Xur 1 Pawn Movers Chess Club (PMCC) reigned supreme in the 3rd Open Rapid Regional Chess Tournament at the Borongan City Hall Lobby last Saturday, September 16.
The Tacloban-based squad edged eventual runner-up Borongan City Chess Club A in the final stage to complete its victory in the seven-round Swiss system tournament.
“Hindi namin in-expect na magtsa-champion kami kasi sa Board 2 puwede pa silang mag-champion kaso natalo,” said thirty-seven-year-old Jimmy Ty of Xur 1 PMCC.
“Close fight, madaming malalakas na teams. Hindi namin masabing champion na talaga kasi tied ‘yung mga scores. Sa bandang huli, nakalamang lang kami ng 0.5 kaya naka-champion kami,” added Ty. Ty and teammates Daryl Artoza and Ruel Dacillo received the winning P20,000 cash prize.
The father-and-son tandem of Genaro and Dave Godino and Antonio Balois vowed to do better next time as they were awarded with P15,000 for being the second-best team.
“Gagalingan ko sa susunod para kami na ‘yung champion,” said the younger Godino of Borongan A, who is also a chess player for Eastern Samar State University.
Defending champion Catarman Chess Club Team A settled for second runner-up honors and the corresponding P10,000 prize. “Nagkulang kami sa praktis, wala sa focus. ‘Yun ang kulang ngayon,” said Cyril Jao of Catarman A.
Rounding up the Top 10 finishers are Catarman Chess Club Team B (P5,000), Tacloban’s Leyte Chess Foundation (P3,000), Guiuan’s The Monkey Cave, Tacloban-based Xur 2 PMCC, Borongan City and Catarman’s Triple Kill-Rampage Edition, Hokage of Taft, and Borongan City and Taft’s Father and Son Plus 1 (P1,000 each).
The best squad for each province was also recognized: Team Giporlos (Eastern Samar), Team Norte of Allen (Northern Samar), Catbalogan’s Teknikero R8 (Samar) and Xur 4 PMCC of Tacloban (Leyte). A cash prize of P1,000 was handed per team.
Also honored are 68-year-old Juner Amistad and 10-year-old Faith Estanislao who copped the Top Senior and Top Kiddie awards, respectively. They received P1,000 each.
“Importante na naghu-hold tayo ng mga ganitong regional events para ma-develop ang mga bata at makilala ‘yung chess dito sa Region 8. Na madami palang naglalaro ng chess at ‘yung talent ma-expose kaya nagpapasalamat kami na isa sa mga active na organizers ‘yung Borongan City,” said Ty, a former chess varsity player at Eastern Visayas State University and civil engineer at present.
The tournament was organized by the city government of Borongan in partnership with the Borongan City Chess Club.
#FunBorongan
