GRANDMASTER (GM) Oliver Barbosa reinforced his position as one of the Philippines’ top chess players when he won the 4th Odisha International GM Open Chess Tournament at the Kiit University in Bhubaneswar in Kiit Road, Patia Bhubaneswar in Odisha, India, Tuesday night.

National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) Chairman/President Prospero "Butch" Pichay Jr. said his ward defeated former solo leader Russian GM Nikolai Chadaev in the eighth round then scored back-to-back draws in the last outings enroute to the coveted title.

"Krucial y'ung pagkapanalo ni GM (Oliver) Barbosa kay GM (Nikolai) Chadaev sa eight round. Turning point din yun kasi solo lead yung Russian Grandmaster eh at dun niya nakuha yung liderato," said Pichay, a former congressman from Surigao del Sur who was watching the tournament live through the Internet.

"Saka y'ung seventh round na panalo niya kay Uzbek GM (Razet) Ziatdinov," added Pichay.

The Taytay, Rizal native Barbosa earned the top prize worth Rs 2,00,000 India Rupee (roughly US$3,740 or P160,000) from the total pot prize of Rs 11,16000.

National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) Secretary-General Abraham "Bambol" Tolentino Jr., said that Barbosa completed the 10-round Swiss System “Standard” chess scoring a whooping and exceptional 8.5/10 (7wins & 3draws) points with a performance rating of 2648 and a +14.4 gain in rating points bringing his “Live Rating” to 2575.2 just 24.8 pts short for a Super GM status (2600+). He also had gained a +10.8 rating points in “Asian Continental Chess (ACC) Championship 2012″ in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam last May 5 to 13.He finish over-all fifth place and earned him the fifth and last slot to World Chess Cup (World Cup) is an integral part of the World Championship Cycle.

"Live Rating na ni GM (Oliver) Barbosa ay 2575.2 base na din sa maganda niyang performance dito sa India at sa nakaraan sa Vietnam. Kumpiyansa ako na matatapos ang taong ito na mabi-break ni GM (Oliver) Barbosa ang 2600 mark," said Tolentino, also the Mayor of Tagaytay City.

For Barbosa's part: "Nagpapasalamat ako sa walang humpay na suporta sa Philippines chess nina NCFP Chairman/President (Prospero) Pichay, Secretary-General (Abraham) Tolentino , PHL Team Manager Atty. (Ruel) Canobas, PSC at POC," said Barbosa who settled for 2 consecutive draws against GM Deep Sengupta of India in the ninth and penultimate round and IM Sahaj Grover of India in the tenth and final round, respectively.

GM John Paul Gomez split the point with IM Vishnu Prasanna V of India in the final round to finished 7.5 points, good for a share of 7th to 13th place. GM Mark Paragua, meantime bowed to GM Hoang Thanh Trang of Hungrary and remains at 7.0 points and was dropped into a tie for 14th to 24th placers.

The 3-Philippines GMs who stint here is supported by the NCFP, PSC and POC are schedule to participate in the “5th Mayor’s Cup International Open Chess Tournament Mumbai” on June 7 to 15 in Mumbai, India.

Final Standings:

8.5 points---GM Oliver Barbosa (Philippines)

8.0 points---GM Nikolai Chadaev (Russia), IM Sahaj Grover (India), GM Hoang Thanh Trang (Hungrary), GM Evgeniy Podolchenko (Belarus), IM Suri Vaibhav (India)

7.5 points---IM Vishnu Prassana V (India), GM Andrei Deviatkin (Russia), IM Das Debashis (India), GM John Paul Gomez (Philippines), GM Aleksej Aleksandrov (Belarus), GM Deepan Chakkaravarthy J (India), IM Ramnath Bhuvanesh R (India)

7.0 points---GM Mark Paragua (Philippines), GM Deep Sengupta (India), Himail Gusain (India), IM Venkatesh MR (India), FM Gosh Diptayan (India), FM Rajesh VAV (India), GM Laxman RR (India), IM Priyadharshan K (India), IM Anita Gara (Hungrary), WGM Meenakshi Subbaraman (India), Arun Karthik R (India)