FEU‘s strong finish in Asian Chess Challenge

FEU Chess Team gets recognized at the stage

Although failing to recapture the crown they once held in 2007 as a neophyte and the country’s lone representative in the Grand Asian Chess Championship, The Far Eastern University – Philippine chess team went home with heads up high this year, as eight Tamaraws made it to the over-all top 10 individual ranking (men’s and women’s division combined) of the just concluded 15th Grand Asian Chess Challenge, otherwise known as the GACC International Inter-Varsity Chess Championship held annually in Malaysia.

Noteworthy is Woman Fide Master (WFM) Rulp Lem Jose who bagged a bronze medal after finishing with 7 points behind  Russia’s silver medalist WIM Ekaterina Kharashuta (7.5 points) and gold medalist WGM Vera Nebolsina (8 points). It was only Jose who handed Nebolsina, the eventual champion its single loss in the tourney.

Meanwhile, four other women from FEU/Philippines  successfully landed on the Top 10 mark, namely: WFM Jedara Docena, (Rank 5), Lovelyn Medina (Rank 6), Jenny Rose Palomo (Rank 8) and Rona Reigner Señora  (Rank 10).

In the Men’s category, International Master (IM) Darban Morteza (8 points) and Nasri Amin (7.5 points) of Iran took the gold and silver respectively. Grandmaster (GM) Pavel Maletin of Russia won the bronze medal. Tamaraw John Ranel Morazo settled in 5th rank followed by teammates Sheider Nebato (Rank 8) and Christian Arroyo (Rank 10).

When asked on how’s the experience of joining the prestigious league, The 3rd year B.S.Ed. mathematics major John Ranel Morazo told us that “it was a tough experience for me because in my past experiences in GACC (2007 & 2008) only 1 or 2 grandmasters have joined, but in [this year’s] GACC  there are 2 grandmasters (one is 2636), 1 international master and 2 fide master, so i think it was a hard battle for us.”

Morazo was unbeaten after Round 6 and almost poised to get the championship, but not until Round 7 to 8, where he was in “bad shape”, Morazo said. Completing the list of the FEU-Philippine contingent were Antonio Chavez (Rank 11), Kevin Mirano (Rank 14) and Lennon Heart Salgados (Rank 15).

Notes:

• FEU is the reigning UAAP Champion in both Men’s & Women’s division
• The FEU Men’s Chess team under its head coach Grandmaster  Jayson Gonzales, is eyeing for a 5-peat in UAAP 73, which opens January 2011
• Formerly, the Grand Asian Chess Challenge (GACC) is open only for Asian region. After receiving positive response from the participants since it was first held, it has become an international event.

Photo by Hue Hwa Lin