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Infrastructure, mobility, and liberty

WASHINGTON, DC — Among the notable views and experiences for people coming from less developed countries like the Philippines who go to rich countries like the USA are their long, wide, extensive, good roads. Even their rural village or barangay level roads are smooth.

I saw these when I visited some suburbs of DC like Alexandria, Virginia, and the rural village of Forest, Virginia. Lots are big, houses are detached, flat or hilly terrain, the rural roads are smooth.

And except for few big cities, spaces are too wide — interstate roads, city roads, housing lots, school and university lots, malls and groceries with wide parking lots, etc. So many cars and trucks traveling at high speed so they can cover long distances in a short period of time.

The Philippines has generally low infrastructure level and quality compared with our neighbors. Take these numbers for instance from the World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Report 2018 (See table).

Among the possible reforms for the Philippines are the following:

One, encourage more toll roads nationwide, via integrated Public Private Partnerships (PPP) and not hybrid PPP scheme. Toll roads prohibit tricycles, small motorcycles, tractors, and bicycles, and make travel by car, bus, and truck safer and faster.

Two, demonopolize routes. Allow jeepneys and aircon vans to go in areas that are currently tricycle route monopolies; allow buses and aircon vans to go in areas that are currently jeepney route monopolies. Passengers will choose what’s convenient for them and very likely, tricycles and jeepneys will die a natural death in many areas. So these slow and low-passenger vehicles will be out of the roads and mobility will be faster.

Three, business and civil society organizations must make a scorecard of road quality by province, by city and major municipalities. Bad roads, narrow roads due to many unauthorized parking by vehicles will be reported and might shame and wake up lazy governors and mayors.

Four, expand and modernize rail network in major islands like Luzon, Mindanao, and Panay, again via integrated PPP schemes as much as possible.

More mobility means more freedom, more liberty. A developed, modern road and rail system will greatly enhance the mobility of people, their products and services, which reduces the cost of goods and services. Which expands food and other necessities of the population.

 

Bienvenido S. Oplas, Jr. is the president of Minimal Government Thinkers.

minimalgovernment@gmail.com

Maximum Decentralization via legislative reform

By Michael Henry Ll. Yusingco

THE CHARTER CHANGE initiative of President Rodrigo R. Duterte is now led by the Inter-agency Task Force on Federalism and Constitutional Reform or IATF as per Memorandum Circular No. 52, s. 2018.

The IATF has been hard at work putting all of the relevant agencies within the executive branch on the same page with regards to the President’s charter change agenda. This is a welcome move given their goal of establishing maximum decentralization through charter revision.

Maximum decentralization means the charter change envisioned by the IATF will make significant changes to our government structure. Obviously, this will have a huge impact on officials and employees in the central government.

The IATF has several activities in the pipeline to promote the President’s constitutional reform program. It would be in the best interest of the general public to participate in all their events. At the very least, listen to what the IATF has to offer and not just reject the idea of charter change outright.

However, Filipinos must keep in mind as well that charter change is just one option to attain maximum decentralization in the country. The other option is legislative reform.

Local autonomy is a mandatory prescription of the 1987 Constitution the nature and depth of which is described as “a kind of maximum decentralization, short of federalization.” This description of how local autonomy is to be understood in the charter means that our decentralization framework can actually approximate a federal setup.

As per Section 3 of Article X, “The Congress shall enact a local government code which shall provide for a more responsive and accountable local government structure instituted through a system of decentralization with effective mechanisms of recall, initiative, and referendum, allocate among the different local government units their powers, responsibilities, and resources, and provide for the qualifications, election, appointment and removal, term, salaries, powers and functions and duties of local officials, and all other matters relating to the organization and operation of the local units.”

Very clearly, the constitutional parameters of this local government code allow for the creation of a decentralization framework that comes close to a federal structure. To do this, these three core federal features must be incorporated in the decentralization system:

1. Regional governance framework.

2. Clear power sharing between the local government and the national government as well as amongst the different levels of local governments.

3. Intergovernmental Relations (IGR) mechanisms.

The division of functions and funds must be formulated in such a way that the assignment of accountability is unequivocal. We do not want a distribution scheme that leaves everybody clueless as to which government office can be held answerable for our dissatisfaction. Neither do we want overlapping designations that allow government agents to pass the blame for failure to deliver public services to our satisfaction.

Furthermore, precisely because of substantial devolution of public functions and funds, other measures to ensure the sustained and significant involvement of the people in local politics such as an anti-local dynasty mechanism and political party prescriptions are likewise imperative.

Maximum decentralization can be achieved via legislative reform through the amendment of the Local Government Code of 1991. It may also require the amendment of the Administrative Code as well as a slew of special laws. A more audacious option is to just enact a new Local Autonomy Law incorporating all of the prescriptions mentioned above.

