2nd National Age Group highlights

Yesterday afternoon (Saturday), I dropped by Victory Central Mall in Caloocan City, the venue of the 2nd National Age Group Championships.

Actually it was my first time to go to that mall. From Pasay City, I just got on the LRT, got off at the last station (Monumento) and had a little walk to the venue. Not really that hard to get there.

My first impression was that Victory Central Mall looks ideal for for holding national chess tournaments. The place is easily accessible and the mall draws a lot of people.

I was late yesterday. Most of the tables were already cleaned up and the remaining games were about to finish.

I noticed that there was U-8 category for girls, though I don't see postings about that age group over chess-results.

OK, here are some of the highlights that I noticed about the games:

No.2 seed Cherry Anne Mejia (1815) lost to Bernadette Galas (1781) in Round 3 in the Girls U14 category with the White pieces. Mejia, a gold medalist in the 10th ASEAN Age Group in Vietnam, may not make it this time.

Big gun Chardine Cheradee Camacho vowed to rising star Mikee Charlene Suede in the Girls U16 group. If I could remember it right, Suede already beat Camacho during the National Age grouper that was held in Kalibo, Aklan. With another win over Camacho, Suede could be sending a strong message in her age category.

I haven't got an info about 10th ASEAN gold medalist Samantha Revita Glo. I don't know if she can make it again.

Another ASEAN gold medalist Austin Jacob Literatus lost to fellow gold medalist Paulo Bersamina in Round 3 in the U12 group for boys. Bersamina beat erstwhile leader Melwyn Kenneth Baltazar in Round 5 to snatch the lead with 4.5 points going into the last two rounds.

Of the four ASEAN gold medalist age-groupers in Vietnam, only Bersamina looks to making it to RP pool for the World Youth.

Good luck to all!