Tagaytay, Manila pace Asian chess
Second round standings:
4.0 points—Tagaytay, Manila-PSC, Wuxi (China); 3.0 points—Ulaanbaatar (Mongolia), Shah Alam (Malaysia), Shanghai (China); 2.0 points—Dubai (UAE), Baghdad (Iraq), Sharjah (UAE), Pasay City-PAF, Colombo (Sri Lanka), Seoul (Korea), Bs Begawan (Brunei); 1.0 point—Erdenet (Mongolia); 0. point-Singapore, Abu Dhabi (UAE), Chinese Taipei, Kuwait.
TAGAYTAY CITY—Host Tagaytay and Manila-PSC lived up to their lofty billing yesterday by trouncing their respective opponents to share the second round lead with Wuxi (China) in the Asian Cities Chess Championships-Dubai Cup at Tagaytay International Convention Center.
The all-Grandmaster Tagaytay team routed Sharjah (UAE), 3.5-0.5, while Manila-PSC, originally Tagaytay 2, dumped Pasay City-PAF by the same score for their second straight win and a perfect 4.0 points in the nine-round Swiss System event.
Wuxi, powered by GM Wei Yi, also notched 4.0 points following a 3-1 drubbing of Baghdad, Iraq.
Olympian Oliver Barbosa settled for a draw with fellow GM Saleh Salem on board 1, but teammates Mark Paragua, John Paul Gomez and Darwin Laylo bested International Master Noaman Omar, Fide Master Jasem Alhuwar and Al Thair Abdulla, respectively, to power Tagaytay to victory.
Manila-PSC was powered by GM Rogelio Antonio, who beat IM Barlo Nadera; GM Richard Bitoon, who whipped Onofre Espiritu; and IM Jan Emmanuel Garcia, who downed Raymond Salcedo. IM Rolando Nolte was held to a draw by Ronald Llavanes on board 3.
At fourth place was Ulaanbaatar (Mongolia) which whipped Kuwait, 4-0, in the first round then forged a 2-2 draw with Shanghai (China) for 3.0 points.
Bunched with Ulaanbaatar were Shah Alam (Malaysia) and Shanghai, which was led by GM Zhou Juanchao.
Shah Alam was held to a draw by Erdenet (Mongolia) in the second round while Shanghai subdued Colombo, 3-1, in the first round Sunday night.
Other first round action saw Tagaytay blank Erdenet (Mongolia), 4-0; Manila dump Bs Begawan (Brunei), 4-0; and Wuxi rip Abu Dhabi, 4-0.
