Young Viet GM stays at helm; So in solo second

PHU QUOC Kien Giang Province, Vietnam — Teener Wesley So continued to flourish in a field teeming with veteran players, beating second seed GM Wynn Zaw Htun of Myanmar in the fourth round and drawing with seventh seed GM Nguyen Ngoc Truongson of Vietnam in the fifth to stay unbeaten halfway through the Asian Zone 3.3 Chess Championships here Saturday.

However, So, 13, dropped to solo second behind 15-year-old and eighth seed Le Quang Liem of Vietnam in an impressive showing by the tournament’s youngest players in the 33-man tournament.

A day after upending top-seeded GM Mark Paragua in the second round and halving the point with Le in the third round, the 13-year old So toppled Htun with the black pieces after 31 moves.

So also held his ground against Trong Son, forcing a draw with the higher-rated Vietnamese player and remaining unbeaten in this nine-round tournament with a 3-2 win-draw record.

So’s impressive showing halfway through the event was overshadowed only by Le, the Vietnamese champion who toppled Filipino GM Eugene Torre in their fifth round showdown to wrest the solo lead with 4.5 points.

Le, currently ranked fourth overall in Vietnam, also won over compatriot IM Bui Vinh in the fourth round.

Also making his presence felt was unheralded NM Oliver Barbosa, who dealt Paragua his second straight setback in the fourth round before holding GM Rogelio Antonio Jr. to a draw in the fifth  to gain a share of third place with fellow IMs Oliver Dimakiling and Darwin Laylo, GM Nelson Mariano II  and Hamed Nouri and two other Vietnamese players with 3.5 points.

Dimakiling racked up back-to-back victories over No. 25 FM Phamhuong and No. 19 FM Nguyen Minh Huy.

both of Vietnam; Laylo beat No. 21 Vo Than Nihn of Vietnam and split the point with Nouri; and Mariano dumped No. 26 Hoang Chan Huan of Vietnam and drew with No. 12 Gm Thu Hoang Thong of Vietnam.

After three draws, Antonio finally posted a victory, defeating Nguyen Van Huy of Vietnam in the fourth round before settling for another draw with  Barbosa.

Antonio, who dislodged Torre as the country’s second highest-rated player based on the  FIDE January ratings, has thee points in a tie with Torre, IM Ronald Dableo and six others.

Dableo demolished Nguyen Thien Viet of Vietnam in the fourth round and drew with No. 6 GM Nguyen Anh Dung of Vietnam.

Before his loss to Le, Torre drew with No. 12 GM Tu Hoang Tong, also of Vietnam.

A big disappointment was Paragua, who went down to his third defeat to No. 31 seed Bayarsaihan Gundavaa of Mongolia and remained in the cellar with only two points.

Another Filipino entry, Julius Joseph de Ramos, also lost his fifth-round encounter against  Htun.

De Ramos,a former Letran College standout, also has two points.

The top two players in the tournament will earn automatic slots to the FIDE-organized world chess championship later this year.