Miciano rocks Russian GM

Filipino International Master John Marvin Miciano upset Grandmaster Vyacheslav Ikonnikov of Russia in 62 moves of a King’s Indian duel to seize the solo lead after five rounds of the 22nd Hogeschool Zeeland chess tournament in Vlissingen, The Netherlands Tuesday night.

Playing black, Miciano, 17, came out the aggressor as he launched a kingside attack that netted him a rook before finding a way to stop Ikonnikov’s central passed pawn to extract the full point.

The win zoomed him up the top spot with perfect five points.

Miciano, whose rating of 2381 paled in comparison with Ikonnikov’s 2546, actually declined a draw offer on the 55th move after he found his winning moves with a pawn and rook sacrifice that prevented his opponent from queening his pawn.

Miciano was left with an unstoppable promoting pawn against Ikonnikov’s two useless pawns.

Ikonnikov became Miciano’s second GM victim after he also slew sixth seed GM Zeng Chongsheng of China the round before.

Miciano, whose trip is funded by the Philippine Sports Commission and Far Eastern University where he plays top board, was playing top seed GM Sandro Mareco of Argentina in the sixth round at press time.

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