Philippines’ Dimakiling, Villanueva finish 1-2

INTERNATIONAL Master Oliver Dimakiling of Davao City and National Master Nelson Villanueva of Bacolod City made the country proud anew after a strong 1-2 finish in the Sabah Grande Chess Open 2013 held in Sabah, Malaysia last Sunday.

Dimakiling drew with Villanueva and Malaysia’s Che Hassan Abdullah in the last two rounds to finish with 7.5 points in the nine-round Swiss System event to win the top purse worth US$1,000 in the contest which lured 88 woodpushers.

Dimakiling, who won the Cebu Open last July is scheduled to tie the knot on Dec. 7. Among his victims were Mohd Kifflee Awang Mohd Syafie (1st round), Kamin Al Kamil (2nd), Sahim Wising Abdul (4th), Nik Abd Aziz Nik Ahmad Farouqi (5th), Li Tian Yeoh (6th) and IM Mas Hafizulhelmi (7th).

Villanueva, for his part, edged three other players with 7.0 points with a superior tiebreak to grab runner-up honors in the event organized by the Sabah Chess Association. Hafizulhelmi, Che, and Fide Master Nicholas Chan took the next three spots followed by 6.5 scorers Li, Zaidan Zulkipli, Sumant Subramaniam and Ahmad Fadzil Nayan for the sixth to ninth places. /Correspondent Marlon Bernardino