PINOY GM WESLEY SO WINS TORONTO INTERNATIONAL CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP; POCKETS $4,000

FILIPINO chess prodigy Wesley Barbasa So clinched another chess title by winning the Crown Section of the 2012 Toronto International Chess Championship. The 17-year-old grandmaster from Bacoor, Cavite formalized his claim to the title at the Annex Chess Club in 918 Bathurst St., Toronto, Canada held last July 15 to 20, 2012.

The tournament was played as a 7-round Swiss with 18 participants in the event organized by the Chess Institute of Canada. So finished with a total of six points on account of five wins and two draws, half point ahead of his closest rival IM Nikolay Noritsyn of Canada.With his latest victory, So top player of National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) Chairman/President Prospero "Butch" Pichay Jr. and Tagaytay City Mayor and Secretary-General Abraham "Bambol" Tolentino Jr. went home the top purse of $4,000.

"The Crown Section, hosted by Chess Institute of Canada is a  FIDE Rated 7-Rounds “Standard” Swiss Event, was participated by 18 rated players (3 GMs, 5 IMs & 2 FMs) from 4 countries (Canada, Lithuania, Israel and Philippines). " said National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) Chairman/President Prospero "Butch" Pichay Jr.

" Winning the prestigious 2012 Toronto International Chess Championship is another good news for Philippine Sports." added Pichay, a former representative of the first district of Surigao del Sur in the Southern Philippines.

According to Pichay, So continues the Canadian tour in the Quebec Open Chess Championship 2012 which gets underway from July 21 to 28 at the beautiful venue College Brebeuf in Montreal, Canada.

Then So will head to Webster University - SPICE for his full time study, with a brief two week interruption to represent the Philippines in the  2012 World Chess Olympiad on August 27 to September 10 in Istanbul, Turkey.

Final standings:
1 GM So Wesley PHI 2650 – 6
2 IM Noritsyn Nikolay CAN 2460 – 5.5
3 IM Samsonkin Artiom CAN 2390 – 4.5
4 IM Calugar Arthur CAN 2273 – 4.5
5 GM Rozentalis Eduardas LTU 2600 – 4.5
6 WCM Peng Jackie CAN 1968 – 4
7 IM Gerzhoy Leonid CAN 2459 – 4
8 GM Sambuev Bator CAN 2542 – 3.5
9 Birarov Vladimir ISR 2169 – 3.5
10 Song Michael CAN 2142 – 3.5
11 Martchenko Alexander CAN 2245 – 3.5
12 Preotu Razvan CAN 2058 – 3
13 Ivanov Mike CAN 2035 – 3
14 FM Plotkin Victor CAN 2249 – 2.5
15 FM Campbell Brett CAN 2181 – 2.5
16 IM Panjwani Raja CAN 2392 – 2
17 Southam David CAN 2112 – 2
18 Yee Lorne CAN 2222 – 2

Here’s GM Wesley So’s round-by-round results:

R1:  15Jul :  GM Wesley So PHI (2650)  Vs  Michael Song CAN (2142) : 1-0
R2:  15Jul :  IM Raja Panjwani CAN (2392) Vs  GM Wesley So PHI (2650) : 0-1
R3:  16Jul :  GM Wesley So PHI (2650)  Vs    IM Nikolay Noritsyn (2460) : 1-0
R4:  17Jul : IM Samsonkin Artiom CAN(2390) Vs GM Wesley So PHI(2650) : ½-½
R5:  18Jul :  GM Wesley So PHI (2650)  Vs    Preotu Razvan CAN(2058) :  1-0
R6:  19Jul : GM Sambuev Bator CAN(2542) Vs GM Wesley So PHI(2650):  0-1
R7:  20Jul :  IM Arthur Calugar CAN (2273)  Vs GM Wesley So PHI(2650) : ½-½


