FILIPINO Grandmaster (GM) Rogelio “Joey” Antonio Jr. made the country proud anew by finishing third overall Sunday in the blitz competition which is a side event of the 27th World Senior Chess Championship 2017 (50+ and 65+ Open-men and women) in Acqui Terme, Italy.
The 55-year-old Calapan, Oriental Mindoro native Antonio, defeated IM Peter Hardicsay of Hungary in the 9th and final round to finish with 7.0 points on seven wins and two loses.
IM Alexander Reprintsev of Ukraine won the title with 8.5 points followed by Rolf Fritsch of Germany with 7.5 points. The two beat Antonio in this 9-round Swiss-system blitz tournament.
Earlier, Antonio defeated Johannes Melkevik of Norway, Corrado Astengo of Italy, FM Jorge Arturo Vega Garcia of Mexico in the first three rounds before yielding to eventual champion Reprintsev in the fourth round.
He then crushed Moshe Gal of Israel in the 5th, Tiziano Godani of Italy in the 6th, FM Christoph Frick of Germany in the 7th then lost to Fritsch in the 8th round before beating Hardicsay in the last round.
Meanwhile, according to Antonio’s close confidante and Philippine executive chess champion Atty. Cliburn Anthony A. Orbe, Antonio beat Reprintsev in only four moves in the fourth round of the World Senior chess.
“In the main tournament, (GM Rogelio) Joey (Antonio) using white, won against (IM Alexander) Reprintsev in four moves, (1. e4 d5 2. ed5 Qd5 3. Nc3 Qb5 4. Bb5 black resigns.),” said Orbe, who watched the live games through chessbomb.com.
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