World Seniors: Antonio places second

Filipino Grandmaster Rogelio “Joey” Antonio trounced Italian International Master Spartaco Sarno in the 11th and final round on Saturday (Sunday in Manila) to place second in the 27th World Seniors Chess Championships in Acqui Termi, Italy.

Competing in the 50 and over division, Antonio wound up with 8.5 points on six wins and five draws, to tie GM Eric Prie of France in the No. 2 spot behind top seed Julio Granada of Peru with 9.5 points.

Antonio, a 13-time national champion, however, snared the silver medal by virtue of superior tiebreak points over Prie.

Handling white, Antonio, pride of Calapan, Oriental Mindoro, prevailed after 55 moves of a Caro-Kann-French Defense transposition.

Antonio’s other victims were Mexican Andres Belmont Hernandez, German Karl-Heinz Kannenberg, Ukrainian IM Alexander Reprintsev, Slovakian Fide Master Pavel Certek and American FM Krishan Jhunjhnuwala.

He drew with Indian IM Devaki V Prasad, Zuniga, Prie and Georgian GMs Zurab Sturua and Giorgi Bagaturov.

“It’s really different when you’re representing your country abroad, you’ll give it all,” said Antonio. “Especially in a competition like this where 60 nations are represented.”

Torre shares 2nd to 10th

In the 65 and over division, GM Eugene Torre drew with top seed GM Anatoly Vaisser of France to climb to 8.0 points in a tie for second to 10th places.

Vaisser also amassed 8.0 points and yielded the title to Russian GM Evgeny Sveshnikov, who tallied 8.5 points.

After the tie break was applied, Torre placed seventh. Rounding up the top 10 are Czech GM Vlastimil Jansa (3rd), French GM Vladimir Okhotnik (4th), German GM Lothar Vogt (5th), Russian GM Yuri S Balashov (6th), Russian IM Alexander V Lisenko (8th), Belgian IM Jan Rooze (9th) and Russian GM Evgeni Vasiukov (10th).