Top finishers of 6th Dr. Jose Leviste Sr. Inter-School Chess Festival

Top 10 (Elementary) Total of 117 participants
1.Gonzales, Julius 7 pts
2.De Leon, Haince Patrick 6.5
3.Alanan, Brent 6
4.Pascua, Anatoly 6
5.Garcia, Danrev 6
6.Marcellana, Mark 5.5
7. Ignacio, Robin 5.5
8.Marcos, Jett 5.5
9.Sharma, Kushaga 5.5
10.Berongoy, Gilbert 5

Top 10 (High School) Total of 89 players
1.Galan, Nigel 5.5
2.Mansanero, Jefferson 5
3.Docena, Jerad 5
4.Caranyagan, Carlo 5
5.So Kua, Timothy 5
6.Coronel, Aldous 5
7.Evangelista, Paul 5
8.De Jesus, Normel 5
9.Cruz, Renato 5
10.Gutierrez, Jaymark 4.5

Below is the related story (by MARLON BERNARDINO):

JULIUS GONZALES (in photo) flashed his vintage form by winning the 6th Dr. Jose Leviste Sr. Inter-School Chess Festival held last Sunday at the Ateneo Grade School Cafeteria in Quezon City.

The eight-year-old Gonzales finished the seven-round Swiss system tournament unbeaten to rule the grade school division of the chessfest held in honor of the memory of Ateneo alumnus Dr. Jose P. Leviste Sr. (HS ’33, AA ’35).

A grade 3 student from Parang Elementary School, Gonzales beat Mark Marcellana in the final round using the disadvantageous black pieces and went home with the P4,000 purse and the champion’s trophy.

At close second place was Haince De Leon of Marist School-Marikina who finished with six wins and a draw. He received P 2,000 and the second place trophy.

A three-way tie occurred for 3rd place as Brent Alanan of Binangonan Catholic College, Anatoly Pascua of Obrero Elementary School, and Danrev Garcia of San Beda College each finished with 6.0 points. While the three shared the cash prizes which amounted to P1,500, Alanan and Pascua took home the 3rd and 4th place trophies respectively.

A total of 240 grade school, high school and college students participated in the tournament which is a project of the Ateneo de Manila chess team under the tutelage of Grandmaster candidate Idelfonso Datu and through the support of Mr. Jose Leviste Jr. (Ateneo Chess Teams Alumni Chairman) and Mr. Patrick Caoile (Alumni Chess Team Manager).

In the high school division, Nigel Galan (in photo) of De La Salle Greenhills emerged victorious with a total of 5.5 points in six rounds. He drew his last match with 2nd placer Jefferson Mansanero of San Jose National High School.

Galan took home the cash prize of P4,000 and the champion’s trophy.

Mansanero, who scored 5.0 points along with Jerad Docena of FEU and Carlo Caranyagan of Arellano University, bagged the 2nd place trophy but shared the cash prizes for 2nd to 4th places with Docena and Caranyagan.

In the college category, the battle ended in a 7-way tie for first place with five points each out of the possible six. After the tiebreak was applied, Chester Guerrero of Letran College emerged champion followed by Sheider Nebato of FEU, Narquingel Reyes of College of St. Benilde, and John Ranel Morazo of FEU.

They equally split the cash prize for first to fourth places.

The chessfest is also supported by Constellation Energy Corporation, Italpinas Design and Development, Grand Placement, and Pilipinas SIFE (Students in Free Enterprise) with minor sponsors Falcon Waterfree Technologies, Aztec Construction Corporation, R.M. Pingol Construction, and Vulcan Materials Corporation with the endorsement of Richard Palou, University Athletics Director of the Ateneo de Manila University.

Chief Arbiter for the competition was National Arbiter Rudy Ibañez supported by arbiters Chiara Lim and Alvin Yen.

Special awards were also given to John Michael Castillo of Espiritu Santo Parochial School (Top Preschool player), Cris Rayos (Top Grade 1 player), and Matthew Dofitas of The Learning Tree (Top Grade 2 Player). Awards were also given to the Top Ateneo players with Gabriel Layugan (Top ADMU College), Lorenzo Marquez (Top ADMU HS), and Jett Marcos (Top ADMU GS) earning recognition in their respective categories.

Mr. Patrick Caoile and Mrs. Kristina Caoile, Alumni Team Managers of the Ateneo Chess Teams graced both the opening program and closing ceremonies while Mr. Jose P. Leviste Jr. (Alumni Team Chairman of the Ateneo Chess Teams) and Mr. Richard Palou (University Athletics Director) stood as guest awardees during the awarding ceremony.