By: Marlon Bernardino

GM WESLEY SO REMAINS BLITZ CHESS MAESTRO; GRABS GOLD IN ASIAN CHESS

FILIPINO Grandmaster (GM) Wesley So lived up to his billing as the Asia's No. 1 blitz chess player after winning the 11th Asian Continental Individual Chess Championships Blitz competition on Sunday at First Hotel, Tan Binh in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. He went undefeated en route to his another successful victory in the Blitz competition. He scored 6 wins and 3 draws (total 7.5 points out of nine games of play) against 7 GMs and 2 IMs to clinch first place. GM Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son and IM Nguyen Van Huy of Vietnam and GM Ding Liren of China finished second to fourth placers with 7.0 points each. Other Filipino woodpushers who participated in the Blitz chess competition of the Asian chess meet are GM Mark Paragua (6.0 pts., 10th place), GM Oliver Barbosa (5.5 pts., 22nd place) GM John Paul Gomez (5.0 pts., 29th place), GM Darwin Laylo (4.5 pts., 35th place), GM Eugene Torre (4.5 pts., 37th place) and IM Jan Emmanuel Garcia (4.0 pts., 40th place). It shall be recalled that the Bacoor, Cavite pride So tallied perfect score enroute the gold medal in the last year's Southeast Asian Games blitz tournament in Indonesia. "Blitz is a very exciting form of chess, with every player getting a mere 5 minutes to complete the game. This somehow leveled the playing field, resulting in a high rate of upsets!" said former Olympian GM Jayson Gonzales, Executive Director of the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) headed by Chairman/ President Prospero "Butch" Pichay Jr. -Marlon Bernardino-

GM PARAGUA TRIES TO CONQUER STA. MARIA IN SIMUL CHESS ON SUNDAY

MARK PARAGUA, the first Filipino to reach super grandmaster status, once again tries to showcase his talent in the 64 square board when he goes up against top Sta. Maria players in a rare simultaneous chess exhibition on Sunday, February 5 at the Sta. Maria Church yard (Patio) in Sta. Maria, Bulacan.

Organized by Sta. Maria Chess Club in close cooperation with Paragua Chess Academy, the one-day event aims to promote chess in the grassroots level coincide the celebration of Sta. Maria Town Fiesta 2012.

“We’re doing this to promote chess in the grassroots level,” said tournament director Engineer Norben De Jesus, president of Sta. Maria Chess Club.

Paragua, De Jesus and Chief Arbiter Alfredo Chay of the Chess Arbiters Association of the Philippines (CAAP) are expected to grace the affair.

The registration of Sta. Maria Town Fiesta 2012 Chess Challenge on Sunday is now on full swing. The champion in the 15 years old and below (Open age category) will get P5,000 plus trophy while the kiddies 14 years old and below pocketed the top prize of P2,500 plus trophy.

Registration fee for the Sta. Maria Town Fiesta 2012 Chess Challenge is P150 for kiddies division, P250 for 15 years old and below (Open age category) while free registration fee for Sta. Maria Players. For details, call or text 0922-838-6729 and 0908-754-0888.Marlon Bernardino

Barbosa is Philippines' Third Super Grandmaster

OLIVER BARBOSA become the third Super Grandmaster in Philippine History after he won the overall title in the 10th Parsvnath International Grandmasters Chess Tournament at Ludlow Castle Sports Complex, Civil Lines in New Delhi, India on Monday.

The Taytay, Rizal native finished the eleven round Swiss system tournament with 9.5 points on account of eight wins and three draws enroute the coveted chess title.

This victory enabled the former University of the Philippines (UP) mainstay Barbosa to raise his Elo live rating to 2627 from 2573 points.

The undefeated Filipino gain plus 53.8 Elo rating points (rounding off 54 points) plus a Tournament Rating Performance (TPR) 2710.

"WE (NCFP) are honored to present Oliver Barbosa, our newest Super Grandmaster in Philippine History," said National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) chair-president Prospero "Butch" Pichay Jr., who is is fully supporting the players' overseas campaign as part of the Philippine Team preparation for this year's 38th World Chess Olympiad in Istanbul, Turkey in close cooperation with the Philippine Sports Commission and Philippine Olympic Committee.

Mark Paragua become the first super Grandmaster (to reach 2600 mark) in Philippine history after he placed second in the 2006 Asian Zonal 3.3 Chess Championships.

