Paragua, 2 other Pinoys force 4-man Zonals lead

MANILA, Philippines - GM Mark Paragua trampled IM Tirta Chandra Purnama of Indonesia while two other Filipino bets beat their respective rivals to share the lead with Vietnam GM Nguyen Van Huy after two rounds of the Asian Zone 3.3 Chess Championships at the Tagaytay International Convention Center in Tagaytay yesterday.

Paragua made the most of his slim positional advantage and outwitted Purnama in 32 moves of the King’s Indian Defense to find himself among the early leaders in the nine-round tournament which stakes two World Cup berths.

GM Darwin Laylo and IM Oliver Barbosa matched Paragua’s fine start as they crushed T. Thai Hung of Vietnam in 37 moves of a Gruenfeld and FM Ting Jianyao of China in 41 moves of a Slav, respectively.

Van Huy, one of eight Vietnamese vying in the 48-player field, shocked top seed GM Zhang Zhong of Singapore to join the three Filipinos at the helm of the tournament organized by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) in cooperation with the Tagaytay City government.

GM Joey Antonio stopped FM Haridas Pascua on his tracks to lead the 1.5 scorers who include IM Richard Bitoon, who downed IM Bao Khoa of Vietnam, and IM Rolando Nolte, who defeated Leodegario Ricana, and GM John Paul Gomez and IM Oliver Dimakiling, who drew their match.

Also halving the point were national junior champion Mari Joseph Turrqueza and newly crowned Asian youth gold medalist Jan Emmanuel Garcia and Paulo Bersamina and IM Tirto of Indonesia.

GM Eugene Torre bounced back from an opening day setback to Pascua as he defeated Emmanuel Emperado in 64 moves of the Torre system.

In women’s play, WGM Irine Kharisma Sukandar of Indonesia dumped Pham Thi Thu Len of Vietnam, to lead three other players with two points.

They include WGM Le Thanh Thu of Vietnam, who outplayed Rulp Ylem Jose; Uuganbayar Lkhamsuren of Mongolia, who beat Beverly Mendoza; and WIM Le Kieu Thien Kim of Vietnam, who downed Monica Sihite of Indonesia.

Mikee Charlene Suede was the lone Filipina winner for the round as she beat Meriatul Qibtiyah of Indonesia.

Other local bets who fell were Jan Jodilyn Fronda, who bowed to Hoang Thi Nuh of Vietnam, and Janelle Mae Frayna, who succumbed to WGM Batchmeg   Tuvshintugs of Mongolia.

Cheradee Chardine Camacho settled for a draw with WFM Dewi Cita of Indonesia, the same result obtained by Christy Lamiel Bernales against top seed IM Li Ruofan of Singapore.