MERALCO vs TRANSCO

TRANSCO CHESS TEAM

W: MARTIN
B: Junior SOL CRUZ
TRANSCO vs MERALCO Goodwill Match, R6
TRANSCO, Quezon City
August 23, 2008

1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4
This is known as the SCOTCH GAME. Its very first major appearance was in Game 2 of Stenitz vs Zukertort 1886 World Championship, the first official match that placed made Steinitz the First World Champion.

3 ... d6?
The World Champions' move is 3 ... PxP; Kasparov vs Karpov in 1990 World Championship, Salov vs Karpov in Reggio Emilia 1991, Kasparov vs Short in 1993 World Championship, Kasparov vs Topalov in Las Palmas 1994, Ivanchuk vs Smyslov in Tilburg 1994, and Kasparov vs Anand in 1995 World Championship. And its most recent appearance at the hands of World Champions was in Bilbao 2008 in Radjabov vs Topalov and Anand vs Aronian.

4 PxP NxP 5 NxN PxN 6 QxQ KxQ













Mastering the Chess Openings, "Also, when an opening becomes rapidly simplified, the king may remain in the center to assist with the endgame."

7 Bc4 Be6?
Junior trained with Coach Cardoso last September 20, 2008 and recommended the move 7 ... Ke8 to avoid the doubled pawn and keep out the king from the open d-file.

8 BxB PxB 9 Be3 Nf6
An interesting path for the dark knight is e7-c6-d4-c2.

10 f3













10 ... Kc8? 11 Nc3 b6?
Consistent with 10 ... Kc8 but not with the principle of rapid development championed by Stenitz in his famous Steinitz Theory, Lasker in Manual of Chess, and Capablanca in Chess Fundamentals. Better is 11 ... Bb4.

12 O-O-O Kb7 13 g4 Rc8?
Chess Fundamentals, "Developing your pieces should be done as quickly as possible, but the pieces should be placed on effective squares."

14 h4 Bb 15 Ne2 Rhd8
Portable Chess Coach, "Rooks are best placed on open files."

16 h5 h6? 17 g5 PxP 18 BxP Be7
Worth trying is 18 ... RxR.

19 Rdg1 Rg8 20 Bd2 Rcd8 21 Rg6 Rde8













22 Bc3 Rh8 23 Ng3 Reg8 24 BxP Rh6
Best Lessons of a Chess Coach, "Don not let enemy pieces remain in your territory unchallenged."

25 Bf4 RxR 26 PxR Bd6 27 e5 Nd5 28 PxB NxB 29 Re1 PxP 30 Ne4 NxP?

Encyclopedia of Chess Wisdom, “Do not rush the attack on the isolani. As the game progresses, it becomes weaker and more vulnerable.”

Best is 30 … Kc7; preserving the central pawn duo and activating the king.

My System, "When the endgame is entered, let the King set himself in motion, and strive to reach the center of the board, for from this point he can, according to need make for the right or left."

31 NxP+ Kc6 32 RxP
Junior lost his central pawn duo that could be his key to victory.

32 ... Nf4 33 Re4 KxN 34 RxN g5 35 Rd4+ Ke5 36 Rg4 Rg6 37 f4+ Kf6 38 PxP+ Kf5 39 Rg3 RxP 40 RxR KxR 41 a4 Kf5 42 Kd2 Ke5? 43 Kd3 Kd5
















44 c4+ Kc5 45 Kc3 a5 46 b3 Kc6 47 b4 PxP 48 KxP ... [1-0].

Coach Cardoso ruled that this is a drawn game. All Junior has to do is to maintain the opposition; keeping his king in front of his opponent's king.

2007 SHELL FINALIST

Junior vs Mark DIMALIWAT
Practice Game
TRANSCO, Quezon City
August 23, 2008

1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 a6 3 Nc3 e6 4 d3 b5 5 g3 Bb7 6 Bg2 Qc7 7 b3 d6 8 Bb2 Nf6

Manual of Chess, “Possibly one might say without exaggeration that in the opening the plan should be rapid development and nothing else, at any rate, very little else.”

9 Qd2 Nd7 10 O-O

Mastering the Chess Openings, “One of the most important guidelines in chess is to protect your king from harm.”

10 … Be7 11 Ne2 O-O 12 Qc3?

Chess Player’s Handbook, “It is not good to play the Queen out into the game at the beginning, because she can be attacked by inferior pieces, and is compelled to retire with the loss of many moves.”

