GM Laylo outclasses IM Barlo
August 24, 2010, 6:25pm
Grandmaster Darwin Laylo beat international master Barlo Nadera in an all-Filipino showdown to stay within striking distance of the leaders after the fifth round of the Prospero Pichay Cup international chess championship at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Adriatico St., Manila.
Laylo, a mainstay of the Philippine team that will see action in the 39th World Chess Olympiad in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia next month, parlayed a slight positional advantage into a smashing win over Nadera and continued his recovery after a slow start.
The win was the third straight for Laylo after being held to a draw in the first three rounds to raise his score to four points, just half-a-point behind second seed GM Anton Filippov of Uzbekistan in the event offering the top purse of $6,000.
Laylo’s triumph provided the lone bright spot for the Filipinos, who struggled in the face of strong foreign opposition in the nine-round competition.
Erstwhile co-leader GM John Paul Gomez failed to sustain his hot start as he lost to Filippov.
The win enabled Filippov to grab the solo lead with 4.5 points at the halfway mark of the six-day tournament serving as a curtain-raiser to the much-awaited first Florencio Campomanes Memorial chess tournament scheduled August 28-September 3.
Source: http://www.mb.com.ph
Who’ll play board 1 for the Philippines? Torre?