It is worth mentioning that the Department of Interior and Local Government already has a list of proposed amendments to the Local Government Code. Moreover, the Senate Committee on Local Government has already done a study on the changes needed to update the law. And even the proposed new omnibus local autonomy law does not have to be created from scratch as the Bangsamoro Organic Law can be a good starting point.

So, why should pursuing maximum decentralization via legislative reform be given serious consideration? Here are some possible reasons:

First, because it simply involves the regular work of Congress. Therefore, there is no urgency to resolve fundamental concerns plaguing charter change such as the question on the voting arrangement of the Senate and the House of Representatives if they convene as a Constituent Assembly or the huge cost to taxpayers if a Constitutional Convention is chosen as the mode to revise the charter.

Second, Congress can work on this matter as part of the regular legislative cycle. There is no need to recalibrate their legislative calendar to accommodate the extraordinary disruption to their regular work that would be caused by a charter change effort.

Third, the enactment of these laws does not require a plebiscite. Hence, there is no need for a special budget allocation which would likely cost taxpayers the same amount, or close to it, to conduct a regular election.

Fourth, the “unintended consequences” that may manifest during the implementation stage can be swiftly addressed by Congress.

In sum, all Filipinos desire a drastic improvement of the way we govern ourselves. One path to achieve this is via charter change. The IATF as the lead advocate of this option will be guided by this caveat from the President in Memorandum Circular No. 52:

“The conduct of a public information drive and advocacy campaign at the grassroots level is necessary to raise public awareness on Federalism and constitutional reform as well as to ensure widest public participation in the ongoing initiatives to amend or revise the fundamental law of the land.”

Filipinos should participate in the IATF’s “public information drive and advocacy campaign at the grassroots level” to ensure that the administration knows the real sentiment of the people regarding this massive undertaking they want Filipinos to support.

But Filipinos must also lend an ear to the other path to maximum decentralization, comprehensive legislative reform. We must also participate in activities offered by the champions of this option. Make sure as well that lawmakers know the ramifications of their inaction.

This choice between charter change and legislative reform is something we can reflect on while the 18th Congress focuses on passing the 2020 budget and the economic reform package of the Duterte administration.

 

Michael Henry LI. Yusingco, LL.M, is a non-resident research fellow at the Ateneo Policy Center of the Ateneo School of Government.

Kings look to build on breakthrough victory

By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Senior Reporter

FINALLY notched a win in their best-of-five Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup semifinal series last time around, the defending champions Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings look to build on it albeit recognize that it would not be easy once again against a “steady” TNT KaTropa.

Narrowed their series deficit to 2-1 after a dig-deep 80-72 victory in Game Three on Tuesday, the Kings try to take cue from it for Game Four today at 7 p.m. at the Smart Araneta Coliseum to keep their title reign alive and force a decider at the weekend.

Barangay Ginebra had to go through rough seas in the last time game against TNT to stay alive in the midseason PBA tournament as the latter came out with all intents to close out the series.

Import Justin Brownlee making his presence felt on offense in the final quarter and timely baskets from the locals down the stretch made it possible for the Kings to survive and fight another day.

It was an outcome whose significance was not lost to Barangay Ginebra coach Tim Cone, who was visibly relieved to have finally gotten one victory in the series.

“Well, we got one but obviously one is not enough. But the good news is we are still alive. We’ll take it one game at a time. That’s what everybody’s saying but that is really the case. Hopefully we get another one next game,” said Mr. Cone in the post-Game Three press conference.

Mr. Brownlee struggled offensively for much of the game, scoring just six points in the first three quarters.

He then scored eight valuable points for the Kings in the payoff quarter to help his team in its push.

The Barangay Ginebra import finished the game with 14 points, 11 rebounds, eight assists, four steals and two blocks.

Guard LA Tenorio backstopped him with a team-high 16 points while Joe Devance added 13 markers.

For TNT it was import Terrence Jones who showed the way with 24 points and 18 rebounds. He, however, committed eight turnovers in the contest.

Troy Rosario had 12 points while Jayson Castro and Roger Pogoy had 10 points apiece.

Zeroing in on the game today, Mr. Cone said they are expecting another grind of a battle and that they have to be at their best against TNT.

“It was tough getting just one. We just got to see if we can turn around and try to get two,” said Mr. Cone.

“It took everything we had to beat them today. They (TNT) are a team that understands their system and we’re just trying to find some things that would make them uncomfortable and we don’t know if it’s going to work twice. We’ll just have to continue thinking out of the box and try to win. But if we try to allow them to play their game they will just eat us up,” he added.

The winner of this series will face the victor of the semifinal series between the San Miguel Beermen and Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, who were to play Game Three later on Wednesday with the Beermen up in the series, 2-0.

