Pinoy chess master’s success

Pinoy chess master upsets Singaporean GM in Asian tilt
abs-cbnNEWS.com 04/23/2010 6:26 PM

MANILA, Philippines – Filipino FIDE Master (FM) Jan Emmanuel Garcia scored the biggest upset in the 2nd Round of the 2010 Asian Individual Chess Championships by beating Singaporean grandmaster (GM) Zhang Zhong late Thursday in Subic, Olongapo City.

The 14-year-old Ateneo high school student prevailed against the Singaporean after 58 moves of an English Opening using white pieces.
“Sana magtuloy-tuloy ang magandang nilalaro po natin dito sa Subic,” said Garcia, who also held Asia’s 1st GM Eugene Torre to a draw in the opening round late Wednesday.

With the win, Garcia raised his total points to 1.5 and now shares 10th to 32nd places in the company of his 3rd round opponent GM Tu Hoang Thong of Vietnam.

National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) president Prospero “Butch” Pichay Jr. lauded Garcia’s performance.

“Isa si Jan Emmanuel (Garcia) sa mga youth chessers natin na potential maging world class grandmaster sa hinaharap. I’m confident na makakakuha siya ng title norm dito sa Subic chess,” he added.

Also among those who scored impressive wins is National Master (NM) Allan Macala, who trounced GM Mohammed Al Sayed of Qatar to notch his 2nd straight win.

The Davao City native Macala, who upset International Master (IM) Dronavalli Harika of India in the opening round, will face GM Ni Hua of China in the next round.

So, Barbosa win over separate foes

The Philippines’ top rated GM Wesley So and IM Oliver Barbosa, meanwhile, also won their respective matches to join compatriot Macala in the leadership board that includes GM Krishnan Sasikiran and IM Sethuraman of India, GM Yu Yangyi, GM Ding Liren and Yu Ruiyuan of China in the group of 2 pointers.

So bested GM Saleh Salem of the United Arab Emirates while Barbosa beat GM Abhijeet Gupta of India.

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