Chess Piece — Bobby Ang
(Part 1)
Last June 22, 2017 Ms. Janelle Mae Frayna graduated from the Far Eastern University (FEU) with the degree of Bachelor of Science in Psychology, cum laude. She was chosen as class valedictorian in recognition of her achievements both inside and outside the classroom.
As you may know Janelle is a Woman’s Grandmaster of Chess (WGM), the first ever for the Philippines. I will dedicate a few columns to talking about one of our chess heroes, after all we don’t have many of them now. Let us start off the series with some excerpts from her inspirational valedictory message.
“I started from the bottom. I don’t consider myself as extraordinary both in class and in chess. When I was 14, I transferred to FEU Diliman and ventured on my dream. At that time, I was with teammates who are far stronger than me. In the eyes of many, I was nobody. As a matter of fact, when I first applied as a chess varsity, the head coach rejected me. Thankfully with some twist of events, he had a change of heart and I was reconsidered. Some people told me I could never be a Grandmaster because according to them I lacked the talent. Despite these discouraging words I did not waver in pursuing my dream.
“The 13th World Chess Champion, the legendary Garry Kasparov once said, “Don’t you know that hard work is a talent?” His statement has inspired me to work very hard, so I guess that also makes me talented. To improve my performance I dedicated 6-8 hours a day of training. But then my progress in chess caused a decline in my grades. That was a wake-up call because I wanted to be great in chess and be a college graduate at the same time. So I promised to do better both in class and in chess.
“Some people say life is a race, life is a struggle, life is a war. For me, life is a chess game. In chess the main goal is to defend and conquer the King. Nevertheless, no matter how you think you have made the best plans, craftily positioned your pieces, you cannot always win. I have never known a player who in his entire career never lost a game or never made blunders. Just like in real life, nobody’s perfect right? We commit mistakes because we’re just human. Yes, some mistakes may mess up the entire game. These may put us into seemingly hopeless situations and hurt our chances for success. But do not let those mistakes define who you are. As long as you live, as long as you’re breathing, keep on fighting. Give your best moves and never say “I resign.”
“Remember that in every chess game there is a time limit. Just like in real life, we don’t have the luxury to live forever. Every hour, every minute, every second counts, so we must use our time wisely and make the right moves. We may win, lose or draw the game, but never stop learning. The real checkmate is when you give up and accept that you are a loser. As long as we live, there will always be next games, next opportunities and next chances. Seize them! And I hope we all become champions on and off the chessboard.”
Wow, a really powerful message!
WGM Janelle Mae Frayna is the only woman ever to play in the Men’s Championship — this happened in the 2014 competition where she beat Grandmasters Joey Antonio and Richard Bitoon to finish in 5th place. In 2015, she was back in the national championship and there she beat GM Eugene Torre, a game Janelle considers her “Most Memorable Game.” Here it is, with Janelle’s own notes.
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Frayna, Janelle Mae (2204) — Torre, Eugenio (2463) [E08]
National Open Chess Championship, 25.10.2015
<WGM Janelle Mae Frayna>
1.d4
This is one of the games that I will treasure for life. I defeated the endgame virtuoso, the legendary GM Eugene Torre in his forte. I learned a great deal in this game.
1…Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2
I decided to test my newly acquired opening repertoire — The Catalan.
4…Be7 5.Nf3 0 — 0 6.0 — 0 Nbd7 7.Qc2 c6 8.b3
GM Boris Avrukh wrote a best-selling book on the Catalan where he advocated 8.Nbd2 as the main line. After 8…b6 9.e4 Bb7 10.e5! (10.b3 Rc8 11.Bb2 c5 12.exd5 exd5 is equal) 10…Ne8 11.cxd5 exd5 12.Re1 Nc7 13.Nf1 Ne6 14.Ne3 c5 15.Nf5 White is slightly better.
8…b6 9.Rd1 Bb7 10.Nc3 a5 11.Bb2 Qc7 12.Rac1 Rfc8 13.Nd2
A typical plan in the Catalan is to play the space-gaining e4.
13…Qd8 14.e4 b5
Also a usual counter-approach on the other flank to question the stability of the queenside pawns.
