3 Pinoy GMs gear up for World Cup

GRANDMASTER Rogelio “Joey” Antonio Jr. said he isn’t too confident of his chances when he joins the World Chess Cup slated on Nov. 20 to Dec. 15 in Russia.

“Thirty percent chance lang na manalo kay (Gata) Kamsky, pero lalaban tayo,” said Antonio.

Kamsky is the reigning world champion.

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The 12-time National Open champion Antonio is fresh from an impressive eight-win and one-draw performance in the 3rd Asian Indoor Games blitz chess competition in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Antonio first joined the World Chess Championships in 1999 in the US, where he lost in the second round of the playoff against eventual runner-up GM Vladimir Akopian of Armenia.

The first meeting between Antonio and Kamsky was in the 2005 HB Global Challenge in the US.

The game ended in a fighting draw after Antonio employed his pet line Caro-Khan defense with the black pieces.

Antonio is rated 2574,while Kamsky is 2695.

If Antonio pulls an upset against Kamsky, his second round opponent in this Fide knockout tournament will be the winner between GM Emil Sutovsky of Israel and GM Zhou Weiqi of China.

If Antonio wins his second round assignment, he could meet compatriot GM Wesley So in the third round if the latter also wins his first two matches.

So, rated 2640, will face GM Gadir Guseinov of Azerbaijan, rated 2625. A victory will pit him with either GM Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine and GM Alexei Bezgodov of Russia in the second round.

GM Darwin Laylo, the other member of the RP chess team, will face GM David Navara of the Czech Republic. (PR)

Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on November 13, 2009.

Pestaño: Family feud over Fischer’s inheritance

Frank “Boy” Pestaño
Chessmoso

CHESS legend Bobby Fischer died in Iceland on Jan. 17, 2008 of renal failure. In death, as in life, he left a legacy full of controversies. This time, it’s mainly the battle over his estate, estimated at $1.12 million cash deposited at an Icelandic bank. In addition, there are allegedly some gold deposits and a possible fortune in royalties from the making of the movie “Bobby Fischer goes to war.”

There are three claimants to this fortune, or four if you include the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The three are his nephews Alexander and Nicholas Targ who are the children of his late sister Joan; his Japanese wife Miyoko Wataihi; and his Filipina daughter, Jinky Young, who is now eight years old.

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Here is a short background of where this money came from and why it is controversial.

After disappearing from public view for 20 years, Fischer returned to play a chess match with Boris Spassky in 1992.

It was held in Sveti Stefan, a resort in Montenegro, and Bobby was warned not to join since Yugoslavia was being sanctioned by the United Nations for the civil war in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

The prize fund was $5 million with $3.65 million going to the winner.

The sponsor was Jezdimir Vasiljevic, the President of Jugoskandic Bank. Eugene Torre served as Fischer’s second, while Cebuano Eric Gloria was also part of the team of Fischer, who won the match.

The other day, the Supreme Court in Iceland rejected the claims of the Targ brothers and awarded the inheritance to Miyoko Watai, recognizing his marriage to Fischer as legal.

I have been following this drama since the very start thru an Icelandic contact, Alfred Gudmundsson, who is married to a Cebuana, Mae, and Samuel Estimo, Jinky’s lawyer.

Unfortunately, Alfred, who was a very good man, passed away.

I immediately sent an e-mail to NM Samuel Estimo, and he informed me that Jinky’s claim is still valid.

Jinky, her mom Marilyn Torre and Sammy will be joining a shoot for a documentary by BBC HBO on the life of Bobby on either Dec. 6 or 7 in London, and then will proceed to Iceland.

In Iceland, Jinky is sure to be DNA-tested and Marilyn has agreed as she is sure of Bobby’s paternity. I have a picture of Marilyn and Jinky, together with Bobby.

Under Icelandic law, the child gets two-thirds of the estate, while the legal wife gets one third.

Bobby, in an interview, claims that he was never married to Watai (Bobby was in jail in Japan then and the marriage would have set him free). Also Eugene Torre claims that Bobby never wished to marry Watai but only wanted her as a companion.

Bobby preferred young and beautiful women.

Let us wish them good luck when they go to Iceland. As Sammy says “Bobby will turn in his grave if Marilyn and Jinky will not be given their due.”

MABOLO AND LAPU-LAPU TOURNAMENTS. The first is open to Class B Mabolo residents only. It will be held on Nov. 17 to 19 and format is seven rounds Swiss with 25 minutes time control.

Venue is at Kawayan Grill, in front of Persimmon. Games start at 5:30 p.m.

Registration is P150 with the following prizes: Champion (P1,500), second (P1,000), third (P500), and fourth P(300.) The fifth to eight placers will receive P200 each. For details call 4129283 and 4129018.

The Lapu-Lapu Fiesta competition will start on Nov. 14, at the Auditorium and will have two divisions-- Kiddies and Juniors/Seniors. The Kiddies division begins at 8:30 a.m. and the seniors will be at 1:30 p.m.

Format for kiddies is five rounds Swiss and 30 minutes time control. Confirmed players are the Balbona brothers, boy wonder Rhenzi Kyle Sevillano and Lapu-Lapu’s Allan Pason, Raffy Bensi and Gil Gelig.

The Juniors/Seniors section is open to Lapu-Lapu residents and people who work there. The sponsor is the Lapu-Lapu City Government through Mayor Arturo Radaza. For details contact Jun Olis at 09103476907.

(frankpestano@yahoo.com,www.chessmoso.blogspot.com)

Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on November 13, 2009.

Pestaño: Chess-playing murderers and assassins

Frank “Boy” Pestaño
Chessmoso

THIS article is about persons known to be avid chess players but at the same time, were assassins or murderers.

Generally, a person who murders restricts his or her act to one victim. A mass murderer or serial killer, however, slays three or more victims over a short period of time.

The most notorious serial killer is Alexander Pichushkin of Russia, 32, who has been nicknamed “Crazy Chess Player” as he had initially planned to commit 64 murders, one for each square of the chessboard . He boasted of killing 63 people--one short of filling up the chessboard--but prosecutors were able to find evidence only for 48. The killings were from 1996-2006.

He has been sentenced to life imprisonment as Russia has imposed a moratorium on the death sentence.

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John Christie was an English serial killer active in the 1940s and 1950s. He murdered at least six women—including his wife, Ethel—by strangling them in his flat in London. He was arrested, tried, and hanged in 1953 for his wife’s murder and those of the other women.

John Wayne Gacy, Jr. was an American serial killer. Between 1972 and 1978, the year he was arrested, convicted, and later executed, Gacy raped and murdered at least 33 young men and boys. Although some of his victims’ bodies were found in the Des Plaines River, he buried 29 of them in the small crawl space underneath the basement of his home. He became known as “Killer Clown” because he entertained children in a clown suit and makeup under the alias “Pogo the Clown”.

The Soham murder was a high profile murder case in August 2002 of two 10-year-old girls in Soham, Cambridgeshire, England. The victims were Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman. The convicted killer was a local school caretaker, Ian Huntley,who was sentenced to life imprisonment..

Charles Manson founded a hippie cult in the ‘60s known as “the Family” whom he manipulated into brutally killing others on his behalf.

He was convicted of conspiracy and sentenced to death, later commuted to life, for the Tate/LaBianca murders .

Sharon Tate (Valley of the Dolls) was one of the most beautiful actresses at that time, and was married to renowned director Roman Polanski (“Rosemarie’s Baby,” “Chinatown”) and was 8 1/2 months pregnant.

Tate, who was stabbed 16 times, pleaded to be allowed to live long enough to have her baby; she cried, “Mother... mother...” until she was dead.

Polanski is in the news lately with an arrest warrant for sexual assault on a minor in 1977.

Scott Lee Peterson is an American who was convicted of the murder of his wife, Laci Peterson, then eight months pregnant.

Peterson’s case dominated the American media for many months.

In 2005, Peterson was sentenced to death by lethal injection.

He remains on death row in San Quentin State Prison while his case is on appeal to the Supreme Court of California.

We now have the assassins--Lee Harvey Oswald ,Sirhan Sirhan and John Hinckley.

Lee Harvey Oswald was the assassin of US President John F. Kennedy who was fatally shot on Nov. 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas. He was a Marine who defected to the Soviet Union and later returned. Oswald was shot and mortally wounded by Jack Ruby on live television.

Sirhan Sirhan is the convicted assassin of United States Senator Robert F. Kennedy who was killed on June 5,1968. He was sentenced to death but later commuted to life imprisonment. You would be surprised to know that Sirhan is not a Muslim but a Palestinian Christian.

John Hinckley, Jr., attempted to assassinate U.S. President Ronald Reagan in Washington, D.C, on March 30, 1981, in an effort to impress actress Jodie Foster. He was found not guilty by reason of insanity and has remained under institutional psychiatric care since then.

(frankpestano@yahoo.com,www.chessmoso.blogspot.com)


Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on November 6, 2009.

November 2009 FIDE Rating List

FIDE publishes 1st November 2009 Rating List.

World Chess Cup 2009 Pairings of Round 1

FIDE is publishing the pairings of the 1st round of the World Cup 2009.


World Cup 2009 Round 1
Table White Fed Black Fed

1 1 GM Gelfand, Boris ISR - 128 IM Obodchuk, Andrei RUS
2 2 GM Gashimov, Vugar AZE - 127 IM Sarwat, Walaa EGY
3 3 GM Svidler, Peter RUS - 126 IM Hebert, Jean CAN
4 4 GM Morozevich, Alexander RUS - 125 IM Abdel Razik, Khaled EGY
5 5 GM Radjabov, Teimour AZE - 124 IM Ezat, Mohamed EGY
6 6 GM Ivanchuk, Vassily UKR - 123 GM Bezgodov, Alexei RUS
7 7 GM Ponomariov, Ruslan UKR - 122 GM El Gindy, Essam EGY
8 8 GM Grischuk, Alexander RUS - 121 IM Sriram, Jha IND
9 9 GM Jakovenko, Dmitry RUS - 120 GM Rizouk, Aimen ALG
10 10 GM Wang, Yue CHN - 119 GM Kabanov, Nikolai RUS
11 11 GM Eljanov, Pavel UKR - 118 GM Al Sayed, Mohamad N. QAT
12 12 GM Karjakin, Sergey UKR - 117 GM Rodriguez Vila, Andres URU
13 13 GM Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar AZE - 116 GM Kosteniuk, Alexandra RUS
14 14 GM Shirov, Alexei ESP - 115 GM Kunte, Abhijit IND
15 15 GM Dominguez Perez, Leinier CUB - 114 GM Smerdon, David AUS
16 16 GM Movsesian, Sergei SVK - 113 GM Yu, Yangyi CHN
17 17 GM Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime FRA - 112 GM Yu, Shaoteng CHN
18 18 GM Alekseev, Evgeny RUS - 111 IM Pridorozhni, Aleksei RUS
19 19 GM Tomashevsky, Evgeny RUS - 110 GM Ivanov, Alexander USA
20 20 GM Wang, Hao CHN - 109 GM Friedel, Joshua E USA
21 21 GM Navara, David CZE - 108 GM Laylo, Darwin PHI
22 22 GM Malakhov, Vladimir RUS - 107 GM Amin, Bassem EGY
23 23 GM Bacrot, Etienne FRA - 106 GM Nijboer, Friso NED
24 24 GM Rublevsky, Sergei RUS - 105 GM Morovic Fernandez, Ivan CHI
25 25 GM Jobava, Baadur GEO - 104 IM Robson, Ray USA
26 26 GM Motylev, Alexander RUS - 103 GM Hess, Robert L USA
27 27 GM Kamsky, Gata USA - 102 GM Antonio, Rogelio Jr PHI
28 28 GM Vitiugov, Nikita RUS - 101 GM Gupta, Abhijeet IND
29 29 GM Bologan, Viktor MDA - 100 GM Adly, Ahmed EGY
30 30 GM Naiditsch, Arkadij GER - 99 GM Hou, Yifan CHN
31 31 GM Bu, Xiangzhi CHN - 98 GM Pelletier, Yannick SUI
32 32 GM Polgar, Judit HUN - 97 GM Pavasovic, Dusko SLO
33 33 GM Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter ROU - 96 GM Lupulescu, Constantin ROU
34 34 GM Sargissian, Gabriel ARM - 95 GM Li, Chao b CHN
35 35 GM Onischuk, Alexander USA - 94 GM Flores, Diego ARG
36 36 GM Cheparinov, Ivan BUL - 93 GM Kryvoruchko, Yuriy UKR
37 37 GM Efimenko, Zahar UKR - 92 GM Milos, Gilberto BRA
38 38 GM Sutovsky, Emil ISR - 91 GM Zhou, Weiqi CHN
39 39 GM Najer, Evgeniy RUS - 90 GM Ghaem Maghami, Ehsan IRI
40 40 GM Tiviakov, Sergei NED - 89 GM Iturrizaga, Eduardo VEN
41 41 GM Areshchenko, Alexander UKR - 88 GM Corrales Jimenez, Fidel CUB
42 42 GM Sasikiran, Krishnan IND - 87 GM L'Ami, Erwin NED
43 43 GM Smirin, Ilia ISR - 86 GM Ehlvest, Jaan USA
44 44 GM Baklan, Vladimir UKR - 85 GM Shabalov, Alexander USA
45 45 GM Ganguly, Surya Shekhar IND - 84 GM Filippov, Anton UZB
46 46 GM Fier, Alexandr BRA - 83 GM Khalifman, Alexander RUS
47 47 GM Fressinet, Laurent FRA - 82 GM Sjugirov, Sanan RUS
48 48 GM Meier, Georg GER - 81 GM Petrosian, Tigran L. ARM
49 49 GM Grachev, Boris RUS - 80 GM Bartel, Mateusz POL
50 50 GM Caruana, Fabiano ITA - 79 GM Bruzon Batista, Lazaro CUB
51 51 GM Sokolov, Ivan NED - 78 GM Fedorchuk, Sergey A. UKR
52 52 GM Milov, Vadim SUI - 77 GM Negi, Parimarjan IND
53 53 GM Timofeev, Artyom RUS - 76 GM Leitao, Rafael BRA
54 54 GM Inarkiev, Ernesto RUS - 75 GM Gustafsson, Jan GER
55 55 GM Savchenko, Boris RUS - 74 GM Shulman, Yuri USA
56 56 GM Kobalia, Mikhail RUS - 73 GM Sandipan, Chanda IND
57 57 GM Tkachiev, Vladislav FRA - 72 GM Le, Quang Liem VIE
58 58 GM Tregubov, Pavel V. RUS - 71 GM Akobian, Varuzhan USA
59 59 GM So, Wesley PHI - 70 GM Guseinov, Gadir AZE
60 60 GM Granda Zuniga, Julio E PER - 69 GM Sakaev, Konstantin RUS
61 61 GM Laznicka, Viktor CZE - 68 GM Papaioannou, Ioannis GRE
62 62 GM Andreikin, Dmitry RUS - 67 GM Nyback, Tomi FIN
63 63 GM Mamedov, Rauf AZE - 66 GM Zhou, Jianchao CHN
64 64 GM Amonatov, Farrukh TJK - 65 GM Volkov, Sergey RUS

