San Diego, Bersamina trail Chinese leaders in Asian Universities Chess Championship

MANILA, Philippines – Missed opportunities are the bane of a chess player. After Antoinette San Diego accepted a draw in a better position against the Chinese top seed on Tuesday, May 29, at the Asian Universities Chess Championship in Tagaytay City, she spent the night analyzing the game.

“I think I was winning. I was one pawn up. It (chess engine) was showing minus 2. But I didn’t let it bother me much,” said San Diego, a psychology major at De La Salle. 

And San Diego is back in the battle for first after drawing with her La Salle teammate and defending national champion Bernadette Galas in Wednesday’s 6th round. “The top players are drawing with each other that is why we have a chance,” said Galas.

Wang Jue, the woman grandmaster San Diego drew with, leads with 5 points. Half-a-point behind were San Diego with Chinese bets Nie Xin, Liu Manli and Qiu Mengje. San Diego faces Liu in Thursday’s Round 7.  

With Galas at 4 points were 14-year-old Alphecca Gonzales of Danao City, Cebu and Chollety Sahajuri of India. 

The men’s side have crept to within half-a-point of the leading Xu Yi of China, who has 5 points. Paulo Bersamina, who lost to Xu; John Marvin Miciano, Yoseph Taher of Indonesia and Yuan Qing of China have 4.5 points. 

Miciano, who also lost to Xu, scampered into contention after defeating Daniel Quizon, 14, in a game that took 5 hours to finish. Bersamina drew with Taher.

Thursday will see two rounds being played and the tournament winner could be decided in Tagaytay City, the venue of the Philippines’ chess misfortunes. 

Last year, 19-year-old Malaysian Yeoh Li Tian won the Asian Zonal and Indonesians Novendra Priasmoro and Taher finished 1-2 in the East Asian Juniors. – Rappler.com