Uzbek GM halts Gomez for solo lead

MANILA, Philippines - GM Anton Filipov of Uzbekistan stopped the searing charge of erstwhile co-leader local GM John Paul Gomez to gain the solo lead after five rounds of the sixth Prospero Pichay Cup international chess championship at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

Gomez failed to sustain his hot start and slid to sixth place after his loss to the second-seeded Filipov.

GM Darwin Laylo outduelled IM Barlo Nadera in a tense, all-Filipino battle to stay within striking distance of the leaders.

Laylo, a mainstay of the Philippine team seeing action in the 39th World Chess Olympiad in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia next month, parlayed a slight positional advantage into a smashing win, thus, continuing his recovery from a slow start.

The seventh-seeded Laylo was held to a draw by lower-rated Filipino opponents in the first two rounds before winning his next three assignments to raise his score to four points out of a possible five and stay in the hunt for the $6,000 top prize.

Laylo’s triumph provided the lone bright spot for the Filipinos, who struggled in the face of strong foreign opposition in this prestigious, nine-round competition organized by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) in cooperation with the Philippine Sports Commission, Local Water Utilities Administration, Pagcor and PCSO.

IM Rolando Nolte bowed to top seed GM Murtas Kazhgaleyev of Kazakhstan, NM Emmanuel Senador yielded to third seed GM Tamaz Gelashvili of Georgia and youth sensation Haridas Pascua succumbed to fourth seed Gm Merab Gagunashvili of Georgia.

The win enabled Filippov to grab the solo lead with 4.5 points at the halfway mark of the six-day tournament serving as a fitting curtain-raiser to the much-awaited first Florencio Campomanes Memorial chess tournament scheduled Aug. 28-Sept. 3.

Kazhgaleyev, Gelashvili and Gagunashvili now share second to fifth places with Laylo with four points.

IM Oliver Dimakiling and IM Yu Lie of China battled to a draw to share sixth to ninth places with Gomez and IM Sadikin Irwanto of Indonesia with 3.5 points.

Irwanto trounced WGM Atousa Pourkashiyan of Iran.

Fourteen players, led by GM Ehsan Ghaemmaghami of Iran and GM Jayson Gonzales, are tied with three points.

Ghaemmaghami whipped IM Taufik Halay of Indonesia, while Gonzales halved the point with Rhobel Legaspi.

Also moving up with three points are GM-candidate Ronald Dableo, who subdued Efren Bagamasbad; Julius Joseph de Ramos, who outplayed Ritchie Evangelista; David Elorta, who bested Alex Milagrosa; Rakesh Kulkarni of India, who toppled GM Kivanc Hadnedaroglu of Turkey; IM Roy Saptarshi of Indonesia, who beat Ben Polao; and Reggie Olay and Yves Ranola, who drew their match.

Reigning national junior champion Paulo Bersamina also made his presence felt when he drew with IM Tirto of Indonesia.

Other notable fifth-round winners were IM Chito Garma over Edmundo Gatus; Merben Roque over Randy Segarra; Ferdinand Leysa over Mari Joseph Turqueza; and FM Peter Long of Malaysia over Vinot Bhjagwad of India.

Comebacking NM Cesar Caturla drew with Cheah Cheok Fung of Malaysia.

Also at stake are $4,000 for second place and $3,000 for third place.

Other cash prizes are as follows: fourth placer $2,000, fifth placer $1,500, and sixth up to the 13 th placers $1,000.

The 14th up to the 24th placers will also receive consolation cash prizes.

Casto “Toti” Abundo is the supervising arbiter, while Willie Abalos is the tournament director.