Developing our youth
In an earlier article I mentioned that NM Alcon John Datu was a member of the legendary 2008 Under-16 Philippine Team which finished third behind India and Russia in the 7th World Youth Under-16 Chess Olympiad held in Mersin, Turkey.
Let’s give you the whole story here, for the Philipines has a distinguished record in the Under-16 Chess Olympiad: we took part twice, 2007 in Singapore and 2008 in Mersin, Turkey, and both times we finished with the bronze medals!
In 2007 Singapore, the Philippine team was composed of Wesley So, Karl Victor Ochoa, Haridas Pascua and Franz Robert Grafil (described by the press as Wesley So + 3 newbies). Wesley’s score on board 1 was an unheard-of 9.5/10, especially since at that time he was only 13 years old, but his teammates did not do so badly as well:
Bd02 Karl Victor Ochoa ( born 1991) 5.5/10
Bd03 Haridas Pascua 7.5/10 ( b.1993, silver medalist on board 3)
Bd04 Franz Robert Grafil ( b. 1991) 3.0/10
The Philippines could only scrape enough budget to send a four- man team to Singapore and so all four had to play without relief in every round. India was running away with the tournament until they met the Philippines in the 7th round and got spanked 1.0-3.0. *** So, Wesley PHI (2516) — Adhiban, Baskaran IND (2406) [C30] 6th World U16 Ol Singapore SIN (7), 08.08.2007 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d3 Bc5 4.Nc3 Nc6 5.f4 Early in his career this was Wesley’s favorite formation.
5...d6 6.Nf3 Bg4 7.Na4 0–0 8.Nxc5 dxc5 9.0–0 Nh5 10.Be3 exf4 11.Bxc5 Re8 12.h3 Bxf3 13.Qxf3 g6 14.Bd5 Ne5 15.Qf2 c6 16.Bb3 b6 17.Bd4 Ng3 18.Rfe1 g5 19.Bc3 Qd7 20.Rad1 Rad8 21.a4 c5 22.a5 c4 23.Bxe5 Rxe5 24.Bxc4 Rxa5?
The Rook gets cut off the play and that is all Wesley needs to push his central pawns down the board.
25. d4 b5 26. Bb3 Ra6 27. d5 Rh6 28. e5 Qf5 29. Qf3 Rh4 30. Rd4 a5 31.e6 fxe6 32.dxe6 Re8 [32...Rxd4 33.e7+ Kg7 34.e8Q]
33. e7+ Kg7 34. Qc3 Qf6 35. Rd8 Qxc3 36.bxc3 1–0
At the time the following game was played Karl Victor was only 15 years
old. The power with which he conducts the final phase of this game belies his young age.
*** Ashwath,R. IND (2348) — Ochoa,
Karl Victor PHI [E94] 6th World U16 Ol Singapore SIN
(7), 08.08.2007 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5. Nf3 0– 0 6. Be2 e5 7. d5 Nbd7 8.0–0 Ne8 9.Bg5 f6 10.Bh4 g5 11.Bg3 f5 12.exf5 Rxf5 13.Ne4 Nf8 14.h4 h6 15.hxg5 hxg5 16.Nfd2 Nh7 17.Bh5 Rf8 18. Bg6 Nef6 19. b4 Nxe4 20. Bxh7+ Kxh7 21. Qh5+ Bh6 22. Nxe4 Bf5 23. Qe2 Qe8 24. c5 Qg6 25. Rfe1 g4 26.Bh4 Bxe4 27.Qxe4 Rf4 28.Qxg6+ Kxg6 29. Rab1 Rc4 30. cxd6 cxd6 31.Red1 Bg5
Otherwise Be7 will be awkward to meet.
32.Bxg5 Kxg5 33.Rd3 Kf4 34.b5 e4 35.Rd2 Rac8 36.g3+ Ke5 37.Kg2 Rc1 38.Rb4 R8c4 39.Rb3 Ra1 40.Re3 Rcc1 41.f4+ gxf3+ 42.Kh3 Re1 43.Ra3 e3 44.Rdd3 f2 0–1 Really impressive. It is a great pity that nowadays Ochoa hardly ever plays anymore.
