CHESS-ASIAN UNIVERSITIES: MANILA – Chinese IM Xu Yi stops Francis Miciano; Bersamina up
MANILA, Philippines — Top seed IM Xu Yi of China trampled Filipino rising star Francis Miciano to regain the solo lead while IM Paulo Bersamina bounced back into contention in the fifth round of the Asian Universities Chess Championships at the Tagaytay International Convention Center yesterday.
Xu outwitted the fourth-ranked Miciano in the featured duel to wrest solo control at 4.5 points halfway through the nine-round Swiss system tournament featuring the region’s rising stars.
But while Miciano dropped off the lead with 3.5 points, Bersamina wheeled back into contention with a victory over IM Muhammad Lutfi Ali of Indonesia to hike his output to four points for joint second with Fide Master Yoseph Theolifus Taher of Indonesia, who downed Rhenzi Kyle Sevillano.
“It’s still anybody’s race with four more rounds left,” said Bersamina, who also bowed to Xu in the fourth round but recovered quick and dominated Ali.
In the distaff side, Woman IM Marie Antoinette San Diego of Dasmariñas City held top seed Woman GM Wang Jue to a draw to force a four-way tie for first with four points with Wang, Mengjie Qiu and Xin Nie of China and Fide Master Sahajasri Cholleti of Indonesia. / The Philippine Star – May 31, 2018 – 12:00am
