Tagaytay keeps lead despite tough draw with Wuxi

TAGAYTAY CITY—Host Tagaytay’s bid for a sweep of the Asian Cities Chess Team Championship-Dubai Cup vanished as it was held to a 2-2 draw by Wuxi (China) in the sixth round Wednesday night.

The standoff on all four boards halted Tagaytay’s five-game winning run, but it proved enough for the all-Grandmaster squad to stay clear of the rest of the 18-team field.

Top seed Tagaytay, supported by the City Council through Mayor Agnes Tolentino, raised its match points total to 11, two ahead of closest pursuers Wuxi, Shanghai and Ulaanbaatar (Mongolia), all with 9 points, heading into the last three rounds at Pagcor Tagaytay.

Olympians Oliver Barbosa, Mark Paragua, John Paul Gomez and Darwin Laylo all tried to extract the full point to no avail as their board counterparts—GM Wei Yi, Lin Chen, International Master Wang Li and Ji Dan—had the luxury of playing white.

Barbosa and National Open champion Gomez, however, stayed in strong contention for boards 1 and 3 honors with 5.0 and 5.5 points, respectively.

Second seed Shanghai, powered by GM Zhou Jianchao, bested Pasay City-PAF, 2.5-1.5, while Ulaanbaatar, led by GM Bayarsaikhan Gundavaa, thwarted Baghdad (Iraq), also by 2.5-1.5.

Zhou, the highest-rated player in the field with an Elo of 2587, beat IM Barlo Nadera while IM Lou Yiping tamed Ronald Llavanes. WGM Ju Wenjun drew with Onofre Espiritu while Raymond Salcedo outwitted WGM Zhang Xiaowen.

Manila-PSC, wheeled back into contention with 8 points following a 4-0 demolition of Singapore. The Manila crew rebounded from a 3-1 thrashing it absorbed from Wuxi in the fifth round.

Other Round 6 results saw Shah Alam (Malaysia) blank Seoul (Korea), 4-0; Erdenet (Mongolia) rout Colombia (Sri Lanka), 3.5-0.5; Abu Dhai (UAE) dump Dubai (UAE), 4-0; Bs Begawan (Brunei) whip Kuwait, 3.5-0.5; and Sharjah (UAE) draw with Chinese Taipei, 2-2.

The crucial seventh round was being played at presstime last night with Tagaytay battling Ulaanbaatar, Manila-PSC tackling Shanghai and Wuxi facing Shah Alam.

Barbosa is pitted against Gundavaa; Paragua against FM Myagmursen Gunbayar; Gomez against IM Batkhuyag Munguntuul; and Laylo against IM Gombosuren Munkhgal.

Pasay-PAF is tangling with Erdenet, needing a win to stay in the hunt for the top three purses of $3,000, $2,000 and $1,000.