Better Late Than Never
So it took me almost half a year to get the word out, but congratulations to Julz for winning the 2008 Exist Masters’ Cup. See you all again in half a year’s time!
Exist November Masters Cup 2008, Round 2
The Exist Masters Cup is proving to be a fast-paced event! Round 3 is almost over but I’m here to give you an account of Round 2:
The players have more or less consolidated their play after getting used to the atmosphere from the first round. We have Nap taking an advantage early in his game against Marlon, who suffered from a blind spot to lose his rook and never recovered. Jonas and Julz profited from early mistakes by their respective opponents and cruised to easy victories ending in checkmate. Nuks played his usual solid game against Chris to blast away his opponent’s pieces and force resignation. Eyds gained an early advantage in his game against Cata but later faltered in defense to provide his opponent a breakthrough and fell by way of checkmate. Marjun and Rey fought valiantly, giving us an exciting game that saw the advantage going from one to the other. Rey lost his queen to an oversight in the middlegame but fought on until Marjun lost his queen to a similar oversight in the endgame. Both players then fell under time pressure, but Rey eventually prevailed.
The results:
| White | Black | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Nap | Marlon | 1-0, Checkmate |
| Mang Lucio | Jonas | 0-1, Checkmate |
| Venz | Julz | 0-1, Checkmate |
| Nuks | Chris | 1-0, Resignation |
| Eyds | Cata | 0-1, Checkmate |
| Rey | Marjun | 1-0, Time |
We are now awaiting the result of the game between Julz and Mang Lucio to wrap up Round 3. Watch out for the recap soon!
Exist November Masters Cup 2008, Round 1
The November Exist Masters Cup 2008 is now ongoing and we have quite a tough field, leading to one exciting competition. Round 1 has just concluded, and the results have stalwarts Cata and Nuks being joined by the solid Eyds, Marjun, and Chris on top of the heap with dark horse Rey also gaining the upper hand in his match.
Cata employed an early bishop sacrifice for shock value, and Nap tried to maneuver his way into a comfortable position but fell due to a late-game attack aggravated by time pressure. Nuks and Julz battled it out furiously, taking less than 10 minutes for the entire game but Nuks prevailed through some nifty tactics. Chris and Eyds capitalized on early mistakes by their opponents and cruised comfortably. Marjun and Venz played an exciting matchup with the advantage shifting back and forth, but Venz failed to cover some crucial squares during the endgame which allowed Marjun a fatal checkmate.
The results:
| White | Black | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Marlon | Rey | 0-1, Resignation |
| Chris | Mang Lucio | 1-0, Checkmate |
| Jonas | Eyds | 0-1, Checkmate |
| Cata | Nap | 1-0, Resignation |
| Marjun | Venz | 1-0, Checkmate |
| Julz | Nuks | 0-1, Checkmate |
Round 2 is already under way and I’ll be posting the thrilling results soon!
Edit: Thanks Julz for pointing my attention at the mistake in the Cata-Nap match!
Kiva.org in the Philippines
Kiva.org is a microfinancing site that started a couple of years ago and has already helped thousands of small entrepreneurs in developing countries all over the world lift themselves out of poverty by providing the extra little push that they need to establish their livelihoods. It differs from other microfinancing initiatives in that it actively matches would-be lenders with the actual entrepreneurs, who use it for varied business like fishing, transportation, vegetables, and handicrafts, among others. In the two years since it started, Kiva.org has experienced virtually zero default and delinquency rates.
A lender can extend loans of from as low as $25 up to the target loan amount, with repayments typically within a year. Lenders are presented a list of entrepreneurs, with information on their location, their area of business, and best of all, their stories. Kiva.org has helped families who were earning barely enough for food develop their businesses to yield enough not only for food but for education as well. In one example, a single mother who has been disqualified by traditional financial institutions turned to Kiva.org for capital and has since been able to develop her livelihood enough to support her two children.
In order to do this, Kiva.org partners with local institutions that help in administrative areas, as well as providing support and infrastructure for the people of that locality. There are partners in many African countries, as well as many parts of Asia, like Cambodia, Vietnam, and India. What I found missing when I was looking through the site was that there weren’t any partners in the Philippines! Last I checked, we were still among the poorest of the poor countries.
This entry’s to hoping that someone picks this up and initiates a Kiva.org partnership for the Philippines.
