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Nation at a Glance — (10/02/18)

News stories from across the nation. Visit www.bworldonline.com (section: The Nation) to read more national and regional news from the Philippines.

Peso down as market eyes inflation data

THE PESO weakened against the dollar on Monday as market players anticipate the September inflation print, which is seen to pick up further.
The local unit ended Monday’s session at P54.11 versus the greenback, nine centavos weaker than the P54.02-per-dollar finish last Friday.
The peso traded weaker the whole day, opening the session at P54.03 against the dollar, which was its best showing for the day. Meanwhile, its intraday low stood at P54.13 versus the greenback.
Dollars traded thinned to $385.7 million from the $699.7 million tallied the previous session.
A foreign exchange trader said the peso consolidated on Monday as the dollar strengthened Friday night.
“Dollar was in general was trading higher against major currencies. We’re just following the move contrary to the move on Friday wherein the peso strengthened. However, because of the dollar’s move last Friday night, the dollar strengthened a bit,” the trader said in a phone interview.
Going forward, the trader said inflation will be a major factor for the peso.
“I think inflation will be a major factor. That may give a little bit of room for the peso just to consolidate and see if it will go higher or lower.”
A faster September inflation print is expected by the market. A BusinessWorld poll among 13 economists yielded a 6.8% median rate, which if realized would be faster than August’s 6.4% print.
It matches the estimate given by the BSP last Friday, but is faster than the 6.4% expected by the Department of Finance.
“We’ll consolidate. This is a test where [we’ll] see if the peso can appreciate more in the coming days after the (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas) hike,” the trader added.
“Market is anticipating a 6.8% consensus September inflation level,” UnionBank of the Philippines chief economist Ruben Carlo O. Asuncion said in a text message. “This may be dampening prospects after the recent rate hike.”
He added that the new trade pact between the United States and Canada “didn’t seem to have any impact.”
In a Reuters report, Canada and the US forged a last-minute deal on Sunday to save the North American Free Trade Agreement as a trilateral agreement with Mexico.
For Tuesday, the trader said the peso will likely move between P54 and P54.20 versus the dollar, while Mr. Asuncion gave a P54-P54.40 range. — Karl Angelo N. Vidal

PSE index falls ahead of Sept. inflation report

By Arra B. Francia, Reporter
LOCAL SHARES fell on Monday as investors stayed on the sidelines while anticipating the release of inflation figures on Friday.
The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) started the first trading day of October and the fourth quarter on a negative note, giving up 0.75% or 54.74 points to finish at 7,222.08. The broader all-shares index also lost 0.51% or 22.83 points to 4,442.09.
“It was a slow and unenthusiastic start for October as the PSEi fell by as much as 100.62 points to its intraday low… Value turnover was noticeably weak at only P4 billion — which could be due to participants anticipating September’s inflation figure on Friday, Oct. 5,” Papa Securities Corp. trader Gabriel Jose F. Perez said in an e-mail.
Turnover weakened to P4.2 billion yesterday after some 705.5 million issues switched hands, compared to Friday’s P6 billion.
“We might see more of the low value turnover we’ve seen [on Monday] in the next few days as the market awaits Friday’s inflation release,” Mr. Perez added.
Regina Capital Development Corp. Managing Director Luis A. Limlingan said concerns are growing ahead of the next inflation report after the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) gave an estimate of 6.3-7.1% for the September reading.
“The BSP has given a wide range, painting the possibility that this could hit as high as 7.1%,” Mr. Limlingan said in a mobile message.
In addition to its estimate range, the BSP said September inflation could have printed at 6.8%, while the Department of Finance said it could be unchanged from August’s 6.4% record.
The flat performance of international markets also failed to lift sentiments for the local index. Markets in the United States were mostly flat on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average adding 0.07% or 18.38 points to 26,458.31. The Nasdaq Composite index went up 0.05% or 4.39 points to 8,046.35, while the S&P 500 index slipped by 0.02 points to 2,913.98.
Most Asian indices also logged flat finishes as the China was closed for the Golden Week Holiday. The Hong Kong market was also closed for National Day celebration.
Back home, four sectoral indices ended in negative territory, including industrials which slumped 1.61% or 172.23 points to 10,475.30. Holding firms dropped 1.38% or 99.36 points to 7,060.57; mining and oil shed 1.31% or 117.88 points to 8,854.12; while property dipped 0.11% or 4.28 points to 3,616.56.
Meanwhile, services gained 0.48% or 7.25 points to 1,502.22, while financials barely moved, adding only 0.12 point to close at 1,620.68.
Decliners outpaced advancers, 101 to 75, while 53 names remained unchanged.
Foreign investors continued their selling spree, widening net outflows to P677.5 million from last Friday’s P29.1 million.

