Pinoy chessers stay in hunt in RP Open

SUBIC – Grandmasters Joey Antonio and Mark Paragua trampled their respective local rivals while Eugene Torre held Indon GM S. Megaranto to a draw as they remained within striking distance of the Chinese leaders halfway through the 2007 Philippine Open Chess Championship at the Legenda Hotel here Sunday.

Antonio, coming off a runner-up finish in Bangkok, Thailand, whipped Arlan Cabe while Paragua, out to atone for a series of mediocre performances, trounced upset-conscious NM Mirabeau Maga to hike their output to 3.5 points.

That was half-a-point behind GMs Ni Hua, Li Chao, Wang Yue, Zhang Zhong and Wang Hao of China and Iranian GM Ehsan Ghaem Maghami, who shared the lead with four points heading into the last four rounds of this Swiss system tournament organized by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) in cooperation with the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), Globe Telecoms and Duty Free.

Hua, the second highest-rated player with an ELO of 2654, crushed Filipino hopeful Hamed Nouri, while Chao upset compatriot and ninth seed GM Li Shilong to gain a share of the lead.

As expected, the top seeded Wang and No. 4 ranked Zhong drew their match at center stage while No. 3 seed Hao and No. 5 Maghami also agreed to halve the point.

Torre joined Antonio and Paragua in seventh place after splitting the point with Megaranto while Singapore-based FM Julio Catalino Sadorra also held GM Varuzhan Akobian of the US to a draw for 3.5 points and stay in the hunt for the top $6,000 purse.

IMs Oliver Dimakiling and Wesley So also drew their match for three points.

Both Dimakiling and So, both GM hopefuls, played together in the RP-Tagaytay chess team which finished runner-up in the recent Asian Cities Chess team championship in Tehran, Iran.

IM Richard Bitoon was the lone Filipino player to win a match over his Chinese counterpart as he defeated Xu Deshun with the black pieces.

Bitoon moved up to joint 15th with three points with Li Shilong and Zhang Ziyang, both of China; Lalith Babu of India.