Mariano half point behind chess leaders

Nelson Mariano III dismantled Ghanem Al-Sulaiti’s Sicilian defense Monday to move within striking distance of the leaders after seven rounds of the second Dubai International Open Juniors Chess Championships at the Dubai Chess and Culture Club in Dubai.

The grueling 54-move victory over the Qatari bet was Mariano’s fourth straight, hiking his output to 5.5 points, just half-a-point behind joint leaders Hamayoon Taufighi, Ishaq Saeed and GN Gopal with two rounds left in the event that has gathered the best junior players in the world.

The 14-year-old chess whiz, brother of former Asian Juniors champion Nelson II and whose stint here is supported by Atty. Andres Gatmaitan and the Filipino Dubai Chess Club, clashes with Lara Stock in the penultimate round Tuesday.

With the black pieces, Mariano is expected to encounter a tough outing against the Croatian, a 12-year-old bet who beat Eltaj Safarli to tie the Filipino in third place along with W. Ahmed.

On the top board, Homayoon Toufighi of Iran and Saeed Ishaq of the United Arab Emirates agreed to a draw after 23 moves in a solid Petroff game to pace the 100-player field with six points.

Gopal, a bet from talent-rich India, later joined them at the helm with a victory over Nidjat Agayev of Azerbaijan in their Sicilian game.

Meanwhile, Chester Ariola and Francis Ducalang could only post identical three points and were in 20th place in the 12-under category, while Chadine Camacho and John Valerio were in fifth place with identical four points in the 10-under division.