FEU, Calabarzon Players Rule 5th PACE Kiddies, PACE Marches On

BY: ANTHONY NAVARRO (Chess Windows Laguna Correspondent)

Right on Independence Day, when many of our youngsters were waging a last day battle at the Asean Age Group Blitz event in Subic and when most of the schools were about to open, we traveled early from Laguna to get an assessment for the ‘every Saturday’ class of the PACE and then get some practice / seasoning playing against HS players and also submit registration requirements for the Shell Active NCR leg slated on June 26-27 at the Megamall.. It was another opportunity to greet and socialize again with chess parents particularly with a Tanauan contingent composed of chess parents led by Mr. Romero with 4 players in tow. Though there were only 25 registrants, it was confirmed with PACE’s Boyet Tardecilla that the prizes for the major places will be honored and the 7 rounds Swiss format will continue and for the category prizes, there must be minimum of 5 players per age group.

It was a good result for FEU and Tanauan / Laguna players as shown in the ff results :

Place/Category NAME Points Affiliation
Champion Ahvix Alfonso 6.5 FEU
2nd Michael Manansala 5.5 FAITH, Tanauan
3rd Juan Carlos Presente 5.0 Adamson
4th Paul Evangelista 5.0 FEU
5th Jasper Marce 5.0 Sta Rosa, Laguna (Grade 5)
6th Virgen Gil Ruaya 4.5 Rizal
Top U-14 Prado 4.5 Tanauan
Top Lady Gladys Romero 4.5 Tanauan
7th Enrica Villa 4.0 FEU
8th Robert Tolentino 4.0 Tanauan
9th Paul Casiano 4.0 Meralco Chess Club
10th Charles Abuzo 4.0 Bulacan

After consistently placing in the top ten and qualifying to the finals in November, FEU’s Ahvix Alfonso ruled the tourney this time having an unblemished record of 6.5 pts, settling for a last round draw with incoming Adamson Jr HS Presente in the last round. Tanauan’s Manansala also had a good outing with a lone loss to champion Ahvix. Both are now in the PACE Kiddies honor roll and can no longer play in the next legs. All 4 Tanauan players placed with prizes. Sta Rosa’s Jasper Marce bounced off against eventual champ Ahvix right in the first round before continuing his sluggish play by falling to Paul Casiano. He then reeled off 5 straight wins to break out of a slump dating back to the Angping Cup, punctuated by wins over Abuzo and Tanauan’s Tolentino in his last 2 games.

It is always worth the local travel, everytime I go to PACE, I pick-up something new like from GM Jayson’s sharings on sportsmanship on the significance of attending the opening as well as closing phases of chess events, giving recognition and positive motivation for players. Watchout for more chess events lined up by PACE :

- Participation in the National Inter-Cities and Municipalities in July in Mandaluyong
( this was where now Super GM Wesley So got his licks playing Board 1 for
Tagaytay City,Cavite circa 2000)

- Conducting executive chess events
- Conducting chess team events
- Standard chess events (Asian Games now have both standard and rapid events)

Another dream is to have PACE kiddies earn some ratings, maybe by conducting an international youth tournament here.

Whatever happens, GM Jayson has been spending his own resources to help the current kiddies realize what was missing before. He is also open to having more chess academies or clubs in the country to cater to the grassroots development. So don’t just stand there, be a PACE member and help your country! Stay tuned to www.rpchessacademy.org for announcements.