GM Barbosa wins; Gomez falters

FILIPINO Grandmaster (GM) Oliver Barbosa subdued Chinese Yu Ruiyuan in yesterday’s third round to create a seven-way tie for third in the 11th Asian Continental Individual Chess Championships in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

The win raised Barbosa’s tally to 2.5 points, the same output of GMs Ding Liren and Zhao Jun, GM Susanto Megaranto and FM Anjas Novita of Indonesia, GM Sethuraman S P of India and IM Nguyen Van Huy of Vietnam.

GM Yu Yangyi and IM Liu Qingnan of China beat their respective foes to share the lead with clean 3.0 points apiece. Yu beat GM John Paul Gomez of the Philippines while Liu dumped IM Bayarsaikhan Gundavaa of Mongolia.

Meanwhile, Filipino GM Mark Paragua downed IM Ton That Nhu Tung of Vietnam while IM Jan Emmanuel Garcia dismantled Ferdiman Tersiman of Indonesia.

GM Wesley So drew with IM Lou Yiping of China; GM Darwin Laylo split the point with GM Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son of Vietnam and GM Eugene Torre settled for a truce with FM Rudin Hamdani of Indonesia.

Twelve-time national open champion GM Rogelio “Joey” Antonio Jr. decided to withdraw from the competition which serves as a qualifying tournament for the World Chess Cup, formerly the FIDE World Chess Championships.

The Philippine chess team’s campaign in the 11th Asian Continental Individual Chess Championships is backed by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines, the Philippine Sports Commission and the Philippine Olympic Committee.  /Correspondent Marlon Bernardino