GM Antonio, 2 other Pinoy chessers stay in contention for World Cup berths

World Cup veteran grandmaster Rogelio Antonio, Jr. humbled GM Cao Sang of Vietnam, Asian Youth gold medalist International Master Jan Emmanuel Garcia subdued IM Wei Ming Goh of Singapore and IM Richard Bitoon crushed Fide Master Nguyen Duc Hoa of Vietnam on the Filipinos’ day of triumph in the Asian Zone 3.3 chess championships at the Tagaytay International Convention Center late Sunday. The victories enabled the three Filipino campaigners to vault in contention for the coveted title and the two slots to the 2011 World Cup scheduled in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia later this year. The triumphs also cushioned the impact of a heart-breaking loss by erstwhile solo leader GM Darwin Laylo to GM Susanto Megaranto of Indonesia in a keenly-watched encounter on center stage. Laylo, who held the lead since the early rounds, blundered away a golden opportunity to win the match and clinch an outright World Cup slot and lost the match — and the overall lead — to the sixth-seeded Indonesian player. Experts said Laylo, who enjoyed tremendous advantage on time, over-extended himself with a material sacrifice and took an ego-deflating setback following a brilliant combination by Megaranto. The win put Megaranto alone at the top with six points. “Darwin (Laylo) is clearly winning with white until Megaranto made a brilliant combination," commented GM Jayson Gonzales, who analyzed the game with several Filipino experts. “A draw would be enough for him to clinch one of two World Cup slots." The smiles, however, were all over the faces of Antonio, Garcia and Bitoon, who forged a five-way tie for second to seventh places with Laylo, GM Mark Paragua and top seed GM Zhang Zhong of Singapore going into the ninth and final round. Antonio, seeded second here with an ELO of 2589, played true to form to beat his lower-rated but talented Vietnamese rival and stay in contention for a World Cup berth. Garcia, a high school student of Ateneo de Manila, ended the remarkable run of Goh and boost his chances for a first-ever World Cup appearance. Garcia also needs only a draw to clinch his IM title outright. Paragua and Zhang battled to a draw to keep their hopes alive with 5.5 points. Asia’s first GM Eugene Torre halved the point with IM Nguyen Van Huy of Vietnam, GM John Paul Gomez split the point with GM Dao Thien Hai and IM Rolando Nolte outclassed FM Rudin Hamdani of Indonesia to share eighth to 13th places with five points. — RJ/KBK, GMA News