LWUA shares 3-way lead in inter-province

KALIBO, Aklan , Philippines  - Fifth seed Local Water Utilities Administration-QC stunned multi-titled Tagaytay, 3-1, in the third round then drew with Rizal, 2-2, in the fourth to remain on top of the National Inter-Province chess championship at the Cabagnot Training Center here Tuesday.

Merben Roque and Nelson Mariano III provided the victories for LWUA-A against Tagaytay, beating Roel Abelgas and Jery Areque, respectively.

The wins followed a pair of draws by GM John Paul Gomez against GM Darwin Laylo and Jayson Salubre against Allan Cantonjos.

Gomez came back to subdue IM Oliver Barbosa as LWUA-A battled Rizal to a 2-2 standoff.

Those enabled LWUA-A to remain on top with Rizal and Makati with seven points in the five-day tournament organized by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) in cooperation with Aklan provincial government.

Rizal blanked Negros, 4-0, in the third round behind victories by Barbosa, Jose Aquino Jr., Ivan Gil Biag and Gary Legaspi.

Legaspi also scored Rizal’s lone victory in the 2-2 draw with LWUA-A when he toppled Salubre in their board four encounter.

Makati, meanwhile, drew with top seed Boracay-A, 2-2, in the third round then edged Tagaytay, 2.5-1.5.

David Elorta shocked comebacking IM Idelfonso Datu of Boracay-A in the third round and then halved the point with Laylo of Tagaytay in the fourth to lead Makati.

Mervin Lumidao beat Carlito laVega in Makati’s only other win against Boracay-A.

Boracay-A struck back on victories by Rommel Ganzon over Edsel Montoya and Horizon Villanueva over Raymond dela Pena.

In the fourth round, Montoya beat Roel Abelgas and De la Pena trounced Areque for Makati’s two wins over Tagaytay. Cantonjos was the lone winner for Tagaytay, beating Lumidao on board four.

Laguna edged DAR-Lanao del Sur, 2.5-1.5, and Capiz, 3.5-.5, for joint fourth with Boracay-A with six points.

IM Emmanuel Senador   of Laguna lost to FM Roderick Nava of Lanao but Rodolfo Panopio and John Orozco took up the cudgels with victories over Chester Guerrero and Marlon Montoya.

Senador, however, bounced back int he fourth round to beat Francis Jocson of Capiz. Panopio and Orozco also won their matches over Franciso Lamayo and Aivan Delgado.