By Jaime Joshua A. Frias II
Contributor
LILA Alyssa Seriña of Cagayan de Oro City fell short of expectations at the Asian Amateur Chess Championships 2025 but still brought home a silver medal and a third-place trophy.
The 14-year-old student from Corpus Christi School competed in the women’s 1700 category, which ended yesterday, August 9 in Hong Kong.
Seriña won a silver medal and a cash prize of HKD 1,000 in the women’s 1700 blitz category, a preliminary event.
She was a crowd favorite in the main event, the classical standard tournament, but luck was not on her side. She finished the nine-round classical tournament undefeated with 6.5 points, recording four wins and five draws.
However, she missed opportunities to secure wins against Asmi Aayat of Pakistan, Nayoon Kim of Korea, Wu Yeutong of China, and Rushani Raj Asudani of India, settling for draws.
“Had those converted to wins, it would turn the table,” said her father, lawyer Vincent Cromwell Seriña.
Seriña could have tied for first place in the classical tournament if she had won her final round against compatriot Yana Emilou De Vera.
However, De Vera played a solid game, winning the title and the top prize of HKD 8,000. De Vera finished with 7.5 points, while Adina Baideldinova of Kazakhstan took second with seven points and a prize of HKD 6,500.
Seriña landed in a three-way tie for third to fifth place with Huang Jing of Hong Kong and Asudani.
The Cagayanon chess player secured sole possession of third place and a HKD 5,000 prize after a narrow win in the tiebreaker.
Seriña's total winnings for the tournament amounted to HKD 6,000, or approximately P42,000.
