Win vs Qatari GM gives Sadorra solo lead

MANILA, Philippines - Grandmaster Julio Catalino Sadorra crushed Qatari GM Mohammed Al-Sayed’s King’s Indian Defense and fashioned out an impressive 47-move victory to seize the solo lead after four rounds of the $100,000 Asian Continental Chess Championships dubbed the “Manny Pacquiao Cup” at the Midas Hotel and Casino in Pasay City Tuesday night.

The ninth-ranked Sadorra, 26, played sharp from the start to open up Al-Sayed’s kingside and gain a slight positional advantage he translated into a resounding victory after a dubious sacrifice that led to a two-pawn advantage, including a passed pawn on the d-file that forced the latter to resign on the 47th.

The victory was Sadorra’s fourth straight, setting him up against fellow Filipino GM Mark Paragua in the featured Round 5 encounter being played at presstime.

Paragua, ranked 12th in a field of 77, toppled Chinese IM Wan Yunguo for 3.5 points as he gained a share of second with top seed Le Quan Liem of Vietnam, who gave up a pawn to baffle GM Darwin Laylo and went on to hack out a marathon 79-move triumph.

Al Sayed, who stunned fifth seed Vietnamese GM Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son in Monday’s third round, fell into a trap set up by Sadorra with a clever rook move on the d4 square on the 24th. It led to Sadorra’s rook sacrifice for Al Sayed’s bishop on the open field that the Filipino bet regained a couple of moves later with a knight fork.

After a brief exchange of pieces and tactical maneuverings, Sadorra was left with a rook and three connected pawns against Al Sayed’s rook and a pawn.

“I’ve noticed that he’s a very positional player that’s why I set up traps and I’m glad he took it,” said the US-based Sadorra after wresting the solo lead in the nine-round Swiss system tournament sponsored by world boxing champion Manny Pacquiao and organized by the Eugene Torre Foundation with Café Puro, Alaxan, Oriental and Motolite Battery as chief backers.

Al Sayed dropped to joint fourth with 10 others with three points.