King's Gambit Online School students shine in Palarong Pambansa

MANILA – Coach Richard Villaseran's King's Gambit Online Chess School players achieved podium finishes in recent tournaments.

Villaseran's students pocketed six medals in the elementary division of the Palarong Pambansa which ended in Cebu City Tuesday.

National Master (NM) Pat Ferdolf Macabulos, representing Central Luzon, bagged the individual bronze and team bronze (with Elexis Jazz Aves Mendez) in the standard category as well as the individual silver and team silver, also with Mendez, in blitz.

Ralz Jaweh Devibar of Davao Region bagged silver in standard team and bronze in blitz team, both with Aaron Aton.

NMs Keith Ilar and John Cyrus Borce had a 1-2 finish in the boys' U-17 category while eight-year-old Lee Partosa tied for third in the U-13 class of the Gov. Henry Oaminal rapid chess tournament in Ozamiz City, Misamis Occidental on July 10.

"The prize money I received is a big help. Thanks to Gov. Henry Oaminal for increasing the champion's prize from P30,000 to P60,000 and for giving all the participants P3,000," Ilar, currently competing in the U-16 category at the Eastern Youth Chess Championships in Penang, Malaysia, said in an online interview Tuesday.

Last June, Borce delivered two golds and a silver in the U-12 category of the National Age Group grand finals in Dapitan City, Zamboanga del Norte.

Ilar and fellow NM Vincent Ryu Dimayuga finished second in the standard U-14 and U-16, respectively.

Devibar took the silver in the U-12 blitz, David Azuela got the bronze in the U-14 standard and NM Michael Jan Inigo grabbed the silver in the U-18 rapid.

Dimayuga is scheduled to join the ASEAN Age Group Chess Championships in Vientiane, Laos next month.

"I'm looking forward to more victories which they deserve for all the hard work they have been putting in their training," coach Richard Villaseran, who opened the school in 2021, said in a previous statement. (PNA)