Pinoys off to sizzling start in Indonesia chess

FILIPINO Grandmasters (GMs) Oliver Barbosa, Mark Paragua, Eugene Torre, Richard Bitoon and Oliver Dimakiling got off to blazing starts yesterday by posting emphatic wins against their Indonesian rivals in the $55,000 Indonesian Open Chess Championship at the Grand Sahid Jaya Hotel in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Barbosa defeated Surya Wahyudi, Paragua nipped IM Ivan Muhammad Situru, Torre beat Hartono, Cebuano star Bitoon crushed Jamaludin while Dimakiling toppled Panggabean Hasian.

“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 2012 KL Open co-champion and 14th-seed Barbosa.

GM John Paul Gomez and FM Paulo Bersamina opened with hard earned draws.

Gomez drew with Bai Jinshi of China while Bersamina halved the point with GM Hoang Thanh Trang of Hungrary.

Meanwhile, FM Haridas Pascua lost to fourth-seed GM Yu Yangyi of China.

Meanwhile, top-seed GM Ivan Sokolov (2690) of the Netherlands and third-seed GM Vladislav Tkachiev (ELO 2662) of France beat their respective Indonesian rivals. Sokolov downed IM Taufik Halay while Tkachiev routed FM Sugeng Prayitno.

Second round pairings: Barbosa vs. Bitoon, Paragua vs. IM Sachdev Tania of India, Torre vs. GM Viorel Iordachescu of Moldova and Dimakiling vs. GM Mikhail Krasenkow of Poland. /Correspondent Marlon Bernardino