Dabawenya Woman National Master (WNM) Samantha Umayan pulled off a strong runner-up finish in the junior open division of the Philippine Academy for Chess Excellence (Pace) Rapid Fide Rated 1899 Under tournament held Sunday, July 27, in Quezon City.
Umayan, a chess varsity scholar at Far Eastern University (FEU), racked up six points in a male-dominated 61-player field using the seven-round Swiss System format. Seeded ninth, she dropped her fifth-round match to FEU teammate and fourth seed Gladimir Chester Romero of Tanauan City but secured impressive wins against Rafiel Irvin Lacorte (Lipa City), Davin Sean Romualdez (Pasig City), King Xyan Beltran (Rizal), Mark Albert Ignacio (Caloocan City), Adrian Bohol (Ozamiz City), and Arena Fide Master Joachim Thaddeus Manuel.
Romero topped the tournament with 6.5 points, while Umayan settled for second. Top-seeded Lance Nathaniel Orlina of Dumaguete City and Quarl Maverick Vera Cruz of Quezon City shared third place with 5.5 points apiece.
(I didn’t expect to win—but deep down, I was hoping I could)," she told SunStar Davao in a Messenger chat.
Umayan said, "Compared po actually sa standard, mas mahina po ako sa rapid. Mabagal po kasi ako mag-isip, kaya parang kapag naglalaro po ako ng rapid napapanic time po ako, tapos yun po yung nag cacause ng mga mali kong tira (I usually don’t do well in rapid because I take more time to think. When I play rapid, I panic under time pressure and end up making blunders)."
She explained that while standard chess matches give players at least an hour, rapid games are compressed into just 10 to 15 minutes per player—a tough adjustment for someone who thrives in longer formats.
"Nag-hope naman po ako kasi parang gusto ko din po na iprove sa sarili ko na kaya ko din po manalo sa ganitong time control (I was hoping too because I really wanted to prove to myself that I could win under this kind of time control)," Umayan shared. "This month, po parang every week ako may sinalihang rapid tournament and isang beses lang po ata ako may award nakuha (This month, I’ve been joining rapid tournaments almost every week, but I think I only managed to win an award once)."
She previously captured her first-ever open division title at the Pace Standard Fide Rated 2000 Under event held last June 1, 2025. MLSA
