CEBUANO SANCHEZ SHAREs 3RD PLACE IN ITALY CHESS MEET

FILIPINO Grandmaster Joseph Sanchez (ELO 2533) defeated Russian GM Vladimir Burmakin (ELO 2558) in the ninth and final round to finish in a tie for 3rd-4th places in the 15th Open Internazionale Citta di Padova Chess Championship held Dec. 16-23 at the Fornace Carotta in Padova, Italy.

The Cebuano Sanchez, who is presently based and regularly plays in France, scored 6.5 in 9 games and tied Ukraine’s GM Yuri Solodovnichenko (ELO 2557) for the 3rd-4th spot.

GM Burmakin (2558) took the title on a higher tiebreak score over Italian IM Roberto Mogranzini (ELO 2489) after both tallied 7.0 points each. /Correspondent Marlon Bernardino