GIẢI CỜ VUA KHU VỰC 3.2A NĂM 2001
Từ 23/4 đến 1/5 Tại Philippines

2001 ZONE 3.2A CHAMPIONSHIPS
Grand Boulevard Hotel, Roxas Boulevard, Manila, Philippines

COMPLETE VIETNAMESE DOMINATION

Một lần nữa, trí tuệ Việt Nam đã được các kỳ thủ của chúng ta chứng minh bằng chiến thắng tuyệt đối tại giải vô địch khu vực 3.2a, đây là vòng loại khu vực để tuyển chọn các kỳ thủ mạnh nhất khu vực tham dự giải vô địch thế giới. Việt nam có 4 nam và 4 nữ tham dự giải, Nguyễn Anh Dũng đã xuất sắc giành hạng nhất sau 9 ván, Đào Thiên Hải phải đánh trận play off với Adianto để giành thêm vé thứ 2 vào chung kết thế giới. Ở Bảng nữ, Việt Nam giành thắng lợi không khó khăn lắm vì "sân chơi" của giải là của các cô gái Việt Nam, đáng tiếc là chỉ có 1 vé vào chung kết thế giới mà thôi, Hoàng Thanh Trang đã chiến thắng.

The qualifying tournament of the 2001 FIDE World Chess Championship for Southeast Asian zone was held at the Grand Boulevard Hotel in Manila from April 23 to May 1. Vietnamese players dominated both the men’s and women’s divisions of the event. GMs Nguyen Anh Dung and Dao Thien Hai topped the men’s field, following the latter’s victory over Indonesian GM Utut Adianto in the playoff for the second qualifying berth. WGM Hoang Thanh Trang ruled the distaff side with an amazing score of 8.0 out of 9.0 points.

Bảng nam - Men

GM Bong Villamayor tried mightily to defeat the Hedgehog formation of GM Nguyen Anh Dung in the final round, but the Vietnamese never looked in any danger and they agreed on a draw when they were both down to a King, Rook and Pawn each. Nguyen Anh Dung therefore maintains his half-point lead over his pursuers and finishes solo first.

GM Utut Adianto massacred the SemiSlav of FM Idelfonso Datu to catch GM Dao Thien Hai at the finishing post. After a short break they played a short 2-game match at 25 minutes per player with 10 second increment starting move 1. When the two won one game each they played a second 2-game match, and finally Vietnamese GM Dao Thien Hai qualifies for the world championship.

Inspite of the loss FM Idelfonso Datu's 4.5 out of a possible 9 points was still good enough for his final International Master norm. This was due to the fact that he faced VERY tough opposition (4 grandmasters, 2 international masters and 3 national masters), equivalent to a category-9 tournament. Together with the 10-round norm he earned from the 2000 Istanbul Olympiad, and the 11-round norm from 2001 Kolkata Open, he has over-fulfilled the requirements for the International Master title. He should get official recognition from FIDE by September of this year when the FIDE Presidential Board meets.

National Master Jayson Gonzales beat GM Bazar Hatanbaatar of Mongolia to up his total to 5.5 out of 9. The tally is more than sufficient for an International Master norm. I believe he got a norm from the North Bay Open of a few years ago and another one during the 2001 Philippine Grand finals. Subject to certification of results the chances are good that he will also get the official IM recognition from FIDE by September of this year.

Vietnamese sensation Nguyen Thanh Son also got an International Master norm for his surprising performance in this zonal. Filipino Masters Yves Ranola and Emmanuel Senador each scored 4.5/9. This is good enough for an outright FIDE Master title.

National Master Emmanuel Senador defeated GM Dashzeveg Sharavdorj in the last round, bringing his total up to 5.0/9. His performance rating over 9 rounds is 2488, which, as per the FIDE Handbook, entitles him to an International Master (IM) norm. Problem is, due to the luck of the draw he had only faced three foreigners, which is one short of the FIDE requirement for an IM norm.

Play-off for 2nd Qualifying Spot

Bảng nữ - Women

WGM Hoang Thanh Trang won her last round game to win the Women's Section with a tremendous score of 8.0/9. Five Vietnamese women took part in this 16-woman tournament, and out of the five Hoang was first, Nguyen Thi Thanh An was second, and the other three figured in a four-way tie for 3rd-6th places.

WFM Nguyen Thi Thanh An's impressive 6.5/9 score is half a point more than the requirement for an outright Woman's International Master (WIM) title. Three women achieved Woman International Master (WIM) norms: WFM Vo Hong Phuong, WFM Tran Thi Kim Loan from Vietnam, and WFM Tuvshintogs Batceceg.