Sunday, January 14, 2007 Dimakiling draws match in Asian Zone chessfest By Marianne L. Saberon-Abalayan
DAVAO City's International Master (IM) Oliver Dimakiling drew his match with Vietnam's National Master (NM) Vo Thanh Ninh Friday night to tally 1.5 points after Round 2 of the nine-round 2007 Asian 3.3 zone Chess Championships in Phu Quoc, Kien Giang province, Vietnam.
He shared seventh to 13th place with fellow 1.5 scorers Filipino Grand Masters (GMs) Eugene Torre and Nelson Mariano II, Vietnam bets Vo Thanh Ninh, Nguyen Anh Dung and Pham Chuong and Myanmar's Wynn Zwa Htun.
Torre won his Round 2 match against Vietnam's FIDE Master Ton That Nhu Tun.
RP IM Wesley So, 13, shocked compatriot GM Mark Paragua after 38 moves of a Sicilian Defense to grab his second straight win and to share a piece of the lead with another Filipino NM Nouri Hamed and four Vietnam woodpushers in GMs Nguyen Ngoc Troung Son, Tu Hoang Thong, and Le Quang Liem, and IM Bui Vinh.
The loss relegated Paragua, the tournament's top seed with and Elo rating of 2573, to a tie for the 14th to 30th spot, with fellow Filipinos GM Joey Antonio, IMs Darwin Laylo and Ronald Dableo, and NMS Julius de Ramos and Oliver Barbosa.
Hamed, the top Filipino finisher in last year's GMA Cup, upset Vietnam GM Dao Thien Hai in 30 moves of their Colle System encounter.
Antonio drew with Vietnam's Nguyen Thien Viet, while Laylo and Dableo halved the point with Indonesian Shanmugam Rayindran and local bet Hoang Canh Huan, respectively.
National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) president and Surigao del Sur representative Prospero "Butch" Pichay Jr. funded the stint of the RP players in the Asian Zonal event.
In the distaff side, RP bet WNM Catherine Perena notched her second straight triumph by beating WFM Le Lieu Thein Kim of Vietnam that likewise kept her in the lead along with four others.
RP WIMs Sheerie Joy Lomibao, Beverly Mendoza and WNM Kimberly Jane Cunanan, however, recovered from their first round setbacks by beating Singapore's WFM Liu Yang, Vietnam 's Le Thi ha and Pham Bich Ngoc, respectively.
RP WNM Christy Lamiel Bernales forced a draw with Tay Li-jin Jeslin of Singapore.
