SUBIC — GM Wesley So, continued his near-flawless showing with his third straight convincing victory. His closest Filipino rival, GM Rogelio Antonio, found enough motivation to keep pace.
So and Antonio, two of the country’s most talented players representing different generations, swept their respective rivals to keep Filipinos’ hopes alive after three rounds in the 2008 Philippine Open international chess championship at the Subic Exhibition and Convention Center here late Thursday.
So humbled upset-conscious Reggie Olay in 64 moves of the Nimzo-Indian while Antonio trounced three-time national junior champion John Paul Gomez in 28 moves of the French defense to share the lead with GMs Li Chao of China and Susanto Megaranto of Indonesia with perfect scores of three points in this 11-round tournament organized by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) and supported by the Department of Tourism (DOT) and the Subic Bay Management Administration (SBMA).
Li whipped IM Ronald Bancod, while Megaranto crushed GM Nguyen Anh Dung to join So and Antonio in the lead.
All four players will mix it up in the pivotal fourth round with So taking on Megaranto and Antonio battling Li at center stage.
Top games can be viewed live everyday through website: www.ncfphilippines.org.
"Magandang laban po ito, lalo na magaling din talaga siya (Megaranto)," So, the 14-year-old high school junior from St. Francis College (Bacoor) who holds the distinction as the world’s youngest GM, said.
It will mark the first time that So and Megaranto will clash since their much-publicized "One-on-One Duel" held in Jakarta, Indonesia last April 17-20 where the young Filipino champion won, 4-2 (three wins, two draws and one loss).
Equally exciting is the Antonio-Li match, one of four RP-China showdowns lined up for the day.
"Mabigat kalaban ang mga Chinese, pero gagawin natin ang makakaya natin para manalo," Antonio said referring to his fourth-round match against Li, who earned the respect of Filipino players when he ruled the second President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Cup at the Duty Free Fiesta Mall last year.
NM Rolando Nolte made short work of IM Dede Liu of Indonesia to lead five highly-rated foreign players with 2.5 points.
Tied with Nolte with 2.5 points apiece are top seed GM Ehsan Ghaem Maghami and GM Morteza Mahjoob of Iran, GM Le Quang Liem of Vietnam and Weiqi Zhou and Haoxiang Jia of China.
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