Georgian GM retains lead as Pinoys falter

GEORGIAN Grandmaster Levan Pantsulaia continued to spearhead the charge of the foreign bets Tuesday night as the Filipino campaigners lost ground in the Philippine International Chess  Championship at Celebrity Sports Plaza in Quezon City.

The third-seeded Pantsulaia, back-to-back winner of the Mumbai Mayor’s Cup, drew with countryman GM Merab Gagushnavili to raise his total to 5.0 points and keep his slim lead over Gagunashvili and three other European GMs in the Open division.

Tied with Gagusnavili at 4.5 after six rounds were Russians Mikhail Mozharov and Anton Demchenko and Armenian Avetik Grigoryan.

The second-ranked Demchenko and No. 4 Mozharov also opted to draw their match, allowing Grigoryan, ranked fourth, to move closer following a victory over Filipino GM John Paul Gomez.

Though he got mired at 4.0 points,  Gomez remained  among the top local bets in the tournament organized by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines and sponsored by the Philippine Sports Commission and Puregold.

Bunched with Gomez, a three-time Olympian, were top-seeded Russian GM Ivan Popov, youthful Indian International Master Narayanan Sunilduth Lyna and Filipino GMs Oliver Barbosa, Rogelio Antonio Jr. and Richard Bitoon  in the $30,000 tournament.

Popov, toting an Elo rating of 2622,  trounced GM Darwin Laylo while the 16-year-old Lyna bested IM Kim Steven Yap.

Barbosa downed Fide Master Sander Severino, Antonio subdued Fide Master Randy Segarra, while Bitoon stunned US-based GM Julio Catalino Sadorra, who bowed out of contention at 3.0 points.

Bitoon notched his third straight triumph after a lethargic start that saw him tally only 1.0 point in the first three rounds of the tournament supported by Asia United Bank.

Flashing vintage form, GM Eugene Torre tripped IM Ronald Bancod to rise to 3.5 points in the company of Laylo and IM Haridas Pascua, who hurdled Narquinden Reyes.

The seventh round pits Pantsulaia against Grigoryan, Mozharov against Gagunashvili and Gomez against Demchenko.

WIM Janelle Mae Frayna beat Paulo James Florendo to improve to 2.5 points, the highest among four female entries in the 38-player field. Roy Luarca