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Gomez recovers but finishes eighth in the online chess tiff Joytu Sheik Hasina
Joey Villar (Philstar.com) – September 27, 2020 – 2:34 pm
MANILA, Philippines – Veteran Olympiad grandmaster John Paul Gomez hit a backhand in the third round and shot hard to finish half a point behind eventual GM champion Susanto Megaranto of Indonesia in the 2020 Joytu Sheik Hasina Online Chess Tournament during the Weekend.
The 34-year-old Gomez, who has played five editions of the Olympics, finished with 6.5 points to finish in a five-man jam at No. 4, but ultimately finished eighth after the playoffs were enforced.
Megaranto claimed the crown after beating Indian GM SL Narayanan and Iranian GM M. Amin Tabatabaei, who finished with the same score of seven points, via tiebreaker.
Gomez was initially hampered by a painful loss to Indonesian International Master Novendra Priasmoro in the third round, but came back in a big way by chaining 4.5 points in his last six games, including a final round draw with GM Nguyen. Ngoc Truong Son from Vietnam, second pick.
GM Joey Antonio, the only bet the Philippines made in this nine-round invite-only event hosted by a Bangladeshi group, got off to a strong start but flopped late and settled for 15th place with 5.5 points.
Antonio, who at 58 is considered the country’s ironman of online chess, was in contention for the title in the first six rounds but lost two in a row to Indian GMs SL Narayanan and Prasanna V. Vishnu and blew his chance.
He defeated Choudhury Anata of Bangladesh in the final round to finish with a respectable finish in 15th place.
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