By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
ASIAN Games campaigner IM Ronald Dableo racked up back-to-back wins over Oliver Barbosa and IM Oliver Dimakiling in the sixth and seventh rounds to catch overnight solo lead GM-candidate Wesley So at the helm in the second Rep. Prospero A. Pichay Cup National Open chess championship at the SM City Manila.
So toppled sixth seed GM Nelson Mariano II and then drew with No. 3 IM Darwin Laylo to tighten his grip on the lead and boost his chances of grabbing one of five men’s slots to the Asian Zonals scheduled Jan. 10-19 in Vietnam.
Both Dableo and So have six points out of a possible seven in this prestigious nine-round tournament organized by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) in honor of Rep. Pichay.
Dableo and So will clash in the eighth and penultimate round.
Top seed GM Mark Paragua drew with three-time national junior champion John Paul Gomez in the sixth round and then stopped IM Chito Garma the following round to forge a three-way tie for third to fifth places with Laylo and IM Petronio Roca.
Laylo, a mainstay of the threeman RP team which finished eighth in the Asian Games in Doha, Qatar, humbled Jerome Balico in the sixth round and drew with So in the seventh.
Roca, seeded only No. 13, made it to the elite circle by downing Ruy Ibanez and Gomez in succession.
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