Chess phenom, 12-year-old Jerish John Velarde of Lapu-Lapu City, impressively recovered from a rough start in the Under-12 standard division of the ongoing 19th ASEAN+ Age Groups Chess in Davao City by climbing from the 13th place to the third spot after six rounds.
Velarde had placed 13th after round three last Thursday, but he improved to third after managing to win two out of three rounds yesterday. He won over fellow Filipino Joel Lawrence Hoy and fellow Cebuano Aaron Resma in the fourth and sixth rounds, respectively, while he had a draw against Lennox Samson.
Top seed Candidate Master (CM) Quoc Hy Nguyen of Vietnam is at the top spot with a perfect 6.0 points followed by fellow Vietnamese Vu Hoang Gia Bao with 4.5 points.
Other Cebuano bets who were also looking good in their respective age groups after the sixth round were Alphecca Gonzales, the sixth seed in the Under-16 division, who is currently placed at sixth with 4.0 points, while eighth seed Rhenzi Kyle Sevillano is hanging on to the eighth spot with 3.0 points in the Under-20 division.
Also, 13th seed Jave Merick Peteros is at the eighth place with 4.0 points in the Under-14 division, Edelyn Vosotros is at the 16th place in the Under-12 division with 3.0 points, Laila Camel Nadera is at 10th place with 2.5 points in the Under-20 division, Vic Glysen Derotas is at ninth place with 3.5 points in the Under-18 division and Regina Catherine Quiñanola is at sixth place with 4.0 points in the under-14 girls.
The tournament’s seventh round is currently being played as of press time.
After the nine-round standard division, the participants will also vie in the rapid and blitz competition.
The tournament will cap off on June 29.