Oliver Barbosa tops US Continental Open

MANILA, Philippines — Grandmaster Oliver Barbosa beat FIDE Master Aravind Kumar of the US in the final round then edged GMs Pavlo Vorontsov of Ukraine and Andrey Gorovets of Belarus on tiebreaks to snare the 48th Continental Open crown in Sturbridge, Massachusetts.

It was Barbosa’s first victory since winning the Washington International Open last yearhe US-based GM hopes to anchor the Philippines’ campaign in the World Chess Olympiad someday.

“It’s always an honor to play for the Philippines, I still dream of it until now,” said Barbosa, who totes a FIDE rating of 2545.

He left the country in 2013 in disgust of politics in the sport and meager financial support but expressed his intention to help the country in its Olympiad campaign.