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Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Travel Venice, Italy



Travel Venice, Italy

Last 27 May 2006, I had a chance to visit the city of Venice. From Turin train station I rode the train to Sta. Lucia in Venice. We travelled 5 hours by train. At the train we met the Malaysian chess team who are also going to that place. From Sta. Lucia I thought that it would be far from there to see the city but its not. It only takes a few minutes before I saw the entrance to this esplendid city.
Famous for its canal the city is built and connected with more than 400 bridges. The classical boat which is known as Gondola is no longer used by the locals but mostly tourist. Venice is the only 21st century city Europe that has no motor vehicles allowed. Travel to the city can be done by foot or boat only. Restaurants and canal shops dominated the area.
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Repeat Performance in Round 9

May 30, 2006, round 9 at the Chess Olympiad, Macau chess team today faced Guernsey. Victor Ho CHeng Fai playing his 7th game crushed his opponent improving his percentage to 85.7 %. Macau Board 1 player, Solomon Celis III drew his game. Macau now has a total of 13 points with 4 more rounds to go.

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Tuesday, May 30, 2006

Slowly But Surely in Round 8


Monday 29 May 2006, Round 8. Macau faced San Marino in this round. Undazzled by the stunning loss yesterday, Macau crept back to her scoring ways. The team scored 1 1/2 points against the San Marino team composed of their best rated players. Jose Silveirinha toppled his opponent in 24 moves and Zachary Alexander Calangi's opponent saved his game by a repetition of moves for the half point. Macau now has total of 11.5 points after 8 rounds.

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Monday, May 29, 2006

Macau Team Taken Back to Earth in Round 7


28 May 2006, Sunday, the great leap in the standings proved rather unlucky as Macau had to face the Faroe Islands, a team composed of 2 International Masters and with average team rating of 2300. Macau used it's top 4 players but to no avail.

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Macau Team in Devastating Form in Round 6

27 May 2006, Macau chess team was paired against Fiji. Boards 1, 3 and 4 of Fiji are all rated. Zachary Alexander Calangi playing at Board 3, outwitted his opponent in 35 moves of the Queens Gambit Declined Defense. Victor Ho Cheng Fai, scoring his 5th win in 6 games forced his opponent to resign in 31 moves. Jose Silveirinha on board 1 followed suit momentarily after 52 moves. The fourth player Mak Keng Kei was lucky to win on the blunder made by his opponent; the final score 4-0 which pulled over 40 other teams with a total of 10 points.

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Thursday, May 25, 2006

Round 5 at the Olympiads

Thursday, 25 May round 5 of 37th Chess Olympiad, Macau faced Ethiopia. Jose Silveirinha, Mak Keng Kei, Zachary Alexander Calangi and Victor Ho Cheng Fai play boards 1 to 4 respectively. At the start of today's round Macau has a total of 4.5 points. Jose Silveirinha draw his game in board 1. Mak Keng Kei lost in board 2 while Victor Ho Cheng Fai continued to play well in this Olympiad and scored another win. Zachary Calangi lost in a tight end game. The final score is 2.5-1.5 in favor of Ethiopia. Macau chess team now has a total of 6 points after this round.

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Travel Turin, Italy and 'Piazza Solferino'





Travel Turin, Italy and 'Piazza Solferino'

Turin, Italy 25 May 2006. After having our breakfast Mr. Jose Silveirinha, Victor Ho Cheng Fai, Mr. Amelcar Feio and me see other parts of Turin. Taking the bus no. 14 we went to Piazza Solferino. The place located at the heart of Turin offers a lot of tourist attractions. Walking along the streets you will see the beauty of the old city. Its architecture fully preserved until this time. Palaces, churches and cathedrals were of utmost elegance and beauty. On top of all these the Cathedral of Turin wherein 'The Shroud' is being kept is one of the most visited spot here at Piazza Solferino.
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Round 4 at the Olympiads


Round 4 at the Olympiads, Macau is paired with Bermuda. Macau players from boards 1 to 4 were Solomon Celis III, Rolly Fesalbon, Zachary Alexander Calangi and Victor Ho Cheng Fai. Boards 1 and 2 lost their game but boards 3 and 4 won tying the match to 2-2. Zachary demolished the French Defense employed by his opponent and won the game after 30 moves. Victor playing the Four Knights game again crushed his opponent after 54 moves.
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Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Round 3 at the Olympiads

