Filipino GM Laylo draws with former world chess champion

GRANDMASTER (GM) Darwin Laylo drew with top seed and former world champion GM Rustam Kasimdhanov (ELO 2685) on Friday to settle for a nine-way tie for 10th place after five rounds of the 10th Asian Continental Individual chess championships at the Hotel Pardisan in Mashhad, Iran.

Laylo raised his total to 3.0 points, the same output of Kasimdhanov, GM Adhiban B and GM Gopal GN of India, GM Rinat Jumabayev of Kazakhstan, GM Wen Yang of China, GM Dao Thien Hai of Vietnam, GM Susanto Megaranto of Indonesia and GM Elshan Moradiabadi of Iran.

Laylo will play Adhiban B in the sixth round.

Adhiban B, who beat another Filipino entry GM Wesley So in the 4th round, lost to Chinese GM Zhou Weiqi in the fifth.

So, the country’s top-rated player with an ELO rating of 2667, drew with IM Vidit Santosh Gujrathi of India.

In other results, GM Mark Paragua drew with IM Alavi Sayed Javad of Iran while GM John Paul Gomez also drew with Wang Chen of China.

The only casualty in the Filipino camp was IM Oliver Barbosa who bowed to Chinese GM Zhao Jun. So, Paragua, Gomez and Barbosa tallied 2.5 points each good for a tie for 19th to 37th place.

Meanwhile, GM Yu Yangyi of China toppled countryman and ertswhile co-leader GM Bu Xiangzhi to grab the solo lead with 4.5 points.

GM Pentala Harikrishna of India defeated GM Rinat Jumabayev of Kazakhstan to notch 4.0 points for solo second.

The top four finishers of the nine-round event will earn the right to represent Asia in the 2011 World Cup slated in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia later this year.

China and India have the most number of entries in the Asian tournament with 12 players each, while host Iran has 10. The Philippines has five players, followed by Vietnam with three, Kazakhstan with two and Chinese-Taipei, Indonesia, Iraq, Syria, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan with one each.

/Correspondent Marlon Bernardino