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Eric Kelly eyes skid-busting victory in ONE Jakarta event

RIGHT smack in the middle of a telling slide in his mixed martial arts career, Filipino fighter Eric “The Natural” Kelly cannot wait to get back on the winning track and is hoping such would come on Saturday in Jakarta, Indonesia, at ONE Championship’s “Grit and Glory” event.
One of the top fighters in the land, Mr. Kelly, 36, has hit a serious rough patch of late, having lost four straight matches that has considerably pulled down his stock as a contender.
His last defeat came at the hands of Brazilian Rafael Nunes by way of submission (Brabo Choke) in the second round here in Manila in January.
The Baguio-based fighter has not won a fight since defeating Japanese Hiroshige Tanaka by unanimous decision in October 2015.
Mr. Kelly recognizes that he is coming into his fight with Japan’s Tetsuya Yamada in their three-round catchweight bout in Grit and Glory sans the winning momentum but nonetheless is ready armed with the lessons his recent defeats have afforded him.
“I am taking it as a lesson. I have accepted the fact that I am in a bad spot, but I am taking all those experiences as lessons and inspecting them for my future matches,” said Mr. Kelly, who racked up three straight victories prior to his four-fight slide.
“I want to show to those who believe in me that I can make it not just for myself, but for all. I want this victory so bad. I really want to go back home as the winner,” he added.
Mr. Kelly was quick to say, however, that victory would not come on a silver platter for him, especially against an opponent like Mr. Yamada, who is younger at 28 years old and raring to make his way up the ONE Championship ranks.
Nonetheless, the Filipino fighter said he will take the challenge head-on and do everything he can to see his cause through.
“It’s a good match-up for me. My opponent is no pushover because Yamada has a good ground game and a decent stand-up. I really want to get this win more than ever. No one can deny my eagerness to win,” said Mr. Kelly.
Mr. Kelly has a 12-5 record while Mr. Yamada is sporting a 22-6 card.
Headlining ONE: Grit and Glory at the Jakarta Convention Center is the world strawweight title fight between champion Alex Silva of Brazil against Japanese contender and former champion Yoshitaka Naito.
Also seeing action in the event is Filipino women’s atomweight Rome Trinidad against hometown bet Priscilla Hertati Lumban Gaol. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

2018 US Championship

2018 USA Championship
Saint Louis, USA
April 18-30, 2018

Final Standings
1. Samuel Shankland 2671, 8.5/11
2. Fabiano Caruana 2804, 8.0/11
3. Wesley So 2786, 6.5/11
4-6. Hikaru Nakamura 2787, Aleksandr Lenderman 2599, Ray Robson 2660, 5.5/11
7-8. Zviad Izoria 2599, Jeffery Xiong 2665, 5.0/11
9-11. Awonder Liang 2552, Yaroslav Zherebukh 2640, Varuzhan Akobian 2647, 4.5/11
12. Alexander Onischuk 2672, 3.0/11
Average Rating 2674 category 17
Time Control: Players receive 90 minutes for the first 40 moves then 30 minutes play-to-finish with 30 seconds added to their clocks after every move starting move 1.
Hikaru Nakamura did not have a good tournament. He was supposed to be contending for the top prizes but instead only had an even score (1 win, 1 loss, 9 draws). The game he did win though was quite nice.
Shortly after crushing Varuzhan Akobian in the penultimate round of the US Championship Nakamura noted that in Saint Louis Akobian had Black three times against 1.e4, played the French in all three and lost them all. Why doesn’t he give it up?
The answer to that question, of course, is national pride.
The Armenians are known for their nationalistic fervor. You remember the famous “Gormallygate” incident back in 2006 during the Bermuda Party held in the eve of the free day of the Turin Chess Olympiad? The Australian-Filipina WIM Arianne Caoili (by the way, she played Board 1 for the Philippine women’s team in the 2000 Istanbul Olympiad) showed up in the party and at some time started to dance with Levon Aronian (Board 1 for the Armenian men’s team and at that time considered a strong potential for the world title). Completely green with envy, GM Daniel Gormally (Board 4 for England) attacked Aronian and sent him sprawling on the dance floor.
There is an unspoken and unwritten rule in these Olympiads — never attack an Armenian. Immediately Varuzhan Akobian (Board 4 for the US team and yes, the very same Akobian playing here in the 2018 US Championship) let out a roar and attacked Gormally with murder in his eyes. Fortunately several other players intervened, pushed Gormally out the emergency exit and contained the situation in the dance floor.
That was not the end of it though. The next day a group of Armenians waylaid Gormally and roughed him up. The Englishman then decided that he had enough and left Turin right away.
What has this got to do with the French Defense of Akobian? Everything. The French Defense has always been a specialty of the Armenian players ever since its adoption by Rafael Vaganian. They play it with a passion and even have a line known as the “Armenian Variation.” You want to know how it goes? Here it is.

