GM Tournament “B” ASEAN Masters Chess Circuit
1st Leg
East Kalimantan, Indonesia
January 2008
1 GM Mark Paragua PHI 2521, 9.0/11
2-3 IM Ashot Nadanian ARM 2431, IM Jayson Gonzales PHI 2455, 7.5/11
4 FM Rolando Nolte PHI 2412, 7.0/11
5-6 FM Syarif Mahmud INA 2344, Sugeng Praytino INA 2312, 6.5/11
7-8 Oliver Barbosa PHI 2410, IM Salor Sitanggang INA 2410, 5.0/11
9 GM Cerdas Barus INA 2479, 4.5/11
10 GM Haji Ardiansyah INA 2409, 4.0/11
11 FM Mok Tze Meng MAL 2346, 3.0/11
12 WFM Irine Kharisma Sukandar INA 2266, 0.5/11
IM Jayson Gonzales had a faltering end, losing to the Armenian IM ashot Nadanian in the penultimate round, but it was no big matter as he nevertheless got his third and final GM norm to complete the norm requirements. Now all he has to do is bring his rating up from its current 2455 to 2500 and he will automatically be registered as a full International Grandmaster.
FIDE rules provide that anyone who achieves a title norm in the first 9 rounds of a tournament (9 rounds is the minimum for title purposes) can disregard the remaining games in the tournament. Jayson had 6 wins 2 draws and a loss for 7/9 against a field which included 3 international grandmasters, for a performance rating of 2616. A performance of 2600 is enough for the GM norm, so Jayson qualified.
Jayson is one player I was really rooting for. He comes from the bumper crop of strong juniors we had in the early 80s which included Bong Villamayor, Enrico Sevillano, and Rogelio Barcenilla.
This batch was also the biggest waste in our chess history. We had a great organization, big pool of promising players from all over the country, and an established machinery for bringing the best out to the top. And then what happened? Well, Hon. Florencio Campomanes got elected as President of the World Chess Federation (FIDE), he left for Switzerland to take up the reins, and the Philippines’ chess program collapsed.
Jayson was among our best young players but never became Junior Champion. Around the time he was still a “sabbadista” and did not play chess on Saturdays. During the Junior Championship Finals he won all the games he played but that was not enough – you see two rounds were scheduled on Saturday, and he had to default. Sadly, 7/9 was only good for second place.
But we hear sob stories all the time – what is it about Jayson Gonzales that I like so much? Well, he makes things happen. Unlike many of our titled players who just sit around and wait for hand-outs, Jayson set up his own sign-making business in Quezon City. He would then work for 10 months in a year and then use his earnings to finance a trip to the States where he can play in a series of tournaments. In 1998 he scored his first major success by winning the Southern California championship.
In 2001 he qualified for the Philippine Grand finals where he finished 4th, immediately behind our three GMs (1st Eugene Torre, 2nd Joey Antonio, 3rd Bong Villamayor). This event was some sort of turning point in Jayson’s career, for after this everyone started regarding him as among the country’s top 10 players.
By the way, not everyone remembers that several years back the Philippine Chess Society sponsored an annual Blitz Championship among our top players. Interestingly enough, the player most often regarded as our top blitzer, GM Joey Antonio, has never won it.
In the first edition (1999) Nelson Mariano won all of the marbles, exhibiting great handspeed and a cool demeanor even in the most hair-raising time scrambles.
The 2000 edition was played as a KO match tournament similar to the FIDE World Cup series. There was a lot of exciting chess played and the finalists were Mark Paragua and GM Joey. Take note that this was 8 years ago and Mark was not yet even a national master. The pivotal game was a K+R+B vs K+R endgame where Mark had the extra bishop. Everyone knows that this endgame is theoretically drawn but in practice it is not so easy to hold. Showing great prowess and blitzing out his moves Mark managed to checkmate GM Joey and win the championship.
The 2001 and last edition saw another surprise winner, and it was Jayson Gonzales. I regret having lost the crosstables already, but it is probably still to be found in the old files of the Philippine Chess Society.
To illustrate Jayson Gonzales’ style, I present what in my opinion is his best game, a nice victory in the 1998 Southern California Championship over GM Tal Shaked, at that time the world junior champion and the rising star of US chess.
Shaked,Tal (2490) - Gonzales,Jayson (2345) [A31]
Southern California op Los Angeles, 1998
1.c4
So much for preparation. Shaked usually plays 1.e4 with White and it was this move that Gonzales prepared against.
1...c5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 b6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Bb7 6.f3 e6 7.e4
Against English symmetrical systems Jayson usually likes to fianchetto both of his bishops. This is no longer feasible now as, instead of g3 and Bg2 White has pushed his e4 pawn forward. The end result of this shadow-boxing is that now we are in the Maroczy Bind of the Sicilian Defense.
7...d6 8.Be2 a6 9.0–0 Nbd7 10.Be3 Be7 11.a4
Jayson had never seen this move before. He was expecting 11.Qd2 -- 12.Rac1 -- 13.Rfd1 -- 14.Bf1 -- 15.Qf2 pointing at the b6-pawn, and at the same time there is some pressure on the d-file.
11...0–0 12.a5 Qc7 13.Nb3 Rfe8 14.Qd2 Rab8 15.Rfc1 bxa5 16.Nxa5 Ba8
White will be advancing his b-pawn to solidify his grip on the position. Black realizes that he has been outplayed in the opening and so he takes stock -- before going for the d6-d5 break he has to move his queen, since it is in the wrong file. There is a rook on c1 staring at her highness, and it is also vulnerable to a possible knight hop to d5 after the d6-d5 break.
17.Na2 Rbc8 18.b4 Qb8 19.Rab1
caption: position after 19.Rab1
19...d5!
Now is the time!
20.c5
[20.exd5 Bd6! signals a king-side assault. Sudden tactics like this are exactly what Jayson specializes in. 21.h3 exd5 22.c5 Bh2+ 23.Kh1 Nh5! with the idea of ...Ng3+ followed by ...Nf1+]
20...dxe4 21.Bxa6 exf3! 22.Bxc8 Rxc8 23.c6 Ne5 24.c7?!
[24.b5 is more accurate, although after 24...Nfg4 25.g3 (25.Bf4? Qb6+ 26.Kf1 Rd8 Black wins.) 25...h6 carries the deadly threat of ...Nxe3 followed by ...Bg5]
24...Rxc7 25.Rxc7 Qxc7 26.Rc1 Qb8 27.Qc3
Looks like Black is in a bad way, right?
27...Qb5!
Wrong! As if to snub White's mating attempts on the back rank Jayson mobilizes his queen to generate his own mating threats. This queen is trying to get to e2.
28.Qc8+ Bf8 29.Bc5
[29.Qxa8 doesn't work either: 29...Qe2 30.Bf2 Nfg4 31.Qa7 Nd3 likewise wins for Black]
29...Nfd7 30.Bxf8 Nxf8 31.Nc3 Qd3 32.Qc5 Qd2
There is no more defense to Black's threat of mate on g2 and material gain on c1. 0–1
So Jayson is on target to be our 9th International Grandmaster after (1) Eugene Torre, (2) Rosendo Balinas Jr, (3) Rogelio Antonio Jr, (4) Bong Villamayor, (5) Nelson Mariano II, (6) Mark Paragua, (7) Darwin Laylo Jr, and (8) Wesley So. Let us all wish him the best of luck.
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 01 February 2008
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