INTERNATIONAL Master (IM) Kim Steven Yap of Cebu settled for a draw in his fourth round match in the 19th Dubai Open International Chess Tournament in Dubai, UAE.
The 65th-seed Yap drew with 106th seed Puneet Jaiswal of India last Thursday to improve to 2.5 points and place 77th going into the fifth round.
He was coming off a win against 141st seed FIDE Master (FM) Jemal Ovezdurdiyeva of Turkmenistan. Yap now has two wins, one loss and a draw in the tournament.
Yap, who is seeking a Grand Master (GM) norm in this tournament, will next face fellow Filipino Marlon Mortel, who is the 148th seed.
IM Oliver Dimakiling is still the highest ranked Filipino wood pusher in the competition at the 32nd place. He has 3.0 points. Haridas Pascua is at the 48th place with 2.5 points.
Spanish GM Jaime Santos Latasa is leading the tournament with 4.0 points followed by Brazilian GM Alexander Fier at second place with 3.5 points and Ukranian GM Alexander Areshchenko at third with 3.5 points.