Final draw seals Nouri triumph

MANILA, Philippines - Untitled Hamed Nouri drew with Indonesian International Master Dede Lioe to rule the Open Section of the International Classical Chess Festival 2017 in Malaysia recently.

Nouri, an Escalante, Negros Occidental native,  finished tied with Lioe and countrymen IM Oliver Dimakiling and FIDE Master Nelson Villanueva at first with 6.5 points apiece but ended up with the highest tiebreaker to win the crown.

Dimakiling wound up second while Lioe and Villanueva were third and fourth, respectively, in the nine-round event.

The  feat came five days after he virtually clinched the IM title by winding up with 4.5 points out of a possible nine and a tournament performance rating of 2505 in the HD Bank Open in Vietnam.