Tuesday 23 May, round 3 of the 37th Chess Olympiad here at the oval. Playing with white color, Macau team is paired with Seychelles ranked 130th in the world. Solomon Celis III, Mak Keng Kei, Zachary Calangi and Victor Ho Cheng Fai played boards 1 to 4 respectively. Board 1 Meir Kurt of Seychelles played the Sicilian Defence against Solomon in a very tight game that ended in a draw. Victor Ho Cheng Fai continued to play well in this olympiad managed to post a passed pawn at the sixth rank creating headache for his opponent that finally sealed a win. Our board 2 and 3 failed to win thus Macau team lost to Seychelles 1.5 to 2.5. Macau team now has a total of 2.5 points after round 3.

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Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Travel Turin, Italy and 'Museo Egizio'

Travel Turin and Visit the 'Museo Egizio'

May 23, Tuesday here at Turin and it is my rest day. After our breakfast together with Mr. Jose Silveirinha and Mr. Amelcar Feio, we went to the metro city of Turin by tram.
We went to the 'Museu Egizio' which was founded in 1824. It is basically an Egyptian Museum with a lot to learn and explore dating back from the prehistoric and old kingdom periods. A visit to the museum enabled us to learn how the Egyptian civilization was formed, how pyramids were built and how writing began. Several galleries showed stone statues, sphinxes, mummies etc. Anyone will be delighted to visit this museum once you are here at Turin. A must see for all.
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Round 2 at the Olympiads


The second round of the 37th Olympiad (21 May 2006) pitted the Macau team against the higher rated team of Nicaragua. The players for today were Jose Silveirinha (Board 1), Rolly Fesalbon (Board 2), Zachary Calangi (Board 3) and Victor Ho Cheng Fai (Board 4).
Smiles were seen on all the faces of the Macau team players as the participation of the Macau team at the Chess Olympiads hit a high note when Victor Ho Cheng Fai smothered his Nicaraguan opponent at Board 4 to give Macau her first point. The victory came after a thrilling 40 move aggressive attack launched at the hopeless defence of the opponent.
Victor, known for his positional style of play switched to an all out attack from the very first move. He never gave his opponent a chance and was tremendously ahead in tempo. The victory will definitely inspire the rest of the team in the forthcoming rounds.
Congratulations Victor for a job well done!
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Sunday, May 21, 2006

Round 1 at the Olympiads


Macau Team at round 1 of the 37th Chess Olympiad

Starting today I will to highlight the day to day account of the 37th Chess Olympiad and Macau Team performance. Round 1 at the 37th Chess Olympiad started today 20 May at 15:00. 147 countries with 149 teams began their quest for the world chess team titles in the men's category. And in the women's division, 107 countries represented by 108 teams go up against one another for the title.
The pairings for the 1st round, like always, pits the strongest team against the weakest team. Therefore Macau, ranked 123rd in the world had to face the tough Australian team ranked 50th in the world. Our players had to face the titled players of the other side; difficult as it may seem, it is a good way to learn and who knows, luck may be with us! After an average of 4 hours playing time Macau team lost to the Australian team by 4-0. Players from Macau who played in round 1 were the following: Board 1 Jose Silveirinha, Board 2 Solomon Celis III, Board 3 Mak Keng Kei, Board 4 Victor Ho Cheng Fai. Our last chance was with our board 2 player Solomon Celis III who only lost in the endgame in a drawish position.
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The Journey To Turin

The Journey to Turin

Relaxed, anxious but confident ! The Macau Chess team composed of Solomon Celis III, Jose Silveirinha, Rolando Fesalbon, Mak Keng Kei, Zachary Alexander Calangi & Victor Cheng Fai Ho gathered at the Macau Ferry Terminal at 6:30 pm on the 19th of May to commence their journey to the 37th Chess Olympiad at Turin, Italy. Good Luck, God bless and God speed!!


