Torre, Barbosa down foes, stay in hunt for World Cup berths

MANILA, Philippines -- Grandmasters Eugene Torre and Oliver Barbosa downed their respective foes to move up to a share of third and stay in World Cup contention after the eighth and penultimate round of the Asian Zonals 3.3 Championship on Saturday in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam.

Torre, 65, outlasted FIDE Master Le Tuan Minh in a marathon 95-move victory of a Bogo-Indian Defense while Barbosa outdueled countryman GM Richard Bitoon in 77 moves of a Trompovsky Opening to zoom to a four-way tie at No. 3 with 5.5 points.

More importantly, Torre and Barbosa remained in the hunt for the last of two slots to the World Cup slated Sept. 10 to Oct. 4 this year in Baku, Azerbaijan.

For it to happen, Torre and Barbosa must win their final round game against Vietnamese GM Le Quang Liem and Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son, respectively, this Sunday.

Le, who downed Filipino GM Darwin Laylo in 33 moves of a King's Indian Defense, leads the way and his seven points clinched him a slot in Baku while Nguyen is currently at solo second with six points.

The top-seeded Le, a Webster University standout, pounced on Laylo's passive opening play to launch a kingside attack that won not just position and material but the match itself for his seventh point.

While Le made it, Laylo, a 35-year-old native of Marikina City, was officially out of it as he has only five points with a round to go.  International Master Rolando Nolte, in contrast, won his game against Tran Ngoc Lan to improve to 4.5 points.