UZBEK TOPS PGMA CUP CHESS; ANTONIO, DIMAKILING TOP RP FINISHERS

GMA news.tv
10/01/2009 | 11:49 AM

GM Anton Filippov of Uzbekistan emerged as the champion in the fourth
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Cup international chess championship
Wednesday at the Duty Free Fiesta Mall in Parañaque City.

Filippov, seeded third with an ELO of 2595, subdued IM Richard Bitoon
of the Philippines in the eighth round late Tuesday and drew with top
seed GM Mikhail Mchedlishvili of Georgia in the final round to finish
with a nine-round aggregate of 6.5 points on four wins and five draws.

Four other players – GMs Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son of Vietnam, Ehsan
Ghaemmaghami of Iran, Merab Gagunashvili of Georgia and Gopal Nayanan
of India – also finished with similar scores of 6.5 points but lost
the title to Filippov in the tiebreak.

Truong Son, who held the solo lead after the seventh round, settled
for back-to-back draws with Mchedlishvili and Gagunashvili in the
eighth and ninth rounds.

Ghaemmaghami, the lone Iranian player in the field, made the biggest
jump when he defeated GM John Paul Gomez of the Philippines in the
eighth round and GM Tigran Kotanjian of Armenia in the ninth to finish
in a tie for first place.

Gagunashvili beat GM Meng Kong Wong of Singapore and halved the
point with Nguyen, while Nayanan drew with Kotanjian in the eighth
and trounced GM Darwin Laylo of the Philippines in the final round.

The five players, however, earned US$4,000 each out of the total
prize fund of $40,000 in the tournament organized by the National
Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP).

Mchedlishvili, the highest-rated player here with an ELO of 2613,
finished in sixth place with six points in a tie with GMs Rogelio
Antonio, Jr. and Oliver Dimakiling of the Philippines.

Filipino GM Rogelio "Joey" Antonio, Jr. during the President GMA Cup
international chess championship in Parañaque City.Jeff Venancio
Antonio, one of three players who will represent the country in the
World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia next month, drew w n nipped
compatriot GM-elect Ronald Dableo in the final round.

Dimakiling drew with Dableo in the eighth round and won over No. 16
Pyotr Kostenko of Kazakhstan in the final round to join Antonio as
the highest-placed Filipino players.

Mchedlishvili, Antonio and Dimakiling pocketed $1,333 each.

Nine other players, led by Filipino GMs Jayson Gonzales, Buenaventura
"Bong" Villamayor and Gomez and IM Richard Bitoon, finished in ninth
to 17th places with 5.5 points. They received $933 each.

Also in the group were Kotanjian, Ismagambetov, GM Das Neelotpal of
India and Emmanuel Senador.

Laylo, the reigning Asian Zone 3.3 champion, and Dableo, the country’s
newest GM, led four other players with five points.

Defending champion, GM Eugene Torre, who won the title in a three-way
tie last year, withdrew after the seventh round. He finished with
2.5 points on five draws and two losses. – GMANews.TV