Paragua earns trip to world tilt

Grandmaster Mark Paragua advanced to the World Championship for the second straight year as he drew his last two games and finished tied for first with Indon GM Utut Adianto at the close of the Zone 3.3 (East Asia Zone) Championships at Stanford Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia yesterday.

Paragua, who lost to GM Viktor Bologan in the first round of last year’s world championship after winning their first game, halved the point with GM Wong Meng-Kong in the eighth round then held GM Wu Shaobin to another draw to finish the 9-round Swiss system tournament with seven points. He had five wins and four draws with the top Filipino rated player expected to reach the Super GM level (2600) in the next release of the FIDE ratings.

Adianto beat Wong with the black pieces in the final round to tie Paragua and clinch the other berth in the world tilt.

Adianto’s victory scuttled the bid of Filipino GM Eugene Torre, who rallied in the closing rounds to earn a shot at another stint in the world championship. Handling the black pieces, Torre whipped IM Wynn Zaw Htun but fell short of his bid with 6.5 points.

The other top RP bets sputtered in the closing rounds with GMs Joey Antonio and Nelson Mariano II, last year’s topnotcher Ronald Dableo, Darwin Laylo and IM Petronio Roca, settling for a share of 12th with five points.

Meanwhile, Sherrie Joy Lomibao crumbled after sharing the lead with four others in the sixth round, dropping her next three matches and blowing her title bid.

In contrast, Paragua proved he’s on top of his game at this stage of his career, playing inspired games after finally obtaining his GM title in the recent FIDE Congress. He won his first three games, drew the fourth, and stunned top seed Super GM Dao Thien Hai in the fifth round to seize control.

Paragua, the youngest Filipino GM at 21, split the point again with GM Nguyen Anh Dung in the sixth, won again with the black pieces over Zaw Htun in the seventh before scoring one point in the last two rounds.