Second seed International Master Jan Emmanuel Garcia ruled via tiebreak the first Metropolitan Chess Club Fide-rated Rapid Chess Championship that concluded recently at the Starmall Edsa Shaw in Mandaluyong City.
Garcia, with a Fide rating of 2404, actually tied for 1st to 3rd places, along with 5th seed FM Mari Joseph Turqueza and 8th seed FM Austin Jacob Literatus with 6.0 points apiece in this two-day event organized by MCC, in cooperation with MILO.
Having the highest tiebreak points, Garcia bagged the Champion trophy, a gold medal, plus the pooled cash prize of P10,000.
Meanwhile, Turqueza placed 2nd, while Literatus nailed third spot. Both went home richer by P10,000 each and were awarded silver and bronze medals, respectively.
Rounding off the Top 10 winners were 6th seed NM Emmanuel Emperado (4th); 11th seed Jayson Danday (5th); 10th seed Ryan Christian Magtabog (6th); 4th seed IM Chito Garma (7th); 3rd seed IM Barlo Nadera (8th); 70th seed Alwin Sopungco (9th) and 9th seed Sherwin Tiu (10th). Top seed IM Ricky de Guzman landed in 15th place with 4.5 points.
Categories winners were Top senior —Raul Villate; Milo Checkmate Standout 2018—Jet Miguel Mendoza (1st); Carl Martin Arandillo (2nd); Francis Pio Cardenas (3rd) and Paolo Jerome Barandon (4th). Top Lady—Niña Anne del Rosario (1st); Alysah Buto (2nd); Kezia Ligutan (3rd) and Eunice Olivares (4th). Top High School—Chester Neil Reyes (1st); Joshua Maven Ching (2nd); Andrew Sopungco (3rd) and James Riehyl Baligat (4th).
The Top 12-Under winners were Lemmuel Jay Adena (1st); Karlycris Clarito Jr (2nd); Allan Gabriel Hilario (3rd); and Vince Duane Pascual (4th). Top 10-under—Cyrus James Damiray (1st); Nathan Maligaya (2nd); Audric Anton Perez (3rd); and Zuriel Maria Gil Rosales (4th); Top 8-Under—Al-basher Buto (1st); Phil Martin Casiguran (2nd); Prince Agbulos (3rd); and Gllase Hilario (4th). The youngest participant was six-year-old Gllase Hilario.