Doha Asiad vets gun for GM results

International Masters Darwin Laylo and Ronald Dableo try to become the country’s two new grandmasters as they gun for the last of the three GM results in the 2007 Asian Zone 3.2a Championships slated Jan. 10-19 in Vietnam.

Laylo and Dableo, veterans of the 2006 Doha Asian Games, will head the RP bid in the Zonals along with GM Mark Paragua, youthful IM Wesley So, and IM Oliver Dimakiling, the top five placers in the recent zonal qualifier.

Laylo, 26, is the country’s brightest GM hopeful, having the highest rating among the four Filipino GM aspirants competing in Vietnam.

In the recent rating list released by FIDE, the two-time National Open champion is currently ranked seventh in RP with 2476 and could hit the 2500 mark in a few days.

Laylo said he already wrote FIDE rating specialist Toti Abundo about his 24 rating points he obtained in the 2006 Malaysian Open that wasn’t counted in FIDE’s quarterly computations. He also obtained a GM norm in the same event.

That means Laylo will need just a GM norm to become RP’s sixth GM as he tries to join the elite list composed of Paragua, Eugene Torre, Joey Antonio, Bong Villamayor and Nelson Mariano II.

"I already wrote FIDE and sir Toti (Abundo) about it, I hope they’ll count it," Laylo told The STAR in Filipino.

Dableo, who is RP No. 11 with a 2453 rating, likewise has two GM results, the first he obtained when he topped the Asian Zonals three years ago and the other in the President Arroyo Cup last November.

Also in the hunt for a GM norm are the 13-year-old So and Dimakiling, rated 2481 and 2451, respectively, who had one GM result each.

So recently topped the National Open after scoring seven out of the possible nine points.

Three GM results and a minimum rating of 2500 are the requirements for one to clinch a GM title.

Representing the country on the distaff side are Woman IM Beverly Mendoza and newcomers Christy Lamiel Bernales and Kimberly Jane Cunanan, who finished among the top 3 of the Zonal qualifiers.

Zone 3.2a is composed of Southeast Asian nations, including regional powerhouses Vietnam and Indonesia, plus Mongolia.