Susanto down to fourth place

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian Susanto Megaranto dropped to fourth position with 5.5 Match Points (MPs) in the Asian Continental Boys Under-16 chess championships at NPC training center in Bataan, some 160km from Manila in the Philippines, on Wednesday.

Susanto, top seeded in this event, seemed to be out of luck and could not keep up with host player Christian Arroyo in the eighth game. After six hours, Susanto agreed to tie in the 105th move by Sicilian Alapin opening.

In the following ninth game, Susanto also tied with Dino Ballecer after 60 moves by Slavia defense.

Host player Zander Severino tops the standings with 7.5 MPs followed by Anh Tri Tranh in the second place with 6.5 MPs and second seeded Oliver Barbosa, who also collected 6.5 MPs, finished in the third place. (ivy)