Zhao completes Campomanes chess romp; So top Filipino finisher
MANILA, Philippines—Chinese Grandmaster Zhao Jun of China completed his amazing showing by emerging champion in the first Florencio Campomanes Memorial Cup chess championships even as GM Wesley So expectedly wound up top Filipino player at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium yesterday.
The 24-year-old Zhao, seeded only 11th in the 72-player field, drew with Pichay Cup champion GM Anton Filippov of Uzbekistan to finish with a nine-round total of 7.0 points, the same output of top-ranked GM Le Quang Liem of Vietnam.
Le, the highest-rated player here with an Elo of 2681, bested Chinese GM Zhou Jianchao to catch up with Zhao, who led from the start of the $100,000 tournament held in honor of the late long-time Filipino president of the World Chess Federation.
When the tiebreak was applied, Zhao nipped Le for the title. They split the combined first and second prizes, however, and pocketed $9,500 each.
Zhao and Le, who boasts an Elo of 2681, both posted five wins and four draws in the event organized by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines.
So, seeded second with an Elo of 2674, carried the fight for the Philippines by placing seventh with 6.0 points, the same total of fellow 2010 Chess Olympiad-bound GM Darwin Laylo and International Master Richard Bitoon and four others.
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