MANILA, Philippines–Chinese grandmasters Zhou Jianchao and Zhao Jun set the pace, with Filipino star GM Wesley So and three underdog locals close behind after three rounds of the first Florencio Campomanes Memorial Cup chess championship at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
International Masters Barlo Nadera and Rolando Nolte drew with sixth seed GM Li Chao of China and fifth seed GM Chanda Sandipan of India, respectively, while fellow IM Richard Bitoon bested upstart Mari Joseph Turqueza to match So’s 2.5 points Sunday night.
The 16-year-old So, the country’s top player and ranked second in the 72-player field with an Elo of 2674, drew with Georgian GM Merab Gagunashvili and trailed 3-pointers Zhou and Zhao.
Seeded third, Zhou trounced No. 12 GM Ehsan Ghaemmaghami of Iran while No. 11 Zhao stunned fourth-seeded countryman GM Ni Hua.
Also with 2.5 points were Gagunashvili, Li, and GM Murtas Kazhgaleyev of Kazakhstan and GM Ling Diren of China, who drew their match in the nine-round tournament organized by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines.
Top seed GM Le Quang Liem of Vietnam, newly crowned Pichay Cup champion GM Anton Filippov of Uzbekistan and Asia’s first GM Eugene Torre, share 11th to 32nd places with 2.0 points each.
Aeroflot Open champion Le, the highest-rated player here with an Elo of 2681, bested untitled Filipino Noel de la Cruz for his first win after back-to-back draws.
Filippov trounced Fide Master Haridas Pascua, while Torre, the most senior in the field at 58, notched his second straight win at the expense of Indonesian IM Tirto.
Chess Olympiad-bound GM Darwin Laylo downed countryman Julius Joseph De Ramos to tow a big group of 2-pointers.
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