15.Qb1
Better is 15.e5 Gaining space and control at the center. 15…Ng4 16.c5 to avoid any counter play at the queenside.
15…bxc4 16.bxc4 a4?!
The a4-pawn now becomes a potential target. After 16…Rab8 17.Na4 Ba6 18.Qc2 the game is equal.
17.c5 Rcb8 18.Qc2 Qa5
After the game 18…a3 was suggested by GM Eugene as an improvement because after 19.Ba1 my bishop may have a difficult time re-routing and improving its scope.
19.Rb1 Bc8 20.Ba3
During the game, I was very careful not to spoil my positional advantage. I don’t want to create unnecessary pawn moves, and my main plan is to exchange pieces and prove that the a4-pawn is a liability for the Black’s camp.
20…g6 21.e5!?
GM Eugene was playing for a wait and see strategy. As for me, I would like to have the full grip on the position. Therefore, I chose to clamp the center and focus on my main plan, exploiting the weak a4-pawn.
21…Ne8 22.Rxb8
Objectively, playing 22.Nf3 and improving my knight’s scope first was a much stronger move but I want to immediately exchange the major pieces and execute my plan.
22…Rxb8 23.Rb1 Nc7?
[23…Rxb1+ 24.Ndxb1 was the lesser evil. 24…f6 25.f4 Ng7 26.Qxa4 White is definitely better since Black has no counterplay at all! I am playing only for two results: A win or a draw]
24.Rxb8 Nxb8 25.Nxa4 Nb5 26.Bb2 Qb4 27.Nb6 Ba6 28.Nf3 Bd8 29.a4 Na3 30.Qc3
Forcing more simplifications.
30…Qxc3 31.Bxc3 Nc4 32.Nxc4 Bxc4 33.Nd2 Ba6 34.f4 <D>
POSITION AFTER 34.F4
I love how I was able to convert my material advantage to a totally winning position. Endgames really teach us how to be patient!]
34…h5 35.Kf2
Step 1: Improving the King’s Position, ideally His majesty should be placed at the center.
35…Kf8 36.Bf3
Step 2: Do not hurry! Everything’s under control so I have the luxury to improve my pieces to their optimal squares before launching action!
36…Ke8 37.h3 Bd3 38.Bd1!?
Protecting potential entry squares.
38…Kd7 39.Ke3 Ba6 40.g4
Step 3: Create another weakness! Applying the two weaknesses principle. Since the queenside where my extra passed pawn was located was adequately guarded, I have to look for another “door” or “entry” to confuse my opponent with simultaneous threats.
40…hxg4 41.hxg4 Kc8 42.Nb3 Bc4 43.Nd2 Ba6 44.Bc2
Preparing the eventual breakthrough in the f5 — square.
44…Kd7 45.Nf3
Since my knight excursion on the queenside has been neutralized, time to jump on the other side of the board!
45…Be7
I believe that Black’s position is in some sort of zugzwang. In every move I happened to improve my piece placement while he lands into much more difficult task of defense. 45…Ke8 46.Be1 Bc4 47.g5 Nd7 48.Nh2 Kf8 49.Ng4 Ke7 50.Kf3 Bc7 51.Bc3 Bd8 52.Nf6 was another plan available to our game.
46.Ba5 Bf1 47.Nd2 Ba6 48.Bb6
Diversion. I wanted to force Black to attend on the queenside weaknesses and then I will strike at the other side of the board.
48…Kc8 49.Nf3 Nd7 50.Ba5 Nb8 51.Be1
Now my plan to play Bh4 was now very feasible.
51…Bd8 52.f5 gxf5 53.gxf5
The breakthrough — my King now has the option to participate in the future actions at the kingside!
53…Kd7 54.Bh4 Bxh4 55.Nxh4 Ke7 56.f6+!
The killer move, erasing all possibilities of any counterplay. The position seems locked but the weakness of the pawn on f7 is the telling factor.
56…Kf8 57.Nf3 Bf1 58.Ng5 Na6 59.Bd1
Threatening Bh5.
59…Nb4 60.Kd2 1 — 0
Black has no counterplay!
We will continue this story on Thursday.
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.
