With the backing of Go For Gold, International Master John Marvin Miciano recently bagged five medals in the 20th Asean Age Group Chess Championships in Mandalay, Myanmar.
The reigning Asian youth champion secured a silver medal in the standard event before spearheading the country’s golden finish in the blitz team event with fellow youth standouts Melito Ocsan Jr. and John Merill Jacutina.
Garnering 7.5 points after nine rounds for second place behind boys standard champion IM Anh Khoi Nguyen (8.5 pts), Miciano also grabbed a bronze in the individual blitz and again joined forces with Ocsan and Jacutina for a silver in the team rapid event.
“Marvin has done a great job. Despite his youth, he has accomplished a lot,’’ said Go For Gold godfather Jeremy Go. “We hope that with our support, he can continue to go for gold.’’
For his numerous feats since last year, Miciano has been named by the Davao City Sports Council as Davao City’s male athlete of the year in the So Kim Cheng Awards on July 26.
“While it’s nice to win as many medals in international tournaments, my real objective is to earn a GM norm to boost my quest to become a grandmaster,’’ said Miciano, who capped his impressive performance in Myanmar with another team silver in the standard event.
One of the most promising athletes under the Go For Gold program, Miciano is a fast learner, having earned his national master title at 16 years old and named Fide master the following year.
The World Chess Federation granted Miciano the IM title for winning the 2018 Asian Youth U-18 Chess Championships in Thailand.
“There are a lot of tournaments out there where we can win gold medals, but with only few grandmasters participating. I need to participate in tournaments with more GMs for me to get that GM norm,’’ said Miciano.
To accomplish the feat, Miciano should capture three GM norms and improve his Fide rating to 2500. Miciano is currently competing in the ongoing Asian Juniors Championships in Solo, Indonesia.
Aside from Miciano, Go For Gold already has a stable of champions in skateboarder Margielyn Didal, the Philippine dragonboat team from the Philippine Canoe-Kayak Dragonboat Federation and reigning Southeast Asian Games men’s triathlon champion Nikko Huelgas.
Go For Gold is also backing the national athletes from cycling, wrestling, sepak takraw, the Philippine Air Force volleyball squad and has two basketball teams, one in the PBA D-League and the San Juan Knights in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League.