R7 Padua vs Sol Cruz

52nd 1st Saturday Non-Masters
Paranaque City
R7 G/25'
W: Padua, Einstein
B: Sol Cruz, Rhal

R1 Oronce vs Sol Cruz

52nd 1st Saturday Non-Masters
Paranaque City
R1 G/25'
W: Oronce
B: Sol Cruz, Rhal

QGD D37: Giri vs Aronian

Tata Steel 2012


“Levon Aronian's play at Wijk has reminded me increasingly of Bobby Fischer's games in the last year or so before he became World Champion (and, sadly, ceased to play publicly). The game against Anish Giri in particular is strongly reminiscent of, say, the 3rd, 5th and 6th match games against Spassky or the  game against Saidy in the 1969 Metropolitan League. One senses the same virtuoso control of complex tactical positions, whereby the master seems to shape the chaotic medium of the chess pieces and their relationships into a beautiful form like a painting or a piece of music. In the process extremely strong opponents somehow find themselves dancing to their opponent's tune, so that no matter where they try to go they always end up exactly where he wants them.”

http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=7868

R1 Sanguan vs Sol Cruz

Rizal Cup

Meralco, Pasig City



[1/2-1/2]

R5 Samantila vs Sol Cruz

Leviste Cup
R5 High School Division G/25
Ateneo de Manila University, Quezon City



Result: 1/2-1/2

Related Games:
Lasker vs Capablanca
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1241500
Fischer vs Spassky
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1044366
Lasker vs Steinitz
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1132671
Karpov vs Gelfand
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1564506
Laylo vs Villamayor
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1216932

R2 Bilog vs Sol Cruz

PHL Para vs MERALCO Kiddies Match

Pasig City

R2 G/30

White: Gigi Bilog

Black: Rhal Sol Cruz

R9 Tachaplalert of Thailand

Asian Youth Chess Championship
Olongapo City, Philippines
Under 14 R9 G/90
White: Suvich Tachaplalert, 1810 [Thailand]
Black: Raul Sol Cruz Jr., [Philippines]

1 d4 d5 2 c4 e6 
The Q's Gambit Declined.

3 Nc3 Nf6 4 Bg5 Nbd7
But there are benefits to quickly connecting the Ns. Black can meet Bxf6 with ... Nxf6, which is important when Qc2/Bd3 is lined up against the h7-pawn. Soltis in Transpo Tricks in Chess

Rhal has played this position several times in the past: with GM Eugene Torre in 2009; NM Gerry Cabellon in 2011; and five times in kiddy tournament play with a plus score of 4W-1L: Marcos (0-1) and Tanyag (0-1) in PRADA 2009, Lopez (0-1) in PAYA 2010, Secuya (0-1) in PRADA 2011, and Forcado (1-0) in MERALCO 2011.

5 cxd5 
The Exchange Variation:

Alekhine vs Capablanca, World Championship 1927 

Opocensky vs Steiner, Prague Olympiad 1931

Ichim vs Keres, Warsaw Olympiad 1935

Smyslov vs Keres, World Championship 1948 

Larsen vs Stahlberg, Amsterdam Olympiad 1954

Gligoric vs Larsen 1965

Johansen vs Rogers, Jakarta 1987

Caruana vs Savchenko, World Blitz Championship 2010

5... exd5 6 e3 Be7  
The Manhattan Variation, 6... Bb4, was played by the 12 year old Botvinnik vs then World Champion Capablanca in a simul and won!

7 Bd3 h6 
7... c6 is usually played here. Rhal played 7... b6 vs NM Cabellon.

8 Bh4 O-O 9 Nf3

9... b6 10 O-O Bb7 11 a3 Ne4 12 Bxe7 Qxe7 
In a cramped position, try to relieve the pressure by forcing exchanges of pieces. Chernev in Logical Chess

13 Rc1 c5 

14 dxc5 Ndxc5 15 Bb1 Nxc3 16 Rxc3 Ne4
From the center, a N commands maximum terrain. Reshevsky in The Art of Positional Play

17 Rd3?
The problem.

17... Rfd8? 
The solution is 17... Ba6! 18 Rxd5 Bxf1 19 Re5 Qc7 a) 20 Rxe4 Ba6  b) 20 Bxe4 Rae8; Black gets a R for a N and pawn.

