LAS PINAS CITY JAIL

MERALCO Chess Club, at a time that the celebrated estafa case still hounding the entire MERALCO community, joined the Las Pinas Business Center in their outreach visit at the Las Pinas City Jail in coordination with Judge Vibandor. The MERALCO "grandmasters" who played with the inmates are 3-time MERALCO Champion Romy Aguilar of Call Center, Aguila Cup Champion Jonathan Santiago of SCADA, Best Grade School Player Awardee Junior Sol Cruz of La Salle Green Hills Chess Team, Ding dela Cruz, Rolly Sapalasan, Roger Morit and Jun Chua of Las Pinas Business Center, Edson Gonzales and Bong Masa of Alabang Business Center, Manny Benitez and Marvin Andes of Sub-Transmission Services, and Lawrence Kimo of Call Center.

TELEGRAPH: TORRE TRIUMPHANT

By Malcolm Pein

Published: 12:01AM BST 24 Sep 2008

Today I pay tribute to Eugenio Torre, one of the big names in chess in the 1970s and 1980s, who has just won a strong Open tournament in his native Philippines at the age of 56. Torre’s success came at the Third President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Cup held at the Duty Free Fiesta Mall in Paranaque City. Torre scored 7/9 and was declared the winner on tie break from two of the region’s leading players; Li Chao of China and Zhang Zhong, formerly Chinese but now playing under the flag of Singapore. The world’s youngest GM Wesley So of the Philippines, who has been sweeping all before him recently, only scored 5/9. Torre raced to 6.5/7 before losing to Mikhail Mchedlishvili of Georgia and then secured a draw in his final game against Ghaem Maghami of Iran.

1-3 Torre (Philippines), Li Chao (China), Zhang Zhong(Singapore) 7/9; 4 M. Mchedlishvili (Georgia) 6.5; 5-8 M. Kazhgalayev(Kazakhstan), E. Ghaem Maghami (Iran), M. Paragua (Philippines), M. Dzumaev(Uzbekistan) 6.

Torre became Asia’s first GM in 1974 and has played on top board for the Philippines in nineteen consecutive Olympiads, a record bettered by just a few but at Dresden next month he will be non-playing captain. He competed with distinction in WCC Interzonal tournaments and in 1982 he qualified for the Candidates Matches from the Toluca Interzonal but lost a close contest to Zoltan Ribli the following year.

Steady pressure engenders a suddenly collapse in the following game.

E Torre – J Fedorowicz

San Francisco 1991

Sicilian Rossolimo

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 e6 4.0–0 Nge7 5.c3 a6 6.Ba4 b5 7.Bc2 d5 8.e5 d4 (White was going to play d2-d4 when Black would have an inferior version of the French Defence)

9.Be4! Bb7 10.d3 Ng6 11.Re1 Be7 12.cxd4 cxd4 13.Nbd2 0–0 14.Nb3 (Threatening Nxd4 exploiting the pinned knight on c6)

14...Rb8 15.Bd2 b4 16.Rc1 Qb6 (After completing his development Torre uses his active pieces and space advantage on the kingside to launch an attack)

17.h4! Rfc8 (17...Nxh4 18.Nxh4 Bxh4 19.Qh5 wins)

18.h5 Nf8 (18...Ngxe5 19.Nxe5 Nxe5 20.Bxb7 Qxb7 21.Rxe5 wins a piece)

19.h6 g6 20.Bg5 (Undermining Black's dark squares)

20...Bxg5 21.Nxg5 Nd7 (21...Nxe5 22.Bxb7 Rxc1 23.Nxc1 Rxb7 24.Rxe5 f6 was essential)

22.Bxc6! Bxc6 23.Qg4

1–0

Fedorowicz

Torre

A remarkably swift finish. Black cannot defend his dark squares. White threats include Nxd4, Nxe6 fxe6 Qxe6+ and Qf4. If 23...Bd5 24.Qf4 Rf8 25.Nc5! Nxc5 26.Qf6 forces mate on g7. Or 23...Nf8 24.Qf4 Rb7 25.Qf6 and mate)

E Torre - Miagmasuren

Malta Olympiad 1980

Queen’s Gambit

1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.d4 Be7 5.Bg5 0–0 6.e3 Nbd7 7.Qc2 c6 8.Bd3 h6 9.Bh4 Re8 10.0–0 Nf8 11.Rad1 Nh5 12.Bxe7 Qxe7 13.e4 Nf4 14.Rfe1 Nxd3 15.Qxd3 dxc4 16.Qxc4 Bd7 17.e5 Red8 18.Nd2 b5 19.Qe2 c5 20.d5! exd5 21.Nxd5 Qh4 22.Ne4 c4 23.Nd6 Ng6 24.Nxf7! Bg4 25.Qxg4! 1–0

After 25...Qxg4 26.Nxh6+! gxh6 27.Nf6+ wins back the queen with a won endgame.

