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Thursday, November 10, 2005
Oro chesser places 5th in Spain
By Lynde Salgados
Last two-round debacle negates NM Mercado's near cinderella finish
II Open Calvia de Afficionados
(109 participants) Classification Final
Top-10 finishers
Fokin, Sergey RUS 8.O pts
Kozlov, Oleg RUS 7.5 pts
Barcelo, Pedro ESP 7.0 pts
Weisbuch, Udi ISR 7.0 pts
Mercado, Levi PHI 6.5 pts
Ljubisavljevic SCG 6.5 pts
Ehsan, Ali ESP 6.5 pts
Eppinger, Georg GER 6.5 pts
Fontana, Luis ESP 6.5 pts
Gonzales, Vidal ESP 6.5 pts
IN HIS first ever-international debut, National Master Levi Mercado of Cagayan de Oro placed fifth overall out of 109 contestants in the recently held 2005 Calvia Chess Festival in Mallorca, Spain.
The only Filipino seeing action in the 2300 below category, Mercado was close to winning the top purse of 4,500 euros (over P200,000) when he took the lead after 7 rounds.
But he cracked under pressure in the last two rounds where he faced eventual champion Sergey Fokin of Russia and fourth-placer Udi Weisbuch of Israel in succession.
Even a draw in the remaining two rounds would have ensured him a place in the top 3, but late-surging jitter apparently took its toll on the inexperienced Mercado whose trip in Spain was also supported by the City Government.
"Sayang, wala niya na-handle ang pressure. Among gi-monitor sa internet iyang game with Weisbuch sa internet chess on-line and we found out nga na-ipit iyang posisyon as white," commented UniGames board 1 gold medallist Silverio Abasolo of Xavier University.
"Pero at least, dili na basta-basta iyang gihimo nga nakapilde siya'g Russian IM (International Master) in his first every try in foreign soil," added veteran chesser Jokorn Maestrado, referring to Mercado's demolition of early title favorite Zivojin Ljubisavljevic in the seventh round.
The top-10 finishers were Fokin, Oleg Kozlov, Pedro Barcelo, Weisbuch, Mercado, Ljubisavljevic, Ali Ehsan, Georg Eppiner, Luis Javier Sotomayor Fontana and Vidal Alejandro Arribas Gonzalez.
Mercado, also among the few players competing in the cash-rich event without Fide ratings, won 250 euros for his feat.
(November 10, 2005 issue)
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