INQUIRER Sports

SUBIC - Filipino teen sensation GM Wesley So found fellow prodigy Hou Yifan a worthy adversary Friday night, settling for a draw in the 10th and penultimate round of the Asian Individual chess championship at the Subic Bay Exhibition and Convention Center here.

So, at 15 the youngest player in the world’s top 100 at No. 89, and Hou, also 15 and the world’s No. 3 female player competing in the Open division, halved the point after 50 moves of a French defense.

The draw, however, could prove costly for So, seeded second here with his Elo rating of 2641.

With 6.5 points he needs to win his final round match Saturday to land in the top 10, all of whom will advance to the World Cup 2009 slated in Siberia in October.

Hou, who totes an Elo of 2590, was a shade better with 7.0 points.

Asia’s first GM Eugene Torre made his presence felt with a late victory over Qatari GM Mohamad Al-Modiaki that put him in a tie with So, Chinese GM Yu Shaoteng and untitled Chinese Yu Yangi.

Handling black like So, erstwhile solo pacesetter GM Rogelio “Joey” Antonio yielded to GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly, allowing the Indian to seize top spot with 7.5 points.

Yangi stunned top-seeded Indian GM Krishnan Sasikiran (Elo 2682), matching the feat of Shaoteng, who bested GM Ziaur Rahman of Bangladesh.

Still locked in a tight battle at presstime were GMs Zhou Weiqi of China and Chanda Sandipan of India, both with 6.5 points.

Tale of woe
The tale of woe belonged to GM Darwin Laylo, lone Filipino qualifier in the 2007 edition of the biennial event held in Mandaue City, Cebu, who blundered away a drawish game against unrated Chinese Wan Yunguo and remained at 5.0 points.

GM John Paul Gomez, the highest Filipino scorer in the 2008 Dresden olympiad, and GM Mark Paragua, once the country’s highest-rated player, caught up with Laylo following draws with Indian Fide Master Santosh Gujrathi Vidit and Indian IM Jayaram Aswin, respectively.

Also mired at 5.0 points and out of the running for a GM result were Filipino IMs Richard Bitoon and Rolando Nolte, who yielded to Chinese GM Li Shilong and GM Murtas Kazhgaleyev in succession.

GM Buenaventura “Bong” Villamayor and rising star Jan Emmanuel Garcia drew their match and were lodged at 4.5 points.

Female Indian bet nears win
In women’s play, Chinese WIM Zhang Xiaowen boosted her title bid following a draw with Indian WGM Subbaraman Meenakshi in their top board encounter.

Zhang climbed to 8.0 points and needs only a draw in the final round to emerge champion and pocket the $3,000 top purse. Meenakshi was at 6.5 points.