Roque rules 3rd VMA Power chessfest

CEBU, Philippines – NM Merben Roque fought to a draw with Renzi Kyle Sevillano in the final round and that was all he needed to rule the 3rd VMA Power Open Chess Tournament over the weekend at the second floor of Colonnade Mall along Colon Street, Cebu City.

Roque, former Shell Active Chess national champion, finished the 7-round Swiss system competition with the highest score of 6.5 points to go home P4,000 richer.

Sevillano figured in a three-way tie with Ronald Ganzon and Diego Caparino with 6.0 points each, but he grabbed the second place honors courtesy of a superior tie-break output. Sevillano pocketed P3,000 for his efforts, while Ganzon and Caparino got P2,000 and P1,000, respectively.

NM Arnold Cadiz, Carlos Moreno III, Mario Mangubat, Rommel Ganzon, Joel Pacuribot and Yves Fiel received P500 apiece for making it to the top 10.

Given special prizes were the top three ladies in Quennie Cablao, Keith Claire Morala and Faith Mangubat and top kiddie players  Jeremy Pepito, Edsel Vosotros and Joel Belano.

Co-presented by the Cebu Executives and Professionals Chess Association, the two-day tilt was sponsored by CEPCA vice president Engineer Maryvn Guardiana. The games were supervised by FIDE Arbiter Marvin Y. Ruelan assisted by Tony Cabibil.— EBV (FREEMAN)