Saturday, May 30, 2009

NM PEREZ VS SOL CRUZ
















W: NM Roland PEREZ
B: Rolly SOL CRUZ
3rd SOL CRUZ MEMORIAL CUP

1 d4 d5 2 c4 c6 3 Nf3 Nf6 4 Nc3 e6 5 e3 Nbd7 6 Qc2
In opening theory, this Q move is known as the STOLTZ VARIATION which is second in popularity [2,485 games played] to 6 Bd3 [2,963].

6 ... Bd6
This is the standard continuation, played 2,204 times in 2,485 games in the Chessgames.com database. Three World Champions preferred this move; Kasparov, Kramnik and Anand.

7 Bd2
In Karpov-Kasparov World Championship 1984, W played 7 e4, in Karpov-Kamsky World Championship 1996, W continued with 7 Be2, and in Karpov-Anand World Championship 1998, W proceeded with 7 Bd3.

7... e5

The usual reply to the not so popular 7 Bd2 is 7... O-O, 125 times in 139 games, as in Vladimirov-Antoshin in Alekhine Memorial 1963, Leon-Shumiakina in Capablanca Memorial 1991, Belozerov-Goloshchapov in Geller Memorial 1999, Eliseev-Skatchkov in Petrov Memorial 2002, and Arencibia-Perez in Torre Memorial 2006.

8 cxd5 cxd5
RYBKA: 8... Nxd5!? 9 Nxd5 cxd5 10 dxe5 Nxe5

9 Nb5 Qb6 10 Nd6+ Qxd6 11 dxe5 Nxe5 12 Nxe5 Qxe5 13 Bc3 Qg5
RYBKA: 13... Qe6 14 Bb5+ Bd7 15 Bxd7+ Qxd7 16 Bxf6 gxf6 17 Qc3

14 Qa4+ Bd7 15 Qa3 Ne4 16 Bd4 Qf5?
RYBKA: Better is 16... Rc8 17 h4 Qg4

17 f3 Nf6 18 Bd3 Qg5 19 O-O Bh3 20 Rf2 Rc8? 21 Kh1 Bf5 22 Bb5+ Nd7 23 Qd6 a6? 24 Ba4 Be6?
RYBKA: Better is 24... Qg6 25 Qe5+ Be6 26 Qxg7 Rg8 27 Qxg6 hxg6 +-

25 f4 Qf5 26 h3 h5??
RYBKA: Better is 26... b5 27 Qxa6 O-O 28 bxb5 Nf6 +-

27 Bxg7 Rg8 28 Bd4 Qe4 29 Kh2 Rg6 30 Qe5 [1/2-1/2].

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

SOL CRUZ MEMORIAL: RICKY TAN

May 27, 2009 (Wednesday)
3rd Sol Cruz Memorial Cup
Ricky Tan (White) – NM Perez (Black)

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Qb6 5. Nxc6 bxc6 6. Nc3 d6
7. Be2 Nf6 8. Rb1 g6 9. Be3 Qc7 10. h3 Bg7 11. Qd2 O-O 12. O-O Re8
13. b3 a5 14. f3 Be6 15. Na4 Nd7 16. c4 Qb7 17. Rgd1 c5 18. Rb1 Nb8
19. Nc3 Nc6 20. a4 Red8 21. Nd5 Nd4 22. Bd1 Rdb8 23. Kh1 Qd7 24. Nc3 Nc6
25. Nb5 Nb4 26. Kh2 Rd8 27. Be2 Rf8 28. Rbe1 Rad8 29. g4 Qc8 30. Nc3 Nc6
31. Nd5 Qb7 32. Rb1 Bxd5 33. cxd5 Nb4 34. Bh6 e6 35. Bxg7 Kxg7
36. Qc3+ e5 37. f4 f6 38. Rf3 Qe7 39. fxe5 Qxe5+ 40. Qxe5 fxe5 41. Rbf1
Rxf3 42. Rxf3 Rf8 43. Kg3 Rxf3+ 44. Kxf3 Nc2 45. Bd1 Nd4+ 46. Ke3 Kf6 47.
h4 h6 48. Kf2 Ke7 49. Ke3 Kd7 50. Kd3 ½ - ½

PHILSTAR: ASIAN SIDE EVENT

Salcedo cops Asian Challenge chess title
(The Philippine Star) Updated May 26, 2009 12:00 AM

MANILA, Philippines –Top seed Raymond Salcedo drew with Victor Lluch in the final round to cop the overall championship in the Asian Continental Chess Challenge at the Subic Exhibition and Convention Center in Subic over the weekend.

