PH woodpushers sweep titles in Singapore’s ACA tilt

FOR National Master (NM) Roberto Suelo Jr., winning the November title of the Asean Chess Academy (ACA) Rapid Open chess tournament last Sunday was his personal gift to the people of Marawi City who suffered during the Maute siege.

“I dedicate my victory to our kababayan especially the victims of Marawi Attack,” said Suelo, whose mother is a Maranaw from the Dimaporo clan and a native of Marawi City.

The 41-year-old Suelo, whose father is from Jaro, Iloilo, scored 5.0 points in six rounds to take home the crown at the Bukit Timah Shopping Centre in Singapore.

The untitled Suelo defeated countryman Fide Master (FM) Nelson Villanueva in the fourth round and Alexander Chan of Singapore in the fifth then halved the point with Singaporean Joel Ong in the sixth and final round using the disadvantageous black pieces.

He received 300 Singaporean dollars for his fifth title in Singapore in a span of seven months.

“God is so gracious for the fifth time,” added Suelo, an active member of the International Churches of Christ (ICOC) in Singapore.

The former son of a shoemaker, Suelo also won the Thomson Chess Fiesta-Cup Rapid event last May, the ACA Hari Raya Rapid Open Chess 2017 last June, the Patrick Tay Chess Challenge 2017 (Open division) last July 8, and the July edition of the Asean Chess Academy (ACA) Rapid Chess Tournament last July 16.

Villanueva from La Carlota, Negros Occidental, and Lee, shared second to third spots with identical 4.5 points. Ong, on the other hand, had 4.0 points, to share third and fourth spots with Cebuano Lincoln Yap.

In the Challenger section, Singapore-based Filipino Jomel Ortiz swept all of his six matches for the crown. Zeke Ng of Singapore wound up second with 5.0 points while Ravind Ricnesh and Charles Heng of Singapore tied for third and fourth with similar 4.5 points.