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Friday, May 19, 2006

Travel Turin, Italy

Travel Turin, Italy

Turin, Italy is the host of the 37th Chess Olympiad and it will start on 20th May to 4th June. Here's some of the information of Turin taken from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Turin (Italian: Torino; Piedmontese: Türín) is a major industrial city in north-western Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the west bank of the Po River. The population of Turin city is 908,000 (2004 census), but with its metropolitan area totals about 1.7 million inhabitants. The province is one of the largest in Italy, with 6,830 square kilometres (2,637 sq. mi), and one of the most populous, with 2,236,941 inhabitants at the 2004 census. Turin is also well-known as the home of the shroud of Turin and host of the 2006 Winter Olympics.

History
The name of Turin comes from Tau, a Celtic word that means mountains. Its Italian name, Torino, translates as "little bull"; hence the coat of arms and the symbol of the city. The area was settled by the Taurini in pre-Roman times.
In the 1st century BC (probably 28 BC), the Romans created a military camp (Castra Taurinorum), later dedicated to Augustus (Augusta Taurinorum). The typical Roman street grid can still be seen in the modern city. Turin reached about 5,000 inhabitants at the time, all living inside the high walls.
After the fall of the Roman empire the city was conquered by the Lombards, then the Franks; in 942 the Contea di Turino, i.e. Countship of Turin, was founded, since 1050 held by the family of the (then) Counts of Savoy. While the dignity of count was held by the Bishop as conte di Turino, 1092-1130 and 1136 - 1191, it was ruled as a prince-bishopric by the Bishops. It was a lordship 1230 - 1235 under the Marchese di Monferrato, styled Signore di Torino ('Lord')
At the end of the 13th century, when it was annexed to the Duchy of Savoy, the city already had 20,000 inhabitants. Many of the gardens and palaces were built in the 15th century when the city was redesigned. The University was also founded during this period.
Emanuele Filiberto (Iron Head) made Turin the capital of the Duchy of Savoy in 1563. Piazza San Carlo, via Po and the Royal Palace (Palazzo Reale) were built in this period.
In 1706 the French besieged the city for 117 days without conquering it (Battle of Turin). After the subsequent Treaty of Utrecht, the Kingdom of Sardinia was annexed to the Duchy of Savoy and the architect Filippo Juvarra began a major redesign of the city. Now the capital of a European kingdom, Turin had about 90,000 inhabitants at the time.
In the 19th century, after brief occupation by Napoleon, the city began to actively pursue the unification of Italy. In 1871, the Fréjus Tunnel was opened, making Turin an important communication node. The city now had 250,000 inhabitants. The Museo Egizio, the Mole Antonelliana, the Gran Madre church and Vittorio Veneto square were built in this period.
In 1861, Turin became the capital of the newly proclaimed United Italy. In 1865 the capital was moved to Florence. (Since 1870 the capital has been Rome.) Turin reacted to the loss of importance by beginning a rapid industrialisation: in 1899 FIAT was founded and Lancia in 1906. The Universal Exposition held in Turin in 1902 is often considered the pinnacle of Art Nouveau design, and the city hosted the Exposition again in 1911. By this time, Turin had grown to 430,000 inhabitants.
After World War I conflicts between workers and industrialists began. The first strikes took place and in 1920 the Lingotto factory was occupied.
After World War II Turin was rapidly rebuilt and its industries greatly developed, which caused waves of immigration, largely from the southern regions of Italy. The population reached 1 million in 1960 and peaked at 1.5 million in 1975. In the 1980s the first industrial crisis hit the city and its population began to decline (and continues to, while the metropolitan area grows). The 2005 population is 908,000.
Turin also has one of the worlds largest football clubs that is supported by a large number of Italians. Juventus F.C have always had a fierce rivalry with the Milan football club who is another massively supported team in the Serie A. Alessandro Del Piero is one of the most beloved players for Juventus and was born and bred in the town of Turin.

