RP’S GARCIA SPLIT THE POINT WITH VIET GM TO FORTIFY HIS GM TITLE BID IN SUBIC CHESS; SO REMAINS ON TOP

Asian Individual Chess Championships/Round 3

Standings after three rounds:

3 points –  W. So (RP), Y. Yu ( China ), S. Megaranto (Indonesia)

2.5 – C. Li (China), H. Ni (China), R. Yu (China), L. Ding (China),

2 – R. Antonio (RP),  D. Laylo (RP), J. Gomez (RP), R. Dableo (Philippines), O. Dimakiling (RP), J. Garcia (RP), O. Barbosa (RP), A. Macala (RP), K. Sasikiran (India), E. Ghaemmaghami (Iran), D. Neelotpal (India), A. Gupta (India), K. Yang (China), D. Sharavdorj (Mongolia), A.D. Nguyen (Vietnam), J. Zhou (China),  W. Zhou (China),  A. Golizadeh (Iran), H.M. Nguyen (Vietnam), S. Sethuraman ( India ), S. Lu ( China ),  T. H. Dao ( Vietnam . B. Gundavaa (Mongolia),  P. Darini (Iran)

RP whiz kid Fide Master Jan Emmanuel Garcia (2315) settled a truce with Vietnamese GM Tu Hoang Thong (2483) after 35 moves of Closed Sicilian defense using the disadvantageous black pieces to fortify his GM title norm bid in the third round of 2010 Asian Individual Chess Championships at the Subic Exhibition and Convention Center in Subic, Olongapo City, late Friday.

“Ok lamang po ang draw para maireserba ko ang lakas ko sa susunod na round. Sana makakuha ako ng title norm,” said Garcia, son of lawyer Florand Garcia.

The 14-year-old incoming third year high school student of Ateneo de Manila University improved his total 2 points on a win and two draws in three outings to share 8^th to 39^th placers in this weeklong-event, hosted by National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) president/ chairman Prospero “Butch” Pichay Jr.

The undefeated Garcia will face Bayarsaikhan Gundavaa (2471) of Mongolia in the fourth round late Saturday. Earlier, Garcia halved the point with Asia’s First GM Eugene Torre (2506) in the first round on Wednesday then toppled GM Zhang Zhong (2603) of Singapore in the second round on Thursday.

“Hope magtuloy-tuloy ang magandang nilalaro ni Jan Emmanuel,” said NCFP president/ chairman Prospero “Butch” Pichay Jr.

Meanwhile, country’s top rated GM Wesley So (2665) stopped the winning run of compatriot IM Oliver Barbosa (2452) after 56 moves of a Slav defense in all-Filipino showdown to create a three-way tie for first placers with perfect 3 points each that includes GM Yu Yangi (2574) of China and GM Susanto Megaranto (2527) of Indonesia.

“He (Barbosa)  made a slight mistake in the opening. Napilit  ko yung exchange of queens kaya medyo nakalamang sa endgame. Before the exchange, unclear pa yung position,” said So, who counts Barbosa as one of  the few Filipino players  who still  hold an even career record against him.

Yu subdued IM S.P. Sethuraman of India while Megaranto trounced second seed GM Krishnan Sasikiran of India.

Half a point  behind  the three leaders  with  2.5 points  each are four  other Chinese players – GM Ni Hua, GM Li Chao, GM Ding Liren and untitled Yu Ruiyuan.

Ni Hua, whose ELO of 2667 put him as  the highest-ranked player in the vaunted 19-man Chinese delegation here, defeated surprise second round  Filipino winner Allan Macala, who won by default over GM Mohammed Al-Sayed of Qatar in the second round Thursday. Al-Sayed reportedly over-slept in his hotel room and failed to arrive on time.

Comebacking GM-candidate Ronald Dableo crushed WIM Rout of India to join the big group of two-pointers that include Garcia.

The  list included  World Cup veterans  GMs Rogelio “Joey” Antonio Jr. and Darwin Laylo, who both had a quiet and uneventful day.

Antonio, who finished in a tie for third place in the same qualifying tournament here  last  year, settled for a draw with fellow GM Nguyen Anh Dung of Vietnam in only 26 moves of the Reti. A mainstay of Philippine Army, Antonio defeated IM Kaiqi Yang of China in the first round and drew with IM Rui Gao of China the following round.

Laylo, the reigning Asian Zone 3.3 champion,  also split the point with untitled Shanglei  Lu of China .

Another highly-rated Filipino campaigner,   GM John Paul Gomez ,was also held to a draw by GM Das Neelotpal of India .

Not as lucky, however, were Asia’s first GM Eugene Torre and  IM Richard Bitoon, who yielded to  Pouria Darini of Iran and GM Li Chao of China , respectively.

In the women’s division, Akiko Suede toppled WFM  Khouloud Essa Al-Zarouni of UAE to  finally join the winners’ circle with her first win in three games.

Cristy Lamiel Bernales and Aices Salvador agreed to a draw in an all-Filipina showdown, while WIM Beverly Mendoza lost to  WIM Kiran Moharty of India .

BY: MARLON BERNARDINO.