TURNING senior citizen was a lucky charm for local bet Cleto ‘Bong’ Vasquez who defended turf by winning the Mindanao Leg of the 4th National Executive Chess Championship held last Saturday, March 25 at the 2nd Floor Green Lane of the Limketkai Mall, Cagayan de Oro City.
Coming from a family of musicians specializing in classical guitar, Vasquez’s biggest feat in chess came when he was about to turn 60 the next month.
“S’werte lang gyod naay dula nga losing na ko but got surprised when my opponent suddenly turned into panic and squandered a winning position,” Vasquez told Gold Star Daily.
With two draws in hand, Vasquez scored six points in seven rounds en route to bagging the championship trophy and the P15,000 top purse.
He attributed his success to the regular training tournaments for the Cagayan de Oro-Misamis Oriental Chess Association’s executive players which saw him always on the receiving end as the only one in the cast giving a ten-five odds to the rest of the contestants.
“Kanang five minutes nako nga time control wala pa gyod increment while sila adunay five seconds. Hard labor gyod nga partida nga napuslan gihapon,” said Vasquez, considered by the club as a Class A player, who finally got his break to become champion in a prestigious event after a long wait.
Cipiriano Magalso of Panabo City and Arena Fide Master (AFM) Fr. Vic Arellano both finished with 5.5 points, but Magalso claimed the second spot after the Bucholz tiebreaker.
They received P10,000 and P7,000 each plus trophies.
Fourth-placer National Master James Infiesto from Davao City and fifth-placer Jaime Joshua Frias II of Cagayan de Oro, who both registered five points, got P5,000 and P3,000 apiece plus medals.
Rounding up the top 10 out of 30 participants are Marawi City’s Cosain Magarang, Cagayan de Oro’s Judge Renato Arroyo, and Engr. Abdul Halil Abdullah, who all tallied 4.5 points, and Manila’s Joel Obogne and Cagayan de Oro's lawyer Condrado Mahinay, who prevailed in the tiebreaker over fellow four-pointers Anatolio Penados Jr of Bukidnon, and Ronald Rey Laput of Cagayan de Oro.
They were given P1,500 each plus medals in the CMOCA-organized rapid tourney jointly sponsored by Governor Peter ‘Sr Pedro’ M. Unabia of Misamis Oriental and Mayor Rolando ‘Klarex’ A. Uy of Cagayan de Oro.
Dr. Alfredo Paez, president of the Philippine Executive Chess Association, and Engr. Rey Cris Urbiztondo, a board member of the National Chess Federation of the Philippines, also came to play with the Fide titles as Arena Grandmasters.
“Although kapoy bilar sa trabaho, naningkamot gyod ko nga makaapas with my early morning flight to support the executive tourney as a true-blue Mindanaoan chess player,” Urbiztondo said.
