Li, who is best remembered by local fans for winning the second President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Cup last year, outdueled So in only 30 moves of the Sicilian to move into a two-way tie for the lead with Le, who bested erstwhile pacesetter Weiqi Zhou of China. Li became the second Chinese player to win a game over So in the tournament, following up the earlier triumph by Zhou in the fifth round.

To GMs Rogelio Antonio Jr. and Buenaventura "Bong" Vilamayor and NM Rolando Nolte belonged the honor of keeping Filipino hopes alive in this tough, 11-round tournament organized by the national Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) under president Prospero "Butch" Pichay and secretary-genral Mayor Abraham "Bambol" Tolentino.

Antonio, Villamayor and Nolte all have 5.5 points, a full point behind Li and Le with still three rounds remaining in this 76-player tournament which attracted 11 GMs, 17 IMs and three FMs.

Antonio, who was dislodged by So as the country’s highest-ranked player in the recent FIDE list for April, outplayed compatriot IM Barlo Nadera. Villamayor, who left a high-paying job as a chess instructor in Singapore to resume his playing career, trounced Xiu Deshun of China, while Nolte, one of the most underrated players in the country’s deep pool of talents, dumped Yang Kaiqi of China.

Tied with Antonio, Vilamayor and Nolte with 5,5 points are top seed GM Ehsan Ghaem Maghami of Iran, GM Susanto megaranto of Indonesia, GM Nguyen Anh Dun of Vietnam, GM Morteza Mahjoob of Iran and IM Sadikin Irwanto of Indonesia. So dropped into a a tie for 13 th to 21 st places with only five points.

IM Julio Catalino Sadorra crushed WGM Zhang Jilin ofChina, David WElorta whipped Yu Lie of China, Reggie Olay humbled FM Lin Naing Kyaw of Mynamr and Arlan Cabe demolished Xu Tong of China to provide the other victories for the Filipino side.