THINGS are not going the way of Cebuano International Master (IM) Kim Steven Yap.
This as the 26-year-old Yap suffered his second straight loss in the 19th Dubai International Open Chess Tournament yesterday in Dubai, UAE.
Yap, chasing a Grand Master (GM) norm, was defeated by unheralded Indian wood pusher K Arjun in the seventh round. In the previous round, the 65th-seed Yap lost to Chinese Xiangyu Xu.
With the losses, Yap dropped from 74th to 100th place after the seventh round. He has 3.5 points off three wins, three losses and one draw.
IM Oliver Dimakiling is still the highest ranked Filipino contender in the tournament at the 58th place with 5.0 points followed by IM Haridas Pascua at 75th place with 4.0 points.
Indian GM Gujrathi Vidit Santosh is in the lead with 6.0 points.