THE LEADERBOARD of the 2021 Asian Hybrid Continental Chess Championship at the tornelo.com playing platform increased from five to eight players after Round 5 action Tuesday, May 25.
With four points apiece and sharing 1st to 8th places are GMs Shanglei Lu, Temur Kuybokarov, Yinglun Xu, Nodirbek Yakubboev, M. Amin Tabatabaei, Parham Maghsoodloo, Shamsiddin Vokhidov, and IM Ervan Mohammad. Note that Maghsoodloo has clearly recovered from a Round 2 loss and has climbed back into title contention with his third straight win.
On the other hand, it appeared the Filipino masters are struggling to keep up with their more experienced counterparts. I’ve said it many times in the past and I’ll say it again, our players can’t expect to reach world-class playing levels if they just compete with each other in local tournaments. Corporate sponsorship is needed to underwrite expenses campaigning in Europe and elsewhere.
At any rate, Round 5 saw Pinoy hopefuls IM Daniel Quizon drawing with GM Novendra Priasmoro; IM John Marvin Miciano losing to IM Yoseph Theolifus Taher; and IM Michael Concio Jr. bowing to GM Tsegmed Batchuluun. Quizon now has three points and is tied for 20th to 34th places. Miciano has 2½ points along with Bacolod player Ellan Asuela and 12 other players sharing 35th to 48th slots, while Concio has two points and is mired at 49th to 66th places. Incidentally, two other untitled Filipinos are in the same score group as Concio – Mark Jay Bacojo and Jeremy Marticio.
Maghsoodloo, P (2698) – Ghaem Maghami, E (2547)
tornelo.com (5.3) 2021
1.Nf3 d5 2.c4 c6 3.g3 Nf6 4.Bg2 dxc4 5.0-0 b5 6.a4 Bb7 7.d3 cxd3 8.Ne5 Qc7 9.Bf4 Nh5 10.axb5 Nxf4 11.gxf4 f6 12.bxc6 Nxc6 13.Nxd3 Rd8 14.Nc3 e6 15.Qb3 Be7 16.Rfc1 Qd7 17.Rd1 Qc8 18.Nb5 a6 19.Na7 Qa8 20.Qxb7 1-0
Tabatabaei, MA (2613)-Lou, Y (2472)
tornelo.com (5.4) 2021
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.0-0 Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.c3 0-0 7.h3 h6 8.Re1 a6 9.a4 Re8 10.Nbd2 Be6 11.b4 Ba7 12.Bb2 Nh5 13.Bxe6 Rxe6 14.d4 Nf4 15.Nf1 exd4 16.cxd4 Rg6 17.Ng3 Nxb4 18.Ra3 a5 19.Qd2 Ne6 20.Nf5 d5 21.e5 Ng5 22.N3h4 Rc6 23.Rg3 Rc2 24.Qd1 Rxb2 25.Nxh6+ gxh6 26.Nf5 Kh7 27.Qh5 Qf8 28.Rxg5 Nd3 29.Nxh6 Nf4 30.Qg4 Bxd4 31.Qxf4 Rxf2 32.Qxd4 Qxh6 33.Qg4 1-0
Urtnasan, N (2460)-Vokhidov, S (2529)
tornelo.com (5.6) 2021
