SINGAPORE MASTERS ROUND 3

RP'S DIMAKILING SHARES TOP WITH GEORGIAN GM


Individual Standings after round 3:

3.0 points---IM Oliver Dimakiling (RP), GM Zurab Azmaiparashvili (GEO)

2.5 points---IM Julio Catalino Sadorra (RP), GM Dao Thien Hai (VIE), IM Grinatah P D S (IND), R R Laxman (IND), Shen Siyuan (CHN), Wang Li (CHN)

2.0 points---GM Mark Paragua (RP), IM Jayson Gonzales (RP), IM Enrique Paciencia (RP), GM Zhang Zhong (SIN), GM Wu Shaobin (SIN), GM Sandipan Chanda (IND), GM Susanto Megaranto (INA), GM Nguyen Anh Dung (VIE), WGM Li Ruofan (CHN), Lin Chen (CHN), Wan Yunguo (CHN)

FILIPINO International Master Oliver Dimakiling (2491) scored his third straight win in as many rounds that put him on top of the leader board along with his fourth round opponent No.2 GM Zurab Azmaiparashvili (2606) of Georgia in the ongoing 4th Singapore Masters International Open Tournament 2007 in Singapore.

Dimakiling, who hails from Davao City stunned Lin Chen (2363) of China late Monday then subdued Wan Yunguo (2393) of China in yesterday's matches.

"I hope to do well in this event (Singapore Chess) and gain a possible GM norm," said Dimakiling yesterday in a text message to this writer. Dimakiling beat Hongkong's lone Woman Grandmaster (WGM) Anya Korke (2210) in the opening round on Monday's session.

Azmaiparashvili, on the other hand, trounced WGM Li Ruofan (2417) of China and IM Enrique Paciencia (2431), respectively.

The Leyte native Singapore based Paciencia conquered No.3 GM Chanda Sandipan (2593) of India in the second round late Monday while Yunguo disposed lone Filipino GM Mark Paragua (2415).

Sharing the limelight is newly installed IM and another Singapore based Julio Catalino Sadorra (2414) who beat WIM Irine Kharisma Sukandar (2275) of Indonesia and FM Graham Chua (2065) of Singapore, in order to raise his total of 2.5 points and climbed into a share of 3rd to 8th placers.

Other with 2.5 points are No.6 GM Dao Thien Hai (2530) of Vietnam, No.11 IM Grinatah P D S (2448) of India, No. 17 R R Laxman (2395) of India, No.22 Shen Siyuan (2337) and No.25 Wang Li (2318) of China.

Meanwhile, Paragua and IM Jayson Gonzales bounced back in contention by trouncing their respective rivals. Paragua demolished WGM Korke while Gonzales crushed Jia Haoxiang (2193) of China. Gonzales lost to Shen Siyuan in the second round.

NM Rolando Andador, 1995 Philippine Junior champion suffered his second straight loss at the hands of top seed GM Zhang Zhong (2634) of Singapore who also won his third match against Jonathan Ko (2090) of Singapore for his first win.

For the fourth round, Sadorra takes on Laxman, Paragua opposite Lin Chen (2363) of China, Gonzales versus top seed GM Zhang Zhong and Andador will test the mettle of FM Lim Ye Weng (2336) of Malaysia.

Report from Marlon Bernardino