Legend Torre in the Lead

We shouldn't be surprised, not at all, but frankly I almost couldn't believe it! That Pinoy legend Eugene Torre is currently in the joint lead, with Zhang Zong, on 6.5 points in the ongoing 3rd PGMA Cup in Manila.

Torre began with 5 straight wins, beating grandmasters Li Shilong and Kazhgaleyev before coming to a momentary halt with a draw against GM Zhang Zhong in the sixth round. Then Torre posted another win in the seventh against yet another GM, Li Chao of China, before finally losing his round 8 game to GM Mikhail Mchedlishvili.

Where is Wesley So, you wonder?

The kid is way down in twenty-third spot with just 4.5 points! Again, almost unbelievable. All his recent foreign forays must have taken their toll. In round 2, the current Pinoy number 1 lost out to compatriot IM John Paul Gomez in this super sharp French Advance. A pretty finish, too.

3rd PGMA Cup
So, Wesley
Gomez, John Paul
C11

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Be3 a6 8. Qd2 b5 9. a3 Bb7 10. Ne2 Be7 11. Ng3 O-O 12. dxc5 Nxc5 13. Qf2 Ne4 14. Nxe4 dxe4 15. Nd2 f6 16. exf6 Bxf6 17. O-O-O Ne7 18. g3 Rc8 19. Nc4 Nd5 20. Nb6 Qc7 21. Nxc8 Rxc8 22. Bd4 e3

Position after 22...e3

23. Qe2 Nxf4 24. gxf4 Bxh1 25. c3 Qxf4 26. Bh3 Bf3 27. Bxe6+ Kh8 28. Qxe3 Bg5 29. Bxc8 Qh4 30. Bxg7+ Kxg7 31. Rg1 Bg2 0-1

As for the Aussie, IM Alex Wohl, the man must be enjoying too much of the local cuisine. He's nowhere near in it, having posted only 3.5 points from his eight games.