Bitoon, Barbosa fortify ASEAN chess title bids
12/28/2010 08:33 PM
Filipino International Masters (IM) Richard Bitoon and Oliver Barbosa recorded a win and a draw, respectively, to fortify their respective title bids in the 1st ASEAN Open Chess Championship in Singapore.
Bitoon defeated FIDE Master (FM) Nguyen Duc Hoa of Vietnam while Barbosa battled Grandmaster (GM) and tournament third seed Susanto Mergaranto of Indonesia to a draw to rise to a share of second to sixth places in the tournament that serves as part of the annual 7th Singapore International Chess Festival.
Bitoon, a 2010 Khanty-Mansiysk Chess Olympiad veteran, subdued Hoa while playing the white pieces to raise his record to three points behind two wins and two draws. Barbosa also posted three points.
Joining Bitoon and Barbosa from second to sixth places are GM Dao Thien Hai and IM Nguyen Van Huy of Vietnam, and Megaranto. They are half a point behind top seed GM Zurab Azmaiparashvili of Georgia going into the fifth round.
Azmaiparashvili, who now plays for Singapore, outduelled GM John Paul Gomez of the Philippines to take the lead with 3.5 points on three wins and one draw.
Full article here.
Is So playing?