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Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Chess World - Download of chess games

Chess World - Download of chess games (PGN and Chessbase files)
The Bird Opening

The Bird opening is named after H. E. Bird (1830 - 1910), an english gentleman that transformed the 'useless' move 1.f4 to a opening system.
Even today many players are surprised, sometimes shocked when they come across this seldom played move. This is a great chance for those players who strive to avoid the usual paths of opening theory! "
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Tuesday, May 16, 2006

36th Chess Olympiad Macau Team



The Macau Chess Team going for the 36th Chess Olympiad last 2004. Our team scored a total of 23 ½ points after 14 rounds. Other countries with the same points were Cyprus, Liechtenstein, Mauritius, San Marino, Malta and Afghanistan. Members of the team were Jose Antonio Silveirinha, Ho Cheng Fai, Alexander Zachary Calangi, Rodolfo Varron Abelgas, Chang Hong Kun and Rolando Fajut Fesalbon. On 13 matches, we played a total of 52 games won 18, drew 7 and lost 27 for a 41.3 % performance rating. Next olympiad we hope to perform better than this.

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Monday, May 15, 2006

Chess and Life in Comparison



Chess and Life in Comparison

I began playing chess at the age of 9 when my playmate taught me how to move the pieces starting from pawn, bishop, knight, rook, queen and king. My interest and curiosity grew as time went on. I read books about chess openings, middle game and end game in particular. Among my favorite chess greats were Capablanca, Fisher, Karpov and Kasparov.
For me life is like playing chess, full of surprises, excitement and fun. Reacting to pressures positively will always allow you to win your games in life. In life we make mistakes like blunders in chess. In life we move on and do not let our problems hinders us in pursuing our goals. In chess we set another game to forget the past game. Each of us has his own style in dealing with life. Like in chess that each player plays differently from each other. In life some like challenges, like attacking players in chess. Some like quiet game like some of us who would not dare to take risk in life.

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Sunday, May 14, 2006

Travel Macau


Travel Macau

From the picture left to right is my wife Francisca, Gabriel, Joel and Lyca. Today my family and I celebrated the Mother's Day.
I have been here in Macau since 1993. From then on this once oldest Portuguese colony in China has transformed to become one of the hottest destinations in Asia. It is located in the southern coast of China. After its handover to China last December 20, 1999, Macau’s economy has never been the same. Construction of different casinos and hotel has been going on for the last 7 years. The rise of tourism industry and property market was also seen. This Special Administrative Region of China will soon become the Las Vegas of Asia.
Visiting Macau will give anyone a taste of historical Chinese and Portuguese remnants. Gambling is legal here and many gamblers came from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and mainland China. Language spoken here is Cantonese, Portuguese, Mandarin, English, Filipino, Thai and other several languages. Last 2005 Macau hosted the East Asian Games and on 2007 it will host Asian Indoor Games. Come and visit Macau.

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Saturday, May 13, 2006

Travel Zurich, Switzerland



Travel Zurich, Switzerland

After the 2004 Chess Olympiad I visited Zurich, the largest city of Switzerland. It was a Sunday afternoon. Although most of the shops and establishment were closed, I would agree that it was really an international center of finance. Riding along the train from Zurich airport to the city, I was delighted to see its natural setting. Before I left the city back to the airport, I felt lonely being not able to uncover more of what it had to offer. At the airplane the last piece of Switzerland I saw was its majestic alpine views.

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Friday, May 12, 2006

Travel Mallorca, Calvia, Spain



Travel Mallorca, Calvia, Spain

Last November 2004 the chess world gathered in Calvia, Spain to participate in the 36th Chess Olympiad. The Olympiad was held Oct. 14 – 31, 2004. A total of 125 countries were there representing their own teams and federations. I was one of the participants in the men’s team. Palma de Mallorca, due to its mild climate, is a favorite vacation and destination site in Europe. During summer it has an average temperature of 27ºC and in winter 14ºC. Walking along the beach after a tiring chess game is one of the most relaxing experience that you can do. I also visit the Majorica Pearl laboratory plant in Manacor. I highly recommend this place to anyone who wants to have an unforgettable holiday.

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Thursday, May 11, 2006

Free Travel and Chess

Free Travel and Chess

Welcome to Free Travel and Chess blog. Here I will relate my travel and chess experiences. With this blog I hope that I may be able to share with you the joy and excitement of traveling free simply by playing chess.

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