NM Arnolito Cadiz (seventh from right) poses with the rest of the winning woodpushers during the awarding of the Cebu Chess Hub’s Open Rapid Tournament. | Contributed photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — National Master (NM) Arnolito Cadiz ruled the Cebu Chess Hub’s Open Rapid Tournament held over the weekend.
NM Cadiz, one of Cebu’s seasoned woodpushers, finished his campaign with a near-perfect 8.0 points in the nine-round Swiss system competition.
He was unbeaten throughout his campaign by racking up seven wins with two draws.
READ: Cebu Chess Hub to revive standard games in local scene with cash-rich tourney
NM Cadiz had a stellar start by winning six straight matches against Kurt Jaden Igot, Althan John Magallano, Marwel Caballes, Crisanto Tan, Jr., Ronal Ganzon, and Lemuel Montero during the Cebu Chess Hub’s Open Rapid Tournament held at the GMall of Cebu.
However, he had a seventh-round draw against fifth seed Allan Salientes. Still, he was able to get back in the winning column by beating 10th seed John Dave Lavandero in the eighth round.
READ: IM Yap grabs lead Cebu Chess Masters Invitational
Cebu Chess Hub
Moreover, NM Cadiz had an anticlimactic final-round outing after settling with a draw against 25th seed Seigfred Mark Alasagas.
Despite this, he managed to pile up enough wins to secure the title and went home with the P5,000 plus a handsome trophy.
“I didn’t expect to win what with veterans and young talented players in the tournament. I couldn’t thank enough God for winning the chip. I just blessed at this time my hard work really paid off,” he said.
READ: Filipino triumphs as champion of the 6th ZOR Chess Championship 2023 in Dubai
Meanwhile, International Master (IM) Rico Mascarinas secured the second spot with 7.5 points after beating erstwhile leader Allan Salientes. IM Mascarinas, who is a player of the vaunted Tolexo-Xignex Trojans, earned P3,000 cash plus a trophy.
Salientes placed third with 7.5 points earning P2,000 plus trophy. Fourth place went to Arena Grand Master (AGM) Mark Mangubat who tallied 7.0 points and the cash prize of P1,000.
Gamaliel Regis took the fifth place and brought home P700.00
Rounding up the top ten finishers were John Dave Lavandero, Seigfried Mark Alasagas, Anthony Makinano, Joel Pacuribot, and Ian Gabriel Rusiana. They all won P500 each.
Special awards
Organizers of the tournament also handed out special awards. The Top Senior performer was Crisanto Tan, Jr. (6 points); the Top Lady went to Marphine Faith Mangubat (6 points) and the Top Kiddie went to Ina Grace Caylan (6 points). They all won P1,000.00 each.
The Lapu-Lapu Eagles Central Supremo added more spice to the tournament by giving away special prizes to participating lawyers, CPAs, and Eagles.
Lawyer William Cordova bagged the First Top Lawyer award by amassing 5.5 points while Atty. Elly Galland Jaumao-as was the Second Top Lawyer with a score of 4 points.
The Top CPA award went to Rafael Perez and the Top Eagle award went to Seigfred Mark Alasagas.