The Philippines’ youngest Woman Fide Master (WFM) 45th seed Antonella Berthe “Tonelle” Murillo Racasa (Elo1380) beat 9th seed Olga Dm.Karmanova (Elo1838) of Russia after 85 moves of Benoni defense using the black pieces to share fifth in the seventh round of the Under-12 Girls division World Cadet Chess Championships at the Yujing Hotel in Weifang, Shandong, China last Wednesday.
The 12-year-old student of Home School Global Racasa hiked his total to 5.0 points, good for a tie with 11 others from 5th to 16th that includes Woman Candidate Master (WCM) 7th seed Dilyana Ivanova (Elo1380), her eighth round opponent.
“Racasa (Antonella Berthe) upsets Russian foe. Major, major upset. Thank You Lord. Tomorrow’s opponent is Dilyana Ivanova of Bulgaria,” said father/coach Roberto Racasa, also an International Memory champion, dubbed as the founder and father of Memory Sports in the Philippines.
“At first I thought it was impossible. Beating Russians in chess is like beating Mayweather in boxing. Thank you Lord for the victory.” he added.
Karmanova is the fourth higher rated player beaten by Racasa. In this case, Karmanova is nearly 500 Elo rating points higher than Racasa,” said veteran journalist and chess guru Ignacio “Iggy” Dee.
Her China trip is sponsored by Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. chair and CEO Andrea Domingo, D. Edgard Cabangon of ALC Group of companies, Mandaluyong City Mayor Menchie Abalos, Councilor Charisse Abalos, Rogelio Lim of Boni Tower and Makati Medical Center President and Chief Executive Officer Rose Montenegro.