Bitoon, Barbosa, Gomez share lead in India chess

GRANDMASTERS (GMs) John Paul Gomez, Oliver Barbosa and Richard Bitoon of the Philippines beat their respective foes yesterday in the opening three rounds of the 10th Parsvnath International Open Chess Tournament 2012 at Ludlow Castle Sports Complex, Civil Lines, New Delhi, India.

The Binan, Laguna native Gomez, fresh from a runner-up finish in the SDAT-RMK 4th Chennai Open Grand Master Chess Tournament in Chennai, India over the weekend, defeated Kumar Gaurav, FMs Vinoth Kumar and Rajesh of India in the first three rounds.

The Taytay, Rizal ace Barbosa, subdued Indians Rajarishi Karthi, Thakurta Soumya and Ankit R Rajpara while the Medellin, Cebu pride Bitoon routed Aradhya Garg, Chandika Divyasree and IM Konguvel Ponnuswamy also of India.

Joining Gomez, Barbosa and Bitoon in the huge group of perfect 3.0 pointers are top seed GM Andrei Deviatkin of Russia, GM Marat Dzhumaev of Uzbekistan, GMs Abhijit Kunte and Praveen Thipsay, IMs Babu Lalith, Ashwin Jayaram, Thejkumar M S, Vaibhav Suri, FM Ghosh Diptayan, Bitan Banerjee, Jaiswal Puneet, Sekar B, Gusain Himal and Shreyans K Shah of India and Zeng Chongsheng and Bai Jinshi of China.

Another Filipino entry GM Mark Paragua, on the other hand, beat Manan Rai and Akash Pc Iyer in the first two rounds and split the point with IM Ravi Lanka of India in the third to raise his total to 2.5 points, good for a share of 20th to 53rd spots.

“It’s a good start for John Paul, Oliver, Richard and Mark, I hope they can perform well in the India chess meet,” said National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) Chairman/President Prospero “Butch” Pichay Jr.

In the fourth round, Gomez goes up against Sekar B; Barbosa meets GM Praveen Thipsay; Bitoon plays FM Ghosh Diptayan while Paragua faces Praveen Kumar C.
The Filipinos’ India chess campaign is a part of the their preparation for this year’s 38th World Chess Olympiad in Istanbul, Turkey.