Round 1:

Defending champion Pavlodar of Kazakhstan played with one player less but still managed beat Sydney of Australia 2½-1½ at the start of the 14th Asian Cities Chess Championship. But top seed Guangzhou of China and Tehran of Iran shutout Sanaa of Yemen and Doha of Qatar, respectively to share the first round lead featuring 19 teams from 15 countries. Mandaluyong of the Philippines and Jakarta of Indonesia and Kuala Lumpur of Malaysia also had good starts. All three squads won by scores of 3½-½ over Ho Chi Minh of Vietnam, Kanchipuram of India and Bandar Seri Begawan of Brunei, respectively. Philippine teams Tagaytay, Pasay and Tanauan also won over their separate foes by scores of 3-1. In order, the losing squads were Samarinda of Indonesia, Dubai of the United Arab Emirates and Macau. Hong Kong drew a bye in the first round.

Round 2:

Guangzhou of China showed its might after devastating Tehran of Iran 3½-½ to fortify their lead to 7½ points out of 8. Philippine teams Tagaytay and Mandaluyong also made their presence felt as they moved up share second place after beating their separate rivals, both are with 6 points each. Tagaytay defeated another local team Pasay 3-1 while Mandaluyong topped Jakarta of Indonesia 2½-1½. Defending champion Pavlodar of Kazakhstan still played with only three men but won over Hong Kong 3-1 and went up to third place with 5½ points. Samarinda of Indonesia shut out Macau 4-0 and caught up with sister squad Jakarta and Tanauan of the Philippines in the next rung, with all teams sporting 5 points each. Tanauan drew with Kuala Lumpur of Malaysia 2-2.

Round 3:

Tagaytay of the Philippines held Guangzhou of China to a 2-2 draw but the Chinese still kept the lead after three rounds with a total score 9½ points. Tagaytay fell to a four-way tie for third to sixth places with Indonesian teams Jakarta and Samarinda and local team Pasay, all of them having eight points each. Defending champion Pavlodar of Kazakhstan finally played with a complete lineup for the first time in the tournament but lost to Mandaluyong of the Philippines 1½-2½. Mandaluyong moved up to second spot with 8½ points while Pavlodar fell to seven points, a half-point behind Tehran of Iran which beat Dubai of the United Arab Emirates 3-1. Macau drew a bye.

Round 4:

For the fourth straight round Guanzhou of China held on to its lead by edging Mandaluyong of the Philippines 2½-1½ to raise its output of 12 points, two points ahead of Philippine teams Tagaytay, Mandaluyong and Indonesian teams Jakarta and Samarinda. Tagaytay and Jakarta battled to a 2-2 draw, which saw the same result between Samarinda and another Philippine team from Tanauan. Teheran of Iran drew with defending champion Pavlodar of Kazakhstan 2-2 and took the next spot with 9½ points. Pavlodar dropped to 9 points in a tie with Kuala Lumpur of Malaysia, which subdued Kanchipuram of India 2½-1½. Ho Chi Minh City of Vietnam drew a bye.

Round 5:

Tagaytay City – Pasay City, seeded No. 16, upset top-seed Guangzhou of China 3-1 in the fifth round of the 14th Asian Cities Team Championship at the Tagaytay International Convention Center in Tagaytay City, Philippines. With the win, Pasay City moved up to a tie for first place with Guanzhou and defending champion Pavlodar which swept Kanchupiram of India 4-0, putting all three teams with 13 points each. Host Tagaytay subdued Mandaluyong, 2½-1½, to forge a tie for fourth to sixth places with Samarinda of Indonesia and Tehran of Iran at 12½ points apiece. Mandaluyong City slipped to solo seventh place with 11½ points. International Master Barlo Nadera and unrated Oliver Dimakiling beat their highly-rated Chinese rivals in Pasay City’s triumph. FIDE Master Emmanuel Senador defeated International Master Liang Chiong, the second-highest rated in the event with an Elo rating of 2526, to a draw in 40 moves of a classic King’s Indian Defense on board 1. International Master Barlo Nadera, a four-time World Chess Olympiad veteran, used his favorite Benoni Opening to down Grandmaster Li Shilong, who has a rating of 2526 compared to the Filipino’s 2390, in 46 moves on board 2. Unrated player Oliver Dimakiling beat IM Yu Shaoteng with the black pieces after 70 moves of a Sicilian Defense. Rolando Panopio, also unrated like Dimakiling, held veteran GM Liang Jinrong to a draw. Pasay meets No. 2 seed Pavlodar in the sixth round when hostilities resume on Thursday. Samara meets Guangzhou and host Tagaytay battles Tehran in the other featured sixth-round matches.

