By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
National age group champion Franchesca Largo bested Indonesian Adeeba Izzah Ulayya to gain a share of the second round lead in the girls’ standard event of the Eastern Asia Juniors Chess Championships in Karawaci-Tangerang, Indonesia on Friday, July 5.
That enabled 18-year-old Largo to tie five others at the helm with a perfect score of two points alongside Indonesians Ivana Maria Treopolsa Lasama, Theodora Paulina Walukow, Shafira Devi Herfesa, and Woman FIDE Masters Samantha Edithso and Woman International Master Cecilia Natalie Liuviann.
Largo was battling the fancied Liuviann in the third round at press time hoping to sustain her momentum.
Mhage Sebastian, the other Filipina in the event, held her own against top seed WIM Laysa Latifah also of the host nation and remained half a point off the pace in this nine-round meet.
In the Open division, Filipino FM Christian Gian Karlo Arca was held to a deadlock by Indonesia’s Nathanael Simanihuruk to slip half a point behind the lead pack with 1.5 points, the same output of teammate Andrei Ainsley Dolorosa.
John Jerish Velarde, another Filipino bet, fell to Vietnamese FM Dinh Nho Kiet and remained with just a point to show.
The five-player national delegation is headed by National Chess Federation of the Philippines chief executive officer Grandmaster Jayson Gonzales and backed by the NCFP and the Philippine Sports Commission.
