FILIPINO Grand Master Oliver Barbosa downed Chinese GM Lu Shanglei on Saturday to bolster his chances in the 11th Asian Continental Individual Chess Championships in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
Barbosa, winner of the Parsvnath International GM Tournament in India in January, climbed to 5.5 points, right behind Indian pacesetter GM Parimarjan Negi, who toted 6.0 points after beating Chinese GM Ding Liren.
Sharing second to fourth places with Barbosa were GMs Yu Yangyi of China and Salem A R Saleh of United Arab Emirates, who thwarted Filipino GMs Mark Paragua and John Paul Gomez, respectively.
Top Filipino bet GM Wesley So drew with Indian GM Abhijeet Gupta to catch up with Paragua and Gomez at 4.5 points.
Asia’s first GM Eugene Torre and GM Darwin Laylo hurdled their opponents to improve to 3.0 points.
Ateneo stalwart International Master Jan Emmanuel Garcia split the point with Vietnamese Fide Master Nguyen Van Hai for 2.5 points in the event serving as qualifier for next year’s World Chess Cup. Roy Luarca