Gonzales shares lead at Subic Open

MANILA, Philippines – GM Jayson Gonzales got off to a rousing start in his title defense, sweeping his first two assignments in the second Subic Open international chess championship Tuesday.

Hoping to redeem himself from a lackluster showing in the recent Asian Continental chess championship, Gonzales stamped his class on CM Nguyen Hoang Nam of Vietnam in the first round and FM Sebastian Simanjuntak of Indonesia in the second to lead the march of the favorites in this nine-round tournament.

Two other Filipino campaigners – IMs Richard Bitoon and Rolando Nolte – also hurdled their first two matches to gain a share of the lead in the US$30,000 event played at the Subic Exhibition and Convention Center.

Bitoon whipped compatriot Jan Emmanuel Garcia in the first round and Yu Lie of China in the second round, while Nolte overwhelmed Rolando Andador and Efren Bagamasbad to join Gonzales and 11 other foreign players at the top.

The foreign challenge were led by newly-crowned Asian Continental champion GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly of India, and second seed GM Ehsan Ghaem Maghami of Iran.

Ganguly, who finished in a two-way tie for first place with GM Zhou Weiqi of China in the Asian Continental chess championship, made short work of IM Barlo Nadera of the Philippines in the opener and Julio Datalino Sadorra in the second round.

Ghaem Maghami, the lone Iranaian player entered in the tournament, humbled FM Tsegmed Batchuluun of Mongolia and Wan Yunguo of China.

Also winning their first two assignments were fourth seed GM Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son of Vietnam, who subdued WIM Kruttika Nadig of India and IM Oliver Dimakiling of the Philippines; fifth seed Gm Abhijit Guptaof India, who downed Emmanuel Senador and IM Hafizulhelmi Mas of Malaysia;

No. 6 GM Chanda Sandipan of India, who outplayed Haridas Pascua and Sachdev Tania of India; and No. 15 Chakkravarthy Deepan of India, who crushed FM Christopher Castellano and Wang Li of China.

Upsets, however, rocked the second day of the competition.

Third seed GM Parimarjan Negi of India lost to Yu Yangyi of China, seventh seed GM Susanto Megaranto of Indonesia yielded to Xiu Deshun of China and top Filipino bet GM Mark Paragua succumbed to IM Yang Kaiqi of China.

No. 18 GM Buenaventura “Bong” Villamayor bounced back into contention after dropping the first round by downing Garcia on Tuesday.

GM Rogelio Antonio Jr., the lone Filipino qualifier to the World Chess Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, and GM Wesley So both decided to skip the tournament following the grueling, 11-round Asian Championship. –GMANews.TV

Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar