GEORGIAN Grandmaster Levan Pantsulaia narrowly escaped with the Philippine International Chess Championship crown yesterday.
Held to a draw by Filipino GM John Paul Gomez in the 10th and final round, Pantsulaia tallied 7.0 points with three other foreign GMs and had to anxiously wait for the tiebreak before heaving a sigh of relief at Celebrity Sports Plaza in Quezon City.
Russian top seed Ivan Popov, Georgian Merab Gagunashvili and Armenian Avetik Grigoryan actually matched Pantsulaia’s final score, necessitating the tiebreaker.
Popov trounced compatriot GM Anton Demchenko while Gagunashvili downed Indian International Master Narayanan Sunilduth Lyna. Grigoryan, on the other hand, split the point with Russian GM Mikhail Mozharov.
Though their efforts fell short, Popov, Gagunashvili and Grigoryan consoled themselves by pocketing $3,375, the same as Pantsulaia, after the first to fourth prizes were combined and divided equally among the winners.
Though he was unable to break the Europeans’ dominance, Gomez, a three-time Olympian, placed fifth with 6.5 points and emerged the best Filipino performer in the tournament supported by Asia United Bank, Burlington, Celebrity Sports Plaza, Microtel and Harold’s Hotel.
Mozharov and Filipino GM Darwin Laylo, who trounced Cebuano IM Kim Steven Yap, also tallied 6.5, but landed sixth and seventh when the tiebreak was applied.
Mired at 6.0 points, the second-seeded Demchenko wound up at eighth place, besting GM Rogelio Antonio Jr. and Sunilduth Lyna, who matched his score and rounded up the top 10.
WIM Janelle Mae Frayna lost to Fide Master Randy Segarra but still emerged best performer among the four female bets with 4.5 points.
Prospero “Butch” Pichay, president and chair of the organizing National Chess Federation of the Philippines, graced the closing ceremony with party-list Rep. Neri Colmenares, NCFP vice president for Visayas, and GM Jayson Gonzales, NCFP executive director and tournament director.