Bersamina foils Iranian chesser, stays on top

MANILA, Philippines - Reigning national junior champion Paulo Bersamina continued to flash fine form, beating third seed Amir Badkoubi of Iran in the sixth round and keeping the solo lead in the boys’ 12-and-under division in the Asean age-group chess championships at the Traveler’s Hotel in Subic yesterday.

The win hiked the 12-year-old Bersamina’s total to 5.5 points as he kept a one-point lead over second seed Nguyen Van Toan Thanh of Vietnam and 1.5 points ahead of Carlo Caranyagan and Romulo Curioso.

Nguyen primed himself up for a crucial seventh-round showdown with Bersamina by trouncing Ibaoc.

Caranyagan and Curiosa drew their match to remain tied for third with four points.

Richelieu Salcedo, meanwhile, held FM Ton That Nuhu Tung of Vietnam to a draw while Mari Joseph Turqueza and FM Haridas Pascua also split the point in the boys’ 20-under category.

Salcedo, a mainstay of Rizal Technological University, has 4.5 points, half a point behind solo leader Bao Khoa of Vietnam.

Turqueza, playing out of St. Benilde, has four points.

Pascua, who will represent the country in the Asian Junior Championships in India later this month, has 3.5 points.

In the boys 16 under, Prince Mark Aquino and Jan Nigel Galan battled to a draw to keep the lead with 4.5 points.