KHANTY-Mansiysk, Russia — Grandmaster Darwin Laylo kept his bid alive by downing No. 21 seed GM David Navara of Czech Republic in the second game of their first round showdown in the 2009 World Chess cup at the Khnaty-Mansiysk Center of Arts Sunday here.

The Filipino champion finished off his highly-rated Czech rival with a potent queen push to g5, attacking black's unprotected g-pawn and threatening mate in two moves.

The win enabled Laylo to force a two-game rapid tiebreak match against Navara on Monday with the winner advancing to the second round.

If the match is still tied after the two rapid matches, the two players will play two more blitz matches to determine the winner.

Laylo's stunning triumph over Navara was more than enough to cushion the impact of the upset loss of GM Wesley So to GM Gadir Guseinov of Azerbaijan and the draw of GM Rogelio Antonio, Jr. to GM Gata Kamsky of the United States.

So, seeded 59th in this tough 128-player field with an ELO of 2640, failed to follow-up his smashing win in the first game early Sunday and lost to Guseinov (ELO 2625) with the disadvantageous black pieces.

Like Laylo, So will have to battle it out with Guseinov in two rapid tiebreak matches to earn a ticket to the 64-player second round scheduled Nov. 24-25.