By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
International Master Rolando Nolte shocked third seed Grandmaster Vitaly Sivuk of Sweden to finish third behind eventual champion Konstantin Sek of FIDE in the MCPL’s Manny Pacquiao International Open Chess Festival in General Santos City Saturday, Dec. 17.
Nolte, 50, actually finished in a three-way tie for first with seven points along with Russian-born Sek and second seed Lucas Van Foreest of the Netherlands but settled for the bronze after tiebreaks were applied.
Sek drew with fourth seed GM Pier Luigi Basso of Italy in the final round while Van Foreest also halved the point with IM Daniel Quizon to settle for second.
Sek, Van Foreest and Nolte split the combined purse of $40,000 (P2.2 million) –$20,000 for first, $12,000 for second and $8,000 for third .
