Rosendo Balinas, Jr.

Rosendo Carreon Balinas, Jr. (September 10, 1941 – September 24, 1998) was a chess grandmaster from the Philippines. FIDE awarded him the International Master title in 1975 and the International Grandmaster title in 1976. Balinas was a lawyer by profession, as well as a chess writer and journalist.

Balinas was considered the strongest Asian player during the 1960s and early 1970s, before the emergence of compatriot Eugenio Torre. Balinas won international chess tournaments in Hong Kong, Singapore, Manila, and Odessa, USSR during the period. At the 1966 17th Chess Olympiad in Havana, Cuba, Balinas scored 15½ points out of 20 games (.775) and was awarded the individual silver medal award, behind gold medalist, former world champion Mikhail Tal, who scored 11 points out of 13 games (.846). In the 1967 Meralco "Beat Bobby Fischer" match series in Manila, of the top 10 Filipino players, Balinas was the only then Philippine national master to hold the future world champion to a draw:

R. C. Balinas – R. J. Fischer, Manila 1967. Opening "Sicilian, Najdorf, Zagreb (Fianchetto) Variation"

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.g3 g6 7.Bg2 Bg7 8.O-O O-O 9.h3 Bd7 10.Nde2 Nc6 11.b3 b5 12.Be3 Qc8 13.Kh2 Qc7 14.Nd5 Nxd5 15.exd5 Nd8 16.Bd4 Rc8 17.Bxg7 Kxg7 18.Qd4+ Kg8 19.c3 e5 20.dxe6 fxe6 21.Rad1 Nf7 22.f4 Qc5 23.Qxc5 Rxc5 24.Rd3 Rfc8 25.Rfd1 a5 26.g4 Kf8 27.Re3 Ke7 28.Bd5 Kf6 29.g5+ Ke7 30.c4 Nd8 31.Nd4 bxc4 32.bxc4 Kf7 33.Rde1 exd5 34.Re7+ Kf8 35.Rxd7 Rxc4 36.Ree7 Rxd4 37.Rxh7 Kg8 38.Rhg7+ Kf8 39.Rh7 ½–½ http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1044624

Balinas was a seven-time Philippine chess champion, winning the Philippine National Championship and the Philippine Open Chess Championships. He shared first place at the Meralco-sponsored 1968 Philippine Open championship with world championship candidate Yugoslav grandmaster Svetozar Gligorić.

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