Laylo half a point off Chinese

MANILA, Philippines - GM Darwin Laylo pulled off a shock 55-move win over seventh seed Kazakh GM Murtas Kazhgaleyev to close in on leader Chinese GM Zhao Jun in the seventh round of the first Florencio Campomanes Cup at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium late Wednesday.

Veteran GM Eugene Torre likewise bounced back into contention as he stunned No. 4 Chinese Ni Hua in 41 moves of the seldom-used Larsen Opening to move within a point off the pace with two rounds left in the event held in memory of the late former FIDE head.

Second seed GM Wesley So, meanwhile, held Zhao to a draw in 23 moves of a Gruenfeld to join Torre in the five-pointer group and stay in the hunt for the crown worth $10,000.

The draw stalled Zhao at six points as he saw his one-point lead cut to just half-a-point, enabling Laylo, Vietnamese GM Le Quang Liem and another Chinese GM Zhou Jianchao to inch closer with 5.5 points each.

The top-ranked Le, who topped the Aeroflot Open, trounced Iranian GM Ehsan Ghaem Maghami in 56 moves of a King’s Indian Attack, while Zhou beat GM Zhang Zhong in 46 moves of the Nimzo-Indian Defense.

So and Torre likewise remained in the hunt with five points, the same score by No. 10 GM Merab Gagunashvili of Georgia, No. 14 GM Ding Liren of China, No. 8 GM Anton Filippov of Uzbekistan and another RP bet Emmanuel Senador.

Gagunashvili and Ding halved the point in 30 moves of another King’s Indian Attack; Filippov, last week’s Pichay Cup champion, blasted Filipino GM Jayson Gonzales in 50 moves of another Gruenfeld; and Senador demolished Armenian GM Tigran Kotanjian’s English Opening in 35 moves.

Laylo and Torre, however, provided the sparks in the day as they came through with a pair of astounding wins in the round.

The 30-year-old Laylo surprised Kazhgaleyev with his attacking game, gaining two pawns before completing the upset win.

“I also played black against him (Kazhgaleyev) and it looked like it was heading for a draw when I decided to go for the win in a game that I eventually lost,” said Laylo in Filipino.

“On this one, I decided to use a different variation and I caught him off guard,” he said.

The 59-year-old Torre, for his part, flashed vintage form in turning back Ni, whom the former beat for the first time after a series of losses.

“It was very uplifting to win over him (Ni) for the first time,” said Torre, who lost to Ni in the Pichay Cup three years ago.

In women’s play, WGM Shen Yang of China drew with compatriot WGM Gu Xiaobing to keep the lead with 5.5 points.

In the Challenger bracket, Emmanuel Emperado, son of many-time Olympiad veteran Mila, dumped Vince Angelo Medina to assume the solo lead with 6.5 points in seven rounds.