Resorts World Manila unveils a grand new golf challenge

By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Senior Reporter

PART of its 10th year celebration and commitment to promoting sports tourism in the country, Resorts World Manila (RWM) announced a new exciting golfing tournament happening later this year.

The 1st Asia Pacific Golf Challenge (APGC), happening from Oct. 21-26, boasts of tournaments at some of the finest golf courses in and out of Metro Manila.

The challenge takes golfers through four rounds of fun and exciting golf at the Manila Southwoods, Sherwood Hills Golf and Wack Wack Golf Club as well as Manila Golf Club and The Orchard Golf and Country Club.

The APGC is open to all international amateur golfers aged 35-70, with certified handicap indexes from their home clubs.

Competition is divided to team and individual events.

Organizers said 30% of the playing field will be open to local players provided they stay in any of the hotels in the Resorts World Manila property during the run of the APGC.

Resorts World Manila partnered with Regent Travel in the staging of the event which it hopes to build on the gains and stature of the RWM Masters, which ran for five straight years until last year.

For the golf challenge, RWM is offering packages which include six nights of hotel accommodations with breakfast at select RWM hotels, four rounds of golf, caddie and golf buggy sharing fees, daily round-trip transfers between the hotel and golf courses, welcome dinner, a ticket to the Awards Dinner, three cocktail coupons at select RWM bars, tournament giveaways, and a P5,000 gift certificate from Srixon Philippines.

The packages also include round-trip airport transfers.

Package rates start at $1,240 per person on twin sharing for stays at Holiday Inn Express Manila Newport City. Packages are also available for RWM 4-star properties Belmont Hotel Manila and Savoy Hotel Manila, as well as for global 5-star hotel Hilton Manila.

“One of the things we learned from staging the RWM Masters is championing the Filipinos. And with the APGC we want to champion what the Philippines can offer,” said Jeff Evora of Travellers International Hotel Group, owner and operator of the RWM, during the APGC press conference on Wednesday.

For more inquiries on the APGC, email marketing@regenttravelmanila.com or www.rwmanila.com.

MLB: Matt Olson’s walk-off blast lifts Oakland A’s over Milwaukee Brewers

LOS ANGELES — first baseman Matt Olson belted a walk-off home run off Josh Hader in the 10th inning Tuesday night to give the host Oakland Athletics a 3-2 win over the Milwaukee Brewers in the opener of a three-game interleague series in Northern California.

Chris Bassitt and five relievers combined on a seven-hitter, helping the A’s prevail in the first meeting between the clubs since 2016.

Olson’s homer, his 22nd of the season, was the left-handed hitter’s ninth off a lefty pitcher this season, and just the second of his career in extra innings. It was the fourth home run Hader (1-4) surrendered to a left-handed batter this season.

Blake Treinen (5-3), who pitched a 1-2-3 top of the 10th with two strikeouts, got the win.

The crowd-pleasing finish capped a roller-coaster ride over the final three innings, during which the A’s twice blew one-run leads.

After the A’s had scored the game’s only run of the first seven innings on a two-out double by Olson in the third inning, the Brewers got even in the eighth on a two-out, RBI single by Yasmani Grandal.

Oakland went back on top when Khris Davis snapped a 29-game homer-less drought with a tiebreaking solo shot with two outs in the bottom of the eighth. But again the Brewers caught up, this time on a solo homer by Eric Thames with one out in the ninth off Liam Hendriks.

The homers were No. 17 of the season for Davis, No. 15 for Thames.

Both starters had outstanding outings.

Bassitt worked six shutout innings, allowing three hits. He walked one, struck out six and left with a 1-0 lead.

Brewers righty Adrian Houser nearly matched Bassitt pitch for pitch. He was charged with one run on three hits in five innings, with one walk and six strikeouts.

Davis (three) and Olson (two) combined for five of the seven hits for the A’s, who improved to 6-3 in interleague play.

Orlando Arcia had three hits for the Brewers, who fell to 3-8 in interleague contests.

CANNING DAZZLES AS ANGELS STOP TIGERS
Griffin Canning threw six shutout innings, Shohei Ohtani had three hits and the Los Angeles Angels beat the Detroit Tigers 6-1 Tuesday night in Anaheim, Calif.

Canning (4-6) looked much more comfortable in a starting role, coming off his most recent outing last week when he was called upon to pitch the 15th and 16th innings of emergency relief in a game against Baltimore.

Canning gave up three runs in the 15th and two more in the 16th in what was a deflating loss to the Orioles. But he rebounded well Tuesday, shutting out the Tigers on four hits and one walk. He struck out seven and made 93 pitches to earn his first win since June 27.

The Angels finished with 12 hits, including two from rookie Matt Thaiss, who got the Angels going with a two-run homer in the second inning and then added an RBI single in the seventh.

