Young GM So continues rampage in Dapitan chess tourney

MANILA, Philippines – Top favorite grandmaster Wesley So is fast turning the Phoenix Petroleum-Dapitan City “Battle of GMs" chess championship into his own private playground. So hurdled another major obstacle in his title-retention bid, beating 2008 PGMA Cup champion GM Eugene Torre in a keenly-watched encounter in the third round at the Dapitan City Resort Hotel in Dapitan City. The 15-year-old So, who opened the tournament with back-to-back victories over fellow GMs Buenaventura “Bong" Villamayor and John Paul Gomez, played superbly with black and clinched the win in 36 moves of the Slav. The third win in a row enabled So to raise his score to six points and seize an early two-point lead over Gomez and three other players in this 11-round tournament featuring the country’s top GMs. Gomez, who nailed his GM title during the 38th World Chess Olympiad in Dresden, Germany last November, trounced IM Ronald Dableo in 61 moves of the Dutch to jump to a share of second to fifth places with four points under the unique scoring system which gives two points for a win, one point for a draw and zero for a loss. If a stalemate occurs, the player who stalemates his opponent gets 1.5 points while the stalemated player receives half point. Joining Gomez with a second-running four points are GMs Darwin Laylo and Rogelio Antonio Jr. and IM Richard Bitoon. Laylo trounced IM Julio Catalino Sadorra in 48 moves of the Slav for his first win against two draws to boost his chances for the P200,000 top prize. Antonio, who is making his first appearance in local soil following a highly-successful campaign in the United States, halved the point with Bitoon in 31 moves of the Caro Kann. GM Mark Paragua crushed Villamayor in 32 moves of the Queen's Gambit to join IM Rolando Nolte with three points. Nolte, one of four IMs in the field, split the point with GM Jayson Gonzales in 38 moves of the French. Torre, who drew his first two matches against Nolte and Gonzales, remained with only two points in the company of Villamayor and Gonzales. In the fourth round, it will be So against Nolte, Antonio against Gonzales, Bitoon against Laylo, Paragua against Gomez, Sadorra against Villamayor and Dableo against Torre. In the women's division, sisters Shercila and Sherily Cua of the V. Luna Chess Club came through with a pair of hard-earned triumphs to gain a share of the lead with five points. Shercila trounced WNM Kimberly Jane Cunanan in 43 moves of the English while Sherily toppled erstwhile solo leader Jan Jodilyn Fronda in 64 moves of another English. Dresden Olympiad veterans Daisy Rivera crushed Jedara Docena in 44 moves of the Sicilian and Christy Lamiel Bernales downed Rida Jane Young in 43 moves of the Queen's Indian to climb into a tie for third to fifth places with Fronda with four points. In other results, Rulp Ylem Jose humbled Catherine Perena in 56 moves of the Center Counter and Beverly Mendoza drew with Loreshyl Cuizon in 80 moves of the Queen's Indian. Fourth-round matches pit Bernales against Shercila Cua, Docena against Cunanan, Fronda against Rivera, Perena against Sherily Cua, Cuizon against Jose and Young against Mendoza. Meanwhile, Dapitan City will also host the first of a series of regional eliminations for the third Asian Indoor Games from March 28-30. The top 10 finishers in the three-day tournament will advance to the national finals set in Manila later this year. The tournament is being held to determine the country's representatives to the Asian Indoor Games scheduled Oct. 30-Nov. 8 in Halongbay, Vietnam. –GMANews.TV