Saturday, March 15, 2008 Former coed standout rules Dubai chess
DUBAI—Gilbert Taopa ended a year-long title drought after recently ruling the 2nd FCPL Active Chess Tournament 2008 at the Reef Mall in Deira, Dubai.
Taopa, a former Technological Institute of the Philippines standout, finished the seven-round Swiss event with six points on five wins and two draws, half a point ahead of solo second placer and Taopa’s final-round opponent Arnel Matildo, who rebounded from a second-round setback to ultimately earn a crack at the championship.
Matildo’s title hopes, however, never really took off against the white-wielding Taopa, who despite needing just a draw to secure at least a tie for first place was pushing hard for a win.
The eventual champion though failed to make the most out of his substantial space advantage and Matildo’s cramped middle game setup to settle for a draw, as Matildo uncorked a timely counter-offensive in the queenside and managed to trade off major and minor pieces to steer the encounter to a theoretically drawn endgame with a rook for each side and bishops of opposite color.
Defending champion Nihuzzar Ismael of India settled for third place after emerging with the best tiebreak score among four players who finished with five points each. Nihuzzar capitalized on an endgame blunder by Alexious Valerio to pick up his fifth point in the seventh round.
The rest of the top 10 players were Jobannie Tabada, British player Paul Dargan, Florencio Superales, Fide Master Antonio Molina Sr., Rey Joy Bartolay, Marcelo Payoket and Pakistan’s Ali Sibt.
Asian Chess Federation’s Toti Abundo, who is also the Fide Ratings Administrator, attended the final day of the two-weekend event, which offered over USD300 in prizes. The event, which was supported by Reef Mall, was organized by the Filipino Chess Players League—UAE with Joey Tiberio acting as tournament director. Fide Arbiter Marz Marcial and Willy Laceste served as arbiter and assistant arbiter, respectively.
The FCPL has been the most active expatriate organization in the UAE in conducting chess events that attract different nationalities. The organization is recognized both by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines and the UAE Chess Federation. JCT
