Indian GM seizes lead in Misamis Occidental international chessfest

SINACABAN, Misamis Occidental — Grandmaster Chakraborty Mayank of India defeated Filipino International Master Paulo Bersamina on their top board duel, Nov. 14 to seize the solo lead after five rounds of the Misamis Occidental Philippines International Chess Championship at the AMORAP Aquamarine Park  here. The second board match between Grandmaster NR Vignesh and Soham Bhattacharyya of India, meanwhile, ended in a draw, as well as the all -Filipino bout on board 3 between International Master Jan Emmanuel Garcia and FIDE Master Phil Martin Casiguran. They all carded 4 points in the company of GM Nguyen Duc Hoa of Vietnam and the Filipino pair of GM Daniel Cuizon and IM Christian Gian Carlo Arca who all won their respective fifth round matches against Russian IM Miroslav Vlasenko and local boys Mardonio Fuentes and Edmundo Gatus. The country's only Woman Grandmaster Janelle Mae Frayna held off the top-seeded Macedonian GM  Evgeny Romanov to a draw to join a big bunch of 3.5 pointers, including Filipino GM Darwin Laylo, Indian FIDE Master Bastar Batbaatar and veteran Filipino IM Ronald Bancod. Trailing Bersamina (4 points) by half a point, the 17-year-old Indian sensation Mayank (3.5 points) appeared to be in the receiving end of an Open Sicilian defense opening when...