Salcedo finished with seven points on five wins and four draws then nipped three others in the tiebreak to clinch the title in the five-day tournament held as a side event of the Asian Continental individual chess championship.

Allan Macala, Alcon John Datu and Sheider Nebato also finished with the same score of seven points.

Macala subdued Nelson Villanueva, Datu humbled John Ranel Morazo and Nebato crushed Ritchie Evangelista to catch Salcedo in a four-way tie for first.

Roberto Suelo, Allan Cantonjos and Lluch shared fifth to seventh places with 6.5 points.

Suelo upset third seed Rolando Andador, while Cantonjos downed Roger Sarip.

Completing the Top 12 finishers were Villanueva, Rainier Labay, Ali Branzuela, Morazo and Efren Bagamasbad, all with six points.

Former world youth campaigner Jan Jodilyn Froda of Letran College emerged as the top female participant with five points.

3rd SOL CRUZ MEMORIAL CUP








Monday, May 25, 2009

GMA NEWS: GM ANTONIO SECURES SLOT

MANILA, Philippines - GM Rogelio Antonio Jr. is headed to next year’s World Chess Cup.

The 47-year-old Antonio fought Chinese GM Zhou Weiqi of China to a quick draw in the 11th round of the 2009 Asian Continental individual chess championship in Subic to finish in a share of third place.

The truce was reached after only 12 moves of the Ruy Lopez but it was all Antonio needed to secure his rightful place in the World Chess Cup scheduled in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia on Nov. 20-Dec. 15.

The pride of Calapan, Oriental Mindoro finished with an 11-round total of 7.5 points on five wins, five draws and only one loss in this prestigious competition organized by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP).

“This is another memorable tournament for me. Except for my 10th-round setback, I think I played well overall," said Antonio, who duplicated the feat of GM Darwin Laylo as the only Filipino player to earn a berth to the World Chess Cup in 2007.

"Sana maging maganda din ang performance ko sa World Cup," added Antonio, who barely missed a berth in the 2007 World Cup after landing in a tie for eighth to 14th places in the previous edition held in Mandaue City.

Antonio’s success, however, turned out to be the only reason for celebration for the host Filipinos.

So, Torre falter

The country’s top two players – GM Wesley So and GM Eugene Torre – both went out with a big thud.

So, at 15 the country’s brightest hope for international recognition, suffered a heartbreaking setback to GM Le Quang Liem of Vietnam in 34 moves of another Sicilian.

And Torre, the country’s most-experienced player for more than four decades now, yielded to top seed GM Krishan Sasikiran of India in 44 moves of the Nimzo-Indian.

The twin setbacks left So (four wins, five draws and two losses) and Torre (five wins, three draws and three losses) with only 6.5 points, good for joint 15th.

GM Surya Shakhar Ganguly of India and GM Zhou Weiqi topped the 11-round tournament with identical scores of eight points.

Ganguly, one of 12 Indian players who saw action here, drew with GM Zhou Jianchao of China in only 16 moves of the Gruenfeld.

Ninth seed GM Hou Yifan of China and GM Parimarjan Negi of India also agreed to a draw in 27 moves of the Sicilian while GM Chanda Sandipan of India and Yu Shaoteng of China also split the point in 14 moves of the Catalan to book their places in the Top 10 and a spot in the World Chess Cup.

Also making it to the prestigious competition is Le, whose dramatic, final-round triumph over the second-seeded So provided the biggest story for the day.

The rest of the Filipino players did not fare any better. –GMANews.TV

Sunday, May 24, 2009

5th M-Tel Masters


The winner in action in round 8. Photo © Ivan A. Grigorov and the Press Center of International Super Chess Tournament M-Tel Masters: http://www.mtelmasters.com

The 5th M-Tel Masters took place in Sofia 12th-23rd May 2009. In the best result of his career Alexei Shirov took clear first place after defeating Magnus Carlsen in the final round. Carlsen took 2nd place on tie-break from Veselin Topalov, both won three games but Carlsen beat Topalov in one of their individual games.

