A TOUGH act to follow.

CDO-Misor players made a rare feat on Sunday, sweeping the major cash prizes of the 5th Hudyaka Zanorte 2009 Non-Masters Open chess tournament in Dapitan City.

All four local bets finished 1 to 4 in the two-day Rapid tourney with Jan Vincent Cayaba claiming the championship by scoring 6 wins and yielding just a draw in seven rounds.

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"Grabe ka-kontrolado ang field. Mora'g lisod na ma-break nga record," mused Jokorn Maestrado, the only veteran among the four, who shared second to 3rd place with the 19-year-old Antonio Chavez Jr. Both Maestrado and Chavez registered with identical 6 points.

Lennon Hart Salgados, the 15-year-old Cagayan de Oro sensation, who will represent the country in 16-under rivalry of the 10th ASEAN Youth Chess Championship in Hue, Vietnam on June 6-11, barely warmed up in what considered as his final tune-up bout by taking the solo fourth among a total of 82 participants with 5.5 points to show.

"Blessing in disguise gihapon nga nakadula sa Dapitan with 45 minutes time control kay aside sa standard chess, apil sa Vietnam nga kategorya ang blitz ug rapid chess," said Salgados, who will be joined in by fellow Corpus Christi varsity player Tristan Frech Ibaoc, 9, in the keenly-awaited "Vietnam War".

Salgados, a protegee of NM Roly Tan, Brgy. 23 chair Jaime Joshua Frias and Danny Velez, has also been considered by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) as shoe-in for the forthcoming World Youth Championships in Italy and possibly, the 16-under World Youth Chess Olympiad in Turkey.

The featured final games on the top-four boards in Dapitan saw Cayaba splitting the point with Roumondo Edades, while Chavez and Maestrado--also handling with the black pieces--prevailing over pre-tournament favorites Maximo Ramos and Royd Rodriguez.

Salgados, meanwhile, essayed the white side against another Pagadian pride, Jezreel Lopez.

The four of them brought home a combined cash prizes of less than P20,000 in the annual chessfest held as major sports highlight of the 57th Founding Anniversary of Zamboanga del Norte.

Bundled out from fifth to 16th places with similar 5 markers were Ramos, Rey Reyes, Vivencio Mendoza, Edades, Rodriguez, Villmer Acurin, Joselito Rojas, Fernando Montano Jr., Noel Javier, Abi Agar, Joselito Longno and James Mark Ruiz.

Cayaba, Maestrado, Chavez and Salgados' sweeping finish in Dapitan came on the heels of Johnnel Balquin's fruitful campaign in the recently-concluded Kabasan Chess Open and Regional Eliminations at the Camp Holiday Resort and Recreational Area in Babak, Island Garden City of Samal in Davao region.

Balquin, a resident trainor of Misamis Oriental's Capitol Chess Club, finished runner-up behind National Master Elwin Retanal in the cash-rich event, giving out P20,000 and P10,000 apiece to the top-two winners.

"Sa suporta nga gihatag ni Governor Oscar Moreno nga natukod kanang chess park sa Kapitolyo, daghan pa nga mga batan-on dinhe sa Cagayan de Oro ug Misamis Oriental ang mahimong bantogan sa dula nga chess," said the ageless Val Rosabal, a Hall of Famer in UAAP basketball, and now sports consultant of Misamis Oriental province.