Cebu’s NM Roque stays at 22nd place after fourth round draw

National Master (NM) Merben Roque (left bottom corner) is seen on screen during a live streaming of the ongoing Asian Zonals 3.3 Chess Championships at their tournament venue at the Cebu Parklane International Hotel. Ariel Potot (left upper corner), one of the arbiter in the Cebu zonal hub monitors Roque’s game.

CEBU CITY, Philippines—Cebuano National Master (NM) Merben Roque remained at 22nd place after four rounds of online chess action in the ongoing Asian Zonal 3.3 Chess Championships. 

NM Roque remains the highest-ranked woodpusher of Team Cebu City currently vying against the best titled chess players of Southeast Asia after capping off the fourth round with a draw against fellow Filipino Narciso Gumila Jr. 

NM Roque now has 2.5 points for 22nd place among 52 competitors vying for the two slots to qualify for the FIDE world championships later this year.

Currently, IM Michael Concio Jr is leading after round four followed by IM Daniel Cuizon at second place and IM Mohamad Ervan of Indonesia at third. They all have 3.5 points in hand, but they are ranked accordingly based on their tie-break points.

Read: NMs Roque, Enriquez pace Cebu campaign in  Asian Zonals

It was Roque’s third consecutive draw after four rounds. He only got a single win in the opening round versus Malaysian Ern Jie Anderson Ang. 

Roque’s teammate Women’s IM Bernadette Galas remains at 37th place with 1.5 points after settling for a draw against Arena International Master (AIM) Chee Sian Chua of Malaysia in round four. 

From the 45th spot, Jerish John Velarde climbed to  41st place after beating fellow Filipino Samantha Baobol Umayan in round four. 

Also, Jave Mareck Peteros showed some fight after nipping Wei Sheng Lim of Malaysia, in the fourth round as well, to improve from 49th to 42nd place. 

IM Galas, Velarde and Peteros all currently have 1.5 points. 

Meanwhile, NM Rogelio Enriquez Jr. and Richard Natividad both bumped into a brick wall after losing their round four matches. 

NM Enqiruez who was at the 23rd spot before round four, plummeted to the 31st place after losing to Indonesian International Master (IM) Muhammad Lutfi Ali. NM Enriquez Jr. has 2.0 points under his belt. 

Natividad lost to Malaysia’s Yu Tian Poh in the same round. From 33rd spot in the rankings, Natividad descended to the 44th place with 1.5 points. 

There are five rounds left in the major international chess tournament. Team Cebu City’s official venue is at the Cebu Parklane International Hotel. They are supervised by FIDE arbiters from RiChessMasters.

/bmjo