Bitoon wins, reclaims share of lead in S’pore

Cebuano Grandmaster Richard Bitoon rebounded from his fifth round loss on Wednesday by beating Malaysian International Master Hafizulhelmi in yesterday’s sixth round to gain a share of the lead in the 2nd ASEAN Men Campomanes Cup.

The event is the centerpiece tournament of the ongoing Singapore Chess Festival at the Jurong East Sports Complex in Singapore.

The victory was a quick and resounding response to his loss at the hands of IM Nguyen Van Huy of Vietnam and pushed his total to 4.5 points, good for the lead alongside fellow GMs Susanto Megaranto of Indonesia and Cao Sang of Vietnam.

“Marami pang puwedeng mangyari. As long as hawak ko ‘yung kapalaran ko walang dahilan para mag-panic,” said Bitoon, who kept his usual jovial self following his loss on Wednesday night.

Megaranto relinquished the outright lead after settling for a draw opposite Nguyen Duc Hoa of Vietnam. Cao gained a share of the top spot following his win over FIDE Master Daniel Chan of Singapore.

Meanwhile, reigning national junior champ Mari Joseph Turqueza scored his third straight win by beating Rahman Masruri of Indonesia and improved to 4.5 points to move within half point of co-leaders FM Andrean Susilodinata of Indonesia and Christer Jon Aplin of Singapore.

Overnight co-leader and 1996 national junior champ Roberto Suelo Jr. bowed to Aplin to fall a full point behind the leaders in the Singapore Open.

Veteran campaigner Alex Milagrosa put more pressure on the leaders after downing Malaysia’s national champion Lim Zhuo Ren in the sixth round.

Also in contention were GM Eldar Gasanov of Ukraine with 4.5 points and FM Hamed Nouri and Suelo with 4.0 points.

YOUNG CHESSERS HOLD FORT

The country’s young players also remained in hot pursuit of the titles in their respective age brackets by gaining at least a piece of the lead in four of the eight divisions entering the backstretch of the 2nd Singapore International Youth Championships.

Vince Angelo Medina drew with Azman Hisham Mohd Nabil of Singapore to keep the solo lead with 5.0 points in the Open Under-17; Michelle Yaon notched her fifth win in as many games at the expense of Olivia Madhavan of Malaysia to solidify her hold of the lead in the Girls U-17; Paulo Bersamina remained perfect in six games and maintained a full point advantage over the rest f the field in the Open U-14 after beating Azhar Muhd Irfan Haqqim of Singapore while Dennis Gutierrez III grabbed the solo lead with a win over Alfred Chua of Singapore in the Open U-8.

The Filipinos’ chess campaign in Singapore is supported by National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) Chairman/President Prospero “Butch” Pichay Jr., Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) Chairman Ricardo Garcia and Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) President Peping Cojuangco.