The Category XXI event saw Veselin Topalov, Magnus Carlsen, Vassily Ivanchuk, Wang Yue, Leinier Dominguez Perez and Alexei Shirov play in a double round robin format. The games were played in a glass pavilion on the square in front of the National Theatre Ivan Vazov.

The time control was 90 minutes for 40 moves per player and 60 minutes per player till the end of the game. The maximum period for a single game is 5 hours. "Sofia rules" were used. They are that: Opponents cannot communicate during the games and cannot offer a draw. Proposals for a draw can be made only through the Chief Arbiter in three cases: triple repetition, eternal chess and theoretical draw position. When making the decisions the Chief Arbiter will be consulted by Zurab Azmaiparashvili, Vice President of FIDE.

Official site: http://www.mtelmasters.com - including live coverage.

MANILA TIMES: GM ANTONIO BOOKS WCC SLOT

Antonio Books World Chess Cup Slot

By Emil C. Noguera, Correspondent
Sunday May 24, 2009

Grandmaster Rogelio Antonio Jr. settled for a draw with GM Zhou Weiqi of China in the 11th and final round of the 2009 Asian Continental individual chess championship Saturday at the Subic Exhibition and Convention Center.

The truce was reached after only 12 moves of the Ruy Lopez.

The draw secured Antonio his rightful place in the World Chess Cup scheduled in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia from November 20 to December 15.

The 47-year-old campaigner from Calapan, Oriental Mindoro finished with 7.5 points on five wins, five draws and only one loss.

“This is another memorable tournament for me. Except for my 10th-round setback, I think I played well overall,” said Antonio, who duplicated the feat of GM Darwin Laylo as the only Filipino player to earn a berth to the World Chess Cup in 2007.

“Sana maging maganda din ang performance ko sa World Cup,” said Antonio, who barely missed a berth in the 2007 World Cup after landing in a tie for eighth to 14th places in the previous eiditon held in Mandaue City.

Antonio’s success, however, turned out to be the only reason for celebration for the Filipinos.

The country’s top two players— GM Wesley So and GM Eugene Torre —went out with a big thump.

The 15-year-old So, the country’s brightest hope for international recog­nition, suffered a heart­breaking set­back to GM Le Quang Liem of Vietnam in 34 moves of another Sicilian.

And Torre, the country’s most-experienced player for more than four decades now, yieleded to top seed GM Krishan Sasikiran of India in 44 moves of the Nimzo-Indian.

The twin setbacks left So and Torre with only 6.5 points.

So, a high school student of St. Francis College (Bacoor), finished with 6.5 points on four wins, five draws and two losses.

Torre wound up with the same total on five wins, three draws and three losses.

GM Surya Shakhar Ganguly of India and GM Zhou Weiqi topped the 11-round tournamnet with identical scores of eight points.

Ganguly, one of 12 Indian players who saw action here, drew with GM Zhou Jianchao of China in only 16 moves of the Gruenfeld.

Ninth seed GM Hou Yifan of China and GM Parimarjan Negi of India also agreed to a draw in 27 points of the Sicilian while GM Chanda Sandipan of India and Yu Shaoteng of China also split the point in 14 moves of the Catalan to book their places in the Top 10 and a spot in the World Chess Cup.

Also making it to the prestigious competition is Le, whose dramatic, final-round triumph over the second-seeded So provided the biggest story for the day.

Saturday, May 23, 2009

CHESSBASE: SHIROV WINS SOFIA

23.05.2009 – Spanish GM Alexei Shirov defeated leader Magnus Carlsen of Norway in just 30 moves to take sole victory in the Sofia GM tournament. His performance: 2864. Carlsen was second, together with Veselin Topalov, who drew his final game against Chinese GM Wang Yue. Vassily Ivanchuk scored his first victory in this tournament against Cuban GM Leinier Dominguez. Final report.

