Asian Continental Chess Championship round 9: Beautiful win by So, Antonio is now the sole leader!

In military tactics a flanking maneuver also called a flank attack is an attack on the sides of an opposing force. If a flanking maneuver succeeds, the opposing force would be surrounded from two or more directions, which significantly reduces the maneuverability of the outflanked force and its ability to defend itself. A psychological advantage may also be present, as flank forces usually do not expect to be attacked. (from wikipedia)

That's how I will describe the So-Moradiabi game. The win by So was a beauty. The moment Wesley successfully breach and open the c file (24. cxd6), So did not waste time to execute a beautiful flanking maneuver to attack the enemy king as black's right flanks collapses. It is always beautiful to come from behind the enemy line and struck everyone without mercy from all direction. With the win, Wesley improve his score to 6.0 points and remains in contention to finish in the top ten (to be able qualify for the World Cup of Chess) should he scored at least 1.5 points in the last two rounds. Two draws or a win and a loss is a disaster.

But look, look! Wesley will be pair against another chess prodigy, the current youngest Grandmaster in the world, Hou Yifan of China in the 10th round. This match up is already creating a stir among Wesley So followers. As one kibitzer naughtily commented, bagay silang dalawa.

And hey, the biggest win of the day for the Filipino chessers is the victory of GM Rogelio Antonio against GM Le Qua Liem from Vietnam. The win elevates him on top of the standings with 7.0 points, half a point behind his four foreign player pursuers. Antonio, who has been under severe criticism from chess media personnel after his successful campaign in the US by joining strings of "mediocre" tournaments where he emerges overall champions, now just two rounds away from winning one of the biggest tournament of his career in more than a decade. More than that, a ticket for the world cup of chess to be held later this year in Russia is almost certain.





For complete round 9 results, go HERE. For Round 10 pairings, they are HERE.

Rank after Round 9 (Open section)