The Bulacan based Paragua, on the other hand scored 8.5 points to finished over-all fourth in the 10th Parsvnath International Grandmasters Chess Tournament. He has a live Elo rating 2546 points after gaining a plus 24 points with a TPR 2550.

The Bacoor, Cavite whiz kid Wesley So, on the other hand achieved a rating of 2627 in 2009, a Philippine national record, surpassing the Elo 2621 rating of GM Paragua in April 2006. So, who is currently considered as the strongest chess player from the Philippines, achieved the GM title at the age of 14 years, 1 month and 28 days, making him the 7th youngest person to achieve the Grandmaster title in the history of chess.

Meanwhile, GM John Paul Gomez who beat fellow nine pointers Ma Qun of China in a tie break points in the 10th Parsvnath International Grandmasters Chess Tournament, has a live rating of 2553 after a plus 46.5 (rounding off 47 points) with a TPR 2601.The Binan, Laguna bet finished over-all second in the 10th Parsvnath International Grandmasters Chess Tournament.

The Filipino woodpushers who successfull in their India chess campaign is schedule to arrive Wednesday (January 25, 2012) via Malaysian Airlines at 2 pm at the Ninoy International Airport (formerly called the Manila International Airport, MIA). Marlon Bernardino

Final rankings after tie break points was applied:

9.5 points---GM Oliver Barbosa (PHILIPPINES)
9 points---GM John Paul Gomez (PHILIPPINES)
9 points---IM Lalith Babu M R (India)
8.5 points---GM Mark Paragua (PHILIPPINES)
8.5 points---Ma Qun (China)
8 points---GM Andrei Deviatkin (Russia)
8 points---Zeng Chongsheng (China)
8 points--- IM Vaibhav Suri (India)
8 points---IM Shyam Nikil (India)
8 points--- GM Abhijit Kunte (India)
8 points---IM Rathnakaran K (India)
8 points---IM Vidit Santosh Gujrathi (India)
8 points---IM Thejkumar M S (India)
8 points---GM Martyn Kravtsiv (Ukraine)
8 points---GM Laxman RR (India)

Reported for Chess News Philippines by Marlon Bernardino

ASIA'S FIRST GM TORRE EYES WORLD CHESS CUP; 3.3 ASIAN ZONAL CHESS ELIMS BEGINS TODAY IN TAGAYTAY

EUGENE Torre, Asia's first Grandmaster has only one thing in his mind right now, and that is to join countryman super GM Wesley So, in this year's World Chess Cup (World Chess Championships) in Khantiy, Mansiyk, Russia.

"Hope makapasok ako sa main draw ng World Chess Cup," said the 59-years-old Torre, the 1982 Toluca, Mexico Inter-Zonal champion and the first Filipino who made it to the Candidates matches in the World Chess Championship but lost to Hungrarian GM Zoltan Ribli.

Wesley So, the country's top rated player who holds a Fide ELO rating of 2667 has made it to the tournament proper of 128 players World Cup after reaching quarter-final round in the last edition in Khantiy-Mansiyk, Russia when he stunned super GMs Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine and Gata Kamsky of the United States.

The first round of the Asian Zone 3.3 chess championships begins today, Tuesday, 4 pm in Tagaytay City. Top officials from the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) and World Chess Federation (FIDE) are expected to lead a short but colorful opening rites followed by a one –minute silent prayer to honor of the late NCFP executive director Willie Abalos, who passed away last May . The tournament ends on May 30.

The week-long event to be held simultaneously with the Asian Zone 3.3 championship and the Asian Zone 3.3 women’s zonal, served as qualification tournament for the World Chess Cup, formerly FIDE knock-out World Chess Championships

Aside from Torre, other Filipino bets gunning for slots in the World Chess Cup are 12-time national open champion GMs Rogelio "Joey" Antonio Jr., Mark Paragua, John Paul Gomez, Darwin Laylo and GM-elect Ronald Dableo, IMs Oliver Barbosa, Richard Bitoon, Oliver Dimakiling, Chito Garma and Barlo Nadera, reigning Philippine Boys Juniors Champion NM Mari Joseph “MJ” Turqueza and ex-RP Juniors ruler NM Paulo Bersamina.

