Agilas back in contention

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines brought down the top two seeds in India and Kazakhstan yesterday to spring back to life after the eighth and penultimate round of the Asian Nations Online Chess Cup.

Grandmaster Banjo Barcenilla starred in the Filipinos’ sensational 2.5-1.5 win over the Indians, the reigning FIDE Online Olympiad champions, while International Masters Paulo Bersamina and Haridas Pascua delivered the victories in a 2.5-1.5 triumph over the Kazakhs, the second picks.

The pair of giant-sized wins sent the Agilas to a three-way tie at second with Mongolia and Australia with 12 match points each.

Third seed Iran led the way with 15 points.

In a seventh-round win against an all-GM Indian squad, Barcenilla delivered the victory over GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly on board two while GM Mark Paragua, Bersamina and Pascua fought to draws with GMs Nihal Sarin, S.P. Sethuraman and Krishnan Sasikiran on boards one, three and four, respectively.