Father's Day at the 11th ASEAN Age Group +Chess Championship

Ernesto Baltazar,the 53 year old father of 2010 Palarong Pambansa (National Games) Elementary boys champion Melwyn Kenneth Baltazar bags three golds and a bronze medal in the 11th Asean Age Group+Chess Championship held June 4-13,2010 at the Subic Bay Port,Philippines.
Baltazar, a last minute entry of the Department of Education, combined with NM Rudy Ibanez and NCFP director  Edmundo Legaspi for the team gold in the Standard event.He team up with Olongapo city bet Joel Pineda for two more golds in the Rapid and the Blitz team event .He went on to win the bronze medal in the individual event behind champion IM Chan Peng Kong of Singapore ,winning against 2009 Senior gold medalist Le Thien Vinh of Vietnam and 2008 gold medalist Edmundo Legaspi..The father make up for the sorry loss of his son in the Standard,Rapid and Blitz events.Melwyn Kenneth scores four straight win in the rapid event,winning against AustinJacob Literateratus ,John Ray Batucan and U.S.A. 2009 World Youth representative Jarod Pamatmat,all member of the gold medal team in the rapid event,but lost all his remaining three games to CM Le Hu Tai  and FM Che Cuoc Hu of Vietnam and to compatriot Vince Angelo Medina.  In the Standard events,Kenneth defeated Rapid Individual championJerad Docena, and drew with top seed Le Tuanh Minh but finished only 11th over all. In the Blitz event Kenneth finished tied for 3rd -6th place but lost in the tie-break.

Gold for NCR Elementary Boys Team at 2010 Palarong Pambansa

NCR Elementary Boys Team blanks Northern Mindanao and Calabarzon Region both by 2
:0 scores to captures the 2010 Palarong Pambansa Elementary Boys ,held in Hacienda Luisita,Tarlac City. Melwyn Kenneth Baltazar,NCR's board 1 player won against Tristan Ibaoc and Maliam Elijah on the top board. Giovanni Mejia (NCR)playing on board 2 won against Alji Cantonjos and Carlo Caranyagan .Central Visayas Region finished runner-up 1 point behind the winner. Bicol Region defeated Northern Mindanao 1.5:0.5 to finished 4th place with 8.5 points .Northern Mindanao finished 3 rd with 9.0 points.

FINAL STANDINGS


1ST place    11 points- National Capital Region
                           Bd 1. Melwyn Kenneth Baltazar Bd 2. Giovanni Mejia

 2nd place   10.0 points- Central Visayas Region
                          Bd. 1  Allan Pason                      Bd.2  Felix Shaun Balbona

 3rd place      9.0 points-  Northern Mindanao Region
                         Bd. 1.  Tristan Frech Ibaoc         Bd. 2  Alji Cantonjos

 4th place      8.5 points-  Bicol Region
                        Bd. 1.  Collier Graspela               Bd.2.   Christian Paul Bonganay

 5th place      8.0 points -   Western Visayas Region
                        Bd. 1.   Lanz Renuel Otero          Bd.2.  John Kenneth Bayot

 6th  place-    8.0 points  -  Central Luzon Region       
                       Bd. 1    Nelson Busa                    Bd. 2   Romulo Curioso

7th place-      8.0 points -    CALABARZON Region   
                      Bd.1.   Elijah Maliam                     Bd. 2.  Carlo Caranyagan     

 8th place-      7.0 points   -  Ilocos Region         
                      Bd. 1.   Fernando Mendoza           Bd. 2    Ramil Rabanera     

9th place-       7.0 points-     Cagayan Valley Region
                       Bd.1    Jerico Cacal                     Bd.2      Alder Baldwin Jallorina

10th place -     6.5 points     Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao
                        Bd. 1     Abedin Muslim Sultan     Bd.2.   Abdul Bashet Abubacar

 11th place-     6.0 points     Cordillera Autonomous Region
                        Bd.  1       Jan Lawrence Concepcion        Bd 2.  Espino Tiw-an

 12th place-     6.0 points-     Zamboanga Peninsula Region
                       Bd.1         Bismar Macasalong       Bd.2   Carlo Deloria

 13th place      6.0 points     CARAGA
                         Bd.1      Ahmad Ali                      Bd.2   Flashelbert Patis

 14th place       5.0 points-  -   MIMAROPA
                         Bd. 1     Ricky Manito Jr.             Bd.2  Charlie Cesar

 15th place     4.5 points -    CRAA
                        Bd. 1.     Akmad Sema                Bd 2   Kenneth JohnOlaso

 16th place      4.0 points-      Davao Region
                        Bd.1     Rafael dela Torre Jr.         Bd.2    Raymart Silao

 17th place     4.0 points         Eastern Visayas  Region
                       Bd.1          JohnNeil Cantillon        Bd.2.   Christian Loy Canezo

NCR lead at 2010 PALARONG PAMBANSA (ELEMENTARY BOYS DIVISION)

The team of NCR are leading at the 2010 Palarong Pambansa Elementary Boys Division. After 5 rounds the NCR team score 9 points, CENTRAL VISAYAS and NORTHERN MINDANAO follows with 7.0 points.The Palaro takes place from April 12-17,2010 at Aquino Complex,Luisita, Tarlac City.Plays start daily at 9:00 am. NCR  with Melwyn Kenneth Baltazar  playing on first board defeated Elijah Maliam of CALABARZON in only 25 moves of a King's Indian Defense while board two Giovanni Mejia beat Carl Caranyagan  for NCR's 2: 0 victory.