SALCEDA CUP (Bicol Chess Tournament)

The Governor Joey Salceda Cup scheduled this November 12-18, 2009 has been postponed and will be re schedule according to NCFP Executive and Events Director Wilfredo Abalos. The dates will be announce later.
NCFP Secretariat

Pestaño: Tips and pointers to improve your game

Frank “Boy” Pestaño
Chessmoso

BRUCE Pandolfini is a chess author, teacher and coach. He was portrayed by Ben Kingsley in the 1993 film “Searching for Bobby Fischer.” He has coached many talented chess players, the most famous being Fabiano Caruana.

Here are his tips, pointers and hints on how to be a better chess player.

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Be aggressive, but play soundly. Don’t take unnecessary chances. Make sure every move has a purpose. If you know your opponent’s style, take advantage of it. But, in the final analysis, play the board, not the player.

Don’t give needless checks. Answer all threats.

Play for the initiative. If you already have it, maintain it. If you don’t have it, seize it. When exchanging pieces, try to get at least as much as you give up. Take with the man of least value, unless there is a definite reason for doing otherwise.

Cut your losses. If you must lose material, lose as little as possible. Never play a risky move, hoping your opponent will overlook your threat, unless you have a losing position.

Rely on your own powers. If you can’t see the point of your opponent’s move, assume there isn’t any. Don’t sacrifice without good reason. When you can’t determine whether to accept or decline a sacrifice, accept it.

Attack in number. Don’t rely on just one or two pieces. Look for double attacks.

Play for the center: guard it, occupy it, influence it. Fight for the center with pawns. In the opening, move as few pawns as necessary to complete your development.

Try to develop your Bishops before blocking them in by moving a center pawn just one square.Develop your pieces quickly, preferably toward the center.

Try to develop a new piece on each turn. Don’t move a piece twice in the opening without good reason. Try to develop with threats, but don’t threaten pointlessly.

Develop minor pieces early. King-side pieces should usually be developed sooner than Queen-side ones, and Knights before Bishops. Develop during exchanges.

In the opening, don’t remove your Queen from play to “win” a pawn. Don’t bring out the Queen too early, unless the natural course of play requires it.

Seize open lines. Develop Rooks to open files, or to files likely to open. Castle early. Try to prevent your opponent’s King from castling. Keep it trapped in the center, especially in open games.

Try to pin your opponent’s pieces. Avoid pins against your own pieces. Don’t capture pinned pieces until you can benefit from doing so. After castling, don’t move the pawns in front of your King without specific reason.

When applicable, pick target squares on the color of your unopposed Bishop. Try to avoid early exchanges of Bishops for Knights.

Put queen and Rook(s) on the same file or rank, and Queen and Bishop on the same diagonal.

Usually play to retain your Bishops in open games, and Knights in closed games. To improve the scope of your Bishop, place your pawns on squares opposite in color to it.

RESULTS. Visayas dominated the elementary division boys and girls of the Milo Olympics held in Cebu. The members of the boys’ team are Felix Shaun Balbona, John Francis Balbona, James Andrew Balbona and John Paul Arenilla. The alternate is John Antonio, while the coach is Christine de la Cerna.

The proud parents of this chess playing family are Felix and Juliet Balbona. Another member of the family, Jessa Marie Balbona, placed fourth in the strong All Students Chess Tournament at the Colonnade Chess Club last weekend won by Michael Pinar.

Other placers were Johnny Carzano and Alfer Joseph Fernandez.

Here are the results of the San Roque Barangay’s cup held last weekend. The champion was Loraine Pawao. He was followed by Kryztell Ouano, Arjay Pardillo, Joseph Acosta and Christian Lustre.

(frankpestano@yahoo.com,www.blogspot.com)

Pestaño: Carlsen the Great: a virtuoso performance

Frank 'Boy' Pestaño
Chessmoso

ONE of the greatest tournament performance of all time was recently accomplished by Magnus Carlsen of Norway when he won the second Spring Pearl competition in Nanjing, China.

Carlsen, whose first name is “great” in Latin, totally dominated the event, winning six times and drawing four for an amazing 8/10 score. He left his nearest rival, the world’s top-rated grandmaster, Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria, 2 1/2 points behind. This is like winning in the NBA by 60 points.

While such scores are fairly common in chess, this was extraordinary as the competition was a category 21 and was considered a super-elite tournament. Here is the final score: Carlsen (2772, 8 points), Topalov (2813, 5½), Wang Yue of China (2736, 4 1/2), Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan (2757, 4), Peter Leko of Hungary (2762, 4) and Dmitry Jakovenko of Russia (2742, 4).

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GM Viswanathan Anand, the current world champion and No. 2 in the rating list, was originally slated to play. Instead he was substituted by the Hungarian grandmaster Leko.

Fide has recognized this tournament, which came after the highly successful first edition last year won by Topalov, as part of the world Grand Slam tournaments. This makes it a super-elite world chess event after Corus in Holland, Linares in Spain, Sofia in Bulgaria and Bilbao Grand Slam Chess Final.

Carlsen performed at a 2850 level (double-round robin) with an average Elo of 2763 and gained a massive 29 points on the Fide ratings list. This brings him to 2801, making him the fifth player in history--after Kasparov, Kramnik, Anand and Topalov--to break the 2800 barrier.

The currently highest-ranked player, Topalov, scored 5.5/10 and performed at a 2789 level. He lost 3.5 points and will appear at 2810 on the next list.

A relatively high 70 percent of the games in this event were drawn, with white winning 20 percent and black 10 percent.

Each of the other GMs dropped one game to Carlsen or Jakovenko.

In an article in chessbase.com, Jeff Sonas wrote that this was the best tournament performance since January 2005 and the greatest ever of all time by a teenager as Magnus is just 19.

The five best performances of all time were by Anatoly Karpov 2899 (Linares 1994); Garry Kasparov, 2881 (Tilburg 1989); Emanuele Lasker, 2878 (London 1899); Kasparov, 2877 (Linares 1999); and Mikhael Tal 2869 (Bled, Zagreb, Belgrade).

Surprisingly, Bobby Fischer’s best performance is just the same as Carlsen at 2850 in Palma de Mallorca (Interzonal) in 1970.

Bobby Fischer’s 100 percent score of 11-0 at the US Championships in 1963-64 is not recognized due to the low playing strength of his opponents. It is the only perfect score in the history of a major tournament.

Many observers attributed Carlsen’s amazing performance to the former world champion Kasparov, now retired, who is now his trainer and coach. A big amount of money must have been involved and Carlsen’s purse of 80,000 Euros in this event is just for starters.

The World Juniors Championship has just started in Puerto Madrin, Argentina instead of Mar del Plata as originally scheduled. The competition started yesterday and will end on Nov. 4.

Although there is also a Girls’ section, the Philippines is not represented. Our Wesley So is one of the favorites in the boys’ event.

The top 10 seeded players are (all GMs) 1. Vachier-Lagrave Maxime (2718, France), 2. Andreikin Dmitry (2659, Russia), 3. Sergie Zhigalko (2646, Bulgaria), 4. So (2644, Philippines) 5. David Howell David (2624, England) 6. Maxim Rodstein (2623, Israel) 7. Li Chao (2617, China) 8. Eduardo Iturrizaga (2605, Venezueala) 9. Eltaj Safarli (2587, Azebaijan) and 10. Ivan Popov (2582, Russia).

Ray Robson, the world’s youngest GM from the US, is also expected to be a contender.

(frankpestano@yahoo.com, www.chessmoso.blogspot.com)


Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on October 23, 2009.

London given option for World Championship 2012

The Executive Board in Halkidiki, Greece gave an option to London to organise the World Chess Championship in 2012. The Organizing Committee requested the option for Olympic Games year in London and they have until February 15th 2010 to exercise the option which must include the offer of a prize fund similar to that for the match between champion GM V. Anand and GM V. Topalov next April. If the option is not exercised then FIDE will open the bidding procedure.

Pestaño: Building a child’s self-confidence

Frank “Boy” Pestaño
Chessmoso

THERE are several ways to build self-confidence-a trait needed to ensure success in this highly competitive world. It is vitally important that the child—your child—possesses this characteristic.

Your perception of yourself has an enormous impact on how others perceive you. Perception is reality — the more self-confidence you have, the more likely it is you’ll succeed.

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Playing chess has many benefits and one is promoting self-confidence. You can learn many techniques and skills that you can apply in daily life.

Every time you win a game, you improve self-esteem and self-confidence.

Chess is a thinking game. It is a fair game in that the player is responsible for the fate of the game and there is no other intervention in the game either in the form of luck or chance.

If children were taught this noble game at a tender age and encouraged to play, they would perform better in academically and outshine others.

If your child has a history of school failure and academic problems, teach him/her to play chess. In due time, you will see great improvements not only in the personality but also in the intellectual capacity of the child

Chess players show intense concentration, abstract thinking, and mental strategies that are extremely difficult to understand and learn.

With more self-confidence, you can face the many difficulties of life. A child develops the attitude that he can do it and that he can achieve his dreams.

One of the important subjects that a child is taught in school is mathematics. This is a very important subject and one needs to master it to pursue and understand higher studies.

In a study of the richest people recently by Forbes magazine, one of their common traits is that they are good in math.

The importance of math is that it cannot be learned by memorizing. You cannot just memorize the formulas of algebra and reproduce it in exams.

Understanding the concepts, applying concentration, attention and analyzing the various types of problems is what is required in math and chess.

Other ways to improve your self-confidence is to recognize your insecurities, and remember that no one is perfect. You should also be thankful for what you have and be positive. Avoid self-pity, or the pity and sympathy of others. Never allow others to make you feel inferior—they can only do so if you let them.

So if your school, starting this school year will teach your child to play chess welcome it because your child will in the long run develop self-confidence.

Local news. The Colonnade Chess Center will be celebrating its 11th anniversary with a tournament on Oct. 24 and 25.

Format is active, seven rounds Swiss. Only students can participate. Tournament starts at 9 a.m.

Also on Oct. 24 and 25, the San Roque Chessfest will be held at the barangay hall at 9:30 a.m. Format is active seven rounds and is open only to kiddies 14 years old and below and residents of Talisay, Minglanilla and Inayawan. Contact Manny Manzanares at 09157206457.

Last weekend, an executives-only competition was held at the Deep Blue Coffee shop in SM City. Format was seven rounds handicapping chess with a time of five minutes for Class A, 10 minutes for Class B and 15 minutes for Class C.

The winner was Jonathan Canque with 5.5 points. He was followed by Allan Cinco, Wilfredo Dominguito, Maggi Dionson,Allen Borbon and Excel Canque, all with 5 points.

The sponsors were Carlos Tan, Edgar Hortelano Jr. and Dr.Jesus Cellona.

