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GM Nodirbek Yakubboev (above left) of Uzbekistan and GM Xu Yinglun (above right) of China share the lead with perfect 3 point slates after as many rounds of the Asian Continental Hybrid Chess Championship on Tornelo. Eleven players follow with 2.5 points apiece in the race for the top 7 qualification slots to the World Cup this July in Sochi, Russia.

Watch games live in chessbomb, chess.com, followchess, chess24 and chessbase. Visit chess-results.com to download games and for round by round results and standings.

Yakubboev converted the Reti Opening of GM Urtnasan Nasanjargal of Mongolia into a Queen’s Pawn Game and gained the exchange of Rook for Bishop on the 31^st move. The Uzbek blocked pawn promotion and forced resignation on the 40^th move (see diagram below after 40… Ba5).

GM Xu Yinglun essayed the English Opening against GM Sumiya Bilguun of Mongolia and in a Queen and Rook skirmisch made a king hunt to force resignation in 46 moves (see diagram below after 46… Qxd5?) There followed 47. Rh4+ Kg8 48. Qh8+ Kf7 49. Rf4+ Ke7 50. Qg7+ Ke6 51. Rf6+ Ke5 52. Rxg6+ Kf4 53. Qf8+ Ke3 54. Rxd6 1:0

Tied with 2.5 points each are GMs Ehsan Ghaem Maghami and Amin Tabatabaei of Iran, Lu Shanglei of China, Temur Kuybokarov of Australia, Sindarov Javokhir of Uzbekistan and Priasmoro Novendra of Indonesia and IMs Sugar Gan-Erdne of Mongolia, Mousavi Seyed Kahlil of Iran, Tin Jingyao and Lou Yiping of China and untitled Sattarov Bobir of Uzbekistan.

Urtnasan and 20 others follow with 2 points each to be within striking distance of the lead pack. At stake in the 9-round Swiss is a total of $16,000 in cash prizes. Games start 10am (UAE time) daily.

OJ Reyes to play Megan Althea Paragua
by Marlon Bernardino
MANILA, Philippines—Oshrie Jhames “OJ” Constantino Reyes is set to compete in the Grandmaster Rosendo Carreon Balinas Jr. Chess Challenge dubbed as  Bayanihan Chess Club Match Up Series, Chess For Cause, which begins on Saturday, May 29, 2021 in an online tournament through Lichess platform.

The 9-year-old Reyes, a grade 4 student of EZEE, Guagua, Pampanga will be pitted against 8-year-old Megan Althea Obrero Paragua of New York City, USA, niece of Grandmaster Mark Paragua.

“I’m excited to play Megan. I’m ready for the challenge,”  said Reyes.

Paragua will try to duplicate her victory over 9-year-old Yanie Ayesha Estavillo of General Trias City, Cavite last Saturday, May 22, 2021.

A Race to 7 affair, 7 minutes plus 2 seconds increment time control format, draws not counted according to Bayanihan Chess Club founding president AGM Marlon Bernardino.

Other matches pit Robert Suelo Jr. versus Dale Bernardo (May 29) and Reyes vs Bonjoure Fille Suyamin (June 4).

The event is organized by Bayanihan Chess Club headed by it’s founding chairman US based frontliner Dr. Joe Balinas and Engr. Antonio “Uncle Paps” Balinas in close cooperation with Jubail Kingdom of Saudi Arabia based Mr. Jimmy Reyes, New York, US based Mr. Jan Vincent Paragua, coach Ederwin Estavillo and Rep. Jon-Jon Ferrer

by Marlon Bernardino
MANILA, Philippines—-Grandmasters Rogelio “Banjo” Barcenilla Jr. (above left) and John Paul Gomez (above right) powered the defending champion Laguna Heroes to a 16.5-4.5 victory over FM Arlan Cabe-led Quezon City Simba’s Tribe in the Professional Chess Association of the Philippines (PCAP) Grandmaster Wesley So Cup online tournament at chess.com  Saturday, May 22, 2021.

Barcenilla, a many-time Battle of the GMs champion, defeated fellow Philippine Junior Champion Cabe in their rapid and blitz showdown. Following suit, Gomez swept Noel Jay Estacio to help propel the Heroes  to a share of fifth with Caloocan Loadmanna Knights with identical 3-2 win-loss records.

