PINOY GMs BARBOSA, GOMEZ SHARE LEAD WITH UZBEK GM IN NEW DELHI CHESS MEET

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FILIPINO Grandmasters (GMs) Oliver Barbosa and John Paul Gomez racked up two straight victories to share the top spot with Uzbek GM Marat Dzhumaev in the on-going 10th Parsvnath International Open Chess Tournament 2012 yesterday (Wednesday) at Ludlow Castle Sports Complex, Civil Lines in New Delhi, India.

The Taytay, Rizal native Barbosa stunned GM Thipsay Praveen M of India in the fourth round then followed it up with another sterling victory against IM Ashwin Jayaram of India in the fifth round to raised his total 5 points in five outings, the same output of Barbosa and Dzhumaev.

The Binan, Laguna bet Gomez, who is fresh from a runner-up finish in the SDAT-RMK 4th Chennai Open Grand Master Chess Tournament in Chennai, India over the weekend, on the other hand, dismantled Sekar B and FM Ghosh Diptayan of India, respectively while Dzhumaev toppled Gusain Himal and IM Vaibhav Suri of India, in order.

Three Indians International Masters (IMs) Lalith Babu M R, Thejkumar M S and Rathnakaran K was tied at 4th to 6th placer with 4.5 points each.

In the sixth round, Barbosa will employ the disadvantageosu black pieces against Dzhumaev in Board 1; Gomez will handle the same black pieces against Lalith Babu M R in Board 2 while Thejkumar M S goes up against Rathnakaran K in Board 3.

"So far so sood. I hope mahawakan nina Oliver at John Paul ang kanilang momentum," said National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) Chairman/President Prospero "Butch" Pichay Jr.

Meanwhile, GM Mark Paragua of Bulacan defeated IM Praveen Kumar C of India in the fourth round then split the point with Bitan Banerjee of India in the fifth round for 4 points, good for a share of 7th to 35th place.

However, GM Richard Bitoon suffered back to back loses at the hands of FM Ghosh Diptayan and Hemant Sharma of India. The pride of Medellin, Cebu remains at 3 points and was dropped into a share of 73rd to 139th place.

Paragua will play white pieces against Narayanan S L of India in Board 11 while Bitoon aims to bounce back in contention by playing black pieces with Srikanth K of India in Board 38.

The India chess campaign is a part of the Philippine Team preparation for this year's 38th World Chess Olympiad in Istanbul, Turkey backed up by NCFP, PSC and POC.