After the tournament, a chess club was formed—the Deep Blue “D” Woodpusher Chess Club. Wilfredo Dominguito was also elected as the first president.

(frankpestano@yahoo.com, www.chessmoso.blogspot.com)


Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on October 16, 2009.

Mchedlishvili, Ghaem win 5th Pichay Cup

GMs Mikhail Mchedlishvili of Georgia and Ehsan Ghaem Maghami of Iran tied for first in the $30,000 Prospero A. Pichay Jr. Cup held 2-7 October 2009 at LUWA in Quezon City, Philippines. Filipino GM Rogelio Antonio Jr. prevailed in the tie break to finish in third place.

Top Filipino player GM Rogelio Antonio receives his trophy from National Chess Federation of the Philippines chairman/president Prospero A. Pichay Jr. and Secretary General Mayor Abraham Tolentino. Other NCFP officials are, from left, FIDE Delegate Casto Abundo, Treasurer Red Dumuk, Executive Director Wilfredo Abalos and Board members Val Rosabal and Edmund Legaspi.

The Pichay Cup, now in its 5th year, was immediately preceded by the $40,000 President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Cup also in Manila. The strong field of 20 Grandmasters saw action in both tournaments.

Antonio tied at 6.5 points apiece with GM Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son of Vietnam and GM Zhang Zhong of Singapore. GMs Darwin Laylo of Philippines, Dao Thien Hai of Vietnam and Neelotpal Das of India trailed with 6 points each. Go to chess-results.com for final standings.

Pestaño: Occupations of famous chess players

Frank 'Boy' Pestaño
Chessmoso

CONTRARY to what you know, most chess players have a regular occupation aside from playing chess. Almost everybody knows that very few people can make a living out of the game. Here are the selected professions of some players, all of them are grandmasters.

Edmar Mednis was a chemical engineer, a profession closest to my heart. He who played a simul tournament with Cepca members here in Cebu in the late 90s.

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Mikhael Botvinnik was a three-time world champion who was an electrical engineer. His famous pupils include world champions Anatoly Karpov, Garry Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik.

Max Euwe was not only a world champion but was also a past president of Fide. He was a professor and had a doctorate in mathematics.

Paul Morphy was considered by Bobby Fischer to have been the greatest player of all time and an unofficial world champion. He was a lawyer by profession and was known to have memorized the complete Louisiana book of code and laws.

William Lombardy gained fame by being the second of Bobby Fischer in the match of the century against Boris Spassky in 1972. He was a former Roman Catholic priest.

Miguel Najdorf was a Polish-born Argentine chess grandmaster of Jewish origin, famous for his Najdorf Variation. He was an insurance underwriter and once played communist revolutionary Che Guevara to a draw.

John Nunn is one of England’s strongest players and once belonged to the world’s top 10. He is also a college instructor in mathematics.

Reuben Fine was one of the strongest chess players in the world from the mid- 1930s through the 1940s and is a psychoanalyst.

Samuel Reshevsky, considered by many to have been the best player after Bobby Fischer and Paul Morphy, was an accountant. He was a contender for the World Chess Championship from 1935 to the mid-1960s.

Mark Taimanov has the distinction for being one of the top 100 players of all time in chess and piano.

Siegbert Tarrasch was one of the strongest players and most influential chess teachers of the late 19th century and early 20th century. He was a doctor.

Andrew Solis is considered one of the most prolific chess writers, having authored or co-authored around 30 books. Soltis is a journalist and a weekly columnist for the New York Post. He was named “Chess journalist of the year” by the Chess Journalists of America in 1988.

Alex Yermolinsky won the US championship in 1993 and 1996 and is a chemist.

MILLION POT. Poker has grown tremendously over the last three or four years, including here in Cebu. It’s a game that largely attracts the same people as chess. Poker is a lot similar to chess in that beneath its seemingly simple surface lurks a deep sea of advanced theoretical concepts that give skilled players a great advantage over occasional ones

Chess is a game like golf, tennis or boxing, it has plenty of followers, yet no one will watch it on TV. The invention of the pocket camera has made poker the fastest
growing game in the world today.

The action is at its highest at the All-in poker club at the Waterfront Hotel where there is a guaranteed P50,000 tournament everyday and cash games all the time.

A lot of chess players including Cepca members play here.

Tomorrow at 2:30 p.m., there will be a P1-million guaranteed tournament with a freezeout format. The buy-in is only P10,000 plus P500 registration.

The club manager is Bryan Lo, and the assistant is Cathy Dagiso. Antonio “Mario” Lo Jr. is the Chairman-CEO of the Vanskaps Management Group that operates the poker club.

If you think you are good ,this is your chance to play this once in a lifetime competition .Contact Bryan at 3181101 or 0917-7256756.

(frankpestano@yahoo.co,www.chessmoso.blogspot.com)


Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on October 9, 2009.

GM Wong Meng Kong – 4th President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Cup International Chess Challenge 2009

Played in Manila, Philippines, GM Wong Meng Kong, ranked 28th on the start list ended the 9 round tournament in 10th position. Based in Hong Kong, he took time off from his busy schedule to compete in the tournament. Here, he did a quick annotation of his 2nd round game against GM Tigran Kotanjian, born 1981, ranked 12th in Armenia with an elo rating of 2553.

Round 2 – the real battle begins. No pressure, being the bottom ranked GM in the list.

Wong, Meng Kong (Singapore) - Kotanjian, Tigran (Armenia), Manila, 2009

1. e4 back to the 1980s. Over the past decade, I had been struggling with the faster 4 hour games, and the tactical as opposed to strategic positions arising from 1. e4 allow me better time management. 1…c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. Be2 Wong – Bachtiar Ito (z) 1978 went 5. Bg5 and was my first win internationally at age 14, and was the first time I met a Sicilian Najdorf with Be7 omitted.
5…Nf6 6. Nc3 d6 7. O-O Nbd7 8. a4 b6 9. f4 Bb7 10. Bf3 Qc7 11. Kh1 Rc8 12. Qe1 black omits Be7, so touching the g3 square seems natural, and also pre-empts the positional sacrifice ….Rxc3
12…e5?!N 12….h5 13. Be3 Be7 14. Rd1 g6 15. Nde2 Qb8 16. Bf2 Qa8 17. Bh4 Nxe4 18. Bxe7 Kxe7 19. Nxe4 Bxe4 20. Qd2 Rhd8 21. f5 Ne5 22. Bxe4 Qxe4 23. fxe6 fxe6 24. Qg5+ Kd7 25. Ng3 1-0 Ivanchuk,V-Almeida Quintana,O 2007; 12….Be7 13. e5 dxe5 14. fxe5 Bxf3 15. Nxf3 Ng4 16. Qg3 h5 17. Bf4 g6 18. Ne4 Rd8 19. Bg5 Nc5 20. Nxc5 Qxc5 21. Bxe7 Qxe7 22. Qf4 Rd5 23. c4 Rc5 24. b4 Rc7 25. c5 bxc5 26. b5 Kf8 27. b6 Rd7 28. Ng5 Nh6 29. Qf6 Qxf6 30. exf6 Ke8 31. Rab1 Kd8 32. Ne4 Kc8 33. Nxc5 Rd6 34. Rfc1 Rc6 35. b7+ Kb8 36. Nd7+ 1-0 Tseitlin,Ma-Rotstein,E 2007
13. Nf5 g6 14. Ne3 exf4 15. Ned5 Nxd5 16. Nxd5 16. exd5 was inferior as Nc3 clumsily obstructs the queenside majority advance, and Bb7 crucially supports a6 & c6 weaknesses.
16….Bxd5 17. exd5+ Ne5 18. Bxf4 Bg7 forced sequence.
19. Be2! this quiet move begins a sequence to unleash the power of the double bishops, the queenside majority and the developmental lead 19….Qb7 20. Qb4 Rc5 21. a5 b5 22. c4 O-O 23. cxb5 Rxd5 24. b6 Nc6 25. Qe4 25. Qe1 Bxb2 26. Ra2 Be5 allows either counterplay against h2 and lets black be a pawn up 25….Rxa5 26. Bxd6 Rxa1 27. Rxa1 Rc8 28. Bxa6 Ra8 29. Re1! returning the back rank favour
29…Qxa6 30. Qxc6 Bd4 this loses through a forced sequence, but 30…Bxb2 also loses to 31. h3, with the b8-h2 connecting the queening square with kingside defence. 31. Re8+ Rxe8 32. Qxe8+ Kg7 33. Bf8+ Kf6 34. Qd8+ 1-0 black resigns as 34….Ke5 35. Bg7+ or 34…Ke6 35. Qxe5 Qf1 36. Qg1.

GM Zhang Zhong – 5th Prospero A. Pichay Jr. Cup International Chess Championship 2009

Singapore PR, GM Zhang Zhong finished a credible joint third in a field of 60 very strong players from the region in the recently concluded 5th Prospero Pichay Jr. Cup International Chess Tournament 2009 in Manila, Philippines. GM Zhang Zhong had a short lay off from chess due to the arrival of his new born son.

He finished on 6.5 points together with GM Antonio Rogelio Jr. from the Philippines and GM Nguyen Ngoc Troung Son from Vietnam.

Antonio salvages 3rd in Pichay Cup

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MANILA, Philippines - Top seed GM Mikhail Mchedlishvili of Georgia edged GM Ehsan Ghaemmaghami of Iran in the tiebreak to capture the crown even as GM Rogelio Antonio Jr. settled for joint third in the Prospero Pichay Cup International Chess Championships at the LWUA Bldg. in Katipunan Ave., Quezon City.

Mchedlishvili outwitted GM Abhijeet Gupta of India in the final round while Ghaemmaghami subdued GM Li Shilong of China as they finished the nine-round tournament with seven points.

Mchedlishvili, however, took the crown with a superior tiebreak score. Both players took home $4,500 each.

It was the second title in less than three weeks for Mchedlishvili, who also topped the Ravana GM tournament in Sri Lanka last month.

Antonio outduelled GM Merab Gagunashvili of Georgia to clinch third place honors with 6.5 points and emerge as the highest-placed Filipino player for the second straight time. He placed sixth in last week’s PGMA Cup.

Antonio, priming up for the World Chess Cup in Russia next month, finished tied for third with GMs Nguen Ngoc Truong Son of Vietnam and Zhang Zhong of Singapore with 6.5 points.

Nguyen whipped GM Anuar Ismagambetov of Kazakhstan, while Zhang trounced GM Eugene Torre.

Antonio, however, finished ahead of Nguyen and Zhang with a higher tiebreak.

Asian Zone 3.3 champion GM Darwin Laylo battled GM Tigran Kotanjian of Armenia to a draw to finish tied for sixth with GM Dao Thien Hai of Vietnam and GM Neelotpal Das of India with six points.

Shell chess grand final slated

MANILA, Philippines - Forty four players, making up the country’s future chess stars, gear up for the big battle on the chess board next week when the Shell National Youth Active Chess Championship (Shell Chess) holds its grand finals on Oct. 10-11 at the SM Megamall Event Center.

They are all primed up, each raring to dish out their best and hoping to join the ranks of great names in RP chess that the annual chess event has produced, including Grand masters Nelson Mariano II, Mark Paragua, Darwin Laylo and the country’s current top player Wesley So.

Laylo shares lead in Butch Pichay Cup

CEBU, Philippines - World Cup-bound GM Darwin Laylo outdueled compatriot IM Richard Bitoon in the third round and then drew with top seed GM Mikhail Mchedlishvili of Georgia in the fourth to gain a share of the lead in the Prospero Pichay Cup International Chess Championship at the LWUA Bldg. in Katipunan Ave., Quezon City over the weekend.

The victory and the draw hiked Laylo’s output to 3.5 points as he joined Mchedlishvili and Iranian GM Ehsan Ghaemmaghami in the lead with five rounds left in the nine-round tournament organized by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) in cooperation with the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA).

Mchedlishvili trounced GM Li Shilong of China in the third round while Ghaemmaghami beat No. 25 Tirto of Indonesia in the third round and No. 15 GM John Paul Gomez in the fourth.

Twelve players, led by newly crowned President Arroyo Cup champion GM Anton Filippov of Uzbekistan, Filipino bets GM Rogelio Antonio Jr., Eugene Torre and Bitoon, shared fourth place with three points each.

Filippov, hoping to become the first player to sweep the two tournaments, halved the point with GM Mark Paragua in the third round and Antonio in the fourth round.

Antonio, who will join Laylo and GM Wesley So as the country’s representatives to the World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia next month, trampled IM Rolando Nolte in the third round before halving the point with Filippov.

Torre, out to atone for his lackluster showing in the PGMA Cup last week, dumped Ali Branzuela and GM-elect Ronald Dableo, while Bitoon, who is seeking his third and last GM norm, bounced back from his third-round setback to Laylo as he subdued Denil Causo.

Also moving up in contention with three points are GMs Dao Thien Hai of Vietnam, Tigran Kotanjian of Armenia, Abhijeet Gupta of India, Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son of Vietnam, Das Neelotpal of India, Zhang Zhong of Singapore, Merab Gagunashvili and Pyotr Kostenko of Kazakhstan.

