Salgados, Alfonso dominate Shell NCR chess leg

MANILA, Philippines – Lennon Salgados drew his final round match with Richelieu Salcedo then nipped Ateneo’s Jan Garcia in the tiebreak to capture the junior division crown in the Shell National Youth Active Chess Championships-NCR leg at SM Mall of Asia Sunday.

Salgados, playing out of Corpus Christi in Cagayan de Oro and ranked 19th in a field of 193, scored 1.5 points in the last two rounds, including a crucial sixth round victory over Antonio Chavez Jr., to top the 20-and-under category and lead two others to the grand finals of the annual event sponsored by Pilipinas Shell.

Second seed Jeremiah Alfonso sustained his fine form and trounced his last two rivals to complete a seven-round sweep of the kiddies division in the country’s longest running, grassroots-based chess tournament working on a theme “Maglaro at Matuto, Kasama ang Chess Barkada!”

Gracing the awards rites were GMs Eugene Torre and Jayson Gonzales and Mylene Santos, Downstream Communications manager of Pilipinas Shell.

The third seeded Garcia also halved the point with Salcedo at resumption of play then foiled Narquingden Reyes in the final round to likewise finish with 6.5 points while Jayson Mercado took third place honors with six points with victories over Rose Palomo and Gerald Ferriol.

Alfonso, one of the six players who swept the first five rounds, defeated Paul Evangelista and Giovanni Mejia to bag the title with seven points. No. 23 Kenneth Baltazar downed Kevin Sicat and upset 15th seed Malcolm Kwok then edged Paulo Cristobal of San Sebastian in the tiebreak to clinch the runner-up honors with 6.5 points.