FM Mario Mangubat | Facebook photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Veteran woodpusher Mario Mangubat officially qualified for the coveted World Chess Senior Championships in Italy next year after bagging two medals in the recently concluded 12th Asian Seniors Chess Championships at the Knights Templar Hotel in Tagaytay City.
The 65-year-old Mangubat of Minglanilla town, south Cebu finished with a silver and a bronze medal in the international tournament over the weekend.
READ: IM Joel Pimentel tops Cepca anniversary chess tilt
Bronze medal
Mangubat finished with a silver medal in the blitz championships and earned a bronze medal in the 65-above category.
He finished with 6.5 points in the nine-round competition in the 65-above category to tie with IM Aitkazy Baimurzin of Kazakhstan after their tiebreak points.
Mangubat’s bronze medal elevated him from a National Master (NM) to FIDE Master (FM) which included his slot for the World Seniors Championship in Italy next year.
READ: Pason tops Rising Chess tilt
IM Efren Bagamasbad
IM Efren Bagamasbad won the tournament for the second year in a row after capping off with a 7.5 point-performance. He won the title last year in New Zealand.
The win for Bagamasbad earned him his second Grand Master (GM) norm and on track to become the Philippines’ oldest GM at 67 years old.
During the tournament, Mangubat defeated 10th seed Tuleubek Demezhanov in the opening round, and went on finishing with back-to-back draws in the succeeding rounds against FM Adrian Pacis and Randolph Schain.
READ: Chess icon Karpov recalls epic match in Baguio
Mangubat’s roller-coaster outcomes
In the fourth round, Mangubat beats seventh seed Miles Patterson, but lost to IM Bagamasbad in the fifth round.
Mangubat bounced back in the sixth round by defeating 14th seed Kian Haw Lim of Malaysia and had a draw against IM Aitjkazy Baimurzin of Kazakhstan.
Despite the roller-coaster outcomes of his matches, Mangubat secured the last two rounds with a win against Quirino Sagario and Australian Tony Weller.
/dbs