By Kristel Satumbaga
Grandmaster Joey Antonio drew with Rolzon Roullo in the 11th and final round and then edged FIDE Master Sander Severino via tiebreak to rule the Cesar Orbe Memorial Cup Chess 960 blitz done on online application chess.com recently.
GM Joey Antonio
The 58-year-old Antonio, a 13-time national champion, finished undefeated with eight wins and three draws to top the one-day event that drew a total of 197 participants.
Among Antonio’s victims were International Masters Daniel Quizon and Paulo Bersamina and FIDE Master Arden Reyes.
Severino, a four-gold medal winner in the 2018 Asian Para Games in Jakarta, Indonesia, made a good account of himself and almost pulled off the victory before settling for a runner-up finish.
Roullo ended up tied for third with GM Darwin Laylo with nine points apiece but the former took No. 3.
The meet was organized by National Chess Federation of the Philippines executive director Cliburn Orbe with an aim of helping popularize the sport introduced by the late great world champion Bobby Fischer and Filipino legend Eugene Torre.
Chess 960, or originally called Fischer-Random, also produced its first world champion in Wesley So, who was born in Cavite but is now living and representing the United States in international events.