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SUBIC: Dubai Open champion GM Wesley So and unheralded Rolando
Andador did their part. Erstwhile solo leader GM-elect Jayson
Gonzales tried long and hard but failed.
So whipped IM Aung Aung of Myanmar while Andador
crushed GM Susanto Megaranto of Indonesia to boost their chances and
keep Filipino pride alive after the eighth and penultimate round of
the 2008 Subic Open International Chess Championship at the Subic
Bay Exhibition and Convention Center Thursday.
But Gonzales, who held the solo lead by a full
point after seven rounds, threw away an excellent chance to wrap up
the title and the $5,000 top prize when he lost a drawish endgame to
top seed GM Yuriy Kuzubov of Ukraine.
The unlikely twist left four players—So,
Andador, Kuzubov and Gonzales—in a four-way tie for the lead with
six points going into the ninth and final round of this prestigious
event organized by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines
and supported by the Department of Tourism and the Subic Bay
Metropolitan Authority.
So will take on Kuzubov, while Andador will
battle Gonzales in a pair of all-important final-round matches that
would determine the champion.
“Laban na po ito hanggang matapos. [It’ll be
a fight to the finish],” said So, who vowed to go all-out for the
win with the white pieces against Kuzubov.
The 14-year-old campaigner from Bacoor, Cavite,
who now holds the record as the world’s youngest GM, battled
Kuzubov to a draw despite playing the disadvantageous black pieces
during a strong tournament in San Marino, Italy in 2006.
So did not take long to subdue the Myanmar bet.
The incoming high school junior at St. Francis College (Cavite)
outplayed Aung in the middle game and emerged with a clear material
and positional advantage en route to a convincing victory.
Aung resigned after 50 moves of the Gruenfeld.
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