PH bets Severino, Rom join world chess leaders with perfect 3 points

Unbeaten Filipinos Fide Master (FM) Sander Severino and National Master (NM) Jasper Rom shared the lead with Russian FM Lipilin Ilia and 15 others in the 4th FIDE World Championship for People with Disabilities.

Severino and Rom produced brilliant wins with black pieces opposite FM Lukasz Nowak of Poland and Griffin McConnell of the the States, respectively, in Round 3 on Sunday, November 7, to sustain their winning ways.

Severino, winner of the 2020 International Physically Disabled Chess Championship and the pride of Silay City, Negros Occidental, and Cebuano stalwart Rom both relied on their deep understanding of the French defense in besting Nowak and McConnell in 54 and 60 moves, respectively.

However, in the Bucholz tiebreaker for perfect scorers, the fifth-seed Severino and the 13th-seed Rom occupied joint sixth place. Meanwhile, top-seeded Grandmaster Tazbir Marcin of Poland, also with 3 points, checked in at the 18th spot.

The five-man Philippine team scored three wins, one loss, and one draw in Day 3 action of the 50-nation, 10-day chess competition which saw the two-game roll of visually-impaired Filipino NM Rodolfo Sarmiento end at the hands of higher-ranked Leonel Amato of Argentina.

Debuting in the world championship arena, the Tagaytay City native Sarmiento was trying to salvage a one-pawn deficit endgame position when his time flagged down after 41 moves of the d4’s Irregular Opening duel, dropping him to 49th place with 2-1 record.

Arena Grandmaster Henry Roger Lopez of Panabo City, Davao del Norte, tallied his second draw opposite Szymon Kasperczyk of Poland to go along with his single win for a two-point total, which was good for 75th place.

Youthful NM Darry Bernardo of Angeles City, Pampanga, was all fire on board after his second-round loss to Malaysia’s Pin Xie Loo.

Seething with revenge, Bernardo needed just 27 moves of the Carrokan Exchange variation to annihilate Ardian Syah Muming of Malaysia for his second victory that landed him at 91st place among a total of 246 participants around the world.

“When he exchanged early for an open game that fits my style, I went immediately for an all-out attack. Pressured, he blundered with d6 move that cost him a whole piece down,” Bernardo told Rappler.

The nine-round Swiss tournament with 45 minutes plus 30 seconds increment per move is an individual competition with an additional team ranking. 

Its winners will earn the titles of World Chess Champion Among Disabled in the individual ranking and World Chess Team Champion Among Disabled in the team competition. – Rappler.com