Sander Severino, Jasper Rom and Rodolfo Sarmiento of the Philippines downed their respective opponents to remain unbeaten and atop the heap after two rounds of the 4th World Chess Championship for People with Disabilities held online Saturday.
Severino downed Karla Marero Infante of Cuba in 51 moves of a Nimzo-Indian; Rom trounced Zuzanna Lukasik of Poland in 44 moves of a Sicilian Defense; and Sarmiento bested Kumar Naveen in 40 moves of a King’s Indian duel to nail their second straight win.
The three ASEAN and Asian Games gold medalists jumped in a heavy 47-way logjam for first place in this nine-round event that drew 249 participants from more than 40 countries.
Severino faces Jamal Messala of Morocco, Rom tackles Griffin McConnell of the United States and Sarmiento squares off with Leonel Amato in the third round Sunday.
Meanwhile, Darry Bernardo suffered his first defeat at the hands of Pin Xie Loo of Malaysia in 33 moves of a Caro-kann game to remain with just a point to show.
Henry Lopez waylaid Ming Wang of China in 43 moves of a Slav Defense to stay half a point off the pace with 1.5 points after a first-round draw.