Lexie Grace Hernandez trounced Jersey Marticio in the seventh and last round and then edged Daren dela Cruz via tiebreaker to claim her breakthrough title in the Philippine National Juniors Chess Championships at the PACE on Monday, Dec. 16.

Hernandez, a 19-year-old student from Ateneo, outplayed Marticio in 46 moves of a Caro-Kann Defense to finish tied for first with Dela Cruz, a winner over Karol Jozef de Guia, with 5.5 points each.

But the Candaba, Pampanga native emerged with the higher tiebreak score, 25-21.5, to claim her first crown in this annual event ran by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines and backed by the Philippine Sports Commission.

For her feat, Hernandez earned the right to represent the country in the World Juniors Championships set in Petrovac, Montenegro in February next year plus the P15,000 cash purse that went with it.

It was a come-from-behind victory for Hernandez as she had to overcome a stinging opening-round defeat to Kayla Lorraine Aurelio.

But she racked four straight wins from there and then forced a draw in a slightly inferior position against Canino in the penultimate round before completing her miraculous comeback with a critical, final-round win over Marticio.

“Hindi ko po in-expect mag-champion ako, binigay ko lang best ko,” said Hernandez.

Dela Cruz wound up second while reigning national women’s champion and Olympiad veteran Ruelle Canino, who hurdled Juzeia Marielle Agne in the last round, settled for No. 3 with five points.