After eight rounds, Negrense FIDE Master chess wizard Sander Severino collected 5.5 points to land in the 24th spot and earned the privilege of facing women’s world chess champion Grand Master Hou Yifan at board 7 today in the 12th Bangkok Chess Club Open Tournament in Thailand.
Severino earlier drew with GM Nigel Short to give his campaign a boost after posting two straight wins against Xu Fei of China in round one and against Jon Eriksson in round two.
His fellow Negrense, police officer Ernie Abanco, has 4.5 points and will play against Fide Master Lamorelle Julien at board 30.
Getting past Yifan will allow Severino to earn a slot in the Top 10 players of the tournament, while a win for Abanco today will assure him a seat in the top 20.
Severino and Abanco’s participation in the tournament was bankrolled by chess patron Antonio Ivan Aguirre and the Bacolod City-based First Community Bank, Inc. owned by the Villanueva family.
Both are professional chess players and winners of the series of tournaments bankrolled by Aguirre and his partners that culminated in the 1st Negros Closed Individual Chess Championship in December last year.
In an email sent to the DAILY STAR, Aguirre said Severino plays a solid and good positional chess and his level of understanding is at par with lots of top level professional players.
“For an international tournament at this level, Sander performs way above expectation. He played against the top three seeds in the tournament which is a tough task and it is not a simple feat to overcome such opponent. He will go a long way in this tournament,” Aguirre said.
“FIDE Master Sander Severino gave a strong notice to lots of super GMs and for sure they will profile and analyze his games, " he added.
Aguirre has also instructed team manager Marvin Ting to give an all-out assistance to both Severino and Abanco to improve their chances against their highly-ranked opponents.
He asked Ting Please to get the email addresses of Short and Huo Yifan so that his group can invite the two grandmasters in Bacolod in their future tournaments.
Meanwhile, Yifan will be a real test for Severino as the 18-year-old lady GM is not only the reigning Women's World Chess Champion but the youngest ever to win the crown and the youngest female player ever to qualify for grandmaster title.
In 2006, at the age of 12, Yifan was the youngest player ever to participate in the FIDE Women's World Championship and the Chess Olympiad. She is also became China’s youngest national women’s champion when she won the tournament in June 2007.
But Severino might just pull off an upset in the ongoing Bangkok tournament as he earlier promised to give his best and make his fellow Negrenses proud.*NAB
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