Sunday, April 22, 2007
Chinese stay on top; Sadorra earns IM title
By Dante Navarro, The Philippine Star, Friday, April 20, 2007
SUBIC – Top seed Chinese GM Wang Yue took a step closer to clinching the Philippine Open Invitational Chess Championship crown with a draw against compatriot Ni Hua even as GM Eugene Torre bounced back with a crucial win over Hamed Nouri and FM Julio Catalino Sadorra became the country’s newest IM with a victory over IM Barlo Nadera in the penultimate round of the $40,000 event at the El Centro Legenda Hotel here Wednesday.
Wang, the highest-rated player here with a 2656 rating, continued to live up to the hype as he held the second seed Hua to a draw and remained in solo lead with 6.5 points, half-a-point ahead of fellow Chinese players Zhao Jun, Zhang Zhong and Hua heading into the final round of the 9-round Swiss system event offering a top purse of $6,000.
Zhang trounced fellow GM Li Shilong, while Zhao trampled untitled Li Chao to join Hua in second with six points as the Chinese braced themselves for a sweep of the top three places in this event organized by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) under Surigao del Sur Rep. Prospero Pichay Jr. and backed by the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), Globe Telecoms and Duty Free.
But three Filipino players - Torre, Sadorra and GM candidate Oliver Dimakiling - bounced back with key victories that gained them a share of fifth place with 5.5 points, one full point behind Wang but just within sight of the joint second placers.
Click here to read the full story or visit NCFP website for the result.
SUBIC – Top seed Chinese GM Wang Yue took a step closer to clinching the Philippine Open Invitational Chess Championship crown with a draw against compatriot Ni Hua even as GM Eugene Torre bounced back with a crucial win over Hamed Nouri and FM Julio Catalino Sadorra became the country’s newest IM with a victory over IM Barlo Nadera in the penultimate round of the $40,000 event at the El Centro Legenda Hotel here Wednesday.
Wang, the highest-rated player here with a 2656 rating, continued to live up to the hype as he held the second seed Hua to a draw and remained in solo lead with 6.5 points, half-a-point ahead of fellow Chinese players Zhao Jun, Zhang Zhong and Hua heading into the final round of the 9-round Swiss system event offering a top purse of $6,000.
Zhang trounced fellow GM Li Shilong, while Zhao trampled untitled Li Chao to join Hua in second with six points as the Chinese braced themselves for a sweep of the top three places in this event organized by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) under Surigao del Sur Rep. Prospero Pichay Jr. and backed by the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA), Globe Telecoms and Duty Free.
But three Filipino players - Torre, Sadorra and GM candidate Oliver Dimakiling - bounced back with key victories that gained them a share of fifth place with 5.5 points, one full point behind Wang but just within sight of the joint second placers.
Click here to read the full story or visit NCFP website for the result.
