Chinese chessers pace RP Open championship

The 2007 Philippine Open chess championship is turning to be an all-Chinese show, based on Sunday's fifth round officials results sent to media organizations Monday. GM Ni Hua and untitled Li Chao of China hurdled their respective opponents with surprising ease to forge a six-way tie for the lead after the fifth round at the Legenda Hotel in Subic. Hua, the second highest-rated player with an ELO of 2654, crushed Filipino hope Hamed Nouri, while Chao upset compatriot and ninth seed GM Li Shilong to gain headway in the overall standings in this prestigious tourney organized by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP). As expected, top seed GM Wang Yue and No. 4 seed Zhang Zhong drew their match at center stage as did No. 3 seed GM Wang Hao of Chan and No. 5 GM Ehsan Ghaem Maghami of Iran to keep the lead with Hua and Chao with four points out of a possible five. But Ghaem and the five Chinese campaigners are only half a point ahead of the top three Filipino players GMs Rogelio Antonio Jr, Mark Paragua and Eugene Torre as well as GM Varuzhan Akobian of the United States, GMs Utut Adianto and Susanto Megaranto of Indonesia , Zhao Jun of China and Singapore-based Filipino FM Julio Catalino Sadorra. Antonio, fresh from a title triumph in Bangkok, Thailand early this month, whipped Arlan Cabe while Paragua trounced upset-conscious NM Mirabeau Maga to boost their total to three points. Torre, at 55 the country's most-experienced player, halved the point with Megaranto. For his part, Sadorra held his ground despite playing with the disadvantageous black pieces to draw his match with the Akobian. Adianto, still smarting from a shock loss to Wang Yue in the fourth round, also kept his hopes alive by beating NM Rolando Nolte of the Philippines. IMs Oliver Dimakiling and Wesley So also agreed to a truce to stay in the hunt for the US$6,000 champion's purse out of a total of US$40,000 cash pot. Both Dimakiling and So, who are seeking to nail the elusive GM title this year, played together in the RP-Tagaytay chess team which finished runner-up in the recent Asian Cities Chess team Championship in Tehran, Iran. IM Richard Bitoon was the lone Filipino player to win a match over his Chinese counterpart as he edged Xu Deshun with the black pieces. Bitoon moved up to a tie for 15th to 26th places with three points with Li Shilong and Zhang Ziyang, both of China; Lalith Babu of India; and Filipinos Dimakiling, Nouri, Maga, NM Barlo Nadera, NM Efren Bagamasbad, Roderick Nava, Rhobel Legaspi and Ernesto Fernandez. - GMANews.TV