Sanchez assumes solo leadership in Cannes chess

IM Joseph Sanchez took a step closer to ruling the XV Open Cannes International Chess Championships Saturday when he upset fancied Igor Miladinovic of Greece in a crucial penultimate round victory that gave him the solo lead in Cannes, France.

The least fancied among the three Filipinos seeing action in the event, Sanchez marshalled his white pieces with clockwork precision to dismantle Miladinovic’s Sicilian Defense and stun the lone super-GM in the fold.

The 41-move victory hiked Sanchez’s output to 6.5 points as he left behind compatriots and erstwhile co-leaders GM-candidate Mark Paragua and IM Ronald Dableo and Italian GM Lexy Ortega.

"Inulit na naman ni GM Miladinovic ang laro sa pagitan nina Short at Gurevich buti na lang napag-aralan ko," said the 32-year-old Sanchez.

Draws stalled Paragua, Dableo and Ortega, who all dropped to joint second with six points heading into the final day of the nine-round Swiss system tournament.

Having beaten Miladinovic, Sanchez, toting a 2410 rating, hopes to hurdle the final barrier to his title bid as he goes up against Ortega in the ninth round Sunday.

One thing going for Sanchez is that he would be handling the white pieces again and is in the best position to assure himself of at least tie for first place with a draw against the Italian GM.

Paragua was unable to cash in on whatever advantage the white pieces had as he was held to a draw by Dimitar Marholev of Bulgaria (65 moves-Pirc), while Dableo, playing with the black pieces, agreed to halve the point with Ortega.