Cebuano woodpushers continue to struggle as Asean chess standard competition nears finish

IN BAD SHAPE

Cebuano woodpushers are losing grip in their stints in the standard division of the 19th ASEAN+ Age Groups Chess in Davao City.

Among the Cebuano bets in the meet, only Vic Glysen Derotas, the 14th seed in the girls’ under-18 division, improved her rank, climbing from ninth spot to the fifth spot after the seven rounds of competition following an upset win over fourth seed and Women’s Fide Master (WFM) Vo Mai Truc of Vietnam yesterday.

However, it seems that the Vietnamese are still in full control of the standard division as two of its chessers, Kieu Bich Thuy and WFM Tran Phan-Bao Khanh, still lead the under-18 girls with 6.5 and 4.5 points, respectively.

WFM Allaney Jia Doroy of the Philippines is at third with 4.5 points.

Lapu-Lapu City’s pride, Jerish John Velarde, lost his third-place position in the under-12 division after dropping a game against top seed and current leader Candidate Master (CM) Quoc Hy Nguyen, who remains perfect with 7.0 points after seven rounds.

Velarde is now placed at sixth with just two rounds remaining.

Vietnamese players occupy the top three spots in the under-12 division. CM Vu Hoang Gia Bao is at second with 5.5 points while Bui Dang Loc is at third with 5.0 points.

Rhenzi Kyle Sevillano has 3.5 points as he currently holds on to the eighth spot in the under-20 division after he settled for a draw versus Fide Master (FM) Catur Adi Sagita of Indonesia in the seventh round while Alpheca Gonzales dropped to 11th in the current rankings with 4.0 points in the girls’ under-16 division after losing to fellow Filipino Chesser Francois Marie Magpili.

In the girls’ under-20 category, Laila Camel Nadera is stuck at 11th place with 2.5 points after she lost to WFM Vu Thi Dieu Ai of Vietnam.

In the boy-under 14 division, Jave Merrick Peteros was dislodged from his eighth-place position and is now placed 12th after losing to CM Lam Tung Nguyen of Vietnam. Regina Catherine Quiñanola also lost her sixth-place position in the girl’s under-14 division and dropped to ninth after she got defeated by Jerlyn Mae San Diego in the seventh round. She has 4.0 points.