Salientes, Colonnade Open and Lapu Fiesta

First of all, I would like to congratulate Allan Salientes for winning the town of Consolacion's first ever open tournament, last October 21. Trailing behind him were a lot of 6-pointers with the likes of FM Antonio Makinano, Reynaldo Flores(arguably among the strongest attacking players in Cebu)., Michael "The Silver" Silvederio, and Sicilian specialist Yves Fiel. Rounding up the 6th to 10th places were Carlos Moreno III, Roumel Asoque, Aller Somosot (Hustler Master), and noted varsity players, Diego Claro and Michael Pagaran.

You may already know this, especially if you're a Cebuano chesser, that the Colonnade Open is near in sight, next Saturday. So umm,  Pahuway o Praktis? Hmmm...

Right along the oldest street in the Philippines, in Colon, a very important  chess event will take place.

GOOD NEWS! The MICA fiesta tournament is CONFIRMED and will commence in Lapu Lapu this November 17. Moreover, it is said that the tournament will use new and digital chess clocks. The tournament will use the "usual" 7-round Swiss System format, with time controls around 30 minutes. Interested outsiders will have to be in contact with MICA before they join. Email: lapulapuchess@gmail.com

Abellana Wins Lapu Lapu October Tournament

Ariel Joseph Abellana (Left)

The pride of Saint Alphonsus Catholic School, Ariel Joseph Abellana, once again wins another Lapu Lapu Chess Monthly Tournament, for this month of October. 

Abellana proved that the tournament was for him to take when he beat top seeded, Romeo "Ramil" Resuera in the 2nd round. As if he was contented with his victory over Resuera, Abellana beat yet another strong player in Lapu Lapu, Aldwin Daculan in the 4th round to garner 4 points, before drawing his game against Rolando Torres. Abellana and was crowned champion with a total score of 4.5 out of 5 rounds.

Awards were also given to the 2nd to 5th place finishers. Those who made it to the top five were Romeo Resuera, Aldwin Daculan, Rolando Torres, and Giovanni Borongan respectively.

It is well remembered by the city's woodpushers, that Abellana had previously won two editions in our monthly tournaments. Undeniably, Abellana is now a strong force to reckon with, in Lapu Lapu Chess. It is said that Abellana's favorite defence is the French, a solid Black opening that offers counterplay as well, particularly in the Queenside. His style is "very resourceful".

November Chess Tournaments

This coming November, two exciting chess tournaments will be held in Lapu-Lapu, Cebu. One tournament will be organized by the Lapu Lapu Chess Club (LLCC), and the other by the Mactan Island Chess Association (MICA).

The tournaments are created in celebration of the Fiesta in Lapu Lapu this November. It is said that the LLCC tournament will be played in a Swiss System format, while the MICA event will be a team tournament.

Many Lapu Lapu resident chessers are excited on these upcoming chess events, especially since there weren’t any chess tournaments in last year’s fiesta.  This was perhaps due to financial constraints last 2011.

Anyways, the two chess events just prove that Lapu Lapu City can be a venue for chess players to “practice” their talent which to me is good for chess!

Further info and details on our November chess events will be disclosed this weekend.

"Mabuhay ang Chess sa Lapu Lapu!"

Game Annotations on The Site?!

Our club's chief website, LapuLapuChess, plans to post annotations of chess games, straight from the club. The chess games posted may either be Grandmaster games and or, simply some intriguing games played from our club that might interest our readers. The criteria for the games to be posted are as follows:

1. Instructional value
2. Practical relevance
3. Artistry   

The third criterion (Artistry) isn't completely necessary but somehow, helpful in order to stimulate our readers' imagination and cognitive skills. The second criterion which is the "know how" side of the game, means the practical application of theoretical knowledge. For example: Player A has a space advantage but doesn't know how to convert his advantage to crush Player B. The second criterion solves this problem by demonstrating the "know how" to convert Player A's advantage. The first criterion is self explanatory.

The annotated games will be posted in two weeks. We will do our best to make the annotations as fun as possible while not diminishing the instructive value of the games.

For any suggestions, email us. Our very own Kraig Quinain reads all the messages. I'm not kidding.

Finally, God bless and T.Y.

