GM So leads strong RP start

SUBIC — GM Wesley So outduelled Bayarsaikh Gundavaa of Mongolia to jumpstart his title bid in the 2009 Asian Continental Individual chess championship here.

So, seeded only second behind top seed GM Krishnan Sasikiran of India with an ELO of 2641, beat his Mongolian rival in 61 moves of the Slav opening

to lead the march of the favorites in this prestigious, 11-round tournament hosted by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) in cooperation with the Asian Chess Federation.

Sasikiran, the highest-rated player here with an ELO of 2682, trounced GM Jayson Gonzales in 35 moves of Irregular opening in a keenly-watched encounter at the Subic Bay Exhibition and Convention Center.

Third seed GM Zhou Jianchao of China, fifth seed GM Surya Sheikh Ganguly of India, No. 8 GM Le Quang Liem of Vietnam, No. 13 GM Abhijeet Gupta of India and No. 16 GM Chanda Sandipan of India also hurdled their respective opening-day assignments to join Sasikiran and So in the early lead.

Dresden Olympiad topnotcher GM John Paul Gomez also got off to a rousing start, beating No. 63 FM K. Priyadharsyhan of India.

But there were also plenty of surprises for the day. Manila Bulletin