Salcedo, Nanola top Shell national chessfest

MANILA, Philippines - Richelieu Salcedo III and Christian Nanola pulled off crucial victories at resumption of the Shell National Youth Active Chess Championship grand finals Sunday to crown themselves the new juniors and kiddies champions, respectively, at SM Megamall Event Center in Mandaluyong City.

The fifth-ranked Salcedo, winner of the Naga City leg, stunned fourth seed McDominique Lagula in the sixth round then held No. 2 Sheider Nebato to a draw in the next before beating erstwhile leader Jerwell Andoy and Antonio Chavez Jr. to finish with seven points in the 20-and-under division.

Andoy bounced back from that loss to Salcedo as he beat Diego Perez in the final round to likewise end up with seven points. But the Rizal Technological Univ. bet took the crown worth P30,000 with a higher tiebreak score.

Nebato failed to force a three-way tie on top as he dropped his final round game to Joseph Turqueza and settled for third place after edging Alfred Rapanot and Turqueza in the tiebreak.

The 11th-ranked Nanola, on the other hand, upset No. 7 Felix Balbona in the sixth round, drew with second seed John Batucan in the next, shocked third seed Paul Evangelista in the eighth before forcing the top seeded Jerad Docena to a draw to emerge the solo winner with seven points in the kiddies division.

Nanola, the Laguna College of Business and Arts student who placed third in the Batangas City elims of the annual circuit sponsored by Pilipinas Shell, thus pocketed the P20,000 top purse.

Giovanni Mejia, ranked fourth in a field of 24, missed winning the 14-and-under crown when he lost to No. 22 Allan Pason in the final round of the nine-round tournament which gathered the top players from the nationwide eight-stage qualifiers held under the auspices of the NCFP.

It was a sorry loss indeed for the La Salle-Greenhills student who hacked out a big win over Batucan in the eighth round only to lose to the less-fancied Pason for 6.5 points.

Docena wound up with six points and nipped Balbona and Paul Evangelista for third place honors in the tournament held as part of Pilipinas Shell’s overall Sustainable Development program.

Mich Cruz, media and government relations manager of Pilipinas Shell, graced the awards rites along with GM Eugene Torre and GM Wesley So, the country’s current top player who is a product of the Shell Active chess circuit. Sharing the spotlight was seven-year-old Stephen Rome Pangilinan of Christian Ecclesiastical School, the youngest grand finalist.

The 18th staging of the Shell Active Chess was held in partnership with SM Supermalls, Cagayan Colleges Tuguegarao, Central Philippine University Iloilo, University of San Carlos Cebu and Cagayan de Oro City Tourism, co-sponsored by Shell V-Power, Shellane, Shell Helix, and McDonald’s.