Paragua stuns Torre; Villamayor at helm

Standings after 18 rounds: Villamayor 12.5 points; Antonio 11.5; Torre 11; Paragua 10; Dableo, Gonzales, Martinez 9.5; Roca 8.5; Bancod 8, Mariano 8; Nadera 7.5; Perez 2.5.

International Mark Paragua toppled Grandmaster Eugene Torre with a decisive win in the 18th round yesterday in the Grand Finals of the Shell National Open Rapid Chess Championship at the Department of Interior and Local Government Multi-Purpose Hall, eighth floor, A. Francisco Gold Condominium II, EDSA, Quezon City.

The 18-year old Paragua lured Torre to the Tarrasch variation of the French Defense opening, and when the 52-year old GM erred in the middlegame with a knight push at e5, Paragua was quick to capitalize by taking control of the middle.

Later, moving towards the endgame, the 52-year old Torre again erred with a rook move, prompting Paragua to end his opponent’s misery by threatening to gobble up the same rook with a simple bishop pin.

The win — Paragua’s third in a row — shoved him to solo fourth with 10 points, still a full point behind Torre, who dropped to solo third. It was Paragua’s first win over Torre in five meetings, and with only four rounds left in the tournament sponsored by Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. and supported by DILG..

The solo second spot now belongs to GM Joey Antonio, who tripped also-ran NM Roland Joseph Perez, even as GM Bong Villamayor continued to pull away with 12.5 points following a victory over NM Rolly Martinez. Villamayor offered a draw to Martinez when the game progressed into the endgame, but Martinez refused.

A queen exchange would have hastened the draw, but after Martinez again denied himself the chance to halve the point, Villamayor finished him off with his queen and a bishop and two pawns storming towards Martinez’s beleaguered king.

Martinez dropped to 9.5 in the company of NM Ronald Dableo and IM Jayson Gonzales, who whacked fellow IM Barlo Nadera. Gonzales pounded Nadera into submission with a rook, queen and knight combination attack, while Dableo could only forge a draw against IM Ronald Bancod. IM Petronio Roca lost to IM Nelson Mariano and dropped behind Gonzales’ group with 8.5, while Mariano and Bancod are tied with eight points apiece. Nadera dropped a half point lower (7.5).