Sofia Super GM – Round ten (final)

Shirov,A (2745) - Carlsen,M (2770) [B33]
Super GM Sofia BUL (10), 23.05.2009
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bg5 a6 8.Na3 b5 9.Bxf6 gxf6 10.Nd5 Bg7 11.Bd3 Ne7 12.Nxe7 Qxe7 13.c4 f5 14.0-0 0-0 15.Qh5 Rb8 16.exf5 e4 17.Rae1 Bb7 18.Qg4 Rfe8 19.cxb5 d5 20.bxa6 Bc6 21.b3 Kh8 22.Nc2 Be5 23.Be2 d4 24.Bc4 Rg8 25.Qh3 Rg7 26.g3 Rbg8 27.Qh6 Qc7 28.Nb4 Ba8 29.Nd5 Qd8 30.Rxe4 1-0.

Final Standings

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

8th ASIAN CONTINENTAL

Final Ranking after 11 Rounds

Rk.
NameFEDRtgPts. TB1 TB2
1GMGanguly Surya ShekharIND26258,025462554
2GMZhou WeiqiCHN25638,025052515
3
Yu YangyiCHN24337,525752582
4GMYu ShaotengCHN25047,525702585
5GMLe Quang LiemVIE25917,525452551
6GMAntonio Rogelio JrPHI25187,525292544
7GMHou YifanCHN25907,525252535
8GMZhou JianchaoCHN26357,524992506
9GMSandipan ChandaIND25587,025772587
10GMSasikiran KrishnanIND26827,025282536
11GMKunte AbhijitIND25137,025102526
12GMGupta AbhijeetIND25707,025082514
13GMNegi ParimarjanIND25927,024942502
14GMNguyen Ngoc Truong SonVIE25887,024902497
15GMLi ShilongCHN25577,024892498
16GMKazhgaleyev MurtasKAZ26267,024742481
17GMFilippov AntonUZB25847,024712479
18GMDao Thien HaiVIE25466,525532569
19
Wan YunguoCHN24346,525362556
20IMAl Sayed Moh Mad NQAT24966,525352551
21GMSo WesleyPHI26416,525202527
22GMTorre EugenioPHI25616,525012511
23
Ding LirenCHN24586,025962604
24GMRahman ZiaurBAN25236,025492558
25GMIuldachev SaidaliUZB24976,025482569
26GMMurshed NiazBAN24076,025482554
27IMToufighi HomayoonIRI24786,025472567
28GMMoradiabadi ElshanIRI25266,025432559
29GMTu Hoang ThongVIE25066,025252543
30
Gao RuiCHN25006,025182532
31
Pak EvgeniyKAZ23286,025122524
32
Gundavaa BayarsaikhanMGL24616,025042523
33GMDeepan Chakkravarthy JIND24826,024802497
34GMLaylo DarwinPHI25096,024772488
35GMAl-Modiahki MohamadQAT25856,024642472
36CMNguyen Van HuyVIE24236,024632483
37GMGhaem Maghami EhsanIRI25936,024582463
38GMWang RuiCHN24346,024362446
39GMMegaranto SusantoINA25536,024342440
40
Xiu DeshunCHN24225,525542560
41IMBitoon RichardPHI24795,525322549
42IMHarika DronavalliIND24745,525212550
43FMBatchuluun TsegmedMGL23915,525152521
44FMVidit Santosh GujrathiIND24415,525132530
45GMMahjoob MortezaIRI24985,524952514
46GMBui VinhVIE25225,524742481
47IMNolte RolandoPHI24795,524682486
48GMNguyen Anh DungVIE25185,524502462
49GMHossain EnamulBAN25315,524472453
50GMVillamayor BuenaventuraPHI24745,523962405
51IMIrwanto SadikinINA24475,025442551
52IMDimakiling OliverPHI24265,025372544
53GMGonzales JaysonPHI24655,025322548
54IMAshwin JayaramIND24135,025142534
55IMSadorra Julio CatalinoPHI24515,025112528
56IMNguyen Thanh SonVIE24485,025082528
57FMWahono AwamINA23915,025032513
58
Zhang ZiyangCHN24195,024782493
59GMGomez John PaulPHI25385,024732480
60
Garma EdgardoPHI24215,024702485
61GMParagua MarkPHI25295,024622471
62IMAkshayraj KoreIND24045,024372451
63IMMas HafizulhelmiMAS24255,024142429
64GMKim AlexeyKOR24815,023882396
65
Yang KaiqiCHN24135,023842395
66
Wang LiCHN24014,524982506
67
Lou YipingCHN24104,524812501
68IMHassan AbdullahUAE23224,524792488
69FMPriyadharshan KIND24114,524622479
70
Garcia Jan EmmanuelPHI22924,524472452
71
Yu LieCHN23074,524402444
72FMNovita AnjasINA23454,024842494
73FMAlhuwar JasemUAE22934,024782485
74FMAbu Sufian ShakilBAN23784,024722477
75
Causo DenielPHI23674,024582463
76FMHoang Canh HuanVIE23784,024552469
77
Jia HaoxiangCHN23444,024512460
78
Pascua HaridasPHI23594,024502468
79IMBancod RonaldPHI23564,024462450
80
Olay Edgar ReggiePHI23484,024232461
81CMNguyen Hoang NamVIE22814,023922426
82
Elorta DavidPHI23723,024942508
83IMKhamrakulov DzhurabekUZB25243,024812490
84
Chua AaronMAS21162,024002415
85
Celis Solomon B IiiMAC20071,023882401
86GMDzhumaev MaratUZB25520,000

