OZAMIZ City — The Asean Individual Open Chess Championships opened with immediate drama, as upsets rocked the initial round.
The country’s illustrious Grandmaster Darwin Laylo stumbled against a less-fancied opponent, while young campaigner Woman Fide Master Ruelle 'Tawing' Canino of Cagayan de Oro drew first blood in her division.
The upsets set an intense tone for the week-long competition, where players are pursuing outright Grandmaster and International Master titles at the Asenso Misamis Occidental Resort and Aquamarine Park in Sinacaban, Misamis Occidental.
The biggest shock came from little-known Angele Tenshi Biete of Las Piñas City, who felled his fellow Filipino, GM Darwin Laylo.Laylo, handling black, opened with his trusted Counter Center defense.
However, after taking a pawn on d5 with his Queen, Laylo was stunned by Biete’s rarely-seen d4 counter on the third move.
Biete followed up with an unexpected h3 later in the opening.
”For the first time ngayon ko lang na-encounter ang d4, tapos may h3 pa na unexpected rin,” Laylo blurted out shortly before Round 2 action.
Visibly surprised, Laylo consumed precious time, leaving him with only seven minutes on the clock compared to Biete’s over an hour.
In a panic, Laylo gambitted his Rook for a pawn, searching for complexity. The well-focused Biete, ranked second-to-last at 40 among 41 men’s entries, carefully analyzed the position, captured the material, and steered the game to a crushing finish.
Another young player, 19-year-old Fide Master Alekhine Nouri from Escalante City, Negros Occidental, also made noise at the “Little Maldives” playing hall.
He upstaged the 10th-seeded International Master Quoc Hy Nguyen from Vietnam.
FM Nouri noticed a blunder in the Vietnamese IM's Bishop placement on the d3 square. He refuted it with a minor piece sacrifice that led to an inevitable checkmate or Queenless endgame.
The black-wielding Vietnamese opponent extended his hand in surrender soon after.
Meanwhile, Batang Pinoy hotshot Arena Fide Master Andrei Ainsley Dolorosa from Davao City held Filipino GM John Paul Gomez to a draw.
Fide Master Roel Abelgas from Dasmariñas also had a peaceful ending against Indian IM Kamotra Soham.
In the top board's all-Vietnam matchup, GM Van Huy Nguyen and IM Tran Gia Phuc Pham agreed to a draw after a lengthy bout.
Second-seed IM Munkhdalai Amilal of Mongolia prevailed over FM Nho Kiet Dinh of Vietnam.
Woman Fide Master Ruelle 'Tawing' Canino, fresh from winning six gold medals in the Batang Pinoy meet in General Santos City, showed no signs of fatigue.
The 17-under girls champion from Barangay Bonbon, Cagayan de Oro City, debuted with a masterclass beating of fellow Filipina Francois Marie Magpili in the Asean Women’s Open."Hago, bugbog sarado na sa Batang Pinoy, pero fight lang gihapon," the former Kauswagan Elementary School pupil, now in high school with the Far Eastern University Baby Tamaraws in Manila, told Gold Star Daily.
The Philippines’ newest IM, Christian Gian Karlo Arca, who clinched five golds for Zamboanga City in the Batang Pinoy 16-under boys rivalry, started his Asean campaign with a draw against Cebuano veteran Rommel Ganzon.
