Concio outplays Arca in all-Pinoy showdown

By Robert Andaya

Standings after four rounds:
Boys
4 points — A. Grebnev (Russia)
3.5 –M. Concio (Philippines)
3 — S. Aswath (India), A. Uskov (Russia), M. Amilal (Mongolia), Y. Bharadia (India), A. Adireddy (India), A Dolorosa (Philippines).
2.5 –K. Rohith (India), K. D. Dau (Vietnam), C. Arca (Philippines). I. Alkhibay (Kazakhstan)  C. S. Yu ( Vietnam)

Girls
4 — A. Shukhman (Russia).
3 — G. Tajaswini (India), D. Khairmode (India), A. M. Mohd  (Malaysia), H. Sneha (India)
2.5 — J. Mendoza (Philippines),  V. Rindhiya (India).
2 — E. Castronuevo (Philippines), K. Popandopulo (Kazakhstan), H. T. Luong (Vietnam), P. Chen (Taipei), G. Shubhi (India), M. Bristy (India)

TAGAYTAY — Sweet revenge for World Cup veteran  IM Michael Concio, Jr.

Concio played true to form as he defeated compatriot FM Gian Karlo Arca in the fourth round of the Asian Juniors Chess Championships at the Knights Templar Hotel here Tuesday.

The 19-year-old Concio turned a slightly inferior position  and capitalized on Arca’s mistake to secure the victory in a highly-complicated endgame battle

Noted chess journalist Ignacio Dee said Arca missed 24…Nf5! 25 Qd2 Rc1 26 Rc1  h3!, which would allow him to keep his  attack alive.

Maybe 27 fxg4 hxg2 28 Rf2 still equal. Complicated game,” said Dee in his assessment.

The win enabled the Dasmariñas, Cavite-based Concio to improve to 3.5 points on three wins and one draw in the nine-round competition organized by the Asian Chess Federation and hosted by the Tagaytay City government, thru Mayor Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino.

Mahirap yun laban namin, lalo na magaling din talaga siya. Lamang pa nga siya hanggang middle game, pero nagkamali ng continuation,” said Concio, who also avenged an earlier setback to Arca in the rapid competition held last Sunday.

Concio’s fifth-round opponent is defending champion and top seed GM Aleksey Grebnev of Russia.

Grebnev, considered as one of the strongest junior players in the world, clobbered closest rival IM Krishan Rohit of India in the battle between the top two seeds to keep the solo lead with four straight wins.

o. 3 seed IM S. Aswath of India and No. 4 IM Artem Uskov of Russia lead four other players  in third to eighth places with three points.

Another Filipino campaigner, Andreei Ainsley Dolorosa, overpowered CM Ragavesh Velavaa of India, to join the elite group of three-pointers.

Arca leads  three other players with 2.5 points.

In the girls division, No. 2 seed WIM Anna Shukhman of Russia kept her clean records with four straight wins  by beating upset-conscious No. 6 Halder Sneha of India.

Defending champion and top seed WIM G. Tejaswini of India continued her climb back to the top as  she humbled No. 10 Luong Hoang Tu Linh of Vietnam.

Tejaswini is now tied for second to fourth places with fellow Indians Sneha and Dhanasree Khairmode with three points.

The Philippines’ Jemaicah Yap Mendoza upset world  12-under cadets champion and  No. 4 seed Devindya Oshini Gunawardhana of Sri Lanka to become the highest-placed Filipina.

With the  win, the  12-year-old pride of Sta. Rosa, Laguna  raised her record to 2.5 points, 1.5 points behind Shukhman.

At stake in the week-long competition are gold, silver and bronze medals in all three events:  standard, rapid and  blitz.

Titles will also be given to the top finishers.

Chief arbiter is Patrick Lee.

The moves:
Round 4

M. Concio (Philippines) vs. G. Arca (Philippines)

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 d5 3.Bg2 c5 4.d3 Nc6 5.c3 e5 6.a3 Bd6 7.b4 O-O 8.Nfd2 Bg4 9.Nb3 cxb4 10.cxb4 a5 11.h3 Be6 12.b5 Ne7 13.a4 h6 14.O-O Qd7 15.Kh2 b6 16.e3 Rac8 17.Bb2 Rc7 18.Nc3 Rfc8 19.Rc1 h5 20.Ne2 h4 21.g4 Nxg4+ 22.hxg4 e4+ 23.Nf4 Bxg4 24.f3 exf3 25.Bxf3 Bxf3 26.Qxf3 Rc2+ 27.Rf2 Rxf2+ 28.Qxf2 Rxc1 29.Nxc1 g5 30.Qg2 Qf5 31.Kg1 Kf8 32.Nh3 g4 33.Nf4 Bxf4 34.exf4 Ng6 35.Ne2 Qxd3 36.Qxg4 Qd1+ 37.Kf2 Qc2 38.Bd4 h3 39.Qxh3                                                    1-0