Megaranto beat Wesley So to lead SEA Games
www.FIDE.com
In the battle of co-leaders of the SEA Games Standard chess competition, GM Susanto Megaranto of Indonesia beat top seed GM Wesley So of the Philippines in the third round to grab solo lead midway through the 6-nation round robin. There was jubilation among the Indonesian spectators since the victory assured Megaranto of the gold medal. Visit chess-results.com for standings and results of all SEA Games chess competitions for Standard and Rapid chess.
Megaranto leads with a perfect slate of 3 points after beating GM Cao Sang of Vietnam and Teerapabpaisit Wisuwat of Thailand. He faces the Malaysian and Myanmar reresentatives in the last two rounds. Wesley So, Cao Sang and FM Kyaw Lin Naing of Myanmar follow with 2 points each in the race for silver and bronze medals.
Visit Asian Chess Federation web site for more photos and charts.
In the Women’s Standard Chess, WFM Jose Rulp Ylem of the Philippines leads alone with 2.5 points followed by WIM Nguyen Thi Mai Hung of Vietnam and WGM Irine Sukandar of Indonesia with 1.5 points each.
In the Men’s Rapid chess Swiss System competition, GM Le Quang Liem of Vietnam maintained solo lead with 6 points out of 7 rounds followed closely by FM Hamdani Rudin of Indonesia with 5.5 points and GM Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son of Vietnam with 5 points. Trailing with 4 points each are GM Oliver Barbosa and GM Rogelio Antonio Jr., both of the Philippines.
In the Women’s rapid chess, WGM Pham Le Thao Nguyen of Vietnam is 1.5 points ahead of compatriot WGM Hoang Thi Bao Tram. WIM Catherine Perena of the Philippoines trails with 4.5 points with two rounds left in the round robin.
Ouch! This is very unfortunate.
The gap between So and Giri keeps on widening with every tournament. At the rate So is playing, he may never get to join the 2700 club.