The home run was Thaiss’ fifth in 14 games since being called up from Triple-A Salt Lake in early July.

Canning was sharp early, allowing only one Tigers baserunner to get as far as second base through the first four innings. Then in the fifth he got a key out to end the inning when Niko Goodrum lined out to center with runners on second and third.

The Angels added to their lead in the bottom of the fifth and knocked Tigers starter Drew VerHagen out of the game. Ohtani had an RBI single and Andrelton Simmons had a bloop double that drove in the second run of the inning for a 4-0 Angels lead.

VerHagen (1-2) allowed four runs (three earned) on 10 hits in 4 2/3 innings.

The Tigers scored their only run of the game in the seventh when Victor Reyes doubled and scored on a single by Jake Rogers off Angels reliever Taylor Cole.

Rogers, making his major league debut, also had a single in the ninth inning. — Reuters

Rain or Shine stays alive in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup

By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Senior Reporter

THE tournament lives of the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in the Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup are still burning after they averted elimination by winning Game Three of their best-of-five semifinal series over the San Miguel Beermen, 112-104, on Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Trailing the series, 0-2, entering the contest, the Elasto Painters had their backs against the wall but they showed the needed focus and determination to survive a tough challenge by the Beermen to extend the series and stay in contention for a spot in the finals of the midseason PBA tournament.

Like what they had been doing all series long, the Elasto Painters got off to a strong start, racing to a 30-14 advantage after one quarter.

In the second frame, it was a Chris McCullough show for the Beermen, helping his team to claw its way back.

San Miguel saw its charge-back efforts pay off as the quarter drew to a close, seizing the lead, 50-49, with 1:30 to go.

The Elasto Painters were able to recover, settling for a tied count of 54-all at the break.

Rain or Shine competed with a firmer footing in the third canto, bucking early attempts by San Miguel to break loose.

Led by Rey Nambatac, the Elasto Painters outscore the Beermen, 16-10, to build a 70-64 lead by the 6:53 mark.

San Miguel made attempts to rally back but was held in check by Rain or Shine, 86-80, heading into the fourth quarter.

Mr. McCullough and Game Three hero Chris Ross jolted the Beermen to a fiery start in the payoff quarter.

The beer masters overtook the E-Painters, 90-89, with nine minutes left on the clock following a triple from Mr. Ross.

Momentum swung back and forth after with the two teams fighting to a knotted count of 102-all entering the last two minutes.

Mr. McCullough gave the Beermen the lead, 104-102, with a jumper with 1:37 to go.

Gabe Norwood though answered big for Rain or Shine with a triple at the 1:14 mark to make it 105-104 for his team.

San Miguel worked to reclaim the lead after but was thwarted by the Rain or Shine defense.

Mr. Nambatac got fouled with 34 ticks remaining and made the Beermen pay with two made free throws to push the Elasto Painters further ahead, 107-104.

The Beermen went to its import anew to pull them back but once again Rain or Shine’s defense held tough.

A triple by Beau Belga under duress with 11 seconds left and two free throws by Javee Mocon after it completed the win for the Elasto Painters.

Import Carl Montgomery led the way for Rain or Shine with 25 points and 15 rebounds with Mr. Nambatac finishing with 22 points to earn player of the game honors.

Mr. Belga had 16 points, seven rebounds and six assists while Mr. Norwood had 11 points.

For San Miguel it was Mr. McCullough who top-scored with 51 points to go along with 14 boards.

Alex Cabagnot had 16 points while Christian Standhardinger finished with 14.

Stacked Dawn of Heroes is appreciation night by ONE Championship in Manila

WITH MANILA proving to be a solid market for ONE Championship, it should not come as a surprise that it has decided to bring in a stacked card for its latest event here later this week at “ONE: Dawn of Heroes.”

Thus, said, local fight analyst Nissi Icasiano, who also underscored that Dawn of Heroes is a must-see event for Filipino combat sports fans.

Happening on Aug. 2 at the Mall of Asia Arena, the latest ONE event is touted to be the biggest from the promotion for the Philippines, boasting of a lot of star power from champion and highly accomplished fighters from different parts of the world.

ONE: Dawn of Heroes is to be headlined by the world featherweight championship fight between Vietnamese-Australian champion Martin “The Situ-Asian” Nguyen and Japanese challenger Koyomi Matsushima.

Co-headlining it is the flyweight muay thai world championship fight of champion Jonathan Haggerty of England against Rodtang Jitmuangnon of Thailand.

It also marks the Manila fight debut of mixed martial arts legend Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson and Eddie “The Underground King” Alvarez of the United States.