EDSA III: The case against surge pricing

Though we are spread across 7,500 different islands, Filipinos are united by our shared sense of fairness. Case in point: If we travel out of town to a province where we don’t speak the local dialect and we buy a fruit at the palengke for P40, only to find out later that it was actually priced at P30, we would likely be outraged. The 10-peso difference isn’t the concern—it’s the principle of the matter.
People should be charged the same price for the same product.
Since most Filipinos, myself included, have likely been a victim of price discrimination at some point in our lives, we are all adamantly against it. And that’s why I find the tacit acceptance of this practice in a business category that so many of us use so surprising.
We’ve all seen the terms “surge pricing” or “dynamic pricing” pop up on our ride-hailing apps. These schemes are said to balance out higher demand with higher prices. In reality, these terms are used to mask what is really going on: price discrimination. Plain and simple, considering fares already factor in time and distance.
Let’s go back to the usual justification, that ride-hailing companies change their pricing based on demand. I would argue this is even worse, because it targets whole swathes of people.
Say demand spikes for a particular ride-hailing company every evening between the hours of 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. The company’s fares thus in turn rise between 1.5x and 2x the cost of a normal fare. If you’re a Filipino who has to commute to work at this time—perhaps you are a call center agent—you would have to regularly pay 2x what a Filipino who goes to work at another time does. You get the same product, the same service, but by virtue of being a call center agent on the graveyard shift, you have to pay double.
Why do we stand idly by as this happens? We would not tolerate this price discrimination at the mall, the grocery, at a palengke—so why do we tolerate it on our roads?
EDSA I and EDSA II were fundamentally about fairness. We took to the streets to express outrage over perceived inequalities in how our cities were governed. But what happens now that the inequalities are already there, plying the streets, out in the open, governing how and when we can move across our cities?
To some, this analogy may sound like a stretch, but it’s one that I stand by. I think all Filipinos deserve to pay the same price if they are both going from point A to point B.
Over the last few months, there have been a slew of infographics circulating online comparing old and new ride-hailing players across several parameters. These include areas served, base fare, per kilometer charges, cancellation fees, and price surges. Based on these parameters, I’ve seen netizens debate on social media about them, but few ever really get the full picture of these ride-hailing companies.
These infographics make it seem as though their product features are constant, when this is really not the case. The figure in the price surge field may read 1.5x or 2.0x, which makes it seem static. A more accurate representation of price surge would be a GIF-like effect where the numbers change, much like bars on a slot machine. When you book a ride on a surge fare, you pull the lever, and are forced to pay whatever value it lands on. This is not portrayable in a simple infographic, of course—such is the way with surge pricing. It defies description.
I understand there are no simple answers here. I also understand that ride-hailing platforms use surge pricing in an effort to get more cars on the road for their passengers. But as the local mobility and transportation sector matures, it’s time for industry leaders to step up and mete out better policies for all stakeholders.
The blockchain community in the Philippines recently launched several professional associations, and I believe we should follow suit. We can develop our industry and seek to establish protocols and best practices for even the most contentious issues, like surge pricing. In the end, this is not a rally against surge pricing, but a call to elevate our industry by asking the tough questions no one wants to ask, but we all must one day address.
Like the passengers we serve, the industry leaders in transportation and mobility must also think about where we want to go and how we will get there.

Eddie Ybanez is the founder and CEO of Micab. Based in Cebu, he is a “hacker” by training and by heart.

