KUALA LUMPUR - GMs Oliver Barbosa and Mark Paragua got off to strong starts by posting victories in the opening round of the DYTM Raja Nazrin Shah International Open Chess Championship dubbed as KL Open Chess on Tuesday at the Olympic Sports Hotel here.
The Taytay, Rizal native Barbosa defeated Steven O’ Reilly of Australia after 42 moves of the Dutch defense while the Bulacan ace Paragua subdued K. Chakravarthi of India after 43 moves of a Sicilian.
The usual suspects made their presence felt early.
Top seed GM Sergei Tiviakov of the Netherlands, No.3 GM Deepan Chakkravarthy of India, No.5 IM Nguyen Van Huy of Vietnam , No.6 IM Nguyen Doc Hoa of Vietnam, No.7 GM Cao Sang of Vietnam, No.8 GM Darwin Laylo of the Philippines, No.9 IM Kiril Kuderinov of Kazakhstan and No.10 IM Vishnu Prassana V. of India.
Tiviakov toppled Ngo Thi Kim Tuyen of Vietnam.; Chakkravarthy subdued Fong Yit San of Malaysia; Van Huy dealt Aigerim Alpysbayeva of Kazakhstan; Doc Hoa routed Fong Choong Ee of Malaysia; Cao smashed Handjojo Limono of Indonesia; Laylo dumped Azarya Jodi Setyaki of Indonesia; Kuderinov walloped FM Ram Aravind L N of India; and Prassana nipped WFM Azman Hisham Nur Najiha of Malaysia.
GM-elect Ronald Dableo and GM hopefuls International Masters Oliver Dimakiling and Rolando Nolte also opened their accounts with a full point each.
Dableo scalped Siavosh Vojdani of Iran after 35 moves of English Opening; Dimakiling outplayed reigning Malaysian senior champion Lim Kian Hwa in their Sicilian Defense encounter; and Nolte outmaneuvered Mikgail Kok of Malaysia after just 21 moves of Sicilian.
Dimakiling and Nolte are both seeking their third and final norm to complete GM status.
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