Grandmasters Oliver Barbosa, Mark Paragua and John Paul Gomez of the Philippines waylaid their respective foes to jump-start their bids in the SDAT-RMK 4th Chennai Open Grand Master Chess Tournament on Thursday in Chennai, India.
The Taytay, Rizal native Barbosa subdued Gur Azikri in the first then toppled Pratik Patil in the second round; the Marilao-Meycauyan, Bulacan star Paragua dismantled Kumar Atul and PC Iyer Akash, respectively while the Binan, Laguna bet Gomez trounced G Apurva and Ja Gireman, in order.
The triumvirate backed up by National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) Chairman/President Prospero "Butch" Pichay Jr., Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) Chairman Ricardo "Richie" Garcia and Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) President Jose "Peping" Cojuangco shared 1st to 56th placers in the huge group of perfect 2 pointers that includes top seed GM Aleksej Aleksandrov of Bulgaria.
"?It?s a good start for Oliver, Mark and John Paul, I hope they can perform well in India chess meet." said National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) Chairman/President Prospero "Butch" Pichay Jr.
However, Grandmaster Richard Bitoon was upset in the second round.
"Hope makabawi naman sa third round si Richard," he added.
The Medellin, Cebu native Bitoon, who beat VS Rathanvel in the opening round but was yielded to Divyasree Chandika.
In the third round, Barbosa goes up against FM Ghosh Diptayan; Paragua will meet Ankit R Rajpara; Gomez opposite IM Prakash G B while Bitoon will face Ajay Krishna S.
The India chess campaign is a part of the Philippine Team preparation for this year's 38th World Chess Olympiad in Istanbul, Turkey.
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