Nakamura, Hikaru (2787) — Akobian, Varuzhan (2647) [C18]
US-ch Open 2018 Saint Louis (10), 28.04.2018

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Ba5
The Armenian Variation.
6.b4!
White should not destroy his own center by 6.dxc5? after 6…Bxc3+ 7.bxc3 Ne7 8.Qg4 Ng6 9.Nf3 Nd7 10.Bd3 Qc7 White has no advantage whatsoever.
6…cxd4
The move 6…cxb4? is known to be bad as it gives White time to put his knight on d6. I do not understand why it is still being played — here is an example: 7.Nb5 Nc6 8.axb4 Bxb4+ 9.c3 Be7 10.Ba3 a6 11.Bxe7 Ngxe7 12.Nd6+ Kf8 13.Bd3 Qc7 14.Qh5 Nd8 15.Ne2 Bd7 16.0–0 Nc8 17.Nxc8 Rxc8 18.f4 Qb6 19.Rab1 Qa7 20.Kh1 b5 21.f5 exf5 22.Bxf5 Rc6 23.Nf4 Rxc3 24.e6 Bc6 25.Rbe1 Qxd4 26.e7+ Ke8 27.exd8N+ Kxd8 28.Qxf7 Qf6 29.Ne6+ 1–0 (29) So,W (2526)-Nadera,B (2417) Tarakan 2008.
7.Nb5
GM Negi in “1.e4 vs The French, Caro-Kann and Philidor” recommends the other main line 7.Qg4 Ne7 8.bxa5 dxc3 9.Qxg7 Rg8 10.Qxh7 Nbc6 11.Nf3 There is a lot of play in the position but Negi assesses overall that White has the better chances.
7…Bc7 8.f4 Bd7 9.Nf3
Some time ago GM Leonid Kritz wrote a theoretical in Chessbase where he gave 9.Nxc7+ an exclamation mark and said that Nakamura’s 9.Nf3 is a mistake “because Black swaps off his bad bishop.” Apparently Nakamura has his own ideas.
9…Bxb5 10.Bxb5+ Nc6 11.Bd3 Nge7 12.0–0 Bb6 13.Kh1 Qd7 14.Rb1 Nf5 <D>
POSITION AFTER 14…NF5
This position is worth deep examination. White’s Bxf5 will saddle Black with doubled pawns but on the other hand his c2–pawn becomes a weakness which Black will attack given the semi-open c-file. Study Nakamura’s next few moves to see how he handles it.
15.a4 a6 16.a5 Ba7 17.Bxf5! exf5 18.Ba3! Rc8
[18…0–0 19.b5]
19.b5 axb5 20.Rxb5 Nd8 21.Qb1 Rc3 22.e6! fxe6
[22…Qxe6? 23.Re1 Re3 24.Rxe3 dxe3 25.Rxb7 Nxb7 26.Qxb7 e2 27.Qa8+ Kd7 28.Qxa7+ Kc8 29.Bb4 White is clearly winning]
23.Ne5 Qc7 24.Qb4 g5
[24…Rxc2? 25.Qa4]
25.Qa4! Rxa3
Forced. 25…Nc6 26.Bb4 Re3 27.a6! Black’s position will collapse.
26.Qxa3 gxf4 27.Re1
With the idea of Rxd5.
27…Qc3! 28.Qc1 Rg8 29.Nd3 Kd7 30.Qxf4 Kc8
Black has no time for 30…Qxc2 as now White breaks through with 31.Rxd5+! exd5 (If the Black king goes to the c-file then Rc1 wins his queen, and going to the e-file will not work either 31…Ke7 32.Qh4+ Ke8 33.Rxd8+ ends in mate; 31…Ke8 32.Rxd8+ Kxd8 33.Qd6+ Kc8 34.Rc1) 32.Qxf5+ Kd6 33.Qe5+ Kd7 34.Qxd5+ Kc7 35.Rc1 the black queen is dead.
31.a6! bxa6 32.Rb3 Qc7
[32…Qxc2? 33.Rc1]
33.Qxc7+ Kxc7 34.Ra3 Bb6 35.Rxa6 Kb7 36.Ra3 Rg7?
After his heroic resistance Akobian makes a mistake. He had to unpin his king with 36…Kc6 immediately.
37.Rb3! Rc7? 38.Reb1 Rc6 39.Ne5 Rd6 40.Rh3 Nc6 41.Rxh7+
Finally White has a clear win. He can exchange pieces off the board and then push the h-pawn to the queening square.
41…Ka6 42.Rd7 Rxd7 43.Nxd7 Ba7 44.h4! e5 45.h5 e4 46.h6 d3 47.cxd3 Bd4 48.dxe4 fxe4 49.h7 Ne7 50.Nc5+! 1–0
The bishop cannot take the knight because it will leave h8 undefended. However, 50.Nc5+ Ka7 (50…Ka5 51.Nb3+) 51.Rb7+ Ka8 52.Rxe7 the knight is still immune.
Here is another one of those French disasters.