Annotation:
Tie Break1: rating average of the opponents (variabel with parameters)
Tie Break2: rating average of the opponents (variabel with parameters)

Thursday, May 14, 2009

SUBIC:

[Event "8th Asian Continental Chess Championship"]
[Site "Subic Bay Free Port"]
[Date "2009.05.20"]
[EventDate "2009.05.13"]
[Round "8.4"]
[Result "0-1"]
[White "Ngoc Truongson Nguyen"]
[Black "Rogelio Antonio Jr"]
[ECO "B10"]
[WhiteElo "2588"]
[BlackElo "2518"]
[PlyCount "74"]

1. e4 c6 2. c4 d5 3. cxd5 cxd5 4. exd5 Nf6 5. Qa4+ Nbd7 6. Nc3
g6 7. Bc4 Bg7 8. Nf3 O-O 9. d3 Nb6 10. Qb3 Bg4 11. Be3 Bxf3
12. gxf3 Ne8 13. h4 Nd6 14. h5 Qc8 15. hxg6 fxg6 16. Ne4 Rxf3
17. Nxd6 exd6 18. O-O-O Qf5 19. Rd2 h5 20. Qb4 Rc8 21. Rc2
Nxc4 22. dxc4 Qd7 23. Qd2 b6 24. Bd4 Bxd4 25. Qxd4 Re8 26. Rc3
Rxc3+ 27. Qxc3 Qf5 28. Re1 Rxe1+ 29. Qxe1 Qf4+ 30. Kb1 h4
31. b4 Qf5+ 32. Kc1 Qe5 33. Kd2 h3 34. Qh1 Qd4+ 35. Ke2 Qxc4+
36. Ke3 Qxb4 37. Kf3 Qh4 0-1

Sunday, May 10, 2009

CHESSVILLE: THE PATH TO IMPROVEMENT

by Kelly Atkins with S. Evan Kreider

"What's the best way to improve at chess?" We've all asked ourselves that question a thousand times. If it were any other subject besides chess, we'd probably already know the answer: follow the path to wisdom in that field that has been blazed by others. For some reason though, the vast majority of us approach studying and improving in chess in the most haphazard and inefficient manner possible, trying everything except the tried and true methods that more experienced players advise, and the methods that are applied in almost every other field of knowledge.

With chess, most of us skip around. For example, we start studying a particular part of the game and then jump to something else. Or we read the first three chapters of a book, and then start a different book. We also study material that's far too advanced for us at that time. For example, we spend months studying an advanced opening monograph when we haven't mastered basic opening theory. Or we read My System when we haven't studied basic positional play first. Or we read The Art of the Attack when we haven't studied basic tactics first.

