Page 1 of 2
by Marlon BernardinoGRANDMASTER (GM) Darwin Laylo continued to flex his muscles in the 2019 GM Rosendo Balinas Memorial Cup chess championship at the Activity Hall, Second Floor Alphaland Makati Place in Malugay Street, Makati City on Tuesday.
Laylo, a member of the multi-titled Philippine Army chess team under head coach Ilde "Ponching" Datu subdued 1982 Asian Junior Champion International Master Ricardo De Guzman after 39 moves of Kings Indian Defense.
The win gave Laylo a share of first place with 2.0 points alongside 13-time Philippine Open Champion Grandmaster (GM) Rogelio "Joey" Antonio Jr., International Master (IM) Paulo Bersamina and International Master (IM) Angelo Young in the standard time control format, round-robin event backed up by engineer Antonio "Tony" Carreon Balinas and US based Joe Balinas and hosted by Alphaland Corporation in close cooperation with Philippine Executive Chess Association (PECA) president Dr. Jenny Mayor.
Antonio, the country's representative in this year's Bucharest, Romania FIDE World Seniors Chess Championship won by default against National Master (NM) Julius "Ashitaba Boy" Sinangote, Bersamina nipped Rolly Parondo Jr. after 54 moves of London System Opening while Young crushed Michael Concio Jr. after 40 moves of London System Opening.
“The first two round is one of the toughest rounds in any tournament. It usually sets the tone of how you’re going to perform,” said National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) director Atty. Cliburn Anthony Orbe.
International Master (IM) Daniel Quizon won via default against Sherwin Tiu to raise his total 1.5 points, the same output of International Master (IM) Chris Ramayrat, winner over Alfredo Rapanot after 74 moves of Veresov Opening.
In other matches saw, National Master (NM) Carlo Magno Rosaupan dealt National Master (NM) Nick Nisperos after 55 moves of Reti Opening while Kevin Mirano halving the point with Grandmaster (GM) John Paul Gomez after 77 moves of Slav defense.-Marlon Bernardino-