NCAA: Lyceum shoots for victory number 14

By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Senior Reporter
THE league-leading Lyceum Pirates shoot for win number 14 today when they collide with the Mapua Cardinals in National Collegiate Athletic Association Season 94 action at the FilOil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.
Currently tied with the defending champions San Beda Red Lions at the top of the heap with an identical 13-1 record, the Pirates go for the victory over the already-eliminated Cardinals (4-10) in their 4 p.m. encounter that will give them back solid leadership while also fortifying their spot for a top-two finish in the homestretch of the classification round.
Playing earlier in the day at 2 p.m. are the Arellano Chiefs (4-9) against also-rans Emilio Aguinaldo Generals (3-11).
Lyceum is coming off a bounce-back win over Arellano, 113-79, on Sept. 27 after absorbing its first defeat of the season in a prior game against the University of Perpetual Help.
Jaycee Marcelino led a balanced Pirates attack that had them going on a fast start against the Chiefs and not looking back after.
Marcelino had 21 points with reigning league most valuable player CJ Perez finishing with all-around numbers of 10 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists.
MJ Ayaay, Spencer Pretta, Raymar Caduyac, and Jeff Santos also wound up in double-digits in scoring with 16, 15, 13, and 11 points, respectively.
In said game, Lyceum broke a lot of league statistical records which include most points scored (113), most three-pointers made (14), most assists (27), most fast break points (34) and most bench points (81).
Pirates coach Topex Robinson said he was happy with the way his team responded after being dealt their first defeat of the season previously that prevented them from sweeping the elimination round for the second straight year.
“We learned from our last game [against Perpetual Help]. We lacked the needed effort last time around but such was not the case in this game,” he said at the postgame press conference.
“The loss to Perpetual Help was a wake-up call for us to work harder on the court each time,” he added.
Mapua, for its part, has lost back-to-back but is angling to finish the season on a positive note with its remaining games.
Meanwhile, Letran Knights’ Koy Galvelo was named NCAA Player Of the Week (POW) by the league press corps.
Saw limited time early in the season, Galvelo has steadily risen and helped his team to two twin victories last week where he averaged 15.5 points.
In winning the award, Galvelo beat out San Beda’s Robert Bolick, Lyceum’s Marcelino and EAC’s JP Magullano. Galvelo also became the third Letran player to win the POW award this season after veterans Bong Quinto and JP Calvo.

Europe win Ryder Cup 17.5 to 10.5

PARIS — Italian Francesco Molinari fittingly took the glory as Europe regained the Ryder Cup from the United States in dominant style on Sunday, but it was a complete team effort that delivered what turned out to be a crushing 17.5-10.5 victory.
With Molinari safely on the 16th green, Phil Mickelson conceded their singles match after firing his tee shot into the water, taking Europe to the magical 14.5 mark they needed to win the Cup for the fourth time in the last five.
It completed a magical year for Molinari, the British Open champion, who became the first European to win all five matches in a week — having not won any of his previous six.
Europe were effectively assured of victory when the Italian teed off as he, Henrik Stenson and Sergio Garcia were all dormie and guaranteed at least half a point — with Europe needing just one more.
All three went on to secure wins and Swedish rookie Alex Noren completed the day’s action in style when he sunk a 40-foot putt to beat Bryson Dechambeau on the last and complete a 7.5-4.5 singles victory for Europe.
It seemed a long time since the United States won Friday’s opening morning fourballs 3-1 but, after Europe roared back to sweep the foursomes 4-0 in the afternoon, they never looked back.
“How do you sum that up?,” European captain Thomas Bjorn said. “I just cannot describe how I feel about these 12. They have been amazing from day one and it was easy for me to guide them.
“It doesn’t happen very often that everybody on the team scores points and so I think we got it right this week — we worked as a team.”
The Europeans, who are playing in France for the first time, had started the day 10-6 up needing to secure four and a half of the 12 points available to win back the trophy and extend their stranglehold on home soil dating back to 1993.
Only twice before had a team come from four down going into the singles to win — the US at Brookline in 1999 and Europe in 2012 at Medinah but another stunning comeback never really looked on the cards.
Justin Thomas, who was the top American performer with four points, Webb Simpson and Tony Finau gave Jim Furyk’s team a glimmer of hope with early wins but then the European points started pouring in.
Thorbjorn Olesen hammered Jordan Spieth and fellow rookie Jon Rahm beat Tiger Woods — leaving the weary-looking 14-times major champion with a stunning four defeats out of four.
Ian Poulter, “Mr Ryder Cup,” then got to smash his fist against the European crest on his chest one more time as world number one Dustin Johnson conceded on the 18th green.
AMAZING SCENES
The three dormie games meant victory was secure but Ryder Cup tradition demands a man who delivers the winning point and nobody has delivered this week like Molinari, whose mesmerising consistency was perfectly suited to a course designed to offer maximum punishment for the wayward.
“This means more than majors, more than anything, I couldn’t even dream of a summer like this,” said Molinari, who won all his four pairs matches with Tommy Fleetwood in another European first.
Moments later Garcia beat Rickie Fowler 2&1 to become the competition’s all-time leading scorer, his three points taking his career tally to 25.5 to overhaul Nick Faldo and fully justify Bjorn’s decision to select him as a wildcard.
Stenson duly handed Bubba Watson his fourth defeat in four singles matches before Noren added the icing with the last shot of the week. — Reuters

