3 e5 9 cxd5 Qxd5 10 Bc4 Qa5 11 b4!? Nb4 gives W a slight edge.

5 ... exd5
The alternatives are 5 ... Qxd5 and 5 ... Nxd5.

6 Bg5
This sharp line is a favorite of former World Champion Kasparov.

6 ... c5
After 6 ... h6 7 Bxf6 Qxf6 8 a3 Bxc3+ 9 Qxc3 O-O 10 e3 Bf5 11 Ne2 Rc8 12 Rc1 Nd7 13 b4 a5 14 Ng3 axb4 15 axb4, W is slightly better.

7 dxc5 h6 8 Bh4 g5 9 Bg3 Ne4! 10 Bxb8
Kasparov's line 10 e3 Qa5!? 11 Nge2 Bf5 12 Be5 O-O 13 Nd4 Re8, offers W no more than equal chances.

10 ... Qf6
The text is an important improvement by the Armenian str Levon Aronian.

11 Bg3 Nxc3 12 a3 bf5 13 Qd2 Ba5 14 e3
After 14 b4?! Ne4 15 Qc1 Rc8 16 Ra2 Rxc5! 17 Qa1 Qc6 18 Qe5+ Kd8 19 Qxh8+ Kd7, B wins. Sokolov-Aronian, Turin Olympiad 2006.

14 ... O-O-O!
W was probably hoping for 14 ... d4, when 15 Bb5+! Nxb5 (if 15 ... Kf8 16 Nf3) 16 Qxa5 gives him the advantage.

15 Bd6 Bg4!
B is threatening 16 ... Ne4 17 Qxa5 Qxf2 mate.

16 f3?
16 Nf3 is considered better. For instance 16 ... Bxf3 17 gxf3 Qxf3 18 bxc3 Qxh1 19 O-O-O, and the game is far from over. Now B gets busy opening lines.

16 ... d4!













17 e4
After 17 fxg4 (or 17 exd4 Rhe8+ 18 Ne2 Nxe2 19 Qxa5 Ng3+, B is winning) dxe3 18 Qc2 Nb5+ 19 Ke2 Nd4+, B wins.

17 ... Rhe8 18 Ne2?!
A good try is 18 Bd3!? Nxe4 19 Qxa5 Nxd6+ 20 Ne2, with perhaps some chances to survive.

18 ... Bxf3! 19 Qxf3 20 e5
W cannot allow an open e-file, but here comes another devastating move.

20 ... d3!
A decisive advance with crushing effect on W's uncastled K. After 20 ... Qxh1 21 bxc3 dxc3 22 Qc2, W stays in the game a little longer.

21 bxc3 dxe2 22 Qxe2 Bxc3+ 23 Kd1 Qxh1
After the text, B advantage is overwhelming.

24 Rc1?
An obvious mistake in a losing position.

24 ... Rxe5 0-1.

Monday, April 6, 2009

LA TIMES: ARONIAN WINS AMBER

by Jack Peters, IM

Levon Aronian won the Amber tournament in Nice, France, for the second consecutive year. The Armenian grandmaster, ranked 11th in the world, led a field that included eight of the world's nine highest-rated stars.


The unique Amber tournament requires two 25-minute games against each opponent. In one, both players play a 21st century form of blindfold chess, without those cumbersome blindfolds. Each player briefly sees the algebraic notation for his opponent's move on his computer monitor, but only the audience sees the position. The prize fund of 216,000 Euros (about $293,000) placates those worried about the occasional embarrassing blunder.

Aronian tied for first place with scores of 7-4 in both the rapid and blindfold portions. His 14-8 total edged out world champion Viswanathan Anand of India (7-4 blindfold) and former champion Vladimir Kramnik of Russia (6 1/2 -4 1/2 blindfold), who finished with 13 1/2 -8 1/2 totals.

Former U.S. champion Gata Kamsky tied for eighth place at 10-12, precisely as the ratings predicted. Strangely, though, he tied for first at 7-4 in the rapid portion but finished last at 3-8 in blindfold.

Other scores: Magnus Carlsen (Norway), 7-4 blindfold, 13-9 combined; Alexander Morozevich (Russia), 6 1/2 -4 1/2 and 11-11; Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria), 5 1/2 -5 1/2 and 10 1/2 -11 1/2 ; Sergey Karjakin (Ukraine), 4 1/2 -6 1/2 and 10 1/2 -11 1/2 ; Peter Leko (Hungary), 5 1/2 -5 1/2 and 10-12; Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine), 5-6 and 9 1/2 -12 1/2 ; Teimour Radjabov (Azerbaijan), 5-6 and 9-13; and Wang Yue (China), 3 1/2 -7 1/2 and 7 1/2 -14 1/2 .

Thursday, April 2, 2009

PHILSTAR: ASIAN INDOOR ELIMS

Abasolo rules regional chess
(The Philippine Star) Updated April 01, 2009 12:00 AM

MANILA, Philippines - Seventh seed Silverio Abasolo topped the Region XI chess elimination at the Dapitan City Resort Hotel in Dapitan City to make it to the national team competing in the third Asian Indoor games in Vietnam.

Also making it to the team are fifth seed Micheal Pinar and top seed Raymond Salcedo.

