TAGAYTAY Chess Club improved to second place along with the all-GM Team Tokkata of Kazakhstan after Round 5 of the 2014 Asian Club Team Champions League in Al Ain, UAE.
The team improved after a 2.5-1.5 win over the host team Al Ain Chess Club last Thursday.
Cebuano IM Kim Steven Yap and IM Emmanuel Senador won their matches, while IM Rolando Nolte had a draw and FM Haridas Pascua lost.
Yap displayed his full potentials as he displayed varied moves that rendered IM Naoman Omar helpless in the end game.
Yap started with the Sicilian Taimanov System then finished his opponent with the Alapin Variation to improve his tally to 4.5 points.
“I was using (Sicilian) Alapin (Variation) this time. It started with the (Sicilian) Taimanov (System) but I reverted it to a Morra Gambit in the middle then to Alapin. I was down by two pawns but it was a sacrifice move to compensate the development of my pieces and for better protection of my King,” Yap told Sun.Star Cebu.
The victory gave Yap a full point lead over super GM Krishnan Sasikiran of India’s Petrolium Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) team in Board 2. Yap defeated Sasikiran in Round 1.
After five rounds, Tagaytay Chess Club now has of eight points, one point behind tournament leader PSPB of India.