Anthony Makinano (middle) poses with tournament organizers of the first Pisay Alumni Open Chess Tournament. | Contributed photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines—Anthony Makinano ruled the inaugural Pisay Alumni Open Chess Tournament over the weekend at the Robinsons Galleria Cebu.
The 53-year-old chess veteran finished the nine-round Swiss system competition with a near perfect 8.5 points against 240 other competitors comprised of some of Cebu’s finest woodpushers.
Makinano scored 8.5 points after nine rounds. He won all eight rounds against Joselito Loquez, Marlon James Ivan Garcia, Sean Kenneth Cogonon, James Char Alegado, Chris Aldritz Piondoyo, and Aaron James Resma.
In the seventh and eighth rounds, Makinano, ranked No. 5 in the tournament, staged a huge upset by beating National Master (NM) Rogelio Enriquez Jr., who was the No. 4 seed in the tournament.
He went on defeating No. 9 NM Rommel Ganzon in the ninth round.
Makinano would’ve swept his entire scheduled matches but settled for a draw against Dennis Navales in the final round.
Still, Makinano emerged as champion and pocketed P10,000 purse in the tournament co-organized by the alumni association of the Philippine Science High School (PSHS) and Cebu Executives and Professionals Chess Association (Cepca).
NM Enriquez settled for second place with 7.5 points, while Navales rounded off the top three also with 7.5 points. They were ranked based on their total tie-break points.
The rest of the top 10 woodpushers were NM Rommel Ganzon, Pondoyo, Michael Renz Canonoy, Diego Caparino, NM Mario Mangubat, Genesis Borromeo, and Jervy Villarin.
/bmjo
READ MORE:
Arvin John Paciones, Vietnam-based Cebuano boxer, bags WBA Asia light flyweight title