The national semifinals will be held in Manila on Aug. 4-8 with the third Asian Indoor Games slated Oct. 30-Nov. 4 in Halongbay, Vietnam.

ABS CBN NEWS: SO JUMPS TO 7TH

04/01/2009 7:44 PM

Filipino chess prodigy Wesley So soared to new heights following his victorious campaign in the Battle of GMs as he climbed to seventh place overall in the latest FIDE list of the world’s top junior players.

A report posted on SportsNews.ph said the latest FIDE quarterly ratings released on April 1 showed that So has boosted his ELO rating to 2641, the highest rating achieved by a Filipino chess player.

Those ahead of So are: GMs Magnus Carlsen (ELO 2770) of Norway, Sergey Karjakin (ELO 2721) of Ukraine, Wang Hao (ELO 2696) of China, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (ELO 2684) of France, Fabiano Caruana (ELO 2649) of Italy and Li Chao (ELO 2643) of China.

Of all chess players, not just junior players, the 15-year-old So is now ranked 89th in the world together with GMs Georg Meier of Germany and Ilia Smirin of Israel.

So is also ranked No. 1 in the under-16 category and 11th overall in Asia.

So's previous high was ELO 2531 in the October 2007 rating by FIDE. He slipped to ELO 2526 in the January 2009 rating but moved up anew following his successful campaign in the Corus tournament in Wijk aan Zee, Nteherlands and the Aeroflot Open in Moscow, Russia.

ABS CBN NEWS: SO WINS BATTLE FOR 2ND TIME

abs-cbnNEWS.com | 04/01/2009 12:54 AM

Wesley So formalized his title conquest in this year’s Battle of the GMs by beating fellow Grandmaster Darwin Laylo in the 11th and final round at the Pavilion Hotel in Zamboanga del Norte province Tuesday.

The 15-year-old So, who also won last year's edition, defeated Laylo in 51 moves of the center counter.

So, adjudged as the best junior player in the Aeroflot Chess tournament in Russia, capped his campaign with 18 points on seven wins and four draws to pocket the P200,000 top prize.

Meanwhile, GM Rogelio “Joey” Antonio Jr. scored second place with 14 points following his draw with GM Eugene Torre (13 points) in the final round.

Antonio, who recently scored a string of victories in the US circuit, went home with the P100,000 second prize while Asia’s first GM Torre settled for P80,000.

GMs Mark Paragua and John Paul Gomez were tied with 12 points followed by GM Darwin Laylo with 11.5.

In last year's Battle of GMs, which was staged at the Citystate Hotel, Manila, So edged Torre by a point with 8.5.

The Battle of GMs was organized by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines.

INQUIRER: WESLEY SO WINS BATTLE OF GMs

By Roy Luarca
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 03:51:00 04/01/2009

Final standings:
MEN: 18.0—W. So; 14.0—R. Antonio; 13.0—E. Torre; 12.0—M. Paragua, J. Gomez; 11.5—D. Laylo; 11.0—J. Sadorra, R. Bitoon; 9.0—R. Nolte; 8.0—J. Gonzales; 6.5—B. Villamayor; 6.0—R. Dableo

WOMEN: 17.0—Shercila Cua; 16.5—B. Mendoza; 15.0—Sherily Cua; 14.0—J. Fronda, C. Bernales; 12.0—D. Rivera; 11.0—L. Cuison; 9.0—K. Cunanan; 8.0—C. Perena; 5.0—J. Docena; 4.0—R. Young

DAPITAN CITY—A big gap exists between Wesley So and the rest of the field in the Battle of Grandmasters here.

Already beyond reach, So capped his successful title-retention campaign with a victory over fellow GM Darwin Laylo in the 11th and final round Tuesday night at the Dapitan City Resort Hotel.

His seventh win against four draws gave So a runaway total of 18 points, four up on second placer GM Rogelio “Joey” Antonio, who drew with GM Eugene Torre after 31 moves of a Bogo Indian.

So, an incoming high school senior at St. Francis-Cavite, led from start to finish to win the P200,000 champion’s purse.

Starting hot, So hurdled GM Buenaventura Villamayor, GM John Paul Gomez, Torre, IM Rolando Nolte and GM Jayson Gonzales before being held to a draw by Antonio in the sixth round.

The 15-year-old So, Group C champion of this year’s Corus Chess Tournament in the Netherlands, then coasted along with successive draws against GM Mark Paragua, IM Julio Catalino Sadorra and IM Richard Bitoon.

Antonio bagged the runner-up purse of P100,000, with Torre pocketing P80,000 for finishing third with 13 points.

Other final-round matches saw Paragua subdue Sadorra in 41 moves of a French Defense and Gomez and Nolte agreeing to a truce after 37 of a Sicilian.

With 12 points each, Paragua and Gomez tied for fourth and won P50,000 each in the tournament organized by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines and supported by Phoenix Petroleum and the Dapitan City council through Mayor Dominador Jalosjos Jr.

In women’s play, FIDE Master Shercila Cua pounced on an endgame blunder by WNM Rulp Ylem Jose to prevail in 79 moves of an English Opening to snatch the title from WIM Beverly Mendoza, who temporarily held the reign when she bested WNM Jedara Docena in 28 moves of a Vienna Opening.

Shercila, an economics graduate from University of Santo Tomas, won P60,000.