NMs Roque, Enriquez pace Cebu campaign in Asian Zonals
Team Cebu composed of (from left) Jerish John Velarde, Woman International Master (WIM) Bernadette Galas, National Master (NM) Merben Roque, NM Rogelio Enriquez Jr., Richard Natividad, and Jave Mareck Peteros give a thumbs-up before the start of the FIDE Asian Zonals 3.3 Chess Championships 2021 at the Cebu Parklane International Hotel. CDN Digital photo | Glendale G. Rosal
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebuano National Masters (NM) Merben Roque (FIDE Rating 2330) and Rogelio Enriquez Jr. (2229) are currently leading team Cebu after three rounds of the ongoing Asian Zonal 3.3 Chess Championships.
NMs Roque and Enriquez Jr. both have 2.0 points after three rounds of the nine-round Swiss system hybrid competition good for 22nd and 23rd places, respectively.
The Asian Zonal is currently being held around Southeast Asia using a hybrid format which is a combination of online chess that uses an actual chessboard and monitored by FIDE arbiters.
Team Cebu’s ongoing campaign is held at the Juana Hall of the Cebu Parklane International Hotel.
Although their current rankings aren’t as high as many expected, Natividad and Enriquez still managed to grab a win each after three rounds.
NM Roque beat Malaysia’s Ern Jie Anderson Ang in the first round then posted two successive draws in rounds two and three against fellow Filipino International Master (IM) Gilbert Tarigan and Jeremy Marticio.
NM Enriquez Jr., meanwhile, beat Ang in the third round after two consecutive draws in the opening two rounds.
Their teammate, Richard Natividad is at 33rd place with 1.5 points while Woman IM Bernadette Galas is at 37th place with 1.0 points.
Jerish John Velarde is at 45th spot with 0.5 points while Jave Mareck Peteros at 49th place also with 0.5 points.
On the other hand, Indonesian IM Ervan Mohamad currently leads the standings with perfect 3.0 points. Filipino IM Daniel Quizon also had 3.0 points but Mohamad has higher tie-break points.
With 2.5 points each and good for a share of third to fifth spots are IM Michael Concio Jr. (3rd), Indonesian IM Yoseph Taher (4th), and Singapore’s Jagadeesh Siddharth (5th). /rcg
READ MORE: FIDE Asian Zonal chess tourney starts
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