OZAMIZ CITY — Woman FIDE Master Ruelle Canino held her ground against sixth seed Evgenija Ovod of Russia in a 33-move Sicilian battle that kept her in the race for the crown after the eighth and penultimate round of the 6th ASEAN Individual Chess Championships-Gov. Henry Oaminal Cup at the Asenso Misamis Occidental Resort and Aquamarine Park here.

Canino, 17, wisely went for minor piece exchanges and intelligently parried the battle-scarred Russian International Master’s open attack on the former’s king to salvage the draw.

That kept the reigning national titlist from Cagayan de Oro at No. 2 where another Russian, top seed Woman FIDE Master Anna Zhurova, joined her with six points each.

Zhurova was merciless in smashing compatriot WIM Ekaterina Smirnova in 45 moves of a Ruy Lopez to likewise remain in the title race in this nine-round tournament backed by the Philippine Sports Commission.

Ovod, for her part, stayed unshakeable at the helm with 6.5 points and could seal the deal with a draw against Zhurova in the final round.

For Canino to win this, she has to beat Mongolian WFM Batpelden Buyankhishig, who trounced WIM Bernadette Galas in 26 moves of a Queen’s Gambit Declined, in the last round at press time.

“There’s no assurances but we’ll do our best,” said Canino, who had already gained 95.2 rating points that should help her eclipse the 2200-rating plateau for the first time in her life.

In the premier open class, FM Mark Jay Bacojo shocked Vietnamese GM Tran Tuan Minh in 24 moves of a Nimzo-Indian Defense to breathe life to his hope of a podium finish.

The mammoth win propelled the 19-year-old Far Eastern University Psychology student into a tie for No. 2 with Mongolian IM Munkhdalai Amilal and Vietnamese IM Nguyen Quoc Hy, who fought to a 46-move draw of a Scotch game, with 5.5 points apiece.

Bacojo was tackling Amilal in the final round in the section that was already virtually topped by Indian IM V S Raahul, who bested Indonesian FM Fabiano Glen Mariano in 38 moves of a Nimzo-Indian Defense.