Bong girds for tough grind ahead

International Master Buenaventura "Bong" Villamayor is one of only two Filipinos so far awarded the rare chance of competing with some of the best in the world when he participates in the modern version of the world chess championships this year in Hong Kong.

Villamayor earned that right Tuesday when he finished second to Vietnamese Grandmaster Dao Thien Hai in the Zone 3.2A eliminations among 32 participants from eight countries, including higher-rated Filipino GMs Eugene Torre and Joey Antonio.

Villamayor, who is always one of the top scorers in two Philippine Olympic teams he joined, showed his extensive preparation for the tournament by winning the Bali Open tournament in Indonesia earlier.

A week before Bali, he was a semifinalist in the rich 2000 Millennium Chess Grand Prix back home, losing only to surprise finalist Enrique Paciencia who eventually lost the title and P1-M purse to Antonio.

The first Filipino to win a berth in the world championships was Antonio, who topped last year's zonal eliminations in Malaysia.

Dao gained the first slot by topping the tournament held in Vietnam and participated in by four GMs, seven IMs and 21 untitled players.

Dao and Villamayor had seven points apiece, but Dao won the title on a higher tiebreak quotient.

Villamayor had five wins and four losses, his wins coming at the expense of Sebastian Simanjuntak of Indonesia, IM Cerdas Barrus of Indonesia and Wyn Zhao Htun of Myanmar in the middle rounds. His crucial wins came in the penultimate round over top seed GM Utut Adianto of Indonesia and in the final round over lone woman participant, Vietnamese International Master Thanh Trang Hoang.