INQUIRER Sports

GM Rogelio Antonio Jr. defeated GM Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son of Vietnam to forge a five-way tie for the lead after eight rounds of the 2009 Asian Chess Championships at the Subic Exhibition and Convention Center on Wednesday.

Antonio prevailed after 36 moves of the Caro Kann Defense to raise his total to 6.0 points on four wins and four draws in this tough, 11-round tournament organized by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) in cooperation with the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA).

?I'm satisfied with my performance right now. The US tour did me some good,? said Antonio, who avenged his loss to Nguyen in the 2007 Southeast Asian Games.

Tied with Antonio in the lead are No. 9 GM Hou Yifan of China, No. 5 GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly of India, No. 16 GM Chanda Sandipan of India and No. 15 GM Zhoeu Weiuqi of China.

While Antonio won, his compatriot GM Wesley So came up short anew.

So, at 15 the country?s highest-rated player with an ELO of 2641, halved the point with No. 54 seed Yu Yangyi of China in 40 moves of a Sicilian.

So, seeded second here behind GM Krishnan Sasikiran of India, settled for his fourth draw in the last five rounds but remained within striking distance with 5.0 points on three wins, four draws and one loss.

Meanwhile, Asia?s first GM Eugene Torre outplayed compatriot GM Darwin Laylo to keep his slim hopes with 5.0 points.

GM Abhijit Kunte of India upset compatriot and No. 7 seed Negi Parimarjan to lead three other players with 5.5 points.

Saiskiran, the tournament's top seed with an ELO of 2682, also bounced back into contention by dumping GM Bui Vinh of Vietnam for 5.0 points.

Two other Filipino campaigners -- IMs Oliver Dimakiling and Rolando Nolte, drew their game and remained with 4.0 points each while GM Buenaventura ?Bong? Villamayor trounced FM Anjas Novita of Indonesia to improve to 3.5 points in the company of IM Ronald Bancod and Deniel Causo who beat their respective foes.

In the women?s division, WFM Ding Yixin and Ju Wenjun of China split the point and stayed in the lead with 6.0 points.