MPBL: Batangas City plays streaking Laguna; Gen San battles slumping Pasay

Games Today
(at the Cuneta Astrodome)
7 p.m. — Batangas City vs Laguna
9 p.m. — Pasay vs General Santos
INAUGURAL staging champion Batangas City is now beginning to make its presence felt, winning back-to-back games in the MPBL Datu Cup, but that wasn’t enough to get them to the .500 mark.
The Tanduay-backed Athletics will have a chance of notching only their fifth win in 10 games as they take on the Laguna Heroes-Krah today at 7 p.m.
Host team Pasay Voyagers, still winless at home, will try to break that slump when they take on the General Santos-Golden State Warriors at 9 p.m.
Batangas City is hoping to build up on its last to wins. The team has been struggling this early stage of the tournament and head coach Mac Tan had to rely on big games from Teytey Teodoro lately.
Teodoro, the stocky but sweet shooting guard, averaged 20 points per game in the last two outings and shot six-of-11 from beyond the arc to provide the spark for the Athletics.
The Athletics’ two wins, however, came at the expense of lowly-ranked teams, Pasay and Caloocan, and they will be tested against the Heroes, who are coming off form three straight wins, including a huge upset victory over the powerhouse Manila Stars-Robust Energy Capsule.
In the main game, the Voyagers are looking for their first win at home. They will be taking on a team that has also slayed a giant last time around — the Bulacan Kuyas-Mighty Sports.
The Warriors, supported by Golden State College, now carry a 4-4 win-loss mark and had won their last three games, making them a dangerous opponent for Pasay, which lost three straight games and only had two wins to show in nine outings. — Rey Joble

Southern Luzon cheer dance qualifier rolls off on Oct. 6

CHEERLEADERS from Southern Luzon will be given a chance to showcase their wares when they compete in the qualifying event of the National Cheerleading Championship to be held on Oct. 6 at Robinsons Mall in Las Piñas.
The 14th season of this event is expected to draw the top competing teams in the Southern Tagalog area where the qualifiers will make it to the national level of the cheer, dance and drum line competition, which will be held in March 2019 at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Over 300 competitors from different parts of the country will vie for supremacy, in hope of representing the country to compete in the Asia and Oceania meet as well as the World Championships to be held in Orlando, Florida next year.
Last April, the Team Pilipinas delegation was composed of athletes selected from the different high schools and universities that competed at the Nationals. Assumption College and Poveda Juniors competed for cheer hip-hop and the Junior Championships respectively, while the All-Girl and Co-Ed Elite Teams were drawn from students from NU, Ateneo, UST, De La Salle, FEU, Holy Spirit, Miriam, St Paul Pasig, and other schools.
ESPN 5 will be the official partner of the NCC and the Nationals will be shown live on free TV.
Season 14 will carry the theme ‘We Are Fearless,’ a quality which epitomizes each and every cheerleader who shakes off the fear, takes risks, and exceed limits.
Chot Reyes, president of TV5, said the network remains committed in supporting Filipino athletes.
“Our network remains steadfast in its role of supporting every Filipino athlete as they represent our country on the world stage; in line with this is our active pursuit to expand awareness for our breadth of local talent, and the different sports in which they excel. It was only natural for us to continue our partnership with the NCC as they pursue their vision of advancing cheerleading as a sport in the country,” he added. — Rey Joble

