So-Antonio draw ordered replayed

Standings after six rounds: So 10, Laylo 7.5, R. Antonio, J. Gomez 7.0, E. Torre, M. Paragua, R. Nolte, R. Bitoonn 6.0, J. Sadorra 5.0, B. Villamayor 4.5, J. Gonzales 3.0, R. Dableo 2.0.

DAPITAN CITY, Zamboanga del Norte, Philippines – The quick, uneventful draw between defending champion GM Wesley So and Rogelio Antonio Jr. in the sixth-round of the Phoenix Petroleum-Battle of GMs chess championship will have to be played again.

This was the decision of National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) president Prospero “Butch” Piichay, who ordered to nullify the result of the match due to its quick ending after only 21 moves.

The replay is set March 30.

Pichay cited an earlier ruling by the chess association which seeks to avoid early draw between players, especially those played in less than 30 moves, to ensure quality of competition.

GM Darwin Laylo stalemated fellow Dresden Olympiad veteran GM Buenaventura “Bong” Villamayor in marathon 119 moves of the Slav to grab solo second place with 7.5 points.

Based on the NCFP scoring system a win is worth two points, a draw one point and a loss zero. However, a player who stalemates his opponent gets 1.5 points while the stalemated player receives only half point.

GM John Paul Gomez halved the point with IM Richard Bitoon in 50 moves of the Sicilian to join Antonio in third to fourth places with seven points.

The three other matches also ended in draws.

Asia’s first GM Eugene Torre settled for a draw with IM Julio Catalino Sadorra in 60 moves of the English, GM Mark Paragua also halved the point with IM Rolando Nolte in 32 moves of the Slav and M Jayson Gonzales split the point with IM Ronald Dableo in 32 moves of the King’s Indian.

Torre, Paragua, Nolte and Bitoon remain tied for fifth to eighth places with six points in this prestigious, 11-round tournament being held in this historic city where national hero Dr.Jose Rizal was exiled.

Sadorra, one of four players hoping to earn their GM titles this year, is in solo ninth place with five points.

At stake are a whopping cash prize amointing to close to P1-million, with the champion getting the lion’s share of P200,000.

The runner-up and the third placer in the men’s division will receive P100,000 and P80,000, respectively. The fourth placer will get P60,000 and the fifth placer will bring home P40,000.

Cash prizes will be given up to the 12th and last finisher.

Tournament director is Willie Abalos, while supervising arbiter is Elias Lao.