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THREE-TIME national junior champion IM John Paul Gomez played
cautiously, drawing his match against GM Mark Paragua to keep the
solo lead and earn his first GM norm after the 13th round of the
2008 National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) qualifying
tournament at the Kaban ng Hiyas Building in Mandaluyong City.
Finding no need to take unnecessary risk with
the disadvantageous black pieces, Gomez opted for a quiet game
before halving the point with the higher-rated Paragua after only 31
moves of the Slav defense to retain the top spot for the seventh
consecutive day in this prestigious tournament organized by the NCFP
and hosted by the Mandaluyong City government.
The 22-year-old mechanical engineering student
from Biñan, Laguna, has 11 points on nine wins and four draws in
the 17-round tournament being held to determine the country’s
representatives to the World Chess Olympiad in Dresden, Germany, and
the World Mind Games in Beijing, China, later this year.
More importantly, the draw enabled Gomez to earn
the first of three GM norms he need to become the country’s newest
GM.
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