Caruana, Fabiano (2804) — Akobian, Varuzhan (2647) [C11]
USA-ch 2018 Saint Louis USA (7), 25.04.2018

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 Be7 7.Be3 Nc6 8.Qd2 b6
The moves 8…0–0 an 8…a6 are much, much more commonly played here.
9.Bb5 Qc7 10.0–0–0!?
Clearly Caruana was prepared for this line and immediately played a novelty. The pawn on b6 prevents Black’s queen from quickly attacking on White’s queenside so that is where Caruana tucks away his king.
After the game Akobian revealed that he had expected 10.Bxc6 Qxc6 11.f5 exf5 12.dxc5 Nxc5 13.Nxd5 Bd8. Black’s game looks suspicious but he has already removed White’s light-squared bishop and that is the point of the whole line.
10…a6 11.Bxc6 Qxc6 12.f5! c4
[12…exf5? 13.dxc5 Bxc5 14.Nxd5 0–0 15.Bxc5 Qxc5 (15…Nxc5?? 16.Ne7+) 16.Qg5 White’s position is very threatening]
13.f6!? gxf6 14.exf6 Bxf6
Black cannot take with the knight as it is keeping an eye on e5. For example: 14…Nxf6? 15.Ne5 Qc7 16.Rhf1 followed by Bg5.
15.Rhf1 b5?! 16.Qf2! b4 17.Ne2!? b3?! 18.Ne5! Bxe5 19.Qxf7+ Kd8 20.dxe5 bxa2 21.Kd2 Rf8 22.Qxh7 Rxf1 23.Rxf1 d4 24.Qg8+ Kc7 25.Nxd4 Qd5 26.Qxe6
Akobian had only 2 minutes left while Fabi had more than half an hour.
26…Qa5+
[26…Qxg2+ 27.Rf2 Qxf2+ 28.Bxf2 a1Q Black emerges with an extra rook but his king falls to a mating attack. 29.Qd6+ Kb7 (29…Kd8 30.Nc6+ Ke8 31.Qe7#) 30.Qd5+ Kb8 31.Nc6+ Kb7 32.Nd8+ Kc7 33.Qd6+ Kxd8 34.Bh4+ Ke8 35.Qe7#]
27.c3 Nxe5 28.Rf7+! Nxf7 29.Bf4+! Kb7 30.Qxf7+ 1–0
 
Bobby Ang is a founding member of the National Chess Federation of the Philippines and its first Executive Director. A Certified Public Accountant, he taught accounting in the University of Santo Tomas for 25 years and is currently Chief Audit Executive of the Equicom Group of Companies.
bobby@cpamd.net

