Bersamina wins twice, jumps to solo third

Standings after eight rounds:

Boys 12 under

6.5 points – W. Yi (China), D. Ghosh (India)

6 – P. Bersamina (RP)

5.5 – M. Karthikeyan (Iran)

5 – X. Yi (China), P.Q. Hung (Vietnam), S. Mohammad (India)

NEWLY-crowned ASEAN age-group champion Paulo Bersamina scored back-to-back victories over Iranian Amin Cheraghi in the seventh round and top seed Chinese Wei Yi of China the following round to keep the Philippine flag high in the 2010 Asian Youth invitational chess championships at the Beijing Convention Center in Beijing, China late Tuesday.

The twin victories enabled the former La Salle Greenhills (LSGH) top gunner Bersamina to vault into solo third place behind Yi and second seed Diptayan Ghosh of India with still one round left in the boys 12 years old and under category.

The 12-year-old mainstay of UAAP champion Far Eastern University under coach GM Jayson Gonzales has six points on five wins, two draws and only one loss in the tough, six-day competition which attracted a record 428 players from 14 countries.

Only Yi and Ghosh have better record than Bersamina with 6.5 points.

Bersamina, who also emerged as the winningest Filipino players with three gold medals in the recent 11th ASEAN + age-group chess championships in Subic, will take on seventh seed Murali Karthikeyan of India in the ninth and final round.

Karthikeyan, one of five Indians in the 12-under field, beat Nguyen Tan Hoang Nam of Vietnam.

Sharing the limelight was Janelle Mae Frayna, who whipped No. 15 seed Botakoz Koshkarova of Kazakhstan in the eighth and penultimate round to remain in a three-way tie for seventh place with five points on four wins, two draws and two losses in the girls 14 under class.

Frayna, a third year high school student of FEU, will meet top seed Sri Choletti Sahaja of India in the final round.

“Let’s hope Paulo and Janelle will make it. Paulo has a good chance even with the black pieces against Karthikeyan ” said dlegation head/coach Idelfonso Datu in his report to National Chess Federation of the Philippine s(NCFP) president/chairman Prospero “Butch” Pichay and secretary-general Mayor Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino.

The rest of the Filipino campaigners virtually bowed ouf of contention.

FM Haridas Pascua drew with Zhang Shengyun of China and remained in a tie for 10th to 12th places with 4.5 points on two wins, five draws and one loss in the boys 18 years old an dunder category.

The 17-year-old University of Baguio student, however, is still one and a half points behind solo leader Li Hanbin of China.

Dresden Olympiad veteran Christy Lamiel Bernales won over Baihan Chen of China in the seventh round but lost to WFM Nkrithika Pon of India in the eighth round to remain in a tie for 14th to 15th places with four points on three wins, two draws an dthree losses.

Bernales, however, is already two and a half points behind Kulkarni Bhakti of India in the girls 18 under.

In the boys 16 under, Jan Nigel Galan dumped Mukhit Ismailov of Kazkahstan in the sventh round but bowed to Pouya Idani of Iran to remain in 12th to 16th places with four points.

Galan, a gold medalist for board one in the NCAA junior tournament while playing for La Salle-Greenhils last year, is also now two and a half points behind Guanchu Liu of China.

In the boys 14 under, Austin Jacob Literatus won over Sumiya Bilguun of Mongolia in the seventh round but lost to Oleg Artemenko of Uzbekistan to stay in a tie for 15th to 21st places with four points. The Davao City sensation is three full points behind Ranjan Sahoo of India.

In the boys 10 under, Haince Patrick de Leon lost to Reza Ghanbarzadeh of Iran in the seventh round and won over H.M.K. Herath of Sri Lanka to improve to four points, good for a tie for 19th to 25th places.

In the girls 12 under, Shania Mae Mendoza drew her matches against top seed Anh Nguyen Hoang of Vietnam and Uurtsaikh Uuriintuya of Mongolia to raise her score to four points and a tie for 13 th to 22nd places.

In the girls 10 under, Jesca Docena yielded to Cho Yeong Hee of Korea in the seventh round and beat P.A.R. Nonis of Sri Lanka to improve to three points and a tie for 25 th to 29th places.

The Filipinos’ campaign is supported by the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC).

BY: MARLON BERNARDINO