Laylo stuns Russian GM, finishes second

MANILA, Philippines –  Grandmaster Darwin Laylo beat GM Alexei Gavrilov of Russia in a crucial final round showdown to finish tied for first in the Aeroflot Open Group B Chess Championships at the Hotel Gamma-Delta in Moscow Wednesday.

Laylo, 30, outwitted Gavrilov to force a three-way for first with GM Tigran Kotanjian and GM Nikolai Kabanov of Russia at the end of the nine-round tournament with seven points.

Kotanjian and Kabanov, who shared the lead in the eighth round lead, drew their match.

Overall, the Filipino bet finished with five wins and four draws and settled for second behind Kotanjian after the tiebreak.

GM-candidate Richard Bitoon split the point with GM Zhao Xue to emerge second-highest placed Filipino player at joint 13th with 5.5 points.

2011 Moscow Open runner-up IM Oliver Barbosa and John Paul Gomez wound up tied for 29th with five points.

Barbosa drew with GM Mikhail Panarin of Russia while Gomez halved the point with Aljoscha Feuerstack of Germany.

In Group C, national junior champion Paulo Bersamina bowed to Bogdan Belyakov of Russia to finish tied for 22nd with 5.5 points.