Round 6:

Guangzhou of China kept its narrow lead for the sixth consecutive round by beating Samarinda of Indonesia 3-1 to raise its tally to 16½ points. Upset conscious Pasay City of the Philippines sustained its giant killng ways by edging defending champion Pavlodar of Kazakhstan 2½-1½ to join with Mandaluyong and Tagaytay in a three-way tie for second place. All three local teams had 15½ points each at the end of the round. It was the second straight surprise victory for Pasay City after it conquered leader Guangzhou in the fifth round. And similar to their triumph over the Chinese team from Guangzhou, it was Filipino International Master Barlo Nadera and unrated Oliver Dimakiling who delivered the key wins for the team. Nadera outplayed Grandmaster Ruslan Irzhanov in 54 moves of a King’s Indian defense while Dimakiling bested Ibraev Nurlan in 41 moves of an English Opening. Breathing down their necks is Jakarta of Indonesia who demolished Dubai of the United Arab Emirates 3-1 to tying Pavlodar with 14½ points. Tanauan swept Ho Chi Minh 4-0 to catch up with the leaders with 14 points.

Round 7:

Mandaluyong blanked Tanauan, 4-0 and breezed into the solo lead. It was the second straight shutout triumph of the Mandaluyong woodpushers, who also blanked Sanaa of Yemen in the sixth round, to move on top with 19½ points with two rounds left in the event. Erstwhile co-leader Guangzhou of China drubbed Jakarta of Indonesia 3-1 and fell to second place with 19 while Pasay City, starring the 1-2 punch of International Master Barlo Nadera and Oliver Dimakiling found Tehran of Iran a hard nut to crack though prevailing with a 2½-1½ decision. Pasay remained in contention found itself all alone in third spot with 18 points Pavlodar caught up with another co-leader Tagaytay with a 2½-1½ squeaker over the latter. Torre, who led Tagaytay to a 3-1 lacing of Tehran in the sixth round, was the lone casualty in the hosts’ loss to No. 2 seed Pavlodar. Nadera and Dimakiling, both Second Class Airmen, were scored their third straight victories and were Pasay City’s heroes once again in taking out Tehran. Nadera outplayed Moradiabadi Elshan in 56 moves of a Torre attack. in while Dimakiling gunned down Fide Master Amir Mallahi in 38 moves of a Trompovsky Opening. Those victories more than made up for the defeat of FM Emmanuel Senador on board 1 where the Pasay player fell in 69 moves to Mahjoob Morteza’s Sicilian Defense.

Round 8:

Guangzhou of China drew with defending champion Pavlodar of Kazakhstan to regain the lead with Philippine teams Tagaytay and Mandaluyong. Tagaytay blanked Dubai of the United Arab Emirates 4-0 to to tie with Guangzhou and Mandaluyong, all three teams with 21 points each with one round left. With both players time trouble, Antonio pressured Dubai’s Faisal lsharhan into a blunder in the 50th move of a Caro Kann Defense advance variation. “We both were in time trouble. That’s where my rival made a grave mistake on Qb4,” said Antonio, describing a position where black’s queen was attacked by white’s knight and could not get back to protect his king. Grandmaster Eugene Torre earlier won on board 1 without lifting a piece when his opponent, Mohammed Ben Hafed failed to show up.International Masters Ronald Dableo and Jayson Gonzales, on the other hand, easily beat Fide Masters Nabil Saleh and Saeed Ishaq on boards 1 and 2, respectively. Guangzhou settled for a 2-all draw with defending champion Pavlodar while Mandaluyong continued to share a piece of the lead despite sustaining a 1½-2½ setback at the hands of giant-killer Pasay City. All three teams entered the final round set late Saturday with the same scores of 21 points. Breathing down their necks was Pasay City with 20½ points in fourth place while Jakarta of Indonesia was in fifth spot with 19½ points with one round left in the tournament. Chief Arbiter Mahdi Abdul Rahim of UAE explained in the event of a tie for first, two methods will be used to break the deadlock: first will be the total number of match points then the Buccholz system.

Round 9:

Guangzhou China and Tagaytay of the Philippines both swept their matches in a nerve-wracking final round to end the tournament tied on top with 25 points each. Tagaytay clinched the championship by edging Guangzhou by a half-point using the Buchholz tiebreak system to take home the prestigious Dubai Cup. Guangzhou had to settle for second place while Mandaluyong of the Philippines took third place over dethroned defending champion Pavlodar and local squad Pasay City also by tiebreak. Mandaluyong, Pavlodar and Pasay City wound up with identical 22½ points each. The Mandaluyong woodpushers, who led after seven rounds, beat Tehran of Iran 2½-1½ that was the same score of Pasay against Jakarta of Indonesia. Pavlodar wound up its campaign on a winning note by beating Samarinda of Indonesia 3½-½. International Master Al Sayed Mohammed of Tehran won the gold medal on board 1 while IM Barlo Nadera of Pasay City took the same honor on board 2. IM Taleb Moussa of Dubai of the United Arab Emirates bagged the gold on board 3, IM Ronald Dableo of Tagaytay on board 4 and teammate IM Jayson Gonzales on board 5.