IM Richard Bitoon

And so it’s confirmed.

Mrs. Leny So, mother of GM Wesley So, kibitzed on the kibitz page of Wesley on chessgames.com that NCFP Director Willie Abalos had already gone to the bank to pay for her son’s trip ticket for Aeroflot 2009.

Good news, indeed.

Let’s now talk about IM Richard Bitoon, the Filipino chess combatant who completes the four-man RP contingent to Aeroflot in Moscow this year.

Bitoon was reported to enter the A-2 Division, with GM Wesley in A-1 and the other two teeners (Haridas Pascua and Emmanuel Garcia) in Division B.

So what can we expect from Bitoon in his Aeroflot campaign?

His most recent successful international stint was his triumph in the recent 5th Singapore Masters International Open Tournament 2008 where emerged as the solo champion.

Bitoon's draw in the final round against Thanh Son Nguyen (2434) of Vietnam was enough to put him in solo first place. His rating performance of 2596 from four wins and five draws (no losses) might not be so impressive, but that earned him 19.5 Elo points.

I don’t know if it’s true that, after long years of being an IM, it was only in this tournament that he earned his first International Grandmaster (GM) norm, which means that he still needs two more such norms and also to get his rating to the 2500+ level to earn the GM status.

Othes are saying, however, that Bitoon has already collected two GM norms and therefore needs only one and final norm to achieve the full GM title.

Can somebody please shed enlightenment on this?

One thing for sure, Bitoon will become a GM in the near future.

Here are some of his recent accomplishments:

Umali Cup
- tied for 3rd to 9th place (4th overall)

4th Pichay Cup
- 8th placer

1st Dragon Vietnam Chess Open
- 13th placer

IM Bitoon (in green shirt) pondering on his next move against his 'missing' opponent. Guess who was his opponent in this round of the 3rd PGMA Cup? AND, can you identify the man (standing) who was 'seriously' watching the game?

This was his opponent! Can you identify him by simply looking from his back? Bitoon lost in this game.