Wednesday, December 19, 2007 Bitoon, Yap move to Rose Chess semifinals
INTERNATIONAL Master Richard Bitoon advanced to the finals after winning his knockout quarterfinal match in the Rose Pharmacy Christmas Chess Open Tournament at SM City Cebu yesterday.
Bitoon won the first game in 50 moves using Sicilian Alapin over Bonn Tibod, while their second match ended in a draw.
Bitoon will next face Kim Steven Yap in the semifinals.
Yap, who earned his first IM norm during the Asian Chess Championships last September, defeated the top seeded Mario Mangubat the other day.
Yap won in a tie break point over Mangubat, who topped the elimination round. Mangubat, using French, won in the first game against Yap in 61 moves but Yap bounced back, using modern defense, to tie the game apiece, winning the second game in just 41 moves.
Extension
Yap bagged his semifinal seat after winning the 10-minute extension.
On the other hand, Johnnel Balquin and Richard Natividad also joined in the semifinals yesterday after beating their respective opponents.
Balquin also won in tiebreak in his match against Merben Roque. Roque, using Benko Gambit, defeated Balquin in 56 moves in the first game, while Balquin won in the second game, needing just 37 moves with the Sicilian to force the 10-minute game extension.
Natividad defeated Allan Salientes the other night before to book his semifinal seat after surviving a marathon first game.
Natividad needed 112 moves of a Nimzo Indian in their first game, before splliting his second match with Salientes.
Tournament director Marvin Ruelan said Natividad’s first match involved the highest number of moves so far in the tournament. (NSM)
