Antonio thumps foe; So draws anew

SUBIC, Philippines – With GM Wesley So slowed down by his second straight draw, GM Rogelio Antonio Jr. went for the kill in the 2009 Asian Continental Individual chess championship at the Subic Exhibition and Convention Center here yesterday.

Looking superbly fit after a long and fruitful campaign in the United States last year, Antonio squeezed out a morale-boosting win over FM Jasen Alhuwar of United Arab Emirates to strengthen his chances and become the highest-placed Filipino player in the tough, 11-round tournament held in cooperation with the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA).

The win came after 56 moves of the French opening, with Antonio looking unstoppable with a queening pawn on the a-file.

“It’s a big, feel-good win for me. Mahaba pa ang laban pero sana magtuloy-tuloy na,” said Antonio, who improved his score to 3.5 points on two wins against three draws.

So tried long and hard to eke out a win, but settled for a draw with GM Abhijit Kunte of India to remain within striking distance with three points.

Finding his lower-rated Indian opponent a little more difficult to handle, the 15-year-old So settled for a draw after 52 moves of the Catalan and more than four hours of play.

So, who also drew his fourth-round match against GM Saidali Iuldachev of Uzbekistan late Saturday, had a five-round total of three points on two wins, two draws and only one loss.

GM Elshan Moradiabadi of Iran whipped IM Mohammad Al Sayed of Qatar to gain a share of the early lead with GMs Chanda Sandipan of India, Le Quang Liem of Vietnam and Ziaur Rahman of Bangladesh.

Sandipan and Le battled to a draw as did Rahman against GM Dao Thien Hai of Vietnam.

GM-candidate Rolando Nolte was also a big winner, beating CM Nguyen Van Huy of Vietnam.

Not as fortunate were GMs Eugene Torre and Buenaventura “Bong” Villamayor.

Torre, the most experienced player in the 19-man Filipino contingent, absorbed his second straight setback against Yu Yangyi of China.

Torre also went down to Al Sayed in the fourth round.

Villamayor succumbed to GM Niaz Murshed of Bangladesh and slipped further down the standings with only two points.

In other early fifth-round results, GM Darwin Laylo halved the point with GM Parimarjan Negi of India, GM John Paul Gomez split the point with compatriot IM Oliver Dimakiling, Haridas Pascua shared the point with Wan Yunguo and Deniel Causo drew with GM Alexey Kim of Korea.

On Saturday, GM-candidate Julio Catalino Sadorra continued to impress.

Sadorra followed up his smashing upset win over fourth seed GM Murtas Kazgaleyev of Uzbekistan in the first round with another scintillating triumph over sixth seed GM Ehsan Ghaem Maghami of Iran in the fourth round to boost his chances for one of 10 Asian slots to the World Cup.

With the win, Sadorra raised his total to 2.5 points on two wins, one loss and one draw.