Mindanao chess: Orly Rav'z, Dota Boys tie for 1st

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines - Young blood starts to firm up their bid as the new leaders of Northern Mindanao chess. Orly Rav'z, skippered by 23-year-old Khimme King of Iligan City, and Dota All Star--powered by 14-year-old Lennon Hart Salgados of Corpus Christi School in Cagayan de Oro--zoomed up to the top in the last two rounds to rule the 2nd Bugo Open chess team tournament which ended here Sunday at brgy. Bugo's covered court. Keeping a steady pace with the tournament leaders, Orly Rav'z and Dota All Star fought to a 2-2 draw in the fifth round then unleashed all their might in the final two rounds to tie for first place with identical 11 match points each in the 27-team field event. Orly Rav'z and Dota's late-round surge were like a dagger that cut through the hearts of perennial pacesetter AJM Agency A and Stalag woodpushers who both entered the seventh and final round with a full-point lead. A win or a draw for Agency and Stalag in their respective matches would make them either solo or co-champion--when tragedy struck. Literally coming from nowhere, Orly Rav'z--bankrolled by Cooperative Development Authority director Orly Ravanera--pulled off a dramatic 3.5-.5 win over Stalag. Also a point behind, Dota All Star likewise edged out AJM Agency A, 2.5-1.5 for the twin-stunner in the closing day of action. "It's so frustrating in my part coz I'm already close to winning when I latched into erratic play during time trouble. I could not just imagine losing a game with two pieces advantage. But this will never discourage me. I will continue moving my pawn to make it a Queen," said Stalag's Oliver Damunsong of his heart-ripping debacle on board 4 against Renan Cantilado. With Damunsong out, Silverio Abasolo tried to force the issue on board 1. But the spirited King played so cool and composed to refute the hard clock-pounding Abasolo. Manning board 3 for Orly Rav'z, Maramag pride Lamberto Casas made short work of Franklin Porras. But Emmanuel Crisologo quickly retaliated by besting Roumando Edades Jr. on board 2 tussle. So heart-breaking, however, was the eventual collapse of AJM A which impressively took the lead from Round 1 to 5. AJM A got whitewashed by Stalag in the penultimate 6th round. Then, the happy-go-lucky Dota boys--who were instrumental in upstaging Johnnel Balquin and company of host Bugo Awatu--came to complete AJM's final setback. Antonio Chavez Jr., struggling from a so-so performance, and Dota's scoring machine Salgados (unbeaten on board 2) held off the Lumancas brothers (Lyndon and Sonny) to fighting draws as well as Patricio Daniot against a determined Engineer Jun Gunayan on board 3. The deciding match was left on the lower board (4) wherein alternate, Charles Joseph Laya again played the hero's role. Subbing for Ralph Dalauta, who finished 3 out of 4, the Dota boys' so-called "secret weapon" essayed the Center-Counter game to beat Palaro player, Jessie Opena. Laya contributed three wins in 3 games for Dota's cause. "Walay pressure among dula kay amigo `ming tanan walay basolay. Laya's contribution is spectacular. Pero dako kaayo among pasalamat kay uncle Dodoy (Ibaoc) kay krisis kaayo giluwas `mi sa registration ug pang-survival sa kaon," the foursome of Chavez, Salgados, Daniot and Dalauta said in unison. Orly Rav'z and Dota All Star equally divided among themselves the combined purses of P14,000 for first and second places during the awarding ceremony presided by Kagawad Raul Aleria, tournament director Jokorn Maestrado and chief arbiter Jun Cuizon. Sharing third to seventh places were Balingasag (Paul Jardin, Paciano Gulle Jr., Celso Parmisano Jr., Joseph Parmisano, Rodrigo Fabiana), AJM A, Vintage CDO (Mario Arroyo, Cleto Vasquez, Vic Arellano, Gereson Solidum, William Reintegrado), Bugo Awatu (Balquin, Leo Dinglasan, Wilnar Lunaan, Abdul Halil Abdullah) and Stalag. Both Balquin and Gulle were defeated once, but they took the gold medals on boards 1 and 2 at the expense of the undefeated King and Salgados who each scored five wins and two draws in seven rounds. "King and Lennon Hart were undefeated and both of them came from champion teams. But we based our decision on the most number of wins," the tournament officials, explained. Cecilio "Yoyong" Escalera of the Old Guards, Joseph Parmisano of Balingasag and Starsky Maestrado of Orly Rav'z copped the individuals golds on boards 3, 4 and 5. They received P500 apiece. Keith Surplus Center, made up of the Ibaoc brothers (Tristan, Keith, Kennard) and Christian Mario Pabillore) delivered the finest performance from the kiddies side with the 12-year-old Keith even holding to a draw, Edades from the champion team. Bugo chess participants expect the supposedly chess-conscious barangay of Nazareth to be their next stop in June. But Kagawad Jagger O¤ate reportedly said the proposed Nazareth chess team tourney was unanimously turned down by the Barangay Nazareth Council in their previous meeting. "Wala pa hinoon namo napangutana ang uban nga kagawad sa Nazareth kon unsa kini ka tinuod," local chess organizer Maestrado told Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro.- Sun.Star