Unheralded FIDE Master Randy Segarra held his own against two Belarussian Grandmasters, stunning Kirill Stupak in the first round and drawing Vladislav Kovalev in the second to boost his title chances in the Philippine International Chess Championships Subic Bay Peninsular Hotel in Zambales Wednesday.

Seeded just 27th out of 38 players, Segarra pulled the rug from under eighth seed Stupak with a 46-move win of a Caro-Kann Defense in the first round Tuesday night and then eked out a 30-move draw of a Queen’s Pawn: London System against No. 6 Kovalev the morning after to move in contention.

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