Tuesday, June 24, 2008 Corpus stude stamps class in national event
BEING fielded in what is considered as "non-bearing" Team C did not discourage 14-year-old future grandmaster Lennon Hart Salgados to give his best.
Making up for Misamis Oriental's (Team A, Team B and Team C) dismal finish in the 10-day tourney, Salgados decided to focus on individual effort, playing through undefeated to emerge board 2 champion of the recently-held First Vicente L. Pimentel Sr. Memorial-National Inter-Province chess team championship in Tandag, Surigao del Sur.
"Making up for my long absences in school, I can't afford to just go home with them (Misor teammates) empty-handed. I know that I can do better given the chance in whatever standard of any chess competitions," said Salgados, now a third-year high school student of Corpus Christi in Cagayan de Oro, who scored five wins and 2 draws to bag the gold on board 2 worth P3,000 cash award.
"I've been winning against masters in previous international event that I played for the first time in Manila. So in Tandag, I kept on motivating myself that I can play better that Team C is not a place for my class," added Salgados, reigning National Shell Youth Active kiddies chess champion, who also powered Dota All Stars to a tie for first place in the last team tourney in Bugo, Cagayan de Oro.
National Masters Roger Verganio and Levi Mercado fared well in manning the top board positions for the veterans-laden Misor Team A and Misor Team B. But they just can't draw enough support from their respective teammates.
"Kon na-board 3 lang namo si Lennon makaaway `mi sa top prize," humbly said Jokorn Maestrado, who performed well as alternate of 13th-placer Misor Team A.
Board medallists are (board 1) International Master Barlo Nadera of Tandag, Surigao del Sur, (board 2) Lennon Hart Salgados of Misamis Oriental "Capitol." (board 3) Raymond Salcedo of Tagaytay, (board 4) Mark Oliver Ingcad of Surigao del Sur "B" and (board 5) Nixon Curioso of Cavite-Gov. Ayong S. Maliksi.
Tagaytay, bannered by Allan Macala and Raymond Salcedo, nipped Rizal via the tiebreak to rule this year's inter-province chessfest.
Here's the final standings: 14 points--Tagaytay, Rizal; 12--Bislig-DPWH, Tandag-B, Surigao del Sur-B, Lanao del Sur, Davao-Chadric Builders; 11-Surigao del Sur-A; 10-South Cotabato, Compostela Valley, Cavite, Davao City, Misamis Oriental West; 9-Misamis Oriental East, Kalinga Apayao, Bacolod; 8--Misamis Oriental Capitol, Palawan, Aklan, Laguna, Oriental Mindoro, Tandag-A; 7--TPCC, Bislig; 6--Surigao del Norte; 4--Chessa; 3--SSPSC; 1--Tandag-C. (LLS)
