GM Mchedlishvili tops 5th Pichay Cup

Tournament's top seed GM MCHEDLISHVILI Mikheil (2613) of Georgia beat his final round opponent, world junior champion GM GUPTA Abhijeet (2584) of India, to rule the 5th Pichay Cup today at the LWUA Bldg in Quezon City.

Playing black, Mchedlishvili needed to overcome a very tough opposition from the wonder boy of India to ensure his chance for the title.

GM GHAEMMAGHAMI Ehsan (2579) of Iran also subdued his Round 9 opponent, defending champion GM LI Shilong (2531) of China, to level the 7.0 points output of Mchedlishvili but slid to second place in the final rankings due to inferior tie break points.

Mchedlishvili and Ehsan split their match in Round 5.

Notably, World Cup-bound GM Rogelio Antonio (2557) of the Philippines defeated GM GAGUNASHVILI Merab (2564) of Georgia to finish with 6.5 points, just half a point behind the champion.

Antonio emerged the best Filipino campaigner in the tournament, finishing No.3 in the final honor list. A total of 43 Filipino woodpushers participated in the event.

Notable notes in Round 9

Only two Filipinos made it to Top 10 namely, GM Antonio (3rd) and GM Darwin Laylo (6th)

GM Torre lost to superGM Zhang Zhong of Singapore, booting out in the Top 5 finishers and dropped instead to No.15

FM Haridas Pascua melted in the final stretch and tasted his lone defeat in the tournament at the hands of FM Fernie Donguines

Unknown Lyndon Lumancas reached Board 8, although he lost to GM DAO Thien Hai of Vietnam

IM Richard completely went out of steam and lost to GM DAS Neelotpal of India and erected a rating performance of 2263

IM Rolando Nolte beat GM John Paul Gomez but failed to earn a GM norm
Untitled Merben Roque drew with GM Jayson Gonzales, his second draw with a GM in the tournament

GM Bong Villamayor met WGM Krutika Nadig over the board for the second time (first was during the 4th PGMA Cup) and beat her again

Of the only two roses in the tournament, WGM Krutika (No.43) finished stronger than Cristy Bernales (No.53) of the Philippines; Krutika had 4.0 points while Bernales, 3.0 points

FINAL RANKINGS

Rk. Name Pts.
1 gm MCHEDLISHVILI Mikheil 7
2 gm GHAEMMAGHAMI Ehsan 7
3 gm ANTONIO Rogelio Jr 6.5
4 gm NGUYEN Ngoc Truong Son 6.5
5 gm ZHANG Zhong 6.5
6 gm LAYLO Darwin 6
7 gm DAO Thien Hai 6
8 gm DAS Neelotpal 6
9 gm KOTANJIAN Tigran 5.5
10 gm GUPTA Abhijeet 5.5
11 gm PARAGUA Mark 5.5
12 gm FILIPPOV Anton 5.5
13 gm GAGUNASHVILI Merab 5.5
14 gm LI Shilong 5.5
15 gm TORRE Eugenio 5.5
16 im DABLEO Ronald 5.5
17 gm ISMAGAMBETOV Anuar 5.5
18 im NOLTE Rolando 5.5
19 gm KOSTENKO Pyotr 5.5
20 im DIMAKILING Oliver 5.5
21 fm DONGUINES Fernie 5.5
22 TIRTO 5
23 ANDADOR Rolando 5
24 im GARMA Chito 5
25 im SENADOR Emmanuel 5
26 LUMANCAS Lyndon 5
27 gm VILLAMAYOR Buenaventura 5
28 fm PASCUA Haridas 4.5
29 gm GOMEZ John Paul 4.5
30 MAGA Mirabeau 4.5
31 ELORTA David 4.5
32 BITOON Richard 4.5
33 ROQUE Merben 4.5
34 gm GONZALES Jayson 4.5
35 DATU Alcon John 4
36 MARIANO Nelson III 4
37 MACALA Allan 4
38 BRANZUELA Ali 4
39 LEGASPI Rhobel 4
40 MORAZO John Ranel 4
41 SEGARRA Randy 4
42 OLAY Edgar Reggie 4
43 wgm NADIG Krutika 4
44 MILAGROSA Alexander 4
45 CASTELLANO Christopher 4
46 LAO Elias 4
47 fm CARLOS Leonardo 3.5
48 RICANA Leodegario 3.5
49 CAUSO Deniel 3
50 RIVERA Albert 3
51 POLAO Ben 3
52 BAGAMASBAD Efren 3
53 BERNALES Christy Lamiel 3
54 PORTUGALERA Ric 3
55 LEE Elgin 3
56 CAUMBAN Jose Piff 3
57 BAUTISTA Paolo Lorenzo 2.5
58 BAGAYNA Magellan 2
59 LEE William 2
60 PINERO Arnel 0