Also fighting are five stalwarts from top local MMA team in Team Lakay, namely, Eduard “Landslide” Folayang, Danny “The King” Kingad, Geje “Gravity” Eustaquio, Honorio “The Rock” Banario and Edward “The Ferocious” Kelly.

“It’s an appreciation night for ONE Championship because since 2012 it has been all-out support from the Manila crowd. It started at the Araneta Coliseum then it moved to the Mall of Asia Arena and it has been well-received throughout. To compare, if Marvel Studios gave fans something to celebrate about in Endgame it is the same for ONE with Dawn of Heroes,” said Mr. Icasiano when asked by BusinessWorld for his thoughts on the latest Manila offering of ONE Championship.

“Back in the day, Filipinos would spend a lot of money to travel and watch top-caliber combat sports action but now ONE Championship looks to showcase what the international brand of mixed martial arts action is all about in our backyard. It’s a stacked fight card with a lot of star power,” he added.

MUST-SEE
Mr. Icasiano said Dawn of Heroes has everything for every fight fan and is truly a must-see event.

Among the fights he is excited about is the one involving Messrs. Folayang and Alvarez in a lightweight grand prix semifinal bout.

Both fighters are coming off losses in their previous fights and are out to bounce back big time in a high-stakes contest.

“For Folayang-Alvarez, the storyline says it all — the best in the East against the best lightweight from the West. Had you asked me years back if such was possible to happen I would have said it’s farfetched because one is at the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) and the other at ONE. Now it’s happening and the thing about it is their style of fighting which can very explosive and will be a joy to watch,” Mr. Icasiano said of the Folayang-Alvarez fight.

He is also high on the main event between Messrs. Nguyen and Matsushima.

“Another interesting fight is that between Nguyen and Matsushima not only because it’s the main event but also because there is a lot going in it,” the analyst said.

“Matsushima lost in his last fight here in Manila a couple of years back. He is here for redemption and at the same time out to get the world featherweight championship belt from Nguyen. On the other hand, you have Martin Nguyen who is out to establish himself as the best featherweight fighter in Asia. And to do that he is facing a dangerous knockout artist in Matsushima,” Mr. Icasiano added.

The analyst went on to share that the flyweight grand prix semifinals between Mr. Johnson versus Japanese Tatsumitsu Wada and Filipino Kingad against Australian Reece McLaren carry much excitement as well.

Dawn of Heroes is the 18th fight card of ONE Championship in Manila since 2012. It will be broadcast live over the ONE app and ABS-CBN S+A as well as online on iWant. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

Trail Blazers’ McCollum inks $100-M extension

LOS ANGELES — Portland Trail Blazers guard CJ McCollum agreed to a three-year contract extension Tuesday, the team announced.

The value of the extension is $100 million, according to multiple reports. It increases the 27-year-old’s current deal to five years and $157 million (through 2023-24).

“CJ McCollum is a franchise cornerstone and a critical part of our future,” said Trail Blazers president of basketball operations Neil Olshey in a team release. “This extension represents a strong level of commitment between CJ, the Trail Blazers and the city of Portland.”

Portland’s first-round pick (10th overall) in 2013, McCollum has averaged better than 20 points per game in each of the past four seasons.

The Philadelphia 76ers signed free agent point guard Trey Burke. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but it was previously reported as a one-year deal for the veteran’s minimum.

Burke, 26, split last season with the New York Knicks and Dallas Mavericks, averaging 10.9 points and 2.7 assists in 58 games.

Burke was drafted ninth overall by the Minnesota Timberwolves out of Michigan in 2013, and his draft rights were traded to the Utah Jazz. He has averaged 10.9 points, 3.6 assists and 2.1 rebounds in 361 career games (128 starts) with the Jazz, Washington Wizards, Knicks and Mavericks. — Reuters

Americans Stephens, Gauff crash out in Washington

WASHINGTON — Top seed and former champion Sloane Stephens crashed out of the Citi Open in Washington as she suffered a stunning 6-2 7-5 first-round loss to Swede Rebecca Peterson on Tuesday while teenager Cori ‘Coco’ Gauff also fell in straight sets.

Stephens, whose best result this year was a run to the Madrid semifinals in May, was misfiring from the start and never managed to settle into much of a groove in her first meeting with the Swedish world number 70.

Peterson enjoyed a dream start as she raced out to a 5-2 lead and ultimately took the opening set in 29 minutes when Stephens sent a routine backhand from the baseline into the net.

Stephens, who triumphed here in 2015, started to settle down in the second and led 5-4 but Peterson broke back to get back on serve and never looked back.

Up next for Peterson will be the winner of a Tuesday clash between American Sachia Vickery and Italian Camila Giorgi.

Gauff, the 15-year-old sensation who made a stunning run to the fourth round at Wimbledon and came through qualifiers to reach the main draw in Washington, fell 6-4 6-2 in the afternoon to Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan.

