Cebu jr chessers bag 5 titles

You can’t sh-t in our backyard.

This seems to be the stern message of the powerhouse Cebuano junior wood pushers who carted away a total of five crowns in the recently concluded 2015 National Age Group Chess Championships-Visayas Leg at the Robinsons Cybergate Mall, Cebu city.

Mandaue City’s Airene Robillos and John Lester Belano along with Rhenzi Kyle Sevillano who now plays for the Lyceum of the Philippines University (LPU) led the dominance of the Cebuano junior chessers in the tough tournament which drew entries from all over the Visayas and Mindanao regions.

Robillos topped the tightly contested girls under-16 division by finishing with 5.5 points capped by her crucial final round victory over Jovelyn Sepanton last Tuesday night. Settling at second place in the division was Rowena Padro with 4.0 followed by Franchell Javier who also had 4.0 points but with a lesser tiebreak score.

Belano meanwhile, bombed Julian Raymund Suniel in the final round to snatch the boys under-10 division crown from the latter with  5.0 points. Suniel was leading Belano by half a point going into their final round duel but failed to handle the latter’s aggressive play to yield the title and settle for second place with 4.5 points. Lapu-lapu City’s Jerish John Velarde completed the U-10 top three with 4.0 points.

Sevillano on the other hand, settled for a final round draw, which was all that he needed, against Cebuano James Andrew Balbona to annex the boys U-16 title.

The multi-titled Sevillano topped the division with 5.5 points. Organizers were not able to announce the second and third placers in the division.

All in all, Cebuano junior wood pushers bagged five titles in the tournament after earlier victories by Nicole Mae Mangubat of Cebu City and Alphecca Gonzales of Danao City in the girls U-10 and U-12 divisions, respectively.