FOURTH-SEED Merben Roque defied rankings and statistics as he emerged the best wood pusher in last weekend’s “Second Strike Open Chess Tournament” held at the Robinson’s Cybergate Mall, this city.
Roque tallied 6.5 points in the seven-round event to rule the Open division after drawing 17th seed NM Leonardo Alidani in the final round.
NM Alidani placed second with 6.0 points edging 8th seed Rogelio Enriquez Jr. via tiebreak.
Ninth seed Yves Christian Fiel, top seeded Rommel Ganzon and 19th seed Diego Abraham Claro collected 5.5 points each while 3rd seed Richard Natividad, 5th seed Edsel Montoya and 16th seed Bryle Arellano had 5.0 points each.
Meanwhile, University of San Carlos’ (USC) Rhenzi Kyle Sevillano ruled the Kiddies division with 6.5 points capped by a final round draw with 2nd seed Chris Aldritz Pondoyo.
University of San Jose-Recoletos’ (USJ-R) James Andrew Balbona the ninth seed, Pondoyo and 5th seed Ryan Pacres tied for second with 5.5 points.
Seventh seed Edzel Vosotros, Adrian Basil Basilgo, Vic Glysen Derotas, Jeffu Durug, John Arvert Cadiz and Krizal Joseph Gutang amassed 5.0 points.
Roque bagged P4,000 while Sevillano got P3,000 for winning the Open and Kiddies divisions respectively.