Laylo stuns Torre in pre-Asiad chess tilt

World Cup campaigner GM Darwin Laylo outwitted Asia's first GM Eugene Torre in 44 moves of the Larsen opening at the start of the NCFP men’s training/tournament for the 16th Asian Games held at the LWUA Bldg. in Diliman, Quezon City. Laylo, the fourth highest-rated player in the country with an ELO of 2522, handled the disadvantageous black pieces with uncharacteristic aggression and came away with the victory over his older and more illustrious opponent. Top seed GM Wesley So settled for a draw with GM John Paul Gomez in 51 moves of the Slav, while GM Rogelio Antonio, Jr. halved the point with IM Oliver Barbosa in 54 moves of the Sicilian defense in the two other matches. The 10-round competition is being organized by the NCFP in preparation of the five-man national team to the November 12-27 Asian Games in Guangzhou, China. Except for Barbosa, all five players will represent the country in the coming Asiad. The event was originally scheduled to be held at the Fischer Farm Resort in Dasmarinas, Cavite, but was rescheduled at LWUA due to Typhoon Juan. Meanwhile, the NCFP decided to pull out its five-member women’s team to the quadrennial meet in Guangzhou due to its slim chance of winning a medal. NCFP executive director Willie Abalos said he has already informed both the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) and Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) about the decision to withdraw the women’s team composed of WFMs Cheradee Camacho, Sherily Cua, and Catherine Perena, national champion Rulp Ylem Jose and reserve Jedara Docena from the delegation. "The NCFP feels the chances of our women’s team are slim, especially against host China, which finished runner-up in the recent 39th World Chess Olympiad and Southeast Asian rivals Vietnam and Indonesia, so Cong. Butch Pichay instructed us to withdraw the team," said Abalos. The decision to pull out the women’s team came after the POC issued a directive to all national sports associations (NSAs) not to send athletes with slim chances to win medals in the Asian Games. - RCJ, GMANews.TV