Archives: News

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

Four Players Equally top the ranking table!

Day one of the Sri Lanka Online Under 16 Girls Youth Rapid Chess Championship 2021 organised by Chess Federation of Sri Lanka came to an astonishing end with Desandhi Dhihansa Gamage (photo above) of Sirimavo Bandaranaike Vidyalaya leading the pack with the better tie breaker after sharing an impressive score of 4/4 games with three more players, Piyumi Amarathunga (above right) of JMC College, Kaluthara, Ashvini Pavalachandran (below left) of Wycherley International School and Esandi Newansa (below right) of Dharmasoka College. The young talent, Desandhi beat KTS Karannagoda, HGKG Amarathunga , Dulinma Hemalni Rathnayake and Chanthuli Thanishka De Silva .

In the 2^nd position on tie breaker of the ranking table is Piyumi Uthpala Amarathunga beating Lethmini Nawodya Wellala , Oneli Vihanga Weerawardana , Nemindi Linaya Ramayanake and DADT Srilal . A Women’s National Team Member, Ashvini Pavalachandran and Esandi Newansa are sharing the 3^rd position of the ranking table with less tie breaking points. Ashvini beat Ansshi Anumitha Arunrojan , Minuli Kumarasinghe , Javindi Avarjana Akuratiya and Yasasi Geemini Abeysekara while Esandi beat Diyenka Samarasekara , Prasansa Premanath , Oneli Omaya Wilvalaarachchi and Devindya Oshini Gunawardhana .

To ensure the young chess prodigies of Sri Lanka keep playing chess and loving the sport, The Chess Federation of Sri Lanka organised the “Sri Lanka Online Under 16 Girls Youth Rapid Chess Championship” on 15^th & 16^th of May 2021 amidst a global pandemic. The tournament was held via chess.com platform with strict anti-cheating measures and throughout supervision by the arbiters. Players are allowed to play with only a Laptop/ Desktop and possession of any other equipment is prohibited. Players were asked to login to their chess.com accounts with their real name and real photo; zoom application was used to gain live feed of the player. All games are sent to chess.com and FIDE anti-cheating experts for analysis and if any player is found guilty of cheating, that particular player is banned from playing competitive chess for 2 years by the Chess Federation of Sri Lanka.

The tournament consisted of 70 players and 4 of the 7 rounds ended on the 1^st day.

The results can be taken from the following link : http://chess-results.com/tnr560484.aspx?lan=1&art=0

The top 5 rankings after round 4 of the tournament is mentioned below and Wishing the very best for the day two of the tournament to all the players.

1 . Desandhi Dhihansa Gamage | Sirimavo Bandaranaike Vidyalaya | 4 points

2 . Piyumi Uthpala Amarathunga | JMC College International | 4 points

3 . Ashvini Pavalachandran | Wycherley International School | 4 points

3 . Esandi M Newansa | Dharmasoka College | 4 points

5 . Chanthuli Thanishka De Silva | Anula Vidyalaya | 3 points

 

 

by Marlon Bernardino.
MANILA, Philippines—Unheralded Arena Grandmaster Voltaire Marc Paraguya (photo above) held Olympiad veteran GM Darwin Laylo to a draw to help lift the Cavite Spartans to an 11-10 win over the Pasig Kings Pirates in the Professional Chess Association of the Philippines’ (PCAP) online tournament dubbed as Grandmaster Wesley So Cup Saturday, May 15, 2021.

Paraguya and Laylo agreed a draw after 30 moves of Queen’s Pawn Opening, Mikenas Defense in their Rapid Game encounter.

“The Cavite Spartans pulled off a win over the highly rated Pasig City King Pirates. The Spartans’ come from behind victory was simply phenomenal as they played without any GM in their team but managed to score 11-10 over King Pirates with 3 GMs as their top board players. Kudos to the Cavite Spartans.” said Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) Deputy Director General for Policy and Planning Theo Panga, staunch supporter of Cavite Spartans together with Rep. Jon-Jon Ferrer, Mayor Ony Ferrer of General Trias City, Cavite, coach Ederwin Estavillo and assistant coach Israel Landicho.

Winners for Cavite were Melizah Ruth Carreon, International Master Petronio Roca, Jayson San Jose Visca and Renie Malupa.

Carreon routed Woman FIDE Master Sherily Cua on board 3, Roca trounced National Master Master Rudy Ibanez on board 4, Visca crushed Carl Espallardo on board 6 while Malupa outplayed Jaymarc Gutierrez on board 7.

Filipino GM Roland Salvador and Singaporean GM Kevin Goh Wei Ming  led the Pasig side. Salvador beat Singaporean Arena International Master Wagish Kumar Rai on board 1 while Goh Wei Ming edged Lourecel Hernandez Ecot on board 2.

Cavite defeated Pasig, 9-5 in Rapid portion. Earlier, Pasig beat Cavite, 5-2, in blitz side.

Pasig blitz portion winners were IM Eric Labog Jr., Goh Wei Ming, Cua, Ibanez and Laylo against Rai, Ecot, Carreon, Roca and Paraguya.

Visca and Malupa, the two survivors of Cavite, on the other hand, won over Cromwell Sabado and Gutierrez, respectively.

The Cavite Spartans will face Manila Indios Bravos and Isabela Knight Raiders on Wednesday, May 19, 2021.
Manila bested inaugural winner Laguna Heroes, 2-1, in the Armageddon tiebreak while Isabela waylaid Olongapo Rainbow Team 7, 11-7

by Marlon Bernardino.
MANILA, Philippines—Jayson San Jose Visca of Sta. Fe, Romblon captured his 4th title in Romblon Chess Club after winning the championship crown of the weekly Blitz 5+0 Swiss System last May 9, 2021. The tournament was held at lichess. com with a time control of 5 minutes and zero increments.

Visca, a coach & a member of PCAP’s Cavite Spartans scored 9.5 points with 9 wins, 1 draw & a loss against 7-time Phil. Executive Champion Dr. Jenny Mayor.

Blairy Andal Fallarme took the second place while Nephtali “Neph” Bantang finished third.

Rounding up the top ten (10) were 4th Bryan Blair Fallarme, 5th Dr. Jenny Mayor, 6th Christian Ygerr Servanez, 7th Jasper Faeldonia, 8th Yaneah Sofia Tanguilan Morada , 9th Ernie Faeldonia and 10th Vance Thristian Fetil Fajarit.

“Congrats to all the winners. RCC would like to thank the following sponsors,” said Engr. Ernie Fetisan Faeldonia.

The 1-day event was supported by Mayor Dental Clinic, Mr. Orly Pascual, MLGOO Carlito Faina Jr., GM/Engr. Joseph Galindo, Mr. Jasper Faeldonia and Mr. John Paul Canulo