INQUIRER Sports

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA---LONE Filipino entry Enrico ?Ikong? Sevillano bowed to fellow International Master Samuel Shankland with white in the fourth round of the 2009 US Chess Championship on Monday (Tuesday in RP) at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis in Missouri, USA.

Shankland prevailed after 68 moves of the Spanish Opening to raise his total to 2.5 points good for a tie 6th to 10th places.

The stinging loss, left Sevillano with still 1.5 points and dropped the Cebuano native to 17th to 20th places that also includes fifth round opponent Grandmaster Alexander Shabalov.

Meanwhile, GM Varuzhan Akobian beat GM Julio Becerra to create a five-way tie for first place along with GMs Gata Kamsky, Hikaru Nakamura, Joshua Friedel and last year's champion Yury Shulman with 3.0 points.

Kamsky halved the point with Friedel while Shulman settled for a truce with Nakamura. /Correspondent Marlon Bernardino