TAGAYTAY — International master Michael Concio Jr. played true to form and crushed FM Arjun Adireddy of India to vault into a share of the lead in the 2024 Asian Juniors and Girls Chess Championships at the Knights Templar Hotel here.
Concio, who rose to prominence by finishing runner-up to compatriot GM Daniel Quizon in the Asian Zonals and reaching the World Chess Cup in 2021, played aggressively with the disadvantageous black pieces to secure the win in only 32 moves of the Ruy Lopez.
The win, the fourth in six games, pushed Concio into a three-way tie for the top spot with top seed GM Aleksey Grebnev of Russia and No.7 IM Munkhdalai Amilal of Mongolia with similar scores of five points with still three rounds left in the event organized by the Asian Chess Federation and hosted by the Tagaytay City government.
Interestingly, Concio’s two draws came against the higher-rated Russians -- Grebnev and No. 4 IM Artem Uskov of Russia.
Grebnev battled Uskov to a fighting draw in 51 moves of the Catalan, while Amilal overwhelmed CM Yash Bharadia of India in 40 moves of the Sicilian.
Half a point behind the three leaders with 4.5 points is Uskov.
Five players, including Concio’s seventh-round rival No. 3 IM S Aswath of India and No. 12 FM Gian Karlo Arca of Panabo City, Philippines, shared fifth to ninth places with four points.
Aswath bested David Sean Romualdez of the Philippines, while Arca settled for a draw with compatriot Andrei Ainsley Dolorosa in other key matches.
Sharing the limelight was defending champion and top seed WIM G.Tejawisni of India, who outwitted erstwhile unbeaten WIM Anna Shukhman of Russia to winning only 22 moves.
The win enabled Tejaswinji to move into second place with 4.5 points in a tie with fellow Indian No. 6 H. Sneha, who defeated ACM Ainul Afif Mohd of Malaysia.
Shukhman still leads the way with five points.
WFM Kristina Popandopalu of Kazakhstan also moved into contention with four points following a smashing victory over WFM V. Rindhiya of India.
World Youth Championship-bound Jemaicah Yap Mendoza upset No. 7 WFM Gupta Shubi of India in 52 moves of the Queen’s Pawn to share sixth to 11th places with 3.5 points on three wins, two losses, and one draw.
Arleah Cassandra Sapuan toppled Pin-I Chen of Taipei to improve to three points, good for 12th place in the 22-player field.
Apple Rubin demolished Natalia Gu of Hong Kong, while Elle Castronuevo drew with Lu Jie Xin of Taipei. PR