ROUND 6  Standings

9.0 points    NCR
7.0 points    CVIRAA
6.5 points     BRAA,  NMRAA;  CLRAA
6.0 points      IRAA;CALABARZON
5.5 points      WVRAA
5.0 points      CAR  ;   CAVRAA ;
4.0 points      CRAA ;  ARMM  ;   ZPIRAA
3.0 points      EVRAA ;  CARAGA
2.0 points      DAVRAA,   MIMAROPA

2010 PALARONG PAMBANSA starts Monday

The 2010 Palarong Pambansa will start Monday April 12,2010 at the Aquino Center,Luisita,Tarlac. Fifteen regional champions will vie for the prestigious title  in the 7- round Swiss System tournament Defending champion National Capital Region are again favored to win the title in the Secondary Girls Division and the Elementary Boys Division, while Region VI with Jerich Cajeras and Joel Pimentel are the top bet for the Secondary Boys Division.  2009 ASEAN Age -group gold medalist Cherry Ann Mejia and Mikee Suede banners the NCR team for the secondary girls while Melwyn Kenneth Baltazar and Giovanni Mejia ,will play in the elementary boys division.

2010 SPICE SPRING INVITATIONAL

GM Julio Becerra won convincingly the 2010 edition of SPICE Spring Invitational. He finished with 6.5/9  a full point ahead of competition with 5 victories, 3 draws and only 1 loss. The rest of the medals  went to Gergely Antal and Benjamin Finegold who shared the second position with 5.5 points.

FINAL STANDING

1.   Julio Becerra              USA          2538       6.5 PTS.
2.   Gergely Antal             HUN          2511       5.5
3.   Benjamin Finegold      USA          2534        5.5
4.   Ippolito Deam             USA          2466        5.0
 5.   Kuljasevic                  CRO          2552        4.5
 6.   Papp Gabor               HUN         2542         4.5 
  7.  Yang Darwin              USA          2378         4.0
 8.   Krush, Irina                USA          2461        3.5
9.   Kraai,Jesse                 USA           2508        3.0
10.  Hansenn,Eric             CAN          2415         3.0

The European Champion: Ian Nepomniatchtchi and Pian Cramling

Ian Nepomniatchtchi of Russia and Pia Cramling of Sweden rules the 11th European Individual Men and Women's Chess Championship held at Rijeka,Croatia. In the last round,the 20-year old Russian  grandmaster defeated Vladimir Akopian from Armenia to score 7 wins and 4 draws, earning  9 points. Second place is shared by Baadur Jobava and Timoteev Artyom. After the rapid tie-breaks, the silver goes to Georgian Baadur Jobava while Artyom Timotteev won third place.Pia Cramling defeated unbeaten Victoria Cmilyte of Lithuania to win the title. Cramling recorded 8 wins with 2 draws and 1 defeat for 9 points.Cmilyte won the silver medal with 8.5 points.Five players with 8 points Monicka Socko,Maire Sabag,Tatiana Kosintseva ,Natalia Shukova and Yelena Dembo.The bronze was won by the Polish Monika Socko after the play-off.
The 23  Mens qualifier for the 2010 World Cup:
1. Ian Nepomniatchtchi  2. Baadur Jobava  3. Artyom Timofeev  4. Zahar Efimenko  5.Igor Lysyj 6. Zoltan Almasi 7. Evgeny Tomashevski 8. Maxim Rodshtein 9. Ivan Salgado Lopez 10. Arman Pashikian 11.  Rauf Mamedov 12. Sergei Movsesian 13. Yuri Drozdovskij 14.  Vlastimil Babula 15. Evgeny Vorobiov  16. Vladimir Akopian  17. Ferenc Berkes  18. Vladimir Potkin  19. Stelios Halkias 20. Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu  21. Evgeny Alekseev 22. Boris Grachec  23.  Bartosc Socko

The 14  Women's Qualifier

1. Pia Cramling  2. Victoria Cmilyte  3. Monicka Socko  4. Tatiana Kosintseva  5. Maire Sebag  6. Natalia Shukova  7. Yelena Dembo  8. Antoaneta Stefanova  9.  Anna Muzychuk  10.  Nadezhda Kosinsteva  11.Maria Muzychuk  12.Ekaterina Kovalevskaya  13. Nastassia Ziazulkina  14.  Iweta Rajlich

DR. J.P. LEVISTE INTER-SCHOOL CHESS FESTIVAL :SIX SHARES TITLE

Ateneo de Manila school grader,Jett Marcos score 4 wins and 2 draws earning 5.0/ 6 points to share the title with Palarong Pambansa bound NCR champion Melwyn Kenneth Baltazar (5.0pts.) and Giovanni Mejia (5.0pts) together with 3 other players in the 2010 Dr. J.P. Leviste Inter-school Chess Festival held in Ateneo de Manila Grade School Canteen,Katipunan Avenue,Quezon City. In the last round Baltazar and Mejia defeated Haince de Leon  and unbeaten Jerad Docena (5pts.) respectively.The same score of Paulo Bersamina (5 pts.) who beat Stephen Pangilinan of San Jose del Monte City and Samantila . Virgenie Ruaya and Jasper Marce were half point behind with 4.5 points. There are 10 players with 4.0 points Carlo Caranyagan;StephenPangilinan;Haince de Leon;Nathan Gajo;Dennis Gutierrez Jr.;Ian Forcado;Andrew Sopungco;Christian Navarro;Miguel Guerrero and Irvin Embalsado. Six players score 3.5 points Ynna Canape;Alison Claveria;Kianjoo Macapagal;Kurt Dullon;Angela Viray and Rothse Bautista. A total of 60 players participated in the one day event organized by the Ateneo de Manila Chess Teams under coach IM Idelfonso Datu and coach Ciara Lim.