GENERAL SANTOS City — Showing composure throughout the weekend standard chess event, Woman FIDE Master Ruelle Canino finished undefeated, while fellow Cagayan de Oro standout Woman National Master Lila Alyssa Seriña also podiumed in the 2025 Batang Pinoy National Finals, which resume today at Robinsons Place here.
Returning to the Batang Pinoy stage after her World Olympiad stint last year, the bemedaled Canino played precise, cautious chess en route to a perfect 9-of-9 performance — delivering the first gold medal for the “City of Gold” in this weeklong competition.
Maria Kristine Lavandero of Cebu City collected the silver with 7 points, while Tagoloan native Lyn Getubig — now representing Quezon City — claimed bronze by edging Pangasinan’s Ericka Ordizo in the tiebreak after both finished with 6.5 points in the girls 17-under division.
Seriña, also absent last year because of an overseas chess campaign, likewise went unbeaten. But her three draws proved costly in the Buchholz tiebreak as Iloilo’s Iana Angela Sotaridona (7.5 points) secured the gold.
Seriña settled for Cagayan de Oro’s second medal on Sunday — a solid silver, though not without regret.
Solo 7-pointer Franiel Angela Magpily of Santa Rosa City took the bronze.
“Sayang iyang seventh-round one-pawn-up advantage. Gi-draw niya kay abi niya last round na, unya labaw siya sa tiebreak. Pero sige lang, that’s part of the game,” her father, lawyer Vincent Cromwell Seriña, told Gold Star Daily.