Looking for a way to attack enemy pieces should come at the start of the hunt for candidates. Soltis in How to Choose a Chess Move

18 Rd4 Ng5?
[18... Rac8]
If the opponent is tied up, but your immediate threats aren't sufficient to win, bring another piece or pawn into the attack, or improve your position in other ways; then exchange into a favorable endgame. Harding in Better Chess for Average Players
 
The finding of an open file for the Rs is really the first stage of the middlegame, and most important stage too, for it can determine the whole course of the game. Euwe and Kramer in The Middlegame

19 Ba2 Ne6 20 Rd2 Nc7? 
[20... Qf6 21 Bxd5 Bxd5 22 Rxd5 Qxb2 =+]
An active position for the pieces is one of the most important elements of the positional struggle, possibly the decisive one. Kotov in Play Like a Grandmaster

21 Nd4 Qe4?

[21... Ne6 Nf5 Qf6 23 Qg4 h5 24 Qf4 Rac8=]
First break up the position, then you penetrate with the Q. Weeramantry and Eusebi in Best Lessons of a Chess Coach  

22 Qf3 Qxf3 23 Nxf3 Rac8 24 Rfd1 Ne6 25 Kf1

The trap is 25 Bxd5 Bxd5 26 Rxd5 Rxd5 27 Rxd5 Rc1#. 

25... Ba6+ 26 Ke1 Bc4 27 b3 Ba6 28 Nd4

28... Nxd4?

[28... Rc3]

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 our 7th or 8th rank. Nimzovich in My System

29 Rxd4 Rc2! 30 R4d2 Rdc8
You should then endeavor to double your Rs, that is, to place them one before the other on the same file. Nimzovich in My System

31 Bb1 Rc1 32 Bf5 Rxd1+?
[32... R8c5]
If your opponent has a cramped position, do not initiate trades. Weeramantry and Eusebi in Best Lessons of a Chess Coach

Do not exchange automatically, for there are positions in which exchanges cause your material superiority to lose its effect. Euwe in Judgment and Planning in Chess

33 Kxd1 Rd8 34 Kc2 Kf8
Advance the K to the center of the board or towards the passed pawns, or pawns that are susceptible to being attacked. Capablanca in Chess Fundamentals  

35 Kc3 Ke7 36 Kd4 

36... f6 
There is nothing to lose in trying 36... Bc8 and if 37 Bxc8 Rxc8 38 Kxd5?? Rd8+ -+.
 
37 Rc2 Kd6 38 f4 Bb7 39 g3 Bc6 40 b4 Ba4 41 Rc1 Bb5 42 Rc3 Bc4 43 Rc1 Bb5 44 Bg4 Bc6 45 Bf5 Bb7

Result: 1/2-1/2

G1 IM Oliver Barbosa

Training Game #1
White IM Oliver Barbosa
Black Rhal Sol Cruz
Q's Gambit

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.g3 Be7 5.Bg2 Nbd7 6.O-O O-O 7.Qc2 b6 8.cxd5 exd5 9.Bf4 c5 10.Nc3 a6 11.Rfd1 Bb7 12.dxc5 Nxc5 13.Nd4 Ne6 14.e3 Nxf4 15.gxf4 Rc8 16.Qb3 Bc5 17.Rd2 Rc7 18.Rad1 Rd7
[18... Qd7 19.h3 b5 20.Nde2 Qc8]

19.Nf3

19... Qa8
[19... d4 20.Nxd4 Qa8 21.Bxb7 Qxb7]

20.Ne5 Rd6 21.Nxd5 Nxd5 22.Bxd5 Bxd5 23.Rxd5 Rxd5 24.Rxd5 Qe8 25.Qxb6 f6 26.Qe6

Forcado vs Sol Cruz

ASKALs Workshop
Q's Gambit R1
White: Ian Forcado
Black: Rhal Sol Cruz
ECO D60 Q's Gambit Declined


1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 Nbd7 5.Bg5 Be7 6.e3 O-O
a) Steinitz vs Lasker, World Championship 1894
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1132680
b) Lasker vs Steinitz, World Championship 1897
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1012498
c) Lasker vs Capablanca, World Championship 1921
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1241504
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1241495
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1241498
d) Capablanca vs Alekhine, World Championship 1927
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1012507
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1012498


7.Bd3 b6
[7... dxc4 or 7... h6]


8.O-O Bb7 9.b3 c5 10.Rc1 Rc8 11.Re1 h6 12.Bf4 a6
[12... cxd4]


13.e4? cxd4
[13... dxc4 14.Bxc4 cxd4]


14.Nxd4??