The end result is that our understanding of the game is completely fragmented. We know a thousand things, but we can't put them all together into a cohesive whole. Because of this, we never advance very far. No wonder most of us never rise above the Intermediate classes. We are a screwed up bunch of people! :-)

This is NOT how we learn most other things. In school, we have to read Fun With Dick And Jane before we tackle War And Peace. Before we learn to build an entire house, we have to learn to saw boards, drive nails, and so on. Before we get to play Carnegie Hall, we have to learn chords, scales and “Chopsticks” first. In fact, it's hard to imagine any skill or field of knowledge that we could master without learning the basics first and following some type of structured learning regimen.

If you go to the spring training camp of a Major League baseball team, you can learn a lot about how to master chess. These guys have been playing baseball almost every single day of their lives for 20 or 30 years. They're the best in the world, the GMs of their sport! You don't often see them playing actual baseball games during spring training, though. Instead, there they are, the masters of their sport, breaking the game down into its individual components and going through the same drills that the little leaguers are doing: They stand at the plate and face dozens of curve balls until they master hitting them. They shag fly balls for hours until they can do it perfectly. They field grounders by the hundreds until they can do so error-free. They practice base running, throwing, catching, etc., over and over until they can do it in their sleep. THEN they begin to put all those skills together and actually play entire games. Why should chess be any different?

Emanuel Lasker, World Champion for 27 years, firmly believed that anyone with normal intelligence and talent could reach master level in only a few years if they studied properly. If you've been playing and studying for more than 5 years and aren't a Master, then you're not studying properly. It took me a long time to learn this. I essentially wasted 15 years studying chess the wrong way, with very little to show for it, other than watching my rating gradually drop from 2000 to under 1600. I was convinced, for some inexplicable reason, that I knew more about how to improve than all the masters.

You live and learn, and some lessons you have to learn the hard way, apparently. The bottom line is that after trying it my way for 15 years and not only not improving, but going backwards, I've finally come to believe firmly that most of the advice I'd read from strong players on how to improve was correct all along. I hope the rest of you can learn from my mistakes!

As we’ve seen, the worst mistake we make in studying chess is that our methods of study are fragmented. We study a little of this and a little of that, and the end result is that we never master any of it. How many chess books do you have that you've read a few chapters of, then moved on to another book, without finishing the first? How many openings have you studied for a month or so, then gotten frustrated with them and moved on to another? Have you thoroughly learned any opening, or do you know the first few moves of 30 or 40 openings, but aren't really knowledgeable in any of them? For most of us, the answer is the latter.

The second mistake we make is in studying the wrong things, or at least material that's inappropriate to our level. You've got to have a good understanding of the basics before you move on to more advanced concepts. It's a poor use of study time to try to work your way through an advanced monograph on the Najdorf if you haven't learned the basic theory of opening play first, or to try to read the Dvoretsky / Yusupov books if you haven't learned basic tactics, strategy, and endings first. There's a reason you take General Chemistry 101 before you take Physical Chemistry 417! The same thing applies in chess. Learning the basics first gives you a framework around which you can integrate all your future chess knowledge.

The third mistake that most amateur players make is devoting the majority of their study time to openings. There's a term for players who do this: they're called "Perpetual Novices." They know tons of opening lines but don't have a clue WHY the lines are considered good, or how to conduct the middlegame or endgame, and they are tactically sloppy.

The plan which I'm suggesting may not be right for everyone, but it works for the majority of us. The basic outline of my plan is this: Master basic tactics, then basic endings, then study basic positional play and strategy, then learn basic opening principles, and finally bring it all together by playing over a collection of games with light notes or study a book like Chernev's Logical Chess Explained Move By Move. Then you'll be ready to learn a basic opening repertoire. Learn it and play it for at least a year, until you know it as well as anyone. Don't jump around and switch from opening to opening. Next, repeat the process, only with more advanced books, then repeat this process again using even more advanced books, and keep on until you reach the 2000 rating level. All the while, keep a book of tactical problems at hand and spend some time on them EVERY day. By the time you get to the 2000 level, you'll know what specific areas you need to work on from there on out.

Now let’s look at the plan in detail from the beginning:

What I'd recommend first is that you get a good book of chess problems and spend some time every single day, no matter what, solving a few of them. Polgar's 5334 Chess Problems or Combination Challenge by Hays & Hall are both great. This will build up your tactical skills, teach you how the pieces work together, and keep your vision of the board sharp. For most players, start with the Polgar book. Advanced players can skip straight to Combination Challenge, but only if ALL the material in the Polgar book is easy for you and has already been mastered.

