At A Glance
- Rising star Amber Mariana Maravilla reaffirmed her mastery after winning her second straight gold medal in the 20th Malaysian Chess Festival in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia recently.
Amber Mariana Maravilla
Rising star Amber Mariana Maravilla reaffirmed her mastery after winning her second straight gold medal in the 20th Malaysian Chess Festival in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia recently.
Maravilla displayed her brilliance anew as she won five out of her six games to conquer the U12 girls individual category of the 2025 Dato Tan Chin Nam Foundation Rapid Age Group Chess Championship.
With her triumphant run, the 12-year-old Maravilla, who banners the GM Jet Chess School and holds a 1517 rating, snared her second consecutive gold of the said event.
It was also her third gold in the competition after winning the Merdeka Rapid Junior (U12) team championship as well alongside Kirsten Monique Roque and Reese Valerie Barbosa and Singaporean Xinyi Andrea Yap last year.
“First, I’m very grateful to God for giving me this championship. Winning a championship is already hard, let alone defending it, so I am truly grateful, with God’s grace, nothing is impossible,” said Maravilla.
“My dad would always say, keep believing that you’ll win the next game, knowing that I’ll probably lose that as well, but then again, he said to just keep believing and trust God’s plan because one day, I will win,” she added.
Apart from her gold-medal win, the Grade 7 student of St. Paul College Pasig snared a bronze in the Merdeka Rapid Team Junior (U12) Chess Championship.
However, Maravilla and her Filipina teammates fell short in the team event where they settled for fourth place.