Laylo trips Megaranto, nears World Cup berth

HO CHI MINH City, Vietnam – GM Darwin Laylo brought down GM Susanto Megaranto of Indonesia in a crucial seventh-round encounter to firm up his hold of the solo lead in the Asian Zone 3.3 Chess Championships at the First Hotel here yesterday.

Laylo, seeking a second stint in the World Cup, earlier held GM Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son of Vietnam to a draw then surprised Megaranto with precise moves in the seventh to raise his output to six points, one ahead of compatriot GM Wesley So and two others heading into the last two rounds of the tournament.

“I’ll do my best in the next two rounds. I hope to win the title and make it again to the World Cup,” said the 29-year-old Laylo.

So settled for back-to-back draws with second seed GM Zhang Zhong of Singapore in the sixth round and GM Mark Paragua for five points.

Paragua trounced Khoa Bao of Vietnam in the sixth round before halving the point with So to gain a share of second with Vietnam IMs Nguyen Huy Minh and Duong The Anh.

IM Rolando Nolte drew his matches against Tsegmed Bathuluun of Mongolia and FM Shinja Kojima of Japan to lead the four pointers.

GM Eugene Torre and IM Richard Bitoon struggled against their foreign rivals and bowed out of contention for one of the two World Cup berths staked in the tournament.

Torre was upset by FM Timothy Chan of Singapore in the sixth round then drew with Vo Thanh Nin of Vietnam while Bitoon lost to Megaranto and FM Thon That Tung of Vietnam.