NATION NEWS
Uribe inches closer to title
Published on: 5/2/08.

FIDE MASTER MAURICIO URIBE of Colombia inched closer to the qualification mark for his third and final international master norm when he drew his sixth and seventh round matches against FIDE master Terry Farley of Barbados and United States grandmaster Julio Becerra in the Digicel RBTT Heroes Day Cup at the Bridgetown Chess Centre in Cavans Lane, St Michael yesterday.

Uribe, on 4 1/2 points, now needs to score 1 1/2 points from his two remaining matches to earn the norm and create history by becoming the first player to qualify for the international master title on Barbadian soil.

However, standing in his path will be Swedish FIDE master Bengt Hammar and international master Kevin Denny, both of whom will be in no mood to release the points without a serious fight.

National champion, FIDE master Delisle Warner, seeking his first norm, saw his hopes dashed when he lost both his games against international master Augusto Moran of Ecuador and FIDE master Dr Philip Corbin.

Warner, playing with the advantage of the white pieces against Moran, never got into the game and simply fell apart from the get-go. His match against Corbin fared no better as Corbin, desperate to score his first win of the tournament, outplayed the hapless Warner in his pet French defence.

With two rounds to go, the standings see grandmaster Beccera top of the tables with 6 1/2 points, thanks to a surgical dissection of Dr Corbin's pet opening Elephant Gambit in Round Six.

Corbin, a devotee of the Elephant, continued to persist with this once obscure opening even though its surprise value has all but disappeared, primarily due to the body of his games being well published internationally.

Beccera clearly looks favoured to take the 2008 Digicel Heroes Day Masters Cup.

English grandmaster Keith Arkell remains in second position on 5 1/2 points after two marathon matches; a hard-fought sixth round win against Denny and a difficult draw against Moran.

Moran retains the third position with 5 points and Uribe fourth with 4 1/2. Warner, in spite of his two consecutive losses, is fifth with 3 1/2 points.

Trinidad and Tobago's national champion FIDE master Ryan Harper found some rare success in Round Six when he defeated Hammar. An epic battle against Denny in Round Seven ended in a draw, moving him to a sixth-place tie with Farley on 2 1/2 points.

Hammar, on 2 points, drops to eighth spot while Denny and Corbin, with only 1 1/2 points each, jointly bring up the rear.

In the RBTT Candidates section, Suriname's national champion and top seed candidate, master Roger Matoewi, continued to share the leader board with the veteran of local chess Othneil Harewood. (AH)