Camacho blows final match, ends up joint 5th

VUNG TAU, Vietnam – Cheradee Chardine Camacho dropped her final-round assignment to WFM Meri Arabidze of Georgia and settled for a share of fifth to eighth places in the girls 14 years old and under category in the 2008 World Youth Chess Championships at the Vung Tau Sports Center here.

Camacho, a member of the Philippine team to the World Chess Olympiad in Dresden, Germany starting Nov. 11, finished with seven wins, one draw and three losses for fifth place in the 78-player field.

Despite the last-round setback, Camacho emerged as the highest-placed Filipino in the prestigious, two-week long tournament, which attracted a total of 885 players from 73 countries.

Camacho’s compatriots, Jan Jodilyn Fronda and Cherry Ann Mejia, both won their final-round assignments to finish with seven and 5.5 points, respectively, in the same 14 under class.

Fronda crushed Azwa Bakri of Malaysia and Mejia humbled Christabel Neo of Singapore.

Fronda wound up with six wins, two draws and three losses to finish in a tie for ninth to 16th places, while Mejia ended up with four wins, three draws and four losses for a tie for 36th to 45th places.

In the girls 16 under, Christy Lamiel Bernales and Jedara Docena finished with identical scores of seven points to gain a share of seventh to 11th places.

Bernales defeated WFM Ton Nu Hign An of Vietnam, while Docena bowed to WFM Klaudia Kolon of Poland.

Also in the girls division, Rowelyn Acedo finished with 5.5 points ( 4-3-4) for a share of 30th to 41st places in the girls 12 under; and Samantha Glo Revita, finished with five points (3-4-4) for a tie for 37th to 50th places in the girls 10 under.

In the boys division, Haince Patrick de Leon emerged as the best Filipino performer by finishing with seven points on seven wins and four losses in the boys 8 under.

De Leon finished in a tie for ninth to 18th places.

Jan Emmanuel Garcia, the country’s previous best scorer, lost his final-round match to FM Gujrathi Vidit Santos of India and wound up with seven points on five wins, two draws and four losses in the boys 14 and under.

Garcia, however, skidded to a share of 10th to 16th places.

Haridas Pascua†trounced Danny Raznikov of Israel to finish in a tie for 18th to 23rd places with 6.5 points ( 6-1-4) in the boys 16 and under.

Alcon John Datu was not as lucky.

Datu lost to IM Sundar Shyam of India and wound up with six points ( 5-2-4) , good for 24th to 31st places.

In other age categories:

Boys 18 under — Karl Victor Ochoa, 6 points ( 4-4-3), 24th to 33 rd places.

Boys 14 under – Prince Mark Aquino, 4 points (2-4-5), 70th to 77th places.

Boys 12 under – John Ray Batucan, 6.5 points (6-1-4), 19 th to 28th places; Jerad Docena, 6 points ( 5-2-4), 29th to 40 th; Vince Angelo Medina, 5.5 points ( 3-5-3), 41st to 55 th places.

Boys 10 under — Paulo Bersmaina, 6.5 points ( 4-5-2), 19 th to 31 st places.

Boys 8 under — Kyle Ochoa, 5.5 points (5-1-5), 37th to 45th.

The players were accompanied by NCFP vice-president for Mindanao Val Rosabal, head of delegation; Idelfonso Datu, head coach; Roland Joseph Perez, assistant coach; Ricky Navalta and Butch Villavieja, arbiters.

The team’s trip was supported by NCFP president Prospero “Butch” Pichay and secretary-general Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino and Philippine Sports Commission chairman William Ramirez.