PH bets face tough foes in World Chess Cup

MANILA, Philippines –Filipino chess Grandmasters Wesley So, Oliver Barbosa and Mark Paragua are ranged against tough foreign foes in the 2013 World Chess Cup which starts on Aug. 11 in Tromso, Norway.

So, Barbosa and Paragua vowed to give their best to advance to the second round.

“Gagawin namin ang best para makapasok sa second round ng World Cup. Si Wes (Wesley So) ay llamado pero kami ni Oliver (Barbosa) ay underdogs kung Fide rating ang pag-uusapan,” said Paragua.

The 101st seed Paragua (ELO 2565) goes up against 28th seed GM Dmitry Jakovenko of Russia (ELO 2724) in the first round, while the 33th seed So (ELO 2710) faces 96th seed GM Alexander Ipatov of Turkey (ELO 2584). The 100th seed Barbosa (ELO 2571) will meet 29th seed GM Le Quang Liem of Vietnam (ELO 2702).

It shall be recalled that Paragua lost to England’s GM Michael Adams 0.5-1.5 in the first round of the 2011 World Chess Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk, Siberia while So bowed to then top seed Ukrainian GM Sergey Karjakin in the blitz tie-break of Round 2.

Barbosa will make his first appearance in the World Chess Cup.

If So beats Ipatov, he will next play the winner of the match between No.32 GM Evgeny Tomashevsky of Russia (ELO 2706) and No.97 Alejandro Ramirez of the United States (ELO 2588). /Correspondent Marlon Bernardino