Until then, all the four players had won their morning opening games for a perfect start and were aggressively looking to build on their early advantage.
It had been a good, maybe even a great day in the office in the first round for the top two rated bets from the Philippines, and clearly the exact opposite for their colleagues from Singapore as with relentless play Barbosa and Bitoon slowly ground down their opponents, fellow Grandmaster hopeful International Master Goh Wei Ming and Grandmaster Wong Meng Kong respectively to take home their first points.
Uzbekistan’s young upset Jahongir Vakhidov and India’s Arghyadip Das were also happy with their first round wins over Vietnamese Grandmaster Nguyen Anh Dung and Malaysia’s Mas Hafizulhelmi while International Master Nguyen Van Huy was unable to make headway against veteran Grandmaster Tahir Vakhidov and so they ended up splitting the point early.
But after just two rounds it there are still seven rounds more to go and so there is still all to play for and Nguyen Van Huy and Tahir Vakhidov has increased their tally to 1.5 points to sit just half a point behind the leaders while Goh has bounced back well by beating a woefully out of form Nguyen Anh Dung, who together with Wong and Mas has yet to get onto the scoreboard.
Report by Peter Long
Video by Vijay Kumar, includes the opening ceremony, the games, and interviews with IM Oliver Barbosa, IM Roy Chowdhury, and GM Tahir Vakhidov.
Video
International invitational R1 and R2
IM | Vakhidov Jahongir | 1 – 0 | GM | Nguyen Anh Dung |
IM | Bitoon Richard | 1 – 0 | GM | Wong Meng Kong |
IM | Nguyen Van Huy | ½ – ½ | GM | Vakhidov Tahir |
IM | Mas Hafizulhelmi | 0 – 1 | IM | Das Arghyadip |
IM | Barbosa Oliver | 1 – 0 | IM | Goh Wei Ming Kevin |
GM | Nguyen Anh Dung | 0 – 1 | IM | Goh Wei Ming Kevin |
IM | Das Arghyadip | 0 – 1 | IM | Barbosa Oliver |
GM | Vakhidov Tahir | 1 – 0 | IM | Mas Hafizulhelmi |
GM | Wong Meng Kong | 0 – 1 | IM | Nguyen Van Huy |
IM | Vakhidov Jahongir | 1 – 0 | IM | Bitoon Richard |
International Open standings after round 2
IM | Kelly Brian | IRL | 2488 | 2 | pts. |
IM | Nguyen Duc Hoa | VIE | 2460 | 2 | pts. |
IM | Liu Qingnan | CHN | 2430 | 2 | pts. |
IM | Roy Chowdhury Saptarshi | IND | 2427 | 2 | pts. |
IM | Dimakiling Oliver | PHI | 2414 | 2 | pts. |
IM | Yap Kim Steven | PHI | 2396 | 2 | pts. |
IM | Duong The Anh | VIE | 2378 | 2 | pts. |
IM | Purnama Tirta Chandra | INA | 2368 | 2 | pts. |
IM | Ranola Yves | PHI | 2366 | 2 | pts. |
Zhou Guijue | CHN | 2174 | 2 | pts. | |
Olay Edgar Reggie | PHI | 2303 | 2 | pts. | |
GM | Megaranto Susanto | INA | 2530 | 2 | pts. |
IM | Nolte Rolando | PHI | 2457 | 2 | pts. |
WGM | Pham Le Thao Nguyen | VIE | 2362 | 2 | pts. |
IM | Lahiri Atanu | IND | 2361 | 2 | pts. |
WGM | Sukandar Irine Kharisma | INA | 2330 | 2 | pts. |
GM | Sanchez Joseph | PHI | 2544 | 2 | pts. |
WIM | Muminova Nafisa | UZB | 2319 | 2 | pts. |
WIM | Nguyen Thi Mai Hung | VIE | 2286 | 2 | pts. |
WFM | Sihite Chelsie Monica | INA | 2100 | 2 | pts. |
WFM | Dewi Aa Citra | INA | 2083 | 2 | pts. |
FM | Yee Soon Wei | BRU | 2284 | 2 | pts. |
GM | Barus Cerdas | INA | 2438 | 1 | pts. |
IM | Lioe Dede | INA | 2402 | 1 | pts. |
Legaspi, Rhobel | PHI | 2313 | 1 | pts. | |
Udani Ian | PHI | 2307 | 1 | pts. | |
Bagamasbad Efren | PHI | 2201 | 1 | pts. | |
FM | Kyi Thein | MYA | 2190 | 1 | pts. |
Foo Benjamin | SIN | 2178 | 1 | pts. | |
Hammer Dale M | USA | 2158 | 1 | pts. | |
Lim Zhuo Ren | MAS | 2132 | 1 | pts. | |
Legaspi Edmundo | PHI | 2125 | 1 | pts. | |
WFM | Medina Warda Aulia | INA | 2112 | 1 | pts. |
Lee Kai Jie Edward | SIN | 2008 | 1 | pts. | |
Chakrabarti Tamal | IND | 2005 | 1 | pts. | |
Dale Ari | AUS | 1977 | 1 | pts. | |
Lim Kian Hwa | MAS | 1905 | 1 | pts. | |
WCM | Nur Nabila Azman Hisham | MAS | 1894 | 1 | pts. |
Ajeet Singh Roshan | MAS | 1886 | 1 | pts. | |
Chibnall Alana | AUS | 1844 | 1 | pts. | |
Azhar Muhd Irfan Haqqim | MAS | 1838 | 1 | pts. | |
Marret Benjamin | FRA | 1820 | 1 | pts. | |
Ding Tze How Dilwen | MAS | 1807 | 1 | pts. | |
FM | Tin Jingyao | SIN | 1962 | 1 | pts. |
William, Lee Kah Howe | MAS | 1787 | 1 | pts. | |
WCM | Savant Riya | IND | 1782 | 1 | pts. |
Srivatanakul Pricha | THA | 1759 | 1 | pts. | |
Limono Handjojo | INA | 1936 | 1 | pts. | |
Teh De Juan | MAS | 1672 | 1 | pts. | |
Lee Qing Aun | SIN | 1548 | 1 | pts. | |
Tan Li Ting | MAS | 1846 | 1 | pts. | |
Ong Way Justin | MAS | 2041 | 0 | pts. | |
Low Zhen Yu Cyrus | SIN | 1727 | 0 | pts. | |
Cheong Jie Yao | MAS | 1736 | 0 | pts. | |
Teh De Zen | MAS | 1691 | 0 | pts. | |
Tha Zan | MYA | 0 | 0 | pts. | |
Tin Ruiqi | SIN | 0 | 0 | pts. | |
Chai Hweimeen | AUS | 1735 | 0 | pts. | |
Puccini Jack | AUS | 1735 | 0 | pts. | |
Dutton Lucas Matthew | MAS | 1663 | 0 | pts. | |
Saleh Anis Fariha | MAS | 1588 | 0 | pts. | |
Dale Finley | AUS | 1563 | 0 | pts. | |
Goh Robert | NZL | 0 | 0 | pts. | |
Greenwood Martin | ENG | 0 | 0 | pts. | |
Narayanan Sri Shiva Kumar | MAS | 0 | 0 | pts. | |
Saw Lye Guan | MAS | 0 | 0 | pts. |
