GMs Barbosa, Paragua register podium finishes in New York chess tiff

MANILA, Philippines – Filipino Grandmasters Oliver Barbosa and Mark Paragua continued to reap honors for the country abroad as they finished second and third in the New York State Championships 2019 in Albany, New York.

Barbosa, 32, finished a clear first with five points on an undefeated record of four victories and two draws in six rounds while Paragua, 35, ended up in a five-player tie for second with 4.5 points but wound up with the highest tiebreak score to claim the No. 2 spot.

Barbosa’s victories came against David Finnerman, Jacob Chen, Zachary Tanenbaum and International Master David Brodsky while the draws came in games against Russain IM Vitaly Bachin and Paragua in the final round.

The title kept Barbosa’s tradition of winning at least a crown in a year in the United States. Last year, he topped the 48th Continental Open in Sturbridge, Massachusetts and won the Washington International Open the year before.

Despite the accolades he is getting on foreign land, Barbosa said he still hopes to once again represent the Philippines in the World Chess Olympiad someday.

“It’s always a dream for me to play for the Philippines in the Olympiad,” said Barbosa, who is currently the country’s second highest rated chesser with a rating of 2529 behind only to another US-based woodpusher GM Julio Catalino Sadorra (2564).

Barbosa used to play second board for the Philippines in the Olympiad before he left the country in disgust in 2013 in disgust of politics in sports and meager financial support.

Now he wants to return.