Teen from China tops PGMA Cup chess tilt

Chinese players dominated the second President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Cup international open chess championship, with 18-year-old grandmaster Li Chao getting the title and pocketing the top prize of $5,000. Li, seeded only third with an ELO of 2548, agreed to a draw with Filipino GM Mark Paragua after only 28 moves of a Sicilian Defense to finish with seven points in the tournament, which was held at the Duty Free Fiesta Mall in Parañaque City. "I'm very, very happy to win here in the Philippines," Li said in halting English. Li netted six wins, two draws, and only one loss. The teenaged campaigner from Tai Yuan province actually finished in a three-way tie for first place with two other Chinese campaigners, top seed GM Ni Hua and No. 11 seed Weiqi Zhou. But Li earned the title by virtue of a higher tiebreak score. The two others, however, also pocketed $5,000 each. Ni, who also tied for first in the Philippine International Open held in Subic early this year, drew with fellow GM Zhang Zhong of China in 32 moves of a Ruy Lopez, while Weiqi outsteadied No. 48 seed national master Rolando Andador in 31 moves of a French Defense. GM Zhang Zhong of Singapore finished fourth with 6.5 points, the same score of NM Dino Ballecer and Paragua. Ballecer, one of the veteran campaigners from La Union, emerged as the highest-placed Filipino player in fifth place. Paragua wound up sixth overall. Zhong, Ballecer, and Paragua earned $2,167 each. Andador ended up in seventh place with six points. He received $1,300. Nine players, led by NM Rolando Nolte and GM-candidate Wesley So, shared eighth to 16th places with 5.5 points. Also with the same score were comebacking IM Ronald Dableo, WGM Li Ruofan of Singapore , IM Oliver Dimakiling, IM Jayson Gonzales, WIM Huang Qian of China, Voltaire Sevillano, and NM Emmanuel Senador. Dableo, who made his first tournament appearance after serving a one-year suspension for his alleged role in a game-fixing scandal last year, drew with Dimakiling. Also drawing their matches were So and Senador, Gonzales and Nolte, and Sevillano and Li Ruofan. Notably out of the magic circle were the Philippines' top two players, GMs Rogelio Antonio Jr. and Eugene Torre. Antonio drew with IM Julio Catalino Sadorra, while Torre halved the point with IM Richard Bitoon to finish in a tie for 17th to 34th places with only five points. Also with five points were NM Hamed Nouri, who emerged as the highest-palced Filipino player in the first edition of the GMA Cup; and the Vietnamese duo of Dao Thien Hai and Nguyen Anh Dung. It was the fourth time that Chinese players dominated international chess tournaments since Prospero Pichay took over as head of the National Chess Federation of the Philippines. GM Zhang Pengxiang topped the first President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo Cup held last year and the Asian Individual Chess Championship in Mandaue City last September. GM Wang Yue ruled the Philippine International Open held in Subic last April. In another tournament, Julius Sinangote topped the second PGMA Chess Challenge and went home P50,000 richer. Sinangote finished with 7.5 points, half a point ahead of Nicomedes Alisangco, Merben Roque and David Elorta. Bryan Jose wound up fifth with 6.5 points. Wilie Abalos served as tournament director, while Gene Poliarco was chief arbiter. Final standings 7 points C. Li (China), H. Ni (China), W. Zhou (China) 6.5 points Z. Zhang (Singapore), D. Ballecer (RP), M. Paragua (RP) 6 points R. Andador (RP) 5.5 points R. Nolte (RP), W. So (RP), R. Dableo (RP), R. Li ( China ), O. Dimakiling (RP), J. Gonzales (RP), Q. Huang (China), V. Sevillano (RP), E. Senador (RP) 5 points J. Sadorra (RP), Y. Wang (China), B. Nadera (RP), L. Yu (China), J. Zhang (China), R. Bitoon (RP), E. Torre (RP), H. Nouri (RP), D. T. Hai (Vietnam), N. A. Dung (Vietnam), E. Fernandez (RP), Tirto (Indonesia), O. Barbosa (RP), R. Antonio (RP), R. Bancod (RP), N. Situru (Indonesia), F. Donguines (RP), C. Garma (RP)

- GMANews.TV