The Philippines’ Kaye Lalaine Regidor and Apple Rubin each delivered a golden performance in the just concluded 22nd ASEAN+ Age Group Chess Championships in Vientiane, Laos over the weekend.
A World Under-15 silver medalist in Greece last year, Regidor slew top seed Nguyen Binh Vy of Vietnam in the ninth and final round to rule the girls’ blitz event for 16 years old with 6.5 points.
Rubin, a native of Toledo, Cebu, for her part, dominated the girls’ blitz section for 14 years old by scoring 8.5 points out of nine that she capped with a clinical win over Vietnamese Do Ha Trang.
Also picking a bronze in blitz was John Curt Valencia in the open Under-12 side.
The pair of feats averted a golden shutout for the Filipinos, who came into blitz with only a silver medal and a couple of bronzes to show in the individual standard event of this annual tournament.
Accounting for the silver was Iana Angela Sotaridona (G14) and the two bronzes were Khana Kathrine Ventolero (G10) and Royce Caleb Garcia (Open U8-10), whose trip was supported by National Chess Federation of the Philippines president/chairman Butch Pichay.
