DAPITAN CITY -- Add the Battle of Grandmasters in Dapitan City to Wesley So's growing collection of titles this year.

The 15-year-old So settled for his third straight draw against International Master Richard Bitoon in the penultimate round Monday to virtually retain his crown and grab the P200,000 top purse in the 11-round tournament at the Dapitan City Resort Hotel.

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Counting his six victories earlier, So raised his total to 15 points, three points up on closest pursuers GM Eugene Torre and GM Rogelio "Joey" Antonio. Though both rebounded with back-to-back victories over.

The 15-year-old high school student from St. Francis-Cavite halved the point with Sadorra in 36 moves of the French and Bitoon in only 30 moves of the Sicilian Pelican, raising his score to 15 points in this 11-round tournament organized by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP), led by president/chairman Prospero "Butch" Pichay and secretary-general Mayor Abraham "Bambol" Tolentino. The event was hosted by Dapitan City government, headed by Mayor Dominador Jalosjos Jr.

Counting his earlier six victories in the first seven rounds, So has a commanding three-point lead over veteran GMs Eugene Torre and Rogelio Antonio Jr. with only one round remaining.

So also has one unplayed game against Antonio in the sixth round.

Torre, who showed vintage form in winning the third President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo up late last year, made the biggest gain with consecutive victories in the ninth and 10th rounds.

Torre out-dueled fellow GM Buenaventura "Bong" Villamayor in 39 moves of the London opening in the ninth round and GM John Paul Gomez in 46 moves of the Bogo-Indian in the 10th round, to bounce back into contention with 12 points.

Antonio trounced Gomez in 41 moves of the Benoni but drew with GM Mark Paragua in 31 moves of the Sicilian to forge a two-way tie for second to third places with Torre with 12 points.

Dresden Olympiad veteran GM Darwin Laylo drew with IM Rolando Nolte in 30 moves of the Center Counter and subdued GM Jayson Gonzales in 33 moves of the Slav to climb into solo fourth place with 11.5 points.

Sadorra drew his matches against So and IM Ronald Dableo to join Gomez with 11 points.

Paragua whipped IM Ronald Dableo in 32 moves of the Queen's Gambit Accepted to join Bitoon with 10 points.

Gonzales outclassed Bitoon in 37 moves of the Queen's Gambit in the ninth round before losing to Laylo.

In the women's division, WFM Shercila Cua and WIM Beverly Mendoza hurdled their respective ninth-round matches and drew against each other in the following round to keep their 1-2 positions with 15 and 14.5 points, respectively.

Cua bested Rida Young in 32 moves of the King's Indian, while Mendoza outlasted Kimberly Cunanan in 78 moves of the Dutch.

Cua and Mendoza then halved the point in 36 moves of the French.

Cua's younger sister, Sherily, halved the point with Christy Lamiel Bernales (46 moves, Queen's Indian) and Daisy Rivera (43, Budapest) to remain in third place with 13 points.

Rivera, a mainstay of Bingo Bonanza, overpowered Rulp Ylen Jose in 70 moves of the Center Counter to share fourth to sixth places with Bernales and former world youth campaigner Jan Jodilyn Fronda with 12 points.

Bernales, a protégé of Nueva Ecija Governor Aurelio Umali, drew with Cua and won over Catheirne Perna in only 26 moves of the Center Gambit.

Fronda drew with Catherine Perena in 63 moves of the Petroff and beat Loreshyl Cuizon in 42 moves of the Tromposvky.

The 11th and final round will be played starting at 3 p.m. Tuesday.

At stake in the annual tournament are trophies and cash prizes, with the men's champion pocketing the top prize of P200,000 and the women's titlist earning P60,000.

The runner-up and the third placer in the men's division will receive P100,000 and P80,000, respectively.

In the women's division, the runner-up and the third placer will get P40,000 and P30,000, respectively.

The fourth up to the 12th finisher in both divisions are also assured of cash prizes.

NCFP Executive/Events Director Willie Abalos is the tournament director, while Elias Lao is the supervising arbiter. (PR)