GENERAL SANTOS City ― A twin of monumental upsets rocked the $35,000-rich Manny Pacquiao International Open Chess Tournament now in full throttle at the Family Country Homes Convention Center here.
After surprising the experienced Sherwin Tiu in the opening round, the 14-year-old Arena Fide Master Andrei Ainsley Dolorosa from Ateneo de Davao University stunned International Master Chito Garma with sacrificial combination to join the top-seeded Indonesian Grandmaster Novendra Priasmoro on top with perfect two points along with 10 others including Filipino GM Darwin Laylo and the pair of Russian International Masters Oleg Badmatsyrenov and Alexey Polschikov.
Not to be outdone, youthful Fide Master Jeth Romy Morado shocked American IM Josiah Stearman to share the lead with Laylo, Badmatsyrenov, and Polschikov in the company of IMs Ronald Dableo and Rolando Nolte and fellow Filipino Fide Masters David Elorta and Alekhine Nouri as well as Indonesian FM Arif Abdul Hafiz.
“I know that he’s (IM Garma) a wild player which made it more exciting and interesting because I also love complications,” said Dolorosa who came here to prepare for the Batang Pinoy National Chess Championships to be slated in the coming weeks in Pasay City.
The white-wielding Dolorosa forced the many-time Olympiad Garma’s resignation after 37 moves of the English opening. While the Far Eastern University varsity stalwart Morado, also handling white, took the measure of IM Stearman in a tactical middlegame after 47 pushes of the Slav defense.
“They’re both showing great potential. Dolorosa for one is a courageous player who’s not afraid to sacrifice to execute his attacking play,” observed GM Laylo.
Veteran journalist Joselito Dormitorio, who’s also a master-caliber chess player, was more impressed by the promising student of Engr. Allan Diez, co-owner of the Davao team in the Professional Chess Association of the Philippines.
“At a young age, Dolorosa is generating a tsunami, not waves in the first two rounds of the Manny Pacquiao International tournament. Indeed,
Mindanao is a breeding ground for future chess champions,” said Dormitorio.
The ongoing third-round matches on the top boards pit Nolte against Priasmoro, Elorta versus Laylo, Badmatsyrenov opposite Hafiz, FM Alekhine Nouri against Polschikov, Dableo versus Morado and FM Hamed Nouri (1.5 points) against Dolorosa.
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