Martinez scuttles Garma, shares Shell chess lead

Standings after five rounds:

Men’s: Martinez, Nadera 5 points; Milagrosa, Dableo, Donguines, Sales, Perez, Andador, Salvador, Maga, Pacis 4.5; Garma, Suelo, Bancod, Gonzales 4.

Women’s: Lomibao, Marinao 4.5 points, Mariano CJ, Mendoza, Castellano, Toledo 4; Espallardo, Flores, Torres 3.5.

National Master Rolly Martinez pounced on IM Chito Garma’s costly mistake in the middle game to hack out a hard-earned victory after 52 moves of a French Defense to share the lead after the fifth round of the Shell National Open Championships at the Kaban ng Hiyas Bldg., Mandaluyong City Hall, Mandaluyong City.

Time-troubled and besieged by Garma’s attacking game, the No. 11 seed Martinez found a way to wiggle out of trouble and turn the table on his opponent when the top-ranked Garma misplaced his queen at e4.

That allowed Martinez to win a knight after a check on Garma’s king — an advantage he exploited until the endgame.

The victory allowed Martinez to climb into a tie with IM Barlo Nadera with five points each going into the halfway mark of the tournament organized by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines and sponsored by Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. in cooperation with the city government of Mandaluyong.

Nadera, the No. 2 player ranked behind Garma, added Roberto Suelo to his list of victims following a 36-move win of a Slav.

NMs Alex Milagrosa, Ronald Dableo, Roland Joseph Perez, Terrence Gonzales and FIDE Masters Jesse Noel Sales and Fernie Donguines all settled for draws to be with a group of 4.5 pointers which also include NMs Adrian Pacis, Roland Salvador and Rolando Andador.

Of the three, however, it was Andador, seeded 27th in a field of 206 players, who was the biggest gainer, following his upset win over NM Emmanuel Senador in 56 of a Bishop’s Opening.