Fancied Filippov rules Pichay Cup

MANILA, Philippines - Two-time World Chess Olympiad veteran Anton Filippov of Uzbekistan lived up to his high billing by ruling the sixth Prospero Pichay Cup international chess tournament at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium inside the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex.

Filippov, seeded second behind top seed GM Murtas Kazhgaleyev of Kazakhstan with an Elo of 2609, defeated David Elorta in the eighth round and drew with GM Ehsan Ghaemmaghami of Iran in the final round to finish with a nine-round total of seven points on five wins and four draws.

Filippov, the 24-year-old Uzbek who is best remembered for winning the fourth former President Arroyo Cup last year, finished half a point ahead of Kazhgaleyev and GM Tamaz Gelashvili of Georgia in the week-long competition organized by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) and supported by the Local Water Utilities Administration, Philippine Sports Commission, Pagcor and PCSO.

Filippov bagged the top prize of $6,000 out of the total prize of $30,000 put up by Pichay.

Kazhgaleyev drew with Gelashvili and IM Yu Lie of China to finish in a two-way tie for second to third places with the Georgia player. They received $3,5000 each.

GM John Paul Gomez emerged as the highest-placed Filipino player as he finished in a tie for fourth to fifth places with GM Merab Gagunashvili of Georgia with six points.

Gomez capped his campaign by drawing his last two matches against Gagunashvili and Gelashvili.

The Filipino champion, who earned his GM title during the 38th World Chess Olympiad in Dresden, Germany in 2008, pocketed $1,750.

Eleven players, led by GM Darwin Laylo and Edgar Reggie Olay, shared sixth to 16th places with 5.5 points.

Laylo halved the point with IM Sadikin Irwanto of Indonesia and Gagunashvili to lead the big group of players with $945 cash prize each.