The turning point came at the end of the first set as Diyas converted her fourth set point of the game when Gauff sent a forehand into the net.

That brought an end to a game that had lasted more than 10 minutes and left the youngster visibly frustrated.

Diyas held at love to start the second set and never looked back en route to the win before packed stands on a hot and humid day in the US capital.

Gauff did herself no favours, smacking her 33rd unforced error on match point having also given Diyas 16 break points, five of which she was able to convert.

Next up for Diyas is a second-round clash with fifth seeded Lesia Tsurenko.

Olympic champion Monica Puig also advanced with a 6-4 6-2 victory over American Allie Kiick and will face Russian Anna Kalinskaya in the second round. — Reuters

Wesley’s queen

Riga FIDE Grand Prix 2019
Riga, Latvia
July 12-25, 2019
(all participants are GMs)

ROUND 1

Anish Giri versus Sergey Karjakin 4.0-5.0

Pentala Harikrishna versus Wesley So 1.5-2.5

Jan-Krzysztof Duda versus Peter Svidler 2.5-1.5

Daniil Dubov versus Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 0.5-1.5

Alexander Grischuk versus Nikita Vitiugov 3.0-1.0

Yu Yangyi vs. Levon Aronian 4.5-4.5*

Veselin Topalov versus Hikaru Nakamura 2.5-1.5

David Navara versus Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 0.5-1.5

*Match reached Armageddon game which was drawn, and Yu Yangyi advanced to the next round because he was Black (see explanation of tie-break rules below).

ROUND 2

Sergey Karjakin vs. Wesley So 3.5-4.5

Jan-Krzysztof Duda vs. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 1.5-2.5

Alexander Grischuk vs. Yu Yangyi 2.5-1.5

Veselin Topalov versus Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 0.5-1.5

ROUND 3

Wesley So versus Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 0.5-1.5

Alexander Grischuk vs. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 0.5-1.5

ROUND 4

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov vs. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 5.0=4.0

In the just-concluded Riga Grand Prix tournament Wesley So eliminated Pentala Harikrishna in the first round 2.5-1.5. They had two draws in the classical games but Wesley won the rapid tiebreaks with one win and one draw.

What is noteworthy about the match which lasted 4 games was that the Bacoor native gave up his queen twice — he gave it up for a rook and two minor pieces to get a winning position in game 1 (classical) but could not coordinate his pieces and allowed Harikrishna to escape. In game three (rapid 25 mins. + 10 sec. increment) he once again exchanged his queen for a rook and two minor pieces but this time got them working together and did not allow any counterplay to win.

His Quarter-Final opponent was the “Minister of Defense,” the former Vice-Champion of the World Sergey Karjakin. Both Wesley So (USA) and Sergey Karjakin (RUS) are the “I will play 40 good moves and if you play 40 good moves then we draw. Otherwise, I will go for the win” kind of player. They also know each other’s opening systems very well and that is why it is not easy for either player to get an advantage.

For the first two games (classical chess) and the rapid chess tie-breaks (two games of 25+10) followed by the fast tie-breaks (two games of 10+10), that’s a total of six games, there was not much action — the games ended in 17, 19, 31, 27, 17 and 18 move draws. However, once blitz chess tiebreaks (5 minutes + 3 second increment after every move) were reached their games exploded into action. As you know in blitz chess activity is more important than the mere counting of pawns — the mistakes will come anyway so you would have a better chance of winning if your pieces have scope for action. Once Wesley saw that material losses were inevitable he … but you should go over the game for yourself!

So, Wesley (2763) — Karjakin, Sergey (2748) [A29]
Riga Grand Prix (3.5), 17.07.2019

1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e5 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.g3 Bb4 5.Bg2 0–0 6.Nd5 Bc5

Hardly anyone ever plays 6…Nxd5 because of 7.cxd5 Nd4 8.Nxd4 (8.Nxe5? Re8 9.Nxf7 is a sacrifice which only works if Black accepts it. 9…Qf6! (9…Kxf7? 10.e3 Nf5 11.Qg4 attacking both Black’s knight and bishop) 10.e3 Qxf7 11.0–0 Nf5 Black is much better) 8…exd4 9.0–0 White has a small edge.

7.0–0 d6 8.e3 Re8

The stem game for this line is Tony Miles versus Vassily Smyslov from the 1984 Interpolis Tournament. I will show you later how it sent.

9.d4 Bg4!

Part of Karjakin’s opening preparation, and it is a strong move. [Smyslov played 9…Bb6 10.b3 Nxd5 11.cxd5 Nb4 12.dxe5 dxe5 13.e4 Bg4 14.Bb2 Qf6 15.a3 Na6 16.b4 White has a small advantage because his pieces are better coordinated. Miles, A. (2245)-Smyslov, V. (2600) Tilburg 1984 1–0 71.

