Vietnam dominates zonal chess

Vietnam made a statement in the Asian Zonal Chess yesterday when its four bets stormed upfront in the fifth round of both the men’s and women’s divisions at the Grand Boulevard Hotel.

Youthful Grandmasters Dao Thien Hai and Nguyen Anh Dung underscored Vietnam’s siege by toppling local bets International Master Mark Paragua and FIDE Master Fernie Donguines, respectively, as they seized the lead in the men’s side with four points apiece.

But while Nguyen showed familiarity with the King’s Indian Defense to beat Donguines via time forfeit, Dao, second seed here, had to watch Paragua squirm in time trouble to hack out the victory.

Half a point behind the leaders were RP’s GM Rogelio Antonio Jr. and Indonesia’s GM Utut Adianto, who opted to halve the point in just six moves of their Caro-Kann encounter.

Vietnam also made its presence felt in the women’s side as WIM Nguyen Thi Thanh An and WGM Hoang Thanh Trang wrested the lead with four points each.

But it was Nguyen who created the big stir by shocking top seed Hoang in 60 moves of a French Defense, forcing a two-way tie for the lead.

RP bets WIM Beverly Mendoza, WIM Cristine Rosa Mariano and Rusela Joya lost their respective games.