The Philippines’ Ivan Travis Cu and Tyrhone James Tabernilla came through with spirited victories to jump into the lead in their respective divisions after six rounds of the Eastern Asian Youth Chess Championships in Penang, Malaysia yesterday.
Cu, a 15-year-old FIDE Master, turned back Mongolian FM Battulga Tenuunbold to leapfrog to the top alongside Vietnamese Dang Anh Miunh and Malaysian FM Poh Yu Tian, who drew with each other, with five points apiece in the premier Open Under-18 section.
The Xavier standout, who finished runner-up in a strong International Master tournament in Hanoi, Vietnam last May, was tackling Poh in the seventh of this nine-round meet at press time with hopes of sustaining his title bid.
Interestingly, Cu was delivering the best effort thus far among the five Filipinos entered in the division with Frank Loyd Andes just a point behind with four points to show.
Others like Oscar Joseph Cantela and John Dave Lavandero have 3.5 points apiece while FM Christian Gian Karla Arca was on a shocking free fall with just three points on him.
Tabernilla, for his part, zoomed to the solo lead with five points following a sixth-round triumph over countryman Io Aristotle Nikolai Calica.
He has paced a three-player chase pack with 4.5 points each in Li Dianqi of China, Hyunh Le Minh Hoang of Vietnam and Chan Wang Ip Boris of Hong Kong.
The Philippine Sports Commission, the National Chess Federation of the Philippines and Philippine Olympic Committee are backing the country’s campaign in the tournament staking FIDE titles.
