INQUIRER Sports

MANILA, Philippines -- Filipino Grandmaster Mark Paragua took the lead even as Cristy Lamiel Bernales hogged the spotlight by stunning Indonesian GM Edhi Handoko in the first Asean Masters Chess Circuit in Tarikan, Indonesia, on Friday.

Paragua (Elo 2521) bested countryman International Master Jayson Gonzales (Elo 2455) to grab the solo lead in the GM (Grandmaster) B event

The 23-year-old Paragua also won over Armenian IM Ashot Nadanian in the second round and Indonesian Fide Master Sharif Mahmud in the third round.

Paragua has yet to play his postponed first-round match against countryman Oliver Barbosa.

With her victory over Handoko (Elo 2347), the 14-year-old Bernales climbed to 2.5 points in three rounds, 1.5 points behind pacesetter Indonesian IM Iirwanto Sadikin, who swept her first four assignments; and half a point behind Handoko and Evi Lindiawati, also of Indonesia.

Bernales, daughter of a former taxi driver from Nueva Ecija, also won over WFM Victoria Chan of Singapore in the second round and drew with Noreasa Verdianan of Indonesia in the third round.

She has one unplayed game against compatriot WIM Beverly Mendoza in the first round.

Gonzales, bidding to become the country’s next GM, dropped into a tie for sixth to eight places with two wins and one loss, the same record of fellow Filipinos Rolando Nolte and Barbosa.

Nolte halved the point with Indonesian GM Cerdas Barus (Elo 2479) while Barbosa whipped Malaysian FM Mok Tze Meng (Elo 2346).

Before losing to Paragua, Gonzales thwarted Indonesian WIM Irine Sukandar in the second round and Sugen Prayitno in the third.

In the GM-A bracket, Eugene Torre (Elo 2519) split the point with fellow GM Wesley So (2526) while IM Barlo Nadera bowed to solo leader IM Situru Nathaniel (2375) of Indonesia.

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Standings:
Group A
3 points—N. Situru (Indonesia); 2.5—C. Parnama (Indonesia), Z. Zhong (Singapore); 2—M. Hafizulhemi (Malaysia), Tirto (Indonesia), S. Megaranto (Indonesia); 1.5—E. Torre (RP), H. Nouri (RP), N. Ginting (Indonesia), C. Kosashi (Indonesia); 1—W. So (RP); 0.5—B. Nadera (RP).
Group B
3 points—M. Paragua (RP); 2.5—S. Mahmud (Indonesia), S. Sitanggang (Indonesia); 2—O. Barbosa (RP), J. Gonzales (RP), R. Nolte (RP), A. Nadanian (Armenia), Ardiansyah (Indonesia); 1.5—C. Barus (Indonesia) S. Praytino (Indonesia); 0.5—I.Sukandar (Indonesia), T.M. Mk (Malaysia)
WIM
4 points—I. Sadikin (Indonesia); 3—E. Handoko (Indonesia), E. Lindiawati (Indonesia); 2.5—C. Bernales (RP), G. Chua (Singapore); 2—T.M. Hung (Vietnam), T. Handayani (Indonesia); 1.5—B.Mendoza (RP), J. Tay (Singapore); 1—N. Verdiana (Indonesia); 0—D. Citra (Indonesia), V. Chan (Singapore)