14... dxe4?
[14... dxc4 15.Bxc4 e5 -+]


15.Bb1?? e5 -+ 16.Bxh6 gxh6?
[16... exd4]

17.Nf5 Kh7?
[17... Nc5 -+]


18.Qd2 Ng4?
[18... Ng8]

19.Qe2 Rg8


20.h3? Ngf6 21.Qe3? Rg5
[21... Qf8 -+]


22.Nxh6 Rh5?
[22... Rg6 -+]

23.Nxf7 Qg8 24.Nxe4 Nxe4 25.Bxe4 Bxe4 26.Qxe4

26... Kg7??
[26... Qg6 +-]


27.Qg4 Kxf7 28.Qxh5 Qg6 29.Qf3 Qf6 30.Qd5 Qe6 31.Rcd1 Qxd5 32.Rxd5 Rc5 33.Rxd7


Result: 1-0

G4 NM Cabellon

ASKAL Summer Workshop
MERALCO Chess Club
Pasig City, Philippines
Day 3 Q's Gambit Clock Simul [90-60 minutes]
White: NM Gerry Cabellon
Black: Rhal Sol Cruz

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Nbd7 5.Nc3 Be7 6.e3 O-O

7.cxd5
This is the Exchange Variation. It was played in Petrosian vs Spassky in World Championship 1969.

Other moves are:
7.   c5 - Steinitz vs Lasker in World Championship 1894
7. Rc1 - Capablanca vs Lasker in World Championship 1921 and Alekhine vs Capablanca in World Championship 1927.

7... exd5 8.Bd3

8... b6
[8... c6]

9.O-O Bb7 10.Rc1 c5 11.Bb1
Petrosian continued with 11.Bf5 against Spassky. But Bb1 is not a bad move, it was played in Hruby vs Gunsberg, Pillsbury vs Schlecter, Tarrasch vs Schlecter, Tarrasch vs Burn, to name few.

11... Rc8
[11... Ne4 12.Bf4 Rc8 13.Qe2 f5]

12.dxc5 bxc5 13.Qe2 Qb6! 14.Rfd1 Rfe8
[14... h6 15.Bf4 Bd6 16.Bxd6 Qxd6]

15.Na4 Qa5 16.b3 Ba6 17.Qd2 Qxd2 18.Rxd2

18... Bb7
[18... c4 19.bxc4 Rxc4 20.Rxc4 dxc4]

19.Bf5 Rc7 20.Bf4 Rc6 21.Rde2 g6! 22.Bh3 Bc8
[22... c4]

23.Bg3

23... Nb6??
[23... Ra6]

24.Nxc5
[24.Nd4 +-]

24... Bxh3 25.gxh3 Rec8 26.b4 Na4??
[26... Nc4]

27.Nd4 +-

Lopez vs Sol Cruz

PAYA R6
Claret vs La Salle
LSGH, Mandaluyong City

R3 Kho vs Sol Cruz

Result: 0-1

NM Maga vs Sol Cruz

Training Game
Q's Gambit Declined
Pasig City, Philippines
Game 1 G/30
W: NM Mirabeu MAGA
B: Rhal SOL CRUZ, Jr.

1 d4 d5 2 Nf3 e6 3 c4 Nf6 4 Qc2 Nbd7 5 Bg5 Be7 6 Nd2 h6 7 Bh4 O-O 8 Rc1 c6 9 e3 Re8 10 Bd3 Nf8 11 O-O dxc4 12 Nxc4 b5 13 Ne5 Bb7 14 Nxc6 Bxc6 15 Qxc6 a6 16 Ne5 Qa5 17 a3 Rec8 18 Qb7 Rab8 19 Qxe7

R7: Tanyag vs Sol Cruz

PRADA R7
Lourdes vs La Salle
W: Aaron TANYAG
B: Rhal SOL CRUZ, Jr.
Board 3



RESULT: 0-1

THE CHESS PLAYER'S HANDBOOK
It is usually good play to get command of an open file, that is to say, a file which is occupied by no other man, by stationing a R at one end of it.

