Datu strong start leads to Baguio active chess crown

International master Idelfonso Datu chalked up six straight wins then coasted to a draw with Fide Master Adrian Pacis in the last round to finish on top of a 62-player field, bringing home the champion’s trophy and the P5,000 cash prize in the Baguio Active Chess tournament last weekend in Baguio City.

Alone in second with six points was Rex Ami of Baguio City. Tied for third to fifth places with 5.5 points apiece were Belsar Valencia, Pacis and national master Andrew Vasquez.

The rest of the top 10 with five points apiece were Fidel Labuanan, Noel Pinic, John John Mendoza, NM Roberto Suelo Jr., Alex Valdez and Francis Sagyaman.

Child prodigy Haridas Pascua of Pangasinan, meanwhile, scored a stunning upset over national master Samuel Estimo in the last round to bag the top kiddie (Under 14 years old) prize of P1,000 plus trophy.

The two-day seven round Swiss tournaments was sponsored by Belgosa Media Systems, city councilor Raffy Panagan and lawyer Jose Molintas.

Asia’s first grandmaster Eugene Torre awarded the prizes to the winners.

The tournament ran smoothly with only few technical issues raised to ACCA chief arbiter Elmer Sangalang. This might have been the result of a pep talk given by Sangalang before the tourney began.

Sangalang, a FIDE rating consultant, stressed the point that whenever you play chess, your aim should be to learn more about the game and improve your stature as a chess player. So he finds it ridiculous why from the lowliest-ranked player to the top Grandmasters, complaints are made about disadvantageous pairings. "The player should not shun the opportunity to be paired against a much stronger opponent, for such player, event if he loses his game, he would learn a valuable lesson," said Sangalang. "The point his opponent won is the prize the opponent deserves for giving the weaker player a lesson."