Torre topples foe, wrests solo lead

MANILA, Philippines - GM Eugene Torre flashed vintage form and outplayed erstwhile solo leader GM Cerdas Barus of Indonesia to wrest the solo lead in the Telin International chess tournament at the Graha Citra Caraka PT Telkom in Jakarta, Indonesia yesterday.

Torre played almost flawlessly with the white to beat the eighth-seeded Indonesian player in the nine-round tournament which drew 110 players.

The 59-year-odl Filipino champion thus raised his total to 5.5 points.

“I like my chances now. But I have to continue to play well in the next three rounds,” said Torre, a member of the Philippine team which bagged the silver medal in the last Asian Games

Torre is half a point ahead of top seed GM Zurab Gagunashvili of Georgia, GM Dao Thien Hai of Vietnam, GM Zhang Zhong of Singapore and IM Irwanto Sadikin, Johan Gunawan and Barus.

Gagunashvili beat GM Ardiansyah of Indonesia to stay within striking distance of Torre.