Paul’s virtuoso act

As expected, the Rockets blew past the Jazz in Game Five of their semifinal-round matchup. Once Ricky Rubio went down with a strained left hamstring in the previous series and had to stay in the sidelines for the duration of the best-of-seven affair, the outcome was essentially sealed. The West top seeds simply had too much firepower coming in to be overcome by their offense-challenged opponents. In fact, a sweep was a distinct possibility, and, as things turned out, prevented only by a hard-to-replicate combine of homecourt advantage, a career night from unlikely gunner Joe Ingles, and balanced scoring that included contributions from an engaged Rudy Gobert.
True, the Jazz expected to do much better yesterday. Facing elimination and having suffered from double-digit losses in Games One, Three, and Four, they steeled themselves for a resolute last stand in hostile territory. And, to their credit, they managed to stay close for much of the set-to. Unfortunately, the injury bug hit them hard anew; Rookie of the Year candidate Donovan Mitchell checked out of the court halfway through the fourth quarter due to an ailing left leg, and his failure to return all but doomed them. He was certainly active in the previous period, scoring 22 of his 24 points to help the navy and gold keep pace.
Considering how well the Rockets played, though, Mitchell’s presence until the very end may not have mattered, anyway. For one thing, Game Five featured future Hall-of-Famer Chris Paul at his level best; by the time the battlesmoke cleared, he had put up a career-high 41 markers on 22 shots to go with 10 dimes and seven boards, the first player in National Basketball Association history to post the aforesaid numbers without registering a single turnover. And he certainly did the most damage in the crunch; after the Jazz scored seven straight to whittle down their deficit to one, he went on a personal 10-point run to disabuse them of any comeback notions.
From the outside looking in, it’s fitting to appreciate Paul’s virtuoso act in the context of his previous failures. For all his skills, the knock on him was that he couldn’t crack the conference finals. Needless to say, his play yesterday ensured the end of his dubious streak, and, with it, any lingering thoughts of his inability to share the limelight with presumptive Most Valuable Player James Harden. Up next for the nine-time All-Star and the Rockets: a date with the Warriors, a certified humdinger that he will, no doubt, be making his mark in as well.
 
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994.

Stocks slide amid fresh Middle East tension

Stock prices fell on Wednesday, May 9, as investors fled the markets following geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.
The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index shed 0.29% or 22.30 points to close at 7,555.27 on Wednesday. The broader all shares index also dipped 0.19% or 8.84 points to 4,620.49.
“Local equities were affected by (United States) Pres. (Donald J.) Trump’s decision to pull the US out of the Iran nuclear deal as investors took another temporary flight to safety to dollar assets on fresh Mideast geopolitical tension fears and the negative implication on earnings for affected firms worldwide,” PCCI Securities Brokers Corp. Research Head Joseph James F. Lago said in an email.
Analysts noted that this move will strain US’ longstanding alliances, disrupt oil markets and boost tensions in the Middle East.
Mr. Lago also noted that investors had gone bargain hunting in the morning given optimism ahead of first quarter economic growth figures to be released on Thursday.
Sectoral counters were split between gainers and losers.
Financials gave up 1.38% or 26.02 points to 1,860.52. Services plunged 0.93% or 14.22 points to 1,510.72, while holding firms edged 0.14% or 10.53 points lower to 7,600.17.
Meanwhile, industrial inched up 0.38% or 41.61 points to 11,096.08. Property gained 0.31% or 11.18 points to 3,593.21 while mining and oil added 0.12% or 12.29 points to 10,095.22.
The market saw thin trading for the day, with 1.2 billion issues switching hands valued at only P4.96 billion, much lower than the P7.23-billion turnover on Tuesday.
Decliners trumped advancers, 113 to 73, while 59 stocks remained unchanged. Foreign investors remained on selling mode, resulting to net sales of P638.33 million, higher than the P225.77 million recorded in the previous session.
Investors are also awaiting the results of policy meeting of the BSP on Thursday.
PCCI Securities’ Mr. Lago said that the local central bank might do a slight tightening or raise its benchmark rates in a gradual manner in light of rising inflation.
“If it adjusts its policy rates, it will be on a gradual path so that it has room for all of its other tools when inflation pressures eases late in the year or in 2019,” Mr. Lago said. — Arra B. Francia

Peso tracks weakness of other currencies’ vs dollar

The peso slipped on Wednesday, May 9, retreating to the P52 level, as the dollar strengthened across a band of currencies and amid the country’s wider trade deficit.
The local currency closed the session at P52.015, 16.5 centavos weaker than the P51.85-per-greenback finish on Tuesday.
The peso traded weaker the whole day, opening the peso at P52 against the US currency. It slipped to as low as P52.055, while its best showing for the day stood at P51.95.
Dollars traded grew slightly to $733.9 million from Tuesday’s $727 million.
Traders interviewed Wednesday said the peso slid as it tracked the weakness of other currencies against the dollar.
“The peso was just keeping in track with the global dollar move as it strengthened overnight,” a currency trader said over the phone.
Another trader said that the market has been “seeing a broad-based US dollar up-move,” although it was contained in the dollar-peso exchange.
“We’re moving down, but the peso was resilient compared to the other Asian currencies. I guess one of the reasons why is that market players continue to hike rates tomorrow,” the trader said. — Karl Angelo N. Vidal

Manila Water net income rises 17% in Q1

Manila Water Co., Inc. posted a 17% increase in first-quarter net income to P1.69 billion mainly coming the growth in its Manila concession area and the expansion of its operating subsidiaries.

