Pascua clinches 2nd GM result

MANILA, Philippines - International Master Haridas Pascua beat Indian IM P. Karthikeyan in a slam-bang King’s Indian encounter to finish joint third in the fifth HD Bank Cup and obtain his second grandmaster norm in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam yesterday.

Needing no less than a victory, the 21-year-old Pascua attacked his rival’s uncastled king with a series of tactical moves, pounding out the victory in 24 moves at the end of the nine-round tournament. He finished with 6.5 points and tied compatriot GM John Paul Gomez, Chinese GM Li Chao and Vietnamese GM Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son while moving closer to becoming the country’s 16th GM.

Gomez shocked the top-seeded Li in 58 moves of a razor-sharp Benoni while Nguyen gave up a queen to escape with a 72-move win of a Slav duel.

Vietnam’s GM Le Quang Le waylaid Indian Woman GM Rout Padmini in 50 moves of a Sicilian to clinch the title with 7.5 points while Zhang, a Chinese-born Singaporean, placed second with seven points.

GM Eugene Torre escaped with a 35-move draw with Vietnamese GM Nguyen Duc Hoa in a Bogo-Indian to wind up joint seventh with Nguyen and WIM Le Kieu Thien Kim of Vietnam with six points each.

GMs Darwin Laylo and Richard Bitoon and IMs Oliver Dimakiling, Paulo Bersamina and Kim Steven Yap ended up with 5.5 points to finish tied for 10th.