Draw stalls So; Chinese GMs set pace

MANILA, Philippines - Wesley So settled for a draw with fellow GM Merab Gagunashvili of Georgia, enabling a pair of Chinese GMs – Zhou Jianchao and Zhao Jun – to grab a share of the lead in the third round of the first Florencio Campomanes Memorial Cup Chess Championships at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium yesterday.

The third seeded Jianchao downed No. 12 GM Ehsan Ghaemmaghami of Iran while the 11th-ranked Jun upended fourth seed compatriot GM Ni Hua to move on top with three points.

After back-to-back victories, So failed to shake off his Georgian rival and fell into a tie for third at 2.5 points with fellow Filipino IMs Rolando Nolte, Barlo Nadera and Richard Bitoon.

Nolte held the sixth seeded GM Li Chao of China to a draw while Nadera split the point with No. 5 GM Chanda Sandipan of India.

 Joining So, Nolte and Nadera in third are Gagunashvili, Li, IM Richard Bitoon, who nipped Mari Joseph Turqueza in an all-Filipino encounter, and GM Murtas Kazhgaleyev of Kazakhstan and GM Ling Diren of China, who drew their match.          

Twenty-players, led by top seed GM Le Quang Liem of Vietnam, newly crowned Pichay Cup champion GM Anton Filippov of Uzbekistan and Asia’s first GM Eugene Torre, share 11th place with two points.

Le, the highest-rated player here with a 2681 rating, outplayed Noel de la Cruz for his first win in three matches.

Filippov downed FM Haridas Pascua, while Torre dumped IM Tirto of Indonesia to hike their score to two points.

Other two pointers are GM Darwin Laylo, who outdueled compatriot Julus Joseph de Ramos; GM-candidate Ronald Dableo, who beat IM Ronald Bancod; Efren Bagamasbad, who upset GM Jayson Gonzales; Deniel Causo, who upset IM Yu Lie of China; IM Kim Steven Yap, who bested Merben Roque and Emmanuel Senador, who crushed Vinod Bhagwat of India.

In women’s play, top seed Zhao Xue of China whipped compatriot Gu Xiaobing and WGM Zhang Jilin outclassed WIM Christine Rose Mariano to force a four-way tie for the lead with WGM Shen Yang of China and WIM Hoang Thi Nuh of Vietnam at 2.5 points.

Shen and Hoang drew their third-round match.

In other results, WGM Zhang Xiaowen of China crushed Jenny Rose Palomo, WGM Hoang Thi Bao of Vietnam outplayed Rulp Ylem Jose and Jedara Docena drew with Shercila Cua.