12 … b4 13 Qd2 Rfd8 14 Nf4 d5

15 Rae1?

The Ten Most Common Chess Mistakes, “You have to consider your follow-up before deciding on your move.”

15 … PxP 16 PxP NxP

Kasparov Teaches Chess, “No matter what the opening the best moves for both sides are always subordinate to one goal – the fight for the center.”

17 Qe3 Bf6 18 BxB NdxB 19 Rd1

Portable Chess Coach, “Rooks are best placed on open files.“

19 … Ng4 20 RxR+

Learn from Your Chess Mistakes, “Sometimes we are almost programmed to adopt standard set-ups and to make automatic recaptures.”

20 …RxR 21 Qe1 Nc3

22 Ng5?

Manual of Chess, "Search for the combination which brings home your advantage.”

That combination is 22 NxP! PxN 23 QxP+ and 24 Ng5!

22 … BxB 23 KxB h6 24 NxeP PxN 25 NxP? Qc6+ 26 f3 Re8 27 h3 RxN 28 Qd2??? … [0-1]

SAUL vs SOL CRUZ

Jun SAUL vs Junior Sol Cruz

TRANSCO, Quezon City
August 23, 2008

-->

1 e4 e5

Logical Chess, “A good way to begin is to release two pieces at one stroke, and this can be done by advancing one of the center pawns.”

2 Nf3 Nc6

Chess Fundamentals, “The beginner would do well to remember this, bring out knights before bringing out bishops.”

3 Bb5 d6

Manual of Chess, “The oldest defence is 3 … d6, which is the most direct one. Surely a sound and substantial one, though it may not appeal to the high-flown fancy.”

This is known as the STEINITZ DEFENCE of the Ruy Lopez Opening. The variation was popularized by Wilhelm Steinitz, the first World Champion.

Other popular continuations are 3 … a6 – Morphy’s Defence, 3 … Nf6 – Berlin Defence, and 3 … Bc5 – Classical Variation.

Modern Chess Openings, “The rarely played 3 … Bb4 is dubious, one reason is that 4 c3 Ba5 5 O-O Nge7 6 BxN NxB 7 b4 Bb6 8 b5 Na5 9 NxP wins a pawn for insufficient compensation.”

4 d4 Nf6?

Junior continued to develop his knights which is fundamentally sound. However, the best move in this position is 4 … Bd7; Chigorin vs Steinitz in 1889 World Championship, Gunsberg vs Steinitz in 1890 World Championship, Lasker vs Steinitz in 1894 World Championship, and Lasker vs Capablanca in 1921 World Championship.

5 d5

5 … a6!

The Ideas Behind the Chess Openings, “The whole defense, incidentally, is a classic illustration of the fundamental principle that a cramped position is freed by exchanges, but exploited by an attack.”

6 PxN PxB 7 PxP BxP

Better Chess, “Bishops are best deployed on the longest diagonals – the ones from corner to corner.”

8 Nc3 c6???

Attacking the knight with 8 … b4 will lead to the capture of White’s center pawn. Instead, Junior blocked his bishop’s diagonal that Capablanca cautioned in …

Chess Fundamentals, “When they are blocked by pawns their scope is shorter, and they are hence less effective.”

9 Bg5

d

Better is 9 … Be7 which is in accordance with …

Kasparov Teaches Chess, “It is of primary importance to adhere to the principle of rapid development of one’s pieces and to implement it in practice during the opening stage.”

10 PxP PxP 11 BxN QxB? 12 NxP

d

-->

12 … BxN???

Promising is 12 … Qd6! 13 Nc3 QxQ 14 RxQ BxKN; giving White the disadvantage of the doubled pawns.

Furthermore, exchanging a good bishop is against ...

Chess Fundamentals, “The advantage of having the bishop lies as much in its ability to command, at long range, both sides of the board from a central position as in its ability to move quickly from one side of the board to the other.”

13 QxB Rb8 14 Rd1 Be7? 15 Qd7+ Kf8 16 O-O g6 17 Qc7 Rd8? 18 RxR BxR 19 QxP QxQ 20 NxQ Kg7 21 Rd1 Bf6 22 Nc6? BxP 23 Rd7 Rc8 24 Nb4?

d

-->

24 … Ba3!!!

Junior laid down an ingenious bank rank mate via 25 c3 BxN 26 PxB Rc1+!

25 Rd4 BxN 26 RxB RxP 27 Kf1 RxP 28 RxP

28 … f5

Exposing the king is not consistent with …

Portable Chess Coach, “Pawns can form a shield to protect your king from enemy forces.

