Battle of Grandmasters III R6: So wins by default against Antonio!

There's something fishy going on here. This is exactly what we're talking about regarding our previous post about the Angpin Chess Cup. GM Antonio, after winning the Angpin Cup in Pasig City (more or less two hours drive to Tagaytay where the Battle of GMs is taking place) just forfeited his game against Wesley So and losses by default in round 6.

Antonio, according to a report by Roy Luarca for Inquirer.net, apparently asked his game against So to be postponed because on what Antonio claim that he is feeling tired after winning the Angpin Cup.

Though Antonio appeared at the venue, he requested that his game with So be postponed as he wasn’t feeling well after ruling the two-day Philippine Sports Commission Chair Harry Angping Cup that ended Sunday.

Tournament director Willie Abalos, however, did not accede to Antonio’s request and declared him loser by forfeiture, citing a ruling that a player must appear on the board at the time of the match.

With the forfeiture, the second-seeded Antonio got stuck at 4.0 points and must score on each of the remaining five rounds to stay on track of repeating his runner-up finish to So in last year’s edition held in Dapitan City.

We understand GM Antonio's reasoning that he's tired but everyone is tired as well. Again, we're questioning the insertion of the Angpin Cup that coincides with the schedule of the Battle of GMs III. We're not against this tournament in honor of honorable PSC Chairman Harry Angpin but why interrupt the Battle of GMs just to sneak in the Angpin Cup? Can't they just do this right after the Battle of GMs instead? Now we see the complication it's creating.

Important links:

Round 6 and round 7 results

Standings after 7 rounds