Viet upsets GM, shares zonal lead

Nguyen Thanh Son of Vietnam stunned another grandmaster in Bazar Hatanbaatar of Mongolia yesterday to match fancied GMs Utut Adianto of Indonesia and compatriot Dao Thien Hai after two rounds of the Asian Zone 3.2a Championship at the Grand Boulevard Hotel.

Despite toting the second lowest FIDE rating here with 2200, Thanh Son outwitted the eighth-seeded Hatanbaatar in 55 moves of their super-sharp Sicilian encounter in a victory that came on the heels of his equally impressive win over GM Dashzeveg Sharavdorj, also of Mongolia.

Thanh Son, an alternate in Vietnam’s Olympiad team, thus tied Adianto and Dao at the helm with the top seed Indon beating compatriot GM Edhi Handolo and the Vietnamese ace outplaying local bet Fernie Donguines in this nine-round Swiss system event serving as the qualifier for the World Championship.

GM Rogelio Antonio, Jr. beat NM Allan Sayson in 53 moves of a French defense to lead the 1.5 pointers, who included NM Emmanuel Senador and FM Idelfonso Datu, who held No. 4 GM Nguyen Anh Dung of Vietnam to a nine-move draw in a Reti Opening. Senador downed NM Darwin Laylo in 50 moves of an English game.

GMs Eugene Torre and Buenaventura Villamayor were stalled by draws and were tied with one point apiece.

Torre, the elimination round topnotcher, was held to a 42-move draw by 17-year-old IM Mark Paragua in a King’s Indian Attack while Villamayor split the point with NM Jayson Gonzales in 36 moves of an English Opening.

In women’s play, WGM Hoang Thanh Trang of Vietnam blasted Bayanmonh Achimeg of Mongolia in 36 moves of a Queen’s Gambit Declined to seize solo lead with two points.