29 h4 Kf6 30 g3 h6 31 f4 g5? 32 Rb6+ Kg7 33 PxP PxP 34 PxP Ra5 35 Kg2 Re5 36 Kf3 Ra5 37 Kf4 Rc5 38 Rf6 Rc4+ 39 KxP Rc3 40 Kg4 Rc4+ 41 Kh5 Rc3 42 Kh4 Rc4+ 43 g4 Rc7 44 Rb6 Re7 45 Kh5 Re8 46 Rb7+ Kf8 47 g6 Kg8 48 Kh6 [1-0].

Coach Cardoso ruled that this is a book draw and all Junior has to do is to keep his king besides his pawns.

ELEMENTARY PROPERTIES of the OPENING

Mastering the Chess Openings
John Watson
Gambit Publications Ltd 2006

The Center
The center is a primary concern in deciding how to proceed with your plans, not to mention your next move.

Development
This refers to moving pieces (not including pawns) off their initial squares and putting them "in play". Just counting counting the number of pieces that you have moved is the simplest measure of development. Of course, it's essential to consider the "quality" of development, that is, how well the pieces are placed.

King Safety
One of the most important guidelines in chess is to protect your king from harm. This elementary consideration is sometimes forgotten. It can strongly affect the proper conduct of the opening stage.

Space & Its Properties
When you control more territory, you can often move your pieces from one theater of action to another more quickly than your opponent can, and thus attack on that front before he can defend.

Piece Characteristics
Bishops like open diagonals and should usually be developed accordingly.Knights also need as much freedom of movement as possible, but only to the extent that they don't unduly interfere with the activity of other pieces.Rooks like to have open files, preferably ones that extend vertically as far as possible into the enemy camp.The queen tends to stay at home or to lurk behind her pawns and pieces in the early stages of the opening.

Activity and Initiative
Active pieces control more squares. Such pieces aren't necessarily involved in a direct attack but can serve to harass opposing forces, support a pawn advance, and generally accrue more territory.

8th WIN

W: Junior SOL CRUZ
B: MARLON PASAMONTE
Practice Game
MERALCO, Pasig City

Junior won a B in the middle game from his opponent's blunder. This is how he converted the advantage into an endgame victory.

















1 Rb6+ Kg7 2 Bc3+ Kf7 3 a6
THE COMPLETE CHESS PLAYER, "The goal of endgame procedures is generally the promotion of a passed pawn."

3 ... h4 3 PxP Ra3 4 Rc6 Rb3 5 a7 g3 6 Kf3 [0-1].

This is Junior's 8th win against an adult player after Jimmy of TWH, Darryl Mata in another practice, Rolly Sapalasan in Halloween Blitz, Alex Ramos in LSGH practice, Alvin in MERALCO vs LSGH, Ruben Lagrimas and Billy in practice games!

2nd DRAW

BILLY vs Junior
MERALCO, Pasig City



















Junior missed a mate in 2 with 1 ... g3+ 2 Kg1 Rd1#. But after the exchanged of pawns, it was a book draw; K+R vs K+R.

This was Junior's 2nd career draw with an adult.

7th WIN

Practice Game
W: Junior SOL CRUZ
B: Billy of Jollye




12 O-O-O?
Junior missed the checkmate with 12 RxP but managed to win a bishop in the middle game that forced resignation.

This is Junior's 7th win over an adult player; 1st Jimmy of TWH, 2nd Sapalasan in Halloween Blitz, 3rd Darryl in 2007 practice, 4th Alex in 2008 practice, 5th Alvin in MERALCO-LSGH 2008, 6th Lawrence in Aguila Cup 2008!

CASTLING

Logical Chess
The advantage of castling is that the king is safer in the corner, where he is sheltered by three pawns and a stalwart knight, than in the center of the board, while the rook is brought toward the center files in the most convenient way possible.


The 10 Most Common Chess Mistakes
Nothing is more important than safeguarding your king by castling early, within the first dozen moves, if possible.


Portable Chess Coach
So, castling is a multi-purpose move, aiding in the development of a strong piece and protecting the king.

SIMUL at Tahanan Walang Hagdanan

Board 1: PAULA

W: Junior
B: Paula
SIMUL PLAY
Tahanan Walang Hagdanan, Cainta

1 e4 e5
Chess Fundamentals, "These moves both control central squares and open the diagonal for a B."

2 Nf3 Bd6? 3 Nc3 Nf6
Manual of Chess, "Get the N's into action before both B's are developed."

4 b3 O-O 5 Bb2
Portable Chess Coach, "It is usually advisable to bring out your N's and B's first, followed by your R's and Q."

