Gomez ties for 2nd in India chess tilt

Filipino Grandmaster John Paul Gomez bested Chinese Ma Qun in the 11th and final round Thursday to finish in a tie for second in the 4th Chennai Open 2012 International Grandmaster Chess Tournament in Chennai, India.

Despite handling the black pieces, Gomez prevailed after 41 moves of the French defense to raise his total to 8.5 points, tailing untitled Chinese Yu Ruiyuan, who clinched the title and earned a GM result with 9.0 points.

Yu drew with Dzhumaev after 33 moves of a Sicilian defense.

Lodged with Gomez at 8.5 points were top seed GM Aleksej Aleksandrov of Belarus, GM Marat Dzhumaev and GM Martyn Kravtsiv of Ukraine and International Master Kore Akshayraj of India.

Kravtsiv and Akshayraj settled for a draw after 55 moves of the Nimzo Indian defense.
GM Oliver Barbosa split the point with Aleksandrov after 51 moves of the Nimzo Indian defense to score 8.0 points.

The other Filipino players fared well in the Swiss system tournament that lured 296 players, including 17 GMs and 29 IMs from 13 countries.

GMs Mark Paragua and Richard Bitoon wound up with 7.5 points following wins over Indian IM Praveen Kumar and P. Phoobalan, respectively.