Barbosa is Philippines' Third Super Grandmaster

OLIVER BARBOSA become the third Super Grandmaster in Philippine History after he won the overall title in the 10th Parsvnath International Grandmasters Chess Tournament at Ludlow Castle Sports Complex, Civil Lines in New Delhi, India on Monday.

The Taytay, Rizal native finished the eleven round Swiss system tournament with 9.5 points on account of eight wins and three draws enroute the coveted chess title.

This victory enabled the former University of the Philippines (UP) mainstay Barbosa to raise his Elo live rating to 2627 from 2573 points.

The undefeated Filipino gain plus 53.8 Elo rating points (rounding off 54 points) plus a Tournament Rating Performance (TPR) 2710.

"WE (NCFP) are honored to present Oliver Barbosa, our newest Super Grandmaster in Philippine History," said National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) chair-president Prospero "Butch" Pichay Jr., who is is fully supporting the players' overseas campaign as part of the Philippine Team preparation for this year's 38th World Chess Olympiad in Istanbul, Turkey in close cooperation with the Philippine Sports Commission and Philippine Olympic Committee.

Mark Paragua become the first super Grandmaster (to reach 2600 mark) in Philippine history after he placed second in the 2006 Asian Zonal 3.3 Chess Championships.

The Bulacan based Paragua, on the other hand scored 8.5 points to finished over-all fourth in the 10th Parsvnath International Grandmasters Chess Tournament. He has a live Elo rating 2546 points after gaining a plus 24 points with a TPR 2550.

The Bacoor, Cavite whiz kid Wesley So, on the other hand achieved a rating of 2627 in 2009, a Philippine national record, surpassing the Elo 2621 rating of GM Paragua in April 2006. So, who is currently considered as the strongest chess player from the Philippines, achieved the GM title at the age of 14 years, 1 month and 28 days, making him the 7th youngest person to achieve the Grandmaster title in the history of chess.

Meanwhile, GM John Paul Gomez who beat fellow nine pointers Ma Qun of China in a tie break points in the 10th Parsvnath International Grandmasters Chess Tournament, has a live rating of 2553 after a plus 46.5 (rounding off 47 points) with a TPR 2601.The Binan, Laguna bet finished over-all second in the 10th Parsvnath International Grandmasters Chess Tournament.

The Filipino woodpushers who successfull in their India chess campaign is schedule to arrive Wednesday (January 25, 2012) via Malaysian Airlines at 2 pm at the Ninoy International Airport (formerly called the Manila International Airport, MIA). Marlon Bernardino

Final rankings after tie break points was applied:

9.5 points---GM Oliver Barbosa (PHILIPPINES)
9 points---GM John Paul Gomez (PHILIPPINES)
9 points---IM Lalith Babu M R (India)
8.5 points---GM Mark Paragua (PHILIPPINES)
8.5 points---Ma Qun (China)
8 points---GM Andrei Deviatkin (Russia)
8 points---Zeng Chongsheng (China)
8 points--- IM Vaibhav Suri (India)
8 points---IM Shyam Nikil (India)
8 points--- GM Abhijit Kunte (India)
8 points---IM Rathnakaran K (India)
8 points---IM Vidit Santosh Gujrathi (India)
8 points---IM Thejkumar M S (India)
8 points---GM Martyn Kravtsiv (Ukraine)
8 points---GM Laxman RR (India)

Reported for Chess News Philippines by Marlon Bernardino