In the distaff side, Woman International Masters Chardine Cheradee Camacho, Beverly Mendoza, Cristine Rose Mariano and newly-installed WIMs Cheradee Chardine Camacho and Catherine Perena will seeing in action in the women’s play. Also include reigning RP Juniors Girls Champion WNMs Janelle Mae Frayna, Cristy Lamiel Bernales and Rulp Ylem Jose. Tournament director is Fide delegate IA Casto “Toti’ Abundo while olympian GM Jayson Gonzales is the grass roots development program head. By: MARLON BERNARDINO

10th Asian Continental Individual Chess: So, Laylo Prevail

FILIPINO Grandmasters Wesley So and Darwin Laylo clinched victories for the country on Wednesday in the third round of the 10th Asian Continental Individual chess championships at the Hotel Pardisan in Mashhad, Iran.

So, seeded third behind GMs Rustan Kasimdhanov (2685) of Uzbekistan and Krishnan Sasikiran (2676) of India with an ELO of 2667, defeated No.38 IM Alavi Sayed Javad (2428) of Iran to remain in contention in this prestigious, nine-round competition being held to determine the region’s four representatives to the 2011 World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia.

The No.25 Laylo (2516), the hero in the Filipinos’ first-round campaign, bested No.44 FM Jwan Bakr (2428) of Syria.

Thus, So and Laylo raise their total 2 points and gain a share of lead with 8th places along with GMs Parimarjan Negi (2622), Adhiban B (2543), Abhijit Kunte (2526) and Ganguly Surya Shekhar (2643) of India, GMs Zhou Weiqi (2610) and Zhao Jun (2574) of China, GM Dao Thien Hai (2512) of Vietnam and GM Susanto Megaranto (2529) of Indonesia.

No.5 GM Bu Xiangzhi (2662) of China routed Negi to grabs the solo leadership board with 3 points.

Six players, led by Sasikiran and No.3 GM Pentala Harikrishna (2666) of India, shared second to 7th places with 2.5 points.

No. 20 GM John Paul Gomez (2538) beat No.39 IM Gao Rui (2419) of China, No.19 GM Mark Paragua (2542) split the point with No.42 FM Hussein Ali Hussein (2394) of Iraq, while No.27 IM Oliver Barbosa (2506) also halved the point with No.12 GM Ehsan Ghaem Maghami (2606).

The triumvirate (Gomez, Paragua and Barbosa) now has 1.5 points along with Kasimdhanov, the tournament favorites, winner over No.48 Khademi Mohammad Miran (2308) of Iran.

In the fourth round, So will take on Adhiban B, Laylo will battle Zhao, Gomez opposite No.43 IM Das Debashis (2392) of India, Paragua will meet No.28 GM Anuar Ismagambetov (2500) of Kazakshtan and Barbosa goes up against No. 42 FM Al-Ali Hussein Ali Hussein (2394) of Iraq.

The top four finishers in the annual tournament will earn the right to represent the region in the 2011 World Cup scheduled in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia later this year.

China and India have the most number of entries with 12 players each, while host Iran has 10. The Philippines has five players, followed by Vietnam with three, Kazakhstan with two and Chinese-Taipei, Indonesia, Iraq, Syria, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan with one each. Of the 50 participants, 28 are GMs and 10 IMs.

The National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP), headed by president/ chairman Prospero “Butch” Pichay Jr., and the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC), thru Chairman Ricardo Garcia, are supporting the Filipinos’ campaign.

Submitted by: Marlon Bernardino

ANTONIO WINS, SO FALTERS IN SUBIC CHESS

Standings after seven rounds:

5.5 – H. Ni (China), C. Li (China), A. Gupta (India), L. Ding (China)

5 – W. So (RP), K. Sasikiran (India), J. Zhou (China), R. Yu (China)

4.5 – R. Antonio (RP), L.Q. Liem (Vietnam), E. Ghaemmaghami ( Iran), P. Harikrishna (India), T. Bakre (India), Y. Yu (China), G. Geetha (India), B. Gundavaa (Mongolia), Y. Wan (China), C. Zheng (China), D. Xiu (China), P. Sethuranan (India), D. Harika (India)


On a day GM Wesley So went down to his first defeat, GM Rogelio Antonio, Jr. did his best to keep the Philippine pride alive in the seventh round of 2010 Asian Individual Chess Championships at the Subic Exhibition and Convention Center in Subic, Olongapo City late Tuesday.