Junior Players

ELEMENTARY PROPERTIES of OPENING

Mastering the Chess Openings
John Watson
Gambit Publications Ltd 2006

The Center
The center is a primary concern in deciding how to proceed with your plans, not to mention your next move.

Development
This refers to moving pieces (not including pawns) off their initial squares and putting them "in play". Just counting counting the number of pieces that you have moved is the simplest measure of development. Of course, it's essential to consider the "quality" of development, that is, how well the pieces are placed.

King Safety
One of the most important guidelines in chess is to protect your king from harm. This elementary consideration is sometimes forgotten. It can strongly affect the proper conduct of the opening stage.

Space & Its Properties
When you control more territory, you can often move your pieces from one theater of action to another more quickly than your opponent can, and thus attack on that front before he can defend.

Piece Characteristics
Bishops like open diagonals and should usually be developed accordingly.
Knights also need as much freedom of movement as possible, but only to the extent that they don't unduly interfere with the activity of other pieces.
Rooks like to have open files, preferably ones that extend vertically as far as possible into the enemy camp.
The queen tends to stay at home or to lurk behind her pawns and pieces in the early stages of the opening.

Activity and Initiative
Active pieces control more squares. Such pieces aren't necessarily involved in a direct attack but can serve to harass opposing forces, support a pawn advance, and generally accrue more territory.

The LOPEZ vs GARCIA

CAPABLANCA vs GARCIA

Hastings 1919

1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5

Jose Raul Capablanca essayed the RUY LOPEZ OPENING, or ‘Lopez for short, that was popularized by the Spanish priest Ruy Lopez de Segura in the 15th century. Like MERALCO, this classical deployment has withstood the challenges of many variations thrown against it.

3 … a6 4 Ba4 Nf6 5 O-O

Winning Chess Openings, “The purpose of the opening is to get a safe king and an equal middle game.”

5 … d6 6 Bxc6+ bxc6

Fine Art of Chess Annotation, “There are many cases where it pays to exchange bishop for knight voluntarily, to give the enemy doubled pawns.”

Steinitz Theory: In the beginning of the game, ignore the search for combinations, abstain from violent moves, aim for small advantages, accumulate them, and only after having attained these ends search for the combination.

This chess theory reminds me very much of one of the famous verses of our Lord Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew, “Seek first the Kingdom and righteousness of God and all these things shall be yours as well.”

11 Qd3 Re8 12 Rfe1 h6 13 Bh4 c5 14 Nf5 Bxf5 15 exf5 Qd7 16 h3 a5 17 Re2 Nh7

Best Lessons of a Chess Coach, “Decentralizing a knight can hurt you if your opponent can counterattack immediately in the center.”

18 Bxe7 Rxe7 19 Rxe7 Qxe7 20 Nd5

Learn From Garry Kasparov's Greatest Games, “Knights operate best near the center of the board; the squares on the 5th rank of the e and d files.”

20 … Qd7 21 Re1 Re8 22 Rxe8+ Qxe8 23 Qe3 Qd7 24 Qe7 Qxe7 25 Nxe7+ Kf8 26 Nd5 Ke8 27 Nxc7+

This was Capablanca’s modest goal in that series of exchanges; to win a pawn.

27 … Kd7 28 Nd5 Kc6 29 c4 Nf6

30 Nxf6 gxf6

My System, “But a really complete restraint, which extends over large tracts of the board and makes it difficult for the enemy to breathe, is only possible when the opponent labors under the disadvantage of a doubled pawn.”

31 a4

Mastering the Chess Openings, “Gaining space is often the best policy when there are no direct targets.”

31 … d5 32 b3 d4 33 f4 Kd6 34 g4 Ke7 35 Kf2 Kd6 36 Kf3 Ke7 37 Ke4 Kd6 38 h4 Kd7

39 b4!!!