In addition to that, study the following books in the order given below. There are plenty of other books that are good and maybe someone can recommend better ones, but this selection should work just fine for most of us.

Everyone's Second Chess Book (Heisman)

Winning Chess Tactics (Seirawan) or Play Chess Combinations & Sacrifices (Levy)

Pandolfini's Endgame Course (Pandolfini)

Winning Chess Openings (Seirawan)

Best Lessons of a Chess Coach (Weeramantry & Eusebi)

The Game of Chess (Tarrasch) or Lasker's Manual of Chess (Lasker)

New Ideas In Chess (Evans)

Logical Chess Move By Move (Chernev)

Don't worry if a lot of this material is already familiar to you. The repetition and review will do you good and will make sure you don't have any gaps in your fundamental knowledge. Now you'll be ready to move on to material that will take you to advanced intermediate.

Comprehensive Chess Course vol. II (Alburt & Pelts)

Chess Tactics For The Tournament Player (Alburt & Palatnik)

The King In Jeopardy (Alburt & Palatnik)

Chess Strategy For The Tournament Player (Alburt & Palatnik)

Just The Facts (Alburt & Krogius)

Chess Training Pocket Book (Alburt)

How To Reassess Your Chess (Silman)

The Amateur's Mind (Silman)

The World's Great Chess Games (Fine)

Teach Yourself Better Chess (Hartston)

You should have a good over-all understanding of the game by this point and be ready to climb to the Class A / Expert level. The following books should take you there.

The Chess Of Bobby Fischer (Burger)

The Art of Attack (Vukovic)

The Art of Sacrifice (Spielmann)

Modern Chess Strategy (Pachman)

The Art Of The Middle Game (Keres & Kotov)

The Art of Defense in Chess (Soltis)

Endgame Strategy (Shereshevsky)

The Most Instructive Games Of Chess Ever Played (Chernev)

I'm sure I've left out a lot of good books, but you have limited study time and can't read every good chess book ever written, so I've tried to give you the ones that I know are excellent and will take you to the 2000+ level in a reasonable amount of time.

After this, you'll be ready for My System, Think Like A Grandmaster, Alekhine's My Greatest Games of Chess, The Dvoretsky / Yusopov series, etc., but you'll know which ones you need by then. I'd also recommend that you play over as many games as you can of Lasker, Capablanca, Alekhine, Tal, Fischer, Karpov, and Kasparov, but I'd particularly recommend that you study Fischer's games, since they'll expose you to all the different styles of play and fill you with ideas.

This is also the time to start playing solitaire chess. Select a good collection of games, take the side of the winner, and try to determine what the next move is. Aside from studying tactics, this is the most important thing you can do to improve. Solitaire chess will do wonders for your play and really teach you how to analyze and how to create and follow a plan. Don't worry if you're horrible at it at first, you'll get better. Playing solitaire and studying master level games will "pull it all together" for you and greatly increase your understanding.

I haven't forgotten openings! For now, just find a basic opening you like as white and a defense to 1.e4, 1.d4 and a setup against the flank openings. Play these lines over and over and stick with them for at least a year and don't jump around from one opening to another. DO NOT spend any more of your study time than absolutely necessary to learn the basics of these lines. The time you put into studying the books above will pay off a LOT better and faster than opening study will. After you've finished the second series of books above, read Gabor Kallai's Basic Chess Openings & More Basic Chess Openings to learn the fundamentals of all the openings and the typical middlegame plans of each.

The important thing is to choose a repertoire and STICK WITH IT! Expect to lose a lot at first, but eventually the wins will begin to pile up as you become more experienced with playing your openings. Later, you can begin to learn new openings and defenses and add them to your repertoire. The only way to ever become a good opening player is to find an opening and defensive system, learn them thoroughly, and then play them for at least a year. It doesn't even matter which ones you choose, as long as you're comfortable with them. William Lombardy once said "All openings are sound below master level." Very true!

