Paulo Bersamina upsets Vietnamese GM in Asian chess opener

MANILA, Philippines — Filipino International Master Paulo Bersamina stole the thunder from the favorites as he claimed the scalp of third seed Grandmaster Le Quang Liem of Vietnam in 36 moves of a Giuoco Piano to snare a piece of the lead at the start of the seventh Asian Continental Chess Championships (second Manny Pacquiao Cup) at the Tiara Hotel in Makati Monday night.

The 20-year-old Bersamina, a two-time Olympiad veteran whose FIDE rating of 2444 pales in comparison to his foe’s astronomical 2714, unleashed a brilliant queen sacrifice to force Le into submission and avert a shutout for the Filipino players.

“I just saw an opportunity and I took advantage of it. I feel good about this big win. I hope it’s a start of something big for me,” said Bersamina.

The win sent Bersamina in an early 28-chesser gridlock at the helm and will battle Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Abdusattorov, who turned back reigning ASEAN seniors champion IM Chito Garma, in the second round at press time.

Filipino IM Haridas Pascua also made heads turn after he came close to bringing down fourth seed GM Santosh Gujrathi Vidit of India before agreeing to a draw in 36 moves of a Gruenfeld Defense as he was left with just six minutes to make four moves.

All 16 other Filipinos entered in this nine-round tournament dropped their respective matches, including GMs John Paul Gomez, Darwin Laylo and Joey Antonio.

There were other shockers.

Iranian 19th seed GM Ehsan Ghaem Maghami lost to unheralded FIDE Master Lye Lik Zang of Malaysia and top seed GM Wang Hao of China was held to a draw by Indonesian FM Yoseph Theolifus Taher.

In the women’s division, WGM Janelle Mae Frayna couldn’t extract a win against a lower-ranked Sivanesan Nithyalakshmi of Malaysia and settled for a split in this tournament supported by the Philippine Sports Commission, Sen. Manny Pacquiao and NCFP president Butch Pichay.

WFM Shania Mae Mendoza also created a stir after she split the point with No. 3 IM Guo Qi of China while WIM Marie Antoinette San Diego halved the point with No. 7 WGM Vo Thi Kim of Vietnam.

WFM Cherry Ann Mejia also pulled off a minor upset as she drew with 13th pick WGM Nguyen Thi Thanh An of Vietnam.