Antonio leads Final 4 bets

Grandmaster Joey Antonio clinched a place in the Final Four, disposing of what looked like his biggest opposition to a P1-million payoff by playing International Master Luis Chiong to a draw in the quarterfinals of the Chess Pambansa Millennium Grand Prix at the PNB Finance Center yesterday.

Antonio steered clear of possible complications in an endgame to force Chiong to a draw, which was all he needed to enter the semifinal round where he battles the winner in the playoff between Idelfonso Datu and Bong Villamayor.

The draw, which came after a victory in the first game, gave the second seeded Antonio 1.5 points.

Datu forced the active chess playoff by getting back at Villamayor, winning in 53 moves of their Slav game.

National Masters Richard Bitoon and Enrique Paciencia, likewise, drew with NM Ernesto Absin and NM Cesar Mariano and joined Antonio in the semifinals.

Inspired by the prospect of representing the country in the Asian Zonals this year, Bitoon settled for a fighting 51-move standoff in a Sicilian encounter with Absin. Paciencia halved the point with Mariano in 38 moves of a Petroff Defense.