Laylo 2 draws from victory

SUBIC FREEPORT—Filipino Grandmaster Darwin Laylo continued to fend off the foreign invasion and moved closer to the title in the 2011 2nd Chairman Prospero “Butch” Pichay Cup international chess championship at the Subic Bay Travelers Hotel here on Tuesday.

The 31-year-old Laylo downed Chinese GM Xu Jun in the seventh round and then drew with Georgian GM David Arutinian in the eighth to climb to 7.0 points on six wins and two draws and stay one point clear of Arutinian and four other foreigners.

Also with 6.0 points are Chinese GM Wen Yang, GM Li Shilong and Lu Shanglei and Indonesian GM Susanto Megaranto, the newly crowned Asian Zone 3.3 champion.

With only two rounds to go, all Laylo needs are draws to rule the 86-player event organized by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines and pocket the $6,000 top purse.

Arutinian also settled for a draw with Wen, while Li shocked top-seeded Georgian GM Merab Gagunashvili before drawing with second seed GM Zhang Zhong of Singapore.

The untitled Lu subdued IM Oliver Dimakiling and GM Eugene Torre, respectively, while Megaranto outplayed Chinese Wang Jue and Filipino IM Rolando Nolte in succession.

Still within striking distance with 5.5 points are Asian Zone 3.3 runner-up GM Mark Paragua and GM John Paul Gomez.

Paragua dumped IM Yves Ranola while Gomez trounced Denile Causo in the event backed by the Philippine Sports Commission.

Still in the money-chase with 5.0 points are Torre, Nolte, IM Richard Bitoon and IM Chito Garma, who shocked GM Rogelio Antonio Jr. and Alcon John Datu, who bested Dimakiling.

Antonio, seeded third, later withdrew from the tournament, citing “over-fatigue and severe headache.”

Standings after eight rounds (Filipinos unless stated):
7.0 points—D. Laylo; 6.0—D. Arutinian (Georgia), Y. Wen (China), S. Li (China), S. Lu (China), S. Megaranto (Indonesia); 5.5—J. Xu (China), M. Gagunashvili (Georgia), J. Gomez, Z. Zhang (Singapore), Q. Ma (China), J. Garcia, O. Barbosa , D. Xu (China), M. Paragua; 5.0—E. Torre, R. Bitoon, C. Zeng (China), R. Nolte, C. Garma, A. Datu, A. Novitas (Indonesia), G. Quo (China), C. Purnama (Indonesia).