Paragua, 3 more share Asian Zonal chess lead

TAGAYTAY CITY—Grandmaster Mark Paragua and International Master Oliver Barbosa disposed of lower rated rivals while GM Darwin Laylo won by time forfeit yesterday to lead the Philippines’ charge in the second round of the Asian Zonal Chess Championships at the Tagaytay International Convention Center here. Paragua, the first Filipino to breach the 2600 Elo rating in 2006, trounced Indonesian IM Tirta Chandra Purnama in 32 moves of a King’s Indian Deffense while Barbosa, gunning for his second GM result, subdued 10-year-old Singaporean Fide Master Tin Jingyao in 41 moves of a Slav. Down by a pawn, Laylo, handling black, got the full point when Vietnamese Tong Thai Hung ran out of time and managed only 37 of the required 40 moves in the first time control. The three Filipinos, with two points each, shared the lead with Vietnamese IM Nguyen Van Huy, who stunned top-seeded GM Zhang Zhong  of Singapore in the nine-round competition. Zhang rejected an earlier draw offer by the Vietnamese, ranked just 15th in the 48-player open division of the event organized by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines and hosted by the Tagaytay City government through Mayor Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino. In the third round being held at presstime, Paragua and Barbosa were battling each other while Laylo was tackling Nguyen. Thus far, the Filipinos are figuring prominently in the race for the two World Cup slots at stake in the open division with GMs Rogelio “Joey” Antonio Jr., John Paul Gomez and IMs Oliver Dimakiling, Rolando Nolte and Richard Bitoon toting 1.5 points. They were in the company of Vietnamese IM Nguyen Huynh Minh Huy, Vietnamese GM Cao Sang, Indonesian GM Cerdas Barus, Singaporean IM Kevin Goh Wei Ming, Vietnamese GM Nguyen Anh Dung and Indonesian GM Susanto Megaranto, who beat Filipino Rhobel Legaspi. Antonio thwarted FM Haridas Pascua, who stunned Asia’s first GM Eugene Torre in the first round; Nolte dumped Leodegario Ricana and Bitoon beat Vietnamese IM Bao Khoa.