MANILA – Filipino Grandmaster (GM) Mark Paragua bowed to his Vietnamese opponent in the sixth round of the 3rd HD Bank Cup International Open Chess Tournament 2013 yesterday in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Paragua yielded to top-seed GM Le Quang Liem after 43 moves of Sicilian defense, Najdorf variation.

Paragua (4.5 points) dropped into a tie for 4th to 12th places.

With the win, Le improved his total to 5.5 points, the same output of GM Zhou Jianchao of China, who brought down fellow Chinese International Master (IM) Wei Yi.

GM Oliver Barbosa, meanwhile, beat compatriot GM Darwin Laylo after 35 moves of Caro-Kann defense to occupy solo third place with 5.0 points.

GM John Paul Gomez, who split the point with GM Papp Gabor of Hungary, alo has 4.5 points like Paragua.

Laylo was stuck at 4.0 points. He was tied at 13th to 27th places with GM Richard Bitoon and FIDE Master (FM) Haridas Pascua.

The tournament has a total of $30,000 cash prize, with the champion getting the lion’s share of $10,000. By Marlon Bernardino