Kotanjian drew with Nguyen, Gupta halved the point with Dao, Zhang nipped Paragua, Gagunashvili outclassed FM Fernie Donguines, Das downed IM Chito Garma and Kostenko humbled FM Leonardo Carlos.

Rolando Andador toppled GM Buenaventura “Bong” Villamayor, GM Jayson Gonzales drew with Alcon John Datu, and Alex Milagrosa split the point with Nolte to lead five other players with 2.5 points.

Fillipov Wins 4th GMA Cup in Manila

GM Anton Filippov of Uzbekistan won the 4th President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Cup held 24 to 30 September 2009 at the Duty Free Festival Center in Manila, Philippines. Filippov finished with 6.5 points in a tie with four other grandmasters to share top prizes in the $40,000 event.

Asian Chess Federation president Sheikh Sultan bin Khalifah Al Nahyan braved the typhoon which devastated Manila and awarded the Cups together with National Chess Federation of the Philippines president Prospero Pichay Jr.

GM Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son of Vietnam placed second followed by Ehsan Ghaem Maghami of Iran in third. Merab Gagunashvili of Georgia and Geetha Narayan Gopal of India also tied with Filippov at 6.5 points each in the 9 round Swiss among 56 players.

See final standings at chess-results.com.

Wong draws with Bitoon, stays on top

MANILA, Philippines - Standings after five rounds: (RP unless stated)

4.5 - M.K. Wong (Singapore)

4 - N.T., Nguyen (Vietnam), T. Kotanjian (Atmenia), R., Bitoon

3.5 - A. Filippov (Uzbekistan), R. Dableo, M. Mchedlishvili (Georgia), E. Ghaemmaghami (Iran), R., Antonio, J. Gomez, M. Gagunashvili (Georgia), D. Laylo, G. Nayanan (India), T.H., Dao (Vietnam)

International Master Richard Bitoon battled GM Meng Kong Wong of Singapore to a draw in their fifth-round encounter to keep his hopes alive in the fourth President Arroyo Cup international chess championship at the Duty Free Fiesta Mall in Parañaque.

Bitoon, the pride of Medelin, Cebu, drew with Wong with the white pieces to remain in a three-way tie for second to fourth places with GMs Nuyen Ngoc Truong Son of Vietnam and Tigran Kotanjian of Armenia with four points with still four remaining in this tough, nine-round tournament organized by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP).

Nguyen subdued No. 13 seed GM Anuar Ismagambetov of Kazakhstan while Kotanjian outplayed No. 16 GM Pyotr Kostenko of Kazakshtan to boost their chances for the title and the top prize of $6,000 put up by NCFP president Prospero “Butch” Pichay.

Ten players, led by top seed GM Mikhael Mchedlishvili of Georgia and World Cup-bound GMs Rogelio Antonio Jr. and Darwin Laylo, shared fifth to 14th places with 3.5 points.

Mchedlishvili, the highest-rated player here with an ELO of 2613, bounced back from a stunning fourth-round loss to Bitoon by humbling No. 15 seed GM Mark Paragua.

Antonio and Laylo, who will represent the country in the World Cup scheduled in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia starting Nov. 21, halved the point with compatriot GM John Paul Gomez and GM Anton Filippov of Uzbekistan, respectively.

GM-elect Ronald Dableo, who dropped out of the lead after defaulting his fourth-round match against Wong due to widespread flooding spawned by typhoon “Ondoy”, drew with No. 9 GM Dao Thien Hai of Vietnam to remain in contention with 3.5 points.

Also moving up the standings with 3.5 points are second seed GM Gopal Nayanan of India, who outdueled compatriot GM Das Neelotpal; fifth seed GM Ehsan Ghaemmaghami of Iran, who subdued GM Jayson Gonzales.; and sixth seed GM Merab Gagunashvili of Georgia, who outwitted GM Buenaventura “Bong” Villamayor.

Defending champion GM Eugene Torre settled for his fifth straight draw against FM Leonardo Carlos to remain in the lower half of the 56-player tournament.

Torre, who finished in a three-way tie for first place with GM Li Shilong of China and GM Zhang Zhong of Singapore last year, also drew his first four matches against lower-rated Filipino rivals.

In other notable fifth-round results, little-known Reggie Olay upset IM Tirto of Indonesia, IM Oliver Dimakiling outplayed Edgardo Garma, Randy Segara surprised IM Rolando Nolte, IM Chito Garma whipped Roel Abelgas, Ric Portogalera stopped Efren Bagamasbad, Ali Branzuela beat Nicomedes Aliangco, Voltaire Sevillano edged Richard de la Cruz and Haridas Pasacua beat Glidel Gabica.

Bitoon stuns top seed, moves up to second

MANILA, Philippines - GM-candidate Richard Bitoon posted the first major upset win in the storm-hit fourth President Arroyo Cup International Chess Championship, beating top seed GM Mikhael Mchedlishvili of Georgia at the Duty Free Fiesta Mall in Parañaque yesterday.

Bitoon handled the black pieces with aplomb to pull the rug from under the highly rated Mchedlishvili and gain solo second place behind surprise leader GM Meng Kong Wong of Singapore.

The 17th-seeded Bitoon now has 3.5 points on three wins and one draw in the tough, nine-round tournament organized by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP).

Wong, the lone participant from Singapore, won by default over erstwhile co-leader GM-elect Ronald Dableo.

World Cup-bound GMs Rogelio Antonio Jr. whipped IM Oliver Dimakiling and Darwin Laylo outclassed Emmanuel Senador while GM John Paul Gomez crushed Edgardo Garma to share third with five others with three points.

Third seed GM Anton Filippov of Uzbekistan drew with fourth seed GM Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son of Vietnam and No. 8 GM Tigran Kotanjian demolished Tirto of Indonesia to stay in the hunt for the top prize of $6,000 with three points apiece.

Fifth seed GM Ehsan Ghaemaghami of Iran halved the point with GM Bong Villamayor, while sixth seed GM Merab Gagunashvili of Georgia split the point with GM Mark Paragua for 2.5 points. Also in the group are Paragua, Villamayor, GM Jayson Gonzales and FM Leonardo Carlos.

But defending champion GM Eugene Torre failed to gain headway, settling for his fourth straight draw, this time with No. 34 seed Reggie Olay.

Torre also drew his first three matches against Ali Branzuela, Allan Macala and Deniel Causo.

Floods spawned by typhoon Ondoy forced the postponement of the fourth-round match late Saturday. But seven other players still failed to show up for their matches early Sunday, including Dableo, who lost by default with Wong in their top board match.

Dableo, who nailed his third and last GM norm during the Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur last month, swept his first three assignments.

The other players who missed their fourth round matches were IM Barlo Nadera, Deniel Causo, Ali Branzuela, Edmundo Legaspi, Conrado Diaz and Albert Rivera.

4th PGMA Cup Reels Off in Manila

Duty Free Philippines Deputy General Manager Lorenzo Formoso (right) making the ceremonial moves with GM Mkhael Mchedlishvili to open the 4th President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Cup in Manila, Philippines. Looking on are National Chess Federation of the Philippines officials, from left, Executive Director Wilfredo Abalos, Auditor Edmund Legaspi, President and Chairman Prospero A. Pichay, Jr., Treasruer Red Dumuk and FIDE Delegate Casto Abundo, Deputy President of the Asian Chess Federation.

20 GMs, 7 IMs and other title holders in a field of 56 players competing for $40,000 in cash prizes. Top seed at 2613 is GM Mikhael Mchedlishvili of Georgia.

Foreign GMs vie in GMA, Pichay tilts

MANILA, Philippines - Chess gets another major boost with the staging of two major international chess tournaments – the fourth President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo Cup international chess championship Sept. 24-29 at the Duty Free Fiesta Mall in Parañaque City and the fifth Prospero Pichay Cup international chess tournament Oct. 2-7 at the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) Bldg. in Diliman, Quezon City.

As much as $70,000 in cash prizes is at stake in the twin tournaments being organized by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP), headed by president/chairman Prospero “Butch” Pichay, and sanctioned by the International Chess Federation (FIDE) and the Asian Chess Federation (ACF).

Close to 100 local and foreign players from all over Asia and Europe are expected to see action in the twin tournaments being supported by Department of Tourism, Pagcor, Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, Duty Free Philippines and LWUAA.

“After the highly successful Asian Individual Chess Championship in Subic, we are very proud to host two more major international chess tournaments in the Asian calendar,” said Pichay, who is leaving no stone unturned to ensure the success of the twin tournaments being held for the fourth straight year.

Pichay, whose leadership in the chess association already produced seven grandmasters in less than three years, said top foreign players had been invited to participate in the three-week long competition to be held in succession.

In the PGMA Cup, the champion will receive the lion’s share of $6,000 out of the total prize fund of $40,000.

The runner-up will receive $5,000, while the third placer will pocket $4,000.

The fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth placers will receive $3,000, $2,000, $1,500, $1,300 and $1,200, respectively. The ninth up to the 32nd placers will also bring home consolation cash prizes.

The opening ceremony and the first round of the PGMA Cup will begin at 9 a.m. on Sept. 24.

In the Pichay Cup, the total cash prize is US$30,000, with the champion taking home the top purse of $5,000.

The runner-up and the third placer will get $4,000 and $3,000, respectively.

The fourth up to the 24th placers will also receive cash prizes.

The tournament proper is set to start at 10 a.m. on Oct. 2 after a one-hour opening ceremony.

ACF deputy president Toti Abundo will be the chief arbiter, while NCFP executive/events director Willie Abalos will be the tournament director.

For inquiries on the PGMA Cup and Pichay Cup, call up Abalos at cell 0928-5513089, 0929-2266210 and 0929-2390644 or the NCFP office at tel 381-7224 or email the NCFPsecretariat@yahoo.com

Paragua cops Asian Indoor chess berth

MANILA, Philippines - GM Mark Paragua and veteran campaigner Catherine Perena shared the limelight recently at the close of the Asian Indoor Games qualifying tournament held at the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) Employees’ Lounge in Diliman, Quezon City.

Paragua swept his remaining three matches against Mari Joseph Turqueza, Ali Branzuela and GM Buenaventura “Bong”Villamayor to clinch top honors with 12.5 points on 10 wins, five draws and only one loss in the tough, 17-player tournament.

He finished one and a half points ahead of top seed GM Rogelio Antonio Jr. and two points ahead of IM Rolando Nolte.

The win solidified Paragua’s claim as one of the country’s top players and enabled him to clinch one of four berths to the Philippine team seeing action in the Asian Indoor Games scheduled Sept. 30-Oct. 8 in Vietnam.

Joining Paragua will be Antonio, Nolte and GM Jayson Gonzales, who edged fellow GM Darwin Laylo for the fourth and last seat.

Davao to host Shell chess

MANILA, Philippines - The Shell National Youth Active Chess Championship (Shell Active Chess) wraps up its seven-leg nationwide eliminations in Davao on Sept. 19-20 with a stellar field tipped to clash for top honors in two divisions at the SM City Davao Event Center.

Due to the expected big number of participants, organizers of the event have staked four berths each in the kiddies and juniors divisions, one more than what the past six legs had offered.

The top four players in both the 20-and-under and 14-and-under categories will advance to the national finals on Oct. 10-11 at the SM Megamall.

FIDE ARBITERS SEMINAR

The National Chess Federation of the Philippines, on behalf of the Asian Chess Federation and FIDE, is hosting a FIDE Arbiters Seminar to be held on September 23 - 25, 2009 in Manila.

Participants may earn the FIDE Arbiter norms after passing the examination.

The seminar program is:
September 23 Lecture (Laws of Chess, Rapid, Blitz)
Lecture (Tournament Rules, tie breaks, basic principles for organizing
tournaments)
September 24 Lecture (Systems of playing, Round Robin, Swiss system, pairing rules)
Se[tember 25 Lecture (Title and Rating Regulations, Arbiter title regulations)
Examination

Arbiters Seminar course fee is Php 7,500 Exclusive of Board and Lodging.

PRES. GLORIA MACAPAGAL ARROYO CHESS CHALLENGE

The National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) is staging a tournament to cater to players who have not attained the required rating to participate in the Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Cup IInternational Open Chess Championships. This will be held from September 24 - 20, 2009 at the Duty Free Fiestamall, Paranaque City.

A total of P 143,000.00 in cash prizes will be awarded for the top 10 placers, with the champion taking home P 50,000.00 and a trophy while 2nd & 3rd placers receive P30,000 and P20,000 respectively to go along with their trophies.

For further information please contact NCFP Office tel 381-7224 or Excutive Director Wilfrdo Abalos Cel No. 09285513089 or 09292266210

Women's World Team Chess Championship 2009

Ten teams will participate in the 2009 edition of the Women's World Team Chess Championship. Top seeded is the first team of China, led by GM Yifan Hou, with average rating of 2490. Their main competition will come from Georgia, with Chiburdanidze on board 1, and Russia who come without the World Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk.

