THREE kiddie players were strongly contending for the 14-under crown of the 4th Congressman Rufus Rodriguez and 1st Vice Mayor Bebot Rodriguez Fide Chess Tournament last Saturday at the Barangay Nazareth gym in Cagayan de Oro City.
In fact, all of them ― Cassey Miguel Tabamo of Malaybalay City, Bukidnon, Keith Adriane Ilar of El Salvador City, Misamis Oriental, and Lila Alyssa Seriña of Cagayan de Oro City ― ended in a tie scoring six points each after seven rounds.
But after the smoke of battle cleared, the El Salvador City native Tabamo ― whose family has transferred now to Bukidnon due to his father’s work ― got the better in the Bucholz tiebreaker to bag the championship trophy.
Tabamo (26.75 SB), second-placer Ilar (26.50 SB), and third-placer Seriña (25.50 SB), however, equally divided among themselves the pooled P4,500 cash prizes for the top three winners.
“Any of the three deserves to be called a champion. They did well, though Tabamo came out (luckier) in the tiebreaker,” tournament director Fr. Vic Arellano told Gold Star Daily.
The small but terrible Quarl Maverick Vera Cruz of Balingoan, Misamis Oriental received P700 for the solo fourth spot with his 5.5-point total.
Sharing fifth to eighth places with similar five-point efforts are Sebastian Marbas of Cagayan de Oro, Miykael Jerahmiel Lapad of Misamis Oriental, brothers Jeshua, and Janrick Lagunay of Cagayan de Oro.
The fast-learning Seriña looked earlier as if she was poised for another stunner after dominating the elementary field of the Golden Chess Friends (GCF) Students Fide-Rated Chess Championships II on January 21 at the Ayala Mall, also in Cagayan de Oro City.
Right in the opening round, the 12-year-old Seriña was on fire besting strong opponents such as Vera Cruz, Jan Calvin Abesamis, Marbas, and LJ Getubig en route to reaching the seventh and final round with a perfect six-of-six performance.
She needed just a draw to win her second-straight kiddies title in less than a month.
But Ilar, who yielded to Marbas in Round 3, had another thing in mind as he redeemed himself by spoiling what could be another Cinderella finish for the darling-of-the-crowd Seriña.
“Makaingon ‘ta nga sayang kay last round pa napildi. But what she (Seriña) did was already quite a brilliant feat. Mga gahi iyang rivals labi na ang mga lalake,” said Cleto ‘Bong’ Vasquez of the Cagayan de Oro-Misamis Oriental Chess Association.
Rounding up the top 14 finishers out of 56 competitors are sisters LJ and Lyn Getubig of Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental, Zhaoyu Capilitan and Mary Stephanie Dacut of Cagayan de Oro, Lara Dalagan of Tagoloan, and Ignatious Zabdell Dela Cruz of Bukidnon who are bunched at 4.5 points.
