10th Asian Continental Individual Chess: So, Laylo Prevail

FILIPINO Grandmasters Wesley So and Darwin Laylo clinched victories for the country on Wednesday in the third round of the 10th Asian Continental Individual chess championships at the Hotel Pardisan in Mashhad, Iran.

So, seeded third behind GMs Rustan Kasimdhanov (2685) of Uzbekistan and Krishnan Sasikiran (2676) of India with an ELO of 2667, defeated No.38 IM Alavi Sayed Javad (2428) of Iran to remain in contention in this prestigious, nine-round competition being held to determine the region’s four representatives to the 2011 World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia.

The No.25 Laylo (2516), the hero in the Filipinos’ first-round campaign, bested No.44 FM Jwan Bakr (2428) of Syria.

Thus, So and Laylo raise their total 2 points and gain a share of lead with 8th places along with GMs Parimarjan Negi (2622), Adhiban B (2543), Abhijit Kunte (2526) and Ganguly Surya Shekhar (2643) of India, GMs Zhou Weiqi (2610) and Zhao Jun (2574) of China, GM Dao Thien Hai (2512) of Vietnam and GM Susanto Megaranto (2529) of Indonesia.

No.5 GM Bu Xiangzhi (2662) of China routed Negi to grabs the solo leadership board with 3 points.

Six players, led by Sasikiran and No.3 GM Pentala Harikrishna (2666) of India, shared second to 7th places with 2.5 points.

No. 20 GM John Paul Gomez (2538) beat No.39 IM Gao Rui (2419) of China, No.19 GM Mark Paragua (2542) split the point with No.42 FM Hussein Ali Hussein (2394) of Iraq, while No.27 IM Oliver Barbosa (2506) also halved the point with No.12 GM Ehsan Ghaem Maghami (2606).

The triumvirate (Gomez, Paragua and Barbosa) now has 1.5 points along with Kasimdhanov, the tournament favorites, winner over No.48 Khademi Mohammad Miran (2308) of Iran.

In the fourth round, So will take on Adhiban B, Laylo will battle Zhao, Gomez opposite No.43 IM Das Debashis (2392) of India, Paragua will meet No.28 GM Anuar Ismagambetov (2500) of Kazakshtan and Barbosa goes up against No. 42 FM Al-Ali Hussein Ali Hussein (2394) of Iraq.

The top four finishers in the annual tournament will earn the right to represent the region in the 2011 World Cup scheduled in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia later this year.

China and India have the most number of entries with 12 players each, while host Iran has 10. The Philippines has five players, followed by Vietnam with three, Kazakhstan with two and Chinese-Taipei, Indonesia, Iraq, Syria, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan with one each. Of the 50 participants, 28 are GMs and 10 IMs.

The National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP), headed by president/ chairman Prospero “Butch” Pichay Jr., and the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC), thru Chairman Ricardo Garcia, are supporting the Filipinos’ campaign.

Submitted by: Marlon Bernardino