RP Super GM Paragua 4th in Mind Sports Games

MANILA, Philippines – Filipino Super Grandmaster Mark Paragua failed to sustain his momentum and finished fourth spot finish in the Individual Blitz Chess championship event of the 1st World Mind Sports Games. Paragua, who led after the 11-round preliminaries, suffered a stinging 2-0 defeat at the hands of GM Yuri Drozdovskij of Ukraine in the semifinal of the event held at the Beijing International Convention Center. That loss put Paragua out of title contention while giving Drozdovskij a chance to meet compatriot and eventual champion GM Martyn Kravtsiv in the final round. In the Individual Rapid Chess Competition, Paragua halved the point with GM Csaba Balogh of Hungrary to post a total of 3.0 points after five rounds. Paragua is now tied for fifth to 15th places together with his sixth round opponent GM Yuriy Kryvoruchko of Ukraine. In the same event, Paragua's compatriot Rolando Nolte bowed to GM Valeriv Aveskulov of Ukraine. – GMANews.TV