Unbeaten Dableo seizes solo lead

Ranged against a 12-year-old prodigy, Ronald Dableo didn’t flinch and whipped Liem Le Quang of Vietnam in 53 moves of a King’s Indian Attack to seize the solo lead after six rounds of the Asian Zonals at the First Hotel in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam Wednesday.

The victory kept the unbeaten run of the 24-year-old Dableo, whose two other draws in the tough event hiked his output to five points for a half-point lead over compatriot GM candidate Mark Paragua heading into the final three rounds of the tournament serving as the qualifier for the World Championship.

That rare stint against the world ‘s best players could even become brighter for the unfancied Dableo, now gunning for his fifth victory against another Vietnamese teener — 13-year-old Truong Ngoc Nguyen — whom he’s playing at presstime.

Hardly given a second look until he shocked top seed GM Wu Shaobin in the fourth round, Dableo hopes to hurdle Truong and build enough confidence going into the last two rounds where he is expected to face the event’s fancied bets, including top Filipino GMs Eugene Torre and Joey Antonio.

Torre, wheeling back into contention after three straight draws, was again stalled by another standoff, this time against Paragua, who forced a 45-move draw in their Trompovsky encounter.

Paragua, ranked fifth in this tournament which will select the top two representatives of Zone 3.2a to the men’s world tilt set later this year, stood all alone in second with 4.5 points. The country’s best hope for the next GM title faces Indon FM Irwanto Sadikin in the seventh round.

Antonio was also held to another draw, this time by Chuong Pham, also of Vietnam, to lead the big group of 4 pointers, who include Torre, Liem, Wu and Irwanto.

Bong Villamayor, the third Filipino GM in the fold, finally scored a victory in his last-ditch bid to contend for one of the two berths, beating Jason Goh Koon Jong of Singapore in 60 moves of a Slav defense and posting a 3.5-point total.

Arianne Caoili likewise recovered from a bumpy start, whipping Zulaika Siti of Malaysia in 37 moves of a Pirc defense. She moved up to third with 4 points but will face frontrunning Bathuyag Mongontuul in the seventh round of women’s play.