Paragua qualifies in Chess World Cup

Three-time Olympiad Veteran Grand Master (GM) Mark Paragua beat International Master (IM) Wei Ming Goh of Singapore in the final round to finish second in the Asian Zone 3.3 chess championships and clinch the last slot in this year's world cup at the Tagaytay International Convention Center in Tagaytay yesterday.

Paragua defeated Goh in 35 moves of the Sicilian and wound up with 6.5 points in the nine-round tournament topped by Indonesian GM Susanto Megaranto.

Paragua, 27, actually finished tied with top seed Zhang Zhong of Singapore and compatriot IM Richard Bitoon but took the second and last world cup berth with a superior tiebreak score.

"I'm very happy to make it to the World Cup again. It's been a long time since I last played there", said Paragua.

Paragua made it to the 2004 World Cup in Tripoli, Libya, losing to GM Viktor Bologan of Moldova, 1.5-.5, Russia in the first round. — CLEZ