SEETHING with revenge, Woman National Master Mary Joy Tan racked up five-straight wins and split the point in the penultimate round to grab the solo lead in the 2022 Philippine National Women's Chess Championship Semifinals.
The 18-year-old Tan from Jasaan, Misamis Oriental was still locking horns with Francesca Largo yesterday afternoon at the Pace building in Quezon City with the hope of emerging first place in the semifinals of the national championship.
“We can only keep on praying nga molahos na gyod iyang kadaugan,” her ever-supportive mother, teacher Pamela Tan told Gold Star Daily.
Tan finished third in the just-concluded 2022 Philippine National Girls Chess Championship Grand Finals held at Vista Mall in Malolos, Bulacan.
Tan (5.5 pts) lagged by just half a point behind eventual champion April Joy Claros (6 pts) and runner-up Woman International Master Kylen Joy Mordido (6 pts).
Amusingly, all top-three winners in the women’s juniors have ‘Joy’ on their first name.
But Misamis Oriental’s own Joy was unrelenting in the Philippine Women’s rivalry as she whitewashed WNM Kaye Lalaine Regidor, Cyhrea Ruth Atog, WNM Rizalyn Jasmine Tejada, Ayana Nicole Usman, and WNM Bea Mendoza in the first five rounds before agreeing to a truce with WNM April Joy Claros on Sunday morning.
The seventh-seeded Tan, now a varsity player of the Far Eastern University Tamaraws in Manila, used the Queen’s Pawn Opening in besting the ninth-ranked Mendoza after 40 moves.
She led the field by half a point to the seventh and final round.
“Pero mas maayo gyod kon walay draw daugon na lang niya ang last round para wala nay sila sa tiebreaker,” said local chess trainer Jaime Joshua Frias II who keeps on monitoring the exciting women's chess championship via the online chess sites.