MLB: 2 National League tiebreaker games set; Rockies blank Nationals, 12-0

LOS ANGELES — Charlie Blackmon hit an RBI double in the eighth inning to complete the cycle, and the Colorado Rockies beat the Washington Nationals 12-0 on Sunday in Denver to tie the Los Angeles Dodgers for first place in the National League West.
Blackmon tripled in the first, homered in the third and singled in the fifth to help Colorado make quick work of the Nationals and force an extra game for the division crown.
The Dodgers and Rockies will meet Monday in Los Angeles, with the winner taking the division and the loser playing either the Milwaukee Brewers or the Chicago Cubs in the NL wild-card game on Tuesday.
Nolan Arenado homered twice, David Dahl and Trevor Story also went deep, and Tyler Anderson pitched 7 2/3 sharp inning for the Rockies, who will play in a 163rd game for the second time. In 2007, they beat the San Diego Padres to earn a wild-card berth, and then went on to sweep through the NL playoffs on the way to the World Series.
DODGERS 15, GIANTS 0
Matt Kemp singled, doubled twice and drove in three runs, and Rich Hill threw seven shutout innings, helping Los Angeles embarrass host San Francisco and complete a three-game sweep.
Los Angeles bombed Giants starter Andrew Suarez (7-13) for two runs in the first inning, then added seven more in the third against Suarez and reliever Hunter Strickland.
Justin Turner and David Freese drove in the Los Angeles runs in the first inning before Kemp had a two-run double and Brian Dozier a two-run homer in the third, during which the Dodgers went up 9-0. It was Dozer’s fifth homer since joining the Dodgers at the trade deadline, and his 21st counting his time with the Minnesota Twins.
BREWERS 11, TIGERS 0
Jesus Aguilar homered and drove in three runs, and host Milwaukee remained tie for first in the NL Central by pummeling Detroit.
The Brewers will visit the Cubs in Chicago on Monday to decide the division title. The loser of that contest will play host to the NL wild-card game on Tuesday against the Dodgers or the Rockies.
Ryan Braun supplied two hits, two runs and two RBIs, while Orlando Arcia also drove in two runs. Travis Shaw added a solo homer for Milwaukee, which finished the 162-game schedule on a seven-game winning streak.
CUBS 10, CARDINALS 5
Chicago kept alive its hopes for a third straight NL Central title, defeating visiting St. Louis.
Anthony Rizzo scored three runs and went 4-for-4 with two doubles, two singles, one RBI and one walk to lead the Cubs’ offense. Allen Webster (1-0) got two outs to close the third inning, earning his first major league win since 2015.
Chicago used nine pitchers to close out the win, the Cubs’ second in the weekend series against their rival.
ANGELS 5, A’S 4
After manager Mike Scioscia announced he was stepping down, his team beat Oakland to win the season finale at Anaheim, Calif.
Taylor Ward belted a two-run, walk-off home run as the Angels scored three times in the ninth inning. Shohei Ohtani led off the bottom of the ninth inning with a single to center off Chris Hatcher (3-3). That was the first hit allowed by six Oakland relievers and the first hit by the Angels since the third inning.
Jefry Marte, who had homered earlier, laced a double into the left field corner, scoring Ohtani, and setting the stage for Ward’s heroics. The rally made a winner out of Parker Bridwell (1-0), who pitched a 1-2-3 top of the ninth.
ORIOLES 4, ASTROS 0
Jimmy Yacabonis, Paul Fry and Mychal Givens combined for a one-hit shutout as Baltimore defeated visiting Houston.
Trey Mancini, Tim Beckham and Renato Nunez each drove in a run for Baltimore, which finished 47-115 and set a franchise record for losses.
The American League West champion Astros finished with a record of 103-59, a franchise record for wins, and they are headed to the AL Division Series to play Cleveland. — Reuters

43rd Chess Olympiad: Halfway point

43rd Chess Olympiad
Batumi, Georgia
Sept. 23-Oct. 6, 2018

43rd Chess Olympiad Georgia
Total of 185 teams from 183 countries. Georgia as the host country was allowed to field 3 teams.
Time Control is 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, then 30 minutes play-to-finish, with 30 seconds added to your clock after every move starting move 1.
Tie-Breaks: The standings will be on a match points system (2 points for a match win, 1 point for a draw and 0 for a loss). For the first tiebreak they will use the Olympiad Sonneborn-Berger system. This means that the match points of the teams against which you had played during the Olympiad are multiplied with the number of team points you scored in the match against that team, followed by dropping the result against the lowest-ranked team. If you are still tied after that then the second tiebreak, which is based on game points (totaling up all the points you scored against all the teams you played) will be used.
Games are played at 7 p.m. Manila time every day, except for the last round which will begin at 3 p.m., also Manila time. If you want to watch the games live and for free I can recommend the following sites:

https://chess24.com/en/dashboard

https://en.chessbase.com/

In both cases you should go to the page indicated and follow the link to the live games. My experience is that the chess24 site is the easiest to follow but go ahead and try both of them.
After five rounds, or almost halfway through the 11-round event, Azerbaijan, the Czech Republic, Poland and Ukraine are tied for the lead.
The Azeri team features an in-form Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 2820 (3/4), Teimour Radjabov 2751 (3/4), Arkadij Naiditsch 2721 (3.5/5), Rauf Mamedov 2699 (4.5/5) and Eltaj Safarli 2676 (2/2). As you know both Armenia and Azerbaijan, two countries still technically at war, have a deeply-ingrained chess culture and any match between the two is always a tense affair. In Batumi it was Azerbaijan which won 2.5-1.5, and the game between the two teams’ leaders was worthy of the occasion.