10.dxc5 e4 11.Nc3?

This move was labeled as a novelty by some quarters. While it is true 11.Nc3 has never been played before that is because it is a mistake! Correct is 11.h3 exf3 12.hxg4 fxg2 13.Kxg2 dxc5 14.f3 Ne5 15.e4 Nxc4 Nepomniachtchi, I. (2768)-Vitiugov, N. (2730) RUS-ch Satka 2018 1/2 41.

11…Ne5! <D>

POSITION AFTER 11…NE5

GM Wesley now realizes that 12.Nxe4 Nxe4 13.h3 Nxf3+ 14.Bxf3 Bxh3 15.Re1 Qf6 16.Qe2 dxc5 Black is a pawn up with good attacking prospects. Remember what I said about needing to stay active in fast time control games? This is precisely the type of position you should avoid. So what is he to do now?

12.Nxe5!?

Completely unexpected. White gives up his queen for two pieces just to remain active.

12…Bxd1 13.Nxf7 Qe7

Karjakin avoids 13…Kxf7 14.Rxd1 Qe7 15.cxd6 cxd6 16.Rd4 Rad8 17.b3 White has some pressure on the d6 and e4 pawns.

14.Nxd6 cxd6 15.cxd6 Qxd6 16.Rxd1

It turned out that the bishop pair and two pawns are a decent match for the black queen, since White has no real weaknesses. Sergey said White’s position was “playable in blitz,” and it’s arguably even easier to play as White.

16…Qe5

White has two bishops and two pawns for Black’s queen. This is of course not enough, but Wesley plays the second phase very well and he manages to bring out the latent power of the two bishops.

17.Bd2 Rad8 18.Be1 b6 19.b3 Rd3 20.Rxd3 exd3 21.Rd1 Rd8 22.Bf1 Qf5

[22…d2 is a nice trick, hoping for 23.Bxd2? Rxd2 24.Rxd2 Qxc3 Black has a decisive advantage. However, after the correct reply 22…d2 23.Rxd2! Rxd2 (23…Qxc3? 24.Rxd8+ Kf7 25.Bxc3) 24.Bxd2 White now has two bishops and three pawns for the queen and his position is solid.

23.Nd5! Nxd5 24.Rxd3

It turns out that Black cannot move his knight because of the pin along the d-file.

24…Kf8

Karjakin takes his King out of the a2–g8 diagonal so that after 25.cxd5 Rxd5 26.Rxd5 Qxd5 27.Bc4 is not possible.

25.cxd5

Wesley is really a very tricky guy, even with only seconds on his clock. It turns out that Black still cannot play 25…Rxd5 because of 26.Bb4+ Ke8 27.e4! Qxe4 28.Re3.

25…a5! 26.Rd4

With the idea of Rf4.

26…Qb1 27.Bc3 Qxa2 28.Bc4 Qc2 29.Rf4+ Ke7 30.Bxg7

Now the threat is Bf4+

30…Rd6?

If Karjakin had more time he would probably have seen 30…Rxd5! 31.Bxd5 Qd1+ 32.Kg2 Qxd5+ with a probable draw.

31.Bf8+

Not only winning the exchange but also the queen.

31…Kd7 32.Bb5+ Kc7 33.Rc4+ 1–0

After 33.Rc4+ Qxc4 34.Bxd6+ Kxd6 35.bxc4 even I can win this position against Karjakin.

I am afraid this story does not have a happy ending. After showing very creative play Wesley was eliminated by Shakhriyar Mamedyarov in the Semifinals. He was surprised by an opening novelty and could not hold it together.

Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar (2765) — So, Wesley (2763) [E05]
Grand Prix Riga 2019 Riga (3.1), 18.07.2019

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.g3 Be7 5.Bg2 0–0 6.0–0 dxc4 7.Ne5 Nc6 8.Nxc6 bxc6 9.Na3 Bxa3 10.bxa3 Ba6 11.Qd2 Rb8 12.Qa5 Rb6 13.a4! Qd6 14.a3!

A nice novelty. White usually continues 14.e4 and Black would equalize after 14…Qb4. The prophylactic 14.a3 robs Black of that possibility.

14…Rfb8 15.e4 c3?

After the game Mamedyarov reveals that the correct way to proceed is 15…Nxe4! 16.Bxe4 Qxd4 17.Be3 Qxe4 18.Bxb6 Rxb6 19.Rfe1 Qg6 and Black can probably hold (Take note that the obvious 19…Qd5 is a mistake, for now White can play 20.Rad1).

16.e5 Qd8

Black had originally intended 16…Qxd4 17.exf6 Bxf1 18.Bxf1 Qxf6 with chances to hold, but now realized that 16…Qxd4 is refuted by 17.Be3.