Laguna could jump to the top alongside San Juan Predators, which owns a league-best 5-0 card, in the Northern Conference if it could beat San Juan (7.5-13.5) and will create a possible five-way tie for first that includes Antipolo Cobras, Manila Indios Bravos and Cagayan Kings who hold 4-1 marker.

“GM Banjo Barcenilla and GM John Paul Gomez played very well and won the match .” said Arena Grandmaster Dr. Alfredo “Fred” Paez, one of the four co-team owners of the Laguna Heroes including David Nithyananthan of KALARO, Engr. Benjamin Dy of SDC Global Choice and Engr. Jonathan Mamaril of Oregon, USA.

Also delivering for Laguna backed up by Greatech Philippines, Inc., SDC Global Choice, Jolly Smile Dental Clinic, KALARO and Rotary Club of Nuvali were FIDE Master Austin Jacob Literatus, Woman National Master Jean Karen Enriquez, FIDE Master Jose Efren Bagamasbad and Kimuel Aaron Lorenzo.

Literatus defeated Joseph Navarro, Enriquez toppled Michaela Concio, Bagamasbad beat Danilo Ponay and Lorenzo edged Vicente Demain.

FIDE Master Robert Suelo Jr., meantime saved the day for Quezon City by beating Vince Angelo Medina for a possible shut-out loss in the rapid competition.

In the blitz portion, Ponay and Demain provided the twin wins for Quezon City after beating Bagamasbad and Lorenzo, respectively. Suelo, on the other hand split the point with Medina.

The Laguna Heroes bested Quezon City in blitz portion, 4.5-2.5, as well as in the rapid format, 12-2

.
Meanwhile, Camarines Soaring Eagle and Cordova Dutchess Dagami Warrios are showing the way in the Southern Division with 5-0 clean slate

IM Sugar Gan-Erdene (photo above) of Mongolia upset top seed GM Parham Maghsoodloo to share early lead with 8 others at 2 points each in as many rounds of the Asian Continental Hybrid Chess Championship on Tornelo. Watch gmes live in chessbomb, chess.com, followchess, chess24 and chessbase. Visit chess-results.com to download games and for round by round results and standings.

Tied for the lead at 2 points each are FM Jagadeesh Siddharth of Singapore, GMs Lu Shanglei and Xu Yinglun of China, Nodirbek Yakubboev and Javokhir Sindarov of Uzbekistan, GM Ehsan Ghaem Maghami of Iran and Sumiya Bilguun and Urtnasa Nasanjargal of Mongolia

Gan-Erdene crushed the Sicilian Defense of Maghsoodloo in 33 moves. Maghsoodloo tried to release the tension with 32… d5 (see diagram below) and was clearly surprised by the Mongolian’s response of 33.Rxf6! and the Iranian GM lost on time.

Actually two other Iranians lost their second round games as well, namely GM Aryan Gholami and Orini Mahdi Gholami. The five Iranians play at the Iran Chess Federation building which lost electricity for two hours. Although they continued to play with laptop batteries and mobile hotspot, the distraction and stress took their toll.

Games are scheduled 10am daily (UAE time). Eighty two players are competing in the 9-round Swiss System tournament. At stake are seven qualification slots to the FIDE World Cup July in Sochi, Russia and $16,000 in cash prizes.

 

 

 

by Marlon Bernardino.
The Grandmaster Rosendo Carreon Balinas Jr. Chess Challenge  gets underway today, Saturday, May 22, 2021 on online tournament at lichess platform.

Game time starts at 8:30 p.m (Manila Time) with a time control of 7 minutes plus 2 seconds increment, draws not counted, first player score 7 points wins the game.

Yanie Ayesha Estavillo (photo above left) of General Trias City, Cavite, Philippines and Megan Althea Obrero Paragua (photo above right) of New York City, USA brace for an explosive showdown as they slug it out in the Bayanihan Chess Club Match Up Series, Chess For Cause.

Estavillo is fresh from winning the 2021 National Youth and Schools Chess Championship – Visayas Leg Under 11 Open Category last April 23, 2021 at Tornelo platform.

The 9-year-old Estavillo, a grade 4 student of John Isabel Learning Center in General Trias City, Cavite, playing under the guidance of Rep. Jon-Jon Ferrer and coach Ederwin Estavillo collected six points on six wins and one loss to win the seven-round tournament.

