ELEVENTH-seed national master (NM) John Marvin Miciano of Davao City rocked the recently-concluded 2017 National Championships Semifinals-Men's Division, stunning higher-ranked players and clinching the title, at the Alphaland Makati Place, Ayala Avenue Extension in Makati City.
The 16-year-old Miciano, a Grade 12 student at Far Eastern University (FEU) Diliman, edged fellow seven-pointer international master (IM) Chito Garma via superior tiebreaks in the nine-round Swiss System format chessfest that attracted a total of 54 woodpushers.
IM Ronald Bancod placed third, leading two other 6.5 scorers Jonathan Jota and Jeth Romy Morado who placed fourth and fifth, respectively.
"Hindi po ako nag-expect mag-champion considering na malakas po ang field ng mga sumali sa semifinals. My goal was kahit to earn lang a slot sa grand finals or the battle of the grandmasters," Miciano said in a Facebook interview with SunStar Davao on Tuesday, August 1.
The former Ateneo de Davao University mainstay also said that he is glad his trainings and preparations paid off.
He added, "I was able to climb up to the top board and I was able to maintain it up to the final round."
Miciano, however, revealed that he felt the pressure to really make it to the qualifiers. Yet, he pulled it off with the right focus and preparation before every match.
He upset top-seed Fide master (FM) Sander Severino in the sixth round and sixth-seed Bancod in the seventh round but split point with Garma in the penultimate round.
The Dabawenyo also drew with 17th-seed Morado in the final round. He also eked out wins over Christian Mark Daluz, Michael Concio, Jr., Jan Francis Mirano and Jonathan Jota and lost once to Jayson Levin Tapia.
National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) Romualdo Dumuk awarded the prizes to the winners.
The top five players will advance to the grand finals slated September 5 to 13.
Miciano finished seventh last year.
Seeded men's players in the grand finals include grand masters (GMs) Rogelio Antonio, John Paul Gomez, Darwin Laylo, Jayson Gonzales, Eugene Torre and Rogelio Barcenilla and IM Paulo Bersamina.
Meanwhile, Dabawenya Ella Grace Moulic of De La Salle University landed eighth in the women's division of the semifinals.
Top performers in the Grand Finals will compose Team Philippines to the 2018 World Chess Olympiad.