Bitoon stuns top seed, moves up to second

MANILA, Philippines - GM-candidate Richard Bitoon posted the first major upset win in the storm-hit fourth President Arroyo Cup International Chess Championship, beating top seed GM Mikhael Mchedlishvili of Georgia at the Duty Free Fiesta Mall in Parañaque yesterday.

Bitoon handled the black pieces with aplomb to pull the rug from under the highly rated Mchedlishvili and gain solo second place behind surprise leader GM Meng Kong Wong of Singapore.

The 17th-seeded Bitoon now has 3.5 points on three wins and one draw in the tough, nine-round tournament organized by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP).

Wong, the lone participant from Singapore, won by default over erstwhile co-leader GM-elect Ronald Dableo.

World Cup-bound GMs Rogelio Antonio Jr. whipped IM Oliver Dimakiling and Darwin Laylo outclassed Emmanuel Senador while GM John Paul Gomez crushed Edgardo Garma to share third with five others with three points.

Third seed GM Anton Filippov of Uzbekistan drew with fourth seed GM Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son of Vietnam and No. 8 GM Tigran Kotanjian demolished Tirto of Indonesia to stay in the hunt for the top prize of $6,000 with three points apiece.

Fifth seed GM Ehsan Ghaemaghami of Iran halved the point with GM Bong Villamayor, while sixth seed GM Merab Gagunashvili of Georgia split the point with GM Mark Paragua for 2.5 points. Also in the group are Paragua, Villamayor, GM Jayson Gonzales and FM Leonardo Carlos.

But defending champion GM Eugene Torre failed to gain headway, settling for his fourth straight draw, this time with No. 34 seed Reggie Olay.

Torre also drew his first three matches against Ali Branzuela, Allan Macala and Deniel Causo.

Floods spawned by typhoon Ondoy forced the postponement of the fourth-round match late Saturday. But seven other players still failed to show up for their matches early Sunday, including Dableo, who lost by default with Wong in their top board match.

Dableo, who nailed his third and last GM norm during the Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur last month, swept his first three assignments.

The other players who missed their fourth round matches were IM Barlo Nadera, Deniel Causo, Ali Branzuela, Edmundo Legaspi, Conrado Diaz and Albert Rivera.