GRANDMASTER Boris Savchenko of Russia out-steadied Filipino GM Darwin Laylo to stay on top with five points in as many rounds in the 2014 Philippine Sports Commission-Puregold International Chess Challenge at the Subic Bay Peninsular Hotel, Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority in Olongapo City.
Standings after five rounds (Open Division)—Savchenko (RUS) 5.0, Sivuk (UKR) 4.0, Laylo (PHI), Dimakiling (PHI), Torre (PHI), Demchenko (RUS), Mozharov (RUS), Lu (CHN), Deepan (IND) 3.5, Pimentel (PHI), Senador (PHI), Kotanjian (ARM), Smirnov (RUS), Aravindh (IND), Belous (RUS), Lin (CHN), Sinuduth Lyna (IND), Nguyen (VIE), Severino (PHI) 3.0, Rohan (IND), Puranik (IND), Bersamina (PHI), Sean (INA), Zubov (UKR), Nolte (PHI), Antonio (PHI), Shomoev (RUS) 2.5, Bitoon, Pascua (PHI), Garcia (PHI), Docena (PHI), Gupta (IND), Segarra (PHI), Liu (SIN), Turqueza 2.0.
The eighth-seed Savchenko, however, needed 86 moves to finally eke out the win in a Gruenfeld Defense match that lasted late into the night Wednesday, even as GM Vitaly Sivuk, who topped the recent Philippine International Chess Championship also held here, bounced back into contention by beating another Filipino campaigner, IM Joel Pimentel, after 59 moves of an English Opening.
Sivuk’s win gave him 4.0 points, a full point behind Savchenko at solo second.
Laylo, formerly of San Sebastian College, dropped to 3.5 points in the company of six other players, including fellow Filipinos GM Eugene Torre and IM Oliver Dimakiling, Russian GMs Anton Demchenko and Mikhail Mozharov, Chinese GM Shanglei Lu and GM Chakkravarthy Deepan of India.
Torre, the most senior Filipino campaigner here, split the point with Demchenko after 30 pushes of a Trompovsky Attack, while Dimakiling held Mozharov into a standoff after 51 moves of a Pirc/Philidor Defense.
Lu and Deepan also agreed to a draw after only 17 moves of a Queen’s Gambit Accepted.
In Round 6 still being played as of press time, Savchenko stakes his grip on the solo lead against compatriot Mozharov in Board 1, while Lu plays Sivuk in Board 2, even as Laylo and Deepan slug it out in Board 3.
With three points each halfway into the tournament organized by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines and supported by the PSC, Philippine Olympic Committee, Asia United Bank, Puregold, Burlington Socks and Marc Ventures Mining and Development Corp., are Pimentel, IM Emmanuel Senador, GM Tigran Kotanjian of Armenia, GM Pavel Smirnov of Russia, GM Chihambaram Vr. Aravindh of India, GM Vladimir Belous of Russia, IM Chen Lin of China, IM Narayanan Sinulduth Lyna of India, GM Duch Hoa Nguyen of Vietnam and Filipino Fide Master Sander Severino.
In the Challenger Division, top seed Franz Robert Grafil, Sherwin Tiu, Rolly Parondo and Erickson Marimla beat their respective opponents to stay unscathed and share the lead wih four points in as many rounds.
Grafil, who boasts of an Elo rating of 2199, downed James Infiesto; Tiu topped Patrick Erle Florendo; Parondo defeated Lennon Hart Salgados; while Marimla turned back Judith Pineda.