PAYA chess

BY: MARLON BERNARDINO

CLARET School of Quezon City, powered by Board 1 gold Medalist Gabriel Sebolino's perfect record of 6 wins, won the Juniors Division of the Philippine Athletic Youth Association (PAYA) Chess Championship held recently at La Salle Green Hills (LSGH) in Mandaluyong City.

Claret tallied 23.5 points for the gold while Ateneo finished 21 points for the silver and La Salle with 18 points for the bronze.

In the Midgets Division, La Salle made use of its homecourt advantage by garnering 20.5 points for the gold with Claret and Ateneo finishing with 18 and 14 points, respectively. La Salle was led by the improved play of Board 1 Gold medalist Rhal Sol Cruz who recently won 3rd Place at the National Book Store Kiddies and tied for 4th-11th Place in the Las Pinas Rotary Age Group Championship.

The win completed a grandslam of sorts for La Salle who just won the NCAA Srs and Jrs Championship. Other participating schools are South Ridge, Xavier, Collegio de San Agustin, De La Salle Zobel, Lourdes and Diliman Preparatory.

Other member of La Salle were Rocky Camarista, Dominique de Leon, Timothy dela Cruz, Rusty Macalalad and Arturo "D3" Bermejo. Head coach is international arbiter and national master Erwin Carag. Tournament organizer is Mr. Davis de Leon and Mr. Ed Oliver of SPDO.