Thursday, October 23, 2008 Davao's Batucan, French foe play to a draw in Vietnam
DAVAO City bets John Ray Batucan of Toril and Rowelyn Joy Acedo of Buhangin struggled to score half a point each in the first two rounds of the World Youth Chess Championships 2008 in Vung Tau, Vietnam Wednesday.
The 12-year-old Batucan, seeded 72nd among 89 entries, drew with 39th-seed Purenne Benoit of France in the second round after bowing to Kowsarinia Amir in the opener.
Batucan, the Asean Age-Group Chess Championships twin gold medalist from Don Juan dela Cruz Elementary School, landed at the 78th place of the boys open 12 category where number 3 Fide Master (FM) Darwin Yang of the USA led with two points.
The Davao woodpusher, a son of a taxi driver and a public school teacher, will try to recover when he plays against number 41 Saranapala Nimantha of Sri Lanka.
In girls 12, Jose Maria College (JMC) mainstay Acedo, seeded 33rd among 72, shared the 52-59th place with seven other half-pointers. She forced a standoff with 69th-seed Tran Le Dan Thuy of Vietnam following her first round debacle at the hands of 53rd-seed Leonardi Caterina of Slovakia.
Acedo will next battle 49th-seed Regina Veronicka Kalaydina of Canada in the third round of the prestigious FIDE-sanctioned meet.
Top-seed Chinese Zhai Mo, meanwhile, shared the top spot with 12 other two-pointers. (MLSA)
