MANILA City ― Multi-titled Ruelle ‘Tawing’ Canino and fast-rising Keith Adriane Ilar knocked a gold each in the standard event as Cagayan de Oro City and the neighboring province of Misamis Oriental threatened to dominate anew the ongoing Batang Pinoy National Chess Championships 2023 at the GSIS Gymnasium in Pasay City.
Leading the field by a full point, the reigning UAAP women’s MVP Canino of the Far Eastern University (FEU) ― who just topped the National Women’s Open elimination ― drew her seventh and final round match with Lyn Getubig of Misamis Oriental to win the gold in the Under 15 female category.
Canino’s Cagayan de Oro compatriot Lila Alyssa Seriña defeated Faith Argenal of Iloilo City to pocket the gold in the Under-13 female class as the City of Gold is now on track to chasing its five-gold finish last year in Vigan Batang Pinoy chessfest with the rapid and blitz events still in progress as of this posting.
Misamis Oriental equaled Cagayan de Oro’s two-gold start in a chess competition, courtesy of the unbeaten Ilar from El Salvador City and the Getubig sisters, Lyn and LJ from the municipality of Tagoloan.
Despite leading the Under-15 male division by half a point, Ilar did not like to risk his gold chances in the tiebreak as he aggressively weaved a tactical maze with black to force the resignation of Al-Basher Buto of Parañaque after a marathon 90 moves of the Sicilian Defense Najdorf variation.
“I had a pair of good Bishop and a Knight against his Rook and I managed to capture his disconnected pawns in a complicated endgame,” said Ilar before leaving the playing venue for lunch break.
After her drawn match with Canino, Lyn Getubig managed just fourth place with 5.5 points to show in the individual event. But her combined 10 points with LJ Getubig (4.5 pts) was enough to nose out the City of General Trias (9.5 pts) by half-a-point in team play and gave Misamis Oriental of its second mint.
Defending world youth chess champion Christian Gian Karlo Arca, a native of Davao who’s now representing the Dasmariñas-LGU, blew his chances for the standard gold after an upset loss at the hands of Arena Fide Master and fellow Dabawenyo Andrei Ainsley Dolorosa in the penultimate sixth-round of the Under-15 male division.
Dolorosa prevailed after 56 pushes of the English Opening Symmetrical Variation.
The Fide Master Arca had difficulty in the endgame as Dolorosa has two connected Queenside passed pawns.
Eventually, one of them was promoted to Queen, forcing Arca to sacrifice a Rook to complicate matters but to no avail.
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