David Ancheta sustained his hot start, winning his last three games to clinch the kiddies crown via sweep while Adrian Yulo and Ahmad Ali Azote took the two other titles in the Shell National Youth Active Chess Championship’s Northern Mindanao leg at SM City in Cagayan de Oro last Sunday.
Ancheta, who racked up six straight victories in the opening round of the two-day tournament, repelled Prince Mella in a duel of top bets in the seventh round then the Corpus Christi School ace outplayed Kiel Villa and Joel Hoy to complete his domination of the 7-12 age group of the third leg of the five-stage regional circuit culminating in the grand finals in October.
Joseph dela Rama of City Central School also hurdled his last three games, including a final round victory over Kurt Managase, to finish solo second with eight points and nail the other berth in the grand finals set Oct. 7-8 at SM Mall of Asia.
Yulo, who also swept his first six games in the juniors division, crushed Mary Joy Tan at resumption then settled for draws against Ronald Canino and Clyde Saraos to capture the crown on an eight-point output. Canino scored 7.5 points to place second and gain a berth in the grand finals.
Meanwhile, Walter Raagas, Terminal Manager of Shell’s North Mindanao Import Facility (NMIF), graced the awards rites of the country’s longest talent-search sponsored by Pilipinas Shell for the 25th year and sanctioned by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines.