Misa, Bayubay rule Mabolo chessfest

CEBU, Philippines - Justin Misa and Alex Bayubay shared the top honors in the 2016 Barangay Mabolo Annual Fiesta Chess Tournament at the Mabolo Elementary School Cultural Center.

Misa used a decisive Ruy Lopez opening to beat Rodolfo Ang after 37 moves in his final assignment, while Bayubay capped his campaign with a resounding win over Hector Villamora after 35 moves applying the tried and tested Sicilian defense.

They both completed the 7-round Swiss system competition for class B players (non-rated) with 6.0 points, but Misa took the top spot by virtue of a higher tie-break output. Misa pocketed P3,000, while Bayubay got P2,000.

Villamora, Norvil Tagnipis, Duane Borgonia, and Edsel Vosotros figured in a four-way tie on identical 5.5 points, but Villamora settled for third place that went along with a P1,000 cash prize.

Rounding up the top 12 finishers with 5.0 points each were Rodolfo Ang, Bonjoe Lanorias, Laila Nadera, Reshie Rolan, Christian Pondoyo and Alberto Rivera.— EBV (FREEMAN)