Do you want to get good in a hurry? Devote at least 50% of your study to tactics!!! NOTHING will improve your play any faster! I've played roughly 10,000 games of chess in my life, and I can honestly say that of all those games, in only one of them did my opponent and I not make some type of tactical mistake. That's probably typical of all amateur games. If you're a tactical monster, you can rest assured that your opponent will give you an opportunity to take advantage of him tactically in at least 99.9% of your games. If you're not studying tactics religiously, you're throwing away wins! If you don't believe this, run any amateur game through your computer and take a look at all the tactical opportunities it finds that were missed in the game. Teichmann didn't lie when he said that chess was 99% tactics. Not only is this the most important part of chess, it's also the most fun and the easiest to learn and master. Keep a book of problems handy and spend some time EVERY day solving them. Openings, endings, strategy and solitaire chess should each account for about 12 to 15% of your study time. The rest should be devoted to tactics! The late Ken Smith of Chess Digest said: "Until you are at least a high class A player, your first name is Tactics, your middle name is Tactics, and your last name is Tactics."

The overall idea for the best way to improve is simple. First of all, stop bouncing around from one subject to another! This is hard to do (believe me, I know - I've wasted hundreds of hours this way and ended up learning practically nothing), but jumping around from subject to subject & book to book leaves you with a very fragmented understanding of the game. It's like knowing a thousand words but not being able to put them together to form complete sentences! STUDY ONE BASIC BOOK ALL THE WAY THROUGH on tactics, then strategy, then the endgame, then openings, and finally, play through an entire collection of games to bring it all together for you. Then do it again, moving on to more advanced books, and repeat this process until you reach the Expert or Master level. This will give you a solid, thorough understanding of the game and help you avoid having major gaps in your chess knowledge. Once you've mastered the basics and your understanding of the game grows, reinforce your knowledge and expand on it by studying master games and playing solitaire chess. Make sure to focus heavily on tactics and spend some time every day honing your tactical skill. Finally, don't forget to play slow games to gain experience putting your knowledge to work and reinforcing what you know!

Again, the plan which I'm suggesting may not be right for everyone, but it works for the majority of us. Learn from my mistakes! Try my plan for at least a year, even when you have your doubts. Push through the plateaus and the frustration which you are bound to hit, and see if your results don’t improve dramatically by next year. Best of luck!

Thursday, May 7, 2009

ABS CBN NEWS: WESLEY-FISCHER COMPARISONS

By REUBEN TERRADO
Business Mirror Correspondent

Eugene Torre, the first Asian grandmaster (GM), is all praises for Wesley So, the youngest GM in the world today.

In fact, Torre said the whiz kid’s current accomplishments may be compared with another great who started making a name for himself when he was a kid—the late Bobby Fischer.

“Bobby learned the game on his own like Wesley. And like Bobby, Wesley studied and still is studying on his own at such a young age to improve on his game and excel,” Torre, a best friend of Fischer, said.

Fischer, the only American world champion in the sport’s history, was already making a name for himself when he was only 12, when he was still ranked a National Master. At age 15, Fischer became a GM, or a year older than So, who copped the much-coveted title as a 14-year-old late last year.

Torre said So has all the makings of a future world champion just like Fischer.

“Wesley is a rare find,” Torre said recently. “He has an exceptional talent and has a potential to be a world champion. This is a great opportunity to have a kid like him. He is still young and dynamic. He has a bright future, and we all need to support him.”

So, who is only an incoming third-year high-school student at Saint Francis of Assisi in his hometown of Bacoor, Cavite, emerged as the champion of the recently concluded Battle of the GMs tournament, beating out the rest of the field including Torre, who settled for second, along with International Master Richard Bitoon.

Earlier, he also became the champion of the 10th Dubai Open chess championship, beating out the best and brightest woodpushers in the world.

Torre, 56, said that with So’s emergence, the future of Philippine chess looks bright.

“He is worth emulating. He can serve as the force for the revival of chess in the country,” Torre said.

The National Chess Federation of the Philippines, led by president Prospero Pichay, has bright plans for So, as he is slated to compete in four international tournaments here in the country in order to get a shot at the Super GM.

Presently, So has a 2,540 ELO rating, 60 shy in order to be considered a Super GM.

So is slated compete in international tournaments in Subic, Clark, the President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo Cup and the Pichay Cup slated later this year.