So, Antonio share lead with foreign GMs

SUBIC — GM Wesley So continued his near-flawless showing with his third straight victory to share the lead with Grandmasters Rogelio Antonio, Li Chao of China and Susanto Megaranto of Indonesia in the Philippine Open international chess championship at the Subic Exhibition and Convention Center here late Thursday.

So and Antonio swept their respective rivals to keep Filipino’s hopes alive after three rounds of the star-studded event.

So humbled upset-conscious Reggie Olay in 64 moves of the Nimzo-Indian while Antonio trounced three-time national junior champion John Paul Gomez in only 28 moves of the French defense in this 11-round tournament organized by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) and supported by the Department of Tourism (DOT) and the Subic Bay Management Administration (SBMA).

Li whipped IM Ronald Bancod, while Megaranto crushed GM Nguyen Anh Dung to join So and Antonio in the lead.

All four players will mix it up in the pivotal fourth round with So taking on Megaranto and Antonio battling Li at center stage.

Top games can be viewed live everyday through website ncfphilippines.org

“It will be a good match,”said So, the 14-year-old high school junior from St. Francis College (Bacoor) who holds the distinction as the world’s youngest GM.

It will mark the first time that So and Megaranto will clash since their much-publicized “One-on-One Duel” held in Jakarta, Indonesia last April 17-20 where the young Filipino champion won, 4-2 (three wins, two draws and one loss).

Equally exciting is the Antonio-Li match, one of four RP-China showdowns lined up for the day.

 The Chinese are tough to deal with but we’ll do our best,” said Antonio, referring to his fourth-round match against Li, who earned the respect of Filipino players when he ruled the second President Arroyo Cup at the Duty Free Fiesta Mall last year.

NM Rolando Nolte made short work of IM Dede Liu of Indonesia to lead five highly rated foreign players with 2.5 points.

Tied with Nolte with 2.5 points apiece are top seed GM Ehsan Ghaem Maghami and GM Morteza Mahjoob of Iran, GM Le Quang Liem of Vietnam and Weiqi Zhou and Haoxiang Jia of China.

Maghami outwitted IM Julio Catalino Sadorra, Mahjoob whipped Xiaohui Wang of China, Le crushed Dino Ballecer, Weiqi bested Hamed Nouri and Haoxiang toppled GM Wynn Zaw Htun of Myanmar.      

Comebacking GM Buenaventura “Bong” Villamayor and IM Richard Bitoon led a big group of players with two points.

Villamayor, who left a high-paying job as chess instructor in Singapore to resume his playing career, drew his match against Nelson Villanueva, while Bitoon, who finished in a two-way tie for second place with GM Eugene Torre in the recent “Battle of GMs”, outplayed compatriot NM Rustum Tolentino.

Last year’s Sinulog Open champion NM Manny Senador, who pulled the only major surprise in the first round when he upset GM Zaw Win Lay of Myanmar, halved the point with IM Wynn Zaw Htun of Maynamar to join the group of two-pointers.