NAGPARAMDAM agad ng lakas si GM Darwin Laylo sa pagpapatuloy ng 2019 GM Rosendo Balinas Memorial Cup chess championship na ginanap sa Activity Hall, Second Floor Alphaland Makati Place sa Malugay Street, Makati City nitong Martes.

Si Laylo na miyembro ng multi-titled Philippine Army chess team under head coach Ilde “Ponching” Datu ay giniba si 1982 Asian Junior Champion International Master Ricardo De Guzman matapos ang 39 moves ng Kings Indian Defense.

Dahil sa natamong panalo si Laylo ay nakisalo sa liderato na may 2.0 points kasama sina 13-time Philippine Open Champion Grandmaster (GM) Rogelio “Joey” Antonio Jr., International Master (IM) Paulo Bersamina at International Master (IM) Angelo Young sa standard time control format, round-robin event na suportado nina engineer Antonio “Tony” Carreon Balinas at US based Joe Balinas kung saan punong abala ang Alphaland Corporation sa pakikipagtulungan ni Philippine Executive Chess Association (PECA) president Dr. Jenny Mayor.

Si Antonio, ang country’s representative sa taong ito sa Bucharest, Romania FIDE World Seniors Chess Championship ay nagwagi via default kontra kay National Master (NM) Julius “Ashitaba Boy” Sinangote, habang angat naman si Bersamina kay Rolly Parondo Jr. sa 54 moves ng London System Opening at namayani si Young kay Michael Concio Jr. sa 40 moves ng London System Opening.

“The first two round is one of the toughest rounds in any tournament. It usually sets the tone of how you’re going to perform,” sabi ni National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) director Atty. Cliburn Anthony Orbe.

Panalo din si International Master (IM) Daniel Quizon via default kay Sherwin Tiu tungo sa total 1.5 points, iskor ding naitala ni International Master (IM) Chris Ramayrat na dinaig si Alfredo Rapanot sa 74 moves ng Veresov Opening.