GM Laylo steps up, carries fight for Pinoys in Aeroflot Open

MOSCOW, Russia — With Filipino grandmaster Wesley So withdrawing from the main tournament and GM John Paul Gomez losing for the first time in six games, GM Darwin Laylo carried the fight for the Philippines in the 2011 Aeroflot Open chess championship. Laylo, ever so eager to step out of the shadows of his younger and equally talented countrymen, overwhelmed upset-conscious Bayarsiakhan Gundavaa of Mongolia to forge a four-way tie for the top spot after the sixth round Sunday. The 30-year-old campaigner from Lipa City, who earned his GM title in 2007, moved into a tie with GM Dorian Rogozenco of Romania, GM Tigran Kotanjian of Armenia and GM Wen Yang of China with five points out of a possible six. Rogozenco caught the Filipinos’ attention when he pulled the rug from under Gomez, snapping a two-game winning streak and dealing the pride of Biñan, Laguna his first setback. Kotanjian whipped GM Zhao Xue of China and Wen outplayed GM Alexei Gavrilov of Russia in other featured sixth-round matches to join Laylo and Rogozenco in the lead. Gomez dropped to a tie for fifth to 10th places with 4.5 points. Moscow Open runner-up IM Oliver Barbosa also made his presence felt by humbling Mikhail Antipov of Russia in 78 moves of the Slav to raise his record to 3.5 points on three wins, one draw and two losses. Also with the same score is IM Oliver Dimakiling, who crushed Dmitry Kurukin of Russia for his third win against one draw and two losses. Aside from Gomez, the only other casualty for the five-man Filipino delegation in Group B is IM Richard Bitoon, who bowed to Vitaly Kunin of Germany. Bitoon had three points on two wins, two draws and two losses. - KY, RCJ, GMA News