Aronian, Levon (2780) — Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar (2820) [C84]
43rd Olympiad 2018 Batumi GEO (5.1), 28.09.2018

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0 — 0 Nxe4 6.d4 Be7 7.Re1 b5 8.Rxe4 d5 9.Nxe5 Nxe5 10.Rxe5 bxa4 11.Qe1 f6 12.Re3 c5 13.Qd1 0 — 0 14.Nc3 Rb8 15.b3 cxd4 16.Qxd4 Bd6!?
Sacrificing his d- and a- pawns for a speculative attack. This is typical of Mamedyarov. Hard to see what compensation he will have for his pawns but slowly his pieces swing into position and he starts taking over.
17.Qxd5+ Kh8 18.Rd3 Qe8
The bishop on d6 cannot be taken because of a back rank mate.
19.Bb2 Be5 20.Nxa4 Rb5 21.Qf3 Bb7 22.Qe3
Looking forward to some piece exchanges on the e-file but Shakh has calculated farther.
22…Be4!
This bishop is immune because 23.Qxe4 Bxh2+ wins the white queen.
23.Rd2 <D>
POSITION AFTER 23.RD2
23…Bxg2!!
Admit it — you had no idea this move was coming.
24.Kxg2 Qg6+ 25.Kf1
[25.Kh1 Bxh2! 26.Kxh2 Rh5+]
25…Bxh2 26.Re1 Rg5 27.Ke2 Re8 28.Kd1 Rg1!
Aronian’s idea is that 28…Rxe3? is refuted by 29.Rd8+ with a back rank mate
29.Be5 Bxe5 30.Rde2 h5 31.Qd3 Qg2 32.Nb6 Rxe1+ 33.Rxe1 Qxf2 34.Nd5 Rd8 35.c4 Qxa2 36.Qf3 g6 37.Re3 Kg7 38.Qh3 Qf2 39.Rd3 Qg1+ 40.Kc2 Qh2+ 41.Qxh2 Bxh2 42.Rh3 Be5 43.Kd3 a5 44.Ke4 Kf7 45.Kf3 Rh8 46.Kg2 g5 47.Ne3 Ke6 48.Kf1 f5 0 — 1
Poland has always had a competitive team in the Olympiads but their current crop is performing wonders: Jan-Krzysztof Duda 2739 (1.5/4), Radoslaw Wojtaszek 2727 3.0/4, GM (Grandmaster) Kacper Piorun (you know this guy, he is a former problem-solving world champion) 2612 3.5/4, Jacek Tomczak 2614 4.0/4 and Kamil Dragun 2568 4.0/4. They have the distinction of bringing down title favorite Russia 2.5-1.5 in the 4th round and followed that up with another big win, this time over France 3-1.

Tomczak, Jacek (2614) — Kramnik, Vladimir (2779) [C45]
43rd Olympiad 2018 Batumi GEO (4.3), 27.09.2018

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nxc6 bxc6 6.e5 Qe7 7.Qe2 Nd5 8.h4
Signature move of Dutch GM John Ver der Wiel.
8…Qe6 9.g3 Nb4 10.c4 Ba6
With the idea of 11…d5! White cannot capture en passant because of 12.exd6 Nc2+
11.Bf4 d5 12.a3 Bxc4 13.Qd1 Bxf1
[13…Qf5! is very strong here, threatening …Qe4+]
14.Kxf1 Na6 15.Nc3 Nc5 16.b4 d4 17.bxc5 dxc3 18.Qd4 Rd8 19.Qxc3 Qd5 20.Kg1 Bxc5 21.Rc1 Bb6 22.h5 0 — 0 23.h6 Rfe8 24.hxg7 Re6 25.Bg5 Qa2 26.Rh2 Rd5?
The losing move. 26…Rd4, preventing Qb4, still keeps the position very much alive.
27.Qb4!
Threatening mate on f8.
27…c5 28.Qh4
And to this there is no defense.
28…h6 29.Bxh6 Qb3 30.Bd2 Kxg7 31.Qh8+ Kg6 32.Qh7# 1 — 0
The big surprise is the Czech Republic (David Navara 2740 2.5/4, Viktor Laznicka 2662 3.0/4, Zbynek Hracek 2557 2/3, Jiri Stocek 2574 4.5/5 and Peter Michalik 2556 3.0/4). They started off with 3 unsurprising victories over Trinidad & Tobago, Tajikistan and Chile but then kicked into gear by defeating the highly-regarded Iranian squad and then routing the 3rd seed China. Stocek defeated Chinese GM Wei Yi, who is rated more than 150 points ahead of him.

