LI CHAO BEATS WESLEY

Standings after nine rounds:

6.5 points – C. Li (China), Q.L. Le (Vietnam)
6 – W. Zhou (China), D. Liu (Indonesia)
5.5 – R. Antonio, B. Villamayor, R. Nolte , E. Maghami (Iran), S. Megaranto (Indonesia), A.D. Nguyen (Vietnam), M. Mahjoob (Iran), S. Irwanto (Indonesia)
5 – W. So, R. Bitoon, J. Sadorra, J,. Gomez, D. Elorta, Z.H. Wynn (Myanmar), D.T. Hai (Vietnam), L. Wang (China), X. Zhang (China)

Chinese GM Li Chao inflicted Filipino GM Wesley So's second defeat in three days to gain a share of the lead with Vietnamese GM Le Quang Liem in the eighth round of the US$40,000-Philippine Open chess championship at the Subic Exhibition and Convention Center late Monday.

Li, who is best remembered by local fans for winning the second President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Cup last year, prevailes only 30 moves of the Sicilian Duel to move into a two-way tie for the lead with Le, who bested erstwhile pacesetter another Chinese ace Weiqi Zhou.

Li became the second Chinese player to win a game over So in the tournament, following up the earlier triumph by Zhou in the fifth round.
Top GMs Rogelio Antonio Jr. and Buenaventura "Bong" Vilamayor and NM Rolando Nolte belonged the honor of keeping Filipino hopes alive in this tough, 11-round tournament organized by the national Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) under president Prospero "Butch" Pichay and secretary-general Mayor Abraham "Bambol" Tolentino.

Antonio, Villamayor and Nolte all have 5.5 points, a full point behind Li and Le with still three rounds remaining in this 76-player tournament which attracted 11 GMs, 17 IMs and three FMs.

Antonio, who was dislodged by So as the country's highest-ranked player in the recent FIDE list for April, outplayed compatriot IM Barlo Nadera.

Villamayor, who left a high-paying job as a chess instructor in Singapore to resume his playing career, trounced Xiu Deshun of China, while Nolte, one of the most underrated players in the country's deep pool of talents, dumped Yang Kaiqi of China.

Tied with Antonio, Vilamayor and Nolte with 5,5 points are top seed GM Ehsan Ghaem Maghami of Iran, GM Susanto megaranto of Indonesia, GM Nguyen Anh Dun of Vietnam, GM Morteza Mahjoob of Iran and IM Sadikin Irwanto of Indonesia.

So dropped into a a tie for 13 th to 21 st places with only five points.

IM Julio Catalino Sadorra crushed WGM Zhang Jilin ofChina, David WElorta whipped Yu Lie of China, Reggie Olay humbled FM Lin Naing Kyaw of Mynamr and Arlan Cabe demolished Xu Tong of China to provide the other victories for the Filipino side.
Not as fortunate were IM Richard Bitoon, who succumbed to GM Morteza Mahjoob of Iran; Jan Emmanuel Garcia, who bowed to IM Zaw Htun Wynn of Myanmar, Emmanuel Senador, who lost to Wang Yunguo of China, Nelson Villanueva, who fell to IM Danny Juswanto of Indonesia, and Roderick naca, who lost to IM Tirta Purnama of Indonesia.

In other eighth-round matches, Hamed Nouri downed Cristy Berlanes, Rolando Andador outplayed Karl Victor Ochoa, Efewn Bagamasbad nipped Aices Salvador, FM Adrian Pacis stopped Catherine Perena and Victor Lluch overwhelmed IM Chito Garma.

A total of US$40,000 are up for grabs in the prestigious tournamenrt, with the champion pocketing the grand prize of US$6,000, the runner-up getting US$5,000 and the third placer eanring US$4,000.

Cash prizes are distributed up to the 32nd placers.
The top three women and top three junior will also receive cash prizes of US$500, US$300 and US$200 each.

contributed by MARLON BERNARDINO