ATENEO vs LA SALLE

PRADA R1
W: Jett MARCOS - Ateneo
B: Rhal SOL CRUZ, Jr. - La Salle
MARIST, Marikina City
[0-1]



After 17. fxe3, RYBKA recommends 17... Ng4!? 18.Qe2 Nxe3 19.Rfe1 Nxc4 20.Rxc4 Rxc4 21.Qxc4 -+

After 22.Be2, RYBKA recommends 22... Nd5 23.Rb3 Rc2 24.Kf1 -+

GM Torre vs Sol Cruz

QUEEN's GAMBIT DECLINED
W: GM Eugene TORRE
B: Rhal SOL CRUZ, Jr.
Event: Training Game
Site: Old Vine Grille, Eastwood City


1 d4 d5 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 Nf3 Nbd7 5 Bg5 Be7 6 e3 O-O 7 Qc2 b6 8 cxd5 Nxd5 9 Nxd5 exd5 10 Bxe7 Qxe7 11 Qxc7 Re8 12 Be2 Nf6 13 Qxe7 Rxe7 14 Rc1 Bb7 15 Ne5 Ne4 16 Bd3 f6 17 Nf3 f5 18 Ne5 Rf8 19 g3 g5 20 f4 g4 21 Bxe4 dxe4 22 Kd2 Rc8 23 Rxc8+ Bxc8 24 Nc6 Rc7 25 Rc1 Kg7 26 Rc3 Be6 27 Nd8 Rxc3 28 Nxe6+ Kf7 29 Kxc3 Kxe6 30 Kc4 Kd6 31 d5 a6 32 Kd4 b5 33 a4 h6 34 a5 b4 35 b3 h5 36 Kc4 Kd7 37 Kxb4 Kd6 38 Kc4 Kd7 39 Kc5

Result: 1-0



On 6... O-O,
GM Eugene, "Better is 6... h6 before castling because once you have castled and played 7... h6, White can respond with 8 h4."

On 8... Nxd5
GM Bong, "This loses a pawn. Clearly, exd5 is essential. You have to anticipate your opponent's intentions, otherwise you will make mistakes that are hard to recover. Don't make automatic moves especially if you have "move choices." Remember what I told you before in our first session that in chess the choices are many, but in most cases there is only one correct move."

GM Jayson Gonzales

3rd Simul for RP Paralympics
White: GM Jayson GONZALES
Black: Rhal SOL CRUZ
MERALCO, Pasig City
Board 3 of 25

1 Nf3 d5 2 d4 Nf6 3 c4 e6 4 Nc3 c6
In opening theory, the set-up adopted by Rhal is known as the Queen's Gambit Declined - Semi-Slav Variation; pawns at e6, d5 and c6.

Related Games:
Topalov vs Vallejo-Pons 2006
Aronian vs Anand 2007
Ljubojevic vs Giri 2010
Grischuk vs Gelfand 2010
Zontakh vs Dreev 2011
Morozevich vs Caruana 2011

5 Bg5 Nbd7 6 e3

d

6... Be7
The first principle of opening play is rapid development of all the pieces.
Yusupov in Build Up Your Chess

However, 6... Be7 is a rare continuation, the popular move is 6... Qa5, the Cambridge Springs Variation.
a) Bogoljubov vs Alekhine, World Championship 1929
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1012604
b) Alekhine vs Euwe, World Championship 1935
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1013124
c) Karpov vs Kasparov, World Championship 1985
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1067200

7 Qc2 Qc7
To protect yourself against double attacks by your opponent, you must try not to leave any of your pieces unprotected.
Yusupov in Build Up Your Chess

[7... O-O]
Nothing is more important than safeguarding your K by castling early, within the first dozen moves, if possible.
Evans in The 10 Most Common Chess Mistakes

8 Rc1

8... b6??
[8... O-O]

9 cxd5 cxd5 10 Bxf6 Bxf6?
[10... gxf6]

11 Nxd5
GAME OVER

11... Qxc2 12 Nxf6+ Nxf6 13 Rxc2 O-O 14 Be2 Bb7 15 O-O Bd5
[15... Rac8]

16 b3 Rac8 17 Rfc1 Rxc2
[17... Bb7]

18 Rxc2 h6 19 Ne5 Bb7 20 f3 Nd5 21 Kf2 f6 22 Ng6 Rc8 23 Rxc8+ Bxc8 24 e4

24.... Nc3??
[24... Kh7]
Counterplay is the best way of fighting against your opponent's initiative and attack.
Suetin in Soviet Chess Strategy

25 Ne7+ +-

Result: 1-0

LAZ vs SOL CRUZ

MERALCO vs Bago Bantay Goowill Match
W: Christine LAZ
B: Rhal SOL CRUZ, Jr.
Time: 15-15


Result: 1-0

Rhal was not aware of the time control of 15 minutes per player to finish the game.