Antonio, V'mayor near P1-M duel

GM Rogelio Antonio, Jr. and IM Bong Villamayor took a step closer to forging a blockbuster duel for the top P1 million purse in the Chess Pambansa Millennium Grand Prix by beating NMs Richard Bitoon and Enrique Paciencia, respectively, in convincing fashion yesterday at the start of the semifinal round at the PNB Finance Center.

Antonio, fancied to vie for the richest pot ever staked in local chess long after top seed GM Eugene Torre bowed out in the first round, pounced on Bitoon's passive handling of the Alapin variation of the Sicilian where the second seeded bet is most at home with to score the full point in their best-of-two, knockout match.

Now, the Quezon City government-backed Antonio, who won in 48 moves, needs only a draw to formalize his stint in the finals, a best-of-four format which awards P1 million to the winner.

That's what Villamayor also needs as the Quezon Province bet matched Antonio's victory with a 37-move triumph over Paciencia, who had managed to hold his ground in a Reti game by cleverly forcing an early exchange of minor pieces but succumbed to his rival's relentless queenside attack in in the middlegame.

"Ang turning point sa game na ito 'yung queen move niya sa opening na nagsimula ng lahat ng atakeng binato ko sa kanya," said the 38-year-old Antonio, who gained positional advantage from that dubious queen move which he translated into a resounding victory. Bitoon resigned as Antonio threatened to gobble up the former's unprotected kingside pawns on the 48th.

"Puro depensa ang ginawa ko ngayon. Siguro kung hindi ko in-exchange 'yung dalawang torre ko, baka makatabla pa ako," said Bitoon.

Villamayor, who handled the white pieces like Antonio, capitalized on Paciencia's weak pawn move in the middlegame to seize the initiative, then pounded black's fort constantly to gain two pawns in a highly-charged endgame.

"He played very solidly but I got the chance to gain advantage in the middlegame when he committed a mistake which gained me two pawns," said Villamayor. -