DAVAO City’s Samantha Umayan added to her growing collection the under-13 girls title of the 2019 National Youth and Schools Chess Championship-Visayas Leg held recently in Bacolod City.
The second-seeded Umayan, a Grade 7 student at Far Eastern University Diliman, earned a total of 6.5 points in the seven-round Swiss System format chessfest to outclass 17 other players in her category.
“Hindi ko po in-expect manalo kasi madami ring magagaling na sumali sa division ko. Nahirapan din ako halos sa lahat ng rounds po,” she said in a Facebook interview with SunStar Davao.
She upset top seed Queen Rose Pamplona in the fifth round to mark her sterling campaign. The Dabawenya also demolished Yzabelle Noriel Nabor, Arleah Cassandra Sapuan, Charlize Mae Cuambot, Clier Ginarry Haresco and Arnie Joanne Suravilla.
Umayan, however, split point with Kimberly Colaste in the sixth round.
“Masaya po!,” she said when asked how she felt, adding, “Para sa parents ko ang panalong ito.”
She opted to play in the Visayas leg as it was the only event that she could join in after competing in the 9th HDBank International Chess Tournament in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam.
Last January, she also captured the girls under-14 crown of the 2019 National Age-Group Chess Championships Visayas Leg at SM Seaside Cebu.
Her elder brother Gabriel John Umayan, for his part, finished fourth in under-15 boys.