Gomez remains unbeaten in Malaysian Chess tourney

by Marlon Bernardino

Grandmaster John Paul Gomez  held his guard in the third round of the 10th IGB Dato Arthur Tan International Open Chess Championship 2013 as he remained the last Filipino unscathed being held at the five-star Mid Valley Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Gomez (ELO 2520) beat  countryman Fide Master Randy Segarra (ELO 2337) to register his third consecutive win in the Swiss-system tournament. Gomez, defeated Sumant Subramaniam (ELO 2066) and FM Ronnie Lim (ELO 2299) of Malaysia  in succession. 

Joining Gomez on top of the leadership board with 3.0 points each are top seed GMs Ma Qun and Xiu Deshun of China, GM Suri Vaibhav of India and IM Max Illingworth of Australia.

Ma bested GM Laxman R.R of India; Deshun routed IM Oliver Dimakiling of the Philippines; Vaibhav subdued NM Roel Abelgas of the Philippines and  Illingworth nipped Andria L D`souza of India.

In the fourth round, Ma will meet Suri Vaibhav on Board 1, Deshun opposite Gomez on Board 2 and Illingworth goes up against GM  Abhijeet Gupta of India on Board 3.

Gupta split the point with GM Wang Rui (ELO 2408) of China to lead the huge group of 2.5 points that includes GM Alexander Fominyh of Russia, GMs Wang, Lu Shanglei and Zhou Jianchao of China, GM Darwin Laylo, FM Roderikc Nava, CM Nelson "Elo" Mariano III and David Elorta of the Philippines, IMs Nitin S. and Ravichandran Siddharth, Pradeep Kumar R.A. of India, IM Nguyen Doc Hoa of Vietnam, IM Irwanto Sadikin and Yoseph Theolifus Taher of Indonesia and Jonathan Chuah of Malaysia.

The country's campaign in the tournament is supported by former Surigao del Sur Rep. Prospero "Butch" Pichay Jr., 7th district Cavite Rep. Abraham "Bambol" Tolentino Jr., Bayan Muna Party-List Rep.Neri Javier Colmenares, Atty. Ruel Canobas and GM Jayson Gonzales of the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP), Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) and the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC).

Meanwhile, National Master Carlo Lorena defeated Darrel Yap of Malaysia for his third straight wins in as many rounds. in the Amateur Division. Also with 3.0 points are Shandilya Rohan Vijay of India, Fong Yit Ho, Subramaniam Shreyes,  Chan Sheng Yip and Muhalip Sotimin of Malaysia.

NM Efren Bagamasbad drew with Luu Duc Hai of Vietnam to raise his total 2.0 points in the Seniors Section. He wast tied at 3rd to 8th place.