Racasa leads Filipino chessers' title run at ASEAN+ tourney

On Sunday night, Antonella Berthe Racasa claimed the standard girls Under-12 title in the ASEAN+ Age Group Chess Championships that took place at the Royal Mandaya Hotel.

Racasa did her part by beating ertswhile co-leader Roilanne Marie Alonzo in the ninth and final round to finish with 6.5 points, whilst fellow co-leaders in Vietnamese pawn pushers Bui Ngoc Phuong Nghi, Nguyen Hoang Tha Ngoc, and Nguyen Phuc Yen Nhi were unable to match her win on the final round to give her the division and a Woman FIDE Master title.

Bui lost to compatriot Nguyen Thi Mai Lan, while Nguyen Hoang drew with Kimberly Colaste and Nguyen Phuc drew with Francesca Lagro.

The 11-year old from San Roque, Marikina finished half-a-point ahead of Nguyen Thi, Nguyen Hoang, and Nguyen Phoc in this event, which is organized by Chess Events International, sanctioned by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines, bankrolled by the Philippines Sports Commission, and backed by the Davao City local government.

To escape with the victory, she ended her tourney by snatching three wins and a draw in the last four rounds, which included an eight round win over the top-seeded Bui, bucking losses in two of the first four rounds.

Antonella, is the daughter of Robert, who is the father of memory sports in the Philippines, credits her father in helping her win the title, sharing that he "taught me to always never give up and always stand up when I fall."

Securing title wins as well as International Master Paulo Bersamina and WFM Shania Mendoza in their respective Under-20 divisions, Dale Bernardo in the Under-18 division, Ronald Canino in the Open Under-16 division and Kaye Lalaine Regidor in the Under-10 girls' division.

Bersamina drew with fellow IM John Marvin Miciano to end his campaign at 7.5 points, while the Olympiad-bound Mendoza bested Laila Camel Nadera to also end up at 7.5 points. Aside from the title, she also secures a WIM title and a WGM norm in the process.

Bernardo drew with Aeron Keife Charles Sinining to end his campaign with seven points, which matches the total of FEU standout John Merill Jacutina, who defeated Le Nguyen Khoi Nguyen in the final round. However, Jacutina lost to Bernardo in the second round to lose the tiebreaker.

Canino also ended up tied atop his division alongside Vietnamese pawn pushers Pham Phu Vinh and Bui Duc Huy, but had the superior tiebreaks to claim the win and the FM title.

Regidor beat Mecel Angela Gadut in the final round to claim her division with seven points.

Bersamina, Mendoza at cusp of clinching ASEAN+ titles

Butch Pichay of the NCFP

International Master Paulo Bersamina and Woman FIDE Master Shania Mae Mendoza secured contrasting results as they close in on their respective Under-20 division titles after the eighth round of play in the ASEAN+ Age Group Chess Championships at the Royal Mandaya Hotel in Davao City yesterday.

Bersamina defeated Sarri Subahani to net his seventh point, one ahead of FIDE Master Azarya Jodi Setyaki of Indonesia.  He will need at least a draw against top seed IM John Marvin Miciano to clinch the title.

Setyaki drew with 14-year old prodigy Daniel Quizon in this round.

Mendoza drew with Marife dela Torre to hike her total to 6.5 points, which half-a-point ahead of hometown native Ella Grace Moulic, who beat Zsuzsa Grace Tabudlong to secure her sixth point. She will need to beat Laila Camel Nadera in the final round to clinch her division.

In the other divisions, Dale Bernardo beat Ernesto Canete to retain the Under-18 division lead at 7.5 points, half-a-point ahead of John Merill Jacutina, who beat Carl Zirex Sato.

As for the Under-16 category, Ronald Canino moved ahead of FM Alekhine Nouri with six points after the former defeated Vietnamese FIDE Master Pham Phu Vinh and the latter losing to Christin Marcelo Olaybal.

In the girls' Under-12 Antonella Berthe Racasa joined four other players for the lead at 5.5 points by stunning Bui Ngoc Phuong Ngi of Vietnam.

In addition, Ruelle Canino and Al-Basher Buto kept their division lead amidst suffering losses to compatriot Kaye Lalaine Regidor and Nguyen Khanh Lam of Vietnam, respectively. The former at 6.5 points still has a half-a-point lead over Regidor in the girls' Under-10 division, while the latter shares the lead alongside Vietnamese pawn pusher Nguyen Vuong Tung Lam, who beat Nambiar Aaray of India to move atop the Under-8 division.

The tournament is organized by Chess Events International and sanctioned by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines. It is bankrolled by the Philippine Sports Commission and backed by the Davao City local government.

Meanwhile, yesterday also saw the election of NCFP president Butch Pichay as the new ASEAN Chess Federation president, with Filipino Grandmaster Jayson Gonzales being selected as one of the three vice presidents.

Pichay would then take the opportunity to secure support from all ten member nations to support current FIDE secretary-general Bambol Tolentino's re-election bid.

Chess Olympiad vets lead Pinoy cast in ASEAN Age Group Chess

The Philippines will be relying on Olympiad veterans to lead the way in the 19th ASEAN+ Age Group Chess Championships set to take place at the Royal Mandaya Hotel in Davao City from June 19-28.

The men's side will feature two-time Olympiad participant International Master Paulo Bersamina in the under-20 division.

The 19-year old pawn pusher, who was part of the Philippine team in the 2014 edition in Tromso and the 2016 edition in Baku, just missed out on a berth to this year's edition after an unsuccessful bid at the Olympiad qualifier dubbed as the "Road to Batumi" earlier this month.

Also carrying the flag for the Filipinos in this quest are International Master John Marvin Miciano and Daniel Quizon, who finished 1-2 in the Asian Age Group tile held in Chiang Mai, Thailand last April, as well as Jeth Romy Morado, John Merill Jacutina, and Rhenzki Kyle Sevillano from Far Eastern University.

On the women's side, Shaina Mae Mendoza leads the Filipinas in the under-20 division after topping their version of the "Road to Batumi,"with Kylen Joy Mordido also set to participate.

The hosts are seeking to at least replicate last year's feat at Kuantan, Malaysia, where they finished with 83 gold medals, 37 silver medals, and 29 bronze medals en route to the overall championship.

According to James Infiesto of Chess Events International, which serves as the organizers, the tournament field is expected to be tougher and more exciting, with about 300 players from ten countries (Vietnam, India, Indonesia, Singapore, Myanmar, Thailand, South Korea. Denmark, Switzerland) taking part.

He adds, "We will be fielding in our best of the best to make the country proud."

Aside from regional bragging rights, the ASEAN+ Age Group Chess Championships has IM and FIDE Master titles at stake.

The National Chess Federation of the Philippines-sanctioned tournament has drawn support from the government, namely President Rodrigo Duterte, Davao City Mayor "Inday" Sara Duterte, and the Department of Education.