DAVAO CITY -- Pint-sized Ruelle Canino was left as Cagayan de Oro’s lone bet with perfect score after two rounds of the ongoing 19th Asean Age Group Chess Championships here on Wednesday at The Royal Manadaya Hotel.
Canino, a two-time RP Age Group Team classical standard gold medalist, pulled two points after a tactical skirmish against seed no. 5 Le Minh Thu of Vietnam in the 10-under girls classical standard event.
Wielding the black pieces, the 10-year-old Canino defused Vietnamese’s threatening bishop sacrifice and neutralized the tactical possibilities to a rook up endgame and the win in their Scotch Opening encounter.
She was in joint first place with Vietnamese rivals Le Dang Bao Ngoc, Tong Tai Ky An and Woman Candidate Master Ton Nu Quynh Duong with two points each.
Canino takes on Tong in the third round still in progress as of this writing.
Corpus Christi School’s Charles Kent Gabing scored one point and a half in two rounds in the 14-under boys section to stay in strong contention.
Ronald, Ruelle’s brother and many-time RP Age Group member, bowed down to top seed and Fide Master Alekhine Nouri in the 16-under boys classical standard.
First-timer David Rey Ancheta, Corpus Christi’s ace chesser, lost composure against Candidate Master Nguyen Quoc Hy of Vietnam in the 12-under classical standard.
Both Ronald and Ancheta were posting one point after the second round of action yesterday.
The other Oro players are setting to make good composure after a bad start in the first two rounds.