MANILA---Filipino International Master Oliver Dimakiling bested Indonesia's International Master Irine Kharisma Sukandar Thursday night, June 16, to bounce back into contention in the Grand Copthorne Professor Lim Kok Ann Invitational GM Tournament 2022 in Grand Copthorne Waterfront, Singapore.
His fourth win against one draw and a loss gave the Davao City native Dimakiling to 4.5 points, a half point behind pacesetter Singapore's newly minted Grandmaster Tin Jingyao, who settled for a draw with Vietnamese Grandmaster Nguyen Anh Dung in the 6th round.
With the loss, Sukandar remains at 0.5 point while Anh Dung was at 2.5 points, the same output of Myanmar's International Master Wynn Zaw Htun who settled for a draw with , top seed Indian Grandmaster Adhiban B.
Lodged at 3.5 points were Adhiban, Australian International Master James Morris, Singaporean International Master Jagadeesh Siddharth and British Grandmaster Daniel Howard Fernandez.
Morris toppled Singaporean Woman Grandmaster Gong Qianyun (1.0 point).
Dimakiling who lost to Adhiban in the fifth round, needs 2 points in the last 3 rounds to get his third and final GM norm.
The Dubai-based Dimakiling, who rose to fame when he upset Asia's First GM Eugene Torre as a teenager, got his first GM norm when he tied for first place in the Malaysian Open in 2006.
The second norm came when he finished runner-up in the all-Filipino Battle of the GMs in Boracay in 2012, and had already cracked the 2500 ELO barrier which is one requisite for a full-pledged GM status.
For a number of years, the country has been longing, thirsting, and wanting for another GM to come.
Since Torre achieved the GM feat in 1974, followed by Rosendo Balinas Jr in 1976, the much younger Rogelio Antonio Jr did his share in 1990.
Then a huge of next generation Filipino GMs came, starting in Year 2000 with the likes of Buenaventura Villamayor, Nelson Mariano II (2004), Mark Paragua (2005), Darwin Laylo (2007), Wesley So (2007), Jayson Gonzales (2008), John Paul Gomez (2008), Joseph Sanchez (2009), Rogelio Barcenilla (2009), Roland Salvador (2010), Julio Catalino Sadorra (2011), Oliver Barbosa (2011), Richard Bitoon (2011), and Enrico Sevillano (2012).-Marlon Bernardino-
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