Fiel tops 7th Godwin chessfest

Yves Fiel is miles away from the Queen City heartland, but the distance can't deter him from making waves in the local chess circuit.

The Argao, Cabu-native Fiel added another collection to his trophy case by topping the 7th Godwin Kiddies Chess Tournament over the weekend at the Bibo Chess Club.

Fiel, who finished runner-up in the Cebu leg of the 2006 Shell National Youth Active Chess Championships at the SM City-Cebu Entertainment Center recently, consummated a seven-game sweep with win over Jan Cleomar Tilus in the final round.

Thus, Fiel ransacked the title of the 7-round Swiss system tournament with a perfect 7.0 points.

John Balbona, on the other hand, capped his campaign by beating John Hamilton Paler to finish at second place with 6.0 points.

Godfrey Villamor, Nikki Sabiquil, Jan Cleomar Tilus, Kyle Rhenzi Sevillano and Ronald Parba came up with identical 5.0 points, but Villamor took the third place honors via superior tie-break output of 31.5 points.

Sabiquil ranked fourth followed by Tilus, Sevillano and Parba at fifth to seventh places, respectively.

Rounding up the top 12 finishers were John Hamilton Paler, Kharl Lataza, Serge Villasica, Farry Glenn Benzi and Royd Jason Ortouste.