By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
International Masters Jem Garcia and Pau Bersamina pulled off shocking results against their respective Indian Grandmaster rivals at the start of the Asian Individual Chess Championships in United Arab Emirates on Wednesday, May 7.
Garcia outplayed V Pranav in a 40-move King’s Indian duel while Bersamina split the point with top seed Nihai Sarin in a marathon 80-move Sicilian duel to make their title campaigns felt in this nine-round tournament.
GM Daniel Quizon also hurdled his first assignment following a 38-move triumph over Chinese Xu Pengmo in another King’s Indian encounter to also boost his bid.
Garcia was battling Chinese IM Chen Qi B while Bersamina was tackling Uzbek GM Nodirbek Yakubboev in the second round.
Quizon, for his part, was playing Russian GM David Paravyan with hopes of continuing to pile up strong results for a legitimate shot at one of the 10 FIDE World Cup tickets in the open section.
In the distaff side, WGM Janelle Mae Frayna, also had a strong start after crushing the Sicilian Defense of fellow WGM Manisha Mohanty Kiran of India in 49 moves.
Frayna was taking on Mongolian WGM Uurtsaikh Uuriintuya and was hoping to win again to have a chance at the two FIDE World Cup slots being staked in the women’s section.
However, it wasn’t as rosy for WIMs Jan Jodilyn Fronda and Bernadette Galas after absorbing stinging defeats to Vietnamese IM Pham Le Thao Nguyen and Indian WGM Nutakki Priyanka, respectively.
San Diego salvaged a draw against Singaporean WGM Gong Qianyun.