First Gen aims to select partners for LNG terminal within the year

Lopez-led First Gen Corp. has set a firm schedule for its plan to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal and regasification facility, including the selection of a partner this year and the start of construction next year, company officials said.
“Our intention is to finalize that partnership arrangement within the year,” said Francis Giles B. Puno, First Gen president and chief operating officer, in a briefing on Wednesday, May 9, after the company’s annual stockholders meeting.
He said the selection of the partner is one of the “key deliverables” of the company in 2018.
“Ideally, we bring in maybe at least one foreign partner and potentially local partners as well,” he said. “We don’t have to solely underwrite this transaction.”
Mr. Puno described the facility as an “important infrastructure for the country,” making First Gen open to partnerships.
“We’ve been having this conversion with a number of foreign and local partners,” he said.
Emmanuel P. Singson, First Gen senior vice-president, said most of the company’s capital expenditure this year would go to the initial phase of the LNG facility. — Victor V. Saulon

Megaworld posts 11% profit growth in first quarter

Andrew L. Tan-led Megaworld Corp. posted an 11.3% increase in net income attributable to the parent to P3.2 billion during the first three months of the year, it said in a statement issued Wednesday, May 9.
Megaworld generated revenues of P13.1 billion for the quarter, 70% of which or P8.8 billion came from the residential business. This showed a 6% jump from the P8.3-billion contribution it had in the same period in 2017. — Arra B. Francia

SMC to issue P10-billion fixed rate notes

San Miguel Corp. (SMC) looks to raise P10 billion from the issuance of fixed rate notes due 2020 fo refinancing existing debt and to manage dollar-denominated obligations.
In a preliminary prospectus posted on its website, the listed conglomerate said the issuance will consist of Series A fixed-rate notes due 2020 and Series B fixed-rate notes with a noteholder put option due 2020.
For the Series B notes, investors shall have the right to require SMC to redeem the notes at face value after a year. — Arra B. Francia

JFC invests in Tim Ho Wan brand

HOMEGROWN food giant Jollibee Foods Corp. (JFC) will be investing 45 million Singaporean dollars, or around P1.74 billion, on the buyer of Tim Ho Wan’s master franchise holder in the Asia Pacific.
In a disclosure to the stock exchange on Wednesday, May 9, JFC said its wholly-owned subsidiary Jollibee Worldwide Pte. Ltd will invest in Titan Dining LP (Titan), a private equity fund with a fund size of SGD 100 million.
Titan has signed a binding agreement with Tim Ho Wan Pte. Ltd. (THWPL), the holder of the exclusive long-term master franchise for the Tim Ho Wan brand in Asia Pacific, excluding Hong Kong, alongside affiliate Dim Sum Pte. Ltd. which owns and operates Tim Ho Wan stores in Singapore. — Arra B. Francia

Google takes on Yelp by adding personalized features to maps

Google Maps is getting a face-lift, and the new features could tread further into the local-listing business of rivals such as Yelp Inc.
Alphabet Inc.’s Google unveiled new services for its mapping software that will give more direct access to retail businesses and personalized features. Two new additions save a user’s preferences and rankings for stores, restaurants and other buildings. “Now you can confidently pick the places that are best for you,” Google’s Jen Fitzpatrick, who leads Maps, said onstage Tuesday at the company’s I/O developer conference in Mountain View, California.
Google has long held a massive technical lead over peers with its digital maps, but has been reluctant to lean on it for revenue from advertising or local listings.
At I/O, the internet search giant also introduced something called Visual Positioning System, a new way for people to find their own locations on Google Maps using their cameras and Google’s advanced computer-vision technology.
The feature tackles a common problem when using Google Maps for walking directions: It’s not always clear which way to walk initially. Now users will be able to raise their phones and see an image of the street with a large arrow pointing the correct way. — Bloomberg

Max’s to focus on franchising to fast track expansion

Max’s Group, Inc. (MGI) will be focusing on franchising its brands to fast track expansion until 2020, targeting to have a 65% to 35% mix of franchised versus company-owned stores.
The listed casual dining restaurant group plans to roll out 80 to 90 new stores this year. Fifty-five out of the 74 located locally is set to be franchised, according to MGI President and Chief Executive Officer Robert F. Trota.
“We have established already what we wanted, as we have a portfolio of 35% franchised to 65% company-owned. The intent is to reverse that in the next three to five years where it will have more franchise outlets in the pipeline reaching to 1,000 stores by 2020,” Mr. Trota said in a press briefing after the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Quezon City on Wednesday, May 9. — Arra B. Francia

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