Stolich-Anya paces Handuraw national team chess

DAPITAN City, Zamboanga del Norte – Stolich-Anya Corp. swept its first two matches against Sibugay (Zamboanga), 3.5-.5, and Iligan City, 2.5-1.5, to grab the solo lead after two rounds in the 2008 Handuraw Festival -Naitonal Chess Team Championship at the Dapitan City Cultural Center here.

Bannered by FM Roderick Nava and Johnnel Balquin, Stolich-Anya opened up a one-point lead over top seed Tagaytay City, second seed Cebu City, third seed Surigao del Sur, Aklan, CARAGA and host Dapitan City-B under the matchpoint style scoring system in this five-day competition organized by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP), headed by president Prospero “Butch” Pichay, in cooperation with the Dapitan City government, thru Mayor Dominador Jalosjos Jr.

Nava (ELO 2270) crushed Rogelio Enriquez Jr. of Sibugay and halved the point with Fernandito Pialan of Iligan to lead the charge for Stolich-Anya.

Balquin, who bagged the gold medal in the recent Philippien Olympic Festival held in Cagayan de Oro City, trounced Martin Kwan of Sibugay and Carlito Daclan of Iligan City.

Tagaytay, led by GM Darwin Laylo and Allan Macala, dumped Camarines Sur (Bicol), 3.-5.5, in the first round but drew with Aklan, 2-2, in the second round.

Laylo humbled Edmundo Gatus of Camarines Sur and Wilfredo Neri of Aklan while Macala bested Agripino Camposano and Jan Francis Fernnadez.

Cebu City, bannered by IM Richard Bitoon and Voltaire Sevillano, crushed Davao del Norte, 3-1, in the first round but settled for a 2-2 draw with Dapitan City-B.

Bitoon overpowered Cedric Magno of Davao but drew with Ernesto Fernandez of Dapitan-B.

Surigao del Sur, led by newly minted GM John Paul Gomez, drew with CARAGA, 2-2, but won over Club 58 (Rizal), 4-0, to bounce back into contention.

Aklan, led by Neri, and CARAGA, headed by Abdullah Unding, also have three points after two rounds of action.