King’s Gambit chess players shine in tournaments

Intermediate and novice players from the King’s Gambit Chess School continue to make their mark in the local chess circuit led by 14-year-old Lester Jones Paruli who topped a club tournament in Pampanga over the weekend.

Tiv Omanagay (right) bagged 4th place in a FIDE rated rapid chess tournament in Baguio City last Saturday. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO 

Jan Clifford Labog, fresh from winning a silver and a bronze at the Palarong Pambansa, also dominated the 1st Mayor Jay L. Diaz Open Chess Tournament organized by the Ilagan City Chess Club on August 7.

Moreover, 17-year-old Tiv Omangay and 12-year-old Marcus Paruli barely missed making the podium finish in a FIDE rated rapid chess tournament in Baguio City last Saturday, August 12.

Omangay placed fourth in the open division and the younger Paruli finished tied for fourth place in the under-14 division.

Lord Yofiel Young, a very promising 12-year-old, competed in the BM De Veyra Memorial FIDE rated Standard Open tournament in Tagum City last Sunday and was among the leaders in the early rounds before eventually finishing with the second highest points in the under-12 division.

Over at the 1799 and below standard chess tournament in Quezon City, King’s Gambit coach Richard Villaseran’s wards Magnus Bragais, 8, and Jayden Carl Tibig, 11, gave their older opponents a tough challenge as they both finished in the top 5 in the under-12 division.

Another King’s Gambit learner, 14-year-old Gab Paradero, finished 5th in the open division.

Enzo Hernandez, 12, also competed in an open rapid tournament in Bulacan and finished in the top 5.

“These performances just goes to show that our program is not just about our Elite Program top players. We are all about making everyone improve and take everyone’s game to the next level and I’m happy that our players are working hard to do so,” Villaseran said.

” We have one 7-year-old and two 8-year-old players showing great promise among the many other promising players we have in our fold. We will not stop working hard and improving.”

The King’s Gambit Elite Chess Training Program include the country’s top age-group players such as National Masters Jeremy Marticio, Tenshi Biete, Al Basher Buto, John Cyrus Borce, Karlycris Clarito and Woman Also learning from the King’s Gambit Chess School are Christian Mendoza, Pat Ferdolf Macabulos, Stephen Quinto, Vincent Ryu Dimayuga, Jiancarlo Rivera, Gian Mandagan, Mark Benson Sollano, Art Joe Capatan, John Kristoff Bautiista, Nathan Laggui, Ynigo Baydo, Joseph Morillo, Caylee Reyes, Axel Buenaventura, siblings Sean and Jared Tan and the Villaseran twins Anne Gwyneth and Cielo Beatriz.