Chinese chessers sweep top 5 in RP Open

SUBIC – Top seed Wang Yue drew with GM Zhao Jun then nipped two others in the tiebreak to capture the Philippine Open International Chess Championship crown as the Chinese dominated the event with a sweep of the top five places at the close of the $40,000 tournament late Thursday at the El Centro of the Legenda Hotel here.

GM Eugene Torre, GM candidate Oliver Dimakiling and newly minted IM Julio Catalino Sadorra all went for the win in the final round for a crack at the top three but got clobbered instead with Torre settling for 10th place overall in a forgettable showing by the Filipino players.

"The Chinese have improved a lot the last few years. Hopefully, we can catch up with them through regular staging of local and international tournaments," said Torre, who bowed to fifth ranked GM Ehsan Maghami Ghaem of Iran in 54 moves of a Trompovsky and finished with 5.5 points in a tie for ninth with 12 others, including eight Filipinos.

The unbeaten Wang keyed the Chinese romp by forcing a draw with Zhao with the black pieces, finishing with seven points on five wins and four draws in the 9-round tournament organized by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) in cooperation with the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), Globe Telecoms and Duty Free.

GM Ni Hua outclassed Dimakiling in 30 moves of the Sicilian while GM Zhang Zhong outwitted Sadorra in 38 moves of another Sicilian to forge a three-way tie for first. But Wang took the title with a superior tiebreak score. The three, however, pocketed $5,000 (approximately P240,000) each.

SBMA administrator Armand Arreza awarded the trophies and cash prizes to the winners in behalf of NCFP president and Surigao del Sur Rep. Prospero "Butch" Pichay. He was assisted by NCFP officials Atty. Edmundo Legaspi, Red Dumuk and Willie Abalos and FIDE representative Casto "Toti" Abundo.

GM Wang Hao outlasted GM Varuzhan Akobian of the US in 82 moves of the Old Indian and finished tied for fourth with 6.5 points. Both received $2,500 each. Ghaem wound up with six points for joint sixth with Susanto Megaranto of Indonesia and Li Shilong of China.

Unrated Li Chao, also of China, halved the point with Indon GM Utut Adianto for 5.5 points then nipped Torre and 11 others for ninth place with a higher tiebreak. Megaranto outlasted NM Ernesto Fernandez. Li defeated NM Efren Bagamasbad.