Oro’s Canino is undisputed Batang Pinoy chess queen

IT was something special the country’s current top Under-15 female chess player Ruelle ‘Tawing’ Canino had brilliantly done in her elementary days.

And now representing Cagayan de Oro City anew, the bemedalled Canino repeated her feat in the face of more difficult challenges offered in the recently-held Batang Pinoy National Chess Championships 2023.

Pitted against the toughest Under-15 female rivals nationwide, Canino went on to record another rare-sweep finish of the week-long meet concluded on Friday, December 22 at the GSIS Gymnasium in Pasay City.

Putting up an unthinkable 20.5/21 performance on 20 wins and a draw altogether in 21 games, the reigning UAAP women’s junior MVP Canino emerged as the most dominant force in the individual competition, winning all the marbles by lording it over in the standard, rapid and blitz events of the annual chess tourney for youngsters 17 years old and below.

In doing so, Canino–fondly called by Mindanaoan fans as “Super Tawing”–duplicated her whirlwind show four years ago in the 2019 Batang Pinoy Mindanao Qualifier in Tagum City, Davao del Norte where she completed a perfect 20-game win roll en route to taking the standard, rapid and blitz titles as a Grade 5 pupil then of Barangay Kauswagan Elementary School in Cagayan de Oro.

In the same breath, the triple golds of Canino now under the tutelage of Far Eastern University coach GM Jayson Gonzales, also powered Cagayan de Oro’s successful retention of the Batang Pinoy Chess overall supremacy.

The Oro chessers, who ruled the Batang Pinoy last year in Vigan with a five-gold haul, came even stronger this year with an impressive harvest of 9 golds, 5 silvers, and a bronze, followed by the star-studded Dasmariñas City in second place with an 8-5-4 gold-silver-bronze finish.

Sharing third to sixth places with four golds each are Quezon City (5 silvers and 4 bronzes), Misamis Oriental (3 silvers and 3 bronzes), Zamboanga City (3 silvers and 2 bronzes), and the Province of Iloilo with only bronze to add its four-gold effort in the prestigious chess tourney participated by around 200 Local Government Units in the country.

“Tawing’s accomplishment in Batang Pinoy is a tough act to follow. She could deliver more golds in the team events had Team CDO decided to bring a partner for her in the Under-15 age category,” said Misamis Oriental’s coaching staff Arian Belly Calido.

“Allowing just a solitary draw in 21 games against the best Under-15 rivals in the Philippines is simply not a joke. No wonder why she also topped the National Women’s Open elimination games recently,” added Calido.

Two other talents Fide Master Mark Jay Bacojo of Dasmariñas and Elle Castronuevo of Bulacan are poised to also make a sweeping finish after they both snared the standard and rapid golds in their respective age brackets.

But subsequent losses to Khana Kathrine Ventolero and Aleyah Kristine Francisco in the 5th and 6th rounds relegated Castronuevo to fifth place in the Under-9 girls’ blitz contest.

Despite a third-round debacle at the hands of little-known Christian Pelione, FM Bacojo–who was among the young Filipinos who made a noise in the $35,000-rich Manny Pacquiao International Chess Tournament held some weeks ago in General Santos City–remained in contention to do a Canino after sweeping his remaining four matches against solid foes John Dave Lavandero, Wenlan Temple, Michael Jan Stephen Inigo and Vince Duane Pascual.

But inferior tiebreak results among fellow 6-pointers David Rey Ancheta of Cagayan de Oro (gold) and Knarf Lawrence Batislaong of Tacurong, Sultan Kudarat (silver) dropped Bacojo to third spot for a bronze in the highly-competitive Under-17 boys’ blitz showdown.