Woman FIDE Master Shania Mae Mendoza and Daniel Quizon topped their respective divisions as host Philippines ruled the blitz section that prevented a Vietnam sweep at the end of the ASEAN+ Age Group Chess Championships at the Royal Mandaya Hotel in Davao City yesterday.
Mendoza walloped Vietnamese Woman International Master Nguyen Thanh Thuy Tien to cop the premier girls’ U20, while Quizon dumped Jasper Faeldonia to reign supreme in the open U14.
Both Mendoza and Cuizon ended up the best-performing Filipinos with four golds apiece, with the former winning the individual and team golds in the standard division and the latter the individual and team mints in the rapid section the day before.
Mendoza and Cuizon capped the PH’s strong effort in blitz where it outperformed Vietnam with better gold count, 17-12, in this event organized by Chess Events International, sanctioned by the NCFP under Butch Pichay, bankrolled by the Philippine Sports Commission and backed by Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte.
Ruelle Canino (girls U10), Rhenzi Kyle Sevillano (U20), Darry Bernardo (U18), FM Alekhine Nouri (U16), Francois Marie Magpily (girls U16) and WFM Allaney Jia Doroy (girls U18) provided the other individual victories for the country.
The PH’s last-day feat salvaged some measure of pride after Vietnam lorded it over the standard and rapid sections with gold hauls of 18 and 20 as against the former’s 10 and eight, respectively.
At the end of the nine-day tournament, the Vietnamese went home regaining the overall title with a total gold harvest of 60 as against 35 by the Filipnos.
Rhenzi Kyle Sevillano emerged the unlikely hero in the premier U20 as he lost his final round game to countryman Sarri Subahani but still won the blitz’ crown.
Sevillano ended up tied with standard champion IM Paulo Bersamina, who fell to IM John Marvin Miciano, and Vietnam’s Pham Minh Hieu, who downed compatriot Nguyen Huynh Tuan Hai, but took the gold after three tiebreaks.