The country’s top young players, headed by Mhagie Gerriahlou Sebastian, Ruelle Canino and Antonelle Berte Racasa will figure in the battle of wits as the National Age Group Chess Championships presented by Malolos Mayor Christian “Agila” Natividad unfolds today the Robinsons Place Malolos.
Sebastian will compete in the premier girls Under-18 division, Canino in the U14 and Racasa in the U16 in this six-day event staking slots to the ASEAN Youth Championship tentatively set in Bangkok, Thailand this year.
Sebastian, a Far Eastern University standout, in particular, will be the player to watch out for after she topped the national junior girls championship last year at the PACE in Quezon City.
The event will consist of the top 12 finishers who qualified via the online regional elimination and semifinal rounds in the boys and girls U12, U14, U16 and U18 categories.
“The future of Philippine chess could be coming from this batch, that’s why we keep conducting tournaments like this so we could produce future Grandmasters and national team players,” said National Chess Federation of the Philippines chief executive officer GM Jayson Gonzales.
Other notable players seeing action in the event backed by the Philippine Sports Commission, Malolos City, Philippine Olympic Committee and NCFP president chairman Butch Pichay are Lexie Grace Hernandez, Jerome Angelo Aragones, Rinoa Mariel Sadey, and Kaye Lalaine Regidor among others.