Paragua, Laylo, Bitoon share lead after two rounds

HO CHI MINH, Vietnam – Grandmasters Mark Paragua, Darwin Laylo and IM Richard Bitoon made it two in a row, while top seed GM Wesley So bounced back into contention in the Asian Zone 3.3 chess championships at the First Hotel here.

Paragua, ever so eager to reclaim his top billing in local chess, whipped FM Shinya Kojima of Japan to join the lead in the nine-round tournament which will select two representatives to the World Chess Cup scheduled in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia later this year.

Laylo, who is seeking his second straight World Cup appearance since making it during the Asian Individual Championships in Mandaue City in 2007, overwhelmed Vo Thanh Ninh of Vietnam, while Bitoon, the only IM in the six-man Philippine team, crushed FM Akira Watanabe of Japan to join Paragua and three other foreign players in the lead.

Also with the same perfect score of two points are second seed GM Zhang Zhong of Singapore, who trounced IM Tu Hoang Thai of Vietnam; No. 6 seed GM Susanto Megaranto of Indonesia, who bested FM Daniel Chan of Singapore; and untitled Bao Khoa of Vietnam, who toppled compatriot IM Nguyen Thanh Son.

The day also belonged to So, the highest-rated player here with an ELO of 2646, who overpowered FM Ton That Nhu Tung of Vietnam for his first win in two matches.

So, who is heavily favored to clinch one of two tickets to the World Cup, drew with FM Nguyen Ly Hong of Vietnam in the first round.

GM Eugene Torre, however, failed to follow up his opening-day win and agreed to a draw with FM Pham Chuong of Vietnam.

Both So and Torre have 1.5 points each in a tie with nine other players.

Another Filipino campaigner, IM Rolando Nolte, settled for his second straight draw.

 this time against CM Nguyen Van Hai of Vietnam.

Nolte also drew his first-round match against Nguyen Manh Truong of Vietnam.

“It’s still too early to tell, but I think our players are doing well.

Let’s just hope that they can continue to play well and clinch the two slots to the World Cup,” said National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) president/chairman Prospero “Butch” Pichay.

Pichay, who is widely credited for the emergence of So and other young Filipino players in the international stage, said So and any of the five other Filipino players entered in this qualifying tournament are talented enough to play in the World Cup.

So far, GM Rogelio Antonio Jr. is the only Filipino player assured of participation in the World Cup.

Antonio, who vaulted into third place overall in the newest FIDE quarterly rating for the country, earned a ticket to the World Cup for the second time in his career by virtue of his strong showing in the Asian Individual Championships held in Subic last summer.

Meanwhile, NCFP secretary-general and Tagaytay City Mayor Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino left for Ho Chi Minh on Friday to attend the ASEAN Chess Confederation meeting.

Tolentino’s arrival is expected to boost the morale of the players with still seven rounds remaining.

In the women’s division, Sherily Cua crushed WFM Citra Devi of Indonesia and Daisy Rivera outplayed Tran Le Dhan Tuy of Vietnam to barge into the win column after opening-day losses.

Catherine Perena drew her match for the second straight round against WIM Nguyen Anh of Vietnam.

Shercila Cua also halved the point with Nguyen Thi Hanh of Vietnam.

A total of 139 players - 108 men and 31 women - from eight countries, including 10 GMs and seven IMs, are seeing action in this biennial tournament being held to determine the Asian Zone 3.3 representatives to the 2009 World Cup in Khanty-Mansiyk, Russia and the 2010 world women championship.