India and the USA will be led by their dynamic duos, Dronavalli - Schadev and Krush - Zatonskih respectively. The other participating teams are Ukraine, Poland, Armenia, China B, and Vietnam, who can all bring surprises at the event.

The opening ceremony is September 1st and rounds start on the next day. There will be a total of 9 rounds, round robin (each plays each). Here are the team for the event (courtesy of Chessdom.com):

China A 2490

1 GM Hou Yifan 2584
2 GM Zhao Xue 2544
3 WGM Shen Yang 2453
4 Ju Wenjun 2443
5 WGM Huang Qian 2424

Geogia 2474

1 GM Chiburdanidze, Maia 2506
2 GM Dzagnidze, Nana 2536
3 IM Javakhishvili, Lela 2470
4 IM Lomineishvili, Maia 2427
5 IM Khukhashvili, Sopiko 2430

Russia 2468

1 IM Tatiana Kosintseva 2539
2 IM Nadezhda Kosintseva 2482
3 IM Ekaterina Kovalevskaya 2436
4 IM Marina Romanko 2447
5 IM Valentina Gunina 2437

Ukraina 2444

1 IM Anna Ushenina 2478
2 WGM Natalia Zhukova 2461
3 IM Yanovska Inna 2428
4 IM Maria Muzychuk 2441
5 WGM Natalya Zdebska 2412

India 2390

1 IM Harika Dronavalli 2474
2 IM Tania Sachdev 2423
3 WGM Kruttika Nadig 2361
4 WGM Eesha Karavade 2359
5 WGM Gomes Mary Ann 2332

Poland 2378

1 IM Iweta Rajlich 2448
2 WGM Jolanta Zawadzka 2387
3 WGM Joanna Majdan 2382
4 IM Joanna Dworakowska 2345
5 WIM Karina Szczepkowska-Horowska 2327

USA 2372

1 IM Irina Krush 2458
2 IM Anna Zatonskih 2466
3 IM Rusudan Goletiani 2391
4 WIM Alisa Melekhina 2270
5 WFM Tatev Abrahamian 2273

Armenia 2372

1 IM Elina Danielian 2503
2 IM Lilit Mkrtchian 2479
3 WGM Lilit Galojan 2323
4 WGM Nelli Aginian 2322
5 WIM Siranush Andriasian 2235

China B 2356

1 Tan Zhongyi 2435
2 WIM Zhang Xiaowen 2391
3 IM Wang Yu 2380
4 WFM Ding Yixin 2343
5 Wang Xiaohui 2231

Vietnam 2177

1 WGM Hoang Thi Bao Tram 2274
2 WIM Pham Le Thao Nguyen 2314
3 WFM Hoang Thi Nhu 2119
4 WFM Pham Bich Ngoc 2105
5 WFM Vo Thi Kim Phung 2073

World Chess Championship 2007 Round 13 P. Leko vs A. Morozevich

[Event "WCh"]
[Site "Mexico City MEX"]
[Date "2007.09.28"]
[Round "13"]
[White "Leko,P"]
[Black "Morozevich,A"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2751"]
[BlackElo "2758"]
[EventDate "2007.09.13"]
[ECO "B67"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bg5 e6 7. Qd2 a6 8.
O-O-O Bd7 9. f3 Be7 10. Be3 h5 11. Kb1 Qc7 12. Nxc6 bxc6 13. Bf4 e5 14. Bg5
Be6 15. Bxf6 gxf6 16. f4 a5 17. f5 Bd7 18. a4 Rb8 19. Bc4 Rb4 20. Bb3 Qb6
21. Rhe1 Rd4 22. Qe2 Rxd1+ 23. Rxd1 Qc5 24. Rd3 h4 25. Rh3 Bd8 26. Ka2 Kf8
27. Qe1 Be8 28. Rxh4 Rxh4 29. Qxh4 Qg1 30. Qh8+ Ke7 31. h4 d5 32. exd5 Qxg2
33. h5 1-0

World Chess Championship 2007 Round 13 L. Aronian vs P. Svidler

[Event "WCh"]
[Site "Mexico City MEX"]
[Date "2007.09.28"]
[Round "13"]
[White "Aronian,L"]
[Black "Svidler,P"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "2750"]
[BlackElo "2735"]
[EventDate "2007.09.13"]
[ECO "A29"]

1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 Bc5 5. Nxe5 Bxf2+ 6. Kxf2 Nxe5 7. e4
c5 8. h3 O-O 9. d3 a6 10. Bg2 b5 11. Rf1 d6 12. Kg1 h6 13. b3 Be6 14. Be3
Rb8 15. Ne2 Re8 16. Rc1 Bd7 17. Rc2 bxc4 18. dxc4 Bc6 19. Nc3 Rb7 20. Rcf2
Nh7 21. h4 Rbe7 22. Rd2 Qa5 23. Qc2 Ng4 24. Bf4 Nhf6 25. Re1 d5 26. e5 Nxe5
27. Rde2 d4 28. Bxe5 Bxg2 29. Bxf6 Rxe2 30. Rxe2 Rxe2 31. Qxe2 gxf6 32.
Qg4+ Kf8 33. Qc8+ Ke7 34. Kxg2 dxc3 35. Qb7+ Kd8 36. Qd5+ Kc8 37. Qc6+ Kb8
38. Qe8+ Kb7 39. Qe4+ Kc8 40. Qc6+ Kb8 41. Qe8+ Kb7 42. Qe4+ Kc8 43. Qc2
Qa3 44. Qxc3 Qxa2+ 45. Kf3 Qb1 46. Qe3 1/2-1/2

World Chess Championship 2007 Round 13 A. Grischuk vs V. Anand

[Event "WCh"]
[Site "Mexico City MEX"]
[Date "2007.09.28"]
[Round "13"]
[White "Grischuk,A"]
[Black "Anand,V"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "2726"]
[BlackElo "2792"]
[EventDate "2007.09.13"]
[ECO "D43"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 dxc4 7. e4 g5 8.
Bg3 b5 9. Be2 Bb7 10. h4 g4 11. Ne5 Rg8 12. Nxg4 Nxg4 13. Bxg4 b4 14. Na4
c5 15. d5 exd5 16. exd5 Qxd5 17. Qxd5 Bxd5 18. O-O-O Rxg4 19. Rxd5 Nd7 20.
Re1+ Kd8 21. Red1 Rd4 22. R1xd4 cxd4 23. Rxd4 Rc8 24. Bd6 Ke8 25. Re4+ Kd8
26. Bxf8 Nxf8 27. a3 bxa3 28. bxa3 Rc6 29. Nb2 Rf6 30. Re2 c3 31. Nd1 Ra6
32. Ra2 Ng6 33. g3 Rc6 34. Kc2 Ne7 35. Nxc3 Nd5 36. Kd3 Rxc3+ 37. Kd4 a5
38. Kxd5 a4 39. Kd4 Rb3 40. Kc4 Kc8 41. Rc2 Kd7 42. Rc3 Rb2 43. Rf3 Ke6 44.
g4 Ke7 45. Kd5 Rb3 46. Ke4 Rb2 47. Kf5 Rb5+ 48. Kf4 Kf6 49. Rd3 Rb2 50. f3
Ra2 51. Ke4 Rh2 52. Rd4 Rxh4 53. Rxa4 Rh1 54. Rb4 Ra1 55. a4 Kg6 56. Kd5
Ra3 57. Kc6 Rxf3 58. a5 f5 59. a6 Ra3 60. gxf5+ Kxf5 61. Kb6 h5 62. Rb5+
Kg4 63. Ra5 Rf3 64. a7 Rf8 65. a8=Q Rxa8 66. Rxa8 h4 67. Kc5 h3 68. Kd4 h2
69. Rh8 Kg3 70. Ke3 Kg2 71. Rg8+ Kf1 72. Rh8 Kg1 73. Rxh2 Kxh2 1/2-1/2

World Chess Championship 2007 Round 13 B. Gelfand vs V. Kramnik

[Event "WCh"]
[Site "Mexico City MEX"]
[Date "2007.09.28"]
[Round "13"]
[White "Gelfand,B"]
[Black "Kramnik,V"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "2733"]
[BlackElo "2769"]
[EventDate "2007.09.13"]
[ECO "D47"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. Nf3 Nbd7 6. Bd3 dxc4 7. Bxc4 b5 8.
Bd3 Bb7 9. a3 b4 10. Ne4 Nxe4 11. Bxe4 bxa3 12. O-O Nf6 13. Bd3 axb2 14.
Bxb2 a5 15. Qa4 Bb4 16. Ba3 Nd5 17. e4 Nb6 18. Qb3 Qe7 19. Rab1 Bxa3 20.
Qxb6 Bb4 21. Ne1 O-O 22. Nc2 Rfd8 23. Nxb4 axb4 24. Qxb4 Qxb4 25. Rxb4 Ba6
26. Bxa6 1/2-1/2

Nobleza, 7 others pace Iloilo Shell active chess

MANILA, Philippines - Argie Nobleza and Joel Pimentel Jr. swept their first four matches to lead six others with perfect scores in the junior division halfway through the Shell National Youth Active Chess Championships Western Visayas leg at SM City-Iloilo in Iloilo City last Saturday.

Nobleza trounced McKennly Feranco, John Escutin, Khier Embrado and Vergel Neri while Pimentel beat Rio Estorque, Stephen Divinagracia, Keinth Cuardas and Rene Canata as they braced for a spirited chase for top honors in the last three rounds of the 20-and-under category.

Nineteen players, led by Vincent Crucero, Clifford Cobsilen Jr., showed the way in the kiddies category with four points while three others turned in 3.5 points apiece to likewise set up a tight battle in the 14-and-under class of the event serving as the penultimate leg of a seven-stage nationwide elims sponsored by Pilipinas Shell.

Crucero downed Rogie Italia, Jane Guirheim, Allen Gimeno and Francine Fuentes while Cobsilen trampled Rey Rentillo, Jose Selibio, Jan Templonuevo and Reggie Tenibro to pace the field that includes Pegah Cam, Renuel Otero, John Escutin, Elias Falcis, Harold Garzon, Jeriel Losanes, Anthony Nueva, Brenz Porras, Jocel Secugal, Grace Porras, Danielle Magalona, Mae Siervo, Joshua Wong, Joseph Balajadia, Vicente Siva, Franz Saldo and Claudine Beloria.

Oswald Olvido, Shayne Herrera and Robert Javier remained in the title race in kiddies play, which drew 328 entries, with 3.5 points apiece.

Earlier, Sankie Simbulan, business and corporate communications manager of Pilipinas Shell, and Councilor Jerry Trenas, also the chair of Iloilo City Sports Council, made the ceremonial moves kicking off the two-day tournament, sanctioned by the Nat’l Chess Federation of the Phils and serving as the penultimate leg of a seven-stage nationwide elims which supports the empowerment of the youth as part of Pilipinas Shell’s overall Sustainable Development commitment.

Dableo earns third GM norm

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – International Master Ronald Dableo drew nearer to becoming a full-fledged grandmaster after clinching his third and final GM result, even as National Master Emmanuel Senador defied all odds to earn his first GM norm in a pair of inspired performances on Friday at the close of the Dato Arthur Tan-Malaysian Open Chess Championship at the Ballroom, Cititel MidValley Hotel here.

Dableo, who had six points after eight rounds and needed at least a draw to clinch his third GM norm in the week-long tournament, did the trick after upending GM Susano Megaranto of Indonesia (Elo 2535) in the ninth and final round.

“Ang lakas ng pressure nung laban namin ni Susanto kasi nga make-or-break na ‘yun. Mabuti na lang nakakita ako ng magandang tira,” said the 30-year Dableo, whose stint here is being supported by Sol Marfori, finance manager of JH Patawaran, a construction company back home.

Dableo, who holds an Elo of 2417, went on to finish second overall behind Neghi Paramanjan of India, who won the tournament with a total of seven points.

The long-time University of Santo Tomas coach in the UAAP finished tied with Paramanjan but took second overall with an inferior tiebreak. He had seven points on six wins, two draws and a lone loss against Marat Dzhumaev of Uzbekistan. He won against compatriot and GM Darwin Laylo and Rahman Ziaur of Bangladesh and halved the point against Paramanjan.

But to become a full-pledged GM and join 11 others in the elite Filipino grandmasters list, Dableo needs to jack up his Elo rating to at least 2500.

”Talagang magpupursigi na ako. Mabuti nga marami ng tournaments sa atin (Philippines). Siguro mga 3 or 4 tournaments pa basta ganito lang lagi kaganda ang performance ko,” Dableo added, referring to the GMA Cup and the Pichay Cup slated next month in Manila and other international tournaments slated next year.

Senador, one of a handful of NMs here, pulled off the other shocker when he finished fourth overall with 6.5 points on the way to clinching his first GM result after a long wait.

The Jaro, Iloilo native actually needed only to draw his last match against Paramanjan to secure the title, but lost to the Indian in a tense final-round skirmish. But despite the loss, the veteran Senador proved that it’s never too late to aspire for a GM norm.

