JEDDAH, 25 July 2003 — In the nine series of Al-Faf Round Robin to Stepladder Knockout Final, out of the 25 chess participants 17 were eliminated and 8 are still in contention in the ongoing weekly competition at Al-Faf hotel, Jeddah.
Last Friday, Irshad Hussain of Trans Desert shocked fourth seed Bernie Tabelisma and Anselmo Seidel in the quarterfinal and semifinal respectively.
Hussain lost the first of the best of two games. In game two, Hussain gave a particularly clever demonstration of the knight’s prowess in his win to level the game at one all (1-1). The issue was finally settled by a blunder from Tabelisma in a sudden death 15-15 minutes game. In the semifinal, Seidel overcame Hussein by grinding out a text-book win by Bobby’s Fischer old favorite, the Ruy Lopez exchange variation while in game two with black Hussain played the Ccaro-Kann Defense solidly to take the match into playoff.
Hussein outplayed Seidel in the playoff, winning a pawn and refusing to be intimidated by Seidel’s attempts to stir confusion on the king side. In return, Seidel reached for what looked like a winning end game but Hussein held on. Hussein’s next opponent is third seed CPA Gerry Calixto of HILTI in the second semifinal.
Marvin Franco of Bashawri Optical defeated fourth seed quarterfinalist Froilan Miro in straight sets of Queen’s Gambit and Sicilian Defense. The semifinal between Franco and Raul Ilagan of United Motors (who won against Gary Abadines) was rescheduled and the winner will meet the second semifinalist or third seed Jimmy De Leon of Alma Glass.
The other semifinalists waiting in the ladder are the No. 2 seeds Willy Sabungan of Shamrock and Dr. Motaz El-Fadil of Bahlas Medical Center. The No. 1 seed is Benjie Roxas of Barnie’s Café. The seeding of players in the second phase of Al-Faf hotel Stepladder Knockout Final was derived from the phase one of the round robin events.
Meanwhile, the Community Chess Club has declared the next Series Ten as open. Those interested may register at Al-Faf hotel during Friday from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. For details contact Willy Lumboy at (056368814), Glenn Orlina (6350535 ext. 272), Bong Marquez (2750306), Ezedine Agili/Jess Galang at Al-Faf hotel.