Antonio, ever so eager to get back into contention and gain another crack at the World Chess Cup, made short work of upset-conscious Pouria Darini of Iran to raise his score to 4.5 points and keep his chances alive in this prestigious, nine-round tournament organized by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP).

A mainstay of Philippine Army, Antonio defeated the lower-rated but hard-fighting Iranian player after 33 moves of the Sicilian Alapin. "I still have a good chance of making it with two more rounds left," said the multi-awarded camapaigner from Calapan, Oriental Mindoro, who finished in a tie for third place in last year's edition of this qualifying stage for the World Cup.

Antonio's win, however, failed to boost the morale of the 32-man Filipino delegation, which suffered a big blackeye with the unexpected loss of its top player, So.

In a battle between two evenly-matched players, So tried long and hard to squeeze out a win before finally yielding to fellow GM Ni Hua of China in marathon 74 moves of the Slav.

When the end finally came , the 16-year-old Filipino champion is facing two unstoppable queening pawns by Ni, the highest-rated player in the vaunted 19-man Chinese delegation with an ELO of 2667.

Asia’s first GM Eugene Torre and other experts, who analyzed the game, said So threw away an excellent chance of salvaging at least a draw in the tense rook and pawn endgame.

Several moves earlier, So even held a slight initiative against Ni but made several passive moves against Ni’s two connected rooks that turned the tide in the Chinese’s favor.

GM Li Chao of China crushed compatriot GM Yu Yangyi, GM Abhijeet Gupta of India humbled countryman GM Gopal Narayanan Geetha and GM Ling Direng of China outclassed Bayarsaikhan Gundavaa of Mongolia to vault into a four-way tie for the lead with Ni with 5.5 points.

So, seeded fourth with an ELO of 2665, dropped to a tie for fifth to eighth places with five points going into the final two rounds.

Another Filipino, GM John Paul Gomez, also ended up with a sad story to tell.

Gomez, who rose to prominence by earning his GM title during the World Chess Olympiad in Dresden, Germany two years ago, went down in defeat to GM Zhou Jianchao of China in a keenly-watched RP-China encounter.

The loss left Gomez, a mechanical engineering graduate of La Salle, with only four points to show in the tournament supported by the Philippine Sports Commission, Department of Tourism, PCSO, PAGCOR and the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority.

Also with 4.5 points are GM Pentala Harikirshna, who whipped IM Kaiqi Yang of China, top seed GM Le Quang Liem of Cietnam, who halved the point with IM P. Sethuraman of India, and GM Ehsan Ghaemmaghami of Iran, who split the point with GM Tejas Bakre of India.

Filipino IM Rolando Nolte toppled GM Ziaur Rahman of Bangladesh in 43 moves of the Sicilian to improve to four points.

In other notable seventh-round results, IM Ronald Dableo drew with GM Zhou Weiqi of China, IM Dronavalli Harika of India downed IM Barlo Nadera, GM Wen Yang bested Allan Macala and IM Oliver Dimakiling beat Paulo James Florendo.

Meanwhile, Christian Arroyo emerged as the solo winner in the National Amateur Rapid chess championship, side event of the Asian Championships, held over the weekend.

A mainstay of Far Eastern University under GM Jayson Gonzales, Arroyo finished with five wins and two draws in the two-day, seven-round tournament. He pocketed the top prize of P10,000.

Sharing second to third places were Allan Cantonjos and Ryan Dungca, who finished with 5.5 points. They pocketed P7,000 each.

Merben Roque and Jerry Areque finished fourth and fifth, respectively.

Completing the top 10 were Marlon Ricafort, sixth; Sheider Nebato, seventh; Ritchie Evangelista, eighth; Joey Albert Florendo, ninth; and Jerad Docena, 10th.

The other awardees were Lourecel Hernandez ( top unrated), Vince Angelo Medina ( top kiddie) and Judith Pineda ( top female).

Contributed by: Marlon Bernardino