“Ang tagal ko ring hinintay ito. Pwede pa pala tayo,” said Senador, who beat a pair of Chinese GMs in Xkie Deshun (2525) and Yu Yangyi (2510) and was in solo lead with 6.5 points after eight rounds.

In the Ambank Challenge Cup tournament for 2200-below players, the Philippines also completed a 1-2-3 sweep with Samson Lim winning the tournament, Rodolfo Panopio placing second and Roel Abelgas clinching third place.

Informed of the latest feat of Filipino chess players, National Chess Federation of the Philippines president Prospero “Butch” Pichay said this only proves that Filipinos are world-class beaters.

“I would like to extend my congratulations to now GM-elect Ronald Dableo and Manny Senador and our Challenge Cup winners. They really proved that Filipinos are at par with the best in the world. And this also proves that our programs in the NCFP are on the right track,” Pichay said.

World Chess Championship 2007 Round 12 L. Aronian vs B. Gelfand

[Event "WCh"]
[Site "Mexico City MEX"]
[Date "2007.09.27"]
[Round "12"]
[White "Aronian,L"]
[Black "Gelfand,B"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "2750"]
[BlackElo "2733"]
[EventDate "2007.09.13"]
[ECO "D43"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bxf6 Qxf6 7. e3 Nd7 8.
Bd3 dxc4 9. Bxc4 g6 10. O-O Bg7 11. Rc1 O-O 12. Ne4 Qe7 13. Bb3 Rd8 14. Qc2
e5 15. Rfe1 Kh8 16. g4 Rf8 17. g5 f5 18. gxf6 Bxf6 19. Kg2 Bg7 20. h4 Nb6
21. dxe5 Bg4 22. Ned2 Nd7 23. e6 Ne5 24. Nh2 Qxh4 25. f4 Bf5 26. Ne4 Qh3+
27. Kg1 Nf3+ 28. Nxf3 Qxf3 29. Ng5 hxg5 30. Qh2+ Qh5 31. Qxh5+ gxh5 32. e7
Rfe8 33. Rc5 Bg4 34. Rxg5 Rxe7 35. Kg2 Bf6 36. Rg6 Rf8 37. e4 Bf5 38. Rh6+
Kg7 39. Rxh5 Bxe4+ 40. Kh2 Bd5 0-1

World Chess Championship 2007 Round 12 V. Kramnik vs P. Leko

[Event "WCh"]
[Site "Mexico City MEX"]
[Date "2007.09.27"]
[Round "12"]
[White "Kramnik,V"]
[Black "Leko,P"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2769"]
[BlackElo "2751"]
[EventDate "2007.09.13"]
[ECO "E06"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 Be7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. O-O dxc4 7. Qc2 a6 8.
Qxc4 b5 9. Qc2 Bb7 10. Bd2 Be4 11. Qc1 Qc8 12. Bg5 Nbd7 13. Qf4 Bb7 14. Rc1
Bd6 15. Qh4 h6 16. Bxf6 Nxf6 17. Nbd2 Re8 18. e4 Nd7 19. Nb3 a5 20. Nc5 Be7
21. Qf4 e5 22. Nxe5 Nxe5 23. dxe5 Bg5 24. Qf3 Bxc1 25. Rxc1 Rxe5 26. Qc3 f6
27. Qb3+ Kh8 28. Qf7 Bc6 29. Nd3 Re6 30. Nf4 Rd6 31. Ng6+ Kh7 32. e5 fxe5
33. Bxc6 Rf6 34. Qd5 Qf5 35. Bxa8 Qxf2+ 36. Kh1 Qxb2 37. Qc5 Kxg6 38. Be4+
Kh5 39. Rb1 1-0

World Chess Championship 2007 Round 12 A. Morozevich vs A. Grischuk

[Event "WCh"]
[Site "Mexico City MEX"]
[Date "2007.09.27"]
[Round "12"]
[White "Morozevich,A"]
[Black "Grischuk,A"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2758"]
[BlackElo "2726"]
[EventDate "2007.09.13"]
[ECO "A28"]

1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e5 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. d3 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. e4 Nf6 7. Be2 Bg4
8. O-O Bxf3 9. Bxf3 Nd4 10. g3 Bc5 11. Bg2 O-O 12. Na4 Bb6 13. Be3 Qd6 14.
f4 Nd7 15. Kh1 Rad8 16. Rc1 Nc6 17. Nxb6 axb6 18. Rc3 Nc5 19. a3 Nxd3 20.
Qc2 Nc5 21. Bxc5 bxc5 22. Rxc5 Rfe8 23. Rd5 Qe7 24. Qb3 exf4 25. Qxb7 Rxd5
26. exd5 Nd4 27. Rxf4 Qc5 28. Rf1 g6 29. Qa6 Re2 30. d6 cxd6 31. b4 Qc2 32.
Qxd6 Nf5 33. Qd8+ Kg7 34. Qd5 Qb2 35. g4 Rd2 36. Qf3 Nd6 37. h3 f5 38. Qg3
Qc2 39. gxf5 Nxf5 40. Rxf5 Rxg2 41. Qe5+ Kh6 42. Qe3+ 1-0

World Chess Championship 2007 Round 12 P. Svidler vs V. Anand

[Event "WCh"]
[Site "Mexico City MEX"]
[Date "2007.09.27"]
[Round "12"]
[White "Svidler,P"]
[Black "Anand,V"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "2735"]
[BlackElo "2792"]
[EventDate "2007.09.13"]
[ECO "C88"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8.
h3 Bb7 9. d3 Re8 10. a4 h6 11. axb5 axb5 12. Rxa8 Bxa8 13. c3 Bf8 14. d4 d6
15. d5 Na5 16. Ba2 c6 17. Na3 Qc7 18. Qe2 cxd5 19. Nxb5 Qd7 20. exd5 Bxd5
21. Bxd5 Nxd5 22. Rd1 Nf6 1/2-1/2

Senador nearing Malaysian Chess title

MANILA – Filipino International Master (IM) Emmanuel Senador turned back Chinese Yang Yu in the eighth and penultimate round of the 2009 Malaysian Open (Dato’ Arthur Tan Malaysian Open 2009) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to earn his first GM norm.

Senador defeated erstwhile tournament leader Yu using the disadvantageous black pieces in a Sicilian Defense encounter, grabbing the solo leadership board.

The Iloilo native now has a total to 6.5 points after eight rounds of play.

He is half a point ahead of Yu and Grandmaster Li Chao of China, GM Negi Parimarjan of India, GM Ghaem Maghami Ehsan of Iran, GM Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son of Vietnam, GM Darwin Laylo and IM Ronald Dableo of the Philippines, GM Iuldachev Saidali of Uzbekistan and GM Susanto Megaranto of Indonesia.

Senador’s next opponent in the ninth and final round will be Negi.

Dableo, meanwhile, will need to beat Megaranto to nail his third and final norm for the GM-title.

Dableo, who is best remembered for winning the prestigious 2003 Asian Zonal Chess Championships in Vietnam, out-duelled Bangladesh’s top GM Ziaur Rahman during their eighth-round encounter.
Marlon Bernardino

World Chess Championship 2007 Round 11 P. Leko vs L. Aronian

[Event "WCh"]
[Site "Mexico City MEX"]
[Date "2007.09.25"]
[Round "11"]
[White "Leko,P"]
[Black "Aronian,L"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "2751"]
[BlackElo "2750"]
[EventDate "2007.09.13"]
[ECO "E15"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Ba6 5. Qa4 Bb7 6. Bg2 c5 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8.
O-O O-O 9. Nc3 Be7 10. Rd1 d6 11. Bf4 a6 12. Qb4 Nc6 13. Qa3 d5 14. Qa4 Qc8
15. cxd5 b5 16. Qc2 Nb4 17. Qd2 Nbxd5 18. Nxd5 Nxd5 19. Rac1 Qe8 20. Nd4
Rc8 21. Bxd5 Bxd5 22. Nf5 Rd8 23. Bc7 Rd7 24. e4 exf5 25. exd5 Bd6 26. Re1
Qa8 27. Ba5 Rb8 28. a3 b4 29. axb4 Bf8 30. Re5 g6 31. Rc7 Rbd8 32. Rxd7
Rxd7 33. Qe1 Rxd5 34. Re8 Qc6 35. b5 Qd7 36. Kg2 Rxb5 37. Bc3 Qd6 38. Qe3
Rb7 39. Qd4 Qxd4 40. Bxd4 f6 41. Ra8 Kf7 42. Rxa6 Be7 43. Kf3 Rd7 44. Bc3
Bd6 45. Ke2 Be5 46. f4 Bxc3 47. bxc3 g5 48. Ra4 Rb7 49. Rd4 Ke6 50. Rd2 Rb1
51. Ke3 Rc1 52. Kd4 Rf1 53. Re2+ Kd6 54. Ke3 Rc1 55. Kd2 Rf1 56. Ke3 Rc1
1/2-1/2

World Chess Championship 2007 Round 11 B. Gelfand vs P. Svidler

[Event "WCh"]
[Site "Mexico City MEX"]
[Date "2007.09.25"]
[Round "11"]
[White "Gelfand,B"]
[Black "Svidler,P"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "2733"]
[BlackElo "2735"]
[EventDate "2007.09.13"]
[ECO "A15"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. Qa4+ Bd7 6. Qb3 Nb6 7. d4 Bg7
8. Bf4 Be6 9. Qa3 O-O 10. e4 c6 11. Rd1 Nc4 12. Bxc4 Bxc4 13. Ne5 Ba6 14.
Be3 Qd6 15. f4 Qxa3 16. bxa3 f6 17. Nf3 Nd7 18. d5 Nb6 19. dxc6 bxc6 20.
Nd4 Rfc8 21. Ne6 Bh6 22. Kf2 1/2-1/2

World Chess Championship 2007 Round 11 V. Anand vs A. Morozevich

[Event "WCh"]
[Site "Mexico City MEX"]
[Date "2007.09.25"]
[Round "11"]
[White "Anand,V"]
[Black "Morozevich,A"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2792"]
[BlackElo "2758"]
[EventDate "2007.09.13"]
[ECO "B90"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. f3 e5 7. Nb3 Be6 8.
Be3 Nbd7 9. g4 Nb6 10. g5 Nh5 11. Qd2 Rc8 12. O-O-O Be7 13. Rg1 O-O 14. Kb1
Qc7 15. Qf2 Nc4 16. Bxc4 Bxc4 17. Nd5 Bxd5 18. Rxd5 f5 19. gxf6 Rxf6 20.
Qe2 Nf4 21. Bxf4 Rxf4 22. Rd3 Qd7 23. Nc1 Rcf8 24. a3 Kh8 25. Na2 Qh3 26.
Rg3 Qh5 27. Qg2 Rh4 28. h3 Qh6 29. Rb3 b5 30. Nb4 Rh5 31. Qf1 Rh4 32. Qg2
Rh5 33. Nxa6 Bh4 34. Rg4 Bf6 35. Qe2 Rxh3 36. Rxb5 Bd8 37. Rb8 Qf6 38. Nb4
Rxf3 39. Nd5 Qf7 40. Qa6 h5 41. Rg2 h4 42. Qxd6 Be7 43. Qxe5 Rxb8 44. Qxb8+
Kh7 45. Qc7 Bf8 46. Qxf7 Rxf7 47. Rg4 Rf1+ 48. Ka2 Rh1 49. e5 Bc5 50. e6
Kh6 51. Rc4 h3 52. Rxc5 h2 53. Ne3 Ra1+ 54. Kxa1 h1=Q+ 55. Ka2 Qe4 56. Re5
1-0

World Chess Championship 2007 Round 11 A. Grischuk vs V. Kramnik

[Event "WCh"]
[Site "Mexico City MEX"]
[Date "2007.09.25"]
[Round "11"]
[White "Grischuk,A"]
[Black "Kramnik,V"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "2726"]
[BlackElo "2769"]
[EventDate "2007.09.13"]
[ECO "C43"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. d4 Nxe4 4. Bd3 d5 5. Nxe5 Nd7 6. Nc3 Nxc3 7. bxc3
Nxe5 8. dxe5 Be7 9. Qh5 Be6 10. Rb1 Qd7 11. Bg5 c6 12. O-O Bxg5 13. Qxg5
1/2-1/2

World Chess Championship 2007 Round 10 B. Gelfand vs P. Leko

[Event "WCh"]
[Site "Mexico City MEX"]
[Date "2007.09.24"]
[Round "10"]
[White "Gelfand,B"]
[Black "Leko,P"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "2733"]
[BlackElo "2751"]
[EventDate "2007.09.13"]
[ECO "E06"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 Be7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. O-O dxc4 7. Qc2 a6 8.
Qxc4 b5 9. Qc2 Bb7 10. Bd2 Be4 11. Qc1 Qc8 12. Bg5 Nbd7 13. Nbd2 Bb7 14.
Nb3 a5 15. Rd1 Bd5 16. Ne5 Bxg2 17. Kxg2 a4 18. Nc5 Bxc5 19. Bxf6 Bb6 20.
Bg5 Nxe5 21. dxe5 h6 22. Bxh6 gxh6 23. Qxh6 Rd8 24. Qg5+ 1/2-1/2