Rk.		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2
1	GM	Antonio Rogelio Jr	PHI	2518	7,0	2510	2527
2	GM	Sandipan Chanda	IND	2558	6,5	2590	2601
3	GM	Ganguly Surya Shekhar	IND	2625	6,5	2537	2547
4	GM	Hou Yifan	CHN	2590	6,5	2498	2508
5	GM	Zhou Weiqi	CHN	2563	6,5	2496	2508
6	GM	Yu Shaoteng	CHN	2504	6,0	2578	2600
7		Yu Yangyi	CHN	2433	6,0	2568	2576
8	GM	Dao Thien Hai	VIE	2546	6,0	2558	2581
9	GM	Rahman Ziaur	BAN	2523	6,0	2544	2555
10	GM	Sasikiran Krishnan	IND	2682	6,0	2532	2537
11	GM	Kunte Abhijit	IND	2513	6,0	2510	2532
12	GM	So Wesley	PHI	2641	6,0	2500	2506
13	GM	Zhou Jianchao	CHN	2635	6,0	2474	2479
14		Ding Liren	CHN	2458	5,5	2602	2614
15	GM	Murshed Niaz	BAN	2407	5,5	2549	2555
16	IM	Al Sayed Moh Mad N	QAT	2496	5,5	2548	2571
17	GM	Le Quang Liem	VIE	2591	5,5	2538	2544
18	GM	Iuldachev Saidali	UZB	2497	5,5	2535	2561
19	GM	Negi Parimarjan	IND	2592	5,5	2489	2497
20	GM	Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son	VIE	2588	5,5	2482	2490
21	GM	Filippov Anton	UZB	2584	5,5	2471	2482
22	GM	Torre Eugenio	PHI	2561	5,5	2464	2471
23	GM	Al-Modiahki Mohamad	QAT	2585	5,5	2459	2467
24		Xiu Deshun	CHN	2422	5,0	2564	2572
25	GM	Moradiabadi Elshan	IRI	2526	5,0	2554	2567
26	IM	Toufighi Homayoon	IRI	2478	5,0	2545	2571
27	IM	Bitoon Richard	PHI	2479	5,0	2544	2569
28		Wan Yunguo	CHN	2434	5,0	2539	2566
29	GM	Tu Hoang Thong	VIE	2506	5,0	2531	2557
30	GM	Gupta Abhijeet	IND	2570	5,0	2520	2524
31		Gundavaa Bayarsaikhan	MGL	2461	5,0	2497	2522
32	GM	Laylo Darwin	PHI	2509	5,0	2496	2514
33	GM	Li Shilong	CHN	2557	5,0	2492	2504
34	GM	Kazhgaleyev Murtas	KAZ	2626	5,0	2466	2474
35	GM	Deepan Chakkravarthy J	IND	2482	5,0	2463	2483
36	IM	Nolte Rolando	PHI	2479	5,0	2437	2456
37	GM	Megaranto Susanto	INA	2553	5,0	2426	2432
38	IM	Irwanto Sadikin	INA	2447	4,5	2559	2568
39	GM	Gonzales Jayson	PHI	2465	4,5	2548	2573
40		Gao Rui	CHN	2500	4,5	2541	2563
41	IM	Harika Dronavalli	IND	2474	4,5	2530	2570
42	FM	Vidit Santosh Gujrathi	IND	2441	4,5	2527	2552
43	IM	Ashwin Jayaram	IND	2413	4,5	2513	2539
44	IM	Nguyen Thanh Son	VIE	2448	4,5	2507	2532
45	GM	Mahjoob Morteza	IRI	2498	4,5	2502	2528
46		Pak Evgeniy	KAZ	2328	4,5	2501	2515
47	GM	Gomez John Paul	PHI	2538	4,5	2483	2494
48	GM	Paragua Mark	PHI	2529	4,5	2475	2489
49	GM	Nguyen Anh Dung	VIE	2518	4,5	2470	2488
50	GM	Ghaem Maghami Ehsan	IRI	2593	4,5	2446	2450
51	IM	Dimakiling Oliver	PHI	2426	4,0	2550	2557
52	FM	Batchuluun Tsegmed	MGL	2391	4,0	2527	2535
53		Wang Li	CHN	2401	4,0	2514	2523
54	FM	Wahono Awam	INA	2391	4,0	2513	2527
55		Zhang Ziyang	CHN	2419	4,0	2489	2510
56	GM	Bui Vinh	VIE	2522	4,0	2481	2491
57		Garma Edgardo	PHI	2421	4,0	2475	2496
58		Causo Deniel	PHI	2367	4,0	2468	2476
59	CM	Nguyen Van Huy	VIE	2423	4,0	2467	2494
60	GM	Hossain Enamul	BAN	2531	4,0	2447	2455
61		Garcia Jan Emmanuel	PHI	2292	4,0	2446	2453
62	IM	Akshayraj Kore	IND	2404	4,0	2444	2464
63	IM	Mas Hafizulhelmi	MAS	2425	4,0	2435	2454
64	GM	Wang Rui	CHN	2434	4,0	2426	2438
65	GM	Villamayor Buenaventura	PHI	2474	4,0	2405	2418
66	GM	Kim Alexey	KOR	2481	4,0	2375	2384
67	IM	Sadorra Julio Catalino	PHI	2451	3,5	2546	2557
68		Lou Yiping	CHN	2410	3,5	2505	2532
69	IM	Hassan Abdullah	UAE	2322	3,5	2496	2504
70	FM	Abu Sufian Shakil	BAN	2378	3,5	2480	2488
71	FM	Priyadharshan K	IND	2411	3,5	2469	2493
72	IM	Bancod Ronald	PHI	2356	3,5	2456	2463
73		Yu Lie	CHN	2307	3,5	2449	2455
74		Yang Kaiqi	CHN	2413	3,5	2408	2421
75		Elorta David	PHI	2372	3,0	2494	2508
76	FM	Alhuwar Jasem	UAE	2293	3,0	2493	2503
77	IM	Khamrakulov Dzhurabek	UZB	2524	3,0	2481	2490
78		Pascua Haridas	PHI	2359	3,0	2475	2486
79		Olay Edgar Reggie	PHI	2348	3,0	2473	2481
80	FM	Hoang Canh Huan	VIE	2378	3,0	2471	2490
81		Jia Haoxiang	CHN	2344	3,0	2468	2477
82	CM	Nguyen Hoang Nam	VIE	2281	3,0	2428	2436
83	FM	Novita Anjas	INA	2345	2,5	2506	2514
84		Chua Aaron	MAS	2116	2,0	2425	2439
85		Celis Solomon B Iii	MAC	2007	1,0	2404	2424
86	GM	Dzhumaev Marat	UZB	2552	0,0	0	0