San Diego sustains form, stuns Indian foe

Marie Antoinette San Diego continued her magical performance after she stunned erstwhile pace-setter and top seed Woman International Master (WIM) Bordoloi Pratitee of India to seize the solo lead after five rounds in the women’s side of the 7th ASEAN+ Individual Chess Championships at the Amorap in Misamis Occidental Thursday.

The 27-year-old WIM from Dasmariñas unleashed a vicious kingside attack to claim a rook and the 41-move victory of a Queen’s Pawn game that catapulted her straight to the top with 4.5 points.

The result also put her in prime position to win the nine-round event bankrolled by host Gov. Henry Oaminal Sr. and backed by the Philippine Sports Commission and WR Chess and claim a direct Woman Grandmaster norm.

With four rounds to go, she leads a strong 34-player field that included three players with four points apiece — Pratitee, Indian WFM Shree Reddy Keerti and Indonesian WIM Shafira Devi Herfesa.

Keerti split the point with Filipina WFM Shania Mae Mendoza in 30 moves of a Queen’s Pawn game while Herfesa survived a losing position by escaping past local bet WIM Ruelle Canino in 71 moves of a Sicilian Defense.

Mendoza was in a six-player group at No. 5 with 3.5 points each, including countrywomen Mhage Sebastian and Kate Nicole Ordizo, winners over fellow local bets Franchesca Largo and Samantha Umayan, respectively.

San Diego clashes with Herfesa in the sixth round Saturday after participants took a much-needed breather last Friday.

In the open section, FM Alekhine Nouri halved the point with Indian IM Bala Chandra Prasad Dhulipalla in 49 moves of a Caro-kann Defense to remain the highest ranked Filipino with 3.5 points, or just half a point behind co-leaders IM Erdene Baasansuren of Mongolia and GM Nguyen Duc Hoa of Vietnam.