World Chess Championship 2007 Round 10 L. Aronian vs A. Grischuk

[Event "WCh"]
[Site "Mexico City MEX"]
[Date "2007.09.24"]
[Round "10"]
[White "Aronian,L"]
[Black "Grischuk,A"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2750"]
[BlackElo "2726"]
[EventDate "2007.09.13"]
[ECO "D30"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Bg5 h6 5. Bxf6 Qxf6 6. Nbd2 Nd7 7. g3 g5 8.
h3 Bg7 9. Rc1 c5 10. e3 O-O 11. Bg2 b6 12. cxd5 exd5 13. O-O Bb7 14. Re1
Rfd8 15. g4 h5 16. gxh5 Qh6 17. Nh2 Rac8 18. Ndf1 f5 19. Ng3 Qe6 20. Nf3
Qf6 21. dxc5 bxc5 22. b4 f4 23. exf4 gxf4 24. Nf1 c4 25. N1h2 Qf5 26. Nd4
Qd3 27. Ne6 Qxd1 28. Rexd1 Ne5 29. Nxd8 Rxd8 30. Ng4 Nd3 31. Rxd3 cxd3 32.
Rd1 Bc8 33. Rxd3 d4 34. Be4 Ba6 35. Ra3 Be2 36. h6 Bh8 37. Rxa7 d3 38. h7+
Kf8 39. Bg6 d2 40. Rf7+ Ke8 41. Nf6+ Bxf6 42. Rg7+ 1-0

World Chess Championship 2007 Round 10 V. Kramnik vs V. Anand

[Event "WCh"]
[Site "Mexico City MEX"]
[Date "2007.09.24"]
[Round "10"]
[White "Kramnik,V"]
[Black "Anand,V"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "2769"]
[BlackElo "2792"]
[EventDate "2007.09.13"]
[ECO "D43"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 dxc4 7. e4 g5 8.
Bg3 b5 9. Be2 Bb7 10. O-O Nbd7 11. Ne5 Bg7 12. Nxd7 Nxd7 13. Bd6 a6 14. Bh5
Bf8 15. Bxf8 Rxf8 16. e5 Qb6 17. b3 O-O-O 18. bxc4 Nxe5 19. c5 Qa5 20. Ne4
Qb4 21. Nd6+ Rxd6 22. cxd6 Nd7 23. a4 Qxd6 24. Bf3 Nb6 25. axb5 cxb5 26.
Bxb7+ Kxb7 27. Qh5 Nd5 28. Qxh6 Nf4 29. Kh1 Qd5 30. f3 Rd8 31. Qg7 Rd7 32.
Qf8 Ne2 33. Rfe1 Nxd4 34. Red1 e5 35. Rac1 Qd6 36. Qg8 f6 37. Rc8 a5 38. h3
a4 39. Qe8 Kb6 40. Rb8+ Ka5 41. Ra8+ 1/2-1/2

World Chess Championship 2007 Round 10 P. Svidler vs A. Morozevich

[Event "WCh"]
[Site "Mexico City MEX"]
[Date "2007.09.24"]
[Round "10"]
[White "Svidler,P"]
[Black "Morozevich,A"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "2735"]
[BlackElo "2758"]
[EventDate "2007.09.13"]
[ECO "B17"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nd7 5. Ng5 Ngf6 6. Bd3 e6 7. N1f3 Bd6
8. Qe2 h6 9. Ne4 Nxe4 10. Qxe4 Qc7 11. O-O b6 12. Qg4 Kf8 13. Bd2 Bb7 14.
Rfe1 Rd8 15. Rad1 c5 16. dxc5 bxc5 17. h4 Nf6 18. Qh3 c4 19. Bf1 Bd5 20. h5
Kg8 21. Be3 Kh7 22. Bd4 Rhe8 23. b3 cxb3 24. axb3 Ne4 25. Bb5 Re7 26. Qg4
f5 27. Qg6+ Kg8 28. c4 Ba8 29. Be3 Rf8 30. Bd4 a6 31. c5 Bxc5 32. Bc4 Qb6
33. Bxc5 Qxc5 34. Bxe6+ Kh8 35. Rd4 Bc6 36. Bxf5 Nf6 37. Rc4 Rxe1+ 38. Nxe1
Qe7 39. Nd3 Be8 40. Qg3 Nxh5 41. Qg4 Bf7 42. Rc5 Qd6 43. Qb4 Bg8 44. Ra5
Qxb4 1/2-1/2

Pestaño: The oldest chess club in the world

Frank “Boy” Pestaño
Chessmoso

THE Cebu Executives and Professionals Chess Association has been in existence for 19 long years and it seems like a lifetime.

Aside from Chessmoso, the founders were Art Ynclino, the late Sonny Sollano and Gerry Tomakin, Loy Minoza, Danny Pestaño,Nicnic Climaco and Alex Tolentino.

The Manhattan Chess club was founded in 1877 at Gafe Logeling (The club transferred to other sites including Carnegie Hall and the Central Opera house) in New York and is the second oldest chess club in America. It is historic in the sense that it frequently hosted the United States Championship .

Women were not allowed to join the club until 1938. In 1955 Bobby Fischer joined the club.

The oldest chess club in America in existence is the Mechanics Chess Institute in San Francisco established in 1854.

The Institute has also been visited by many world champions including Emanuel Lasker, José Capablanca, Alexander Alekhine, Max Euwe, Bobby Fischer, Vasily Smyslov, Tigran Petrosian and Anatoly Karpov.

All of these pales in comparison to the oldest club in the world and which is still going strong—the Schachgesellschaft Zürich. It was founded in 1809.

Although London and Paris had their first chess clubs from the 1770s onwards including the famous Café dela Regence in Paris—where Napoleon, Rousseau Robiespierre played—organized chess was still very rare in 1809 when the Schachgesellschaft Zürich was founded.

Ever since the club’s first day, membership has been highly diverse. The founders were Sigmund Spöndli (the State cashier of Zurich), Leonhard Ziegler (a paper manufacturer), Johann Escher (a grocer) and the three painters Heinrich Maurer, Carl Schulthess and Heinrich Schulthess.

This month, the club will be celebrating its 200th jubilee with a big bang. Last Aug. 22, 200 amateurs played against eight world champions: Viswanathan Anand, Anatoly Karpov, Garry Kasparov, Viktor Korchnoi, Vladimir Kramnik, Boris Spassky, Ruslan Ponomariov and Veselin Topalov. Each of them faced 25 players for 200 games altogether, one for every year of the club’s history.

The next day, another group of eight champions —Viswanathan Anand, Werner Hug, Anatoly Karpov, Alexander Khalifman, Vladimir Kramnik, Judit Polgar, Ruslan Ponomariov and Veselin Topalov—played one another in rapid format.

The winner was Kramnik. He was followed by Anand and, in joint third and fourth, Topalov and Ponomariov.

There was also an open tournament from Aug. 9 to 15. It attracted 600 players, including 45 GMs and 48 IMs. Alexander Areshchenko took the title with a superior tie-break over Boris Avruth with 7.5 points.

SELMA CUP. The Mayor Selma Cup, organized by Engr. Blas Hipulan, was played last weekend at the Minglanilla Sports Complex with three divisions.

The top three winners in the open division were Joel Pacuribot, Venancio Loyola Jr. and William Retanal Jr., respectively.

In the Kiddies, the champion was Marq Balbona. He was followed by Renzi Kyle Sevillano, Felix Shaun Balbona, Harold Dave Pones,Jeremy Pepito,James Andrew Balbona and Markeno Czar Manzanares.

The Executives division was ruled by Cepca members, led by former president Manny Manzanares (champion).

He was followed by Rafael Perez, Maggie Dionson and another former prexy Mandy Baria.

There will be a kiddies tournament tomorrow and Sunday at the San Roque Barangay Hall, Talisay City starting at 9:30 a.m.

The format is seven rounds Swiss with 25 minutes time control and registration at P25. Register by text to 0915-7206457.

Tournament arbiters are Marvin Ruelan and Tony Cabibil.

Magnolia non-master chess up at Parañaque

MANILA, Philippines - The 20th Magnolia Non-Master Chess Tournament (1950 below NCFP rapid rating) will be held Sept. 5 , at 9 a.m. at the Perez Building, Doña Soledad cor. Australia St, Better Living, Parañaque.

The tournamnet is sponsored by Mayor Florencio Bernabe, Barangay Don Bosco chairman Jun Virata and Magnolia Health Tea Drinks and organized by Barangay Don Bosco Chess Club (BDBCC) headed by adviser Bong Perez.

The tournament will be supervised by the National Association of Philippine Chess Arbiters, Inc. (NAPCA). Registration standard fee is P250. Kiddies fee is P150.

Information: Mario Perez 09066630110 or VP Cecil Padua 09235297465 or Bong Perez (02) 546)-3714, (02) 383-4996 or 0919-722-7552.

World Chess Championship 2007 Round 9 A. Morozevich vs V. Kramnik

[Event "WCh"]
[Site "Mexico City MEX"]
[Date "2007.09.23"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Morozevich,A"]
[Black "Kramnik,V"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2758"]
[BlackElo "2769"]
[EventDate "2007.09.13"]
[ECO "A34"]

1. c4 c5 2. Nc3 g6 3. e3 Bg7 4. d4 Nf6 5. d5 O-O 6. Nf3 e6 7. Be2 exd5 8.
cxd5 d6 9. O-O Bg4 10. h3 Bxf3 11. Bxf3 Nbd7 12. a4 a6 13. g4 c4 14. Be2
Rc8 15. g5 Ne8 16. f4 Qe7 17. Ra3 Rc5 18. Bf3 Ra5 19. Bd2 Nc5 20. Qe2 Nb3
21. Ne4 Nxd2 22. Qxd2 Qd8 23. Qb4 b5 24. axb5 Rxb5 25. Qxc4 Qb6 26. Qc6
Bxb2 27. Qxb6 Rxb6 28. Ra2 Bg7 29. Rc1 h6 30. h4 hxg5 31. hxg5 f6 32. Rc6
Rxc6 33. dxc6 fxg5 34. Nxg5 Nc7 35. Rd2 Rd8 36. Bg4 Bc3 37. Rd3 Ba5 38. Kg2
d5 39. e4 d4 40. e5 Bb6 41. Rb3 Rb8 42. Rh3 Ba5 43. Rh6 Rb2+ 44. Kg3 Be1+
45. Kf3 d3 46. Rxg6+ Kf8 47. Rd6 d2 48. Ke4 1-0

World Chess Championship 2007 Round 9 V. Anand vs L. Aronian

[Event "WCh"]
[Site "Mexico City MEX"]
[Date "2007.09.23"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Anand,V"]
[Black "Aronian,L"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "2792"]
[BlackElo "2750"]
[EventDate "2007.09.13"]
[ECO "C89"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8.
c3 d5 9. exd5 Nxd5 10. Nxe5 Nxe5 11. Rxe5 c6 12. d4 Bd6 13. Re2 Bg4 14. f3
Bf5 15. g3 Qc7 16. Kf2 Qd7 17. Bxd5 cxd5 18. Nd2 Bd3 19. Re3 Bg6 20. Nf1 a5
21. a3 1/2-1/2

World Chess Championship 2007 Round 9 A. Grischuk vs B. Gelfand

[Event "WCh"]
[Site "Mexico City MEX"]
[Date "2007.09.23"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Grischuk,A"]
[Black "Gelfand,B"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2726"]
[BlackElo "2733"]
[EventDate "2007.09.13"]
[ECO "E21"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nf3 c5 5. g3 cxd4 6. Nxd4 O-O 7. Bg2 d5 8.
cxd5 Nxd5 9. Qb3 Qa5 10. Bd2 Nc6 11. Nxc6 bxc6 12. O-O Bxc3 13. bxc3 Ba6
14. Rfd1 Qc5 15. e4 Bc4 16. Qa4 Nb6 17. Qb4 Qh5 18. Bf4 Be2 19. Re1 c5 20.
Qb3 e5 21. Bc1 Rac8 22. a4 Bc4 23. Qb2 Qg6 24. a5 Nd7 25. Rd1 Qc6 26. Bh3
Be6 27. Bxe6 Qxe6 28. Be3 Rc7 29. Qa2 Qxa2 30. Rxa2 Nf6 31. f3 Rfc8 32. Rb2
Kf8 33. Kf2 Ke7 34. Bg5 h6 35. Bxf6+ Kxf6 36. Rd6+ Ke7 37. Rd5 f6 38. Ke3
g5 39. c4 Rc6 40. Rb5 Ke6 41. f4 R6c7 42. Kf3 h5 43. Ke3 gxf4+ 44. gxf4 h4
45. f5+ Kf7 46. Kf3 Kg7 47. Rb1 Kh6 48. Rd6 Rc6 49. Re6 Rxe6 50. fxe6 Re8
51. Rb7 Rxe6 52. Rxa7 Rd6 53. a6 h3 54. Kg4 Rd3 55. Ra8 Kg7 56. Kf5 Rd6 57.
Ra7+ Kh6 58. Rf7 Rd2 59. a7 Rf2+ 60. Ke6 Ra2 61. Kxf6 1-0

