Antonio settles for draw in TagaytayZonal chess

Tagaytay City---GRANDMASTER Rogelio 'Joey' Antonio Jr. settled for a truce with Vietnamese GM Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son in the 7th round of the Asian Zone 3.3 Chess Championship here at the Tagaytay International Convention Center late Sunday.

The 12-time national open champion Antonio battled Ngoc Truong Son to a draw in 38 moves of French defense, raised his total to 5.0 points.

GM Darwin Laylo also halved the point with defending champion GM Susanto Megaranto of Indonesia after 30 moves of Neo Gruenfeld defense.

Laylo and Megaranto, both tallied 4.5 points apiece, the same output of GM John Paul Gomez, who subdued FM Tran Tuan Minh of Vietnam and GM Mark Paragua, who brought downed countryman GM Richard Bitoon after 36 moves of Queens Indian defense.

In the women's division, WGM Nguyen Thi Thanh An of Vietnam defeated Bernadette Galas of the Philippines after 34 moves of Sicilian defense, dragon variation to keep the lead with 6.0 points.

Galas who upset WGM Pham Le Thao Nguyen of Vietnam in the sixth round remained at four points.

Tournament top seed GM Wesley So and IM Nguyen Duc Hoa of Vietnam still playing as of presstime.
-Marlon Bernardino-