A Zambales native is the winner of the 49th edition of the Baguio Center Mall Non Master Chess Tournament last Saturday, the second time the longest running chess event was staged in the post-Covid 19 pandemica era.
Artrino Paul Fortin scored 6.5 points and take a half point victory over five other players led by Novo Vizcayan Mc Dominique Lagula and Tiv Omangay from Pampanga.
Lagula took second place after topping the group with tie break point of 34.5 with Omangay relegated to third place with 33 tie break point to complete the podium.
Finishing fourth to sixth are Jonathan Bayron (32.5), top junior Jhune Dultra (32) and the top female player Heart Padilla (29).
Daryl Penaflorida, winner of the 48th edition before Christmas last year, landed seventh with 5.5 points but was actually tied with Abraham Bayron. Penaflorida took the higher spot with his higher tie break point 31, against the latter’s 29. Bayron finished seventh in the 48th edition.
Fifteen players finished five points but Jeric Ivan Carbonnel and Erickson Marimla took the last top 10 spots with their higher tie break points of 32.5 and 31.5 points.
Actually Reymar Uguis finished with the same 31.5 points as the top seed Marimla (Elo 2082) has rating points of 1340 compared to the former’s 1335.
Some 200 players turned out for the event where 126 competed in the open division and 74 in the kiddies and now held on Friday and Saturday when during Sunday, the area is used for church services, said mall manager Johan Teope.
Special awards went to Dultra and Padilla as the top junior and female players, Fidel Labuanan as top senior, while Wulfhere Aromin was the top nine under player. Labuanan was eighth in the last staging of the event.
The BCM is held quarterly and is now rated by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines, added Teope. Pigeon Lobien