“I know Megan is a tough player but I’m ready,” said Estavillo, a gold medal winner during the 1st Thailand Chess Festival 2019 held from July 7 and 8, 2019 at the Le Bali Resort and Spa in Pattaya, Thailand.
Even though she was late for the first game and took a first game bye, the 8-year-old Paragua, niece of Grandmaster Mark Paragua still managed to finish the tournament strong and get the clear 1st place out of 46 students in New York City last April 26, 2021.

” I hope to do well in this event ( Grandmaster Rosendo Carreon Balinas Jr. Chess Challenge, Bayanihan Chess Club Match Up Series, Chess For Cause),” said the young Paragua, daughter of Jan Vincent and Jennifer Obrero Paragua.

Other matches pit Robert Suelo Jr. versus Dale Bernardo (May 29), Paragua versus Oshrie Jhames “OJ” Constantino Reyes (May 29) and Reyes vs Bonjoure Fille Suyamin (June 4).

The event is organized by Bayanihan Chess Club headed by it’s founding chairman US based frontliner Dr. Joe Balinas and Engr. Antonio “Uncle Paps” Balinas in close cooperation with Jubail Kingdom of Saudi Arabia based Mr. Jimmy Reyes

The Asian Continental Chess Championship has started on Tornelo with a strong field of 20 Grandmasters, 20 International Masters and 12 FIDE Masters. Watch gmes live in chessbomb, chess.com, followchess and chess24 and chessbase. Visit chess-results.com to download games and for round by round results and standings.

The hybrid tournament has a total of 82 players from 15 countries, namely Australia, Bangladesh, China, Indonesia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mongolia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Chinese Taipei and Uzbekistan.

Top seed is GM Parham Maghsoodloo of Iran with a FIDE rating of 2698 followed by GMs Lu Shanglei of China (2615), Amin Tabatabaei of Iran (2613) and Nodirbek Yakubboev of Uzbekistan (2605) among the favorites.

The other Grandmasters are Xu Yinglun and Lei Tingjie of China, Susanto Megaranto and Novendra Priasmoro of Indonesia, Temur Kuybokarov of Australia, Ehsan Ghaem Maghami, Aryan Gholami and Masoud Mosadeghpour of Iran, Javokhir Sindarov, Vakhidov Jakhongir and Vokhicov Shamsiddin of Uzbekistan, Batchuluun Tsegmed, Urtnasan Nasanjargal and Bilfun Sumiya of Mongolia, Niaz Murshed and Enamul Hossain of Bangladesh.

Sri Lanka players make good start

Round 1 went as expected with favorites easily winning their games. The only upset was scored by Sri Lankan National Champion Liyanage Ranindo Dilshan (2203) of Sri Lanka over GM Masoud Mosadeghpour (2486) of Iran. Liyanage used the Sicilian Defense to force resignation in 38 moves.

FM Minul Doluweera (above left) of University of Colombo managed to draw with IM Lou Yiping of China who has a higher ELO rating of 2472. FM LMST De Silva (above right) drew with Sattarov Bobir of Uzbekistan who has a rating of 2459  while Denuwan Theekshana drew with Gholami Mahdi of Iran with a rating of 2430 .

by Marlon Bernardino
MANILA, Philippines—Grandmaster Rogelio “Banjo” Bacenilla Jr. proved unstoppable at the top board as he led the defending champion Laguna Heroes to a 16.5-4.5 victory over Cagayan Kings in the Professional Chess Association of the Philippines (PCAP) second conference dubbed Grandmaster Wesley So Cup Wednesday, May 19, 2021 on online tournament at chess.com.

Barcenilla, a two-time (1989 and 1990) Asian Junior champion in India and Dubai and 1991 Bronze medalist in World Juniors championship in Romania, gained the upper hand with a beautiful Rook to h7 check sacrifice in the 39th move that forced Uzbekistani chess Grandmaster Alexei Barsov to resign after 42 moves of a French defense in their rapid play encounter. Barcenilla also toppled Barsov after 61 moves of a King’s Indian defense in the blitz portion.

