Antonio, Dimakiling reach semis

TAGAYTAY — Grandmaster Joey Antonio and FM Oliver Dimakiling assured themselves of bronze medals when they barged into the semifinal round of the blitz event of the chess competitions in the 23rd Southeast Asian Games at the Tagaytay Convention Center here yesteday.

Antonio, riding the crest of a big win over Vietnam’s top bet Nguyen Anh Dung in round 9, trounced FM Nicholas Chan of Malaysia in round 11 to finish with 7.5 points and secure a spot in the semis, while Dimakiling bounced back from a crucial blunder in round 9 with a resounding final round victory over IM Nathanael Situru of Indonesia to snatch a spot in the last four with seven points.

"I seized the initiative in the opening then I pounced on his (Chan’s) uncastled King and went a pawn up," Antonio said.

Three Vietnamese actually finished in the top four — Nguyen Ngoc Truongson (9 points), Anh Dung (8.5) and Le Quang Liem (8) — but only the first two advanced, enabling Dimakiling to gain a crack at a SEA Games gold medal.

IM Ronald Dableo and IM Jayson Gonzales both had 6.5 points after defeating Malaysia IM Hafilzulhelmi Mas and FM Oo Zaw of Myanmar respectively. Singapore GM Shaobin Wu foiled GM Nelson Mariano II, who finished with six points.

The semis matches, set tomorrow at 9 a.m., pit Dimakiling against Truongson, winner of the individual rapid crown and who powered Vietnam to the team championship, while Antonio hopes to score a repeat over Anh Dung.

In women’s play, first-timer Catherine Pereña defeated Indonesian Evi Lindiawati in the last round to finish with 7.5 points. She played the Nimzo-Indian Defense opening well then watched her rival crack up under time pressure to arrange a semis clash against Nguyen Quyn Anh of Vietnam, who topped the event with 8 points.

RP bets Sherily Cua and WIM Beverly Mendoza fell short of their bid with six points each while Loreshyl Cuizon and WFM Sheerie Joy Lomibao wound up with identical 5.5 points. The other semis pairing pits Nguyen Quynh Anh vs Lindiawati.

Meanwhile, the Philippines, out to atone for its so-so stint in rapid play, showed the way in the standard event with 7.5 points after two rounds. Singapore had 6 points followed by Malaysia (5.5) and Vietnam and Indonesia, which had 4.5 points apiece.

GM Eugene Torre, who settled for the bronze in rapid chess, beat compatriot Oliver Barbosa and shared the lead with Singaporean GM Shaobin Wu in the individual category of standard chess with identical two points.

Antonio and IM Ronald Dableo halved the points against GM Edhi Handoko of Indonesia and Dimakiling respectively, for joint third with 1.5 points.