Antonio, So stay in hunt for World Cup slots

SUBIC, Philippines – GM Rogelio Antonio Jr. scored back-to-back victories while GM Wesley So defeated Rui Gao of China as they remained in contention in the sixth round of the 2009 Asian Continental Individual chess championship at the Subic Exhibition and Convention Center here late Monday.

Antonio followed up his victory over FM Jasem Alhuwar of the United Arab Emirates in the fifth round with a 42-move triumph over GM Abhijit of India in their Queen’s Indian game to hike his output to 4.5 points with five rounds left in the 11-round tournament hosted by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) in cooperation with the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA).

The Philippine Army mainstay, coming off a successful campaign in the US, has won three of his last four matches. He drew with GM Jayson Gonzales in the fourth round.

Held to two draws by lower-rated foreign opponents, the 15-year-old So made short work of his Chinese rival in 32 moves of the Sicilian Najdorf to likewise hike his total to four points.

“I had a good opportunity, so I went for the win,” said So, bidding for one of 10 berths to the World Cup scheduled Nov. 20-Dec. 15 in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. 

Two other Filipino campaigners – GM Mark Paragua and Eugene Torre – also hurlded their sixth-round assignments to stay in the race.