UPDATE ON WORLD JR. CHESS + CHESS FOR A CAUSE

WORLD JR CHESS: WESLEY SO POST BACK TO BACK WINS, AICES SALVADOR BOUNCES BACK IN CONTENTION

RP WHIZ KID, INTERNATIONAL MASTER and NO.14 seed Wesley So trounced No.37 Krzysztof Bulski of Poland to remain undefeated after posting two successive wins to give him a share of the lead along with 11 others after two rounds in the 2007 World Juniors Boys and Girls Chess Championships at the T. Petrosian Chess House in Yerevan, Armenia, on Thursday.

The No.14 pick So, whose local and International campaign is supported by Filway Marketing Inc. CEO/President Hector Tagaysay will next meet No. 63 Tigran Mamikonian of Armenia in the third round late Friday, who came from an upset win over No.20 IM Sebastian Feller of France.

Other woodpushers with perfect 2.0 points are top seed GM Wang Hao of China, No.3 GM Maxim Rodshtein of Israel, No.5 Gawain C.B. Jones of England, No. 12 GM Arman Pashikiran of Armenia, No.15 GM David Howell of England, No. 16 IM Narayanan Gopal of India, No.17 IM Evgeny Romanov of Russia, No. 18 GM Parimarjan Negi of India, No.24 IM Gogineni Rohit of India, and No. 31 IM Sasha Kaplan of Israel.

The 18-year-old Hao, currently No.4 in China currently with an Elo rating of 2643, took the No. 28 IM Tornike Sanikidze of Georgia, Rodshtein, on the other hand smashed No.30 IM Hrant Melkumyan ofArmenia, Gawain toppled No.29 IM Abhijeet Gupta of India, Pashikiran crushed No.36 IM Marcos Llaneza of Spain, Howell nipped No.46 Ovik Hayrapetian of Armenia, Gopal defeated No.49 Amin Nasri of Iran, Romanov outplayed No.60 Mackenzie Molner of USA, Negi dealt No. 62 Viacheslav Kulakov of Russia, Rohit overpowered No. 80 Mahoud El Chamieh of Lebanon and Kaplan upset No.GM Bassem Amin of Egypt.

Meanwhile, after a sorry lost to WFM Sarah Hoolt of Germany in the opening round on Wednesday, Woman National Master Aices Salvador of the Philippines bounced back in contention by beating Ghazal Hakimifard of Iran in the distaff side.

The solo champion, both boy's and girl's 20 and under division will earn an outright grandmaster (GM) and woman grandmaster (WGM) title, respectively.

Individual Standings after round 2:

IM Wesley So (Philippines), GM Wang Hao (China), GM Maxim Rodshtein (Israel), GM Gawain C.B. Jones (England), GM Arman Pashikiran (Armenia), GM David Howell (England), IM Narayanan Gopal (India), IM Evgeny Romanov (Russia), GM Parimarjan Negi (India), IM Gogineni Rohit (India), IM Sasha Kaplan (Israel), Tigran Mamikonian (Armenia) 2.0 points



LEADING CHESS PLAYERS IN METROPOLIS HAVE VOLUNTEERED TO DO A SIMULTANEOUS EXHIBITION TODAY

LEADING chess players in Metro Manila have volunteered to do a simultaneous exhibition at the Quezon Memorial Circle Chess Plaza in Quezon City for the benefit of fellow player Alfredo V. Chay's two children who were seriously injured in a traffic accident in Malolos City Sunday night.

Grandmaster Eugene Torre, International Masters Ronald Bancod and Chito Garma along with National Masters Rolando Nolte and Mirabeau Maga have offered to play against all comers today, Saturday.

The victims, Chessander Chay, 16, and his sister, Chessandra, 13, are also chess players. They had just competed in a tournament at the Bulacan State University and were crossing the street to a bus stop when they were sideswiped by a van.

The boy has been discharged from the hospital, in a cast while his sister is still under observation at Jose Reyes Memorial Hospital because of a fractured skull.

Attending physicians said she might need neurosurgery because of a swelling of tissues and internal bleeding beneath the skull fracture near her right temple.

Chay is the board secretary of the Quezon City Parks Development Foundation, Inc. and is a member of the management committee for the QMC Chess Plaza. He is also the PRO of the Chess Arbiters Association of the Philippines.

(Reports from MARLON BERNARDINO)