MANILA, Philippines – Grandmaster Vitaly Sivuk of Ukraine swept his first two matches to set in motion his bid for back-to-back title bid, sharing the early lead in the Philippine Sports Commission-Puregold International Chess Challenge at the Subic Bay Peninsular at the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), Olangapo City.
The 23-year old Sivuk, who topped the recent Philippine International Chess Championship last week, crushed Filipino Jerad Docena after 45 moves of a King’s Indian (Classical Averbakh) in the first round then whipped IM Abhimanyu Puranik of India to lead five others, including four local bets, in the lead.
Reigning national champion GM Richard Bitoon, IM Oliver Dimakiling, GM Darwin Laylo and IM Haridas Pascua upended their respective higher-seeded opponents while Russian GM Boris Savchenko also hurdled his first two assignments in convincing fashions.
Bitoon stunned No. 2 Alexander Zubov of Ukraine after 48 moves of an English, then trounced No. 13 GM Duc Hoa; while Dimakiling toppled No. 6 seed GM Vladimir Belous after 49 moves of a Sicilian and bested No. 14 Indian GM Narayanan Sinulduth Lyna.
Laylo, meanwhile, turned back Woman International Master Janelle Mae Frayna after 36 moves of a Caro-Kann (Modern Line) then stunned No. 3 GM Pavel Smirnov of Russia while the 20th-ranked Pascua defeated WIM Mikee Charlene Suede then upset No. 9 seed GM Anton Shomoev in the second round.
Four other Filipino players – GMs Eugene Torre and Joey Antonio and IMs Emmanuel Senador and Joel Pimentel lead 1.5-pointer group which includes top seed Abijheet Gupta of India, No. 7 seed GM Mikhail Mozharov of Russia, GM Chitambharam Vr. Aravindh of India and GM Tigran Kotanjian of Armenia.
Torre, who beat WIM Bernadettte Galas in the first round, drew with Mozharov while Antonio beat Fide Master Adrian Pacis and halved the point with Gupta.
Senador downed No. 10 seed Chen Lin after 45 moves of a Sicilian Morra Gambit then split the point with No. 16 Kotanjian, while Pimentel axed No. 15 seed Indian GM Chakkravarthy Deepan after 33 moves of an English Opening drew with another Indian GM in Aravindh.