Final-round win propels Laylo to first place
Thursday, 17 February 2011 18:28
Final standings after tiebreak:
(Russians unless stated)
7 points — T. Kotanjian (Armenia), D. Laylo (Philippines), N. Kabanov
6.5 — D. Rogozenko (Romania), P. Nakhapetiane, Y. Wen (China), P. Smirnov, A. Pridorozni
6 — A., Gavrilov, B. Gundavaa (Mongolia), O. Hayrapetian (Armenia), S. Lu (China)
5.5 — A. Predke, H, Gabuzyan (Armenia), V. Belous, A. Gabrielian, A. Stukopin, D. Petrosian (Armenia), A. Reshetnikov, B. Durarbevli (Azerbaijan), S. Bogdanovich (Ukraine), D. Obolenskikh, A. Shimanov, A. Ilushin, R. Bitoon (Philippines), Z. Xue (China), A. Ismagambetov (Kazakhstan), A. Alavkin (Russia).
MOSCOW, Russia — GM Darwin Laylo of the Philippines surely kept the Filipino flag flying high when he had to.
Laylo brought down GM Alexei Gavrilov of Russia in an all-important final round showdown to finish in a three-way tie for the top spot with GM Tigran Kotanjian and GM Nikolai Kabanov of Russia in the 2011 Aeroflot Open Group B chess championships at the Hotel Gamma-Delta here Wednesday.
The 30-year-old Laylo, who was left to carry the fight for the seven-man Filipino delegation following the sudden withdrawal of GM Wesley So and three consecutive losses by GM John Paul Gomez, finished off Gavrilow in one of the most decisive final-round results to catch both Kotanjian and Kabanov for first place.
Kotanjian and Kabanov, who shared the eighth round lead, drew their match.
Overall, Laylo finished with five wins and four draws in the prestigious, nine-round competition, which attracted 106 players from 25 countries.
The multi-awarded campigner from Lipa City, however, finished second behind Kotanjian after the Buchholz tiebreak system.
Full article here.
It’s good to see that Laylo has recovered from his disastrous showing at Aeroflot 2010.