Lagula, 2 others pace Shell chess elims

MANILA, Philippines - Top seed McDominique Lagula swept his first five matches to gain a share of the lead with fellow FEU bet Vince Medina and Baguio City College’s Leonardo Abalos in the junior division of the Shell National Youth Active Chess Championships Northern Luzon leg at the Cagayan Colleges in Tuguegarao last Saturday.

Lagula, out to atone for his mediocre 23rd place finish in the National Capital Region leg last week, stamped his class over Charlene Durian, Dick Caranguian, Chito Aguinaldo, Marfred Sanchez and Bernard Nillo Jr. to put himself in contention for one of the three berths in the national finals slated in October in Manila.

The ninth ranked Medina, on the other hand, spiked his fine start with an upset victory over second seed Jan Galan of La Salle Greenhills in the fourth round then beat Lennon Salgados with the black in the fifth. He earlier toppled Jayson Garcia, Jayson Dumlao and Jenerwin Cadaba.

Abalos, ranked 19th in the 20-and-under class, upended No. 5 Mark Mendoza in the fifth round to join the FEU bets in the lead heading to the last three rounds of the tournament sponsored by Pilipinas Shell for the 18th year and sanctioned by the National Chess Federation of the Phils.

Kevin Mirano, another FEU entry, stood in solo fourth with 4.5 points while 12 others pooled four points, led by Galan, Nillo, Mark Asejo and Cagayan State U’s Gerard Orteza.

Earlier, Ronald Suarez, Sustainable Development manager of Pilipinas Shell, and Dr. Victor Perez, president of Cagayan Colleges-Tuguegarao, made the ceremonial moves, kicking off the two-day tournament backed by Shell V-Power, Shellane,Shell Helix, and McDonald’s, in partnership with SM Supermalls, Cagayan Colleges Tuguegarao, Central Philippine University Iloilo, University of San Carlos Cebu and Cagayan de Oro City Tourism.