FRANCOIS Marie Magpily flashed top form against male rivals, beating five of them as she gained a share of the juniors lead even as Chester Reyes grabbed the top spot in kiddies play in the 25th Shell National Youth Active Chess Championships at held SM Mall of Asia Music Hall over the weekend.
Ranked sixth in a field of146, Magpily toppled Paulo Delicano, John Pascual, Rhey Lacambra and Vic Derotas before the Gen. Pio National HS standout foiled Daryl Batula to post an impressive sweep of her first five matches in the 13-16 age group Swiss system event sponsored by Pilipinas Shell.
No. 5 Earl Mantilla and ninth seed Cedrick Gaddi matched Magpily’s strong start to force a three-way tie for the lead with Mantilla testing Magpily’s mettle in the sixth round. Gaddi will take on Michael Erese, the lone 4.5 pointer after the first half of the nine-round tournament sanctioned by the NCFP.
Top seed Julius Gonzales fell to No. 14 Marie Lagrio and dropped to the 19-player big four-pointer group.
Top seed Reyes lived up tohis billing as he racked up five straight wins to wrest the solo lead in the kiddies division. The South Ville NHS mainstay whipped Rey Aranda, Ma.Christina Samarita, Louise Oncita, Marjeri Janapin and Jeremiah Cruz to zero in on the 7-12 crown and a berth in the national finals slated in October.
No. 2 Michael Yongco and third seed Cyrus Francisco stayed within striking distance with 4.5 points in a tie with fourth-ranked Al-Basher Buto and No. 6 Srihaan Poddar while 16 others pooled four points, guaranteeing a fierce duel for the top three berths in the grand finals.
Earlier, IM Roderick Nava and Magpily made the ceremonial moves to kick off the two-day tournament with Pilipinas Shell Country Community Liaison officer Christine Guison gracing the event serving as the second leg of the five-stage regional elims.
A wide-open battle for the seniors plum also loomed as No. 3 Melwyn Baltazar and No. 18 Noel Geronimo posted identical five points to lead Kyz Llantada, Christian Huavas and Carlo Caranyagan by half-a-point.
Eleven others, led by No.4 Garbin Manaloto, also remained in the hunt with four points.
The top three placers and the best female participant will gain slots in the grand finals of the grand 25thstaging of the event put up by Pilipinas Shell to discover fresh talents ,especially in the countryside, and develop them to become members of future national teams. The talent-search has produced top grandmasters, including GMs Wesley So, Mark Paragua and Nelson Mariano II.
The event is backed up by Shell V-Power, Shell Advance, Shell Rimula, Shell Helix, Shell Fuel Save, and Shell Card and is also being held in partnership with SM Supermalls. It is open to all Filipinos, non-titled players who are bona fide students certified by their respective schools and registrars. Previous grand final winners areallowed to compete again in their respective categories provided they are still within the age limit.