NM Roque rules Rose Pharmacy chessfest

CEBU, Philippines - National Master Merben Roque and Richard Natividad shared the spotlight in the 2016 Rose Pharmacy Chess Classic Open Tournament over the weekend at the Cebu School of Chess along P. del Rosario Street, Cebu City.

Roque capped his campaign with a resounding victory over Venancio Loyola after 44 moves using English opening, while Natividad prevailed over Mario Mangubat after 56 moves of their Kings Indian game.

Roque and Natividad both finished the 7-round Swiss system competition with 6.0 points, but Roque grabbed the champion's trophy as well as the P5,000 cash prize courtesy of a superior tie-break output applying the Bucholz system.

Natividad went home with P3,000, while Carlos Moreno III got P1,000 for landing at solo third place with 5.5 points.

Rounding up the top nine finishers with 5.0 points each were Loyola, Mangubat, IM Kim Steven Yap, NM Rogelio Enriquez, Allan Pason and Diego Claro.

On the other hand, Edelyn Vosotros and Lefa Glair Bensi emerged as the top lady players, while Duane Borgonia and Aldritz Pondoyo were the top kiddies.

The games were supervised by FIDE Arbiter Marvin Y. Ruelan, while the official results were provided by Antonio Cabibil.— EBV (FREEMAN)