GRANDMASTER (GM) Joseph Sanchez (2518) of the Philippines subdued Flavio Perez (2250) of France in the eighth round of the 26th Cannes Chess Festival yesterday at the Lerins Island in Cannes, France.
The Cebuano Sanchez, Cannes winner in 2009 and 2011, raised his total to 5 points on account of three wins, one loss and four draws in eight outings. He currently shares 9th to 18th places together with his ninth round opponent Lucas Di Nicolantonio (2311) of France.
Top seed GM Etienne Bacrot (2704) of France defeated Igor Blechzin (2442) of Russia to create a five-way tie for first place after overnight solo leader IM Axel Rombaldoni (2441) of Italy yielded to GM Evgeny Romanov (2628) of Russia.
With 6 points each for the lead were Bacrot, Romanov, Rombaldoni, GM Alexander Fier (2603) of Brazil and GM Fabien Libiszewski (2509) of France.
Fier nipped IM Fabrizio Bellia (2423) of Italy while Libiszewski crushed GM Valeriy Neverov (2541) of Ukraine. /Correspondent Marlon Bernardino