RP chessers finish joint 9th in Nice

Asian 3.2a zonal champion Ronald Dableo and IM Joseph Sanchez hurdled their final round assignments to finish joint ninth with compatriot Mark Paragua at the close of the X Nice International Open chess tournament won by Davor Komljenovic of Croatia at the Grand Aston Hotel in Nice, France Saturday.

Contrary to earlier reports erroneously fed by a self-proclaimed national master disguising as a writer, the championship was a seven-round tournament and not a nine-round event with Komljenovic emerging solo first with six points on a final round victory over Petar Genov.

The report even quoted Paragua as saying that there were still three rounds left in the tournament, misleading the reading public and those following the exploits of the Filipino bets abroad.

Dableo, Sanchez and Paragua, along with 10 others wound up with identical 5 points. Seven players, led by SuperGM Igor Miladinovic of Greece tied for second with 5.5 points.

Dableo trounced Julien Bourser with the black pieces, so did Sanchez over Andrea Murgia but Paragua failed to use whatever advantage the white pieces had as he settled for a draw with Sebastian Gachet of France.