Sanchez, Barbosa tie for 1st
CEBUANO Grandmaster Joseph Sanchez settled for a draw with compatriot IM Oliver Barbosa in Friday’s seventh and final round to create a five-way tie for first at the conclusion of Merdeka Rapid Individual Chess Championships at the Cititel Midvalley Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Sanchez and Barbosa both scored 6.0 points, the same output of eventual champion GM Wang Rui, 4th placer IM Yu Lie of China and 5th placer Tumpak Sinurat of Indonesia.
The 40-year-old Sanchez, whose mother is from Samboan, southern Cebu finished second overall while the Taytay, Rizal native Barbosa settled for third place.
Sanchez, the former University of Cebu (UC) mainstay, also finished in a tie for fourth to seventh places in the 8th Dato’ Arthur Tan Malaysia Open Chess 2011 held at the same venue on Thursday where Barbosa bagged runner-up honors in the blitz event.
Barbosa bested fellow 7.5 pointers Yu Ruiyuan of China in the tie break while Chinese Wan Yunguo topped the tournament with 8.0 points.
The Filipino woodpushers’ Malaysia campaign was sponsored by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) headed by chairman Prospero “Butch” Pichay Jr., and Secretary-General Abraham Tolentino Jr., the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) and the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC). /Correspondent MARLON BERNARDINO
