HOMEGROWN bet Khent Lourence Canas defended turf as he outplayed the much younger but celebrity chess ace Ruelle “Tawing” Canino in the fifth round en route to ruling the elementary division of the 2019 Araw ng Tagoloan Rapid Open Chess Tournament held recently in Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental.
Sharing the spotlight is Cagayan de Oro College (COC-Phinma) high school freshman Joseph Alexis dela Rama, who scored 5.5 points in six rounds to lord it over in the secondary division.
Canas amassed a perfect 6 points to capture the P1,500 top purse plus medal.
The Oro pride Canino of Barangay Kauswagan Elementary School, however, edged fellow 5-pointer Cecille Bagalanon in the Bucholz tiebreak to claim the second prize worth P1,000.
Third-running Bagalanon received P800 with another Tagoloan hopeful Sara Dalagan and Janrick Lagunay getting P600 and P400 each for placing fourth and fifth, respectively.
Rounding up the top-10 circle were Keith Adriane Ilar, Cristopher James Carcueva, Jeshua Lagunay, Cassey Tabamo and Lara Dalagan who settled for P200 apiece also with medals.
In high school rivalry, Ashlani Pandi of Misamis Oriental General Comprehensive High School (MOGCHS) emerged a solid second placer behind dela Rama with 5 points to show, followed by Lyn Getubig, Joel Lawrence Hoy, John Dale Salabsab, Palaro veteran Clyde Harris Saraos, Paul Andrew Romanda, Nico Tabacuan, Tagoloan’s proud daughter Kyla Dalagan and Cyprus Pada who were all bundled at 4 points.
They also got same prizes given to the top-10 winners in elementary category, according to tournament arbiter Lorenzo “Jun” Cuizon of Cagayan de Oro.
Meanwhile, the Metro Cagayan Eagles Club, in cooperation with the Parents Chess Club of Cagayan de Oro, will have its first ever Rapid Chess Tournament on August 10 at the Green Lane, 2nd floor of Limketkai Mall.
The day-long rapid chessfest has categories for elementary division (Grade 1-6, mixed boys and girls) and high school division (Grade 7-12, mixed boys and girls).
Prizes up for grabs in each category are P1,500 for the champion, P1,000 for 1st runner-up, P800 for second runner-up, P600 for third runner-up, P400 for fourth runner-up, and P200 (plus medals) each for the rest of the top 10 finishers.
The seven-round Swiss system tourney will also offer special awards for the top 3 players belonging to the under 10 and under 8 age brackets.
For more details, the following tournament officials can be contacted in their respective mobile phone numbers: Glenn Escarda (0917-3171630), Emmanuel Carrasco (0917-8577166), Joel Hoy (0977-8066226), Jun Cuizon (0905-1166326) and Leah Magluyoan (0935-1632798).