17.exf6 Bxf1 18.Bxf1 c2 19.Ra2 Qd5 20.Qxd5 cxd5 21.Rxc2

The two bishops is more than a match for the Black rook.

21…gxf6 22.Rxc7 R8b7 23.Rc5 Kg7 24.Kg2 Rb1 25.Bb5 Ra1 26.Rc3 Rb6 27.Bf4 Rb7 28.Kf3 Rd1 29.Be3 Rb1 30.Kg4 Rh1 31.h4 Kg6 32.Bd3+ f5+ 33.Kf3 Rd1 34.g4 1–0

But what can we say? Mamedyarov was a better player on this day. We just have to move on.

 

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 (UST) for 25 years and is currently Chief Audit Executive of the Equicom Group of Companies.

bobby@cpamd.net

Daddy James

LeBron James just can’t get any slack. Even his mere attendance at a basketball game of his son’s team has been placed under scrutiny. Admittedly, he calls attention to himself in manners other parents can’t and those from the outside looking in may deem overenthusiastic at best. Joining players’ pickup lines to throw down dunks and celebrating to the point where he becomes the focus of attention instead of the action on the court isn’t normal by any means. Which is why he has been pilloried by armchair pundits and on social media.

On the other hand, James isn’t just any proud father; he’s LeBron Freaking James, among the best of the best at the sport he’s watching and by far the most recognizable athlete in North America, if not the world, precisely because of the polarizing figure he cuts. He gets called out any which way, from every conceivable angle, and for the most ridiculous of reasons. And because nobody has been living under a rock all this time, all eyes invariably become glued to him no matter what he does. And, make no mistake, he would have courted criticism even if he stayed passive throughout the North Coast Blue Chips’ 14U Invite championship match.

Knowing this to be the truth, James simply resolves to do what he does. He doesn’t care about the opinions of quarters he can’t ever please, anyway. What he’s truly impassioned about are clear: Basketball, his son, and his son’s teammates. It’s why he doesn’t think twice about indulging in high-flying slams; he sees himself as part of their team. And about cheering for outstanding plays. In reacting to one memorable give-and-go sequence during the title match, for example, he basked to such an extreme that he invaded the court, lost his right shoe while kicking the air, and gave a chest bump. The clincher? LeBron Junior wasn’t even suited up.

Little wonder, then, that the Blue Chips love James. Sure, they get special perks like support from Nike and coaching from him. And, sure, they benefit from their association with Bronnie. Then again, he gives his time freely, and his praise unreservedly. And, in response, they return the affection. In particular, AAU Star Dior Johnson took to Twitter to defend him, arguing that “This is Crazy to see … you guys take what this man does off the court for granted … sounds like hate … My Dad has never been to ONE of my basketball Games … In fact I haven’t even seen my father in 4 Years lol.”

Needless to say, the sight of 15-year-old kids providing measured perspectives serves only to underscore the myopic lens with which James is viewed by supposedly learned shapers of opinion who can’t even get their facts straight. The latter don’t matter to him, though. The former do; as far as he’s concerned, he’s doing right by them, and, in their progress, they by him. Enough said.

 

Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and Human Resources management, corporate communications, and business development.

Peso ends flat vs dollar ahead of Fed decision

THE PESO was steady against the dollar on Wednesday as market participants stayed on the sidelines ahead of the conclusion of US Federal Reserve meeting.

The local unit closed yesterday’s session at P50.89 versus the greenback, flat from its Tuesday finish.

The peso opened the session at P50.82 against the dollar, climbing to as high as P50.81 intraday. Meanwhile, its worst showing stood at P50.92 versus the greenback.

Trading volume thinned to $885.57 million from the $1.124 billion that switched hands the previous day.

Traders interviewed yesterday said the peso moved sideways as market players stayed on the sidelines ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting’s conclusion.

“Actually, the dollar-peso just consolidated. It closed at the same level. There was not much meaningful flow to try to go for a stronger dollar-peso. Still the same, we’re waiting for the Fed’s decision,” a trader said in a phone interview.

The Fed was widely expected to trim rates by at least 25 basis points (bp) during the meeting of its policy-setting FOMC on July 30-31.

“I think the perception is for a 25-bp cut. Anything that is different from a 25-bp cut will entail a reaction from the market,” the trader said.

Another trader added that the peso moved within a tight range yesterday as players also anticipated signals for more policy easing from the Fed this year.

“I think the market was pricing a cut tonight and two more cuts for the year. The big question now is will they cut more before the year ends,” the second trader said.

For today, the first trader expects the peso to move between P50.80 and P51.20 versus the dollar, while the other gave a P50.80-P51 range. — KANV

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