World Chess Championship 2007 Round 9 P. Leko vs P. Svidler

[Event "WCh"]
[Site "Mexico City MEX"]
[Date "2007.09.23"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Leko,P"]
[Black "Svidler,P"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "2751"]
[BlackElo "2735"]
[EventDate "2007.09.13"]
[ECO "B90"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 e5 7. Nb3 Be6 8.
Qd2 Nbd7 9. f3 Be7 10. g4 O-O 11. O-O-O b5 12. Rg1 Nb6 13. Na5 Rc8 14. g5
Ne8 15. a3 Qc7 16. Kb1 d5 17. exd5 Nxd5 18. Nxd5 Bxd5 19. Bh3 Be6 20. Bxe6
fxe6 21. Qd7 Qxd7 22. Rxd7 Rc7 23. Rxe7 Rxe7 24. Bc5 Ref7 25. Bxf8 Kxf8 26.
Nc6 Rxf3 27. Nxe5 Rf5 28. Nd3 a5 29. h4 1/2-1/2

World Chess Championship 2007 Round 8 P. Leko vs A. Grischuk

[Event "WCh"]
[Site "Mexico City MEX"]
[Date "2007.09.21"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Leko,P"]
[Black "Grischuk,A"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2751"]
[BlackElo "2726"]
[EventDate "2007.09.13"]
[ECO "C88"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8.
a4 b4 9. d3 d6 10. Nbd2 Be6 11. Bxe6 fxe6 12. Nf1 Qd7 13. Ng3 Na5 14. d4
exd4 15. Qxd4 c5 16. Qd3 Nc6 17. c3 bxc3 18. bxc3 Kh8 19. h3 Qc7 20. Ng5
Ne5 21. Qe2 Qc8 22. f4 Nf7 23. Nf3 Rb8 24. c4 Qb7 25. Bd2 Qb2 26. Qd3 Qb7
27. Bc3 Qc6 28. a5 Kg8 29. Rad1 Rbd8 30. f5 e5 31. Nf1 Rb8 32. g4 h6 33.
N1d2 Qc7 34. Kh1 Qd8 35. Rg1 Nh7 36. Nf1 Bg5 37. Ne3 Bxe3 38. Qxe3 Rb3 39.
Rd3 Nhg5 40. Nd2 Ra3 41. h4 Nh7 42. Nf3 Nf6 43. g5 hxg5 44. hxg5 Nh5 45.
Bd2 Ra4 46. Qe2 Ra2 47. Qe1 Nf4 48. Bxf4 exf4 49. Qh4 Qe8 50. g6 Nh6 51.
Qxf4 Re2 52. Ng5 Qa4 53. Qxd6 Qxc4 54. Qd5+ Qxd5 55. Rxd5 c4 56. Rd7 c3 57.
Ne6 Rc8 58. Rgd1 Rd2 59. R1xd2 cxd2 60. Rxd2 1-0

World Chess Championship 2007 Round 8 B. Gelfand vs V. Anand

[Event "WCh"]
[Site "Mexico City MEX"]
[Date "2007.09.21"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Gelfand,B"]
[Black "Anand,V"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "2733"]
[BlackElo "2792"]
[EventDate "2007.09.13"]
[ECO "E06"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 Be7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. O-O dxc4 7. Qc2 a6 8.
Qxc4 b5 9. Qc2 Bb7 10. Bd2 Bd6 11. Rd1 Nbd7 12. Ba5 Qb8 13. b4 e5 14. Nbd2
exd4 15. Nxd4 Bxg2 16. Kxg2 c5 17. bxc5 Bxc5 18. N2b3 Ba3 19. e4 Ne5 20.
Nf5 1/2-1/2

World Chess Championship 2007 Round 8 L. Aronian vs. A. Morozevich

[Event "WCh"]
[Site "Mexico City MEX"]
[Date "2007.09.21"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Aronian,L"]
[Black "Morozevich,A"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "2750"]
[BlackElo "2758"]
[EventDate "2007.09.13"]
[ECO "E17"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Bb7 5. Bg2 Be7 6. Nc3 Ne4 7. Bd2 f5 8.
d5 Bf6 9. Qc2 Na6 10. Nxe4 fxe4 11. Qxe4 Nc5 12. Qe3 O-O 13. dxe6 Re8 14.
Qa3 Qe7 15. Be3 Qxe6 16. Rc1 Ne4 17. O-O Nd6 18. Bd4 Be7 19. c5 Ne4 20. Nd2
Nxd2 21. Bxb7 Rab8 22. Rfd1 Rxb7 23. Rxd2 Reb8 24. Qe3 bxc5 25. Qxe6+ dxe6
26. Bxc5 Bxc5 27. Rxc5 Rxb2 28. Rd7 Rc8 29. a4 Rxe2 30. Rcxc7 Rxc7 31. Rxc7
a6 32. Ra7 Ra2 33. Rxa6 e5 34. a5 e4 35. Ra7 h5 36. h4 Kh7 37. a6 Ra1+ 38.
Kg2 Ra2 39. Kf1 Kg6 40. Ra8 Kh7 41. a7 g6 42. Ke1 Kg7 43. Kd1 Ra1+ 44. Kc2
Ra2+ 45. Kb3 Ra1 46. Kc4 Ra2 47. Kd4 Ra1 48. Kxe4 Ra4+ 49. Kf3 Ra3+ 50. Kg2
Ra2 51. Kh3 Ra3 52. f3 Kh7 53. Kg2 Ra2+ 54. Kf1 Ra1+ 55. Ke2 Ra2+ 56. Kd3
Kg7 57. Kc4 Ra1 58. Kc5 Rc1+ 59. Kd6 Rd1+ 60. Ke5 Ra1 61. Kf4 Ra4+ 62. Ke5
Ra1 63. f4 Ra2 64. f5 gxf5 65. Kf4 Ra5 66. Re8 Rxa7 67. Kxf5 Rf7+ 68. Ke4
Rf1 69. Re5 Kg6 1/2-1/2

World Chess Championship 2007 Round 8 P. Svidler vs V. Kramnik

[Event "WCh"]
[Site "Mexico City MEX"]
[Date "2007.09.21"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Svidler,P"]
[Black "Kramnik,V"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "2735"]
[BlackElo "2769"]
[EventDate "2007.09.13"]
[ECO "C42"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Nc3 Nxc3 6. dxc3 Be7 7. Bf4
O-O 8. Qd2 Nd7 9. O-O-O Nc5 10. Be3 Re8 11. Bc4 Be6 12. Bxe6 Nxe6 13. h4
Qd7 14. Qd5 Qc6 15. Qf5 Qc4 16. Kb1 g6 17. Qh3 h5 18. Nd2 Qe2 19. Rde1 Qg4
20. Qh2 d5 21. f3 Qa4 22. g4 Bd6 23. Qf2 Ng7 24. c4 dxc4 25. Bd4 Qc6 26.
Bc3 Bc5 27. Qg3 Bd6 28. Qf2 Bc5 29. Qg3 Bd6 1/2-1/2

World Chess Championship 2007 Round 7 V. Kramnik vs B. Gelfand

[Event "WCh"]
[Site "Mexico City MEX"]
[Date "2007.09.20"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Kramnik,V"]
[Black "Gelfand,B"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "2769"]
[BlackElo "2733"]
[EventDate "2007.09.13"]
[ECO "D43"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 dxc4 7. e4 g5 8.
Bg3 b5 9. Be2 Bb7 10. O-O Nbd7 11. Ne5 h5 12. Nxd7 Qxd7 13. Qc1 Rg8 14. Rd1
Bb4 15. Qe3 Qe7 16. h3 h4 17. Bh2 Bxc3 18. bxc3 g4 19. Kh1 c5 20. hxg4 cxd4
21. Rxd4 e5 22. Rdd1 Nxg4 23. Bxg4 Rxg4 24. f3 Rg6 25. a4 a5 26. axb5 a4
27. Qe2 Qc5 28. Rab1 Rd6 29. Rxd6 Qxd6 30. Qxc4 a3 31. Ra1 h3 32. Qe2 hxg2+
33. Qxg2 O-O-O 34. Qa2 f5 35. Qxa3 fxe4 36. Qxd6 Rxd6 37. fxe4 Bxe4+ 38.
Kg1 Bd3 39. Bxe5 Rg6+ 40. Kf2 Bxb5 1/2-1/2

World Chess Championship 2007 Round 7 P. Svidler vs L. Aronian

[Event "WCh"]
[Site "Mexico City MEX"]
[Date "2007.09.20"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Svidler,P"]
[Black "Aronian,L"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "2735"]
[BlackElo "2750"]
[EventDate "2007.09.13"]
[ECO "C69"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. O-O f6 6. d4 exd4 7. Nxd4 c5
8. Ne2 Qxd1 9. Rxd1 Bd7 10. Nbc3 O-O-O 11. Be3 Re8 12. Rd2 Bc6 13. Rad1 b6
14. f3 Bd6 15. Bf4 Bxf4 16. Nxf4 Nh6 17. Kf2 f5 18. exf5 Nxf5 19. Re1 Rxe1
20. Kxe1 g5 1/2-1/2

World Chess Championship 2007 Round 7 V. Anand vs A. Grischuk

[Event "WCh"]
[Site "Mexico City MEX"]
[Date "2007.09.20"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Anand,V"]
[Black "Grischuk,A"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2792"]
[BlackElo "2726"]
[EventDate "2007.09.13"]
[ECO "C88"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8.
a4 b4 9. d3 d6 10. Nbd2 Na5 11. Ba2 c5 12. c3 Nc6 13. d4 bxc3 14. bxc3 exd4
15. cxd4 Nb4 16. Bb1 Bg4 17. h3 Bh5 18. g4 Bg6 19. d5 Nd7 20. Nc4 Rb8 21.
Bf4 Nb6 22. Nxb6 Rxb6 23. Nd2 Bg5 24. Bxg5 Qxg5 25. Nc4 Rbb8 26. Qd2 Qxd2
27. Nxd2 f6 28. Nc4 Rfd8 29. f4 Bf7 30. Ra3 g5 31. h4 gxf4 32. Rf3 Be8 33.
Rxf4 Kg7 34. h5 Bxa4 35. h6+ Kxh6 36. Rxf6+ Kg7 37. g5 Rf8 38. Rxd6 Bc2 39.
Ne5 Rf4 40. Rf6 Rh4 41. d6 Bxb1 42. Rxb1 Rxe4 43. Rf7+ Kg8 44. Re7 Rd8 45.
Rd1 c4 46. d7 Rf4 47. Rf1 Rff8 48. Rxf8+ Kxf8 49. Rxh7 c3 50. Ng6+ 1-0

World Chess Championship 2007 Round 7 A. Morozevich vs P. Leko

[Event "WCh"]
[Site "Mexico City MEX"]
[Date "2007.09.20"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Morozevich,A"]
[Black "Leko,P"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "2758"]
[BlackElo "2751"]
[EventDate "2007.09.13"]
[ECO "C45"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Bc5 5. Be3 Qf6 6. c3 Nge7 7. Bc4 Ne5
8. Bb3 Qg6 9. O-O d5 10. Bf4 Bg4 11. Qc2 f6 12. Ba4+ c6 13. Nd2 O-O 14. f3
Bd7 15. Kh1 Bb6 16. Rae1 Rae8 17. Re2 Kh8 18. Bg3 Qh5 19. Qd1 Bc7 20. Rfe1
Bb8 21. exd5 Nxd5 22. Nf1 Nb6 23. Bc2 c5 24. Re4 Qf7 25. Nb3 Bf5 26. R4e2
Rd8 27. Rd2 Bxc2 28. Qxc2 Rxd2 29. Nfxd2 c4 30. Nd4 Nbd7 31. Re2 a6 32. Ne4
b5 33. b4 Qd5 34. Nf2 Nb6 35. Re4 Qd7 36. Bxe5 Bxe5 37. Ng4 Bb8 38. Ne3 Re8
39. g3 g6 40. Kg2 f5 41. Rxe8+ Qxe8 42. Qd2 Be5 43. Ne2 Kg7 44. Kf2 Qe7 45.
f4 Bf6 46. g4 fxg4 47. Nxg4 Qd8 48. Qe3 Nd5 49. Qa7+ Qe7 50. Qxa6 Qd7 51.
Nxf6 Nxf6 52. Qa8 Qh3 53. Ke1 Qd3 54. Qa7+ Kh6 55. Qd4 Qb1+ 56. Kf2 Ng4+
57. Kg3 Qxa2 58. h3 Qxe2 59. hxg4 Qe1+ 60. Kf3 Qh1+ 1/2-1/2