RP chess masters show way

HO CHI MINH (Via Globe Telecom)–Filipino chess players, respected by their peers and foes alike the world over, continued to lead the pack in the 22nd SEAG Games standard chess competition after four rounds at the Van Don Hall here.

The men’s team shared the lead with Indonesia, GM Eugene Torre the men’s individual top standing with Indonesian IM Susano Megaranto and WIM Beverly Mendoza the women’s individual No. 1 spot with Vietnamese top seed Nguyen Thi Thanh An and two others.

The RP men, including GMs Joey Antonio and Bong Villamayor and IMs Mark Paragua and Ronald Dableo, and the Indonesians, led by Megaranto and GM Utut Adianto, had 11 points, leading by half-point over the talented young masters of the host team.

In the men’s individual, Torre had seized the solo lead after three rounds but had to share it again with Megaranto after a friendly draw with Villamayor in the fourth round.

Torre and Megaranto were to clash on Board One in the fifth round last night.

Mendoza, bronze medalist in the rapid chess, zoomed to the top in the women’s standard individual by defeating Myanmar’s Thandar Aye Win in the third round and Vietnam’s Le Thi Phuong Lien in the fourth.

"We’re in contention for three more golds here. Malaki ang chance sa men’s at ngayon lumalaban pa si Beverly sa women’s. Desididong dagdagan yong bronze niya sa rapid," said RP team coach Atty. Sammy Estimo.

Running third in the men’s individual was another Filipino in Villamayor with three points. Antonio had 2.5 points and Paragua and Dableo with two apiece.

Villamayor, the RP team’s biggest hero in the rapid event, drew with Megaranto in the third round before also halving a point with Torre in the fourth.

Antonio suffered disaster at the hands of Vietnamese IM Pham Minh Hoang but bounced back with a win over Singapore’s Jason Goh Koon-Jong.

Paragua, the men’s rapid gold champion, lost to Indonesian Hamdani Rudin then split a point with Malaysia’s Wong Zi Jing. Dableo, on the other hand, drew with Vietnam’s Dao Thien Hai then bowed top Adianto.

The other RP women bets were also in the thick of the fight for the medals with Christine Rose Mariano having scored 2.5 points, and Sheerie Joy Lomibao and Kathryn Cruz with two apiece.