Pinoy chessers off to hot start in KL Open

KUALA Lumpur, Malaysia–Grandmasters Oliver Barbosa and Mark Paragua got off to blazing starts by winning their opening round matches yesterday in the DYTM Raja Nazrin Shah International Open Chess Championship dubbed as KL Open Chess at the Olympic Sports Hotel here.

Barbosa defeated Steven O’ Reilly of Australia after 42 moves of Dutch defense while Paragua subdued K. Chakravarthi of India after 43 moves of Sicilian defense.

“The first round is one of the toughest rounds in any tournament. It usually sets the tone of how you’re going to perform,” said the defending champion and second-seed Barbosa, fresh from helping the Philippine men’s team to a respectable 21st place finish in the recent World Chess Olympiad in Istanbul, Turkey.

“We hope to perform well in this event and gain some Elo rating points,” added the 4th-seeded Paragua.

The usual suspects also made their presence felt early.

Top seed GM Sergei Tiviakov of the Netherlands, No.3 GM Deepan Chakkravarthy of India, No.5 IM Nguyen Van Huy of Vietnam , No.6 IM Nguyen Doc Hoa of Vietnam, No.7 GM Cao Sang of Vietnam, No.8 GM Darwin Laylo of the Philippines, No.9 IM Kiril Kuderinov of Kazakhstan and No.10 IM Vishnu Prassana V. of India all won.

Tiviakov toppled Ngo Thi Kim Tuyen of Vietnam.; Chakkravarthy subdued Fong Yit San of Malaysia; Van Huy beat Aigerim Alpysbayeva of Kazakhstan; Doc Hoa routed Fong Choong Ee of Malaysia; Cao smashed Handjojo Limono of Indonesia; Laylo dumped Azarya Jodi Setyaki of Indonesia; Kuderinov walloped FM Ram Aravind L N of India; and Prassana nipped WFM Azman Hisham Nur Najihaof Malyasia.

GM-elect Ronald Dableo and GM hopefuls International Masters Oliver Dimakiling and Rolando Nolte also opened with full-point wins.

Dableo scalped Siavosh Vojdani of Iran after 35 moves of English Opening; Dimakiling outplayed reigning Malaysian senior champion Lim Kian Hwa in their Sicilian Defense encounter; and Nolte outmaneuvered Mikgail Kok of Malaysia after just 21 moves of Sicilian.

Dimakiling and Nolte are both seeking their third and final GM norms.

In other results involving Filipinos; National Master Edmundo Legaspi won over Chan Yi Meng Ryan of Malaysia after 43 moves of French; NM Stewart Manaog crushed Zirath Hakan of Sweden after 26 moves of Stonewall Opening; Jimson Bitoon downed Edward Lee of Malaysia after 49 moves of Petroff Opening; and NM Almario Marlon Bernardino, Jr. halved the point with Malaysian Abdul Jalil Syahril after 44 moves of Sicilian.

The tournament organized by Polgar Chess Asia for Kuala Lumpur Chess Association (KLCA) is supported by the Malaysian Chess Federation and sponsored by Masterskill Education Group.

Tournament director is Fide Master Peter Long.