Dimakiling keeps lead, gets GM norm

MANILA, Philippines - International Master Oliver Dimakiling shocked top seed Oliver Barbosa to remain on top of the National Open Chess Championships and nail his second GM norm at the Cabagnot Training Center in Old Buswang, Kalibo Aklan over the weekend.

The win was Dimakiling’s sixth straight since dropping two of his first three matches, hiking his total to 14 points.

“It’s great to beat the top seed and get a (GM) norm but I still have a lot of work to do. It’s a very long tournament,” said Dimakiling, who earned his first GM norm in the third Dato Arthur Tan Malaysia Open Chess Championship in 2006.

GM Mark Paragua humbled GM Eugene Torre to stay within striking distance with 13 points while GMs Darwin Laylo and Julio Catalino Sadorra posted crucial victories to remain in the hunt for berths in the Philippine team vying in this year’s Chess Olympiad in Turkey.

Laylo downed FIDE Master Randy Segarra to raise his total to 12 points while Sadorra improved to 11.5 points following his conquest of FM Roderick Nava.

The event is using the Torre-Pichay scoring system, a method formulated by Torre and National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) president/chairman Butch Pichay, Jr. where a win is equivalent to two points, a draw is one point, a loss is zero, and a stalemate is 1.5 for the last player to make a move and 0.5 to the player who can no longer make a move.

Other backers of the event are the Boracay Chess Club, Aklan Gov. Carlito Marquez, Lone District of Aklan Rep. Florencio Miraflores, Club Paraw owned by Malay councilor Wilbec Gelito and Willy’s Beach Resort owned by general manager Rochanie Gadon, Kolai Mangyan owner Lowell Gucilo and Tawhay Condotel owner Arwen Barrios.