Wei, Yi (2742) — Stocek, Jiri (2574) [B69]
43rd Olympiad 2018 Batumi GEO (5.3), 28.09.2018

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 d6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Nf6 6.Bg5 e6 7.Qd2 a6
Our readers will love this, a good ol’ Richter-Rauzer!
8.0 — 0 — 0 Be7 9.f4 Bd7 10.Nf3 b5 11.Bxf6 gxf6 12.Kb1
The text is considered the main line, but let me tell you that I have always considered 12.Bd3 as most dangerous for Black. The following game convinced me of that: 12.Bd3 Qb6 13.Rhe1 b4 14.Nd5 exd5 15.exd5 Na7 16.Qe2 Nc8 17.Nh4 Ra7 18.Bf5 h5 19.Rd3 Kd8 20.Bxd7 Rxd7 21.Nf5 Rc7 22.Re3 Qb7 23.Qf3 Qb5 24.Nd4 Qc4 25.Nc6+ Rxc6 26.dxc6 f5 27.b3 Qc5 28.Qe2 d5 29.Qxa6 Rg8 30.Qb7 Qd6 31.Rxe7 Nxe7 32.Rxe7! 1 — 0 (32) Khalifman,A (2645)-Svidler,P (2550) Tilburg 1994.
12…Qb6 13.g3 b4 14.Ne2 a5 15.f5 e5 16.Nc1 Rc8 17.Qd5 Na7 18.Nd2 Bc6 19.Qd3 a4 20.Nc4 Qc5 21.Qf3 Nb5 22.Qe3
Wei Yi and his aimless queen moves has obviously lost the thread of the game.
22…Nd4 23.Bd3?
[23.c3 to get rid of the d4 knight and force the exchange of queens is refuted by 23…bxc3 24.bxc3 Rb8+ and he has to give up a piece for 25.Ka1?? Nc2# is mate]
23…d5! 24.Nd2 a3 25.exd5 Bxd5 26.Ne4 Qc6 27.Nb3 0 — 0 28.Rhe1 Nxc2 29.Qh6
A last ditch attempt to mate his opponent. Wei Yi is just 1 move too late.
29…Bxb3 30.Ng5
[30.axb3 a2+ 31.Kc1 Rfd8 Black mates first as well]
30…Bxa2+ 31.Kc1 Nxe1+ 32.Kd2 Nf3+ 0 — 1
In the 2016 Baku Olympiad the Ukrainian team beat Russia and China and tied for 1st, narrowly losing the gold medals by tie-break to the USA. And they did this without their top player Vassily Ivanchuk. “Chucky” has since 1988 played in every Chess Olympiad, in 14 altogether. 1988 and 1990 he was part of the Soviet team, 1988 as a reserve player, but two years later, in 1990, he played on first board. From 1992 to 2014 Ivanchuk played twelve Olympiads for Ukraine, in eleven of them on board one. Why didn’t Vassily play? He preferred to participate in an open tournament in Poland — a draughts tournament!
Anyway, this year Ivanchuk is once again leading the Ukrainian chess charge. This team is composed of Vassily Ivanchuk 2710 3.0/4, Pavel Eljanov 2703 1.0/4, Yuriy Kryvoruchko 2695 3.0/4, former world champion Ruslan Ponomariov 2681 2.5/4 and Anton Korobov 2685 4.0/4. They haven’t met any of the top 10 teams yet but Ivanchuk is playing well, and that is bad news for their opponents.
The USA title retention bid was stalled when they were held to a draw by Israel (Sutovsky beat Sam Shankland) and Russia lost to Poland, but don’t count them out yet — there are still six rounds ahead of us!
 
