GM Bitoon, Dimakiling share 2nd round lead

Filipino International Master (IM) Oliver Dimakiling (ELO 2470) and Cebuano GM Richard Bitoon scalped their second round rivals yesterday to share the lead along with 12 others in the $55,000 Indonesian Open Chess Championship at the Grand Sahid Jaya Hotel in Jakarta, Indonesia.

IM Dimakiling defeated Polish Grandmaster Mikhail Krasenkow (ELO 2636) while the Cebuano Bitoon crushed compatriot GM Oliver Barbosa.

Also with 2.0 points were GM Merab Gagunashvili of Georgia, GM Xiu Deshun of China, GM Dao Thien Hai of Vietnam, GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly of India, GM Lu Shnaglei of China, IM Nguyen Doc Hoa of Vietnam, IM Sachdev Tania of India, GM Dmitry Bocharov of Russia, GM Avetik Grigoryan of Armenia, GM Marat Dzhumaev of Uzbekistan, and IM Wang Chen of China.

Meanwhile, Filipino GMs Barbosa and Mark Paragua bowed to their second round opponents. Barbosa lost to countryman Bitoon while Paragua yielded to IM Tania.

Asia’s First GM Eugene Torre settled for a truce with GM Viorel Iordachescu of Moldova to raise his total 1.5 points the same output of compatriot GM John Paul Gomez.

The loss kept GM Barbosa and GM Paragua at 1.0 point together with FM Paulo Bersamina and FM Haridas Pascua.  /Correspondent Marlon Bernardino