Standings after nine rounds:
7 points—C. Li (China), Q.L. Le (Vietnam); 6.5—R. Antonio (Philippines), M. Mahjoob (Iran), Z. Weiqi (China), D. Liu (Indonesia); 6—W. So (Philippines), B. Villamayor (Philippines), J. Sadorra, E. Maghami (Iran), D.T. Hai (Vietnam), A.D. Nguyen (Vietnam), S. Irwanto (Indonesia); 5.5—R. Nolte (Philippines), J. Gomez (Philippines), S. Megaranto (Indonesia), D. Juswanto (Indonesia), L. Wang (China), X. Zhang (China), T. Purnama (Indonesia); 5—B. Nadera (Philippines), H. Mouri (Philippines), R. Tolentino (Philippines), R. Bitoon (Philippines), D. Elorta (Philippines), J. Salubre (Philippines), S. Sitanggang (Indonesia), J. Zhang (China), H. Mas (Malaysia), Y. Wang (China), Z.H. Wynn (Myanmar), K. Yang (China)
SUBIC, Philippines—With most of the attention focused on newly crowned Dubai Open chess champion Grandmaster Wesley So, GM Rogelio Antonio Jr. has gently reminded everyone he is still a major force to reckon with in local and international chess.
Antonio, ever so eager to redeem himself following a dismal showing in the recent Battle of GMs chess championship, turned a drawish endgame into a rousing victory over compatriot NM Rolando Nolte in 70 moves of the Sicilian Alapin to boost his chances in the US$40,000 Philippine Open international chess championship at the Subic Exhibition and Convention Center here late Monday.
An enlisted Army personnel, Antonio pounced on Nolte’s dubious Nc5—instead of Nf4—to launch a brilliant attack and seal the win after more than four hours of play.
Hardly bothered by all the attention being given to So since opening day, Antonio patiently worked his way back to emerge as the highest-placed Filipino player going into the final two rounds of the tough, 11-round tournament organized by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP).
The pride of Calapan, Oriental Mindoro, has 6.5 points, only half a point behind pacesetters GMs Li Chao of China and Le Quang Liem of Vietnam, who drew their match at center stage.
The draw on center stage came after Li outduelled GM Wesley So and Le whipped untitled Weiqi Zhou of China in a pair of hard-fought matches in the eighth round early Monday.
“I like my chances,” said Antonio, who is hoping to regain the country’s top ranking from So.
Antonio is tied for third to sixth places with 6.5 points with untitled Weiqi Zhou of China, GM Morteza Mahjoob of Iran and and IM Dede Liu of Indonesia.
GM Buenaventura “Bong” Villamayor also continued his steady climb when he drew with top seed GM Ehsan Ghaem Maghami of Iran in 22 moves of the Center Counter.
The 41-year-old Villamayor, who left a high-paying job as a chess instructor in Singapore to resume his playing career, earlier outclassed Xu Deshun of China in the previous round to boost his chances with six points.
Villamayor, who is playing only in his second tournament since returning to the country last month, is only a full point behind the two frontrunners.
“I’m still rusty but my moves are slowly coming back,” said Villamayor, one of the three Filipino GMs entered in the tournament, in Filipino.
