FOURTH-running Antonio Chavez Jr led at least three Kagay-anons who made it to the top-10 of the 1st Mactan Open: Barkadahan Para sa Bansa Chess Championship at the posh Solea Hotel and Resort in Mactan, Cebu on Thursday night, December 14.
The newly-wed Chavez from Barangay Bonbon, Cagayan de Oro City, and an alumnus of the Far Eastern University senior varsity team, defeated fellow Army man Carlo Magno Rosaupan to hike his total to 6.5 points and receive P10,000 for the fourth-place honor.
“My FEU teammate before and now my wife and inspiration, as well as my coach here in Mactan. She (Angelina Mortos) took good care of everything for me to be able to play chess with relative ease,” Chavez said.
Rosaupan, who was born in Cagayan de Oro before his family transferred to Davao, checked in at seventh place at 5.5 points, the same output as the 10th-seed Jaime Joshua Frias II who landed at 10th spot after the tiebreaker.
“Making the top-10 of a National Open like the Mactan chessfest is not bad at all. Kailangan gyod disiplina permi sa kaugalingon para maka-recover next time around,” said Frias, obviously referring to his top-seeded compatriot Johnnel Balquin, who fell to 26th with only four points to show in the 39-player field.
The other Kagay-anon Alfred Rapanot actually joined Rosaupan and Frias at 5.5 points, but weaker tiebreak results dropped him at 12th place.
Former National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) MVP Don Tyrone Delos Santos outplayed homegrown rival Bryle Arellano in the ninth and final round to finish with 7.5 points or just half-a-point ahead of the field.
The effort was enough for the erstwhile Arellano University reliable Delos Santos to bag the championship and bring home the P50,000 top purse.
“I did not really expect to win, though I studied religiously my openings that are quite familiar to some rivals especially my fellow chess players from Manila,” said Delos Santos, who almost exclusively brandished the London System with white and the French defense with black.
Grizzled Cebuano Fide Master Anthony Makinano also displayed an indomitable spirit in the face of the impending debacle to repulse UAAP stalwart John Ernie Maraan and tied FM Roel Abelgas at seven points.
“You can never really tell. It’s almost impossible for Makinano to escape in a one-piece-down situation. But survive was he did,” remarked Frias.
Luckily, Makinano got the better in the Bucholz tiebreaker to pocket the P25,000 runner-up prize as the third-running Abelgas settled for P15,000.
Rounding up the top-10 finishers were Arellano (6.0), Mark Jay Bacojo (6.0), Rosaupan (5.5), Jerish John Velarde (5.5), Maraan (5.5), and Frias (5.5).