This helped the Laguna Heroes of team owner-playing coach Arena Grandmaster Dr. Alfredo “Fred” Paez recover from their 1-2 Armageddon tie breaker setback to Manila Indios Bravos last Saturday, May 15.
“GM Banjo’s play was always razor-sharp, rational and brilliant.” said Arena Grandmaster Dr. Alfredo “Fred” Paez, one of the four co-team owners of the Laguna Heroes including Mr. David Nithyananthan of KALARO, Engr. Benjamin Dy of SDC Global Choice and Engr. Jonathan Mamaril of Oregon, USA.

The Heroes, earlier beat Isabela Knight Raiders, 17-4. The Heroes now have 2-1 win-loss record in the Northern Division standings.

Also delivering for Laguna, backed up by Greatech Philippines, Inc., SDC Global Choice, Jolly Smile Dental Clinic, KALARO and Rotary Club of Nuvali, were FIDE Master Jose Efren Bagamasbad, Grandmaster John Paul Gomez and Kimuel Aaron Lorenzo.

Bagamasbad dismantled Lamber Arugay after 45 moves of a Sicilian defense, Gomez smashed Jake Tumaliuan after 34 moves of a Ruy Lopez Opening, Medina routed Robert Mania after 42 moves of a Dutch defense and Lorenzo dealt Joan Furigay after 36 moves of a Modern defense.

Don Tyrone Delos Santos and April Joy Ramos provided the twin wins for Cagayan after beating FIDE Master Austin Jacob Literatus and Woman National Master Jean Karen Enriquez, respectively.

The Laguna Heroes bested Cagayan Kings in the blitz portion, 6.5-0.5, as well as in the rapid format, 10-4.
Meanwhile, Cavite Spartans suffered back-to-back losses to Manila Indios Bravos, 10-11, and Isabela Knight Raiders, 1-2, in Armageddon tie breaker. Cavite is the tormentor of Pasig Kings Pirates, 11-10, in the opening round. However, Manila Indios Bravos, yielded to Caloocan Loadmanna Knights, 6.5-14.5.

by Marlon Bernardino.
MANILA, Philippines—Gaye Thalia Ventura, a grade 1 student of Francisco E. Barzaga Memorial School in Dasmariñas City, Cavite won the National Youth and Schools Online Chess Championship on Monday, May 17, 2021 on online tournament at Tornelo platform.

The 6-year-old Ventura, one of the country’s hottest players in online chess tournaments during the pandemic, finished with perfect 7 points to clinch the title in the Under 7 Open age group category. Ventura scored victories over Caleb Royce Garcia in the first round, Elle Castronuevo in the second round, Danry Seth Romualdez in the third round, Prince Jhamie Constantino Reyes in the fourth round, Jay Emmanuel Sotaridona in the fifth round, Darren Tanada in the sixth round and Jury Joaquin Ferrer in the seventh and final round.

Castronuevo came in second with 5.5 points while Reyes settled for third with 5 points. Garcia, Sotaridona, Tanada and Ferrer wound up tied for fourth to 7th places with 4 points each.

The 6-year-old Reyes, the pride of Dila-Dila, Santa Rita, Pampanga, swept his first three matches,  but yielded to eventual champion Ventura in the fourth round.

Reyes, a Kindergarten student of EZEE, Guagua, Pampanga bounced back after winning his fifth round match against Garcia. However, Reyes loss to Castronuevo in the sixth and penultimate round that relegated him to solo third after beating Christian Jay Agape in the last round.

Gaye Thalia is the younger sister of Gio Troy Ventura and Prince Jhamie is the younger brother of Oshrie Jhames “OJ” Constantino Reyes. Gio Troy and Oshrie Jhames “OJ” are both winners in International Chess Tournament.

The event was organized by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines headed by it’s president/chairman Senior Deputy Speaker Prospero ” Butch” Arreza Pichay Jr. in close cooperation with the Philippine Sports Commission. Tournament Director is NCFP Chief Operating Officer (COO) Grandmaster Jayson Gonzales

From 6th May to 15th May 2021 in Tashkent took place Zonal 3.4 FIDE Championship 2021. The event was supported by the FIDE Planning and Development Commission.

In the Championship took part 34 chess players from Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

The tournament was played over the board in 9 rounds. The last round and the Closing ceremony took place on 15th May 2021.

