National paralympic chess team member Jasper Rom of Cebu edged out Norman Montejo of Catbalogan City, Samar and Lloyd Lanciola of San Dionisio, Iloilo to emerge victorious in the 2021 National Executive Chess Championship held online through the lichess.org last Thursday, Feb. 18.
Rom, a winner of gold and bronze medals in the 2018 Asian Para Games in Jakarta, Indonesia, checkmated Montejo after 41 moves of the French Defense then took down Lanciola in the tiebreaks.
Rom finished with eight points in nine rounds of blitz chess (five minutes time control) to pocket the P5,000 top purse while Lanciola got the runner-up prize of P3,000.
It was the Cebuano stalwart's first victory in this monthly blitz chess tournament organized by the Philippine Executive Chess Association (PECA) and sanctioned by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines (NCFP) in coordination with Philippine Arbiters Chess Confederation (PACC).
"Winning the 2021 National Executive Chess Championship made my online chess truly meaningful," said Rom.
The event was also backed by Dr. Audwin Verzosa, Dr. Ching Hernandez-Verzosa of Sydney-Australia and Jolly Smile Dental Clinic.