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Chess, “In almost any endgame, the winning strategy is to create a passed pawn, and push that pawn to the far side of the board to promote it to a Queen.”

39 … axb4 40 a5 Kc7 41 g5 fxg5 42 fxg5 hxg5 43 hxg5 b3 44 Kd3 Kd7 45 g6 fxg6 46 fxg6 [1-0].

The lowly pawn, not a queen nor a rook, will win the game, slowly but surely for Capablanca who used the ‘Lopez with impunity to derail the ambitions of Garcia in this battle over the board of 64 squares. Capablanca became a World Champion and the Ruy Lopez became one of the most popular opening system.

The Art of Chess, “It is no exaggeration to affirm that mastery of the Lopez is a requisite for anyone aspiring to become a strong chess player.”

TORRE Winner PGMA Int'nl Chess Tournament

YouTube - EUGENE TORRE Winner PGMA Int'nl Chess Tournament 9/18/08

CHESSVILLE: IMPROVING Your CALCULATION TECHNIQUE

by IM Igor Khmelnitsky

IM Igor Khmelnitsky Igor is a winner of many national and international tournaments in Europe and the United States. At various points during his career, he has won individual encounters with many of the game’s best players. He has been a participant in the Ukrainian National Championship as well as a three-time contestant in the US National Championship.

The common theme in the feedback I am getting from those who took my evaluation Exam is how shocked they are with their rating estimate in the Calculation subcategory. Well, with those who submitted their results for my personal review and also had a phone training session with me, I was able to investigate further. I've discovered many different issues, some specific to a person and some general enough that can be applied to everyone.

One of the common issues that I discovered I'd like to share with you today. Humans can't compete with pure calculators, whether mathematical or chess, without certain strategies, rules, principles, standard ideas that can help the "mechanics" of their calculation. I am calling it a personal "knowledge base." The bigger it is the easier is for you to calculate - as you will:

• discover moves candidates much faster,

• eliminate the less promising ones more easily, and

• assess the position at the end of each variation more accurately.

I recently came across this position:

White to move

What is your thought process? Take 15-20 minutes then compare your ideas with mine.

======================================================================

Let's take a look together now:

• Quick assessment - White is dominating materially, but can't stop Black's e-pawn.

• Ideas - attack against the Black King while also seeking ways to catch the e-pawn.

• Move candidates - Nxe6, Rc8+. Let's start calculating…

Well, if these were your initial step (precisely in the order shown) - excellent - I would say Expert-Master level. Although it is not likely lead you to a solution of this clever study. One can easily get lost in the lines with multiple ideas of White and Black. Example: good for White is 1.Nxe6 Kg8 2. Rc8+ Kf7 3.Ng5+ Ke7 4.Nf3!! exf 5.Rc5 e1Q 6.Re5+ winning; and not so good is 1.Nxe6 h6 2.Rc8 Kh7 3.Rc7 Kh8 =, but wait, 2. Nc5 e1Q 3.Nxe4 - how to assess this position…Oh, my head is spinning...

What is missing? Finding the idea of getting the White King involved and letting Black to get the Queen and then even make some Queen moves.

This is based on general knowledge that except for maybe one "sure thing" position - (Knight + Rook vs. King) there are no other mating setups to use as a spring board in calculation in this particular example. And that last one can't be reached without Black's cooperation!

When I studied this position, 1. Ke5 was one of my original moves-candidates and the first one I studied. White is planning to meet 1…e1Q with 2.Kf6. The problem - 2... Qxf2+ breaking the setup, and there is no way, even at the expense of the Knight (3. Nf3 Qxf3+) to stop it. Oops… at the expense of Knight.... Hmmm. So I don't really need the Knight, as long as I can play Kf6. How about 1.Nf3 - not just trying to give up the Knight, but rather trying to block the f-file.

The rest is an easy calculation: 1…exf 2.Ke5 e1Q (else 3.Re4) 3.Kf6 Qa1+ (3…h6 4.Kg6) 4.d4! (4.c3? h6 5.Kg6 Qb1+) h6 5.Kg6.

This is a study by the Platov brothers (Vasily and Mikhail) published in 1924. Also, it is probably busted because of a possible second solution (a no-no for studies!) as after 1.Nxe6 h6 2.Nc5 and 3.Nxe4 White might have a practical winning chances.

A very difficult study! Probably impossible to solve, unless you search for ideas first.