Oliver Barbosa wins La Union Chess

Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012

Hi everyone,

Despite losing his final match to Grandmaster (GM) Mark Paragua, GM Oliver Barbosa still took home the title based on points in the 7th La Union Open Chess Championships on Thursday in San Fernando City, La Union. Barbosa pocketed the P50,000 top prize that goes with the title.

 

It was Barbosa’s second major title this year since his overall victory in the 10th Parsvnath International Grandmasters Chess Tournament last January.

“Oliver is playing on a different level right now,” said GM Eugene Torre. “With him and Wesley (So), the future of Philippine chess looks bright.”

GM Darwin Laylo and IM Oliver Dimakiling, who both fell to Barbosa in the earlier rounds, shared second to third places with 8.5 points. They each took home P20,000.

Laylo defeated Causo after 37 moves of Slav while Dimakiling downed GM Richard Bitoon after 42 moves of Smith Morra.

Senador edged FM Paulo Bersamina to finish solo fourth with 8.0 points and get P10,000.

Meanwhile, Fernando Bustamante finished with 5.5 points to nab special awards. Bustamante emerged as the top senior and top non-master, netting P2,000 for each honor.

He also earned P5,000 for being the top La Union player, beating Michael Manago and Fernando Tadina for the award. The two got P3,000 and P2,000, respectively

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