INTERNATIONAL master (IM) John Marvin Miciano of Davao City pulled off a roaring start by beating Tibet Kagan Ozgur of Turkey as the Fide World Junior and Girls Under 20 Chess Championships 2018 opened Wednesday in Gebze, Koaceli, Turkey.
Sixty-ninth seeded Miciano, 17, was still playing 22nd seed IM Johan-Sebastian Christiansen of Norway in the second round as of press time Thursday, September 6.
He is the only Filipino player among 150 participants (with 26 grand masters) from 59 countries.
Miciano, who first played in the Fide World Junior in Italy last year, recently finished 11th in the 105-player 44th International Open d Escacs de Siutges in Sitges, Spain where he earned six points in the nine-round Swiss System format chessfest.
The ninth-seed Miciano eked out four wins over Spain's David Guix, Ecuador woman grand master (WGM) Carla Serrano Heredia and India's Om Manish Kadam and Singhania Vatsal on top of four draws with Sweden's Torbjorn Glimbrant, Cuba IM Luis Lazaro Aguero, India's Shrivatri Anuj and Far Eastern University (FEU) teammate WGM Janelle Mae Frayna.
The Dabawenyo bowed to Indian Anand Saurabh in their third round clash. He still clinched the best under-18 player among Group A players while Frayna, who finished 12th, was best woman player.
The Miciano-Frayna encounter was a tough one for the two Filipinos as both have been training buddies. They tied after a marathon of 109 move.
He aims to earn GM norms in his international campaigns.