So blunders, bows to Chinese

SUBIC—The rigors of consecutive tournaments could now be taking its toll on Filipino young grandmaster Wesley So.

So’s sensational winning run came to a crashing halt when he fell to untitled Chinese Zhou Weiqi in 33 moves of a slam-bang French encounter in the fifth round of the 2008 Philippine Open International Chess Championship at the Subic Bay Exhibition and Convention Center inside the Subic Freeport Zone here.

So, the world’s youngest GM at 14, blundered when he tried to open things up at the kingside with a pawn move on the f5 square on the 18th.

Zhou, untitled but with a FIDE rating (2560) higher than of So (2540), found the precise counterpunch with a pseudo knight sacrifice that turned the table on the Filipino.

In a span of two months, the young Filipino wiz ruled the tough Dubai Open, bested Indon GM Susanto Megaranto in a one-on-one showdown, 4-2, and topped the Battle of the GMs. Fatigue might have started to creep in on So.

Zhou gained a share of the lead with Megaranto with 4.5 points going into the final six rounds of this two-leg event organized by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines and backed by the Department of Tourism and the SBMA.

So, who drew with Megaranto in a marathon duel in Friday night’s fourth round, fell in a logjam at ninth place with three points. Included in the group were GM Morteza Mahjoob of Iran, WGM Zhang Jilin of China, international masters Wyn Zaw Htun of Myanmar and Liu Dede of Indonesia and Filipino player Dino Ballecer.

GM Joey Antonio, IM Julio Catalino Sadorra and Rolando Nolte scored emphatic wins in the fifth round. Antonio bounced back from a heartbreaking fourth round loss to Li by trouncing countryman Emmanuel Senador n 51 moves of a Three Knights showdown that kept him in the hunt for the $6,000 top purse.

Sadorra, who is based in Singapore but is planning to study at De La Salle U along with childhood buddy and fellow IM John Paul Gomez, stopped WIM Zhang Xiaowen of China. Nolte trampled  GM Nguyen Anh Dung of Vietnam. They joined Antonio, Li, GM Le Quang Liem of Vietnam and top seed Ehsan Ghaemagami of Iran at third spot.

Le turned back Filipino IM Barlo Nadera while Ghaemmagami walloped Indonesian IM Tirta Chandra Purnama to raise their outputs to four points each.

The unheralded Ballecer  shocked IM Hafizulhelmi Mas of Malaysia to stay in contention.

In other notable fifth-round results, GM Buenaventura “Bong” Vilamayor bested Rustum Tolentino; GM Win Lay Zaw of Myanmar outclassed FM Adrian Pacis; GM Dao Thien Hai of Vietnam outplayed Kaiqi Yang of China; IM Tirto of Indonesia downed Tong Xu of China;  Tiles Aris of Indonesia toppled IM Ronald Bancod;  Arlan Cabe stopped Panru Li of China;  and WIM Irene Sukandar of Indonesia  downed  Jedara Docena.