John Paul Gomez cops blindfold chess silver

PALEMBANG, Indonesia—Grandmaster John Paul Gomez bested his last two opponents to clinch the silver medal in the blindfold chess competition at the Swarna Dwipa Hotel here.

Smarting from a seventh round loss to eventual champion GM Le Quang Liem of Vietnam, Gomez topped Malaysian International Master Jimmy Liew in the eighth round then closed out his bid with a victory over Indonesian IM Tirta Chandra Purnama.

He actually finished tied with Le, who crushed Indonesian IM Lioe Dede then drew with Malasyian IM Mok Tze-Meng at 7.0 points but the Vietnamese took the gold by virtue of the winner-over-the-other rule.

Another Filipino, GM Darwin Laylo, who bowed to Gomez in the first round but conquered Le in the fourth, took the bronze with 5.5 points.

Vietnamese GM Dao Thien Hai and WGM Nguyen Thi Thanh are leading the mixed pair competition with 10 points. Trailing the top-seeded Vietnamese duo is the Filipino tandem of GM Oliver Barbosa and WIM Catherine Perena (eight points).

Unhearlded Kongsee Uaychai of Thailand emerged champion in the Asean chess competition, a variation of standard chess initiated by Thailand, Indonesia and Myanmar.
The silver medal went to Wynn Zaw Htun of Myanmar while veteran Filipino GM Rogelio “Joey” Antonio, a novice in the event, failed to bag a medal.

The 47-year-old Antonio, a 12-time national champion, will try to compensate when he participates in the individual rapid competition with Barbosa starting Thursday.

Top Filipino hope GM Wesley So will open his campaign in men’s standard play against Fide Master Kyaw Lin Naing of Myanmar.