*** Pascua, Haridas PHI — Nitin, Senthilvel IND (2313) [A44] 6th World U16 Ol Singapore SIN
(7), 08.08.2007 1. d4 c5 2. d5 d6 3. c4 e5 4. e4 g6 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.Be3 Ne7 7.Bd3 f5 8.f3 Nd7 9.Qd2 h6 10.g4 fxg4 11.fxg4 Nf6 12.g5 hxg5 13.Bxg5 Bg4 14.Qg2 Bh5 15.Nge2 Nh7 16.Be3 0–0 17.Rf1 Rxf1+ 18.Kxf1 Qd7 19.Kg1 Bg4 20.Ng3 g5 21.Nf5 Bxf5 22.exf5 Kf7 [22...Nxf5? 23.Qh3 Rf8 24.Rf1 Haridas wins a piece] 23.Ne4 Rh8 24.f6 Nxf6 25.Rf1 Neg8 26.Bxg5 Qh3 27. Nxd6+ Kf8 28. Qxh3 Rxh3 29.Bf5 Rh5 30.h4 Ke7 31.Nxb7 Bh6 32.d6+ Kf7 33.d7 Bxg5 34.d8Q Bxh4 35.Nd6+ Kg7 36.Qc7+ 1–0
India finished the tournament with wins over Australia, Iran and Singapore and so despite the loss still wound up with the gold medals, The final standings were 1. India (28.0/40), 2. Hungary (27.5/36) and 3. Philippines (25.5/36).
In the next year the tournament was much stronger with the inclusion of Russia, the Caucasus Republics ( Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia) and other strong European countries. The Philippines came up with a bit more funds for the trip but since the tournament was held in Mersin, Turkey, which is a long way from the Philippines, the money was sufficient once again only for a fourman team. Here is how they did:
Bd01 Wesley So 9.0/10 ( gold medalist for board 1) Bd02 Haridas Pascua 5.5/10 Bd03 Alcon John Datu ( b. 1993) 5.5/10
Bd04 Jan Emmanuel Garcia ( b.1995) 7.0/10
Russia was leading the tournament but in the fateful 7th round (again!) they were walloped by the Philippines 3.0-1.0. This cost them the gold medals.
Wesley So’s opponent in the next game is the highly- regarded Alexander Shimanov, the three-time Russian Junior Champion. Incidentally he has since migrated to St. Louis, USA and works as a chess coach.
*** So, Wesley PHI (2577) — Shimanov, Alexander RUS
(2480) [B42] 7th World U16 Ol Mersin TUR (7),
22.08.2008 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Bd3 Nf6 6.0–0 Qc7 7.Qe2 d6 8.c4 g6 9.Nc3 Bg7 10.Rd1 0–0 11.Nf3
Preparing Bf4
[ 12. Bf4 e5 13. Be3 Bg4 14. h3 Nd4! 15. Bxd4 Bxf3 16. Qxf3 exd4 is ok for Black]
12... Nd7 13. Bf4 Bxc3!? 14. bxc3 f6 15. Nh2 Nc5 16. Bh6 Rd8 17. Ng4 Qe7 18.f4 e5 19.f5 Kh8 20.Qf2 gxf5 21.exf5 Qf7 <D>
*** Yaksin,Oleg RUS (2307) — Pascua,Haridas PHI (2171) [B31] 7th World U16 Ol Mersin TUR (7),
22.08.2008 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.h3 Bg7 6.d3 Nf6 7.Nc3 0–0 8.Be3 b6 9.Qd2 e5 10.Bh6 [10.Nxe5 Nxe4] 10...Qd6 11.0–0–0 a5 12.Qg5 Re8 13.Nh2 a4 14.a3 b5 15.Bxg7 Kxg7 16. Ng4 Nh5 17. Qh6+ Kg8 18. g3 b4 19.Nb1 Rb8 20.Qe3 Be6 21.Nd2 bxa3 22.bxa3 Ba2 23.Rde1 Re7 24.Kd1 c4 25. Ke2 Qxa3 26. dxc4 Qb4 27. Qd3 Ree8 28.c3 Qb2 29.Rb1 Bxb1 30.Rxb1 Qa3 31.Qd7 Qf8 32.Ra1 Red8 33.Qxc6 Rb2 34.Rd1 a3 35.Nxe5 a2 36.Nd3 Rc2 37.Qa4 Rxc3 38.Nb3 [38.Qxa2 Rcxd3] 38... Ra8 39. Qb5 Rxb3 40.Qxb3 a1Q 41.Rxa1 Rxa1 42.c5 Qa8 43.Ke3 Nf6 44.f3 Ra3 45.Qc4 Nd7 46.Qd4 Qa4 47.Qd5 Qb5 48.Kd2 Qa5+ 49.Ke2 Ra2+ 50.Kf1 Qd2 0–1
*** Datu, Alcon John PHI (2138) — Bodnaruk, Anastasia RUS (2394)
[A30] 7th World U16 Ol Mersin TUR (7),
