MANILA, Philippines—Georgian Grandmaster Merab Gagunashvili bested Singaporean Fide Master Chan Wei Xuan Timothy Saturday night to lead the early winners in the First Florencio Campomanes Memorial chess championship at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
Gagunashvili, ranked 10th with an Elo of 2596, won with black to share top spot with International Masters Rolando Nolte of the Philippines and Yu Lie of China.
Both handling white, Nolte downed compatriot Merben Roque while Yu subdued Filipino Ritchie Evangelista.
Indian IM Roy Saptarshi shared the limelight when he forced No. 1 seed GM Le Quang Liem (Elo 2681) of Vietnam to a draw.
Filipino sensation GM Wesley So, ranked second with his Elo of 2674, is still trying to extract the full point against countryman IM Petronio Roca.
Also forced to a prolonged battle were touted Chinese GMs Zhou Jianchao (Elo 2668) by Filipino FM Julius De Ramos; Ni Hua (Elo 2645) by Filipino FM Hardias Pascua; and Li Chao (2629) by untitled Indian Rajpara Ankit.
Indian spearhead GM Chanda Sandipan (Elo 2637) was locked in a tight fight against Filipino David Elorta and so was Uzbekistan GM Anton Filippov, winner of the just-concluded 6th Prospero Pichay Cup against Indonesian IM Taufik Halay.
Filipino GMs John Paul Gomez, Darwin Laylo, Eugene Torre and Jayson Gonzales were also gunning for wins against Deniel Causo, Edgar Reggie Olay, Indian WIM Rout Padmini and Alexander Milagrosa, respectively.
The nine-round Swiss System tournament dangling a top purse of $10,000 lured 70 players, including 21 GMs and Indian WGM Manisha Mohanty Kiran.
World Chess Federation president Kirzan Ilyumzhinov and Philippine Olympic Committee head Jose “Peping” Cojuangco Jr. made the ceremonial moves with a bust of Campomanes, who headed the Fide from 1982-1995, as backdrop.
Also present were National Chess Federation of the Philippines president Prospero “Butch” Pichay, Fide secretary general Ignatius Leung, NCFP secretary general and Tagaytay City Mayor Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino, Metro Manila Development Authority chair Francis Tolentino and former PSC chair Cecil Hechanova, who together with Campomanes were the prime movers in Manila’s hosting of the 1992 Chess Olympiad.
Some Campomanes family members, including his two sons, also graced the affair.
The second edition of the Campomanes Cup series, also offering a total pot of $100,000, will be held in Vietnam next year.
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