5 ... b6 6 Qe2 c5 7 O-O-O















The 10 Most Common Chess Mistakes, "Nothing is more important than safeguarding your K by castling early, within the first dozen of moves, if possible."

7 ... NxP???
Portable Chess Coach, "Avoid impulsive and snap judgments."

"Or what king marching into battle would not first sit down and decide whether with ten thousand troops he can successfully oppose another king advancing upon him with twenty thousand troops?"

8 NxN +- a6??? 9 NxB e4 10 NxB h6??? 11 QxP QxN 12 QXR a5 13 Qe4 d6 14 Qc4 Qe8 15 Qc3 Qe6??? 16 QxP# [1-0].

Board 2: ROBIN

Junior vs Robin
Tahanan Walang Hagdanan, Cainta

1 e4 e6 2 Nc3 Be7 3 Nf3 Nf6

Chess Fundamentals
The main thing is to develop the pieces quickly. Get them into play as fast as you can.

4 b3 O-O

The Ideas Behind the Chess Openings
Castle as soon as possible, preferably on the king's side.

5 Bb2 d6 6 Qe2




















The Game of Chess
It is best, in the opening, to make but one move with the Queen, and that to a square where she is not exposed to any direct or indirect attack, so especially not to a file in which there is an opposing ROOK, no matter how many men there may be in between.

6 ... NxP???

The Complete Chess Player
An attack should be undertaken, as a rule, only when one's development has been completed or well advanced.

7 NxN f5 8 Nc3 Bf6 9 O-O-O Bd4??? 10 NxB Bd7 11 NxP Re8? 12 NxQ RxN??? 13 Qc4+ Kh8 14 Nd5 Be6! 15 Qd4 Rg8! 16 Nf6 Rf8! 17 Re1 PxN? 18 RxB Rf7? 19 RxBP Kg7 20 RxR+ KxR 21 Qf6+ Ke8 22 Bb5+Nd7??? 23 Re1# [1-0].

Board 4: JEWEL

Junior vs Jewel
Tahanan Walang Hagdanan, Cainta

1 e4 e6

The Ideas Behind The Chess openings,
"Open with either the e-pawn or the d-pawn."

2 Nf3 Nf6 3 Nc3

Manual of Chess
"Get the knights into action before both bishops are developed."




















3 ... Bd6???

The 10 Most Common Chess Mistakes
"In a sense, all errors can be attributed to INATTENTION."

4 e5

The Complete Chess Player
"Simultaneous attack on two hostile units or on two points is almost certain to yield profitable results."

4 ... O-O??? 5 PxN PxP? 6 Bd3 f5 7 O-O? f4? 8 Be4 Nc6 9 BxN NPxB 10 d4 c5 11 PxP BxP 12 BxP d6 13 Bh6 d5??? 14 BxR QxB 15 Nd4 BxN 16 QxB f6 17 Qg4+ Qg7 18 QxQ KxQ 19 Rae1 h6 20 f4 f5 21 h3 d4 22 Ne2 h5 23 NxP Bd7 24 NxP+ BxN 25 RxB c6 26 Rfe1 h4 27 Re7+ Kg6 28 R1e6+ Kh5 29 g4+ PxP 30 PxP+ KxP 31 Rg7+ Kh3 [1-0].

Board 3: JANE

Junior vs Jane
Tahanan Walang hagdanan, Cainta

1 d4 e6

The Ideas Behind the Chess Openings
Open with either the e-pawn or the d-pawn.


2 c4 Nh6?

Portable Chess Coach
You may remember learning that pieces tend to have more scope when placed toward the center, than when placed on a corner or an edge.


3 Nc3 Bd6?

The 10 Most Common Chess Mistakes
Just bringing out the pieces isn't good enough. You have to bring them to the right squares and consider what happens once they get there.


4 Nf3 O-O

Winning Chess openings
The purpose of the opening is to get a safe King and an equal middle game.


5 BxN PxB 6 e4 Na6? 7 e5

d1


7 ... f6???


8 PxB PxP 9 d5 PxP 10 PxP? Rf7 11 BxN PxB 12 O-O Rb8 13 b3 Re7 14 Re1 RxR 15 QxR Rb7 16 Rc1 RxP??? 17 PxR Qc7 18 Qe8+ Kg7 19 Re1 a5??? 20 Re7# [1-0].

