OZAMIZ City ― Practically nobody has expected them to dodge the bullets in the star-studded Open category of the recent 5th Asenso Ozamiz Fide-Rated Chess Tournament here.
And why not?
FIDE Master and incoming International Master Christian Gian Karlo Arca of Panabo City is the 2023 World Youth Blitz Chess Champion, having won the title in Montesilvano, Italy, with a remarkable 8.5 out of nine performance.
Just a few days before heading to Ozamiz, the 16-year-old Arca won a silver medal for the country in the Under-18 class of the 23rd Asean+ Age Group Chess Championships in Penang, Malaysia.
And just before the premier Ozamiz Open started, Arca performed credibly in the Battle of Champions side event, finishing runner-up behind eventual winner Grandmaster Rogelio Antonio Jr in the 10-man round-robin affair.
"Wala ma’y gibutang nga limit sa edad, ang criteria basta high school larga na, unya high school pa man ko,” said the 19-year-old Fide Master Alekhine Nouri from Escalante, Negros Oriental in half jest.
Nouri won the Battle of Philippine Champions here in 2023, making him a strong favorite to compete in the cash-rich Open rivalry, which uses a rapid time control of 20 minutes plus a five-second increment.
Another one, Keith Adriane Ilar, the 15-year-old National Master from El Salvador City, Misamis Oriental, was the junior champion here in 2023.
Arbiter Lorenzo Cuizon saw his potential, stating he’s already ripe for the peaking to do battle with the country’s best in the annually held Ozamiz Chess Festival, concluded last Sunday, July 13, at the City Gymnasium of Ozamiz.
In Europe, in the Middle East, and in some highly developed countries across the globe, solid exposure is more important than the monetary rewards.
But the Philippines is a third world country that, to many chess players, particularly from the provinces, every tournament is another opportunity to augment every chess player's meager income.
“Practical lang kami. Mas maayo na lang naay pambaon kay naka-sked larga na sab siya sa gawas for another international chess tournament within this month,” said Arca's father, Armand, in a casual talk with Gold Star Daily.
And so the Ozamiz Open High School field was shocked in disbelief upon seeing the powerhouse troika of FMs Arca and Nouri and NM Ilar competing along with them for “sure money” in nine-round Swiss system skirmishes.
As expected, the three of them easily dominated their less-fancied junior opponents to secure the major cash prizes.
Undefeated in the first six rounds, Nouri and Arca faced each other in the seventh round.
They agreed to an early draw, then proceeded to dispose of the rest of their opponents to finish in a tie at 8.5 points.
Nouri, however, edged the reigning Ozamiz Open high school titlist Arca in the Bucholz breaker, 56.5-55 to secure the secondary's P60,000 top purse and the championship trophy.
Arca got the runner-up prize of P30,000, while the third-place Ilar received P20,000, also with a medal.
Ilar, who lost to Arca in the penultimate 8th round but rebounded with a win over Kent Jerry Muanag in the 9th and final round, actually finished in a tie with Apple Rubin of Cebu and Jan Calvin Abesamis of Cagayan de Oro at seven points, but prevailed for the third spot with his superior tiebreak results.
Occupying 4th and 5th, Rubin and Abesamis took home P10,000 and P6,000 apiece.
Completing the top 10 with P2,000 take-home for scoring 6.5 points are Quarl Maverick Vera Cruz of Misamis Oriental, AIM Joemel Narzabal of Dipolog City, Marquis Angelo Mallorca of Cebu, Eric Ryan Borbon of El Salvador City, and Dwayne Vincent Caneos of Misamis Oriental.