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 c5 4.Nf3 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Qb6 6.Nc3 Bc5 7.e3 Nc6 8.Nb3 Bb4 9.Bg2 Qa6 10.Nd2 Bxc3 11.bxc3 b6 12.Qb3 Bb7 13.Ba3 Ne5 14.0-0 Bxg2 15.Kxg2 Nd3 16.Rad1 Rc8 17.Bb4 Nc5 18.Qa3 Qxa3 19.Bxa3 d6 20.f3 Ke7 21.Nb3 Nb7 22.Nd4 Rxc4 23.Nb5 Nd5 24.Rfe1 Rd8 25.Rd4 Rxd4 26.cxd4 a6 27.Nxd6 Nxd6 28.e4 Nc3 29.e5 Ncb5 30.exd6+ Kd7 31.Re3 Rc8 32.d5 Rc2+ 33.Kh3 e5 34.f4 Rxa2 35.Bb4 a5 36.Be1 Kxd6 37.Rb3 Kc5 38.fxe5 Re2 39.Rb1 Nd4 40.d6 Rxe5 41.d7 Rd5 42.Rc1+ Kb5 43.Bf2 Rxd7 44.Rd1 Kc4 45.Rc1+ Kd3 46.Rd1+ Kc2 0-1
Theolifus Taher, Y (2455)-Miciano, JM (2316)
tornelo.com (5.15) 2021
1.e4 c6 2.c4 d5 3.cxd5 cxd5 4.exd5 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nxd5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Bb5 Nxc3 8.bxc3 g6 9.Bxc6+ bxc6 10.Qa4 Qd5 11.0-0 Bg7 12.Ba3 Be6 13.Rfb1 0-0 14.Bxe7 Rfe8 15.Qh4 h6 16.Bf6 Bf5 17.Bxg7 Kxg7 18.c4 Qd6 19.Re1 c5 20.d4 Bd3 21.Ne5 Bf5 22.Qxh6+ Kg8 23.dxc5 Qxc5 24.Nf3 Rxe1+ 25.Rxe1 Qb4 26.Rc1 Qb2 27.Qd2 Qb7 28.Nd4 Be4 29.f3 Bc6 30.Nxc6 Qxc6 31.Qd5 Qe8 32.Qe4 Qd8 33.c5 Rb8 34.c6 Qd2 35.Qc2 Qe3+ 36.Kh1 Re8 37.h3 Rc8 38.c7 Qf4 39.Qc4 Qe3 40.a4 Qe5 41.Qc5 Qf4 42.a5 a6 43.Qc4 Qe3 44.Qc6 Qd2 45.Qc5 Qf4 46.Rc4 Qf6 47.f4 Kh7 48.Qe5 Qh4 49.Kh2 Kg8 50.Qd6 1-0
Concio, M (2297)-Batchuluun, T (2536)
tornelo.com (5.26) 2021
1.g3 e5 2.Bg2 Nf6 3.e4 Bc5 4.Ne2 Nc6 5.c4 White offered a draw. 5…Ng4 6.0-0 Qf6 7.d4 exd4 8.Nf4 d6 9.Nd5 Qd8 10.b4 Bxb4 11.Nxb4 Nxb4 12.Qxd4 0-0 13.Bb2 Qf6 14.Qd2 Qh6 15.Qxh6 Nxh6 16.Nc3 Be6 17.Nd5 Nd3 18.Ba3 Bxd5 19.cxd5 f6 20.Rad1 Nc5 21.f4 Nf7 22.Rfe1 Rfe8 23.Re3 b6 24.Rde1 Rab8 25.Bf1 Re7 26.Kf2 Kf8 27.h4 Rbe8 28.Kf3 Rb8 29.Bb4 Rc8 30.Bh3 Rb8 31.Bc3 Rd8 32.Bf5 Kg8 33.Bd4 Rde8 34.Bh3 Kf8 35.Bf1 Rb8 36.Ra3 a5 37.Bb5 Rd8 38.Rae3 Rb8 39.R3e2 Ra8 40.g4 h6 41.a4 Kg8 42.Rh1 Rf8 43.Re3 Ne5+ 44.Kg3 Ned7 45.Rhe1 g5 46.hxg5 hxg5 47.fxg5 fxg5 48.e5 Nxe5 49.Bxe5 Rxe5 50.Rxe5 dxe5 51.Rxe5 Kf7 52.Kg2 Kg6 53.Re7 Rc8 54.Be8+ Kf6 55.Rf7+ Ke5 56.Bc6 Kd4 57.Rg7 Kc4 58.Rxg5 Kb3 59.Re5 Nxa4 60.Be8 Nc3 61.g5 Nxd5 62.Kg3 c6 63.Bf7 a4 64.g6 a3 65.Re3+ Kb4 66.Re2 Nc3 67.Rc2 a2 68.Bxa2 Nxa2 69.Rb2+ Kc5 70.Rc2+ Kb5 71.Kg4 Nb4 72.Re2 Nd5 73.Kg5 Rg8 74.Re1 Kc5 75.Kh6 Kd6 76.g7 Ra8 77.Kg6 b5 78.Rh1 b4 79.Rh8 Ne7+ 80.Kf7 Ra7 81.Rd8+ Kc5 82.Kf6 b3 83.Ke6 b2 84.Rb8 Ng8 85.Rxb2 Rxg7 86.Rc2+ Kb6 87.Rb2+ Kc7 88.Ra2 Re7+ 89.Kf5 Re8 90.Kf4 Nf6 0-1
*******
PUZZLERS
WHITE TO MOVE,
MATE IN TWO.
The key to our last problem is 1.Kg8!, and Black’s futile options are: 1…g6/g5 2.h8=Q#; 1…bxc5 2.Qxc5#; 1…Kc3/e5, Qg3/f3/e3/d3/a3/e6+, Ng4 2.N(x)e6#; 1…e3, Qb3+/g4/f5/d7/c8, Bf3, Nf3, Ne3/g3 2.N(x)b3#./PN