Winner of the Zonal Championship GM Abdusattorov Nodirbek (UZB) and the 2nd place GM Yakubboev Nodirbek both qualified to the FIDE World Cup 2021. Visit chess-results.com to download games and for round by round results.

Zone 3.4 President Husan Turdialiev of Uzbekistan oversees the Zone 3.4 Zonal in Tashkent.

 

 

The Sri Lanka Online Youth Under 16Yrs Girls Rapid Chess Championship 2021 came to a remarkable end with 4 players scoring 6 points each out of possible 7 games topping the ranking table, wrapping up the tournament. The young Chess sensation Esandi Newansa (photo above) of Dharmasoka College, Ambalangoda became the Champion with the better tie-breaker. Esandi showed an impressive performance throughout the tournament where in day one she scored 4/4 points and in the day two of the tournament she scored 2/3 points by beating, Ashvini Pavalachandran who is a Women’s National Team contender and Desandhi Gamage but lost her last game against Tharushi Sandeepani making her score 6/7 to win the Championship.

Winning the runner-up was Piyumi Amarathunga (photo avoe) of JMC College, Kalutara with a score of 6/7 games . After winning all the 4 games in the day one of the tournament, Piyumi lost her first game in the day two to Desandhi Gamage but regained her momentum by beating HMMD Herath and Ashvini Pavalachandran.

Desandhi Gamage (photo above) of Sirimavo Bandaranaike Vidyalaya Colombo won Bronze Medal with a score of 6/7 games by beating Piyumi Amarathunga and Devindya Gunawardhana but lost her game against Esandi Newansa (photo below).

Though Tharushi Sandeepani who is a member of the SL Women’s National Team was ranked below yesterday, she came back strongly to share the leaders with 6 out of 7 points by scoring 3 out of three in the 2^nd day. Unfortunately, she had to accept 4^th place due to the poor Tie Breaker.

Victories made and failures teaching to rise up better brings the “Sri Lanka Online Under 16 Girls Youth Rapid Chess Championship 2021” organised by the ‘Chess Federation of Sri Lanka’ to an end. The tournament started on 15^th of May 2021 via the Chess.com platform and ended on 16^th of May 2021, with strict anti-cheating measures and throughout supervision of players by arbiters. Players were allowed only to play with a laptop/desktop computer and possession of any other device/equipment was prohibited. Players were instructed to login to their Chess.com accounts with their real name and real photo; zoom application was used to gain live feed of the players by arbiters. All games after finishing were sent to chess.com and FIDE anti-cheating specialists for inspection. Any player found guilty of cheating or any other violation of the rules was subjected to a 2-year ban of playing competitive chess by the Chess Federation of Sri Lanka .

The champion was awarded with the Championship trophy, gold medal and a certificate while the runner-up and 2^nd runner-up was awarded with Silver and Bronze medals respectively along with certificates. Rest of the top rankers were issued with certificates under CFSL policy.

With a thorough aim of engaging the young Chess prodigies of Sri Lanka to keep playing chess and loving the sport, the ‘Chess Federation of Sri Lanka’ organised the tournament amidst a global pandemic adding up another successfully ended event to their calendar.

The tournament consisted of 70 players and the top 10 rankings after the final round is mentioned below. Also, the tournament details and full results can be obtained via the following link : http://chess-results.com/tnr560484.aspx?lan=1&art=1&rd=7 .

 

1 . Esandi Newansa | Dharmasoka College Galle | 6 points

2 . Piyumi Amarathunga | JMC College International Kalutara | 6 points

3 . Desandhi Gamage | Sirimavo Bandaranaike Vidyalaya Colombo | 6 points

4 . Tharushi Sandeepani | Devi Balika Vidyalaya Colombo | 6 points

5 . Tenuli Rathnayake | Ananda Balika Vidyalaya Colombo | 5.5 points

6 . Ashvini Pavalachandran | Wycherley International School | 5 points

7 . Prasansa Premanath | Girls’ High School Kandy | 5 points

8 . Nemindi Ramanayake | Veyangoda Bandaranayake Central College | 5 points

9 . Oneli Wilvalaarachchi | Gothami Balika Vidyalaya | 5 points

10 . HMMD Herath | Maliyadeva Balika Vidyalaya | 5 points

by Ashan Dharmasiri