FRANKLIN on CHESS

"Chess teaches foresight, by having to plan ahead; vigilance, by
having to keep watch over the whole chess board; caution, by having to
restrain ourselves from making hasty moves; and finally, we learn from
chess the greatest maxim in life - that even when everything seems to
be going badly for us we should not lose heart, but always hoping for
a change for the better, steadfastly continue searching for the
solutions to our problems."

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
Statesman, philosopher, inventor, scientist, musician, economist

Best Grade School Player

Aguila Memorial CupMERALCO, Pasig City
W: Junior SOL CRUZ

B: Lawrence KIMO

1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Nc3 Nf6
COMMON SENSE IN CHESS, "Bring your N's out before developing the B's, especially the QB."


4 Bc4
In theory, this is the ITALIAN VARIATION (on Bc4) of the FOUR KNIGHTS' GAME.

4 ... Bb4 5 Ng5?
THE 10 MOST COMMON CHESS MISTAKES, "Don't lose time by moving the same piece twice."


5 ... O-O













6 BxP
BETTER CHESS FOR AVERAGE PLAYERS, "A common error by novices is to exchange B & N for the opponent's R & P."


6... RxB 7 NxR KxN 8 b3? d5 -+ 9 exd5
MY SYSTEM, "A center pawn should always be taken if this can be done without too great danger."


9 ... Nxd5 10 NxN QxN





















11 Bb2? Bf5 12 Qe2? Rd8 13 O-O
MASTERING THE CHESS OPENINGS, "One of the most important guidelines in chess is to protect your K from harm."



13 ... Qxd2 14 Qh5+
THE RIGHT WAY TO PLAY CHESS, "If in a bad position in the middle game, the retention of the Q will at least offer chances of a perpetual in the ending, for a lone Q can often force the draw in this manner."

14 ... Bg6 15 Qf3+ Kg8 16 Rad1
THE GAME OF CHESS, "The ideal to be aimed at is attack with development or defense with development."

16 … Qf4?? 17 RxR+ = NxR






















18 Rd1??
RYBKA recommends 18 Qd5+ !? Nf7 19 Qxb7=; retention of the Q.

18 ... Ne6?? 19 QxQ NxQ? 20 Bxd5 Ne2+ 21 Kh1 Bxc2 22 Rd8+
MY SYSTEM, "The ideal which lies at the root of every operation in a file is the ultimate penetration by way of this file into the enemy's game, that is to say to our 7th or 8th rank.



22 ... Bf8??




















23 Bxc7! +-
But stronger, as recommended by RYBKA, is 23 Rd2; simultaneous attack of unprotected pieces.
23 ... Nc3 24 Bd6!
THE GAME OF CHESS, "One of the most frequent and most dangerous forms of attack is the pin."


24 ... Kf7 25 RxB+ Ke6
W is an exchange up; R & B vs N & B.


26 Bc5 b6 27 Bb4 NxP 28 Bd2!
TURNING ADVANTAGE INTO VICTORY, "As your opponent finds his pieces squeezed further and further, he begins to accept defeat."

28 ... BxP 29 Re8+? Kd7 30 Rh8 Bc2 31 f4 Ke6 32 g4 Nb4??? 33 BxN +-




















W is already a full R ahead. But according to some GMs, the hardest thing to win is winning a won game.
33 ... a5 34 Re8+?? Kf6 35 Be7+??
RYBKA recommends 35 Bc3+ followed by 36 Rb8 +-

35 ... Kf7 36 Rc8 Be4+ 37 Kg1 KxB





















White loses his B as his Plan A of going for the mate faltered.


38 h3?
RYBKA suggests 38 Rb8 +-; R's behind the passed pawn.

38 ... Kd6 39 Rd8+ Kc5 40 Rc8+
RYBKA recommends 40 Kf2, "to set the K in motion, and strive to reach the center of the board."

40 ... Kb5 41 f5?? a4 42 Rc7 g6?? 43 f6! +-
THE COMPLETE CHESS PLAYER, "For the possibility of queening can reduce any number of enemy pieces to virtual immobility in the feverish effort to prevent the pawn's promotion."

43 ... Bd5 44 f7 BxP 45 RxB a3 46 h4? a2




















47 Ra7
TARRASCH FORMULA : The R’s proper place is behind the passed pawn, whether it be his own or an enemy.


47 … Kb4 48 Rxa2 b5 49 h5 Kb3 50 Rh2 g5 51 Kf2 b4 52 Ke3 Kc3 53 Ke4 b3 54 Kf5 h6 55 Kg6 b2 56 RxP KxR 57 Kxh6 [1-0].

AGUILA MEMORIAL CUP