So, Antonio split point in 4th round

MANILA, Philippines - Top seed GM Wesley So and GM Rogelio Antonio Jr. battled to a draw with the former keeping a share of the lead in the fourth round of the NCFP men’s training tournament for the Asian Games at the LWUA Bldg., on Katipunan, QC.

So, the country’s highest-rated player at 2668, and Antonio split the point after 37 moves of the Bogo-Indian game.

So and Antonio also played to a draw in a rapid in their most recent encounter during the PACE-Tuguegarao Open Chess Festival topped by Antonio.

In other matches, GMs John Paul Gomez and Darwin Laylo also drew their match in 42 moves of the English opening, while GM Eugene Torre outplayed IM Oliver Barbosa in 42 moves of the Slav.

Overall, So is tied for the lead with Gomez and Laylo with six points based on the scoring system which gives three points for a win, one point for a draw and zero for a loss.

 The 17-year-old So, who is set to leave for Texas on Tuesday to compete in the SPICE (Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence) Group A tournament, drew with Gomez in the first round and Laylo in the third and won over Torre in the second.

Gomez also halved the point with So in the first round and Antonio in the second before winning over Barbosa.

Laylo, on the other hand, pulled the rug from under Torre in the first round then drew his next three assignments against Barbosa, So and Gomez.

 The 10-round competition is organized by NCFP as part of the national team’s buildup for next month’s Asian Games in Guangzhou, China.

Except for Barbosa, all five players will represent the country in the Asiad set Nov. 12-27.

The round-robin tournament adopts the scoring system used in the SPICE tournament of former world champion Susan Polgar to avoid dull matches.

Abalos also said the NCFP will give cash incentives to the top players in the training tournament to ensure quality matches among the participants.