Bobby Ang is a founding member of the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) and its first Executive Director. A Certified Public Accountant (CPA), 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

Must-watch event

In the wake of Team Europe’s emphatic reclamation of the Ryder Cup, not a few pundits have seen fit to wonder about its remarkable overachievement. What has made it tick in golf’s premier team-based spectacle? Heading into the Paris matches over the weekend, it sported an outstanding 8-2 slate over the event’s last 10 stagings. Invariably, it seems to know how to overcome seeming weaknesses on paper with unparalleled esprit de corps.
Parenthetically, the 2018 Ryder Cup was supposed to validate a change in momentum. The United States won in Hazeltine pulling away, its 17-11 beatdown of Europe supposedly validating its newfound task-force setup augmented by a hundred-percent increase in at-large selections. Under the circumstances, even longtime habitues could not help but concede an advantage made even more apparent by the challengers’ need to rely on six rookies to negotiate an uphill climb.
As things turned out, the United States didn’t just fail to stamp its class. It fell into a swoon in spectacular fashion. The only session it won was the first, and it ultimately had to swallow the second most lopsided loss in Ryder Cup history. When the battlesmoke cleared, a mere third of its roster had more victories than defeats, while a fourth had zero triumphs to speak of. Among those who flamed out were World Number One Dustin Johnson (who limped off at 1-4), arguably best-ever Tiger Woods (who didn’t put up a point in four outings), and Hall of Famer Phil Mickelson (who was likewise blanked in two tries).
Meanwhile, Europe boasted of stalwarts who delivered in the clutch, and more. Newly minted British Open champion Francesco Molinari went 5-0, thrice thumping Woods en route. Neophyte Tommy Fleetwood managed a 4-1 record, the only blemish against a smoking Tony Finau in singles. Sergio Garcia proved true to form, shaking off a prolonged swoon that followed a Masters victory last year to go 3-1 and become the Ryder Cup’s winningest player of all time. Ditto Ian Poulter, who added to a well-deserved reputation in the event by carding two triumphs, including a shellacking of Johnson in singles.
In sum, the Ryder Cup remained the sport’s must-watch meet, albeit not for obvious reasons. Europe pulled off an upset on the strength of masterful captaincy, keen familiarity with the course, and sheer will. Whether it will do so again in 2020 is subject to conjecture. Until then, though, it has earned the right to celebrate.
 
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994.

Two-thirds of U.S. economists see recession by end-2020

By Bloomberg
TWO-THIRDS of business economists in the U.S. expect a recession to begin by the end of 2020, while a plurality of respondents say trade policy is the greatest risk to the expansion, according to a new survey.
About 10 percent see the next contraction starting in 2019, 56 percent say 2020 and 33 percent said 2021 or later, according to the Aug. 28-Sept. 17 poll of 51 forecasters issued by the National Association for Business Economics on Monday.
Forty-one percent said the biggest downside risk was trade policy, followed by 18 percent of respondents citing higher interest rates and the same share saying it would be a substantial stock-market decline or volatility.
“Trade issues are clearly influencing panelists’ views,” David Altig, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta research director and NABE’s survey chair, said in a statement with the report.
The expansion that in May became the second-longest on record still looks resilient, with no major warning signs flashing and Fed officials upgrading their growth outlook for this year and next. Should it endure, the U.S. expansion would in mid-2019 become the nation’s longest ever, based on National Bureau of Economic Research figures that go back to the 1850s.
Trade fears aside, economists were slightly more optimistic about the economy this year. The median forecast for inflation-adjusted gross domestic product growth rose to 2.9 percent from a 2.8 percent pace projected in the June survey. The 2019 estimate remained at 2.7 percent.
On the brighter side, 33 percent of respondents said the biggest potential driver of a stronger economic performance is corporate tax reform, 27 percent cited stronger wage gains and 10 percent said stronger global growth.
Business forecasters were more pessimistic than optimistic on their assessment of potential risks to expansion. Fifty-one percent said GDP growth threats are weighted to the downside, while 20 percent said they’re tilted to the upside and the rest said they’re balanced.
Meantime, Fed policy makers said “risks to the economic outlook appear roughly balanced” in their statement last week, while raising their 2018 growth estimate to 3.1 percent from 2.8 percent in prior forecasts and 2019 to 2.5 percent from 2.4 percent. They also boosted the main interest rate by a quarter-point to a target range of 2 percent to 2.25 percent, this year’s third hike.
Respondents in NABE’s survey indicated they expect the Fed to raise interest rates once more this year and three times in 2019, consistent with projections from central bankers. The poll’s median estimate for the target range midpoint at year-end rose to 2.375 percent, equivalent to one more 25-basis-point hike this year, from 2.21 percent seen in the earlier survey.
Yelena Shulyatyeva, an economist at Bloomberg Economics in New York, was among those who conducted the analysis of survey responses.

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