22.08.2008 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.b3 Bg7 4.Bb2 0–0 5.g3 b6 6.Bg2 Bb7 7.0–0 c5 8.d4 cxd4 9.Nxd4 Bxg2 10.Kxg2 d5 11.cxd5 Qxd5+ 12.Nf3 Qb7 13.Na3 Na6 14.Rc1 Rfd8 15.Qc2 Rac8 16.Qb1 Nc5 17.Kg1 Nce4 18.Rxc8 Rxc8 19.Nc4 b5 20.Ne3 Nc3 21.Bxc3 Rxc3 22.Rd1 Qc7 23.Kg2 e6 24.Rd3 Rc1 25.Rd8+ Qxd8 26.Qxc1 Nd5 27.Nxd5 Qxd5 28.Qc8+ Bf8 29.Qa6 Qc5 30.Qb7 Bd6 31.h4 h6 32.e4 Kg7 33.Qa6 Bc7 34.Qc8 Qb6 35.Qd7 Bd6 36.Qc8 Bc7 37.Qd7 Bd6 38.Qc8 Bc7 39.Qd7 Bd6 40.Qc8 Qc5 41.Qxc5 Bxc5
Bodnaruk is a very good tactician, but perhaps her endgame skills need polishing. From this equal position she gets outplayed by her Filipino foe. Take note at how White entices her to put her pawns on the dark squares, same color as her bishop.
42.Ne5 f6 43.Nd3 Bd4 44.Kf3 Kf7 45.h5! g5 46.Kg4 Ke7 47.f4 Kf7 48.f5 Ke7 49.Kf3 Kd6 50.fxe6 Kxe6 51.g4 a5 52.a4 bxa4 53.bxa4 Kd6 54.Ke2
White has put all his pawns on the light squares so that Black’s bishop cannot attack them, and his knight on d3 so that the Black king cannot cross over to his side of the board. Can White win this, and if so, what is the next step? Datu puts his king on c4 and then his knight on f5, from this position they will dominate the board. 54...Ke6 55.Kd2 Kd6 56.Kc2 Kc6 57.Kb3 Bb6 58.Kc4 Bc7
Now knight to f5. 59. Ne1 Be5 60. Nf3 Bb2 61. Nd2 Be5 62.Nb3 Bc7 63.Nd4+ Kd7 64.Kd5 Bd6 65.Nf5 Bf8 66.e5 Ke8
[66... fxe5 67. Kxe5 the pawn on h6 cannot be defended] 67.exf6 Kf7 68.Ke5 Bb4 69.Nxh6+ Kf8 70.Ke6 1–0
Final Standings: 1- 2 India, Russia, 28.5/40, 3 Philippines 27/40.
What is the point I am trying to make? When it comes to raw chess talent the Philippines is not inferior to anybody. Youth chess, probably up to the age of 18, is the proof of this — at the younger ages the chess coaches are just trying to systematize and identify weaknesses to correct, strengths to emphasize, and put together an opening repertoire suited to the players’ styles. Now and then remarkable chess talents come up who instinctively know where to put the pieces and have a sense of feel which extracts the best dynamics from the pieces. In youth chess the Philippines usually does well even against the acknowledged chess powers.
It is after the players have to start putting in the work to prepare their openings, to seek advanced coaching in the endgames and in middle game situations that we are lacking.
What we need is to revive the Chess Center concept, something which the Philippine Chess Society set up circa 1999 where the developing players can play in rated monthly tournaments, receive chess database training and coaching. The various chess players and teams who will be sent abroad to represent our country will then have to pass through some intensive training and preparation before they go and compete. Their progress is monitored — we do not want our chess representatives to treat international competition as junkets — they should all be regarded as the next step in the return of the glory days of Philippine chess.
The Philippines and chess are made for each other. No more sitting back and talking about it. We should all strive to bring it back.