Laylo rebounds, nails Pichay crown

MANILA, Philippines -  Grandmaster Darwin Laylo held GM Wen Yan of China to a draw to capture the crown in the Chairman Prospero “Butch” Pichay Cup International Chess Championships at the Subic Bay Travelers Hotel in Subic yesterday.

Laylo and Wen agreed to a truce after 31 moves of the Slav in less than two hours of play, enabling the Filipino bet to clinch the title.

The 31-year-old Laylo actually finished in a three-way tie for first with Wen and GM Li Shilong, also of China, with 7.5 points. But he took the crown with a superior tiebreak score over the Chinese pair.

The three each took home $4,333.

It was a morale-boosting win for Laylo, who blew his title bid in the Asian Zonals with losses in the last two rounds two weeks ago.

“Thank God. I’m fortunate winning this one after what happened in the Asian Zonals,” said Laylo, referring to his monumental collapse in the Asian Zone 3.3 championships held in Tagaytay City last May 24-31.

Actually, Laylo flirted with disaster anew when he lost to Li in their ninth and penultimate round encounter and yielded the solo lead late Tuesday.

After drawing with Wen in the final round, Laylo agonized for nearly two hours waiting for the outcome of the match between Li and GM David Arutinian of Georgia on second board.

But Li failed to translate a slim endgame advantage in a must-win game against the higher-rated and more-experienced Arutinian and settled for half a point and a tie for first place with Laylo and Wen.

Laylo’s smashing triumph enabled him to become only the second Filipino player to win a major international chess championship in Subic after GM Jayson Gonzales achieved the feat in 2008.

Gonzales, who now serves as tournament director, made history by ruling the Subic Open chess championship held in May 2008.

 GM John Paul Gomez battled Lu Shanglei of China to a draw in 34 moves of the Dutch opening to finish in a tie for fourth to 10th places with six other foreign players with seven points.

Gomez, who moved into contention by beating Asian Youth gold medalist Jan Emmanuel Garcia in the ninth round, earned $1,214 for his effort.

Tied with Gomez are Lu, Arutinian, Ma Qun of China, GM XuJun of China, GM Susanto Megaranto of Indonesia and Xie Deshum of China.

Asia’s first GM Eugene Torre outclassed IM Yves Ranola to join GM Mark Paragua, IM Oliver Barbosa and IM Rolando Nolte in a tie for 11th to 18th places with 6.5 points.

Paragua and Barbosa fought to a draw, while Nolte split the point with top seed GM Merab Gagunashvili of Georgia.