ANTONIO BOWS OUT; SO, LAYLO FORCES TIE-BREAKS IN WORLD CHESS CUP

Individual results:

Antonio vs Kamsky (0.5-1.5)

So vs Guseinov (1-1)

Laylo vs Navara (1-1)

MANILA, PHILIPPINES—ROGELIO “Joey” Antonio Jr., (2574) failed to convert his minor advantage against the defending champion and fellow grandmaster (GM) Gata Kamsky (2695) of the United States with the white pieces in their Sicilian Alapin skirmish and settled for a draw in the second match to exit the competition after the first round in the World Chess Cup in Khanty Mansiysk, on Sunday, Russia.

However, compatriots grandmasters Wesley So (2640) and Darwin Laylo (2552) forged do-or-die battles against their respective opponents.

Antonio, sergeant from HSSG in Philippine Army under the baton of Commanding Lt. Gen. Delfin Bangit, lost to Kamsky in his pet Caro-Kann opening in 42 moves in their first match on Saturday.

With 1.5-0.5 victory over Antonio, Kamsky will face the winner between GM Emil Sutovsky of Israel and GM Zhou Weiqi of China in the second round. Sutovsky and Weiqi forced a two tie break games with 25 minutes per player and 10 seconds increment per move after their two matches ended into a fighting draw.

Antonio first met Kamsky in the 2005 HB Global Challenge in Minneapolis, USA. The game, where Antonio employed his pet line caro-kann defense, ended in a draw

Meanwhile, So drew first blood against Azeri GM Gadir Guseinov (2625) by winning the endgame in a King’s Indian battle in the first game, but lost the surprise French Defence
tussle in the second game to allow a two tie break games. Laylo, on the other hand lost the first Scandinavian game against his highly-touted opponent GM David Navara (2707) but managed a shocking rebound by winning in a Gruenfeld duel in just 31 moves in the second game to force the tie-break.

The triumvirate (Antonio, So and Laylo) backed up by NCFP president Prospero “Butch” Pichay Jr. and PSC chairman Harry Angping, already guarantee $6,000 for making it to the 128 players field main draw in the event organized by the World Chess Federation.

Top seed GM Boris Gelfand (2758) of Israel edged IM Andrei Obodchuk (2404) of Russia to open his bid in a bright note. Also advancing in the next round are No.2 GM Vugar Gashimov (2758) of Azerbaijan, No.3 GM Peter Svidler (2754) of Russia, No.4 GM Alexander Morozevich (2750) of Russia, no.5 GM Teimour Radjabov (2748) of Azerbaijan, No.6 GM Vassily Ivanchuk (2739) of Ukraine, No.7 GM Ruslan Ponomariov (2739) of Ukraine, No.8 GM Alexander Grischuk (2736) of Russia, No.9 GM Dmitry Jakovenko (2736) of Russia and No.10 GM Wang Yue (2734) of China.

BY: MARLON BERNARDINO.