Lapu Lapu September Tournament

Bryll John Arellano (Champion)

Among Bacolod's rising stars,  Bryll John Arellano(photo) who now lives in  Lapu Lapu City, has just won the September Chess Tournament last Saturday, Sept. 23, near the Barangay Gun-Ob Elementary School, Lapu Lapu City, Philippines. After an amazing streak of 4 wins, Arellano finally drew his game against Michael Henry Infante, to take the crown of the 5-round Swiss event. Perhaps Arellano's most notable feat in the tournament was his win against two-time Lapu Lapu Monthlies Champion, Ariel Joseph Abellana who had to be contented in 6th place, after the tournament. The tournament only required 1st to 6th places. In second place is Lemuel Montero, one of Lapu Lapu's most solid players ever produced, and in third place is Michael Henry Infante, another notable chess player in the city. The 4th and 5th places were taken by Neil Amores and J. Abrantes respectively. 

The September edition of the Lapu Lapu tournament was sponsored by the Lapu Lapu Chess Club and the Barangay Gun-Ob local government. Once again, the author of this blog would like to thank Jun Olis and to the "silent" heroes who have made this event possible

Finding NM Joel Fernan

Starting this month, I plan to interview chess National Master Joel Fernan, on the net. The interview may come via Skype, email, Facebook, or simply just by text. If I succeed in getting the interview, it would be very interesting and rich in ideas, especially within regards on the tips and advice the master could share to us, whether about tournament preparation, or foundational learning.

NM Joel Fernan

For those of you who don't know Mr Fernan, he is an NM hailing from Cebu. He is of International Master caliber. It is even well remembered that Grandmaster Richard Bitoon (who was still an IM back then),  only won a single game out of the 4 encounters he had with the NM. There was not a single peaceful draw during their encounters; every game concluded in blood. Moreover, he almost beat GM Eugene Torre once, if not only for his silly blunder during their game in the Fil-Way Tournament, some years ago. But blunders will always be blunders, right? 

Many regard Fernan as an attacking player, specializing in sharp positions, wherein attack and defence were the call of the day. But masters know, especially Grandmaster Rogelio Antonio Jr, that Fernan is actually an original strategical player, who has a feel for the position and initiative. 

Some say that his calculations are long, but this is not entirely true. Like other strong masters in the Philippines, he has a fine judgement of the position, which cuts the bulk of long analysis to a minimum. 

Fernan excels in defensive positions too, exploiting his knowledge on prophylaxis, and is constantly alert, in taking advantage of the shifting of pieces that may alter the overall position. When in a cramped situation, he always tries to make it as difficult as possible for the opponent to penetrate. A tenacious player indeed. 

At times, he applies psychology on his opponents by deliberately playing an "unsound" opening. So long he feels the opening is playable, and offers some counter-chances, he is satisfied in playing such openings. 

Fernan once joked, "When I retire in chess, I want to write a book in chess. The title would be: 'How to Beat Joel Fernan' ". He usually refered this joke to his wage customers, who unsurprisingly, found him hard to beat. Maybe one day he could actually write the book he was joking, or maybe not. But one thing's for sure, its contents would be very helpful and most of all, instructional towards the readers, especially for learning players like me. 

Another thing we can learn from Fernan are his openings. He plays the Botvinnik System as White, and the Fianchetto defences as Black(KID, QID, Hippo, Hedgehog and etc.). Apparently, he loves flank openings. But may I remind you, that unlike the sharp Grunfeld Defence, Fernan prefers to begin a flank opening with a solid setup, and only after that, does he points his pieces towards the enemy King in a strategic manner. 

Bottom line, if you want a reliable repertoire which also offers energetic chances, I recommend studying his opening.

Videos of Fernan playing blitz chess are very interesting and can be seen on Youtube. Although a little outdated, his videos on the site are fun to watch again and again from time to time.

Mactan Chess Reborn

It's hometown favorite Allan Pason versus Peterson Sia

According to a friend of mine, there is another Mactan chess tournament 
coming, on the 2nd week of September. And I am very impressed, by what our Mactan comrades have done, to create monthly chess tournaments in our city. Such meteoric rise of back-to-back tournaments have never been heard of, since the dawn of Mactan chess. To tell you frankly, I've never expected such a thing coming from Mactan. The players here, are practically busy finding food, and paying their bills. They simply do not have time and money to organize chess tournaments. But thanks to the affectionate support of our zealous comrades, the tournaments will go on. Long live! :)

Sometimes I feel that there are some other Mactan chessers out there who think, that they haven't contributed anything, to support the existence of chess tournaments, in our city. But I tell them this: that 20 pesos you paid to register in the tourney, no matter how small, actually shows, that you are supporting Mactan chess.

And finally, I hope that the tournaments in Mactan have not only attracted regular patrons of our chess club, but also newcomers. Aron hybrid na pud. I have seen new faces though, from shared photos at Facebook.

Recent tournament in August 2012